Stephen Zollinger Family

2010-08-16T07:23:00.001-07:00

2010-08-16T06:56:00.001-07:00

No time for much of a blog, but I was told that I would put a few pictures up for Alex. Unfortunately, finding any pictures on Mom's computer has proven more challenging than I thought. In the end, it would have been less time consuming to just go get my own computer and work with something familiar. {I should have bought Cari a Mac}.

I will try to post more informative pictures and blog next time.

2010-08-02T01:04:00.001-07:00

2010-08-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

It has been some time since I last shared the life of the family with the world, but since I promised Alex that I would try to put something out there before he checks in the morning, I will try to remember everything that has happened over the past several weeks. I'm not sure how much of it is of interest to anyone, but it will be out there for the world to decide.

Father's day came and went, and apparently, I'm still being recognized by my family as the father, as they gave me gifts. Ashlyn, as usual, created something special in the form of a "Candy Bar Poster", and without any coaching from others, she correctly identified me as her "Sugar Daddy" when it came to "Payday". She also worked in a "Mr. Goodbar", "Big Hunk", and "Three Musketeers". It was really quite creative, and she insists that the "Dum Dums" were not intended to be read as commentary, but only as to their shape as exclamation points.

The next event of note would be Girl's Camp, which in spite of no longer being the Young Women's President, Cari found a way to be a part of. Never one to pass up a social event, she went for the whole enchilada, and got to experience Abby's first year with her. Fun was had by all, and according to Cari and Abby, the 100's of hours of preparation and planning were worth it in the end.

As June wound down, and July spun up, Cari and Mary Zollinger (Jeff's Wife) decided it was the perfect opportunity for a family gathering. All of Jeff's kids were in town with their respective families, Mary's kid's were all here as well. Jack and Debbie, Blake and Nicole, Josh and his new wife Meagan, David and Anna were here with their kids, Glenn and Mary Ann, Paul, Cassie, and Thatcher, Mandi, Kempton and Jake put in appearances, Sue Lewis and her son Walter, various guest appearances by friends and extended family members of family, and Grandma Z supervised the whole thing. All told, there were about 60 people milling about in our back yard. Basketball and badminton were main stays, and water balloon volleyball got some attention as well, but the main attraction was the 25 feet high by 50 feet long inflatable water slide. If you haven't ever seen one, it is not something to be taken lightly. Just because it is filled with air doesn't mean it can't be dangerous. There are ways to use it that make the bouncy parts hurt. For instance, if you jump face first down the ramp, and miss the ramp completely, you could, in theory, tear something in your shoulder. Not to mention the humiliation that comes from having small children pointing and laughing when you don't slide, but rather splat. (I'm giving my shoulder a few more weeks before I agree to have it surgically repaired.) Lot's of good food was consumed, and with only one known exception, the water slide was very popular.

The next event was Addison turning 19. Technically, that occurred before the July 4th festivities, but since Cari refuses to merge parties and risk not having as many as possible, somehow Addison was relegated to the day after the big blowout in the back yard. He received items that can be used on his mission, or used immediately without risk of bodily injury. His disappointment was not noticeable, but it might be the first time he got more useful items than frivolous ones. I believe that marks the beginning of adulthood.

For Cari, Mandi, Abby, Ashlyn and Kempton, the summer has consisted of several short excursions to parks, arcades and various entertainment destinations, while Jake has been working as a medical intern and I've been pursuing "Justice for All". Jake and I have found a few opportunities to play golf, several trips to Driggs and Victor to try the golf courses of the rich and famous, but otherwise, just the home course as often as possible.

My most recent golf took place in Pittsburgh, PA last week. I went with a couple of Rexburg Police officers for some training, and convinced them to take golf clubs along. Someone might have warned me that if the temperature is 95+ and the humidity is too, the golf is officially a water sport. I am going to be far less critical of those PGA guys who are sweating so profusely on TV. It's not always about being fat and overweight, sometimes it really is just hot and humid. Otherwise, Pittsburgh is a very interesting city. They have the worst roadway system of any large city I've ever seen, and yet they manage to move people in and out with efficiency. Very courteous compared to Idaho and Utah drivers. The other activity we took in while there, involved a baseball game followed by a Steve Miller Band concert. The concert was good, and was clearly the draw that filled the stadium, as the Pirates are truly no good.

Plans for the upcoming weeks include getting Addison ready to leave on his mission to Riverside, CA as a Spanish speaker (Mandi thinks he should memorize Preach My Gospel, the standard works, and learn Spanish this month, but Addison wants to work on making arrangements for his prize possessions to be protected while he is away.) We will also be getting Jake sent back to school, with Mandi and Kempton staying on for a few extra weeks to attend Jake's brother's wedding at the end of August.

Alex has started to wonder what life after mission holds in store for him. He is asking me to do things like register him for school, find him a job, and figure out how he can pay for college. The bad news is he doesn't need to register until after he gets home, so he can do it himself. I don't have any idea what type of work he can do while in school, so he will have to work that out after he gets home, and I fear the bad news on how he pays for college is mine, I'll be paying. We're just anxious to have him home. The two months without either Alex or Addison is seeming a little forlorn, but I'm sure we'll get through it. At least their respective going and coming will provide for blog fodder.

2010-06-13T23:02:00.001-07:00

2010-06-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

It's either been very busy around the Zollinger home the past several weeks, or life has been so boring that I haven't been able to bring myself to write about it. Whichever the case, the past two weeks have been packed with adventure and association worth writing about.

The big trip to Illinois started by heading to Saint George on May 27th. I know what some of you may be saying, Saint George isn't really on the way to Illinois, and you would be correct. One thing that I've learned after 25+ years of marriage is that neither directional perception nor geography in general are the reasons I married Cari. If you tell her to plan a trip, she will ensure that every detail is addressed, but it may not necessarily seem logical. Just get in the car and go with it.

We had a great time in Southern Utah with David, Anna and the gang, and I was able to get in a few rounds of golf with Evan and Tyler Meyers. Apparently, I have been adopted as an honorary member of the Meyers family. (The reason stems from a little contest that involves 3 putts on the golf course, and the opportunity to pass the "Three Putt Monkey Butt" on to me if I'm a member of the family.) We also managed to get in several rounds of "Hand and Foot" as well as a nice dinner for the grown ups in Las Vegas. We all thought it great to be in warm weather since the Rexburg climate has been unseasonably cool.

Monday, saw us loading up for the first leg of our cross country trek. We drove to Denver and if any of you get the chance, it is one of the most beautiful stretches of Interstate I've ever driven. The Vail, Colorado summit is bracketed by very extreme vistas. Cari had selected a nice hotel for us in the Denver area, but again, it was a little be directionally challenged, as we had to drive about an hour out of our way to get there. On the bright side, I'm not sure we would ever see that portion of Colorado on purpose.

Tuesday moved us through what can only be described as the most boring portion of Interstate. I know it's been said before, but it needs to be said again, what the heck is there between Denver and Kansas City? Well, one answer was found by the Zollinger crew thanks to our unique navigational approach to Southern Illinois. We spent Tuesday night in Manhattan. Although it wouldn't be completely out of the possible for our navigator, the Big Apple would be too far for a single days travel, so we actually stayed in the "Little Apple", Manhattan, Kansas, which is the home of Kansas State University. We got there early enough to get in a round of miniature golf, bowling, swimming and a nice dinner. We also took a drive around the campus, and we were quite impressed with the old campus buildings.

Wednesday was scheduled to get us to Carbondale, home of the Mandi, Jake and Kempton Moss family. Since there were more hours in the day than were needed to travel the distance, I took a detour of my own, and drove to the Liberty Jail and Independence Visitor Centers. Both sites were interesting, and the girls actually admitted that the delay may have been worth it.

Thursday and Friday were spent helping pack up the Moss's and wrapping up last minute matters in Carbondale. For anyone that has not had the chance to spend several hours in a big metal box (the moving truck) in 90+ temperatures and 90%+ humidity, I highly recommend it as a weight loss program. Or in the alternative, you can put your enemy in that position as a form of torture. I believe in World War II prison camps it was a form of punishment known as the box.

Saturday, we headed for Springfield, Illinois, where I discovered that we were in fact driving to no specific destination. Maybe we would be moving into a duplex, maybe a four bedroom house, or maybe a storage unit. Not exactly how I would have planned an arrival in a completely new town, but an adventure none the less. After spending a few hours looking at the cool old house (probably a small fortune to heat and without central air), the duplex that seemed perfect to me, but I'm not the one living there, and the storage unit, the storage unit won out in the interest of time. So, once again, I found myself in the "Box" for another hour, but we eventually got the Moss household offloaded in Springfield.

In keeping with our navigationally challenged travel plans, we then headed to Chicago for the night. About half way there, we got to experience an amazing lightning show, and rain like nothing I've ever driven through. At one point I asked Jake if he thought we should maybe pull off and wait out the storm, but he was confident that it was just a typical storm for the area. However, Sunday morning newscasts informed us that in fact we had driven right through the middle of several tornados. (Houses tipped over, cars turned over, etc.) We Idahoans aren't easily put off by weather. Although, we maybe should have taken time to think better of it when we saw the line of 4 or 5 ambulances in a row headed past us.

Sunday was a travel day, and we made it to Sioux City for the night. Again, a new part of the Country for me, and quite frankly the northern route is much nicer than the Nebraska, Kansas route. Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota in one day.

Monday we drove to Rapid City, South Dakota, a short jaunt by our standards, so that we would have time to visit Mount Rushmore, and Crazy Horse Mountain. Jake and Kempton were the only two that hadn't been there before, and they were both appropriately impressed.

