I am up for August 6th for two reason. Buffy and I could be there. Labor Day Weekend I can not get off and Thanksgiving is a definate no. So if Kim wants us there sorry but it would have to be in August or January nowhere in between. Remember I work retail.

Thanks
Brent

Actually Mike doesn't graduate till the 29th, plus I want to stop in New Orleans, visit our house in Oklahoma, see our friends in Mississippi and my brother in Denver, my aunts in Utah. So...Kim, I thought you could maybe just wait until Labor Day weekend or Thanksgiving. You know, whenever there's a break for everyone that's in school. I mean, you are going to be together for ETERNITY, what's the rush? Ten years from now a few months isn't going to matter. I just have waaay too much sightseeing planned to fit in a wedding. Give it some thought. Love, Brooke

I thought Itazuke airport might be the name for Nagasaki, but I asked Hitomi-san at work and she said that it is the old name for Fukuoka airport. She said she thought it was a domestic airport in Fukuoka near the airport or something. I will find out more. If it is in the Fukuoka area, it should be fine. I just think it strange that they have to change a flight from the huge Fukuoka airport to some smaller airport 1 month before it even arrives.

Dave

Well, I've been waiting to have some time to tell you all about the cruise. You've seen the pictures but maybe a narrative would be interesting. I'm hoping to have time today to label the pictures so we don't forget who the people and places are.

To address a few questions....Dad did say "Yes". Also, apparently Mike and Brooke have some problems with July 30 as a wedding date. Mike finishes his advanced course on July 27 and they will be driving cross country---assuming they get Ft Lewis. What does August 6 look like for all of you? Is there anyone who could NOT make that? They could perhaps have it in the middle of the week but that would make it harder for many around here. Please let Kim and me know ASAP.

First...our everyday life. Things are going well for Dad at work. He had a conversation with an oral surgeon in Portland the other day about a patient and he discussed our decision on the practice. It turns out that that oral surgeon (at 53) is considering getting a younger oral surgeon in to take over the practice and going to work for Willamette or similar organization to reduce stess in his later years. Willamette does look better and better....some frustrations but a minimum of worries!!!

I am still sort of looking for a job. It has been discouraging. I think I may go to LDS Employment for help revising my resume and cover letters. They don't seem to be inspiring any great interest. I think I have a couple of things working against me...my short tenure with WestFarm Foods does put up a red flag, I've now been unemployed for six months, and my salary and level with my last two positions is pretty high...not too many jobs come available at those levels. I don't care about going down a bit in salary and level for the right job but they usually look at your resume and figure that you are overqualified and toss it. I may do some temporary work just to keep myself in the market but will not pursue that until after our trip to Japan when I will be home more. In the meantime, my life is filling up....Yesterday, I had a busy day. I had signed up for some volunteer time at the temple so I went down early to do a session and then spent my afternoon doing dishes in the cafeteria. I certainly have clean hands now!!!! It was hard work and I slept well last night for sure! Then last night I had a book club at our house. We discussed Jane Eyre and had a great turnout...9 sisters which is about the right size group. Our next book will be "The Secret Life of Bees". I think I loaned that to one of you but I'm not sure....did I? If so, have you finished it and can you send it back? I can get a new one if I have just lost it...can't remember what happened to it. I've been exercising each weekday morning at Curves which gives me a lot more energy too...and hopefully will help me lose weight. That both Dad and I need to do badly! We are doing better and have each lost some cruise weight already.

I am going up to Utah and Idaho next Wednesday through Sunday. I'll spend Weds and most of Thurs with Martha working on family history. On Thursday, I'll go up to Rexburg for the BYU-Idaho mother's weekend with Kim. Speaking of Family History, I am starting to print off the archive so we can have a hard copy in a binder for posterity's sake. It gives sort of a running family history.

I love Adina's idea of just writing about your "dull" day to day happenings. Remember...they are not dull to anyone but you. Dad and I love to hear about the ups and downs of your lives as do your brothers and sisters.

I've been writing this as I have been waiting for United Air Lines to clear up some confusion on our trip to Japan...I still want to write about our trip and will put another posting in after I go and exercise. This one is probably as long as you want to read in one post!!!!

We love you,

Mom

Hey Guys,

Buffy and I finally had a land line put in the house. The number is 661-222-9388. I should have xbox live up and running by next week. Kim, I also want to know if Dad said "YES".

See Ya
Brent

Hey Guys,
Buffy and I finally had a land line hooked up at the house. The number is 661-222-9388. And Kim I would like to know if Dad said yes also.

