We are still around, just having the kind of summer that doesn't feel like summer except it is too hot to be anything else.  I just finished my 6 credit CNA course this week, that ran for 7 weeks, 4 days a week.  It was hard to spend most of the day Sateurday and sunday at the hospital for clinicals instead of with my family doing fun summer stuff like swimming and camping!  Now that I am "free", I am not really free.  We are expecting a new little one in January, and the doctor has put me on bedrest.  I had an ultrasound and he found a chorion amniotic separation.  It is a pocket of fluid between the amniotic sac and the uterus, and I guess could rupture and cause a miscarriage.  So, until I see the specialist and hear otherwise, here I sit.  Hopefully he will give me good news so I can finally get up and clean my house, that is very rapidly deteriorating.  Other than that, we are doing well.  The boys also love swimming, although Jackson still likes to use a lifejacket most of the time.  Conner is getting braver and braver with his doggie paddling, and thinks he can swim in the deep end.  He also just taught himself how to ride his 2 wheeler, and in spite of a few minor contusions, loves it.  Jackson is a little socialite, and knows all the kids within a 2 mile radius.  He is getting very hard to keep track of lately.  Bryce, our "baby" is 20 months now, and has quite the attitude.  He is very cute with strangers though, and will turn up the sweetness for them.  He is fun to have around, especially since he still naps 2x a day.  When not watching the boys for me, Chris is busy with his projects at work.  He is going to Portland in August to present his research at an Ecological Society of America conference.  Then, hopefully we will see some of the family at Joe's wedding! 

Where is everyone?  I have been terrible at posting, but I will try to update this at least once a week.  Most of the plans for Joey's wedding seem to be solidifying.  We'll definitely be there (just Julie and myself).  Polly, why don't you have an answering machine?  Polly was supposed to take care of the Hotel reservations or something, but due to her car accident and now, from what I heard, Lisa having a mishap on her front porch, she may have forgotten to get back to us.  I assume we have a room somewhere.  Really looking forward with seeing everyone.  Actually, I'm just looking forward to eating out...I've been really strict about my diet this year and haven't eaten out hardly at all, so it's a real treat for me to get to go to a restaurant.  Saved a lot of money that way, too.

I am now the stake physical activities director guy.  So I get to run the sports seasons and the 5k run and such.  It should be fun.  I'm also a ward missionary, well I have been this whole time, I just didn't do anything because of my other callings.  Now that I have the time, the missionaries and I have been teaching the wife of an old missionary friend of mine.  She's not a member and he hasn't been back to church in 7 years.  Weird, huh?  Anyway, I'm his home teacher and thought we should try to meet with them, and it turns out she's totally golden.  She's getting baptized August 7th.  And, he's coming back to church, with her of course.  Great experience.

Jordan and Alan have been competing in the swimming thing.  Jordan won 1st place at his last meet in the breast stroke.  He's pretty fast and I'm very jealous of his great abs.  Both he and Alan are lean racing machines right now.  Alan did fine except for the individual medley, which normally you have to be older to compete in.  He was dead last, and by about a minute.  I was proud that he did it, though, it's not an easy event.  They secretly wish they could eat ho-ho's and twinkies like their friends do, but it's good for them that Julie keeps the house stocked with good food and has not allowed any junk for years.  When they get on their own, they're going to rebel and eat all the junk food they can.  The other three children, yes I have five, are doing marvelously.  Lacey is going into first grade, while Ryan is still not old enough for kindergarten.  He just missed the cutoff.  He's a tank, that one is.  His favorite cereal is oatmeal, and asks for it over just about anything else.  Cassidy is over one year now and at that very cute stage where she can't talk at all, but walks around communicating with mutant baby talk.  

See everyone in August.
  

 

Hey all, just checking in. Ben, you are so great to keep up with this! With all that you have on your plate, I am impressed. I forget about the blogger, until we get an e-mail about family stuff. Speaking of, we are looking forward to Joe's wedding, it should be lots of fun. It will be especially nice that we only have to drive about 3 hours. :) Not sure where we are staying yet, I am still thinking about leaving my kids with a friend overnight to make things a bit easier. If not, then we might stay a bit longer to check out the sights.

Things are great here, school let out last week and it sure feels great! Chris has to go to Vegas more often, but with no school we still feel like we see him a lot. I am starting summer school in June, a CNA class to get me more points for the RN application. Chris is still the financial clerk at church, and I am the activity days leader. I teach the 8-11 year old girls every other week, we work on completing their awards. The boys are boys! They are excited for the pool to open this weekend, and to go up to Lake Tahoe soon. Conner starts year around school in July, and Jackson starts preschool in August. It will be nice to have a couple of hours in the morning with just one kid! Bryce is growing fast, and hitting the terrible twos quickly. He has a great mad face, and throws tantrums daily. He is terribly cute too, which explains why we haven't given him away yet. We are all healthy and happy!

