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.

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.

Zollinger's Head East

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

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!

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.

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

Where has the time gone?

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!

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

Summer Turns to Fall

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

What's been happening this summer

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!!

What's been going on this summer!!

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!