These are photos in and around Salzburg

Unless more of these are wanted from Prague, this is it for Prague.

So the first of the photos come from Prague. More to follow.

No photos until we get home. I cannot upload from this server. We got home from Venice about two hours ago and are washing, drying and getting to bed. We had a wonderful drive to Salzburg on Tuesday. We stayed there two nights and toured the local city, HohenSalzburg Castle and of course, Hotel Steinlechner...mom's old haunt. It is still there. She didn't recognize it at first but you could see the wave of memory come over her as she stood outside the yellow building. The city was beautiful and full of great things to see. We drove out to the site of Sound of Music but did not get out to visit the home and grounds there. We wanted to get to the salt mines for a tour. That was a great trip. You travel on a bench like train with about 30 people dressed in all white. Sort of like a temple trip underground. Anyway we descended 250 meters down into the underground maze of tunnels, etc. The tour was a walk...yes, a long walk through head-banging tunnels for about 2.5 km. We went by a small barge across an underground lake inside a darkened cavern with music playing and pictures projected on the walls of the cavern. Quite interesting down on a lake with sound surround in the dark. Eerie. You will see when the photos are out, pictures of us descending down into the mine deeper on wooden slides. You straddle them, not sit in them. Let me tell you, after a long slide the heat does build up on your undersides. Youch.

Out of there, we elected to go ahead and go down to Venice. We did not have reservations so we called Martha from the car. She found us a wonderful room on the island of Lido, across from Venice. Well worth the trip and to Martha, we are indebted for her knowing her way around Europe. There was not a glitch in the visit. The room was ready and we spent two nights there.

Now, for the info on Venice, you'll have to stand by as the rest of the family has now deserted me and gone to bed. I am losing my awakedness and am about to go to sleep myself. So, in words to follow.....the trip to Venice and beyond. Dad

I've added new photos to our family website, check out the link on the side! Thanks!

It is 8:35, the kitchen is clean, the laundry is folded, the kids are in bed - feeling pretty good. Dave is at Scouts, Kim is visiting her sister-in-law, so I have a spare moment to read the blogs.

Marnie - you are so brave with your hair and you carry it off well. I am still inspired by your commitment to training and enjoy hearing how it is going - when is the half-marathon you are planning on running?
Brooke - glad to hear you are well again - we think of you all the time and marvel at how amazing you are. Don't bother denying it. Sure do miss having you here with summer approaching...(sigh)
Tom & Tracey - I dreamt that it snowed here last night - thought of you guys. Actually, it is raining a lot here, but it's not too cold. We were spoiled last week with really warm weather - which was good timing because it was Spring Break and the kids played out all week.

We took Esther to her appt, Barb - she did well and was as pleasant as ever. They didn't tell me anything new and so I am assuming they will keep you updated.

Dave and I have been running together. Not something I ever liked doing because he is so much faster than me - but it has been working out well lately. We are up to our 5 & 6-mile runs on the weekend - so far, so good. We need to get our room in Leavenworth...

Dave takes off for Arizona next week - I may join him for the weekend, we are undecided.

No exciting news - but sure love all the blogs - glad everyone is doing so well.
Adina

That song just entered my brain for some reason (and no, it is not in reference to my stay in the town of Singleton). I think it has something to do with my hair today. My boss, Michelle, said that I look more like a hippie but I would definitely go with swiss milk maid, minus the costume, of course.

It is a beautiful day in San Diego and I am spending it in my office as always. But I will be getting outta here soon. Today I am finally finishing up a massive project that I took on a few weeks ago. Our warehouse was a complete disaster area, no organization, impossible to find things if our shipping manager was gone. So I decided to organize it, I mean REALLY organize it. I think any of you could go in there now and put together a 'kit' to be shipped. Or I hope you could because that was my goal. So anyone with half a brain could go in there and figure it out. My shipping manager thinks it is a little overkill since only six people work here but better that than shipping the wrong thing. I have also been revamping our printing system (like how we know what needs to be printed and who does what and how it gets approved, etc.) I just ordered about 16 different items (usually it is more like one at a time) so it should be on track after those are done. Anyway, big job and I am relieved it is over and really hoping it stays organized and doesn't get all screwed up again.

I just realized today that it is almost halfway through April so I really need to get crackin' on studying for the GMAT since I need to take it by July. I have been doing a little here and there but I really need to learn that stuff if I am going to get this show on the road and be in a MBA program by next January.

Training is still going well. I slacked a bit at the beginning of last week because Matthew was in town from LA but I am definitely not going to do that again. It really made it harder when I started up again. Yesterday my run was probably pretty amusing to watch because I was dodging the incoming tide on Del Mar beach the whole time! I am still steadily improving though which is nice. I just need to keep reminding myself that the feeling of being skinnier tastes much better than those McD's french fries I've been craving! Thanks for talking me out of that one Adina and Kimmy!

I recently fell back in love with the Anne of Green Gables series of movies thanks to a random mention on an entertainment/fashion blog. Jane, Sadie and Morgan would probably all love those movies and books if they haven't already seen/read them. I just rented the 3rd one "The Continuing Story" but have yet to watch it. It got mixed reviews so we will see. May have the Scarlett effect.

Still watching the beloved shows. Still a whole-hearted LOST fan as well even though others have the ups and downs. Tonight's episode should be really good so I am really looking forward to it. I have also been listening to the audio recording of the 5th Harry Potter book again in preparation for the movie. I am starting to get pretty dang excited for the last book to come out in July. I even requested that day off from Sport Chalet so I can spend all Saturday shut up in my house with my phone off reading it, as I am sure many others will do too. Or maybe I am just crazy and obsessed...who knows really?

Anyway, I am sure all in Germany/Europe are having a great time. Can't wait to see pictures and hear the stories! Sorry about the snow Tracey but you don't have too much longer till you get to enjoy the weather out here! Love to hear from all of you!

I hope to update our little family website soon with all the pictures from the last few months but here are a few in the meantime.


Thank you so much for the Easter package, Grandma Barb and Papa! Danica has loved her purse and Hayden's had a blast with his straws!


Easter morning!

