(Copied from a post last night on my blog)

So I just got back from the American Idol Tour concert at the Sports Arena tonight and figured I'll just post now so I don't forget about doing it. The show itself was fun but other than Adam's performance (which was ah-mazing), it was a little meh. I was pleasantly surprised by the performances of Scott and Matt however. They were both quite good -- especially their Billy Joel duet. Adam's set included "Whole Lotta Love", "Starlight" by Muse (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -- I was pretty excited about that one), "Mad World" and a David Bowie medley that included "Let's Dance". All were amazing - just loved it. Kris Allen was also pretty good. I especially enjoyed his ending song of "Hey Jude" - one of my favorites.

After the show was definitely the best part of the night though. Me, my mom & dad and Kristy got to go to a meet & greet with the "idols" along with about 40 other people. We had to wait around for a little bit but we got a chance to take pictures with some of the other contestants and talk to them a little bit. And most importantly we got a chance to talk to Adam for 5 minutes or so. Even that little bit was so awesome. I just love him. Nicest guy ever. So glad he's famous but kinda wish he wasn't just so it was easier to hang out again! We got a few pictures too (shown below) and then got out of the way so his other adoring fans could have a chance to meet him. So fun to see a friend achieve his dreams. I'm so proud of him.

Adam performing the Bowie medley

Kris is so cute and little.

Matt staring me down.

Mom and Dad with Scott -- pretty awesome guy.

I am working on my Shasta book - and need some "Shasta words" for the first page. These are just words or short phrases that help define the week for you, for example: 'cool tub', Bionicles, 'stink-eye', sharpies, clothespins, etc...
If you've got some words for me, I'd love to hear them.

Miss you all -

Adina

We have an apartment and we are moving in on Monday! We got a great deal on it: we get the rest of July RENT FREE, we got 1/2 the moving cost and deposit, we got $100 off rent each month. It has new paint which is like a beige color, not white which I am so happy for, new carpet, new wood floor, washer and dryer, and IKEA lighting! The wood floor is the dining room which the dining room is actually A ROOM! I love the windows. There is a patio and a fireplace and they are completely okay with us hanging our TV up on the wall.

How have things been for me? One word: Busy.

Sinus rhythm again.

*Inability for full grown adults to decide on the temperature and having the nightly debate about the A/C and generator- ALWAYS ending with waking up dad.

*“Escape from Alcatraz”- The heroic efforts of Treven to release the houseboat from the grasp of the mountain and then escape by attempting to swim to the houseboat with the hammer and stake. Good riddance hammer and stake.

*The “Talent” Show”: Yes, those are quotes. However, some of the magic tricks still have me stumped. Turns out the Stinchfield males share the skill of fast water drinking- just open the hatch! But Tom is still the reining champ!

*The Casualties: Ellyn’s foot, Morgan’s head, Brent’s eardrum, infinite sunburns and the mystery bruises in places that we didn’t know we could bruise.

*“I Think I Can, I Think I Can”- The willingness for everyone to give it “one more try” on the wakeboard. There was a lot of success!
*Kiss My Face: Fabulous community showers on the back of the boat and in the lake.

*Barefoot for nearly a week with really clean floors thanks to the baby’s dragging their froggies and blankies.

*The gifts to King Neptune: Peter’s glasses, Mike’s sunglasses, Hayden’s rashguard, Buffy’s sunglasses, Barbs’ sunglasses, Peter’s shoes, Treven’s electric razor, Brent’s eardrum

*Tetris Masters: The ability to use every inch of existing space in the kitchen and everywhere around the boat! We brought on so much stuff it looked impossible but in the end everything had a place!

*Watching “Finding Nemo” and “Blues Clues” AGAIN! Outnumbered! The ratio: 16 kids to 15 adults- 31 people HAPPILY together on a boat! Sweet Dreams!

So Anne played in and ran a 2v2 grass volleyball tournament yesterday at a park next to the high school she coaches at. Me and the boys came later in the day to watch, it was actually a great day with mild temps. I let Andrew play in the cab of the truck while me and Beck were watching Anne play at the court. I looked over to check on him one time and he is getting out of the truck and I thought he was going to come join us. I looked back over and he was standing outside the drivers door and it took me a second to realize that his shorts were dropped and he was finishing a pee. As I realized what he was doing one of the other players asked me if I knew what he was doing and all I could do was shrug my shoulders 'cause damage was done and I can't put too much blame on him. I guess it's hard for a 2 year old to understand that in the middle of Oregon in the desert it's o.k. to pull to the side of the road to releave yourself, but in the parking lot of a park with bathroom facilities it's not o.k. Yes our boy may belong in the country where this is more acceptable. Ahhh parenting, have we missed the mark with this one.

