thank you all for the birthday wishes. i love you all and am so sad that i am going to miss being with most of you this weekend. chels you are in my prayers. i am so happy for you! joey is a lucky man. if it wasn't for the nutcracker this weekend we would be there. alicia the house looks amazing!! holy cow! it has been a great day between the phone calls and the blogs i am so blessed to have such a wonderful family! my friends patti which you all met at the wedding and jennifer took me to lunch and treated me to a massage this afternoon and cory stayed late this morning to help me get the kids out the door, so i have been spoiled all day. ok i better run to get everything ready for tonight. i love you all more than i can express............meags

ps mike i am so sorry that i missed your birthday i was thinking of you! we think of you and pray for you many times a day. wil prays for uncle mike and his "worriors". i love you. thank you for the sacrifice you make for our freedom!

New House Pictures

Happy Birthday, Meagan dear

Hola,
We hope you have a delightful birthday. Give Benny a big squeeze and wish her luck for us in her big performance! Wish we were there!
Love mindi, adam, & co
p.s. I typed this title before I saw Jess' blog, great minds think like primary kids.

Happy Birthday!!!!!

Dear Meagan,

I can't believe that you aren't going to be here, but I understand. It is hard when you are trying to get moved in and kids and life! Anyway I hope that you have a wonderful day, the big 30, its hard but you will live, Alicia did! Because Alicia never gets on here I will tell you that they have sold their house and they have to be out by the 14th, but have found a wonderful house to move to and can be in by the 14th, it is going to be a rough couple of days. I will post pictures later. It is great that you both have wonderful new houses to celebrate! Have a great day. Love you Aunt Jack and Uncle Kev

Happy Happy Birthday Meagan Dear

Hi Meags,

We hope you have a wonderful birthday. We will miss you this weekend but we will be thinking of you and your adorable family.

Love,
Jessi, Tony and Indie

Happy Birthday My Magnificent Meagan

after the tearful farewell last night i don't think we can do that again. the kids do not like saying goodbye to their aunt ella and uncle jason. and it is so hard for meagan to miss a party especially when it starts on her b'day and includes seeing all her family in utah. elly and jason have been here for a visit. jason flew out tues. for work. elly and i leave this morning for chelsea's wedding. last night was bennie's dress rehearsal for the nut cracker. it is a closed rehearsal and they are very strict about no one seeing it, but i told them the circumstances of bad weather etc. and the leader of the co. said we could watch. it was so good of her. so we got to see our little snow flurry and lollipop perform. she was darling!!! the only problem was she wasn't on stage long enough for her aunt and g'ma. honestly we, meaning the sisters, (and joanie you have 2 and more to come--just wait) have the most beautiful sweet little g'kids alive. we have had so many blessings this week, all i know is that God has been very mindful of us and we have felt His care! we will see you soon!!!

in the meantime my little meagie know how much you are loved by friends and family alike. what a tremendous spirit and testimony you have about you!!! you are so good to all of us! don't kill yourself or your knee on your b'day run today! turning 30 is relatively painless i promise.

love, mom

more pics

Doesn't that look like Mike and a friendly Iraqi wishing you a happy birthday? Let's just say it is- I'm sure that's what Mike would want.

Happy Birthday Meags!!!!

Mike should be very proud of me. I figured out how to post the pics he sent to me. I will put on some more later. He also wants you all to know how much he appreciated the birthday wishes. Thank you to all of you.

So...Meags
How old are you now? Could this be the big 3-0? Am I right? It doesn't seem possible. You've been claiming early 20s for so long. Welcome, welcome, it's about time. I hope you have a great day. I love you dearly. You and Ellynn are the best sisters a girl could ever want and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. You are an amazing example to me. I admire you greatly. I can't wait (hopefully) to come and play with you and your beautiful, fun family. Yes Cory, that's right, your all beautiful! I love you.