Tuesday had us heading home. Not to pass up an opportunity, we allowed ourselves to get sucked in by the electronic navigational systems, and I'm not sure they did any better than Cari in the end. Every device we had took us through Yellowstone park, over another great mountain pass between Sheridan and Cody, Wyoming. Spectacular, but certainly not the fastest or easiest route to Rexburg from Rapid City. We did see bears, buffalo, elk and beautiful views, and made it home in one piece.

All in all, we spent just over 76 hours driving during a 13 day trip, and we are all still speaking to each other, so I suppose it has to be counted among our successful vacations, and we're glad to have Kempton, Mandi and Jake in town for a few months.

I have high hopes that while Mandi is in town, she can undo the Easter banner that she put on this blog back when it was seasonally appropriate. If not, it will be Easter again in 10 months.

2010-04-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

I logged on and was surprised to see that it had been three weeks since I last blogged. As I look back, the only possible excuse is that I just didn't feel like it.

The golf course has been open and playable for about 3 weeks, but I'm sure that isn't it.

With gymnastics in the "new skills training" season, we haven't had any mandatory trips, and so we haven't taken any trips at all. I have been contemplating the fact that gymnastics may not be a real sport. Not because it doesn't take a great deal of strength, commitment and physical agility, but because it doesn't appear to have a season. Aren't real sports supposed to take some sort of a break to recover from wear and tear or injuries?

Speaking of injuries, the real excitement his past week once again was provided by Ashlyn, our apparent weakest link. On Thursday, she suddenly had a sharp pain in her abdomen, and after all of the home remedies failed to cure her pain, and as it seemed to worsen, Cari and Ashlyn headed for the Emergency room for professional consultation. They attempted several times to track me down at my meeting at City Hall, but were unsuccessful (mostly due to the fact that I was in fact at Hospital Board Meeting, just feet from the emergency room). When I finally got word of what was going on, I walked over to the ER in time to hear the blood results, and watch them hook her up to the IV. The doctor was either very intuitive, or stumbled upon a new diagnostic method, since when he gave Ashlyn her three options, she immediately began to feel a little better. Her options were 1: Check into the hospital for observation for the night. 2: Go ahead and remove her Appendix. 3: Have a CT Scan to rule out appendicitis. She chose the 3rd option and after the test, it was determined that she had a Urinary Tract Infection, and she was sent home with a stiff dose of antibiotics. It's not every 10 year old that can boast 2 CT Scans in one year.

Ashlyn was able to make a rapid recover, and by Friday night she was ready for a father-daughter date. Cari and Abby were in Island Park for some girls camp certification outing. I'm not certain of its exact nature, but it must be very important, since Cari chose it over celebrating our anniversary. I'm not sure what the psychological ramifications of my wife choosing young women's over our anniversary are, but I may suffer long term affects.

Yesterday was again another interesting and full day. Cari and I spent the morning in Idaho Falls, at a Garret Archibald's and Meagan Wright's wedding. It was a gala event, and I ran into Tyler Myers who had a 2:10 tee time, which made the day much better from my perspective. The golf course was slow, which led to my day taking a turn for the worse. The ward was having a talent show by invitation, and the girls had been invited to perform some gymnastics. This isn't as easy as one might think, as all elements of gymnastics require large pieces of equipment. I had loaded everything needed for a balance beam demonstration into the trailer on Friday, and assumed Addison and others could get it into the gym. When I arrived 30 minutes before show time, the beam was sticking out of the doors, and nobody was in sight. I located Addison and his friend AJ Nichols, along with what appeared to be the entire young mens group trying to shove the 9 foot mat through the 6 foot 8 inch door. After I taught them the principle of folding, we sized up the beam and determined it wouldn't fit. At the last possible second, the thought occurred to us that if a casket can fit through the chapel door, it had to be wider than normal, so off we went. The day turned good again when the girls put on a spectacular performance.

Assuming I was right about why it had been 3 weeks since I last blogged, and the golf course has nothing to do with it, I'll blog again soon. If, however, the golf course is a contributing factor, I'll blog when something of interest happens.

2010-04-04T22:14:00.001-07:00

2010-04-04T21:34:00.001-07:00

Things in Rexburg looked like they were moving rapidly toward a real Spring season. The sun came out and the snow disappeared enough that golf was a reality for a few days. We had our annual Easter picture a week before Easter, since we were going to be dressing down for the actual holiday.

The girls went for a ride on the two seater, and all seemed right with the world. However, nothing is ever as you want it to be in Rexburg, and the next picture shows the current situation in our backyard.

The rapid changes actually seemed to have an adverse impact on Cari, as she experienced some sort of a break with reality. I'm hopeful, for the sake of the children, that it won't happen often. We can only hope.

Since the weather turned on us anyway, we decided to spend the Easter weekend in Island Park with Tom and Kricket Mounts and Andy and Lynn Clark and all of their kids. Kricket's family has a very nice cabin just North of Henry's Lake, and the view is usually great. This weekend, the view was about 25 feet most of the time, but it was still a great weekend. We spent time doing all the finest things in life. Reading, eating, playing ping-pong, pool ad foosball. We also managed to take in General Conference and watch some basketball. I can't figure out why when I try to do all of those things at home, Cari says I'm wasting too much time, but if we do it at a cabin, it's what we aspire to. I'm not complaining, but I am a bit confused.

All things considered, we had a great weekend.

Last for best

2010-03-21T22:34:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we took the last gymnastics trip of the 2009-2010 season. I can't say that I'll miss the meets, but the trips have been entertaining for the most part. This one served as a partial family reunion with several of the Wellman clan, as Cari's brother that recently returned from Iraq was passing through Spokane with his family. It was nice to get together with not only Scott and Sarah and their children, but David and Michelle and kids who live just outside of Spokane and Joe and Jessica who live in Spokane Valley and are expecting their first child. (Not counting the huge chocolate lab that has served as their child for the past several years.)

Joe, Jessica Cadet plus two

David, Michelle, Josh, Zach and Jacob

Joe and Scott Quirking

Cari and Jessica Quirking

Sarah Working

Room full of she cousins

The commentary on the adventure is much the same as past meets, except that the pressure of the State wide competition seems to have gotten to the girls. Abby finished 4th on the Floor and 5th on the beam, with a 7th place overall showing, while Ashlyn finished 4th on the beam and 5th on the floor with an 8th place overall showing. They both feel pretty good about their performances given that they are in their first year of performing routines that they selected the elements, and it was against alot of girls that are in their 3rd and 4th years at this level. I guess the obligatory "wait until next year" is appropriate.

As for my part in the competition, for those of you that don't know, it is practically impossible to get to Moscow, Idaho from Rexburg, Idaho. As is demonstrated in our slide show, we went in and out of three states ten times and put 1250 miles on Cari's car before it was over. All in 2 and a half days. My driving was a medal performance if I do say so myself.

As I already stated, it was fun seeing several of Cari's brothers, and catching up with them, but neither the reunion nor the gymnastics meet compare to the highlight of the trip. While looking for the "wholly cows" on the University of Idaho campus, we came upon the birth of a calf. I feared it might be too much for the little girls, but they were mesmerized, and insisted on watching the mother try to help the little guy into the world. Fortunately for the U of I, we didn't get any video footage of the cow rolling the calf down the hill in the dirt, but eventually everyone seems to have figured out the game plan, and the new arrival settled into a comfortable position. Probably not as rare as the cows with clear plexiglass windows sewn into their sides, but pretty impressive to watch.

On the home front, Addison was left behind to care for his grandma (my mom) and the dog. When we called to check in with him, he reported dog was a menace and that grandma had fallen and put her head through the oven door (no serious injuries). He stated that we should get rid of her and save ourselves a lot of hassle. I'm reasonably certain he was talking about the dog, but I will be following up.

2010-03-07T22:51:00.001-08:00

Montana for a Day

2010-03-07T21:49:00.000-08:00

This weeks only entertaining event was another trip to a gymnastics meet. This time we forced Addison to come along for the support so we made it a quick one day adventure. The girls rode up to Missoula, Montana with their coach and her husband very early Saturday morning, and Cari, Addison and I followed at a more humane hour. The girls joined us for lunch before the meet, and Ashlyn now has a new favorite place to eat - Fuddruckers.

Addison assures us that the Level 7 meets are no more tolerable than the Level 4, 5 or 6 meets were. It's probably good that he is leaving for two years on a mission, maybe he will better appreciate the girls gymnastics skills when they are two years better, or he is two years removed.

The girls both did quite well, Abby is in the Junior B division, and took 1st on the floor, 3rd on the Beam, 3rd on the vault and 3rd overall. Ashlyn, in the Junior A division, took 2nd on the floor, 4th on the uneven bars and 4th overall. As a team, they took 3rd overall for the meet. The team finish was made more impressive by the fact that the girls team consisted of just 4 competitors, and the other teams all had 10 to 15 competitors.

The rest of the quick trip was spent enjoying the water park attached to our hotel, and visiting the historic prison in Deer Lodge, Montana. The trip was quick, and there was plenty of driving involved, but it was still a fun adventure.

On a side note, the long drive reminded me again of what terrible co-travelers my wife and children are. Alex has traditionally been the only one that helps me stay awake, and he isn't available. Cari insists on telling me how important it is that I not wear my headphones so we can visit, but 30 minutes in she is inevitably sound asleep and I'm either stuck listening to whatever movie the girls and Addison are watching, or digging for the headphones that I have stashed under the seat. The lesson is that 30 minutes is not much to give.

