Well, don't know if ya'll know, but I think we all have plans to go to my mon's home on Thursday for a bbq (since I last talked to Barb). I thought I would blog it to confirm. If you didn't know, my mother lives in good 'ol Washougal on the Washougal river (her backyard). We can bring swim suits to either play in the river which is a very popular summer-time spot or go in her hot tub. It is very shallow right behind her house (you could sit on a lawn chair in the middle) or you can go upstream where it is more of a swimming hole.
Anyway, my mother ordered hamburgers from Omaha Steaks (yumm!) and I can't wait for everyone to see their very nice home. When I am there, I don't want to leave!
Anyway, Brent and I can't wait to see everyone on Sunday!
Buffy

I really should blog since most aren't, because they are already here. But for those of you that are not here yet, I will blog away.
We were just sitting around and talking after dinner how we need to plan some things for when everyone is here so that we aren't just sitting around talking after dinner about planning for things to do when everyone is here. But, I think Mike has taken the reigns on some of that. However, I don't want every waking hour planned out. It is fun to just have some time to hang out and do nothing.
So, we are still waiting on Marnie, B&B, A&P, and M&B&crew to arrive. The numbers are building quickly. We are going to have quite a group here. Should be a lot of fun.
As far as the practice goes, it is going well. I have been able to fill most of the days I work. Now only working 2.5 days per week, but to increase to 4 per week. We are still in the inspection/appraisal stage of home buying. What a pain it is. It'll be nice to have that all completed.
Things are looking good for the wedding. We are all praying for good weather, so if you want to add your prayers, that would be wonderful. Forecast looks good, so we hope it stays like that.
We love you all, those that are here and those that will be arriving. Mike and Brooke, if you read this before you leave or during your trip, I hope you have a safe and fun trip, we will anxiously await your arrival.
Love,
Dave

So I guess I could write in as you are all either busy travelling, packing, or having fun already in Washington with everyone!

Whereas I am stuck at work until next Tuesday (Sat and Sun exceptions of course). This week at work has been pretty boring because my boss is on vacation and my job is pretty much helping her with projects and things. So if she isn't here then she doesn't need my help, and she isn't giving me projects to do. So it is pretty boring. Plus today was especially bad because our internet was down until about 2:30pm. AHH! It is ridiculous how much I rely on the internet but I couldn't do any of the projects I did have without it. Well except for the REALLY boring one I have been doing this whole week...painfully making sure the spacing is right and the formatting is correct for old files that are being converted into a new program. Zzzzzzz....yeah, exactly!

So needless to say, I am really looking forward to next week to get some time off and get to see you all! I hope we are going to the lake at some point because that was one of my favorite things from last time. It will be really fun to see everyone and get to catch up. This blog is great but it is different in person.

Other than work I have been keeping pretty busy. I am slowly getting re-addicted to TV which is pretty bad actually but at least I do other things while I am watching it so I am being somewhat productive. I am starting to explore the programs on my laptop. I made my first iMovie of me, Matthew, and Michelle (the 3M Chanklas). It is pretty good but I know I will be able to do much better ones in the future. I have also been going to the gym more and more frequently. I really like it. It is a nice release. And I go to the Y so there are a lot of families and parents there so there aren't all the self-obsessed singletons like myself! jk! It is fun and I really like the swimming.

I finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Interesting book...can't wait for the last one. I am sure I will discuss it with those of you who have read it when I get up there. I am actually currently re-listening to the 5th book at work because I have it on my iPod and I am bored so it works! There are actually some parts that are A LOT more interesting now that I have read the 6th book.

Well I have got to get back to...well, nothing, but I don't want to start boring you all!! See you all next week!

--
Marnie

Ellyn walked on her own officially today! We are very happy.