ColoradoBennett

So, I'm sorry for ruining the hike that Ellery, Le Anne, Meagan, Ellynn, Jason, and others were taking on Tuesday when I called and told them that Adam had been in an accident. I was at home, the babysitters were here, and we were just waiting for Adam to arrive so that he and I could go to the Temple. I called once and he didn't answer, then he called back a few minutes later and he sounded shook up. He couldn't talk to me long because the tow truck just got there, but he said he'd been in an accident but was not hurt. I started rattling off a series of questions, to which he replied "I don't know." That really had me worried because Adam always "knows" and has the right plan of action. So he had to hang up quickly and I sent the babysitters home and sat around for an hour imagining all the horrible things he could be going through. (For example, I've heard that after accidents people will be standing in between the crashed cars talking things over, then another car will hit their car, causing said people to have their legs pinned between two cars and thus have their legs amputated. That is what I thought was happening to Adam.) So I started making phone calls in hopes that would make me feel better. But in reality I just worried a whole bunch of other people, needlessly. So Adam says he is fine, although I'd appreciate any help in convincing him to just go to the doctor any way because surely he must have double whiplash. He was going down the highway when traffic came to a complete stop. The truck in front of him pulled off to the shoulder (on the left) to avoid hitting the truck in front of him. Adam ended up hitting both trucks simultaneously. Then a Saturn behind Adam left 165 feet of skid marks on the road before hitting Adam. He did have his seat belt on, and has a bruise across his chest from it. His airbags did not go off, and the police officer said they should have during a collision at that speed. He ended up with a ticket for hitting the two trucks in front of him, and the guy behind him also got a ticket for hitting Adam. The officer told Adam that it was the worst section of road in all of Colorado as far as accidents go. When Adam asked why he thought that was the case, the officer said, "It's these Boulder drivers." Of course Adam thought that was hilarious and all too true. I picked up Adam at the car pound where we heard the stories and saw the remains of several cars which had seen fatal accidents. It was awful. But my Dad is loaning Adam his work van, and my truck still hasn't sold, so we have two cars and all is well. Might I also add that our house has not yet sold. We haven't even had one showing in the month that it has been on the market. But last night during our Young Women in Excellence program we sang "Lead Kindly Light." The words "Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene--one step enough for me" hit me pretty hard. "I can do that," I thought. So as I type this total chaos has erupted in the house and I want to just keep on typing to avoid having to deal with it. Brooke, I was delighted to be able to read the email you posted. You are amazing and something about reading your daily tasks gives me the strength to deal with my own. Do you want a cat? I've decided I can no longer handle Sid Vicious and am currently looking for his next home, unbeknowns to my children and without much approval from my husband.

Happy Birthday!!!!!

Dear Michael,

I wish I would have gotten on here sooner! Now everyone has said what I wish I would have, so pretend that I did! We are so proud of you and Love you very much. Stay safe and know that we are all here for you. Love Aunt Jack and Uncle Kev

oh captain my captain happy birthday

dear michael, you are always in our thoughts and prayers, but especially today. i think how blessed we have been that you are a part of our family. brooke chose well. she is a very bright girl to have recognized what a good man you are. your girls miss you in their lives, but you have taught them by your example good strong values that they live by. you can be very proud of them. thank you for all you do for them, us and our country. we love you so much! hope you have had a good day!
your other mom, le anne
ps. i finished my assignment before leaving--the garage is done, the bed refinished and put together. thanks for thinking of me and giving me something to do while i was there!

Mike - happy b-day man!!

Hey bud. Hope your day is going awesomely. You're well thought of around these parts. You're a real-life hero to all of the kids... to all of us actually, but it's the kids that spend most of the time running around pretending they are you (Meagan does on occasion, but it's usually pretty short lived). Anyways, have a fantastic day man, and enjoy CoD4, you lucky dawg you.
Love ya man,
Cory Meags and co.

Happy happy birthday Michael dear!

Dear Mike,
Have a wonderful day. Let us know how it went. We look forward to the day that we can sit around and relax with you. How long has it been?? You look so young for 45!! love, the VA Bennetts

Happy Birthday Mike!!!

Thank you for all you do. We hope you have a good one.
Crabb's

Happy Birthday, Mike!!

Mike, we hope, despite being in a war, that you can have a happy birthday. We send all our love and gratitude to you for your great service to our nation. We look forward to the day when we can sit down and play a game with you. As a matter of fact, we were going to buy you a game for your birthday, but then figured you probably already own them all :).
We love you.
love,
Adam, Mindi, Sierra, Kaia & Tristan (Max also sends his love)

Happy Birthday Mike!!!

We hope you are having a great day. We love you so much and appreciate your sacrifice and service so much.

Love Jess, Ton and Ind

Bavaria

This was 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!

How are YOU???

My Poor Truck

va.

so we had a guest for our thanks giving dinner yesterday. elder hatch from someplace in utah. i definately did not think he was a hatch at first. he's about half the size of little kev.. super nice guy. very good elder. darla made a great meal it made up for me having to be on the road for thanksgiving. it was hard to be away from family for thanksgiving but at least i got to overnight in my favourite hotel up in manchester NH. we got to the hotel just before midnight and they heated us up a full on turkey dinner. i love a few hotels but that one is my favourite. back to home, cole gave a great talk in primary today and dayne ate a lot. we've had a good november. it was great to be back in wa. and then ca.. i was able to see darla's grandparents who look close to the end. they are the sweetest people. they are so in tune with one another they seem to read one anothers minds. they told me about when they first got married. 3 weeks after they were wed he found out he was going away to fight in WWII. 3 months later he was gone and his new bride was pregnant. 3 years later he watched his wife walk home from church with a little girl by her side. his daughter who knew him from pictures ran up to hug her dad for the first time. he started crying as he relayed the story to me. such a sweet couple. the perfect example of enduring to the end.
chelsea i'm really sorry i won't be able to make it for your wedding. i was really not happy with the schedule i have next month. gone for most of cole's b-day and all of darla's. alright mucho love team. peace out.

happy thanksgiving

thanks to my dear sweet son-in-law cory i have my computer up and running so i have been catching up on the blog entries. why is it i am always trying to catch up on something? i noticed that i said that i missed all my kids big and little in germany ga and ut. can you tell how tired i was? i don't even have kids in ga any more so lets try va germany co and ut. it's late again, and again i am tired so i still may not have it right. oh well, you all know where my kids are and i do miss them.