See Ya
Brent

Kim,

So did Dad say yes?

Dave

Hey everyone!
So all is well here in San Diego. The weather is getting better. Well, it is always good but now it isn't raining. It is getting to that time of year when it is cold enough to where a jacket or long sleeves in the morning but then it gets to warm for a jacket by noon. Very annoying when you are at school as those of you that went to school down here remember. But I guess it could be worse. I don't have much to complain about.

I continue to keep my eye out for apartments and try to figure out what I will be able to afford. I am pretty much set on trying to live by myself. I am pretty sure I can do it. Probably just in a studio apartment but that is all that I need. I just don't like the hassle of roommates and it should only be a little bit more to get a place for myself.

Work is good. I am still at Sport Chalet and my internship. My internship is definitely a learning experience. I do something different everyday I am there. On Monday I edited a phone greeting (on hold music and vocals...thank you for calling blah blah blah...that stuff) and worked on my website. On Wednesday I had to write a script for a phone greeting for a vending machine company...weird...but I did it and was praised for it. Chad (my boss) said that is was really really good and he was very happy with it. That is always nice to here. Especially when I was having a not-so-creative day on Monday. It was good to know that I could come back and perform. I need to start sending out feelers for jobs in advertising when I graduate and hopefully I will get a job set up before I graduate so I know what I can do apartment-wise. That would be awesome.

Things are going well with Matt. We are both ridiculously busy; him especially. He just started a third job. He is riding petty cabs (the bike cab things) downtown on Friday and Saturday nights to pick up some extra cash for bills and stuff. So that in addition to working 9-5 mon-fri at the letterpress print shop and in the bike shop at Sport Chalet about 4 nights a week and training for triathlons makes him a busy, busy man. But I do get to see him sometimes. It is nice that we work together a lot at the Chalet so I see him there. And the print shop is pretty chill so when I get a chance I can go hang out there with him and his brother, Tim. So good but busy.

School is great. I have my two important midterms next week. So I guess it is good that Matt is busy so I can concentrate and get some studying done! I have to present my group's new product for my advertising campaigns class on Thursday. We had to develop a new lotion so we came up with one designed for men called Chrome. It comes in a silver "chrome" bottle that is shaped kinda like a rectangular box. It is pretty cool. The second half of the semester is coming up with the advertising. This half has just been the product and research. The second half will be much more fun. Only 9 weeks left of school!! Whoopee!! I can't wait.

Well sorry I decided to go off and bore you all with my life stuff but there you have it. I love you all and really enjoy reading all of the details and stories about your lives. It makes me feel like I don't live so far away from you all! Love you!

Marnie

Hey everybody,
I am doing good up here in Idaho. If all of you didn't know already, Treven did ask Dad for "my hand in marriage". We have already made the temple date. It is on July 30th, 2005 in the Portland Temple at 10 am. Very excited! He still hasn't proposed and I don't know when... sometime this month or when I go home during the winter/summer break. Peter I was wrong about this weekend... oh well!
We still haven't found out if Treven has got in to BYU-I. Still says that they are reviewing everything so we will still wait! I didn't get my acceptance until end of March last year. So maybe then. If he doesn't get it we will just move to Vancouver and go to Clark. Classes are going well. I have 6 weeks left of classes... thank goodness.. I miss home a lot! I did start a new class on the block. The "Preparation for Eternal Marriage" class. I am loving it. Very good teacher.
Also the sun has come up here in Idaho! It is 58 average this week. SO NICE! Different from the ice world before. So Mom don't bring too warm of clothes next week.
That's about all from this past week... Love ya all!
Kim

Ok, Brent and I have become very good buddies with our upstairs neighbors who are LDS as well and have a ten month old boy named Alexander. We've really enjoyed having neighbors that we hang out with all the time, play games, go out, drive to church together etc. One of the funnest things is our verson of the old "stone soup" idea where we get home from church, discuss what we each have in our perspective pantries and put together a great mish mosh of a dinner. For me, a non-cooker, this is the best invention ever... I highly recommend it!
Also, we have a new favorite board game that I would recommend to anyone... Settlers of Catan. I have no idea if any of you have heard of it, but it is only sold at specialty game and hobby stores (or online I'm sure). Basically, it's a strategy game that will be a completely different game every time you play it. Also, you can purchase expansion packs to make the board game itself fill up an entire kitchen table. Anyway, we are definitely hooked and are sure you would like it (mostly for big kids and adults).
Have a good weekend everybody!