Mike

Well we are down to the last few boxes. I still have to dismantle the trampoline and get the yard straight. We pick up the U-haul tomorrow. Hopefully, they will have the 26". I think I have sold the truck, so Mom can expect a wedding bonus:) I am hanging out with Ellyn right now while Brooke goes to get her new contacts fitted. They have now grabbed all my stuff for Korea. Sad to send my PC off into oblivion, although I did pull my 2 hard drives and my monster video card because i am so paranoid. Now I am having a hard time finding some anti-static bags so I can pack them. I know Frys would have them but no lame-O places here in Georgia so I am confounded. A heads up I have already given some of you but a demo disc of Burnout Revenge is available for free at Best Buy, if you missed Burnout 3 (19.99 now) for the XBOX you are really missing out and this demo, although short, is really over the top. So, do yourself a favor and grab it. I have managed to pare my PC games down to those I will actually have time to play in Korea, so the nephews might have a ball browsing through the box of games I just put together. They are welcome to use them while I am gone, and keep the ones they really like. I took the second half of my final today, so the course work is all over. Thank goodness, that was a busy course. Good news is that Webster U. will give us about 1/3 the credit hours required for an MBA toward the degree. What do you think about that Mom? I could finish the MBA while in Korea. The picture included is a screenshot of our tenative calender for August, if you can read it. Love you all.

Mike

Hello family,

I guess it has been quite a while since I last posted. Volleyball camps were fun and I definitly am glad that I was able to earn the money I did. It is amazing that I only have 2 weeks until we start back up and am going full force until the middle of November. I know you all want to do it too. HAHA. Anyways, Since the camps ended a week and a half ago, I read all three books of Sisterhood of the Travelling pants, and Harry Potter. I need more! I would never think that I could read so much but with all of my free time lately with Peter being at school/work, I have been able to get into it. I definitly realize that I watch a whole lot less tv when I have books to read. It is kinda nice.

Peter's nephew, Zeb, is up visiting us from Delta for the weekend. We figured since his dad and brother are in Alaska fishing, and he is the only male at home, we thought we would steal him away for a few days. We headed up to a Salt Lake Stingers game in which they lost 9-4. They had 7 errors, 5 of which were caused by the Shortstop(he was having a really bad game). We then headed up to check out the Kennecott Copper Mine, the largest open pit in the world. It is one of two man made objects that can be seen from space, the other is the great wall of china. It was cool and we may post some pics later on.

I head up Friday and absolutly cannot wait to see all of you guys again. Sorry to hear about Parker, Peter has said that he is very very glad he wasn't there to see it, both him and his nephew were disgusted when I read about it out loud. Anyways, we are making dessert right now, They are called Cookie Monsters, you put the cookie dough into a bread pan and cook it so that it is still a little gooey, then you put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and add hot fudge and carmel sauces and whipped cream. Kinda like a pizookie, for those who have been to BJs. We love you all and are so excited to see you so soon.

Love, Anne

Well, we survived another hot day during an unexpected July heat wave... we aren't usually blessed with this kind of heat untill August. We just stayed inside with AC after church and played games and hung out with our friends/neighbors.
I am happy to announce that Brent is almost finished with Harry Potter #1. I have been telling him how good the books are for years.
We have a movie recommendation for all of you in which we just watched tonight. It is a called Saints and Soldiers (if you haven't already heard of it). It was a WWII movie that depicted an LDS soldier. It was extremely subtle and very well written.
For the kids: we highly recommend "Five Children and It". If you like Lemony snicket and Harry Potter, it's right up your alley. The lead boy is also the main kid in Finding Neverland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Both movies are at Blockbuster.
Brooke, no problem.
Parker, hang in there kid! We are praying for a speedy recovery.
Everyone else, see ya soon!
Buffy and Brent

Parker, we are so sorry about your arm. Think of how tough you'll look when you start school. We can't wait to sign your cast. Wow, you can every single person in the whole Stinchfield family sign it.

Kenn, Dave, Brent, Buffy, thank you all so much for helping us get Sadie's blessing squared away. Brent and Buffy I especially want to thank you for taking the time to find the tape and write that all down for me. It means alot to me and I'm sure will mean alot to Sadie when she grows up. I'm sorry I didn't write to thank you all sooner.

Well we got so much accomplished this weekend I can't even believe it. Up until Saturday I couldn't see how we were going to get it all done, but I greatly underestimated the abilities of my husband. The efficiency and organization and work ethic I hear so much about but don't really get to see (hee hee) came shining through this weekend. We got more done Saturday morning than I thought we would get done all weekend. We still have quite a bit to do but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. A few more days of hard work and all we'll have left to do is drive 2,800 miles. I'm actually looking forward to the trip. I just wish Mike could ride with us. I'm hoping that there will be room for Jane or Bailey to keep him company (the dog carrier is going to have to ride w/him so we can use it at night).