tomorrow ellynn and jason come. i have to get up early and finish getting everything put together. two of our missionaries went home tues. and sister pugh got a greenie to train. they are pretty excited tonight because they got another commitment for baptism. they are so cute. we moved them downstairs and are shifting all the furniture around. what a mess it has been. it seems all i have done this year it move people. meags and cory just have a few things left in the garage and i just about have all of brind and ellynn's things gone wahoo! not that i want to get rid of them. just their stuff. meags and cory's house is beautiful. we finished painting the 2 bedrooms, kitchen and dining room. i love it and now want to do some painting here.

we are having our thanksgiving dinner sat. at lewisville park. i can hardly wait. we do everything there. it is outside so we cook in dutch ovens and "pit" cook the turkey. we do rolls and dressing and yams etc. etc. i love it. it is fun unique and all the mess is outside. the kids love to help and we walk down by the river, play at the playground, ride bikes,etc. it is great fun!!!

ellynn, i guess keeps saying that she can hardly wait to go "home." her father-in-law regan says that after a year of marriage home should be wherever jason is. trish, jason's mom explained that home is wherever "mom" is. which leads me to moni's blog--great quote from pres. benson. i can't begin to tell you how fast the years go by and your children are gone and have children of their own. i love the stage of life i am in. you cannot beat being a grandma. it is so much fun. it was way interesting to me last week. i was meeting with one of our stake high councilmen and he was asking me about a calling. i explained to him about brooke and possibly having to go to germany for Christmas if the baby's passport doesn't come through and then for sure staying with her the month of jan. he told me not to worry about the calling my first responsibility was to my family. how funny is that when brooke is my 33 year old, married daughter with children of her own and he is counseling me that my family comes first. once a mother always a mother no matter how old you are or they are. just enjoy them as much as possible and don't worry as much about all the other things. they don't last.

mike, thanks for the blog and article. you would look a whole lot scarier to me if you didn't look so much like sadie in sun glasses and army gear. i know that comment will win me points as well as this one. it's mike's birthday on the 28th of november. we can hardly wait to have you home for your birthday next year. you and your men are always in our prayers!!!

i was talking to brooke yesterday. she was describing some of the challenges she mentioned in her blog. we were discussing how best to have people understand that ellyn is not being rude when she doesn't talk to them when they ask her questions or when she misbehaves. we were brainstorming-- possibly having a shirt that says "i'm autistic and my mother is trying!" i suggested adam could have her a vest printed up (like the ninja shirts) she could wear it over all her outfits. maybe--"if you can read this you are currently invading my personal bubble" or "i can hear you i just choose to ignore you at this time" or "currently in my own world and happy to be there." we were thinking we were so stinking funny. feel free to offer suggested comments for more than one vest option. ellyn has also started pulling brooke's hair hard and she means to which is not like her. it really is a challenge to figure out what she will understand. any punishment has to well thot out so she connects it with what she is doing wrong. i told brooke that she should look up how to discipline orcas. i know--random thought and she thought i was nuts. "really mom do you think i will find it on line--how to discipline an orca?", but i remembered thinking it was interesting at sea world they had explained a little bit about how they train orcas. think about it--when do they eat? whenever they want to. what do they eat--whatever they want to. how do you punish negative behavior and keep all your body parts? ellyn doesn't mind time out--it's fine with her. physical punishment--she will be a big girl one day she needs to be gentle so physical punishment doesn't seem to be the answer either and again does she make the right connection. so positive and immediate reenforcement on just one issue at a time seems to be the answer. brooke's going to try m&m's. firmly hold her hand and tell her no when she pulls her hair. (she doesn't like being restrained) then gently running her hand through brooke's hair a few times and giving her 1 m&m. i hear orcas like m&m's--no really i have no idea what they like.

ok i don't know why i wrote that whole thing out, but anyway i'm not erasing it. hope you all had a great thanksgiving. cory's family invited us up for dinner today. have i mentioned how wonderful they are. our kids have the best in-laws every one of them. we are so blessed.

jess you should be used to cold houses, didn't you spend a winter with geof. and ellynn in the provo house or was that just meags and adam that wouldn't let alicia turn on the heat?

chelsea you look beautiful on your wedding announcement and joey looks very handsome. we can hardly wait. ellynn and i will leave immediately after bennett's performance in the nutcracker. she is a something and a snowflake. pray for no snow and good roads. we will be there.

love to all aunt le anne

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Well it's Thanksgiving here in Germany. It doesn't feel like Thanksgiving, despite the luncheon for Ellyn's pre-school and a Thanksgiving potluck with friends last Sunday. I think it is just too early this month AND I'm not hosting anything. When we are at home we are helping dad all day and when we've been away I've always had lots of people over. This year we are going over to some friends for dinner and all I have to make are the rolls. I'm a bit nervous because I've only made rolls about 3 times in my life, maybe four. That is the thing I've always had someone else bring. I'm making Aunt Paula's potato rolls and so if they turn out they will be delicious. I guess I'm just not used to not spending the day slaving in the kitchen. What's Thanksgiving without being frantic about whether or not the turkey will cook and you'll be able to get the stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, etc...all done at the same time? I wish I could say it doesn't feel like Thanksgivng because Mike isn't here but I think he's missed about half in the past few years. We miss him regardless.