2010-03-02T05:49:00.000-08:00

It seems that every time I sit down to edit the blog, the same thing has happened again in a new location. Namely, more time spent in a gymnasium far away from home watching the girls shake, rattle and roll. It's nice spending time with Cari and the girls, but we have yet to find a gym with comfortable seating. I may have to become a competitor so I can lay down occasionally on the soft mats.

Last weekends meet was in Park City, Utah. We found out too late, that Johnny and his team were there practicing between Olympic events, but we got to hear about Jack Harris' exploits with the Johnny's medal. I can only assume Johnny was willing to let Jack hand his medal to a total stranger in hopes of furthering Jack's social agenda. (However, I'm pretty sure it's the medal winner the girls are swooning for, not his sidekick.) Both girls performed well in at least one event. Abby tied for first on the floor, but apparently sticking 3 separate landings during your beam routine is not impressive to anyone but your father. Ashlyn finished 4th overall for her age group, just missing the podium, but feeling good about herself. Gymnastics meets amidst the 2 weeks of Winter Gymnastics helped me to appreciate the agony of the competition for some, and the joy of victory for others. Congratulations to Abby, Ashlyn, Johnny and team USA Nordic Combined. (Not necessarily in that order.)

Mandi seems to have settled back into her life in Carbondale. She and Kempton are missed here in Rexburg by all. Addison misses his homework mentor. (She derives way too much joy from studying other peoples homework.) The girls are suffering withdrawals from the daily activities she coordinated. Cari misses the live in TV gossip partner among other things, and I miss watching someone with apparent bottomless patience deal with Kempton, Addison and me. (It seems the less fair the gender, the less responsible the individual.)

Alex continues to thrive in the mission field. He is fairly certain that he will be leaving LaPlace this week, and is excited to start a new adventure in another area. He is also starting to contemplate the "after life" and has requested specific information about getting into BYU-Idaho starting next January. I'm impressed that I have a son that is thinking more than a few days into the future.

Addison continues to be happy with his very simple life. School, cartoon network, video games and the occasional snowboarding adventure. He seems to be doing fine in school, knows every show on the CN and conquers the new games he buys in 48 hours. (Straight through if it happens to be the weekend.) He is a little down about the fact that all of his friends have been getting their mission calls, and he is still months away, but then since there is nothing he can do but wait, he watches another episode of Family Guy and moves on. What a great life and attitude.

As previously stated, the girls still spend any spare time at the gym. Ashlyn did manage to celebrate her 10th birthday over the course of the last two weeks. The actual day was February 19, so we had cupcakes with David and Anna and their family after the Park City meet. Then we celebrated with immediate family, and finished it all off with a "friends" party at the inflated bouncing room at the arcade. I am suspicious that the multiple party plan was an effort to maximize her return on getting older, but she has a way of manipulating her mother and me. Both girls are doing well in school and at least for now, the department of family services hasn't questioned us about all the scrapes and bruises they show up with at school.

Life is generally good in the Zollinger home, and the past few weeks have been made better by our friends and family.

Unlike Mandi, we still have a camera and memory card, I'm just too lazy to run back to the car and get it most of the time. There will be pictures next time.

2010-02-14T22:11:00.001-08:00

2010-02-14T20:58:00.000-08:00

This week has been eventful in many ways. Most of the week was devoted to getting Mandi and Kempton ready for their migration back to Illinois. It never ceases to amaze me how much stuff Mandi can accumulate in a short period of time. Why would anyone living in Illinois buy a food processor in Idaho.

Mandi had several items on her to do list that she felt still had to be done, so many of the photos are last minute activities. I'm not sure how likely the girls snowboard lessons are to take, but Mandi did take them to the hill for a night of fun. Larry and Janelle Wellman went along for the adventure and according to all, the night was a success.

Snowboarding wasn't the only winter wonder that Mandi felt everyone should experience. She orchestrated a trip to the sledding hill up near the BYU-I. Kempton never seems to enjoy her outings as much as she thinks he will. As you can see from the photos, he is more like his Gramps, and thinks the snow is for shoveling, not playing.

On Thursday, Cari, Abby and Ashlyn were dropped off at the Idaho Falls, Airport for their trip to Las Vegas. Somehow, it seems a lot more logical when I head for Vegas with 100 of my closest golf buddies than watching them leave for a gym meet with 20 of their closest pals.

They had rented a house near where the meet was and apparently had a great weekend living it up and just relaxing in the sun. The girls did pretty good in their meet, Abby's best finish was a 3rd on floor and 5th overall, and Ashlyn had a 2nd on floor but 8th overall. Their team took 4th and they were thrilled with the experience.

Friday night Addison and I were tasked with trying to put everything Mandi had collected into 4 suitcases. It wasn't much of a challenge size wise, but when most of what she is taking is books, weight rapidly became an issue. (On a side note, since I was using Addison as the holder of the luggage to weigh it, I discovered that if I could cut him in half, I could almost take him on the plane in two pieces.) Saturday, I loaded Mandi, Kempton and four 50 pound suitcases into the car and headed for SLC. Everyone made it home intact, and Kempton remembered to call Jake, daddy instead of "my Jake", so all is right in Illinois.

Sunday found me playing the part of limo service again, as Cari and the girls came home. We all gathered around the television and watched Johnny win his silver medal, and then watched it again several times. I wouldn't have thought it could be so exciting, but we are all very proud of Johnny. Congratulations Johnny.

2010-01-31T22:38:00.001-08:00

2010-01-31T21:22:00.000-08:00

A week worth blogging about. I knew one would eventually happen, and my patience has been rewarded. We all did something of note last week.

Addison only warrants brief mention. He relapsed and spent the time we were out of town forgetting to behave like an adult. He stayed up all hours of the night playing video games, and forgot to get up for school then next morning. He then did the same thing again last night and forgot to get up for church. Hopefully, he has learned his lesson, and will do better if we ever leave him without adult supervision again.

Alex continues to do well on his mission, and will be staying in LaPlace for at least another 6 weeks. He seems to have this particular area pretty well figured out, and must have a reason for staying there.

Cari, Mandi, Abby, Ashlyn and Kempton headed for Salt Lake City last Friday for the first meet of the season. The girls managed to get medals in individual events, but were not able to put together enough points as a team to place. It is the first year for all five of the level 7 girls, and they are finally doing their own routines. It has proven to be a bit more complicated than they knew. Ashlyn was informed by the judges after the meet that she was missing an element in her floor routine, and would have done much better if she had included it. They then travelled to Boise this weekend for meet number two. The entire team improved upon their scores from Utah, and again each of the girls were able to place individually, and the team finished 5th. Again, Ashlyn was informed this week that she was missing an element in her Beam routine, and would have done much better if she had included it. Apparently, if she ever figures out what elements she needs to have, she might be a contender. Abby simply puts it all together for the event, and finishes better each meet. They get a week off, and then travel to Las Vegas for a meet on February 12. Let's hope they get it all worked out by then.

Speaking of Las Vegas, I left for Las Vegas on Friday, the day the girls left for Utah for their meet. I stopped in Saint George and played golf at a fairly new course called Sand Hollow, then went on to Mesquite and played Coyote Springs. The group then went on to Las Vegas where 90 to 100 from Southeast Idaho took over the Red Rock Country Club on Monday, the Sienna Course on Tuesday and the Red Rock Arroyo course on Wednesday. I then flew to Boise for meetings on Thursday and Friday, and ended up driving home with the family, but not before we took time to stop by the newly refurbished Capital building.

The details are thin, but the pictures are all you need.

2010-01-18T22:57:00.001-08:00

2010-01-18T22:10:00.000-08:00

Two weeks, and despite the best efforts of the Zollinger clan, we haven't done anything that compels me to write about it. However, because we use the blog to communicate with Alex in Louisiana, Cari and the girls decided I had to write something even if it isn't that exciting.

Mandi and Kempton continue to hang out in Rexburg, mostly because Jake has figured out that it is easier to study if he isn't stressing about Mandi trying to make everything perfect for his studying. Mandi hasn't figured out yet that just doing her own thing with Kempton might be the best thing she could do for peace of mind, but I'm pretty sure he understanding will come with time. In the mean time, we are thoroughly enjoying their time here with us, and I'm doing my best to teach Kempton inappropriate behaviors. His mom and aunts are countering my every move.

Addison has been busy learning what university life is all about. Mandi is giving him all of her tips for making the most of the educational experience, and in spite of her tips, he seems to be getting along quite well. He appears to understand the importance balancing studying with playing, if we can figure out how to work socializing into the mix, he may yet become the perfect young man.

Alex is still doing great, and enjoying his opportunities. He knows already when he will be coming home, and is beginning to think about getting into the university life. I think maybe he is a little nervous that Addison is getting a head start in the brains department. Don't worry Alex, you should be able to catch up and pass him at everything but video games.

The girls are making the final push for the competition season that will begin this coming weekend. It's hard to know if they are "cocky" or truly ready, but they believe they are peaking just at the right time. They will be in SLC first, and then to Boise the last weekend of the month, one week off to rest and then to Las Vegas. That's as far as I know right now. Cari and the girls try to break it to me gradually, so I don't freak out at how much of a commitment we are making to this venture.

My adventure for the coming week will be to take the annual winter golf trip. Maybe it will give me something to write about, but in the mean time, because Mandi informed me that blogging without photos is "lame", I sent Cari, Mandi, Abby, Ashlyn and Kempton out into the city to take pictures of anything that they thought was new, and the foregoing slideshow is the result.

