dear Morgan,

I got your letter today. My mom says I can come to the tea party and watch Ariel when we come to Washington. I'm excited about it. I like to come to tea parties. I had surgery today on my foot. I went to sleep and didn't feel anything. I love you and miss you.

love, SADIE

Anyone that is interested in the new Harry Potter movie, this one based on the 5th book, "The Order of the Phoenix" - you should click here and watch the new trailer. It looks SO good!!

Just a quick post since I am at school where there are computer labs! We LOVE our new apartment. Every night Treven and I sit down in our living room and just say to each other how much we love the new apartment. Melia adjusted finally at night. She was in our room the whole time we were living at our friends house so she got used to having us right there. It took two nights, but last night was wonderful! Not only because she slept through the night, but because we were able to sleep on our new memory foam mattress. GREAT NIGHT OF SLEEP! Recommend that mattress... Novaform at Costco. We bought a queen for 500 dollars. We get our internet in tomorrow so I will post pictures then. We have the Kitchen and living room and dining room put together, but our bedrooms aren't. We just got Melia's new crib and dresser so we have to put that together and our room is just... yeah.... Anyway, we will post pictures sometime in this next week!

Brooke and Mike, I am so excited to find out what the gender is. I just hope you don't hold it out too long! Either gender would be wonderful. Adina, I am so excited to have the curry chicken salad. I was making my grocery list and started craving it!

Well off to my last class! Will post pictures soon of both apartment and Melia!

Love,
Kimberly

We have continued to have great weather here since Kenn and Barb left, maybe a bit cooler but sunny and gorgeous. Yesterday was Sadie's dance recital. She was darling, they did a little tap dance to "Good Ship Lollipop" and really did well remembering her steps. She's such a funny kid, there was a group bow at the end and she kept bowing and blowing kisses to the audience.

Well we are moving into our new house in a couple of weeks. It will be worth it, but also a great deal of work. Poor Mike, it is the same week that he takes command. He is going to be very, very busy.

Ellyn had strep this week but is much better now. Jane made Honor Roll which I think is a bit of a miracle considering everything we've dealt with the last few months. I am very proud of her.

Adina, I too think fondly of last summer, I don't know that anything will be able to compare, except that this year I will have Mike. Nights at K&B, sitting and eating on the back deck, fire crackling, kids playing in the yard...Bliss. I will keep an eye out for the letter, I'm sure if it's an invitation Sadie will expect to be there as well.

So when I went in to my Dr. when K&B were here to make sure everything was alright we got a pretty good look at our baby's gender. I have an appt. on Tues, I'll be farther along and it will be a more positive confirmation, but I'd love to hear your opinions.

I'm off to make Sunday dinner. Love, Brooke?

I am a loner. Dave is spending this weekend in Scottsdale, AZ - next weekend in British Columbia. I need a social life that forces me to travel. Right now Dave is reading this blog, shaking his head and saying, "I told you to come with me...but, noooo...you wanted to stay with the kids!" This is true - the kids had a crazy weekend and I had a few commitments of my own, so I stayed home. Believe me, there have been moments this weekend when I have regretted that decision. I do hope to join Dave on some of his excursions later this year. In the meantime, I am anxious for his return tomorrow. We'll be having dinner at K&B's and celebrating Dave's big 33.

Cold, wet baseball games today - but both boys had good experiences, so it was well worth it. Isaac hit a double and his team won their first game. Parker got two hits and a good stop in left field, so he got to take home the 'game ball' - which he is still clutching, even as he brushes his teeth.

Ended the long day with a movie. The kids started it without me and when I came into the room, Parker and Taylor had a place saved for me on the couch. "Mommy - sit here, sit by me!" I felt so loved. But I had to eat dinner first, so as I ate, they kept pleading, "Mom - hurry - come sit down and watch the movie with us!" I was so moved. Finally I finished dinner and sat down between the two boys...only to find an electronic whoopee cushion waiting for me. Ha. Ha. I am so loved.