Guess What?? Yesterday we mailed out 165 very stuffed stockings to soldiers. THANK YOU so much to everyone that made this possible. I am so grateful. I have such an amazing family. I am so relieved to have it done. It took 15 boxes and four two hour stuffing and packing sessions. We loaded everything up in one of our wive's trucks yesterday and drove over to the post office. We found out that on Wednesdays they close at 4:00 and we got there at 3:50. We had to cross out all advertising and brown tape over labels and address and fill out customs forms for everything. There were 5 of us and two pre-teens and the postal workers that helped us and we got it done in record time. What a relief.

Well we still don't have Sawyer's passport. I say still but it would be a miracle if it got here this week. That is what we were hoping for though. Luckily we now have everything done that we need to so that when it gets here we can start trying to get home.

The girls are doing well. Jane has become well acquainted with the ways of the world thanks to middle school and the bus. The things she has told me that she has heard on the bus the past few days makes me sick to my stomach. I just have to remember that I heard the same things at her age and the rest of us probably did too. It is just too bad. I had Sadie's parent teacher conference the other day and her teacher couldn't say enough about how much she loves having Sadie in her class. She said she is so smart, a real leader, kind to others, and very helpful. I guess she does all her helping at school so that when she gets home she can ignore any job request made by her mother or sister. She's cute but she's a stinker. Ellyn is at a tricky stage for me right now, as far as dealing with people in public. She is so tall (she wears size 5 pants) and more and more people are talking to her when we are out and about. She just looks at them. Telling every person we encounter that she is autistic just sounds so melodramatic, plus not their business. Also, it isn't obvious really when we are running errands. The other day we had to go into Jane's school to sign a permission slip that Jane had forgotten to give me. The office is tiny (temporary trailers while they are building the real school) and Ellyn starts pulling papers out of the little cubbies. Then we go over to the registrar and she grabs a handful of paperclips and shoves them in her mouth. So I just look like a mother that has not taught my 4 year old how to behave. Oh, she also likes to steal food from random people whenever she gets a chance. It's a treat. It's kind of funny but can get stressful. A little added pressure with four kids because then you definitely get "the look."

Sawyer is doing great. Kind of fussy the last few days, but he has been doing better at night. He has a heat rash/baby acne all over his face that I think I made worse by putting on some ecsema lotion this morning. Poor kid. He is cooing and smiling at us on a regular basis now and it is so cute. Man, we love this kid.

Well I need to go make rolls. I love you all. Happy Thanksgiving. Monie, I loved your quote as well. Everyone puts their kids in the German pre-schools here at two. Crazy!

VA

So Cole's sooo obsessed with being Spiderman (as the Washingtonian's witnessed). All day yesterday he kept telling Geof. and me how he wanted to be Spiderman when he grew up and he was so excited. Then he could REALLY climb walls and shoot webs!! And then he asked me and Geof. if we wanted to be Spiderman with him when we grew up...hm..maybe? So my friends gave us the Spiderman costume that he wore for Halloween because she could see how happy he was in it. I went ahead and bought 3 more costumes from a lady up in Maine off of craigslist for his birthday. Now he'll have 2 Spiderman (one is just his size), the Hulk, and Batman. And they all have built in muscles. He's gonna die. We went to our friends for dinner on Sunday and I don't know...maybe we learned our lesson about jumping on the tramp on the Sabbath. (; Our friend was jumping all the kids on the tramp and Dayne doesn't do too well with that kind of thing. I guess she landed wrong on her leg and let out a cry that Geof. says "was nothing like he'd ever heard out of her". So we brought her in and checked it out (the guy was a doctor), and nothing seemed to hurt her that we pressed on or tried to rotate, but she didn't walk all that night or the day after. Poor Geof. brought her to our ped. who sent them to the hospital for an xray...nothing. They spent all morning checking her out and she turned out to be okay. We still think she pulled something because she's still limping. We cut up her binkie when we got home from the trip. She's okay with it but still finds a way to steal June's NEWBORN binkies for bed at night. Oh well, I tell myself. As long as she isn't entering Kindergarten with a binkie in her mouth. June's so adorable. She's gotten to be just as loud as the other two. I went to institute yesterday morning and she was talking so loudly that I had to leave 3 times. Everyone asks me if 3 is harder than 2. Not really. Two was hard for me because Cole was harder. He at least stays close now when we run errands. Well, I'm rambling. Geof. and the kids are showering so I have a little bit of sanity for the next 15-20 minutes (yes, Geof. takes extemely long showers). Geof.'s going in for recurrency (sp?) in a week and a half or so. He's been studying like crazy hoping he passes. I'm sure he'll be fine...and then soon after he'll put in for upgrade which I'm crossing my fingers and praying that we'll soon get. A captain! That'd be such a blessing. Moni, loved your blog. That was a good quote for me. We still don't know whether or not we're gonna do preschool for Cole. They do ALL day, everyday preschool here and I'm definately not doing that..but in our situation, our tiny apt., no kids in our complex, we might just have to do something extra. But it's CRAZY how many people are consumed with getting their kids into preschool out here...at the earliest ages..1 1/2, 2..and they're all private and extremely expensive. Weird. It's gorgeous out here so plan your trip to the east either next fall or Spring. HOpefully we'll be in a house! love to all. ~Darla