Short Update

2010-01-03T22:48:00.000-08:00

The New Year is upon our house, and it came with as little fan fare as ever. Cari's sister Barbie rode the shuttle up from Salt Lake City on the 31st and that was the extent of our party attendants. Cari, me, Abby, Ashlyn and Barbie. The lack of guests didn't slow Cari down in her preparations, she never misses a chance for party plans. Addison went to Island Park with buddies. I'm not complaining, I don't mind that Cari is always doing the heavy lifting when it comes to party planning, but I would just as soon not have parties at all. The older I get, the less I enjoy having to get up for anything. By time I turn 55, I may just want to sleep and eat, and the eating according to Cari will be limited to pizza and popcorn.

The week between Christmas and now has been more casual at work than usual. I have traditionally taken this week off to avoid losing vacation days, but this year I worked every day and found that there are very few people that expect government business to be transacted. Even though we were open and available at City Hall, there was very little activity. I plan on working every year from now on, and taking the busy weeks off.

The girls and Addison are headed back to school this coming week, and none of them seem too happy about it. Addison is acting as bored as I've ever seen him. Abby wanted to know if we would consider homeschooling her, and Ashlyn will likely find some sickness to fake in the morning. I'm sure the new year will bring many new and exciting adventures for us as a family, and I'm optimistic that I'll be able to write something meaningful about each and every event. (At least I'll have material if the family has adventures.)

If you came looking for photos, try Mandi's and Jake's blog, as despite carrying the camera with us every day of the week, apparently if you don't take it out of the case, turn it on, point it, and press the button, carrying it serves no purpose. Maybe next week.

2009-12-28T00:07:00.001-08:00

Christmas Comes but once a year....

2009-12-27T23:13:00.000-08:00

The past two weeks have been full of all sorts of fun and adventure. The month of December started off with Addison going to work at UPS as Thomas Mounts runner/assistant. I wasn't real sure they would both survive, but despite a few scares, they seem to have pulled it off. Tom did have to explain why his assistant for the Christmas rush took a sick day to go snowboarding, but who among us hasn't felt the need for a mental health day at some point. (I've since explained to Addison that if you're only scheduled to work for 3 weeks, faking sick maybe isn't appropriate.)

Cari and I decided that we needed our own mental health day, and so I took a real day off to go down and pick Jake up in SLC. We hauled a trailer full of belongings down for Ryan and Liz (Lindsay's daughter and son in law), and got to see where they will be living for the next several months, and then we dropped Mandi and Kempton off at Cassie and Paul Morris' home, and spent the weekend doing anything we wanted to, on our own schedule. It was difficult at times to not feel compelled to check in with someone, but we managed to muddle through. We had our annual dinner date with friends from our Salt Lake years, and it is always nice to catch up with the Stephenson's. Cari made sure that I had purchased all the right things for her Christmas list, and then we watched movies, ate and just drove around looking at lights. (We sound old when I write it down, but it was good enough for us.)

After retrieving Jake, we ran a few errands that Mandi insisted would save her bundles of money if she bought the things in Salt Lake. I think it only saves her money, because I was the one driving all over West Valley looking for discount stuff. Next time I'll get more details up front, and Jake and I will decide whether it is worth buying at full retail.

When we got home, Mandi, Cari, Abby and Ashlyn began preparations in earnest for Kempton's birthday. For anyone that keeps track, his birthday is two weeks past, but the party waited for Jake. Despite all the stress that led up to the party, it turned out very nice, and probably has to rank in the top ten birthday's for a two year old. (He won't remember, but the 30 or 40 guests were all properly impressed, which I'm sure was at least part of what drove the shindig.)

Christmas was small again this year, with the Cassie, Paul, Mandi, Jake and kids were the only out of towner's to join the Mounts, Grandma Z, Jack and Debbie Z's family and our family. That didn't make it any less festive, but we did go with a few new traditions. Paul and Glenn slaved over Tamales and produced 200 very tasty morsels. I'm still a little confused about the Christmas Tamales concept, but they were very good, and I never fully understood the Clam Chowder tradition either. The live nativity was traded in for the DVD version this year too, as we were short of willing participants to play the wisemen or the livestock, I'm not sure which.

Christmas morning was pretty normal, except that we managed to talk the girls into staying in bed until nearly 8:00 because we told them we had to wait for Kempton to be awake. His usefulness is not limited to getting out of church, although that is still one of his best attributes. His smile and hugs are pretty good too.

We were able to speak with Alex for about 45 minutes after opening our gifts, and it was nice to hear his voice, and some of his adventures. He is doing well, and seems to still have the fire in his belly for the work. When asked if he had any advice for Addison, in preparation for leaving next summer, he basically said Add needs to study everything spiritual he can. Add has never been very good at taking Alex's advice, but maybe this time.

We have managed to get in a few hours of volleyball while everyone is in town, and as is to be expected, several hours a day have been dedicated to playing new board games. Tonight's adventure involved the newest addition to our Wii System, called Wii Fit, and had us all alternately laughing and gasping for air, as we were put through the workout by the sadistic cartoon fitness trainers. I'm pretty sure that some of the moves they tell us to try can only be accomplished by cartoon characters, but Abby and Ashlyn are game for anything, so we may see real humans pull it off before I find a way to break the infernal contraption.

All in all, it has been a very hectic few weeks, and if I had to keep up this pace more than once a year, I would likely become a bah humbugger, but since Christmas comes but once a year, I suppose I suck it up and start preparing for next year.

Happy New Year

Almost Christmas

2009-12-13T21:36:00.000-08:00

I completely missed last week, and can't say that I have twice as much to say this week as a result. If it weren't for the fact that I update the blog in lieu of writing to Alex each week, I'm not sure what would (or could) motivate me to do it. I'm optimistic, however, that over the next few weeks, the holiday season will overload me with blogging material. We'll have to wait and see.

Having Mandi and Kempton living here has been entertaining over the past several weeks. Kempton has become very good at getting me to feed him the marshmallows out of the Lucky Charms. Although I know it's wrong to feel cheated by a 2 year old, Lucky Charms minus the Charms just don't seem Lucky. In fact they seem very similar to Alphabits Cereal. Other than that, Kempton is a pretty easy houseguest to put up with.

Mandi, on the other hand, has been a challenge. In order to let her have a vehicle (with a working heater) while in town, I have kept the convertible out well beyond its usual storage date. It does fairly well in the shallow snow we've experienced thus far, but it has none of the winter accessories that I usually carry with me in the truck, such as a shovel, gloves, or a scraper. I'm sure that I could forgive her the inconvenience, but she also tends to be hard on my pickup. This past week, on a morning that was about -10 degrees, she headed for her friends home and called to tell me that the truck had come to an abrupt halt after overheating. Glenn went and nursed Mandi, Kempton and the pickup back to his house, and then he and I switched out the thermostat. I know it is not her fault, but it seems much easier for me if I blame her. She in turn blames Thomas M. or Addison, and is quick to point out that they too have been driving the pickup. I credit them with all of the messes, but still like Mandi for the engine troubles, no matter how irrational it may be.

Speaking of Addison and Thomas, Add has been working as an assistant with Tom at UPS. This may seem like a great fit at first blush, but the down side is that when they are not called to work, they have come up with typical excuses for not getting anything meaningful done around our home or the Mounts home. The trees that Add was going to get Christmas lights on have turned out to be pretty sparse this year, and the ones that he did get done have bare spots. It seemed to go much better when I could convince Alex and Addison to compete from tree to tree. We will take pictures this year and see if Alex can do better next year in Add's absence.

We went down to Idaho Falls to hear Alex's most recent companion report his mission, and it was nice to talk to him. He assures us that Alex is doing well, but his talk made several references to the areas where he had been assigned that had frequent gun shots. (His theory was that the muggers and murderers had too much respect for men of God to shoot them. Not what a parent wants to rely on necessarily.) Alex is still in LaPlace, Louisiana, and will be spending Christmas there this year. (See MossPosse Blog for current address to send him well wishes for the season.)

The girls continue to spend all spare time at the gym, playing the piano, and studying. Abby is playing the violin, and Ashlyn is playing the youngest child role. Both the the latter two can get on a person's nerves, but I'm sure with the passage of time, they will both get past the obnoxious stage.

We are planning our annual pilgrimage to Salt Lake City to reconnect with our friends down there, and to hopefully finish the very little remaining shopping. Some time this week, I really should give some thought to what Cari might want for Christmas. Then I can give some thought to what I'm willing to get for her. I thought for a while last month that our vacuum cleaner was going to go down, giving me an automatic, but unfortunately, the repair guy fixed it. (The staff at works feels that I may have been spared a long cold winter by the repair guy.)

Kempton tormenting Mount's cat instead of Miley.

2009-11-29T20:39:00.000-08:00

It's been two weeks since last I had anything of value to say. After reading this weeks blog, there may be some who believe I should have waited yet another week.

We made the final push to clean out Mom's house last week. As should have been expected, there was significantly more stuff still in the house than any of us here in Rexburg remembered, but we were ultimately up to the task. We called in professional help to manage the piano, the pool table, and the finish cleaning. The piano was strapped to a moving board and Addison and I loaded it into the trailer and towed it down to Salt Lake City for Laurel. She then payed a piano professional to assemble it and before we left town, she was playing to her hearts content. Addison and I spent several hours trying to see what the allure of the Mall's is, but we still aren't sure how some people make trips to the Mall just to go to the Mall. The wait was worth it, however, as we were able to pick up Mandi, Jake and Kempton and bring them home for vacation.

The arrival of the Moss Posse has been as much fun as anticipated. Jake is getting ready to head back for a few weeks of tests, and will return in mid-December, but Mandi and Kempton are sticking around throughout the holidays, and we are all looking forward to the entertainment that Kempton provides. (Mandi's not bad either.)