Another funny thing has happened lately. Most of you have probably already experienced this, but it's still funny when it is your own. Andrew was playing Mario Kart and Anne heard him saying, "fricken car, come on" and then I've heard him repeat after I say the same phrase, "Holy Crap". It's one of those moments where you want to laugh but think you probably shouldn't because you may not want them walking around saying that all the time.

This article highlights some of the reasons I am trying it out.

Mike

I don't want to overrun this blog with my Lake Shasta photos and I don't really feel like transferring them over but I posted my favorites from my camera on my blog. You should all check them out and make sure to view them full-size so you can see how awesome they are. CLICK HERE to go to my blog.

I love my camera.

Yes everyone, the title says it all....Peter passed his Professional Engineer License exam with flying colors. I guess all that time away from us at home in order to study was worth it. I am so proud of Peter and the dedication that he had to our family to pass this test the first time. We are so glad we found out in the nick of time, right before vacation. Now we can truly relax on the houseboat. We love you Peter!

-Anne, Andrew, and Beck

Hi everyone!

We are having so much fun here in Vancouver! It's great to see everyone and be in the states. It's a good thing we like Okinawa so much because it's going to be a long two years before we get back here for good! You are probably all ahead of the game and done packing but if not here is a thought I just wanted to throw out. We were strategizing our packing this morning and Tom reminded me of a good idea from last year. I think this is what Adina did last year so she can help us out with the details. Anyway, the idea that you pack clothing that can be left in the car so the houseboat is not as crowded. You can leave half your clothing in the car and switch mid week or some other system you think may work. I think that I will plan to leave our "hotel" clothing and travel days clothing in the car along with an extra outfit or two just in case I need more than think and I will. I plan to take very little clothing on to the boat. As you pack just keep reminding yourselves that all you really need are swimsuits, cover-ups and p.j.'s and undies. It's too hot to wear clothing and you'll just be getting wet again soon. Even when we went for our hike we had to wear swimsuits because we had to get in the water to get off the boat and swim/walk over to shore. And the last thing to remember is that space is crucial! We will need every little nook and cranny we can find on the boat so the less extra we bring the better off we are. It won't be that hard to get back to the car midweek. We will probably go back to the dock for gas, ice cream, to drop off runners or to send someone for more sunscreen in town!

Well anyway, that's the idea! We can't wait to see everyone!

Tracey

It is hard to capture how incredible the view is from the new house. The iPhone camera is pretty weak and lately there have been a lot of clouds. Can you tell we are trying to get you to come visit?

You may soon notice on the right side list of "Our Favorite Blogs" there is a new addition. I've decided to start my own blog - "And so it is..." - to post all my adventures, thoughts and pictures. I'm hoping to update it pretty regularly so feel free to check it out and comment when you feel the urge. :)

Barb and I heard about a Muscle Beach Cruise in Seaside, Oregon some time ago so we signed up for the Inn at Cannon Beach, again, and headed over here two days ago. Today is Sunday and we are headed back in time for church. We would have done that anyway, but to add to our need to return is that on Friday, Barb got a call from our Bishop asking her to take the place of someone who had to bail out of the Sacrament Meeting program. So, with that, she's been writing a talk as well as enjoying the beauty of the Oregon coast. Yesterday, we went to the Muscle Beach Car Cruise in Seaside. This was a collection of big block 60's and 70's cars. We saw them all as they lined Broadway downtown. Barb actually commented that she really enjoyed the walk and seeing cars that she realized she remembers from days gone by. It is interesting how very, very big those engines were when gas was 17 cents a gallon. It didn't matter if the car got around 5-7 miles per gallon. We also visited Ecola State Park in Cannon Beach. It has a wonderful drive through winding, up and down and around trees and shrubs much like driving the Hwy 1 with narrower roads and more trees. Winding up a very nice weekend and anxious to get back to see our family. Mom and Dad

For those who have not sent us your preferred shirts sizes, please do so ASAP. We want to get the shirts done quickly as the trip is creeping in on us. Please identify if it is an Adult or Kid shirt and put the size that you would normally get from the store as far as a t-shirt goes. Please send them to me or to Marnie.

