Last for best

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.

Montana for a Day

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Christmas Comes but once a year....

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.