Well it's 12:20 am and we are finally quitting for the night. I'm so tired I could sleep for a week. We love you all and can't wait for next week. Tracey, I'm jealous of those little kicks. I hate being pregnant, very glad I'm not, but I love that feeling. When are you due again? Mike and I couldn't remember. Good night all. Brooke

Well, we've had a nice, and fortunately uneventful, weekend here in Cleveland. The temp finally dropped back down to the 80's and the humidity was pretty low. Very comfortable. Tom has loved being done with finals and all and has already been golfing twice and is going again tomorrow morning. Hayden is going to love all this time with daddy home. He got up from his nap today and I went to get him and he kept insisting daddy was at school until Tom finally came in the room, much to Hayden's delight!
I have been able to feel the baby kicking and moving this past week, very fun! I don't feel it all the time but it's a great little surprise when I get that kick! We won't know what we are having until we get back from Washington. We are so excited to find out, we get back on the 7th and we made the appointment for the 8th! Then we can finally stop saying "it." Well, I will see you all soon and I need to get back to packing so I'll cut this short. We hope all your travels to Vancouver go well, can't wait to see you!
Tracey

So, Saturday was an event filled day. One event we didn't want to deal with. We woke up and the first thing was a call from an emergency patient. We had to drive out to Washougal for it, however, it didn't take very long. We then went to the Washougal Farmer's Market. A small one, but growing. We bought some fresh cherries, raspberries, some Jalepeno garlic (leaves a wonderful aroma to your breath), and some cinnamon roasted almonds. I hate almonds but these were absolutely delicious and I will be buying more at the next one.
We then went to the Dance Festival that mom and dad have been putting countless hours of time into. It was a little long (about 2-2.5 hours) but very impressive. The kids loved it, as did we.
We then headed home to have some Papa Murphy's pizza. While Adina was getting the pizza all cooked, I was playing basketball (PIG) with Isaac out in the court. The hoop was lowered to about 6 ft. Parker and Taylor were kind of roaming around the court, playing with all the kids. I was trying to explain some rules of basketball to Isaac (since he hasn't ever played organized basketball) with my back to the hoop when I heard a crack-scream kind of thing going on. I turned around and Parker was laying below the hoop on the cement bellowing. His back was kind of towards me and I was worried he had hit his head on the cement. I got over there and his head looked alright, but his right forearm was shaped kind of like a little staircase and the bone was protruding from the skin through an approx. 1 cm puncture-type wound and it was bleeding. We called the ambulance, went to the Southwestern Washington Medical Center and there met with the orthopedic surgeon. Since it was an open compound fracture, they had to take him to surgery to reposition and pin the bones, check the ulnar nerve for damage (luckily the nerve was just bruised really well), and splint it. The surgery took about 2 and 1/2 hours and it went very well. He had broken both his radius and ulna. Apparently he had tried to jump up and grab the net of the hoop (since the bottom of the net was only about 4 or 5 feet off the ground) and lost his grip, and attempted to break his fall with only his right arm. I stayed in the hospital overnight with him and came home this morning. Adina is there with him now until tonight. He will likely come home tonight. The thing they are most worried about is an infection of the bone, since it came out of the skin. (Kind of makes your skin crawl, doesn't it?). If those infections get away from you, they are tough to get rid of, so they are taking precautions. He was chipper this morning and enjoying the "comforts" of a hospital where you are "wined and dined". Very tired kid and on a lot of pain meds, but doing well.
I am just grateful that this happened here, and not in Japan, it would've been a pain there with no family to watch the kids (though we did have a lot of church members that would've done it in a second), we also would have had to go out to the Japanese hospitals with translators and all that. It would have been much more difficult. We are grateful that the surgery went well, the surgeon is a great guy and very good at what he does, it is a very nice hospital, and it isn't 1830, when they probably just would have cut it off!
Give it 2 months and he'll be out there playing rough again. His recored is not very good with hanging from structures; only 5 and he has broken both arms, and gashed his chin twice!
Can't wait to see you all soon. I think Tom and Hayden arrive tomorrow, Tracey on Tuesday, and then people trickle in over the next couple of weeks. It'll be a lot of fun.
First week of work went great, only worked two days, but produced well, and next week looks better. We knew the first couple of weeks would be a little slow due to the time of year and the fact that I just got here and his patients need to warm up to me. Not too worried, love the practice, the staff and the whole arrangement and am very glad that I made this decision.
Our household goods shipments are starting to arrive and the house moves forward with the inspection and likely the appraisal this week. Hope to close by the middle of August and be in the house so that the kids can start school out there in Washougal and not have to switch schools after a month or two.
Take care and we will see you all soon.
Love,
Dave