This week was a short week for everybody. We left on Wednesday afternoon for Park City, Utah. All of the Rexburgers headed that direction, Michael and Ann Marie Johnson and kids, and Paul, Cassie and Thatcher Morris all moved into a cabin on the mountain for the Thanksgiving holiday, and Dale, Laurel and Jack Harris, Hilary Spillane, and David, Allison, Evan and Ethan Zollinger all came up for the big day. (Anna Z was working, and I'm not sure the cabin would have held the one extra person.) We all had a great time, and the meal was as good in the mountains as it is at home. (I'm not sure the effort will be soon repeated, however, as it was more work than we thought cooking away from home.) It's always good to get together with family though, and even with the noise and constant people under foot, it was a lot of fun.

We brought Grandma home with us, as Glenn stayed for another check-up on his wrist. As soon as we got home, we immediately began the process of converting to Christmas. Next week begins the party, concert and shopping season in earnest. I hope we can survive in one piece.

The slide show speaks more accurately to the events of the past few days. (Trouble getting the slide show to post. Pictures are apparently not my strong suit. Try cutting the below and pasting as internet site.)

http://s685.photobucket.com/albums/vv219/zocomo/Thanksgiving%202009/?albumview=slideshow&mediafilter=images

2009-11-15T22:01:00.001-08:00

2009-11-15T21:11:00.000-08:00

This week has been reasonably uneventful. For the most part, we have been closely resembling a convalescence home. I continue to struggle with what I now fondly refer to as the 4 week cold. Addison has been walking around looking like a chipmunk for the whole week. He still has a little swelling, and he still doesn't understand why he had to have perfectly good teeth removed at the cost of such miserable pain. Lastly, Ashlyn continues to find any reason she can to put on a brace. Her patellar tendonitis got worse, not better, and so she is going to have to wear a brace for at least another week. Cari and Abby are wondering if it's safe to live in this house.

On the upside, Addison and I were able to get most of the Christmas lights up while the temperature was still warm. We then got our first dose of what lies ahead. Not much in the way of snow accumulation, but it has been below freezing for several days now, and the girls think any amount of snow is enough.

Abby is loving Young Women's. It's difficult to figure out how she finds the time to do everything she does, and enjoy it all. She continues to excel at gymnastics, she is getting better every week at the piano, and she comes home from school each day with another tale of what wonderful things she has learned. (Mostly from her brilliant Aunt Mary Ann.) I hope she can keep it up.

Mandi, Jake and Kempton are scheduled to arrive on Friday. I am going to Salt Lake for a meeting, and will wait around until they get in, and bring them home. Although it's always fun to read Mandi's blog updates, it will be better to see them in person.

This weeks pictures are a stretch, but Cari feels like my writing skills alone don't cut it each week, and that pictures are essential. While I agree that pictures are nice, and should be included whenever possible, pictures for the sake of pictures may be the exception.

To finish this week off, I'm going to make predictions for next week. I predict that I will be over my cough. Addison will be over his swollen mouth. Ashlyn will be looking for her next brace, and something fun and exciting will happen to make this blog more interesting.

A Week In the Life...finally

2009-11-08T18:19:00.000-08:00

This week hasn't been too eventful on the family front, but there was plenty going on in Rexburg. The elections for City Council were on Tuesday, and all three council members elected were repeat offenders. Chris Mann is an incumbent, Donna Benfield is returning after two years off after making a run for Mayor last election, and Bruce Sutherland is returning after 6 years off. Just minutes after formally acknowledging the new council members, the current council appointed one of their own, Richard Woodland to serve out the remaining two years of the Mayor's term. It should finally give me a chance to stop going to work at 6:30 am and staying until 7:oo pm every weekday. The past two months have been a little stressful. I'm ready to quit coughing since it has been three straight weeks now, and I'm hopeful that the lack of stress, coupled with the passage of time will give me the chance to heal.

Cari's highlight of the week was beginning the seasonal craft circuit. She whipped some block of wood or pile of material into what will undoubtedly be a must have decoration. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure I'll love it. (Or whichever of you gets it as a gift will love it.) She volunteered the girls as nursery workers, and told them it was their service for the season. (She then paid them each $15 for their time. We really need to talk about her definition of service.)

Addison had his wisdom teeth pulled on Friday, and as of this writing, he still looks like a chipmunk on the right side. He didn't have much problem with bleeding, but the swelling is pretty comical.

Abby got to do baptisms at the Temple for the first time, and was thrilled until she found out she would have to speak about it in church on Sunday. She did an excellent job, and all things considered, she still thought it was a great experience.

Ashlyn continues to nurse her Patellar Tendonitis, which means primarily that she only does the things at gym that she chooses. I suspect she is milking it for all it is worth, but the doctor says she may be able to start putting full pressure on it next week.

Alex reported on a couple of baptisms in Monday's email, and also reached the midway point in his mission this week. He has been with a companion from Idaho Falls for the past several months, and they have managed to get out and play golf a couple of times for pday. The companion will be coming home in December, so I'm not sure he will be able to rub in his winter golf for much longer.

Mandi, Jake and Kempton are coming to town in two weeks for Thanksgiving, and we are all counting the days. It does seem a bit sad that we are more excited to see Kempton than Mandi, but he makes us smile more than she does. Mandi and Kempton will stay until after the holidays and Jake will go back for tests and then come back in time for Christmas. I'm sure will find time to enjoy Mandi.

2009-11-01T18:52:00.000-08:00

I missed last week because we were out of town. Today's post will cover our adventure, as well as the fun since getting home late last Sunday.

We took Addison with us to Miami so Cari would have someone to protect her on the beach. As you can tell from the picture in the slide show, Addison was happy to be invited, even if he wasn't much in the way of a body guard. Cari and Add found plenty to keep them busy for the 5 days I was in meetings, and we found plenty to do in the evenings after my meetings were over. Miami is really a town that gets started late, and I think if we were a little bit younger, or more willing to get sucked in by Addison, we could have stayed out all night. As it was, I think we balanced the stay just right. I managed to play a little golf in association with the seminar. (I think the class description was "Best Use of Open Space".) I am now the two time defending champion of the International Long Drive Contest. Granted they are all attorney's but it's still an international competition. The weather was a bit cool for beach combing, but Cari and Addison managed to find their way down to the beach for the day, and took me down for a visit on one afternoon.

We took an evening trip down the Keys, and found ourselves in Key West for the sunset. Addison was completely unimpressed, and believes that the sunrises that he has been watching every morning at work are every bit as beautiful. Maybe people should start driving hundreds of miles to hang out with Addison in the morning instead of Jimmy Buffet in the evenings.

After Miami, we made a long drive to New Orleans for the weekend, and unanimously agree that New Orleans is more fun than Miami. We managed to find lots of good food, entertaining places to visit, and even lucked into the Halloween Parade. It doesn't require you to expose anything to get beads. We came away with lots of beads just for being loud bystanders. We were careless enough to wander onto Bourbon Street while it was daylight, and while eating gumbo, the night life came out. Probably more than Addison should have been exposed to, but I don't think he will be scarred too badly.

We spent one day at the New Orleans Aquarium, and watching an IMAX movie about Katrina. It was very informative, and the aquarium was extremely close up. Addison loved the fish and made me go back in so he could pet the Stingrays. He wasn't the biggest kid to ride the frog either.

The next day we booked an airboat ride into the bayou. It was well worth the purchase, and not as all uncomfortable. We got to get up close and personal with a baby gator, and saw several 3 to 5 footers on the banks. It is a little late in the season for the big ones, as they are going into hibernation. After the boat ride, we were so close to LaPlace, Louisiana, that we decided to have lunch and stalk Alex just a little. We drove by his apartment to see what his neighborhood was like, and then ate around the corner from his place. It would have been difficult if we had seen him and not been able to approach him, but it was nice to see the area and get a bit of a feel for what he is experiencing.

This weekend, we went with Jack and Debbie Zollinger to Debbie's family lodge near Driggs. Because it was Halloween, it not only included a nice couple of days away, but a party atmosphere for all. Mary Ann, Glenn, and Mom came along, as well as all of the Mounts Children as some point and Nichole and Blake Garner. As you can see in the slide show, Cari, Abby, Ashlyn and I took full advantage of the Mardi Gras masks we brought home. The residents of Driggs didn't know what hit them when the kids all went into town for trick or treating, but everyone in our party seemed to have enjoyed themselves. Thank you to Debbie and the Peacock Family.

I'm looking forward to a few normal weeks at work so I can get rested for the holiday season. I can't take much more sleeping away from home.

2009-11-01T18:51:00.001-08:00

2009-10-11T22:02:00.000-07:00

A week ago yesterday, Cari and I took off for Sun Valley. I had a few meetings with the Idaho Hospital Association, and since we were going to be in a resort town, Cari's sister Barbie and her husband Dave Green joined us for a week of golf and leisure. As you will be able to see from the slide show, the week of golf ran into a few snags after the first round, but the leisure was accomplished. I seem to have missed some of the fun while in meetings. Dave doesn't think I missed much, and doesn't understand the allure of hour after hour of shopping, but the first brush with winter was sort of exciting.

One of the most surprising events of the trip may have been the call from the two girls left behind in Rexburg. Apparently, Addison is a great brother, and care giver. Cari claims that she knew he had it in him, but I'm skeptical of how she could possibly have known. All I can imagine is that he must have envisioned them as some sort of characters in a video game, and the challenge was to keep them entertained. It was a nice surprise to know that he was there for the girls and for us.