Crabb's

Hey Family,
It has been awhile. It would take months of reading to totally get caught up on the blog, but I have sure missed my fam. Life has been nuts as usual. I am hoping by the time the Holiday's hit I will have a moment to sit down and relax. For the most part I think we are somewhat settled. Last week brought on a ton of stress but it is all over with thank goodness. Just to give you a typical day in the life Thursday was 4-year-old day at our house. Yes, that's right it was my week for Preschool, so from 9am-12pm we had Preschool, from 12:15-2:15pm we had Liza's craft group over for a turkey day craft and lunch, and then from 2:30-8pm I taught Voice Lessons in Ogden. Needless to say we all made it through without too many problems. This was quite typical of the entire week. On top of it all my Young Women had their Young Women in Excellence Program in which we performed the Daughter of a King Program. For those who know nothing about it, it is an amazing program made up of many speaking parts and songs throughout. Luckily I have an amazing Father who made it all technically pleasing, and a great group of leaders who are so willing to help out when I actually delegate. Life has slowed considerably since then now I just need to get my house under control and life will be perfect.
Darla those Pics are great!!! WOW!!! I can't believe how fast all of our kiddos are growing. Beck has sprouted. I swear from the moment he took his first step he became another person. It was not encouraged, the little man is all boy, and I knew the moment he sensed the freedom of walking we would be in big trouble. He has not proved the theory wrong. He is into everything, and he is the biggest tease. In fact he has spoken a couple of clear words other then the basic ma, da, and this, but he refuses to repeat them. My in-laws were watching the kids and I guess Beck walked over to his Grandpa and said clear as day "Grandpa!" he gave Grandpa a sly teasing smile and walked away. He has not repeated it since. He is definitely a quite tease. It has been fun to watch his personality blossom.
The girls are doing great also. Harley loves Kindergarten. She is definitely in her element and enjoys every moment. Liza has not fallen in love yet; I don't think she is quite ready to leave Mom. She has no problem when it is at our house, but she really has no desire to go when it is at someone else’s house. I know many of the Mom's in the group think I am crazy when I mention pulling her because of this, but I home taught Harley for preschool and she is doing great. I don't understand the reasoning behind forcing your kids to go Preschool, when our days are truly numbered. How much longer will our children want to spend every minute with us? I plan on taking advantage of it as long as I can. To further the soapbox this is truly the foundation of my thinking, Ezra Taft Benson said, "We become enamored with men's theories such as the idea of pre-school training outside the home for young children. Not only does this put added pressure on the budget, but it places young children in an environment away from mother's influence... Mothers in Zion, your God-given roles are so vital to your own exaltation and to the exaltation of your family. A child needs a mother more than all the things money can buy. Spending time with your children is the greatest gift of all." There we have it. Ok I am finished. Sorry I did not expect my blog to become a church talk. I guess I am just venting. Please also note that I do not look down on those who preschool their children. Obviously not since I am trying it out. I just thought I would explain my reasoning. Other than that Liza is doing great. She just started pre-ballet, and loves every minute of it. She will sing her first solo next Thursday at my recital. She is really excited.
You have now been updated. Cam is doing great, as you all know his favorite Holiday is almost here. He just finished putting up the lights on our house this last weekend, and no, they will not be lit until the day after Thanksgiving. We will start decorating this week. The kids have been counting down the days. On that note we are definitely hoping to have some Holiday visitors. Last year was a blast! If any are coming through please plan on staying with the Crabb's we would love to have you. We now have two extra rooms fully furnished with Queen beds, we also have the most "comfortable" queen size air mattress, and the girls each have a twin bed they would love to give up for the sake of visitors if those rooms are filled. We will even provide some scraps of food. Well I hope you all know your welcome, even the Utah fam we can have a big slumber party! I hope all is well with everyone. We love you!
Moni
P.S. Mike it was great to hear from you, the article was awesome. Thanks!
P.P.S. Jess sorry about the heater. At least with a sufficient furnace, you will find a significant decrease in your heating bill.

VA

Here's some pics of our trip to Washington and then later to California. I wish I'd gotten a better pic of our view in San Fran!

Baghdad in Hadr

The correct blog with link

Today is a great morning where I have no patrols scheduled and for some reason I was having a hard time sleeping in, despite going to bed at 0200. Maybe it is the excitement that I just received Call of Duty 4 in the mail yesterday and I can actually spend time playing it today? After I got back from our mission yesterday, my guys were playing it on the 56 inch plasma big screen my company owns while I worked on debriefs. But, wow! Just wow! If you have not, you just have to check this one out. I plan on messing around with it some today. I would read a book too, but my glasses were destroyed in a small accident a few weeks ago and my eyes cannot handle reading without, let alone writing this blog which is already causing me a migraine. Brooke is supposed to be receiving my new glasses to send out to me next week some time hopefully.