Just to let everybody know I have a second interview with Target tomorrow morning at 10 am! I really would like the job! And it would help us out! We are doing great and counting down the days until the wedding! We can't wait to see all of you! Tom and Hayden arriving first tomorrow night starts it off! We are just doing wedding stuff and getting everything ready. I got my temple recommend last Tuesday and went to the temple to buy garments and all that on Wednsday. I am so excited to go to the temple, to say the least. But anyway enough rambling! I love you all! Can't wait to see you all in the next 2 weeks!

Kim and Treven

Well I found it...but I guess I will give the back story. I have been searching for the name and composer of a certain piano piece for a while now and it has really been bugging me. The piece is in The Pianist and also in The Notebook (the song she plays in the old house). And every time that I go into Target it is always playing at one of those mood music cd stands but never says the track it is on the cd!! So tonight after walking by the stand in Target again and being inches away from buying the whole cd to find out, I decided that I had to find out the answer. At that point I didn't remember hearing it in the Pianist, that would have made things a lot easier!! So I went searching from The Notebook lead. Not much luck until I checked trusty ole IMDB.com (Internet Movie Database, really good if you are fighting about anything that has to do with movies like the name of an actor, another movie they were in, etc.) They had listed under "Trivia" for The Notebook on the last bullet that the song played on the piano in the movie is a prelude by Chopin. So now I was armed with the composer at least...but which Prelude???!!! So I went on to the iTunes Music Store and searched for "chopin prelude" and I listened to the clips from all the songs and I FOUND IT!!! It is actually a really short and pretty easy piece. It is only one page long. It is called Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28, No. 4 by Frederic Chopin. Very pretty little piece. I also then found a site on the internet (www.sheetmusicarchive.net) that has classical non-copyrighted sheet music available to download for free so I got that as well. I played it on my piano and I love it! I can't wait to play it on a "real" piano. This is a piece that needs the "real" piano for the dramatic effect. I will definitly bring that up to WA to play for you all!

So that was my little adventure for the last half hour! Hope you enjoyed it!

--
Marnie

Brooke,
Hope you get that email I sent to Mike's address. Thanks for the project... I didn't even remember that we had that on a tape.
Buffy

Buffy, I have a favor to ask while you are looking for something to do. Do you think you could possibly watch Sadie's blessing at the reunion and take notes on it for me? I have the notes written down for Jane's and Ellyn's and I can't remember Sadie's at all. I would be eternally in your debt. I am really trying to get everything organized and caught up. Not my strong suit.

We were doing well and I think on schedule until yesterday when I came down with a terrible fever. I'm feeling much better today, still a little tired and I'm getting increasingly stressed out. Mike isn't worried about anything and truthfully, that makes me all the more crazy. I think I am going to stay up as late as possible tonight and see what I can get done. If I can get Ellyn to stay asleep. Wish us luck, maybe even throw in a prayer or two. Hopefully we'll see you all in two weeks from today.

love, Brooke

Well, I finished Harry Potter #6 on Tuesday. It was another great book by Rowling but have to say I was emotionally exhausted by the end. I really hope all these books get made into movies cuz I'll definitely go see them!
Brent just started book 1... probably with all the talk about it around here.
Anyway, we can't wait to go back up north and get away from this extreme heat. It was a high of 104 yesterday so it's been all about the AC!!
Now that I have organized everything I could think of around the house along with other projects, I am officially bored of this summer break... especially when Brent is still working full time. I guess I could start researching for my fall semester big position/research paper but it's much more fun to ignore for now!
Well,that's it from here. Kenn & Barb: hope everything is going well with the dance festival thing. Kim: it's getting really close now, can't wait!
See you all soon
Buffy