This weekend, the Mounts Family all descended upon Rexburg for Thomas and Kricket's new baby Thomas "Maxwell" Mounts. He is a pretty cute kid. The girls took Larkin Johnson to the rock wall, and Abby and Ashlyn began learning how to walk in the sky. The Rock wall has a slack line about 10 feet off the floor, and they are both reasonably adept at walking on it.

This coming week will be spent in preparation for another business trip where Cari will tag along. She has invited Addison to go along on this trip, which I think will be nice. (I am a little concerned that she keeps inviting others to go along on our trips. I can only assume the honeymoon is over after 28 years.) We may skip a few Sunday blogs while we are in Miami, but we will post our trip when we return. Until then, we hope all is well with you all.

As you can tell, I'm still learning how to manage the pictures. The good weather came first, but I'm too lazy to figure out how to reverse the photos.

2009-09-27T19:21:00.001-07:00

2009-09-27T19:20:00.001-07:00

2009-09-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

Not much has happened since last post, but since this has become my only form of contact with Alex (Elder) Zollinger, I decided to post a couple of pictures that may not make sense to anyone but him. The other picture is to show the colors in our backyard. Last week they were all bright green, and in no time at all, shazam!

Ashlyn is recovering nicely, and should be back to full activity at the gym this week. She used the injury to its fullest, coming home at least once from school, because of soreness in the chest and neck. If I was still in private practice, I'm pretty sure it was a very serious "soft tissue" injury, and that it will have negative lifelong effects. Since I'm not considering a lawsuit however, and whiplash isn't conducive to a career in gymnastics, I guess the excuses will have to end.

Abby believes that while Ashlyn was lounging around, she has become significantly better at the uneven bars, and she expects to put the smack down on Ashlyn when next they are in the gym together.

Addison is still working at the golf course, but he is now responsible for placing the holes each day. I personally have lost only a little of my affection for him, but there are golfers in town lately that if they could find him, they would give him a serious beat down. What kind of crazy golf course manager allows a kid who doesn't play golf to choose the hole locations? Any of you that have found yourself cursing under your breath (or openly) while at the Teton Lakes Course in the last several weeks. Addison can be found in his room most afternoons playing sadistic games on the Xbox. (This may explain his need to inflict pain on those who choose to recreate in the great outdoors.)

Cari and I have been trying to harvest all of our crops before the serious temperature drop. For those of you who just took a double take at the thought of us growing any type of a crop, you're not alone. Don't worry, we aren't grinding our own wheat and drinking powdered milk yet. We grew some tomatoes, cucumbers, apples and one huge cabbage. We don't have any idea what to do with the cabbage, but man did it grow well. We have also been serious about organizing the garage and the shop before snow flies. Unbeknownst to me, it is not much fun to wake up in the morning and scrape snow off the car. Cari believes that if we have three drivers, and a three car garage, there should be no need to scrape ice and snow. (Personally I think we risk spoiling Addison if we let him park in the garage, but we'll give it a try.)

Alex is still loving his mission, and we are coming up on the one year anniversary. He will undoubtedly begin taunting us again as our temperatures go down, but we will find something fun to do in the cold whether. His birthday is also coming up on October 8th, so if you are reading this and want to make an Elder's day, send him a note. His address is available at Mandi's blog mossposse.blogspot.com.

2009-09-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

2009-09-27T18:55:00.003-07:00

2009-09-27T18:55:00.001-07:00

2009-09-20T21:55:00.001-07:00

2009-09-20T21:52:00.001-07:00

2009-09-20T21:10:00.001-07:00

I seem to have missed last week, but I was busy at work all weekend. The events that took place week before this consisted mostly of a house full of little boys for a change. Heidi Zollinger Nielsen stopped by for a few days with her 3 boys, technically it was to visit Grandma Z, but we enjoyed her boys and seeing the action figures in use by someone other than Addison.

This week was a bit more eventful. We started off with a fun ride in the Ambulance with Ashlyn. After completing all of her spectacular flips and twists, she was sitting next to one of the pieces of equipment doing leg lifts when a mat weighing 100+ pounds fell on top of her and left her refusing to move and having difficulty breathing. My first instinct was to pick her up and let her sleep it off, but when she refused to even consider moving, the Emergency Services people were summoned and they determined that an x-ray would definitely be in order. After several hours of being strapped to a back board, Ashlyn was ultimately diagnosed as having sprained her neck, and bruised her ribs. She is doing somewhat better, but still has to wear the neck brace for a little while each day.

Tuesday, the Mayor of Rexburg announced his resignation to take a job in Utah, and put the City Offices into a tailspin. I spent all week running around trying to put everyones minds at ease, I believe things will go on, and in about 1 month, I'll know who the new boss is.

Friday night brought us another moment of excitement. Addison and his friends left the house around 12:30 a.m., and as a parting gesture, one of them lit a homemade firecracker. One of the neighbors thought it was a drive by shooting. I answered the phone to a very concerned police officer that was one of 8 surrounding the house. He asked very careful questions about my well being, and I assured him it was not gunfire. When I opened the door, it was like you see in movies, police cars lit up like Christmas trees lined the street, and 3 officers with their hands on their guns were cautiously standing off of my porch. Addison was forced to rat out his friend, but once the excitement was over, they let him off with a warning.

Cari has been home all week with a very bad cold, and we have all been avoiding her in hopes of avoiding the bug. So far, Abby is the only one following in her mother's wake, and we hope it remains so.

Alex got transferred, and will be celebrating his birthday and one year anniversary in what he referred to as a truck stop town across the river from New Orleans. His current address will be posted on Moss Posse blog after he writes tomorrow.

2009-09-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

Last week when I agreed to handle the Blog responsibilities, I thought it was for that week only. Apparently, the last person to touch a blog is responsible until another person agrees to take over, and currently, there is nobody in this house coming anywhere near the blog. I'll have to see if I can exert pressure at the appropriate time to change their attitudes.

There isn't much new that has happened since last week, but I will fill out the details a little bit since last week was a maiden voyage on the blog, and it didn't seem as fulfilling as I thought it should be.

With Summer coming to an end, the girls are both back in school. With the 15 hours per week of gymnastics, piano lessons, and homework, it seems they aren't around very much, and that seems wrong for a 9 and 11 year old. Abby reminds us regularly, that she will be 12 in just a few weeks, but that doesn't really change the overall perception that they are growing up too fast.

Addison continues to work at the golf course every morning at 6:00 a.m., and sleep all afternoon. Him I see, but only in the wee hours. He spent last weekend in Island Park, and he maintains that the scars from the last two summers working there are still deep, and that it will take time for them to heal. He seems to be enjoying the extended summer, but will be happy to start school in January.

I don't think I mentioned his adventure while we were in Illinois. Our 5 pound bird dog Miley (a purse dog of the Yorkshire Terrier variety) captured a full size Crow and shredded it in the house and then presented him with the prize to clean up when he got home from work. He apparently didn't fully appreciate her gesture, because he locked her in her room for an extended period. She responded by leaving him a small present at his bedroom door every day. Hasn't happened since we got home, so we only have Addison to believe, but the dog does seem to truly have it in for him.

Alex is loving his mission, and will likely come home a rabid fan of LSU football, and cajun cooking. He seems to have the makings of a very good missionary though, and if the worst thing that happens to him is a drawl and a changing of allegiance in NCAA sports, I guess we'll continue to claim him. We are a little concerned about the keepsakes he sent home so far. Does anyone know what the appropriate decorating use for alligator heads and turtle shells is?

Mandi, Jake and Kempton are settled back into their routines, and Mandi maintains a much more entertaining blog than ours, so no further comment is necessary.

I continue to find time to golf as you can see from the slide show, and Cari continues to find ways to make all of our lives better.

2009-09-06T19:31:00.001-07:00

Zollinger's Head East

2009-08-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, we all decided it would be a good idea to travel across the country with Jake, Mandi and Kempton to insure their transition to Carbondale for another year of school. Jake was being welcomed into Medical School and so it was not just to settle them in, but to celebrate their moving forward in their life.

Jake's parents, Brent and Larae were in town as well, and we managed to find several activities to entertain ourselves. The boys played golf (some more than others--read Stephen) and the girls went shopping and paddle boating. Good food was experienced, and when we left Carbondale, the Moss Posse seemed settled.

The trip out was not as much fun for Jake and Stephen as the trip for the girls. We drove to Denver and stayed with Jake's brother John and his family. We then drove cross country in one day and arrived in Carbondale after a Chevy Chase moment in St Louis. There are times when the Garmin isn't right. At least not in the middle of the night in downtown St. Louis when the detours are into other detours. And just so nobody else feels compelled to experience it, the Anheuser Busch factory is not that interesting at midnight, but some of the people on the streets around it are.

Coming home was better, mostly because it was Stephen, Cari, Abby & Ashlyn, and the family events were very enjoyable. We spent a couple of days in St. Louis (in the daylight) and hung out at the City Museum, the Science Center, and the Arch. Trying to explain Independence, Missouri to the girls was difficult, but we are planning a trip to the Mormon sites in a year or two, and in context, it may be easier. After several very enjoyable days as a family, the 14 hour drive was nearly forgotten.

The kids are back in school now, and the activities in Rexburg are finding their way back to what we consider normal around here. Gymnastics 4 days a week, school 5 days a week, and happiness every day of the week that we do things together. Sounds mushy, but it works for us.

P.S. There is an outside chance that we have what it takes to start posting pictures again. If there are pictures associated with this post, we figured it out, if not, we'll keep trying.