Well, as usual I can’t complain about the dead blogg when I am not contributing. So here is the latest and greatest on Cleveland. First of all, we got two feet of snow over the weekend! Not unheard of around here with the infamous Cleveland weather but still made for a interesting weekend. The Indians series had to be cancelled and the games this week were moved to Wisconsin. There are pictures in the newspaper of the kids out searching for Easter eggs in the snow! Tom spent 30 minutes digging out the car so we could make it to church on Sunday morning and then we got stuck in the driveway trying to come home because it snowed non-stop while were at church! Very exciting day! We had planned to have Geof. and Darla Bennett visit from Sunday to Wednesday but they weren’t able to make it at the last minute. They recently moved to Virginia for his job as a pilot and they can fly standby for free. However, all of the flights were full. Hopefully they will make it out another time. The good thing was that Lexi was gracious enough to allow us to re-invite ourselves to their house for dinner, after canceling on them previously. So we had a great time seeing them and eating delicious food on Sunday.
On Saturday night we dyed Easter eggs and Hayden had selected a Star Wars kit so his eggs look like all his favorite characters. You can see from the pictures how proud he is of them. Danica didn’t do so well at the egg thing and just ended up throwing her egg on the ground and cracking it to pieces. Oh well. A few funny kid stories from yesterday (my memory is so bad I can’t remember any from before that!):
We had a little girl and her little brother over yesterday and out of the blue she says, “Oh look, there are three girls and two boys here.” Hayden immediately pipes up and says “No, there are 4 girls and 2 boys because of the girl in my mom’s tummy!”
Last night at bedtime I was trying to convince Hayden to say the prayer but he wanted me to say it. I said I would but that meant that I would get the blessings from it. So as I was about to finish the prayer he interrupted and said “Wait, and bless me!” So I said “And please bless Hayden” and finished the prayer. Immediately Hayden plops down on his pillow, smiles and says “Ahhh, that’s one blessing I get!”
During family home evening last night we were discussing the true meaning of Easter. We had talked about this before but driving home from church on Sunday we talked about it and I realized he still didn’t get it. So anyway, we were discussing being resurrected and he kept interrupting and saying “Will we have Lego Star Wars when we are resurrected?” I would try to move on but he kept bringing it up he was so worried about it!
Danica doesn’t say nearly as many funny things since she barely talks but she is really into farm animals right now and says the sounds for cow and duck. But Danica says a lot without using any sounds at all, she is very communicative with her “look.” She is going to be one of those people who can make you cower simply by giving her disapproving look. If she doesn’t like what you are telling her or if she doesn’t know a person she simply puts her head down, doesn’t move and waits for it to be over. Or she will look at you with the pathetically sad face like you are the worst person in the world! It’s hilarious. Maybe I”ll catch a picture of it one day.
The pregnancy is still going well. I can feel the baby kicking all the time now and am really starting to look at feel pregnant (or maybe I just ate way too much Easter candy!) We have been really slacking on the treadmill lately. It’s hard to get motivated on the treadmill when a week ago I was able to be running outside. I even went without the kids one morning while Tom was home, that was a treat! But we got the treadmill because of weather like this. So, our new “rule” is that between Tom and I one of us has to run everyday, hopefully we can try to motivate each other.
We do have one major thing that has happened recently, Tom took his boards!!! They were over the last few days of March. He’s says it’s not worth blogging about until he knows his scores. Hopefully they went okay, we will know for sure in the next few weeks!! In Tom’s own words, if he passed that will be a “glorious day!” The dread, stress, anticipations and such have been immense and it will be great to have it all behind us! In the meantime he is just wrapping things up at the clinic. He is done in the clinic on April 27th and officially done with everything on May 4th.
Well that is all I should write for now, we got the kids in bed early and I should take advantage of the time to do something. Although if it’s up to Tom we will be playing worms or Battlelore! Take care!

We'll try it later. I tried to upload two photos and it did not take. The information at the bottom of the screen is all in German so I'm not certain what happened. I believe the low bandwidth here is a killer for uploading photos. I know Mike does it somehow. Maybe if I do one at a time it will work at a later time. We are headed to Prague today. Yesterday was just a beautiful drive up through some beautiful valleys, "coulees"-like, and countryside. More to follow. Dad

Hi, its me, Jane! We are having such a fun time here with grandma and papa. Last night at about 11:00 at night I was drifting off to sleep when I heard screaming. For a minute I thought it was just a bad dream but when I opened my eyes I heard swearing and this man was right outside my house and drunk. I called to my dad and he said he heard it to. He went to his office and looked out his window to the sidewalk. Then when my dad started to put on his pants to go outside papa came out of his room and said the man had said that he was going to get rocks. So instead of going out he called the police. Mean while the man was now where I could see him walking. Papa came into my room and we turned off all the lights and looked to see where he was walking so we could tell the police where he was going. The man looked more like a waddling duck than a drunk man. All the sudden the man swirved to the left right infront of my friends house. He must have gone through the short to my school, found some rocks and came up the oppisite side of the path about 7 minutes later. He had the evil laugh that you here in movies and was yelling that he had rocks. We called the police again and told them where he was and they caught him in seconds Love Ya!

Jane

I meant to call a few of you yesterday but whenever I thought of it, the time would have been off. Then we got busy with dinner and one of Mike's board games...then we were tired and went to bed.

We went for a ride yesterday down to Pottenstein which is a really rocky canyon area. Very interesting since it was crowded with campers and hikers who were out for Easter Sunday..and spring break which is this week.

I think we will be going to Prague today for the day. It is just about 90 minutes away...sounds fun. Tomorrow after Brooke's doctor appointment we'll be heading down to Salzburg for three days. I haven't been there for 38 years...it will be interesting to see how it has changed.

I hope all of your Easter dinners went well...We love all of you! Brooke is doing much better as she said below.

Mom

To all-I'm fine. I just felt like there hadn't been quite enough drama in the past week and a half from the Mike Stinchfield clan. No new bleeding, baby was moving around and very active when I went in. They think I just tore my placenta and the only way I can think of was holding Ellyn for about 30 mins. at a change of command the other day. I hold her all the time but I can't think of anything else. Maybe this was just a little warning that now is a good time to start putting her down. I thought that the huge belly coming soon would be a natural deterrent (sp?).