We are still very busy although the intense combat of previous weeks has come to a thankful end. An embedded reporter for the Observer-Guardian (UK-liberal slant) wrote the following article after being embedded with the Squadron for the day. 2SCR is my higher unit; I am in 3rd Squadron. There are 4 companies in the squadron, one of which I command. The school in the article is in my area of responsibility and where it says Siebold, that was actually me. The embed just moved around with the squadron HQ, so Siebold was his escort to where I was at the school that day. Sam school from the earlier picture I posted. Anyway, this article is very good and sums up what I have been doing since we started in September and where we are now without me having to worry about revealing anything I should not. So please read to find out what I have been doing this whole time: Observer-Guardian Article.

Life is very nice between missions and I truly believe the morale of the Soldiers is up there quite a bit. We have figured out a lot so far, as veterans do, to make life easier and safer. The confusion of the initial months is finally over and we are feeling comfortable with our work.

Due to foreign countries like this one, intellectual property rights are largely ignored so I was able to watch most of Bee Movie. I plan on trying to rewatch the whole thing again today and I sure did enjoy what I did watch.

I get to talk to Brooke about every night and we correspond by email regularly. It sure makes the separation easier to have the contact but of course I miss her terribly. Brooke, as you guys know, is pretty fun to hang out with and I really miss that aspect of my life. Despite the illnesses, the kids are doing great. My mind is eased by the fact that Mom is there and that Brooke will be hopefully headed home for the holidays. I do not envy her that flight, nor do I know how she is going to actually do it without paying a servant or finding some house-elves. Dad, thanks for the regular emails. I will try to get back to everyone that has written today. I still have a bunch to do; like writing the family of a guy I lost, writing awards for the guys, and of course always analyzing my platoon leaders debriefs and planning for future operations.

Since I am guessing you would all ask me, all I can say about my opinion of the war now is that if the Army was twice its size, and troops here were doubled, combat support troops minimized, combat troops maximized...this war would be completely "won" in 12-18 months. As it is, the American Soldiers are incredibly heroic, hard-working, sincere young men who I hope their great nation does not let down as they make the small victories around here. I cannot say I am optimistic about the latter.

I love you guys.

Mike

Hello Mr. Heartache, I've been expecting you...

Ol' man winter has unfortunately found his way to Kaysville. Saturday was a beautiful day filled with sunshine and wonderful colors but Sunday brought rain in the valley, snow in the mountains and freezing cold temperatures. Guess what else happened Sunday?...our heater broke. I was freezing to death so I decided to turn up the heat from our normal 68 degrees to about 70 when I noticed that the temperature in the house was 63 degrees. No wonder I was cold. Dad came over to take a look but said I would need to call a pro. So we turned on the babies space heater (so at least she was warm) and I put on thick socks, fleece pants and a hoodie (hood on) and buckled up for a cold night. It was miserable and I woke up to find a temperature of 58 degrees! I immediately called the heater guy and he will be here today between the hours of 1 and 3.

Freezing but happy,

Jess

ColoradoBennett

We had Pa spend the night a week ago. Since all our extra blankets and pillows are in Pa's garage in WA, he got to sleep with the Dora and Princess blankets. On the night of my birthday, Adam put the kids to bed for me as a special treat. He asked me if I wondered how he got the girls to stay in bed so effortlessly. I said yes. He told them that if they lay there real still and waited for mom to go to sleep, he would come in and give them a piece of candy. They fell right to sleep, but when they woke up they were really upset with dad. We went to the "Reptile Show" last night. A friend of mine from high school has a reptile business with his wife and they invited us. The girls ran from booth to booth, yelling "Can I hold a snake?!" Very few people had kid friendly reptiles with them, but lucky for us we found a few. The small bowls behind the girls in the above picture are filled with all kinds of colorful frogs and reptiles. They really wanted a snake or lizard, but since I'm loosing my mind with the dog, cat, and fish, I was able to firmly say, "When you grow up and move out, you can have what ever stinkin' pet you want."


What is your name? Mindi
4 letter word? Mash
Vehicle? Mercedes
Show? Mork & Mindy
City? Mukilteo, WA
Boy name? Mac
Girl name? Mable
Drink? Mango & Lime Fiesta (non-alcoholic)
Occupation? Microelectrics
Movie? Miracle on 34th St
Popular band? M
Something you wear? Man bra
Celebrity? Mother Theresa
Food? Meat feast pizza (see photo)




Something found in the bathroom? Make-up
Reason for being late? Make out
Something to shout? Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Provo

What is your name? Ellynn
4 letter word? echo
Vehicle? Escalade
Show? Ellen
City? Englewood
Boy name? Edward
Girl name? Eeva
Drink? Egg Nogg
Occupation? Electrolocist
Movie? Ever After
Popular band? Eagles
Something you wear? Evening gown
Celebrity? Eva Longoria
Food? Escargot
Something found in the bathroom? Eyeshadow
Reason for being late? Empty gas tank
Something to shout? "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!"