The Zollingers

Abby Takes Control

2009-07-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

Hey this is Abby my mom gave up so I have to take over on this blog. Our summer is going so fast because we are having so much fun with Mandi and Kempton here!! Mandi is making me learn how to Blog, teaching me piano lessons, making up our job charts, and much, much more. We have been very faithful on Write-Alex-Wednesday. Ashlyn and I go to the gym four times a week. We will be competing level seven so we are in the gym a lot more. Here are some pictures of our summer fun!!

Princess Party
Happy Kempton

Ash and Kemp haved a leminad stande

One of our fav game

Dad had a golf turnament

We rode horses

Kempton LOVES pudding

Kempton is mad at the baloons

We ate some strawberrys

We made freezer jam

Jackson Hole swimming!!
Nature Park playtime!

Feeding the ducks!

2009-04-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

FYI I have lost my camera attachment that allows me to get pictures off my camera that is part of the delay and why I'm not showing anything new! I will fix this problem soon.

2009-04-26T16:23:00.000-07:00

Alex checks the blogs every Monday and noticed I am a slacker with mine. Here is a little update on our missionary.

Alex has been in Louisiana for 6 months now. He is doing great. He was bit by a Brown Recluse spider and had a little set back. After IV antibiotics, CT scans and blood tests, he is back to work with a brown scare to remember it all by. He is driving a new car in a nice area call Durham Springs. He is really enjoying everything about the mission. They made him a district leader. His Mission Pres. reports that Alex is a great missionary and trooper. We are so happy he is doing well and he seems to be very happy in his pictures.

As for the rest of the Zollilngers we are all doing well. Life is just a whirl wind with school, piano lessons, gymnastics, working, keeping the house up, finishing school projects and getting Addison ready to graduate from high school. Life goes on....

We had a great time with everyone in SLC over Easter weekend. We look forward to seeing all family members this June for the Clean-up and fun times here in Rexburg June 19-21.

Missionary Life Update

2009-04-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

2009-03-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Where has the time gone?

2009-03-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

I am so lame at blogging. I apologize!! I have lost my camera cord and can't seem to down load any new pictures. I thought I would give a little update however!
All is well in Rexburg. The girls came in 5th and 6th place at the State Gymnastic Meet. And their little team of 4 girls came in 2nd place. They take the top best 3 scores from the team gymnasts and add them together. Most teams have 10 - 20 girls to draw from. So Go Madison, not to shabby!

Alex seems to be doing great on his mission. He was made Senior Companion after 3 months out. We received lots of picturs and he looks great and happy. It is so fun to hear him so excited about Zone Conferences and articles from the Ensign every month. We can tell how much he as grown and is doing good things in Louisiana. He loves the people and missionary life.

Addison is getting ready to graduate, Wow. He is planning on working at the Golf course full time this summer - (Caddy Shack 3 coming out soon!!)

I promise to get some updated pictures soon.

Cari

2 MTC Weeks Down, 1 To Go!

2008-11-18T21:39:00.000-08:00

With limited email time, Alex sends us one all-encompassing email.

Dad- That's good advice about my bike, and im glad you guys took the time to break it down, even though it sound like it was rough. I'm sure you did well and perfectly appropriate at Charles funeral service. how is grandpa doing? OH if it makes you feel any better i tried to pull my phone out for the first few days i was here, and i never had it in my pocket, just my planner. The advice you gave me on the e-mails is great, it's the same advise they give you here, and it really does save my time well.
Family- How is everything? that sounds like Add had a fun date, and i'm sure it was fun. I have received everything that has been sent my way im pretty sure. Thank you for the addresses and the patriarchal blessing, that mini version fits in my scriptures perfectly. That's too bad about the flu bug going through the house, but I'm not too sorry that I have missed it. Everything here is still good, every day is better than the last, we have great firesides every sunday night, followed by a church film from the legacy theatre played on the screens. The firesides are done by presidents of the MTC and people like that with their wife. and then every Tuesday night is a devotional, and those are the talks from a general authority. Last week was Elder Busche and his wife. They are from Germany and very interesting to listen to. his conversion story was amazing. My branch president Pres. Smith is a sweet guy. He was trained as an orthopedic surgeon in the Army, and has a lot of cool stories from that. The first counselor Bro. Meyers was also trained as a physician and surgeon in the Army, and i talked to him about that for a few minutes after he interviewed me on Sunday. They are both interesting and inspiring to talk to. Elder Richins and I are still getting along. He is From Orem if I didn't tell you, and he leaves the same day i do for Baton Rouge. that's the same for Half of our district, and then the other half leave next monday for Tallahasee, FL. we all get along pretty well, but everyone gets annoyed with that one sister missionary who is overly confident. Oh well though. on my P-days, like today, we go to the temple right after breakfast, and then the rest of the day we just write letters, have an hour of personal study, and then an hour of companion study, and then we just hang out until dinner, we have to be in our suits to go into the cafeteria, and after dinner we have a class for a couple hours. Oh and we do our laundry at 1:45 and that takes about an hour. Everything is going good though, I love getting mail, it keeps me smiling.
Mandi- Yeah I actually have that conference ensign sitting on my desk in my residence hall right now. So I can read all the same things you do. I'm not 100% sure where i will be for Thanksgiving, I'll be in Louisiana, but that's about all I can tell you. we leave either monday or tuesday. Yes I have received all 4 of your letters. I actually liked the puzzle letter, and I love all your letters, they are all so exciting and colorful. That's fun about your movie extravaganza. I am a little jealous, mostly because i just can't watch any movies, other than the church movies. The Church movies are pretty good though. they are the ones they play at the legacy theatre in Salt Lake. we watched "Joseph Smith the Prophet of the Restoration" last night it was pretty good, and very inspiring. but my timer is about to run out so...I love you all and miss you.
Love,
Elder Zollinger

Summer Turns to Fall Slide Show

2008-11-02T22:13:00.001-08:00

Summer Turns to Fall

2008-11-02T21:43:00.000-08:00

Summer went way too fast for us. Alex spent the summer/fall working for Glenn helping with their new house. Addison finished up working for Gordon in Island Park. Mandi, Jake & Kempton went back to Carbondale. Stephen and I were a Ma & Pa on the Martin's Cove Trek and had a fun week in Las Vegas. Add, Abby & Ash went back to school; I can't believe we are down to three kids. Alex turned 19 & Abby 11 this month. Abby got a new puppy "Miley" for her birthday. Alex is still preparing for his mission to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Mandi & Kempton came back to Rexburg for Alex's farewell & the boys' Eagle Court of Honor. We had a fun Halloween just hanging out together. As you see with the slide show I'm trying to do a little catch up since it's been so long, so here you are!!!

Our August Rush

2008-08-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

What's been happening this summer

2008-07-16T18:34:00.000-07:00

We have had a lot of family fun this summer. We had a great time in Steamboat, CO at Hilary & Johnny's wedding. We had a great 4th of July. The parade was fun, Abby and Ashlyn were of course looking good tumbling down the street. The family picnic at Charles & Nell's was the best ever, Thanks!! We ended the day in Menan for fireworks and of course our own in the backyard. Zack stayed with us for a few weeks and we spent some time looking for fun. We had some great times, the girls loved having him around. He may have a different story to tell! Funland was a little white trash but we laughed so hard you would have thought we were in Disneyland. Having all the cousins around with their babies just confirms that family is what its all about!

What's been going on this summer!!

2008-07-16T18:33:00.002-07:00

What's been going on this summer!!

2008-07-16T18:33:00.001-07:00

2008-06-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

WE HAVE HAD A FUN MONTH WATCHING ALEX GRADUATE FROM MADISON HIGH SCHOOL. THE REAL FUN CAME THE DAY AFTER GRADUATION WHEN HE INFORMED STEPHEN THAT INSTEAD OF PACKING FOR THEIR CROSS COUNTRY TRIP TO FLORIDA FOR HIS SUMMER EMPLOYMENT, HE HAD DECIDED TO STAY HOME AND WORK ODD JOBS. WE WERE ALL GLAD HE WAS STAYING (INCLUDING STEPHEN), BUT STEPHEN DID THINK IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BETTER DECISION BEFORE HE BOUGHT HIS PLANE TICKET FOR THE RETURN TRIP. HIS LUCK AT GETTING JOBS HAS BEEN GOOD SO FAR, WITH MOUNTS, GRANDMA & GRANDPA Z. OFFERING ANYTIME EMPLOYMENT AND WHAT EVER POPS UP FILLING IN QUITE FREQUENTLY. HE IS GETTING ALL HIS PAPERS READY TO HAND IN FOR HIS MISSION. HE CAN SENT THEM IN JULY 1ST.

ADDISON HAS GONE UP TO ISLAND PARK FOR ANOTHER FUN FILLED SUMMER WITH GORDON Z.

THE GIRLS WILL STAY BUSY WORKING OUT AT THE GYM 11 HOURS A WEEK AND PIANO ONCE A WEEK. THEY ALSO HAVE A MOVIE PASS FOR ONE MOVIE A WEEK AT "THE REX CENTER" AND CAN BOWL EVERYDAY IF THEY WANT FOR $1.00. SO THEY HAVE PLENTY TO KEEP THEM BUSY IF OUR WEATHER STAYS SO WINDY AND COLD LIKE IT HAS BEEN SO FAR.

WE ARE SO EXCITED TO HAVE JAKE, MANDI AND KEMPTON BACK IN REXBURG FOR THE SUMMER. YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!! (BOARD GAMES FOR THE GIRLS -- GOLF FOR THE BOYS)

WE ARE GOING TO HILARY'S WEDDING THIS NEXT WEEK IN COLORADO. WE ARE ALL EXCITED FOR THE ROAD TRIP AND TO MEET JOHNNY AND HIS FAMILY CONGRATS HILLY, HOPE EVERYTHING IS GOING SMOOTHLY SO FAR. SEE YOU SOON!!!