I have found the one disadvantage to Barb transferring my blogs and that is that I feel self conscious getting on here to write because there is already a blog. Also, everything that I would have written is pretty much covered except for comments unique to this side of the family. So, while I'm on here- Adina, your blogs crack me up, Brent and Buffy your house looks beautiful, and to all the birthdays I have missed this past month and a half- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I remembered my camera the other day to snap a picture of the beautiful view I get to see when I go running in Del Mar. It was a little cloudy so not the best but it's an idea. :)

Hi, we are just wondering if anyone knows how Brooke is doing? Please let us know! Thanks!

Happy Birthday Taylor! I too can't believe that you are actually 9 years old! So crazy! :)

Update on San Diego. This last couple weeks has been quite the time for me. I got hit with a lot of real fun expenses...between taxes and my car it just wasn't so fun. Everything is fine now and taken care of so now I feel a lot better.

I have just been working and exercising mostly. Hanging out with friends when I can. Nothing too out of the ordinary. I have been exploring a lot of different beach runs in the last couple weeks. I still really prefer running by the ocean, always nice to enjoy how close I am to it. :) The beach at La Jolla is my favorite but there are still a lot of places I need to try.

It is great to hear from all of you guys! Can't wait to have Tom, Tracey and fam nearby, it'll be really nice to have family close. So on the Mtn dew thing...did you actually give the mtn dew to Andrew or were you just thinking about it? Looked like there should have been a picture there or something...

Anyway, hope everyone is great and Taylor enjoys his birthday!

First I want to say happy birthday to Taylor and I hope he has a great 9th birthday! I can't believe you are nine, I just remember when I came and visited in Ohio the summer after Taylor was born. And remember the classic Taylor cheesy smile. Well we love you Taylor and hope you have a great birthday!
Well I guess I should probably post what is going on in our lives lately. We are almost done with school, we just have finals left this week. Melia and I are coming to Vancouver on Monday until Saturday. The reason why: We don't move into our new apartment until the 20th of April and we had to be moved out of our other aprtment on March 31st. It was a fun week last week! Now we are livng in our friend's house who Treven works with. They were very nice in offering us somewhere to stay. They live in a mobile home and there is 3 rooms and 2 bathrooms. It is so nice though because our room and bathroom are on oppostie sides of the house from their bedroom so it is seperated. Of course though, right as we move in, their plumbing broke and they had to turn off the water so we can't go to the bathroom or take showers. But it is getting fixed today so yay! It was my last day of work last night. Sad, but excited at the same time. I loved working there and will definitely miss the product checks, but mom, buffy and adina might become customers. Then I can just get products through them. By the way, if you ladies do decide to become members, you 3 should all go together on one account and have one main person as the name and the others as authorized users. Yeah, i will explain more when
I get home if you want me to. Anyways, it is going to be nice not to have to leave Melia and have more time for homework since I am taking 16 credits next semester. I have to take 15 or more for the fast grad program.
Melia is getting bigger and starting to sit up on her own. She is loving eating baby food except peas. She definitely hates those. She hated rice cereal so I tried oatmeal and she seems to take it better then the rice cereal. I am going to see if she will take formula just for trips sake and things like that. I introduced it to her in January and she hated it so I am thinking maybe since she is taking baby food and the cereal she might be more open to it. What do you all think?
I am so excited to come and visit on Monday. I will be staying with Dave and Adina. My friend Kathryn just had her baby girl so I am excited to go see her and her baby. It will be nice to get away from Rexburg for a little bit. Then when I get back we will be moving into subsidized housing in 6 days after that! Adina, if you need my flight info just let me know! I will send it to your e-mail.

Love you all,
Kimberly

Well, I thought I'd better blog a bit since I read a lot but have been bad lately on actually writing!

First, as I was just reading the latest Brooke input on Beecher I thought I would include some parts that would be of general interest for those who don't look at the Beecher (Bennett) blog:
We have had several beautiful sunny days this week and I am so happy. I really think I have that seasonal function disorder. I was ready to jump on a plane and head to Virginia until word was sent that the sun had appeared in Germany. ... Maybe I'll be a snowbird because nothing is better than Washington from May to September. I have to say that. But I have spent the past little while daydreaming about Georgia. We were looking at pics on Mike's computer the other day and it dang near broke my heart. I'm excited to be out and about here though, now that the weather is good. You have to understand, I love Germany, but on a day to day basis we are on post and it takes getting out and exploring to enjoy living in this beautiful area. Also, I really miss the convenience of the U.S. sometimes. Maybe it's because I am pregnant but I also daydream about Sonic on warm summer nights, walks down to Burgerville for milkshakes, going through the drive-thru at Taco Bell, Pizza Hut pan pizza...you get my drift.

Yesterday was a great day. The sun was shining, even though it was a bit windy, and Mike got out all of our bikes and got us all set up. The clamp that keeps the seat in place on my bike is broken, but he thinks he'll be able to find a clamp here for it. I drove to the commissary and Mike and Jane rode their bikes with the little girls in the bike trailer. They loved it.

Today we are going to listen to yesterday's session(s) of conference and then my friend Holly is coming over for dinner. She is nineteen and her husband is gone for three weeks and we try to have her over as often as she wants. Well, I'm already feeling little flutters about once a day. Funny how quickly you feel baby once you know what it is you are feeling.

Back to Mom/Barb

We are really excited about leaving for Germany this Friday. I know we'll have an outstanding time! In the meantime, Dad is working and I am home working and "supervising" the kitchen being taken apart. I got my exercise yesterday walking up and down the stairs to move all the contents of the bottom cupboards and about half of the upper ones up to the back bedroom (where Brent and Buffy were). It should be torn up by tomorrow afternoon then the granite people are coming in on Thursday morning to measure the template. I"m going to go and get a bunch of TV dinners...Lean Cuisine and Smart Ones so we don't have to eat out ALL the time. Fortunately, the countertops, sink and stove will be back in by the 19th...3 days after we get back from Germany. The upper cupboards will have to wait until after we get the backsplash done which I haven't even chosen yet. I think we'll be in chaos for several months, because after the backsplash we are going to get some painting done. I'm still debating about the bookcases.

