Just some quick news...
Last night was Isaac's JV Wrestling Tournament at Hockinson Middle School. He came in first place for his weight division - pinned both his opponents last night. We are so proud of him - he tried wrestling on a whim and despite his small size and lack of experience, he did his best and always had a good attitude - something he's been really working on. He still gets a little upset when he loses on the 360, but he has learned to be a good sport about everything else, so we'll take it.
Anyway - just wanted to share. I have officially become that woman in the stands that screams and bounds down the bleachers to hug her son when he does well. The good news is - he still hugs me back.
Adina

I'm writing this for Brooke....it arrived today. Hooray!!!! Next item to include in your prayers is that she can get a space available military flight to Seattle for the five of them...and live through the experience!!!!

Love to all... Mom

The due date is July 20th which is two days after I walk at graduation.

We also are looking into moving to Vancouver at Christmas of 2008. WSU Vancouver has psychology and pre med as undergraduate degrees which is perfect for Treven. I have to Student teach in the Fall of 2008 here so I will be done by the time that we would move.
We are very happy about the surprise!

Kimberly

One of the managers in my company sent this link to everyone in our office.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1171366279

The four people make up the board of directors for our company.

A reply was sent by a random employee saying "we sure will miss James(the person who sent the email)....can I have his chair."

James is part owner of the company and I'm sure he made sure no one would be offended. And of course it makes it even more funny if you know the personality of each of the board members.

Yes, so here is what happened. We have been waiting to be re-certified for where we live because it is based on income. If we paid for a babysitter, that amount we paid was taken away from our total income. Well, the babysitter never sent that paperwork back and now she isn't our babysitter anymore so we told the manager to just put through all the paperwork now since the babysitting didn't matter anymore.
SO he did. Well, Melaleuca said I was working 30 hours a week when I work 15 hours a week so then he told us that we do not qualify to live here. Well at that point, we fixed how much I work and it changes it to being the most that you can pay here which is just as much as the old apartment that we used to live in with the washer and dryer hook ups. SO! long story short. We are moving back to our old apartment building. We are going to live on the bottom floor which will be nice with everything and if we find some cheap washer and dryers then we can have our own.
We still have to figure out some odds and ends but we are going to be moved into our new apartment at the beginning of the year.

Kimberly

Sorry, can't get the video going on this WiFi system. Will try when I get home. Kenn

So that is definitely what I am doing because I am having a very good week! :)

On Monday I got my iPhone, which I love and adore. It really is my favorite thing. It is so useful and so fun....ah! I love it! I also took my computer into the Apple store on Monday to get my admin privileges back and the Genius' just pressed some buttons, entered some code and Blanca (my computer) was good as new!

On Tuesday I finally got up the courage to ask my boss for a promotion. I didn't ask to do anymore than the TONS of stuff I already do but rather to get a title and compensation that is more accurate for what I do there. She agreed so I got an immediate and pretty significant raise and permission to try to figure out a fitting job title. Also on Tuesday I installed some design programs that I got from my friend so now I have all the programs that use at work on my home computer. Very very cool and I am way excited about it.

On Wednesday I was super busy at work trying to finish lots of projects before the end of the year and I got to hang out with my friends and watch Project Runway which always make a good day. :)

On Thursday I got to finally find time to go for a run...well, more like a jaunt on the elliptical. Not sure if I mentioned it here but I hurt my foot on my half marathon. Nothing too serious (I think) but it hurt pretty bad to walk on it for the first week and definitely flared up again yesterday on the elliptical. I thought I had just bruised the bone but I think I may have broken or torn something after all...nothing too big though - only hurts now when I walk or stand for a long time. So I guess that wasn't the best but it felt good to get back in the gym. I also found time to play with my iPhone and my new design programs.

Today I had to go into Sport Chalet to get my 5 year review (can you believe I have been there that long?!) and I got a raise there too! It made me laugh a bit that I got a raise there because I haven't worked there in about 3 weeks and am not work again until Dec 8th. Now I am making more than my department head!

So good week so far, huh? Oh yeah, and today we finally figured out what my new job title will be at GTI...Creative Projects Manager & the Voice of GTI...as my boss, Michelle, said "it is fun, creative, and accurate - just like you!" I am "the Voice" because everyone has to go through me to get to anyone in the company...and my voice is literally the one they hear on the phone messages. :)

Tomorrow I have my last GMAT prep class. I am taking the GMAT in two weeks so it is crunch time. I'll be spending most of my time now studying for that. Also tomorrow Tom and Tracey are going to the BYU vs. SDSU football game so I will be watching the kiddos while they are there. It'll be fun to hang out with Hayden, Danica and Alyssa and I am glad I have the time to do so.