I WILL GO TO GIRLS CAMP THE WEEK AFTER WE GET BACK. AND THEN STEPHEN AND I ARE GETTING READY FOR A FUN FILLED TRIP AS A MA & PA FOR THE MARTIN'S COVE TREK. WE ARE ALSO LOOKING FORWARD TO LIZ ZOLLINGER AND HER FINANCEE RYAN'S WEEK LATER THIS SUMMER.

EVERY YEAR WE START OUT THE SUMMER THINKING THAT WE ARE GOING TO PLAN BETTER FOR OUR ADVENTURES, AND EVERY SUMMER WE REALIZE THAT WE ARE GOING TO SPEND MOST OF THE SUMMER TRAVELING, DRIVING THE KIDS AROUND, OR TRYING TO CATCH UP FROM THE THINGS WE MISSED WHILE WE WERE GONE ON ONE OF OUR TRIPS.

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-06-08T17:45:00.001-07:00

2008-05-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

April Fun

2008-05-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

April has been a fun month for the Zollinger family!!! I went on my annual girls get away with my sister Barbie and 3 friends. We went to LA and saw Wicked and it was so Wicked!!! The next day we took a 3 day Carnival Cruise to Ensenada Mexico and back again. We laughed and played games, read books, and ate. Is there anything better than that? Did I say April was great for the whole family?...Well it was great for Me!!! Stephen and I celebrated our 25th Anniversary can you believe it?! Life with that Stud Muffin has been the best 25 years of my life.

The weather is finally changing, the snow has melted, for the most part, and we have enjoyed getting outside, cleaning up the yard, and playing games.

Abby had her big debut last week as Betsy Ross for the Night of the Noteables. She gave a great speech and played her role very well.

Alex went to New York for two days last week for an Apex meeting, but the times got mixed up so he just did a little sight seeing with Jake's brother Mike and four other Apex guys. They went to Times Square, Hyde Park, The Empire State Building and saw the Statue of Liberty. He had a great time. All his friends were jealous, as you can imagine.

Addison spent the weekend in Island Park getting ready for a fun filled summer with Gordon!

Well that's the news from the Rexburg Z's

2008-04-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

My Stars

2008-04-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn was our little star of the month. She came in 1st place overall in her age division and level 5 . She was amazing. She took first on the beam and first on the floor, 3rd on the bars and 6th on the vault. Way to go Ashlyn!!

I've included a few 'memory lane' photos of Alex- where did the time go and what happened to that little cute boy that would snuggle on the couch with his family? To all you young moms out there, hold tight to your little kids, they grow up so fast. I can't believe Alex is getting ready to graduate from High School. I have to admit he has turned out to be such a good guy. He has given us only good times and happy memories- another star in the Zollinger family!

Of course all our children are stars in our eyes but we are just focusing on these two this month!

Grandma and Grandpa Z. are hanging in there. Grandma is planning on back surgery in the near future to correct a nerve that has been in a lot of pain. Gramps is eating a little better, because Grams is holding out with the Root Beer until he eats his veggies.

Stephen, Tom, Alex & Glenn dug the big hole to start building Mounts new house!

Abby is back in full swing at the Gym and is hoping to compete this summer so she can catch up from the lost season after breaking her arm. She is also preparing for her role as Betsy Ross in the "Night of the Notables".

Addison has done well at school and over spring break while his friends are gone you can find him in the basement playing Oblivion while remaining oblivious to the rest of the household!!

I have just been doing the usual- cleaning house, working 2 days a week, going on my 4th year as the YW President and I'm in charge of the food one a month for the Women's Civic Club. Oh yes, and I pray for world peace every night!!

Easter Weekend

2008-03-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend we finally got around to letting Ashlyn get baptized. She hasn't been too easy to get along with for the past several weeks; although it was her idea to postpone to attend the baby blessings, she immediately became anxious about getting the job done. It all went very well, and as those of you who know how things go in the Zollinger house, everything was over planned and overdone.

The Green's arrived late Friday night and got the festivities started by keeping everyone up until well past midnight. The next morning Stephen left early to get everything ready at the Stake Center. (There is a lot of water necessary to get a 45 pound girl completely immersed.) Cari began early planning the baptism dinner, and as you can see, she also insisted on everyone having an outfit for the day. Attendance was mandatory for everyone in the vicinity, and the program went well. (Addison took two attempts getting Ashlyn under, but did remember her name.) Tom Mounts offered a musical number and Rhyan Green shared a great message. Ashlyn was then confirmed by Stephen.

The day proceeded without any problems until evening, when Grandma called to say she needed a ride to the Hospital because of some pain in her back and legs. Stephen went to act as driver, but as they were loading Grandma into the car, Glenn and Mary Ann arrived and so Glenn and Stephen took Grandma. After checking her into the emergency room, Glenn started acting suspicious, and within 30 minutes of getting to the hospital, Stephen had checked Glenn into the ER as well. Before the night was over, Glenn was at least an overnight guest of the facility, and Grandma was on her way home with a bit of a buzz on.

Easter came with Glenn at the hospital and Mary Ann choosing to skip Easter Dinner to be with her husband. Grandma Z was still under the weather some, so she had Easter dinner delivered so she could share it with her husband, and Tom, Kricket and Annie deciding to take their Easter meal on the go as well. As you might guess, this left us with lots of food and empty chairs, but Cari persevered and managed to finally talk Liz Zollinger into coming for dinner along with a friend named Ryan, as well as the regulars for Sunday dinner.

It's easy to think things are bad, but here at the Rexburg Zollinger's home, we have decided to take the 1/2 full approach and laugh at how things happen. Hope you all had a good Easter, and that none of you checked multiple family members into the hospital.

Easter Weekend

2008-03-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

Up Date From Rexburg Z's

2008-03-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

It is March 13 and we are in a snow storm here in Rexburg! I don't think we will see spring this year!

Since January, Stephen has had a birthday he turned 47 and Ashlyn turned 8 years old. We put off the Baptism because Cassie and Paul/Adam and Katie both blessed their babies in SLC and we wanted to attend. It was great by the way. So we are having a family baptism celebration March 22nd at 11:00am and everyone is invited! Easter Sunday is the next day and everyone is invited!

Ashlyn has been competing in gymnastics for the past several months we have traveled all over and she has done great. She will compete at the state level on March 27th in Boise everyone is invited!

2008-03-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

Zollinger Update January 2008

2008-01-21T19:38:00.000-08:00

Well, we are a little slow at switching our blog update, but at last here we go...

The Zollinger Family is doing well. Stephen and I went to Nashville for a week at the end of October. Mandi and Jake joined us for a Riverboat Birthday dinner. We went on some fun sight seeing adventures. We went to Carbondale, IL and saw where Mandi and Jake live and go to school.

Of course our biggest news is we became Grandparents on December 12th. Kempton Brent Moss is the cutest little baby I have ever seen. We were so lucky to have them here for a whole month before they had to head back home. We miss them but know they are doing great!!

Stephen has been very busy for the last few months on temple security. Those of you that know him well, know he is having the time of his life wearing a wire and carring a gun.

We have had a lot of company coming to tour the new Rexburg Temple it has been a lot of fun.

Abby broke her arm and is out of Gymnastics competition this year, but she is recovering well. Ashlyn is doing great and came in 1st place in SLC she will be competing in Boise, Park City, Montana, and Idaho fall and will compete at State the end of March in Boise.

Alex and Addison are doing great and are happy its snowboard season!!

I finally got Christmas taken down January 21st so thats a plus

Hope to see you all in 2008

Cari.

2008-01-21T19:36:00.000-08:00

The Zollinger's

2007-10-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

The Rexburg Z's have joined the blogging world. We have been enjoying everyone else's blogspots, and decided to take a shot at sharing our goings on with the world in the modern way.

As all of our friends probably already know, there is no lack of gadgetry in our home, but for the most part we only use the portions of the technology that are point and shoot level. We hope to step it up somewhat, and if we start trying now, we may just figure it out before the technologically capable children leave the house.

The Stephen Zollinger family technically consists of Stephen and Cari the parents, Mandi and her husband Jake Moss, Alex, Addison, Abby and Ashlyn. We are looking forward to a new addition in late December with Mandi and Jake expecting what should be a son. The term technically was used earlier, because the family seems to extend beyond just those above to include Grandpa Keith and Grandma Ann (Stephen's parents, who live just a few blocks away, and are regularly involved in the day to day activities). Mary Ann and Glenn Mounts (Stephen's sister and her husband) are also regulars in the daily routines of the Stephen Zollinger Family, along with their son Thomas and his wife Kricket and their daughter Annie also have recurring roles in the Rexburg happenings, as may Cari's nephew Larry and his wife Janelle.

Pictures and video may not be a regular part of the blogspot, but we will try to make regular entries relative to our ongoing lives. Larry is technically savvy, and so you will be able to tell when he has contributed by the increase in quality.

For the first effort, there are several pictures available for viewing, and life is as active as ever. Stephen and Cari are preparing to travel to Nashville next week, and will leave Thomas and Kricket in charge of the homefront. Although the trip is technically a business trip for Stephen, the most significant reason for the trip is to see Mandi's and Jake's new home and to see how big Mandi is really getting.

We will try to notify everyone of our venture into the cyberworld, but if you are reading this and think it would be of interest or entertainment to anyone you know, please don't hesitate to forward it.