Thanks,
Anne

See if you can find my friend Matthew in these videos...

Mom and I get the 2nd deck; the rest of the boat is for the rest of 'yall. Dad :)

What have I missed the most about the United States? Well, I would say it is family or friends, signs that I can read, easy to navigate streets, less humid weather, Gap, Target or a dozen other things. But apparently, according to the dream I had I miss Costco the most! I dreamed that we got off the plane and went straight to Costco and were running around the aisles and couldn’t decide what to buy!

I feel sad to be leaving behind so many great friends for the entire summer and missing some fantastic snorkeling but I’m too excited for the trip to dwell on it much! To make things easier, we have recently learned the meaning of “rainy season.” I can’t believe there is that much rain in the sky, no wonder it feels like you’re walking through water even when it isn’t raining! It’s been raining non-stop for days and we are going crazy. And when I say rain, I mean RAIN! I finally saw a short break in the rain for this morning from 4-6am so I got up early and went out for a run. (I coudln't handle the treadmill again!) It had clearly just stopped raining and I was three miles from home when it started to pour on me... I might as well have gone swimming I was so wet! I’ve had dozens of errands and such to do so I have been dragging the kids around in the rain. Today we finally took a break from the errands and went to the Discovery Museum at the zoo and got out some energy. Then this afternoon I met up with a lady I visit teach and let the kids run wild at the food court play area. Well, Hayden ran wild, the girls were glued to me. I have been feeling so crowded lately. They fight to sit on me, near me, under my feet when I walk... so we sat at the playgound and they sat on me at the table while I tried to talk. I just keep telling myself to enjoy the phase while they like me...yeah... enjoy it...

One last thing-I hope some of you are planning to keep on your running while we're on the houseboat because I could use some partners. I will be arriving in Utah on July 16th and heading down south to run the Bryce Canyon 1/2 marathon on the 18th. I decided the Deseret News marathon wasn’t for me this year, between Tom being gone, the rain and our fun travel plans including a week on a houseboat, training for a marathon in July just wasn’t going to work for me...excuses, excuses, I know.

Well, I am off to do some packing and laundry and such... I don’t know how to plan for 8 weeks of living and still leave enough room in the suitcase for all the shopping I plan to do!

Well the shopping list is pretty much finished, and other lists have been made that will have the different ingredients for meals. There will end up being one cupboard that has all dinner stuff, one all lunch stuff, and one all breakfast stuff. Also there will be a snack cupboard with the things that everyone can snack on throughout the week.

Others have requested this but I thought I would put out the official request for when everyone is planning on coming and arriving in Redding/Lake Shasta.

Also I am going to be heading down today to buy up some biodegradable shampoo, conditioner, and soap. I know others have bought some as well but I am planning on buying some that everyone can share.

I will be bringing a laundry basket in which we can organize all of the games into and be able to have them all in one spot. I think I will bring one more for kiddie toys and the smaller water toys for easy clean up and storage.

I will emphasize that we do not have a ton of space on the boat and the less stuff you bring the better. If you can get all of your family's clothes, etc into one bag that would be fantastic because that means less space is taken up. I am hoping that we can all work together to keep the boat clean and as open as possible especially on the top deck where most of the kids will be sleeping.

Any other ideas or requests are welcome.

Thanks,
Anne

We have officially chickened out on trying to go Space A, they have cut back on flights and there are so many people PCSing that it's just too risky. Even if we could manage to get ourselves somewhere in the U.S. we'd still have to get to Vancouver and between that airfare, hotels along the way, eating out and the uncertainty it just isn't worth it! We can't wait to get there so we are coming this Saturday. We leave here Saturday at noon, fly to Tokyo, a 2 1/2 hour flight, layover for a few hours and then begin the long flight. It doesn't sound too bad because it's only supposed to be 8 hours 40 minutes, a few hours shorter than coming this way. We arrive on Saturday morning at 9:30am, in Seattle. Flight info: United Flight #876 from Narita airport. I am guessing we'll need a nap that afternoon since we arrive at 2:00am our time...bring on the jet-lag, it will be worth it!

See you soon!