On Saturday night we had the annual Million Dollar Party that Dad gives for his Willamette clinic every year that he exceeds a million dollars in production. It went well. The weather picked up right before it so that we were able to use the deck a bit although it was still pretty cold! People would go out a bit and then come in to warm up and back and forth.

Yesterday, we watched conference and then D & A and kids and B & B came over to enjoy the leftover steaks and salmon and appetizers. It was good except that I didn't remember how many cups of rice that I put in for the consomme rice and put too much consomme in so that it had about an inch of liquid on top when it should have been done. I then put another cup of rice in and cooked it some more but the "new rice" was still pretty crunchy. My advice to all if you do such a thing is to just pour off the liquid instead of trying to rescue it We also celebrated Taylor's birthday with a great Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake. Adina had forgotten candles (I must be rubbing off on her) so we finally found three long squiggly ones. After they left, I was emptying the cupboard underneath the "junk drawer" and found a full pack of the ones that keep lighting again! Oh, well!

Grandma is doing all right, I guess. She has a very bad sore on the outside of her right foot which is causing her a lot of pain especially when she has to get on her feet to transfer. They are trying to minimize the times they have to do it which frustrates her since she thinks she has to go to the bathroom really frequently. Each visit is an adventure...never knowing what to expect or what she will say. Lisa, Meredith and Lisa's two boys are coming up tomorrow just for the day. I hope it's a good day for Grandma! Insurance has determined that they are going to discontinue coverage for home health to come treat her sore since it doesn't seem to get rid of the sores. We're going to a physician this Wednesday who is supposed to be a wound specialist. It will be interesting to see if he has a different opinion!

Well, I need to get busy on the bills and my Columbia Basin work.

I love you all!

Mom

Happy Kitty!!

Master Bedroom with New Paint

Office or TV Room

Living Room 1

Living Room 2

Kitchen

Dining Nook

Entry Way

So, Anne was giving me a hard time 'cause everyone I've talked to today I've told them about the peanut brittle I made in between the two conferences today. I always thought it would be tougher to make, but I gave it a try and I must say, it tastes great. I promise to make it for anyone who makes it out to our neck of the woods.

Peter

Where has March gone? It's crazy that tomorrow is April 1st.

We had a great time in Selah with Brian & Paige. Spent the entire weekend laughing about totally inappropriate things - but it was a blast. The kids want to just live there. If only it were that simple. Maybe we can get them down here to stay - but in the meantime, I'm glad they are only a few hours away.

Paige is a training maniac - she is so on track, it's inspiring. Her sister is also going to do the half-marathon. We went on our 4-mile run with her on Saturday and it makes me really excited for the actual event - I think it's going to be a great experience.

Brent & Buffy hosted a great game night last night at their new abode. It was lots of fun. You have to know - I was fairly paranoid about the kids spilling something or making some sort of mess - but as it turns out, we only need to worry about the adults. Within one minute of each other, Barb and Dave both managed to spill soda all over their new table and floor. It was awesome. Anyway - their house looks great and we look forward to more game nights...

News: Dave got his new door put on the practice - it looks so much better. He will have to post the pictures. I taught my first Nutrition class - it went well, though I was a bit intimidated by the few Washougal-ites that are self-proclaimed 'food nazis' and try to 'live off their land'. That's just not me. Isaac got all As & Bs on his report card again. Taylor's 9th birthday is this week - we are having a party at K&B's before they take off for Germany. Parker says he wants a new Mommy because I didn't buy him a rubber ball today - after an hour in his room and a lecture from Dad, he's singing a different tune. And Morgan taught herself to ride her bike yesterday. It's fourth child syndrome - we were too busy to teach her, so she taught herself.

That's it. Dave's at the Priesthood session and then I think we are going to see '300' tonight - Brian said it was a great movie and we need a date.

Adina

Well I guess it is my turn to blog as I can't really remember when I last blogged. Plus it is Spring Break for me here and I have been sitting looking at the blog all week and not posting in all of my free time.

The Olsens are doing well. Andrew is 2 seconds away from crawling but I think if it was completely up to him he would be walking by now. He is rambling more and more these days being the wonderful cheese ball that he is. He definitely knows how to make you melt when he looks at you with those big eyes and gives you a gummy smile.

Peter is working hard day after day at work. It is getting busier as the weather is getting nicer to build in and he has 50 projects (exaggeration I know) to get done. His higher ups are definitely seeing how hard he works for them as he has gotten quite a few raises and they are constantly telling the main guy who goes out to find new employees that he needs to find more people like Peter. Yes Peter's head is in danger of exploding from getting so big :).

I am just chugging along trying to get Andrew to crawl and trying to complete school. It is weird to think that next week I will register for my last semester of school ever! I am so excited. I have major senioritis and basically am at the point of as long as I pass I am happy. But don't worry I am trying to get good grades still, I am just not going to kill myself to get them. Last weekend, I had the chance to go down to UVSC and play in my first alumni match. It was tons of fun to see all the girls that I played with. We only won 1 of the 4 games we played but it was so much fun getting back on the court playing with people who aren't 16 year olds. Club season is going well. The girls I coach are around 20th in the region out of like 70 or 80 teams. It may sound good but I know the girls are better than 20th. We have a tourney here in Boise tomorrow so we are hoping to do well and be able to improve our placement in the region.

Other than that, we are doing well and hope to see you guys soon. I am hoping we can make it to Gualala on memorial day weekend. School is out the 2nd week of May and anyone is invited to come and stay here. We have a wonderful waterpark like 5 miles from our house that we still have yet to go to and we would love to have some of you all to go with.

We love you all and hope you are doing well!

Love,
Anne

PS: Mike and Brooke and whoever else wants to know, Parenting magazine has an article on autism, I haven't quite read it but I am sure it is an interesting one.

Not sure of the year on this one...anyone?