We are getting some MUCH needed rain in San Diego right now, which is awesome. But I hope it doesn't rain for the game tomorrow - that's no fun. I'll be at home studying tonight and trying to stay off the very dangerous roads. Since we don't get rain often the roads are SUPER slick when it actually does rain so there are lots of spin-outs and accidents.

Anyway - off to study!

I finally figured out how to post pictures from my e-mail. No, it wasn't hard. Very easy actually. I just didn't know how to do it yet. So here are some from over the past few weeks.

We hope you were able to make the day special in some way! You deserve it!

We had a great Thanksgiving here, my first time hosting Thanksgiving! Luckily I didn’t actually do it all myself. My mom, dad, grandma and sister all came so it felt really festive! I actually made two pumpkin pies and a triple berry pie for the first time, I felt so domestic! Danica loved helping me pour and stir. We had turkey, stuffing, yams, rolls, corn, cranberries, all the traditional stuff. It was great! My mom helped the kids make centerpieces and then they played turkey tic tac toe! During dinner Danica didn’t want to sit in her booster seat so she kept hopping from lap to lap. At one point she was sitting with my dad and when she climbed down she stepped right into a bowl of cranberry salad that had been placed on the floor because there was no table space! She was little in shock but we couldn’t stop laughing!

On Friday we went to the beach and then braved the crowds and got some shopping done. Friday night we did an early birthday celebration for Danica and Hayden, it was a lot of fun. Hayden loves the fact that he gets to celebrate his birthday over and over! Saturday we watched the BYU-Utah game, that was great!! My family left Sunday morning and Abbie Schickedanz actually came to town on business and spent Saturday night with us and then Sunday afternoon we went to walk along the coast at the beach and saw some starfish and dolphins, it was awesome!

The week before Thanksgiving we went to Knott’s Berry Farm because it was free for the military but unfornately we didn’t have much fun. It was REALLY crowded and the rides weren’t great. We didn’t stay long, but at least now we know! We’re hoping to get back to Disneyland sometime soon!

Danica has become Little Miss-chievous! I cannot take my eyes off of her for even a second! She is at that phase where she is into absolutely everything! Yesterday I was upstairs doing my hair and I thought she was playing with toys until she brought me a measuring cup full of Bisquick! I came down to find Bisquick all over the floor, but she was so proud of herself! She loves to get in the fridge and constantly stumbles around the house trying to bring me the big water picture instead of coming to ask me for a drink. Yesterday she brought me an egg... don’t ask me how she didn’t break them! I constantly find her with my make up on her face. This morning she took off her pants and smeared diaper rash cream all over her legs. Then later she tried to pour a cup of water into Alyssa’s mouth and then she actually put a marble in Alyssa’s mouth! Thank goodness I was right there and grabbed her....yikes!! But you know, she is still just as cute as ever and really talking a lot. My new favorite word is “pop-tart”. The other day I saw her take two little toys, a Curious George and plastic rabbit and made them kiss, very funny! However, I am having a real problem with her waking up before 6am, anyone have any advice on that one? She’s in a bed now and sometime right before 6 she wanders into my room all smiley and laughing. We’ve tried putting her to bed later, running a heater, we keep it dark and quiet... any other ideas? Our next plan is to put her in the pack n’ play in the guest room and just not get her until 6:30 or 7...

Hayden has said a few funny things lately. He wished on a shooting star and said "I wish my dad will come back from work really fast!" Last week in primary they called on him and asked what he is grateful for and he said he is grateful for Danica. He really does play with her a lot. When she is doing something wrong he yells “Alert! Alert!” (Like when she gets out her bed and tries to climb up on his!) He has nicknames for both of his sisters. He has always called Danica “Coconut” and “Gogos 1” (seemingly a spin off of coconut, he only recently added the number 1 part). He calls Alyssa “Pinata” and “Gogos 2”. When something goes wrong with one of them he’ll yell “Gogos 1 needs you!” Today Dancia got a bonk on the head so he went up to her and said “It’s okay Dani, show me wear it hurts!” Also, today we went to Walmart and he go to spend $5 that my grandma gave him. He picked out a Star Wars toy and all the way to the check out he kept saying “I can’t believe this, this just so great.” He’s such a fun kid...although yesterday at the grocery store he was a real pest! He kept touching Danica just to make her scream. You know the kind where he just pokes her for no reason and laughs when she yells... oh the joys... Well we’re off to the park!

For pictures of our fun check out our website via the link on the side of blog!

MIKE, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 37 and climbing. Hope you're able to have a good day today and know that your entire family loves you a great deal. You are not forgotten. We think of you many times throughout the day. You 'da man. Stay safe, L/ Dad

This was part of an incredibly long, boring e-mail that I sent to Mike yesterday. It didn't look like he was going to get a chance to call. Sorry, I would edit but I don't have time. I love you all.