Alright, I agree with Adina. I really enjoyed reading about their daily life, plus I feel like I get to know my niece and nephews better. So here's our mundane- Mike just started Captain's course. So far it is just signing in and briefs at odd hours so he and our friend Ryan are hanging out at the house alot. It's nice to have him home. Our dog is still scared to death of him and I know you are all thinking, "Of course she is, it's Mike." Honestly though, Mike has never been anything but nice to Bailey, it's just that she is not very used to him and so yesterday while I was gone he wanted to bring her in from the porch to hang out with him. She freaked out, ran in and tinkled on the rug (I was so happy she had gone through all her potty training without wetting on the rug). So Mike puts her on her leash to take her to the back yard while he cleans up. She twists out of her collar and jumps in the driver seat of our neighbor's Expedition just as she is about to climb in. Bailey won't budge and Mike won't go near for fear she'll go to the bathroom again. Janis and her daughters have to coax Bailey out. Mike will be leaving Bailey on the porch from now on. Bailey does fine if Mike comes home while we are all hanging out, he just can't approach her for about half an hour.
Meanwhile, the female members of our family are at YW and Activity Days. The YW are learning about missionary work and for fun are practicing door approaches. Sadie comes up to me and knocks on my chair. I say "yes?" She's holding a black Book of Mormon. She says "I have a book for you." and with big eyes she says "it's black, ...it's scary." It was very funny. Jane decided she wanted to memorize the 13th Article of Faith last night so she did. I left to go walking and Mike let her read for a little while and this morning she surprised me with the whole thing. Smart cookie. Sadie has done so well after having her tonsils removed. She has never complained. She is such a sweetheart. You know she's not quite up to snuff though because she's not nearly as energetic as usual. Ellyn is almost 13 mos. with no sign of walking in sight. She will stand but if you try to take a step with her she goes down to her knees. If you try to stand over the top of her and walk with her, holding her hands, she pulls her feet up and laughs. She's not ready to give up being the baby. Basically, these girls keep us happy and laughing every day. Okay, hopefully I didn't bore you.
Brooke

I think this blog will be more of a success if we don't assume we have to have some amazing news or information to share in order to blog. I, for one, am perfectly happy reading about the mundane and everyday happenings in your lives. So, that's my theory and I am running with it...
For instance, today:
Isaac has decided to do his upcoming science fair project on the effects of coffee, tea, soda, milk and water on human teeth. Kind of gross, but should be interesting.
Taylor has the most interesting after-school snacks: Cream of Chicken soup and hard-boiled eggs. Whatever.
We cleaned the church tonight as a family and while we were there, Parker took a break, picked up the phone in the foyer, and said, "Hello? Oh, Hi Jesus. We're just cleaning your church."
After cleaning the church, we went to dinner at CoCo Ichibanya - the kids' favorite place. Morgan was frustrated at some point during the dinner and went to hit Parker, only to miss and hit his half-eaten plate of curry rice and milk. Of course, it landed right on Dave. I really had to stifle the laugh there and I didn't do a very good job of it.
There - that was our mundane day. Would love to hear about yours!
Adina

I'm not going to do an official blog update today. I'll spread it out so we don't "fall into the same trap." However, I do want to wish Brent and Anne a Happy Birthday. I hope you both have alot of fun and don't just waste the day working or doing school work. As I always say "work Shmirk." Now while I ALWAYS accuse Adina of being an overacheiver NOONE can EVER say that about me, so follow my example and enjoy the day. We love you both.

Brooke

Happy Birthday Brent! We hope you have a good one.

We are doing well here in Provo. Just going on with normal day to day life. Peter's interview last thursday with Shannon & Wilson in Washington/Oregon went extremely well and we are crossing our fingers about the job in Portland. We love you all and miss you all very much.

Love, Anne and Peter

Taking Adinas lead would have really involved witing a few days then making a post. All we are doing now is falling into the same trap that we had before. If there was a post a day that would be ideal, but, not happening. So, I will continue the tradition of feast or famine and I will post. So there is little sign that there is going to be a spring here in Cleveland. It is snowing today and it has just been really cold. We just went on spring break so we will be going to a waterpark in sandusky tomorrow, so that should be fun. We will see how much there is to do. We have all become big Indians fans so we are very excited for the season to start. Just thinking about it brings the hope for warm summer evenings. We really do love the summers here, they at least balance out the horrible winters. Having said that, this one has not been too bad, just long. And when they are long, you start to get tired of them. As for my life, Dental school is fun. We are really getting busy now as we prepare to go down to the clinic where the real fun begins(as fun as it can get with somebody constantly looking over your shoulder). But, that is what I need right now. I just envy the day that I understand what to do, why to do it, and when to do it, like Dave and Dad. So, that will come with time. Speed will also come with time. Other than that, not much to say. Hayden is just growing up and he cracks us up everyday, doing new things, saying new words and sentences. I will go for now, but perhaps tracey and blog in a few days. TOM