Hello there!
Well, It has been over a week now that Brent and I have been occupying our house and I can't complain about a thing. There have been some glitches like our dryer vent being stopped up and instead of realizing that was the problem, we purchased a new dryer only to find that after a couple hours of Kenn helping Brent install it, the same wet clothes still did not get dried. Anyone need a dryer???
The moving in process is slow and it is starting to feel like our home. I realized that I shouldn't want to have everything decorated and done really fast (even if it's not possible anyway) because how else would I spend my free time? I am thinking that right as some of you are reading this you may be thinking... a baby would fill up that free time no problem! Don't worry, we hope to have one of those sometime next year too. Just think of this whole long process of 8 years marriage, graduate school, buying a home, etc. as a really long "nesting" period!
We finally found a dining set on Saturday by the way, just in time for the Easter dinner that my mom has invited herself and my sister's familty to. Just kidding, it was a good idea since our house is in between my sister and mom. Now if Dave, Adina and kids want to come over, we still have our other table that seats 6 plus the 8 from the new set. Perfect! 8 adults and 6 kids. Adina, let me know about your plans, no pressure or anything. K&B: Have a fun Easter in Germany... so so gealous!
Well, to everyone wherever in the world you are, Brent and I are thinking about you and love to hear any news via the blog. We miss you guys and hope everything is going well for you.
Buffy

It's great to hear from you Mike. We are so happy that Ellyn is home and hope that you continue to get answers and that things improve. It can all be so frightening when you don't know what is going on. Please continue to keep us informed.

So we found a house in San Diego that looked really promising online and Marnie was so nice to go and check it out for us and it didn't turn out as nice as it sounded. The biggest problem we are dealing with is availability in that even if we do find something now it is available now and they probably won't hold it for us. So I am looking for some advice from the moving veterans in the family. First, is there some sort of listing we aren't finding or does everyone wait to post their property until it is available? We are used to the school towns where people list there properties in advance based on semesters. People know they are moving so why don't more people do a listing in advance? Second, we are now considering the idea that if we don't find anything online/with Marnie's help, that we simply drive out there after graduation, have the navy store our stuff for a while, stay in the temporary housing and look for a place. The thought of moving without knowing where we are living is really scary to me but at least then we could see the place and if nothing is listed in advance anyway what does it matter if we see the place one day and move in the next? Does this idea sound crazy to anyone else? Have any of you ever done it that way? I could stay in Utah with the kids for a few days and send Tom on to San Diego ahead of me but we are still talking about finding the place one week and moving in the next. What do you think?

Well, that is our big dilemma at the moment. We have decided, against the frugal nature in me, to go ahead and simply have the Navy move us. I"m still not 100% sold on the idea but it sure does sound convenient! We've been reading the guidelines for self-moving and they make it seem so complicated! Adina, do you remember it being a big hassle to get all the paperwork done? Do you feel like you actually made money? I don't want to not try just because it's confusing when it really probably isn't that hard... so I don't know. Oh yeah, one more thing. I've had family in town for the last week and half so I never got around to blogging about our awesome new Odyssey!! Tom probably told you all but we ended going with a 2007, navy blue with the DVD player for the kids and the Nav system for Tom. It's truly an amazing vehicle, I love it! If it ever stops raining we'll get it washed and will take some pictures for you!

Have a great Monday!




Tracey

I am pretty sure that this is absolutely the longest I have gone without blogging. It has been a very busy first quarter of the year. Where to start? January is pretty much a wash, I cannot remember a thing but I think I blogged then. I can start in February.

The officers of the squadron went on a trip to visit the Apache (Attack helos) battalion here in Germany. We didn't get to fly, but we did spend a lot of time flying the simulator which is a full mock-up. They (aviators) acted as the ground guys (us) and we flew in support of them. It was a great way to get a reverse perspective on using attack helicopters to support your ground maneuver. If you are wondering how we all didn't crash...well the second seat guy was a real pilot and had controls also. However, I must toot my horn and say that I successfully flew mine all by myself on two attack runs and into a hover, they were pretty impressed. All that simulator time at home:-) It was very enlightening though, as those pilots have an incredible amount of information to manage in that cockpit and with that helmet on and the reticle thing over the eyes for the heads up display... just a huge amount of information. It is easy to see why they want you to stay calm and keep it simple while you are on the radio with them...so they can actually help.

Next we went to a large training area south of here for a little over two weeks for a major exercise. Our main mission was to actually support the combat aviation guys we had worked with on that trip along with all their cargo and personnel carrying helos. So our squadron had our own training integrated with theirs. It was very cool, and I really wanted to be a company commander instead of a staff guy planning it all. I got to see a lot, I just didn't get to play as much as the guys in command right now. Very soon I will get to. It was all Army advertisement level stuff...as in helicopters everywhere and vehicles jumping berms with soldiers raiding mock cities, big booms going off. Pretty motivating. Anyway, very worthwhile training for all but the truth was I sat behind a computer planning the missions most the time.

I got back on a Thursday and the following Monday I was told I would have to report back to the same training area Wednesday to be a company commander evaluator for a unit going to war doing their final evaluations. It was to be until April 6, right before Mom and Dad get here...joy. So, I am on my second day down there going through some train-up...I get out of the shower and the cell phone rings. It is Brooke crying, the girls are screaming and Brooke is saying that Ellyn has had a seizure. I told her to take her into the Amberg clinic right away and that I would try to meet here there (It was halfway between the two of us). I called my boss and told him what was going on , he just said "go!". So I met Brooke at the hospital. Initial assessment by the physician on duty was that this was just an isolated event, maybe caused by many of the infections going around here lately. Ellyn was relatively happy, and they wanted them to spend the night at the hospital for a few more tests. So I left to go back up to the house to get Brooke an overnight bag together thinking that I will drop it off and return to my assignment. Then, at the house I get another call from Brooke...Ellyn had had two more "grand mal" seizures in the hospital and that a neurologist was with her. So the rest of the long story short: Ellyn has epilepsy and autism OR epilepsy and brain problems related to the epilepsy that have caused symptoms of autism and misdiagnoses, I was able to get out of the 3 week assignment thanks to a very concerned and gracious supervisor, and we are home now with everybody after they stayed in the hospital for a week. Ellyn is still very sore as a result of the spinal tap she received Tuesday. Reading online I have discovered that severe headaches, back ache, and nausea are all part of recovering from one. She threw up last night, but not since. The nerve racking thing is that the Valproic Acid she must take for the epilepsy (to stop seizures..it has worked since day1) can also cause liver failure in rare cases. The doctor told us to watch for changes in behavior...yeah well good luck when Ellyn is feeling like this. They did test her blood for the first 6 days of taking the medicine and saw no reaction, so I am just paranoid right now. The good news is that Ellyn still maintains her sweet smile almost all the time.