Y'all need to check this program made by google. It's like a mix of google map and GIS. Go to www.earth.google.com and download the free version. It is a beta version but it is way amazing. You can zoom into some international places and some cities have 3d buildings that you can move around. Enjoy,

Peter

Hey Everyone,

I figured I would write because I think it is about back to my turn. Things are fine down here in San Diego. I had a busy weekend. On Friday I went and saw "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". It was REALLY good and really funny. Definitely a purchase when it comes out on DVD. Then I got to hang out with my friends Matthew and Michelle because they came down for Comic-Con. We went to dinner at Rockin' Baja Lobster in Old Town. SO good!! It is becoming a tradition for us to go there after Comic-Con. On Saturday I actually got to go to Comic-Con. It was really fun. Not quite as great as the last two years but still great. There was no Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Hugh Jackman, or Jude Law. :(
But there were some cool people still. So we went and sat in a room from 11-6 and watch Q&A panels and movie previews with people like Charlize Theron, Jamie Foxx (Ray), Jessica Biels (7th Heaven), Josh Lucas (Sweet Home Alabama), Jack Black, Naomi Watts, and Adrien Brody. Pretty cool. I will post pictures when I get some more batteries for my camera.

Sunday was my old manager from Sport Chalet, Alma's, wedding. It was beautiful. She got married at Admiral Kidd's overlooking San Diego Bay with a full skyline view. Really nice. I also got Harry Potter on Saturday and have been reading it whenever I can. Really good so far.

Yesterday I got some not so great news. This seems like a long connection but it just looks that way. I found out that Matt's brother's (recent) ex-girlfriend has cancer. It is especially scary because, first of all, she is only 28 and she had no idea until she got sick about 3 weeks ago. She got so sick that they took her to the hospital and they had to do emergency surgery. I guess she had a tumor the size of a baseball. It is some kind of intestinal cancer, pretty rare in women. She has to do chemo for the next year but they think she has a really good chance of recovery because she is healthy and young. I feel really bad for her because she is only 28 and has two kids. Sad. So that has motivated me quite a bit to go get checked out at a doctor. I am trying to get everything together with my insurance to do that soon. I recommend that for all of you as well. It is scary how things like that can come up out of the blue. It really makes me count my blessings and our blessings that our family has (knock on wood) not had many problems with medical things. We are really blessed.

Anyway, only 2 weeks till I see you all. I can't wait! Should be really fun. Good to hear from you all! Can't wait to see all the little kids! I feel like I haven't seen them in SO long!

Love you all,
Marnie

Well it’s been a while but I suppose late is better than never! Hayden and I are finally home back in Ohio and enjoying our time with Tom. My parents have dial up internet so between that and our busy schedule I was just not able to keep up with the blogg! I had a great time in Utah visiting cousins, grandma and friends. I think Hayden was finally old enough to really enjoy going on vacation instead of just getting stressed out by being out of his environment. He did really well the entire trip. He loved the fireworks on the 4th of July and he thought the parade was really cool, especially the airplanes that flew overhead.

Since coming home we’ve had a good time going to Tom’s softball games and enjoying the humidity! Last night we went to Geauga Lake and had a great time. Hayden loved swimming at the water park and then we went on a few rides. There was this one ride he saw and he decided he really wanted to go on it. I was sure he wouldn’t be big enough for it but the rules said he could go with Tom. I tried to talk him out of it because it spun you around in the air in circles while dropping you up and down. I saw 12 year old kids getting off dizzy. It was not a ride for little kids but he had his heart set on it. I just knew he was going to cry through the whole thing. But I was wrong and he spent the whole ride saying “This is sooooo fun!” and the whole rest of the night he kept talking about the “red ride.” What a maniac 2 year old!!

Hayden has also taken to giving me new nicknames whenever he wants. For example, it started while playing baseball he called me batter and he called himself pitcher and would say things like “Batter, will help me fix my pants?” “Thank you batter.” But then it got carried off the baseball field and he called me batter all day. The next day he saw me washing dishes so he started to call me “dish guy” and would say “dish guy, what are you doing?” Or he would give me different name and say “laundry guy, can you help me?” He uses the same calm, tone of voice every time. It cracks me up, hopefully you can all see it when we get together.