Ok, so I guess I'll post as well.... plus I am very tired of studying for pharmacology so this is a good excuse to take a break! As I mentioned, I have been heavy into exams and won't see the other side of them for a couple weeks. But I did just learn how to manipulate the thoracic spine today in lab so now I'm taking victims... er volunteers to practice on!!
I just joined a gym last week and took a kickboxing cardio class on Saturday that wiped me out and made me feel muscles I didn't know could be so sore... I can't wait till next week's class! And I am going to help out a local high-school's colorguard team through the end of their spring season for fun and extra cash.
Brent is still in his pre-training phase for the marathon and is trying to keep up with the schedule. I just visited him at his store this weekend and the employees all seem to really enjoy working for him... I'm very proud!
Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well and thank you for all the Birthday wishes for both of us!

Wow, it really is like Adina said. When we blog everyone does but when it goes down it sure goes down. Well just wanted to update. I am at my internship right now and I probably should be working but, hey, I need a break! Things are going well. I am starting to stress or worry I guess about where I am going to live and work in June. It is coming up fast. It feels like it was January just yesterday! I am looking at some apartments in San Diego but it is difficult to figure out how much I will be able to afford when I don't really know where I will be working! I am getting my resume together and starting to research places to send it out to. I need to contact some people in the old PQ ward for some networking so I will rely on you, Mom and Dad, for their info. Hopefully everything will go well with that. Pray for me and I promise I will put in my side of effort. Other than that things are great. I am coming up on midterms in the next couple weeks, STRESS!! I have to start getting on it! But right after that is over I have Spring Break! So I think my friend Nicole is going to come down from Utah to visit. I am trying to convince her to move back to San Diego to be my roommate again but who knows what will happen with that. Anyway, just thought I would send out my part! I hope everyone is well and while I am on here, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENT AND ANNE!!! Have great days both of you!!

--
Marnie

It seems that everyone is either blogging - or no one is. Anyway - time for a little catch up.
Life in Japan is great...had some snow this weekend, but it didn't stick for long. Just long enough for people to get uptight about having to drive to church in 1/2 inch of snow. C'mon, people...
Dave received proofs of the colored phone book ad that will be "published" this summer - made a few changes, but it really makes everything seem surreal seeing his name in the ad. Really cool, though.
Isaac went to Webelos tonight - he enjoys scouting and we hope he goes all the way. He made A/B Honor Roll again and is doing well in school. Still wants to be a Marine, still wants to shoot guns...but also knows his Articles of Faith and bears his testimony in church. It all evens out, right?
Taylor also loves school and reading. He is a Tiger Cub now and loves to have scout meetings like his older brother. Still the teacher's pet, I think. His best friends are the cutest girls in the class. Smart boy.
Parker is anxious to start school and would do so tomorrow if he could. Still eats all the time, but you'd never know it. Favorites are bananas, yogurt, string cheese and apples. Can't get enough of them. All three boys are getting ready for baseball season to start. Besides swim lessons, this will be the last sport they do here in Japan.
Morgan is the diva of the house. Walks around in her pink Dora the Explorer sunglasses...won't tolerate interruptions when she is talking...and makes everyone look at her painted toenails. She drags around a new stuffed animal victim everyday and subjects it to her two-way conversations: "Are you pretty?" "Yes - I am pretty.", etc.
Dave is still training for his marathon - running six days a week, sometimes a mile, sometimes much, much more. He is intent on the marathon this year. As for me, I wish him luck and continue to do my standard 2 or 3 miles...2 or 3 days a week. No marathon in my near future. No one has ever accused me of being an over-achiever!
Anyway - life is busy, but it is good. We look forward to hearing from all of you! Take care!
Adina

Buffy and I were married 1/2/99

Thanks
Brent

Mom and Dad get back on Monday the 7th of March. Just to let you know!
All is well here in Rexburg. Heading down to Provo Friday to visit Anne and Peter. Also Brent and Buffy what was the year of your wedding? January 2nd, 200??? It would help for something I am doing..
Love you all!
Kim