Brooke is feeling a lot better. The nausea and morning sickness seem to be wearing off OR she is so selflessly involved in being the great Mom she is that she has completely forgot how she feels herself. I think it is the latter.

Jane and Sadie are coping well. It was fun hanging out with Dad for a week but they are glad to have Mom back. They do miss the 2330 bedtime and ice cream for breakfast! Sadie especially like the movie "Dummy and Dumberer"

Tom- "chachito" wrote me on boardgamegeek and said he had been assigned to Bamberg. They will actually be in our Stake. I speak up there in May. Anyway, I wrote him back and answered his initial questions. Let him know he is free to ask me whatever, I will try to get the answer.

As for entertainment, I am running Windows Vista now and getting used to it. Everything seems to work just fine even if it is all a blatant rip off of Mac OSX. Dave, Supreme Commander is out now and I have no one to play. It is exactly everything you would want in a Total Annihilation sequel ...go spend 3 grand on a supercomputer and get ready to play in all your free time. Seriously, if anyone in the fam has a rig with the horsepower to play this thing, I would love to face off. The computer is pretty stupid and easy to beat, just like the original game. We continue to entertain ourselves with Battlestar, Lost, and the Office. American Idol is impossible because there is too much news available too quickly...i.e we know who the winner is well before the show. So do not worry about spoilers on the blog. We have not had a lot of time for boardgames with the busy schedule. I hope to get in some this weekend, and especially when Mom and Dad are here. On that note, here is a rough outline of our schedule:

7 APR: Pick up from the Airport, eat dinner at a local German place near Vilseck, let Mom and Dad get over jet lag.

8 APR: Church, drive around to see sites in the local area, hang out at home.

9 APR: Prague day trip.

10-11 APR: Salzburg, still need to figure out where we are going to stay, drive to Venice.

11-12 APR Venice, drive home night of the 12th.

13 APR Regensburg day trip, eat dinner in Pottenstein

14 APR Local sites

15 APR Airport

Other options are Munich, Berlin, Castles, Nurmeberg...we need Mom and Dad feedback on what they want to see.

Anyway, the family is awake now so I am going to sign out.

Love you all,

Mike

Dave got me this card in Vegas - this lemur is doing a trademark Dave dance move. Really.

Anyway - we are headed to Yakima to hang out with Brian & Paige and their brood for the weekend. I'm really looking forward to it - Dave's weekends have been filled with scouts and work trips and we really do have to leave town to get quality time with him. And with baseball season in full swing, our weekends will be pretty busy for a while.

Quick update:
Isaac's team is the Zephyrs - he's in 'the majors' now - so it's pretty competitive. He is playing with contact lenses instead of glasses and sees much better. And I don't have to fret over broken or lost glasses. Guitar is going great - although he may be growing out of his current guitar.
Tay is the entrepreneur of the family. He is convinced that he can make greeting cards and sell them to Target for 'hundreds of dollars'. He also wants to knit hats and sell them. Not interested in baseball this season. It may have to do with getting hit in the face for the first pitch of his first game last season - just didn't start the season well.
Parker is on the Mariners. He is one of the smallest on the team - a team made up of 7 and 8-year olds. He's pretty good, though - hits the balls and fields well - he's just not very fast. He must be so tired of hearing his coaches tell him to HUSTLE!
Morgan just finished dance. One less thing to do during the week. Her current fixations include knitting and Edward Scissorhands. She loves Edward.

Dave is ever busy with work, conferences, and scouts. They just hired a new front office person - she seems really nice and well qualified. We painted his office last week and he got his new office furniture. He'll have to post some before and after photos - what a difference.

My time is full, to say the least, with the kids' stuff and my own Webelos group. I manage to find time to train, which has been nice. I have the motivation and the desire, I lack the time. But I have been running three days a week, cross-training two days, and strength training one day each week. I'm still very nervous about a half-marathon...

We're glad Ellyn is home - she is in our thoughts and prayers. Congrats to T'nT on the upcoming girl - we are very happy for you.

Lots to do - so more later.
Love to all.
Adina

Just a note to let all know that Ellyn came home today...a little miserable because all of the poking and prodding!!

Anyway, I'll let Mike and Brooke fill in any details. I just know that you all are interested in her progress!

Love,
Mom

Danica and I officially win the contest! We are having another darling little girl! Hayden and Tom are excited but a little bit nervous about being out numbered. We took Hayden to the ultrasound with us and he was really funny about it. He has been very open about hoping it was a boy and on the way he said "Something tells me it's a girl!" Then when we got home I told him he could go and tell my mom and brother who are here visiting and he said "Well, maybe the doctor was wrong!" I assured him the doctor wasn't wrong (two different doctors looked and I saw the picture myself) so then Hayden decided that was okay and he said "One day when you're not looking, I'm going to sneak in and steal the new baby to be on our team!" He's very adamant that Danica is already on his team. I don't think he minds having another sister since he loves Danica so much I think he just wanted the boys team to win! Hooray for the girls!!

I've been waiting for your news on the blog......

Love,
Mom

Hey Family,

So we are ALL moved into our home and tonight will be our first night in it. Mom is very happy because the cats are out of her home and she will have a much longer life of the cords in her house unless Dad goes to town (I know it was really you Dad and not the cats) Anyhow our address once again is:

5312 NE 54th St
Vancouver, WA 98661

And our new phone number in the home is 360-852-8172. The house is great and my back is very happy that all the moving is done. Thanks Dave for all the help you gave me. I couldn't have done it with out you. Oh wait, thats right you were gambling in Vegas. Hehe!! I know you would have loved to have helped. Love you all and we are thinking of Ellyn. Happy St Patty's Day!! Oh and Marnie you suck!! Sure you don't know what you are doing, loser.