We have changed our travel plans for going to Washington for the wedding. On Sunday night Tom was just sitting there and started to say that he wished we could to Washington sooner because he didn’t feel like we were going to be there long enough. I really didn’t think we could change our flights at this point but we got lucky and there were some flights available. Tom and Hayden had rapid reward tickets that can be used for anything so we easily changed them to fly out on Monday night. However, my ticket was a little trickier and in order to get on the same flights with Tom and Hayden my ticket would end up costing a little over $500. I have a ticket credit for Continental Airlines that expires in August and I was never able to use it because it was always too expensive to book a ticket for me and for Hayden on Continental so it was going to just be wasted. Well anyway, using the credit I was able to get a ticket for only $300 on Continental and we could cancel the southwest ticket to be used whenever we wanted. So the moral of the story is: Tom gets to play Superdad and fly alone with Hayden to and from Washington. I get to enjoy the luxury of flying on an airplane alone… what will I do if I am not busy singing songs and playing games? I just might relax and read a book! I don’t fly out until Tuesday morning but then we all fly out at the same time on Sunday the 7th.

Well anyway, I know I should have a lot more to write since it has been so long but I just can’t seem to think of anything else right now. I’ll just have to write more soon. Good luck everyone with all your exciting plans, it seems like everyone has something fun going on! I better go get working on the laundry so that I have time to read a little bit from Harry Potter!
Tracey

After a great trip to Seattle with mom this last weekend, a good dental conference, baseball game and walk through Pike's Place Market, we are off to a very, very busy week.

Dave is back to work today. I actually slept until 0800. I don't know how I got beyond the magic 0440 wake-up time. Maybe the weekend was too much.

I am off. Mom, Adina and Kim have a Kim shower today so I am taking the boys/girl with me up to check up on some property just above that bay on Lake Merwin where we spent the afternoon a few years ago. Our first counselor's daughter and husband bought 8 acres and are going to split it into fourths (2 acre segments) for sale. Our Bishop is looking to buy one. No price yet but if it is ameniable to my income, we may opt for 2 ourselves with the idea that we could build a family cabin up there and store a ski boat for use on Merwin.

Tuesday is encrochment meeting in the evening at the church. No one signed up for the nursery so mom has to call people to help out there.

Wednesday is Dance Festival night and we go to 2200, because the next three days are hell.

Thursday starts Dance Festival practice with the BYU Ballroom dancers. That goes to 2200, too.

Friday, mom is all day at McKenzie stadium to chaperone dance practice and rehearsals.

Saturday, we both are chaperoning from 0700 to 2200. The performances are at 1330 and 1630. We are due to be at the stadium that day until 2200, too.

Tom and Tracey and Hayden arrive on Monday.

I am applying to the Idaho State Dental Board for a license to practice in Boise, ID. The company wants me to spend one day per month over there so they can offer OS to some company they are contracting with. I am only one of a number of OS's doing the same thing so they will have their coverage. So, it is for the long haul. Once per month.

We are looking forward to all of you working your way here. The house will get busy, moreso than it is now, and that is why we bought it and put it together the way we did; for gatherings like this.

Dave and Adina should soon know the result of the appraisal on their home. If it is appraised at the offered and accepted price...they will have their first "own" home. If not, then it is up to the seller to lower the price or....D and A start the search over again.

Is is hot here today and has been for a couple of days. Up into the mid 90's I think.

I will try to take pics of the property today and post them later.

Scheduling Baseball Mariners-style for 30 July for those who are here and 29 August for Mike, Brooke and family. If you'd rather do something else on those days, write me back soon. I'll wait until tonight to purchase the tickets. I'm outta here. L/ Dad

For those that were asking, they did accept our offer, so now comes the inspection/appraisal, etc.. So not through the woods yet. It fits our current needs and is a nice place close to the school, church and work...all within 1.5 miles. Can't pass that up. You'll all likely see it when you are here and I don't have any pics of it anyway.
Dave