What is your name? Jessica
4 letter word: jack
Vehicle: Jaguar
Show: Jag
City: Jacksonville
Boy Name: Jonah
Girl Name: Julie
Drink: juice
Occupation: Jazz singer
Movie: Jerry Maguire
Popular Band: Jay-z
Something you wear: jeans
Celebrity: Jennifer Aniston
Food: jelly
Something found in a bathroom: jewelry
Reason for Being Late: jam of traffic (that works, right?)
Something You Shout: jump

Provo

well i thought you might all be interested in the result of my hellish experience i refer to as "state boards". dispite being handicaped by my bloody hand, i managed to scrape up a 94%!! kind of odd that i got the same percentage on both the written and the practical exams. i guess that means that my knowledge of and ability to do hair are pretty well matched. i hope all is well and again chelse i'm sorry i'll be missing your shower. if i wasn't hosting my friend's i would be there in a heartbeat.
ellynn

Bavaria

What is your name? Brooke
4 letter word: bite
Vehicle: BMW
Show: Biggest Loser
Boy Name: Ben
Girl Name: Beatrice
Drink: Bourbon
Occupation: Beautician
Movie: Bridges of Madison County
Popular Band: Boys2Men
Something you wear: bra
Celebrity: Bullock
Food: Beef
Something found in a bathroom: brush
Reason for Being Late: bad attitude
Something You Shout: Blast

Hopefully the flu bug has finally finished at our house. Barb and I are crossing our fingers. All of the kids have had their turn and we just hope it doesn't decide that we need it too.

Jackson, what do you think of that second picture? What does it remind you of? Mike just called so I have to go. Love you all. Brooke

I got this sent to me the other day and thought that you all would like to try it!

THE RULES: Use the first letter of your first name to answer each of the following ... They have to be real places, names, things ... Nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CANNOT use your name for the boy/girl name question.

What is your name? Jacki
4 letter word: jets
Vehicle: jetta
Show: Jericho City: Joseph (yes I checked Jeseph Utah)
Boy Name: Jon
Girl Name: Jane
Drink: Julep
Occupation: Jazz singer
Movie: J-Men forever
Popular Band: Jackson 5
Something you wear: jock strap
Celebrity: Jolie
Food: jew jew fish
Something found in a bathroom: john
Reason for Being Late: just because
Something You Shout: jiminy christmas

Love ya Aunt Jack

Happy B-Day Mindi!

from the Crabb and Robbins clans.

Jess - that blog link really was funny. I'm glad I am too young to remember those awful times. Not that the 80's were so much better you know.

We're all doing great. I'll try and post more and maybe some pics this weekend.

Bavaria

Hi fam, this is quick because Sawyer is not happy with me. I just wanted Darla, Ellyn, and Mindi to know I got their boxes. Thank you so much. I have not opened them yet. All of my kids but Jane have the stomach flu so I've mostly just been holding them. I love you all. love,Brooke

Check this out...

Tony's cousin had this link on her blog of some guys blog she reads. It is way funny. Just to let you know it swears a few times so you may not want your kids to read it.

Strap in, shut up, and hold on.

Happy Birthday Mindi!!

We hope your day is wonderful, you really deserve it.

Love Jess, Ton and Ind

one more time...

I'm feeling guilty. we were in Washington for a week, and now the kids and I are playing with my sister in Cali. Shouldn't I be at home...? With three kids not yet in school though, why? Washington was beautiful and I'm just happy we were able to be with Geof. all that time. We went running one morning and Geof. said, "I love my job." I think that's the first time I've heard him say that. He's starting to feel very comfortable flying and the traveling perks are wonderful! Now we just need a little raise in pay and all will be perfect. No, not really, but it's nice to see all of our (mostly Geof.'s) hard work pay off. Okay, I have to run. the kids are somewhere in the neighborhood...oops.

Va in Ca

i'm home for the time being anyway

i made it home friday night and it has been non-stop fun since then. geof. and darla and the kids are here and so it has been crazy. while i was gone the missionaries moved in. they have started a new program of having the missionaries live in members homes as a way to cut down on mission costs as well as a few other benefits to everyone involved. i found out from a friend that our home had come up at ward council as a possibility for our ward. i asked the bishop about it and he gave me the sheet with all the criteria. we had everything they needed. i checked with ellery and he was ok with it so i told the bishop it was a go if they needed us. i didn't hear anything back till the sunday right before i left. the stake pres. asked to talk to me after the women's conference and said he had recommended our home to the mission pres. it was funny because he had given his recommendation and as we were talking he found out that we had sister missionaries in our ward and then he was really excited. he had thought that we had elders. anyway we have 3 missionaries with us for the next 3 weeks and then it should drop to the normal 2. the kids love them and meags says it is working out great. there are a few things we have to iron out like the amount of space in the fridge. we are about to capacity without the missionaries and now with their stuff in there it is a joke. they are sweet girls and i think it is going to be fun to have them. they will bring a great spirit into our home. i have so much appreciated the members that have been so good to our kids while they have been out on their missions. now i get to pay back a little. and maybe it will help me be a better missionary.