I spoke to Mike today and since he and Brooke are pretty ragged...but I know all of you want to know what is happening...here is the update. Hopefully it is accurate! Ellyn is on an epilepsy medication that seems to be controlling her seizures. The doctors there are doing extensive testing on her to ensure her previous diagnoses were correct. She should be coming home from the hospital on Wednesday.

Jane and Sadie are having a tough time since they witnessed the first seizure. Very hard for them! Please keep them all in your prayers! I know we all love them all so much.

Mom

I just received the call. The house is officially recorded and is ours. I am going over right now to get the keys in my hands. But it feels good to have the whole process finally complete and to know we are officially homeowners and can have our own place. So now comes the fun part. Unpacking all our stuff that has been in storage.
On a second note please pray for Ellyn, I spoke to Mike today and she is or was in the hospital due to seizures. They are doing tests but Mike said they think she is epileptic. That is about all I know but please pray for her along with the fast on Sunday.

Sorry I missed last week! Oh well...

Tuesday night was the first performance of the top 12. Results tonight! Everyone put your thoughts/opinions in the comments. Be warned - there will be spoilers there so don't look until you have seen the performances!

Not that I don't love seeing the very, very cute pics of Andrew and Melia (I have showed them off to many of my friends) but I felt it was time for me to blog again.

This last weekend I saw 300 in Irvine at the IMAX. It was pretty amazing. For those of you that wish to see it, it is well worth it. Beautiful movie, really good story. I also got to spend some time with Matthew and Michelle in LA for Matthew's birthday which was fun. Although everytime I go up there I realize how much I don't think I could ever live up there...too many people thinking they are better than everyone else...I mean, it is nice to see the cool clothes, interesting ways people present themselves but all in all it just seems exhausting to care that much about what others think all the time. Plus there are just too many people there in general. And you thought the traffic in San Diego was bad...

But I am back in San Diego now where it is starting to actually feel like Spring. It has been a little foggy the past couple of days but it is getting to the high 70s and low 80s so that is nice. I am very much enjoying the time change. It gives me a lot more time after work to get things done and to exercise outside. I continue to do most of my runs at the beach, usually going from Solana Beach to just about Torrey Pines and back. Yesterday the tide was too high so I had to rough it on the treadmill but I think that tonight I may go to the beach again. I found a great place for my key (not on my tire, Tom, are you crazy?)...if I just take it off the keyring it fits in the upper arm pocket in my jacket with my iPod Shuffle. Much easier to run that way.

As for work - at GTI I am hard at work with a new revision of one of our programs. It is the program for improving yourself and your relationships with others by learning how to communicate and fulfill your needs more effectively. It hasn't been revised since the late 80s/early 90s so there is a lot of work to do. Luckily we are staying with the same format as the last two programs I have revised since being here (the parenting program and the one for teachers). It is nice to start the revision though. This is an older company whose hayday was in the 70s and 80s so many of the quality programs just haven't been updated (some still aren't even in the computer!) and so they don't match...so it is nice to have a clear 'brand image' for everything so it all looks like it belongs together. I think it will greatly improve the quality and quantity of courses taught in the future. Good stuff to be doing and it keeps me busy. I get to read through the articles while I am editing them and there is some really good stuff in there.

I am very excited for LOST tonight. Should be a good one. I am hoping that we learn more than what I already know we will find out (stinkin' spoilers...too tempting).

Oh - also - this is mostly just for Brooke but I am just going to put it here anyway...I want to make curtains for my bedroom/apt and I was wondering if, in your immense free time ;), you could send me the instructions for how you made the ones in Mom's kitchen? No rush. I just noticed the material that I bought months ago to make them and I need to actually do it. Thanks!

So Melia had her 4 month well baby check up today and she is definitely a Well baby! She weighed in at 17 pounds and 27 inches long!!! Both 100 percentile for her age. She is growing fast! She already is rolling from her back to her stomach and stomach to back. She tries to get on her knees but her arms are not strong enough. We are working with her sitting up in her Boppy. She already wearing 6-12 months in all her clothes. Good thing we got her a 12 month bathing suit for the summer! Everything is going great with her. We will be adding in some rice cereal this week a couple of times a day. Everything is going so fast, its crazy.
On to other things, We have to be out of our apartment that we are in currently by March 31, but we aren't exactly sure when we are getting into our new apartment. We know it will be towards the beginning of April because that is when school gets out and we are number 4 on the waiting list. We are trying to get a hold of the manager, but it is getting difficult. Very frustrating!
Treven and I went to Boise this last weekend. I went on Wednesday night and Treven came on Friday. The Rascal Flatts concert was on Thursday night and Anne and I went for our birthdays. Thank you again Mom and Dad! It was tons of fun! Anne and I feel like we are old ladies though.... We left early because my back was hurting me and Anne's leg was hurting her. We left at like 10:30 so it was close to finishing. We also wanted to get out early because there were a whole lot of drunk people that we didn't feel like being on the road with. We had fun the rest of the weekend hanging out with Anne, Peter and Andrew. Melia and Andrew had fun together, Anne will need to post the pictures of them. We played Shadows over Camelot which I loved and Play nine which was fun! Anne and Peter, Treven is frustrated because of how much luck is involved in that game.. haha.
Treven and I only have about 3 weeks left of this semester which seems crazy but true. Can't wait for a little bit of a break. I will be putting in my 2 weeks with Melaleuca in about a week and a half. I am doing Fast grad now and have to take 15 credits a semester which with the 12 I have now I am busy so Treven and I think it is best for me to put in my 2 weeks and not work for a while. I found out I can walk at graduation before I do my student teaching. So I will most likely do that so I will be graduating in July of 2008. So nice to see that I will be finished in a year. There is an end!!
Anyway, that's all for now! I was doing well with walking/running until I got sick so I will have to start it again soon! And you guys will have to harass Anne for the pictures of Andrew and Melia. I didn't have my camera!

Love you all,
Kimberly

First, I wanted to remind all of our fast this Sunday for Ellyn. Both Brooke and I feel that we should exert all of our faith to help Ellyn learn and progress, especially that she can learn to speak to communicate to all of us. Faith can do miracles...they sometimes happen slowly and not instantly (patience is not one of my greater virtues!!!) Therefore, we are anticipating having a special fast like this about every 3 months...We appreciate all who will participate!!!