It's been a busy day here at the Stinchfield house. This morning I asked Jane to reset my alarm for an hour later than it was set for before she left for school. That would be 7:30. That would give me 15 minutes to doze on the couch before I had to wake up Sadie. Sawyer was nursing and I was exhausted. He is all mucusy and was awake alot, Ellyn woke up, you know the drill. So all of the sudden in the middle of a dream I think "Hmmm...I shouldn't be dreaming, I've slept too long. Sure enough. Jane had changed the time but not turned on the alarm so it was 7 minutes before Sadie was supposed to catch the bus. I tried to get her ready as quickly as possible but I also didn't want to stress her out so we missed it by about 5 minutes. This however meant that I had to wake up all the kids, get them in warm clothes, of course Sawyer needed to nurse, the car was covered in snow, etc...So half an hour later we got Sadie to school. Note to self, 15 minutes extra sleep is not worth that, most of the time. Since I had the kids in the car I drove over to self-help and picked up a bucket of "environmentally friendly salt substitute" and found out that I could check out a snow shovel for the whole time we live here. Perfect. The housemeister shovels walks and driveways anyway but I thought it would be good to have on hand. I was impressed though, the path to our house from the road was shoveled by the time Jane left for school. I also picked up several light bulbs at self help since I had a whole new batch go out this weekend. Why all at once??? So annoying.

So after that I came home, fed Ellyn breakfast, spent time with her while Sawyer slept, attempted to trim her bangs. That's a treat. I think they are mostly even. We also did a thorough teeth brushing. She is doing so well with that lately. Then it was off to pre-school. She was acting like she felt so much better today and I asked her if she wanted to go and she nodded.

While she was in pre-school Sawyer and I went to the furniture store and talked them into trading out his car seat. The latch that locks it into place had serious issues. Half the time I couldn't get the stupid thing out of the car and that is the whole reason I bought a new car seat, so I could take him in and out of the house all bundled. The new one works like a dream.

We came home and with baby in front pack I vacuumed up all the plastic pine needles all over the floor, took down all the empty decorations boxes, and started a load of laundry- my sheets that need to be washed about every three days due to spit-upage. So then we picked up Ellyn from school. When we got home Ellyn was furious when I tried to get her out of the car. She did not want to get out. Once I got her out she was trying to climb back in while I was getting Sawyer. I really am glad she loves the car. She loves listening to the music and looking out the windows. We finally got her inside and Sadie arrived. We all worked on making hot chocolate together, including marshmellows. You have to have it on a day like today. By the time that was done and cleaned up- it really is amazing how much of a mess our kids can make with hot chocolate- powder, drips, mustaches...Jane was home and we loaded into the car to go pay the phone bill and drive out to Graf to look for a humidifier. About half way down that first road you take before you turn left at the T I decided to turn around. Snow/rain was coming down in sheets out that direction and while I don't mind driving in a bit of snow, I am not a fan of freezing rain. So we came home, Shyah came over and the girls worked on homework (including Sadie) while Sawyer slept, Ellyn watched Mulan, and I went downstairs and worked out on the treadmill. I am FINALLY starting to get to the point where I can run for some period of time, I'm not going to tell you how long. It's too embarrassing. I love having that thing though. A total life saver.

So after that I came upstairs, made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, Jane and Sadie cleaned up dinner (Jane is amazing at that-most of the time-now, mom rubbed off on her) while I nursed Sawyer and then we sat down at the table and cut out snow flakes to put in this window by the dining room table. Ellyn and I finished early and went to shower while Jane and Sadie continued. Of course both girls were frustrated because their snowflakes didn't look like the one I made. I should have made it more simple, not that it is fabulous or anything but Jane's kept ending up square and looking like African masks as she called them, or she would cut all the way through and have four little snow flakes. Sadie actually showed us a really cool way they made them at her school. She is so cute.

Now we have done scriptures and prayers and the girls are off to bed even though I can still hear them upstairs. Ellie is asleep. As I told you, time will tell, but Dr. Lukezic did think that mono was a possibility. I'm not willing to do bloodwork on something that is viral and can't be treated anyway. Way too traumatic. At least if it is she is doing pretty well and is no longer contagious.

That's all folks!

Well, this is a celebration, and you are year older. I hope that you have had a somewhat relaxing day or it has been in someway different than a normal day. We are thinking of you and we all love you. 

This family is a testament of what a excellent mother you are. Thanks for being one of the greatest women in my life, (of course my wife ranks up there too.

Hope it has been great.

Love
Brent (and Buffy)

Mike is going to try to call you now so I will call tomorrow. I hope you have a wonderful day. We are all so blessed to have you! We love you.