i'm too tired to write more--still trying to recover from jet lag. i don't know if it is jet lag or the fact that i'm trying to get unpacked, play with geof. and darla while they are here, try to get things back to normal as far as washing, working out etc. and we have 15 people living here to keep up with. i've had a grandchild sleep with me every night since i got home. i've missed them and now i miss my little ones and not so little ones in ga. ut. and germany. good thing geof. is a pilot so i can go see them. sawyer is thriving and very alert for his age. we're all well and love you all. love the cloh stories, let me tell you how we miss disneyland this year--cam and monica we were so jealous and so glad you had a good time. the holloween pictures were great and lydia he looks good. chels happy to note you are still alive just busy i bet with the new job and wedding. it's fun to be a part of yours lives. love aunt le anne

Just for you Mindi

Alicia does this thing with her girls where if they are good they earn tickets and if they are bad they lose them. They set a goal to earn a certain amount and then they get something or get to go somewhere when they reach that amount.
So the other day we were headed to the junker and Chloe was riding with me and we drove by a pool which reminded us of a fun indoor pool by our house and I said we should go to it and Chlo said, "We should make that a goal, mothers can have goals too!" It was really cute.
During that same ride I told Chlo she needed to sit on her pockets and she said, "hot pockets" (which she kind of sang.) It was so funny but this will only make sense if you have heard any of Jim Gaffigans comedy, he does a bit about hot pockets...very funny and pretty clean too you should check him out.

Love Jess

Bavaria

Mom, I've tried to download pictures three times and it isn't working. I will try tonight.

Love, me

ColoradoBennett

I'm sorry I'm on here so much this week. I'm starved for adult interaction b/c we've been home sick for almost the entire week. Today we went to my mom's and that was really nice. But that is the first time I've been out of the house since Sunday. So I'll tell another story about my kids: Kaia was in the bathroom and I noticed the toilet had way too much toilet paper in it. I asked her why she filled the toilet with toilet paper and she said, "I didn't do it." I told her that was called lying. She said "Did you see me do it?" Earlier that day I was singing "Dearest Children, God Is Near You" and the second verse says, "holy angels watch your actions night and day, and they keep a faithful record of the good an bad you say." I told the girls that angels are all around us, watching us and taking notes on everything we do. I could tell by the way Kaia looked around the room that it spooked her a little. So when I was in the bathroom lecturing Kaia, Sierra walked in and said, "Kaia it doesn't matter that mom didn't see you, angels are all around and they saw what you did." With a guilty look on her face she looked all around the room again. Then we had a nice little talk about repentance.
Now somebody better get on here and tell some stories about their kids so I don't feel like I'm alone in this world of parenting insanity.

Sorry!

I goofed with the link that I sent out. What it was you take a plastic bottle of Mt. Dew and empty out all but a 1/4" of it and then pour in a pinch of soda and three caps of hydrogen peroxide and shake it and it glows. It looks very cool on the little message that Kev sent me, hope it works. Love ya Aunt Jack

ColoradoBennett

I got these pictures in an email from Patti Epperson and I decided they have to be on the blog. Cory, you have some explaining to do about that there costume.

Mt. Dew

<dewayne.kelso@honeywell.com> Ok here is a cool thing that Kev sent me you have to check it out. I haven't yet and I hope that it works! Here are the goblins at my house. Love you Aunt Jack

ColoradoBennett

I challenge all bloggers to post pictures of themselves in their Halloween costumes. Here are the kids and I. Look closely, I have on a orange sweater and pumpkin earings, therefore I am a pumpkin. Adam was the invisible man, no sense posting a picture of him. I had a pukey virus yesterday, so our friends came to get Sierra and Kaia and took them trick-or-treating at the university. Then Adam got home from work and took all the kids to a Halloween party then trick-or-treating. Meanwhile, I stayed home and enjoyed watching "The Ultimate Gift" (which I thought was really good) with only a few trick-or-treating interruptions. It was a great evening for me. Adam, however, had nightmares about being a single parent last night. Probably stemming from chasing around three kids on his own at the party last night.
So as far out as Kaia is on the crazy spectrum, Sierra is on the helpful spectrum. Today she helped me make waffles (apologizing very sincerely when she spilled flour all over me and the floor), helped wipe down the chairs that were sticky from Kaia's syrup hands, and swept the floor. Yesterday when Kaia and I were laying down for a nap, Sierra woke me up by making loud noises. I came out ready to let her have it, but she quickly said, "Mom, I was cleaning the bathroom and the living room for you because you shouldn't have to be doing all the cleaning. I was going to put away the laundry but I didn't know where to put Dad's socks." My heart melted and I gave her a great big hug. She can be motivated to do anything through candy or competition. Today I was sweeping and I asked her to finish the juice in her cup. She said, "Mom, let's set a goal. Let's see who can do their job faster." So she gulped down her juice while I scurried to get the floor clean. She won, of course. Kaia picks up on Sierra's competitive spirit and takes it upon herself to be just the opposite. She'll move as slow as possible if we are racing to make the bed or pick up there room, just to prove that she'll not be taken by such pity games.
Here is a link to my facebook account with October photos. Blog out...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20053&id=572146612&ref=mf