An except from Brooke's posting on the Bennett site (it makes her sick to sit too long at the computer screen!)...

I'm feeling better most of the time now. I still feel really bad when I don't have food in my stomach and now that I'm not throwing up half of what I eat I am beginning to increase my poundage. I am not feeling at all attractive, just ponchy and pastey. I should have left my hair long because now if I don't do it, which is most of the time, it-I- look like crap. I am still trying to play catch up on the house because I still don't have alot of energy and it is pretty well zapped by my lovely and demanding children. Let me pause here to say however that Jane has been my lifesaver. There had better be a special place in Heaven for oldest children (I will be there too of course). She has really been an amazing help and I am so proud of her for stepping up and doing so much without complaint (much anyway). She is such a cutie, as are my others, just much less helpful. Mike got home from two weeks in the field on Wed. last week and yesterday morning they told him at work that he is needed to fill a captain slot for the rest of this month and part of April. Let me tell you that I am not at all pleased. I think he might have secretly bribed them to take him away. My wife goes to bed at 9, she is getting fat, she never feels good, my house is a mess, when I'm home I have to do extra work... You know something along that line.

Back to Barb....
I am sure that Mike did not volunteer for it with the sound of his voice yesterday...he is not very happy about it!!!!

I am starting to do a bit more work again. I am going over to the Tri-Cities on Thursday...staying with Melody and John overnight and coming back on Friday afternoon. Hopefully, that will not make me quite so exhausted!!! I need to be more in touch with what is happening over there so I can be of more assistance.

Other than that, I have been busy trying to get the countertops arranged. They have been scheduled to have the template measured on the 5th...the day before we leave for Germany. Then they will be installed on the 19th...three days after we return. That will help since our kitchen will be TOTALLY unusable during that time. My big problem has been to get someone to reasonably remove the old countertops and two cupboards. I had two quotes that ranged from $1100 to $1800 but I'm still looking for something a little more reasonable but still qualified! Kim suggested calling LDS Employment Services and I already have a couple of leads so hopefully I'll be able to find something that works.

After we get the countertops in, we then need to select and arrange for the backsplash...then the bookcases and the painting. So our house will be in a fair amount of disorder from the beginning of April probably through June...If it happens faster than that, I will be delighted!!!!

I've been trying to keep up my exercise schedule. Yesterday, I did 1 1/2 miles on the Elliptical, 2 miles on the Treadmill, Curves and then in the afternoon I ran/walked 3 1/2 miles on the path in the Salmon Creek Preserve. Today, I did my Yoga (1 hour) then I went to Isaac's spelling bee...unfortunately he was out in the first round along with most of the other kids. I know he knew how to spell the word but that microphone and nerves took their toll. As all of you know from my disastrous family Jeopardy experience...I don't think well under pressure either. However, Isaac still has two more years to try. The pool of students was from 6th to 8th grades so he was one of the youngest! Quite an honor to just be part of the group in 6th grade!!!

I then have sat through a meeting from my work and I'm going out to lunch with Maylene Perkins now. I think when I get home from that, I may dress down and go to Curves and then try the run in Salmon Creek Preserve again...we'll just see how energetic I feel!!!

Love you all,

Mom

Hey Family and Friends,

I know Dave has signed up but anyone else who wants to have some fun with the NCAA basketball tourney go to:

http://fantasysports.yahoo.com/

and sign up for the Tournament Pick 'em

Join a custom league
league# 58975
password: brent

Let's have fun with this. IT IS FREE!!!!

Entries MUST be in by Wednesday Night!!!

It is almost completely official (with the exception of no keys in our hands yet)! Today Brent and I went down to the title company and signed our lives away. It actually couldn't have worked out better. We were told we might be able to sign stuff today but had to wait for the title company to call us. So Brent went to work hoping that he could take a long lunch and go down around 3:30 to the title place. And at about 1pm, they called and I asked if today could be possible and they said "how about 3:30?". How perfect right? So after Brent got there about 15 minutes late due to an extended work conference call, we both signed our names a gazillion times and then off he went back to work. Then I walked over to our bank which just happened to be right next door to get the cashiers check to give to the title company. Might I also mention that it was sunny and warm outside which made things even nicer. When I got back to the building, there was a huge gift basket on the reception desk for us from our broker. All I can say is that things worked out great. I'm saving the basket to put inside the house (superstition or something).
So we will get the keys probably on Wednesday so we can start painting the living room and put up blinds before we move stuff in.
That's all folks and I'm glad you think the place looks bigger than when framed. I do have to add a few things about the video though. 1) I kept giggling in it and I want you to know that Kenn was being very silly off camera and I came off looking like I was giggling stupidly for no apparent reason. 2) It is funny how Brent's view of the house is so different from mine with our height difference. To me the video looked down on everything and never showed a ceiling or the tops of windows etc. Not so with my view of the world :).
Anyway, that's the official update for now.
Buffy

Hey Family,

The walk thru went great and we will be signing the papers on Monday or Tuesday, then get our keys on Thursday. We will then be doing some painting and putting in of blinds and other things On Thursday and Friday. Finally ending with moving all of our stuff including our new couch and loveseat (No help from Dave, hehe) Dave will be in Vegas!!!! We also are getting a new dining room table so Kim or Anne if you guys would like our first come first serve. We will post some pictures later today so you all can see the almost final project. Thanks for all of the interest. And "Mi Casa es su Casa" came and visit.

We are dying to hear how the walk through went! Please let us know!!

Tom and Tracey

Mike and Brooke,

Is there a way that you could call me and Anne? We ran into some cheap tickets through Lufthansa. They have a new route from Denver to Munich and tickets are as low as $481/person. It's hard to pass up a deal like that. We have been playing around with some different dates and would like to see if any of them would work for us to come and visit. We don't want to be a burden by visiting during a bad time. Some time in April is the window we are looking at such as the 5th to the 18th. Let us know,

Peter and Anne

We miss you. Hope to see you, Peter and Andrew here sometime.

Love, Mike and family

I hope you have a great one!

Love, Marnie