Time to put the kids to bed and have a few moments peace. Tom - congratulations on being board certified. Big accomplishment. I can't wait to call you 'Doctor'. Brooke - Morgan sent Sadie a card and she is dying to know when you get it...I think she invited her to a 'tea party' and may expect her to show. Kim - hope you love your new place and would love to see pictures - in all your ample time.
Hope everyone is well...
Adina

Well, Dad and I woke up to a frustrating morning today since we went down to exercise at Mavericks and they have, without notice, changed their hours to starting at 8 am on Saturdays...much too late for us! Dad just finished writing a scathing e-mail about the change! So we live and learn. We paid for the entire year because thereby we got a good discount but now that kind of leaves us up a creek! From now on, we just pay month to month even if it is more!!!

We are gradually getting back to the time zone here. The waking up early has been great since I have several things that are early in the morning but I really poop out at night. Last night, however, we were really daring and went out to dinner and to a 10:20 pm movie, The World of Women(maybe I have the title wrong)---good movie, not awesome...just alright. It was rated 4 stars...and PG-13 but had some fairly questionable language and subject matter. I am kind of amazed at our rating system. Brent and Buffy joined us and it was great to see them.

We have our countertops in now...and a sink and stove back! The backsplash still needs to be done so we are going out to get that arranged today. Dad thinks I have bad taste so he has to be with me to choose it. Until that gets done we are still in partial mode since our two cupboards are sitting on the floor in the breakfast nook. We are really happy with our countertops though--they look great!

Otherwise, I have spent most of my week catching up on my work. We have a deadline for several of the curriculum so I have been working hard on them. I am going over to the Tri-Cities on Thursday and Friday this week.

There is not much going on here other than that...I think Kim and Treven are moving in today so as soon as she gets time we will hopefully see some pictures etc.

We had a great time with Mike and Brooke. We love them so much! The area in which they live is just beautiful as you can see in the pictures! I recommend a visit to all!

Love,
Mom

Read it here.

My favorite quote from it:

"If we can't take the time out of our lives to stay a moment and listen to one of the best musicians on Earth play some of the best music ever written; if the surge of modern life so overpowers us that we are deaf and blind to something like that -- then what else are we missing?"

Looks like you all had a great time in Europe. I am sure that everyone here was very jealous of you, I know I was!

I don't remember the last time I posted here so I'll just give the general update. Nothing too out of the ordinary has happened. I am still training and pretty much staying on schedule. My main goal now is to watch my diet and nutrition a little better. I have been kinda slack on that but I think if I eat healthier it will improve my exercise performance that much more. So I have started to use one of those online tracker programs to keep track of what I am eating and how much I am exercising. It helps me to be able to look at the overall day to day and week to week like that.

The picture is of me with Andra (on the left), who's office is directly behind me at work so I work with her a lot, and one of Michelle's friends who doesn't work with us. It was taken at my boss Michelle's wedding reception that was this last weekend. Pretty fun. Got to meet a lot of the people that always call for her and Linda. It was at Linda's house in Leucadia (north coastal SD) which is right on the cliff and has a full ocean view. Pretty amazing. Work itself is good. A little slower this week than it has been recently but I am keeping busy with some housekeeping in the office and among our computer files. A little spring cleaning is always good.

Everyone watch American Idol? I only liked a couple of the performances. Lost is tonight and I don't actually know too many spoilers about what is going to happen so it will be a surprise! I am going over to "The Condo" to have dinner and watch it with some friends. Should be a fun time.

Love the pictures. Andrew is getting so big as are all of M&B's girls. Any and all news is fun to hear/read. Back to cleaning for me! Love you all!

Some from HohenSalzburg

The one photo is underground at the Salzburg salt mine. We were some 250 meters underground and took this wooden slide down to deeper parts of the mine. The 2.5 km tour included traveling across an underground lake on a raft/barge in the dark. Very good tour.

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