How is everyone? With all that's going on, I'm sure no one has cared to blog much, but I'd like to hear from you all. So, what's new with us? Not much. Still riding a lot. Jordan's school scored the highest in the state on the standardized tests, 95%. Pretty cool, they're actually learning there. I'm still in young men's trying to do what I can for these guys. I'm the teacher's advisor and I'm reminded what a tough age 14-15 is for boys. It seems that if a boy is going to be a rebel they start making those moves in the teacher's quorum. It's just a really troubling world out there, and I try my best to give good lessons and have good activities. Father and son's outing is this Friday, should be really fun. For the fireside, I asked a Iraq war vet from our ward, who just got back, to talk about his experiences and his priesthood, etc. Should be good, he's a really cool guy. Father and sons has become a real tradition for my boys and me, they love it and look forward to it all year.

We get this newsletter from my sister-in-law every couple months. It's just about hillarious. She sends it out to over 100 people (no kidding), and it reads like the Corrie newsletters of past. It starts out, "sorry we didn't get this out on time, and we know how much each of you enjoys hearing about our family..." I thought that it was an attempt at self-depricating humor, but after reading on (3 full sheets of paper, front and back, single spaced -- I only got through 1 1/2). The thing that strikes me is, she got married like last year, she just barely had her first child, and she's convinced that everyone is dying to sit at her feet and take part in her vast wisdom of parenting and motherhood. It's comical. Not that I'm all experienced, I honestly haven't the first clue how to be a parent, but I've been around long enough to know most people don't either. Plus, all throughout the thing she's taking mild digs at her husband, 'cause you know, men just is stupid and can't figure out things like child-birth and such. Anyway, just so you know -- there's one in every family.

Nothing else new here. Hope you all are keeping your testimonies intact. Half of the questions I ask my teachers during lessons, one kid always responds with his canned answer "go to church, read the scriptures, pray, and yes." He's usually right. Not much to add to that if you think about it. With all we've been through lately, we need it now more than ever. On a side note, I'm just waiting for someone to come up with an all-encompassing newsletter covering the last few months in our family. Yeah, hold your breath for that one.

Gosh, Lisa that is terrible!!! I am glad you got your money back, but it is so sad that the kid will learn the hard way.

It was great to see everyone at the family gathering. I am sorry I had to duck out Friday and missed all the fun on Saturday but sometimes I guess you do what you have to. At least I was able to retrieve some sanity on Saturday just in time to find out that we were robbed on Friday while we were in Salt Lake at the wedding. Our neighbor is a policeman and caught a young man in our ward staking out houses and searched his car. They found our savings bonds on him ($4000)! Thants how we found out. He then confessed to breaking in to our house and stealing our strong box from our file cabinet...anyway, all is recovered and the kid is in prison with two other local teenagers. The heart breaking thing is that it is the son of a Bishoprich member and he and his wife are good friends. Also, nothing else was stolen...wierd. We will have fun in September and in August as we gather again. Love you all!

Jacob's wedding in T minus 7 days. For those of you who haven't heard, we're staying in the courtyard marriot off 106th south. Call Jake for info. Word is Joey has a prospect of his own he's working on. I for one am not going back to Utah for another wedding in a month. Between Julie's and my family, this is out of hand.

We just finished our pinewood derby here at work. It was fun, there were some cars that were flat out unbelievable. The car I made last night, just so I could enter something, won fifth place. I missed 4th by 0.0012 seconds, but I'm glad I did, because I figured it wasn't a good career move to beat the VP. My boss bought a very cool electronic track that times everything. There were 33 cars total, and I got a $15 Best Buy gift certificate.

I'm taking Jordan and Alan to a hockey game tonight, the Windsor Eagles vs. Oklahoma City. I've heard the games are a total riot.

Ben, you telling Jordan to beat everyone up and down the court made me think of Dad, he always told me that too. Sounds like your family is doing great, and your kids are all growing in the things they enjoy most. I remember being in the spelling bee and loving it-I was such a nerd. :)

We are doing well too, school is back in full swing again. Chris is really busy trying to submit a presentation for ESA(Ecological Society of America), as well as finish a progress report for the Department of Energy so that their grant is continued another year. I am plugging away as well, taking 6 credits again. Conner is loving preschool, and the other day when I picked him up his teacher told me that he was the most well behaved, well mannered kid she had! I was a proud momma. Jackson is still Jackson, a little odd but one of a kind! Bryce is learning to walk (finally! He is 15 months old) but gets so giddy he falls down laughing most of the time. He is starting to show his true colors that include a bit of a temper, but is still very sweet. It is fun having Lestie and Tim closer, the boys love playing with their cousins. Gabby and Conner get along like nobody else! They are cute together. Anyway, that is about it for now- looking forward to seeing everyone in about 3 weeks!
Love, Juliette

Hello all, and yes, Happy New year (as it's almost February). We had fun in Utah for New Years in the massive snowstorm of the century.

We will be at Jake's wedding. Can't wait to travel to Utah again...ahem. We'll see you all there!

And in other news. Not having anywhere else to write this, I will now brag about my kids. They all tried out for the Missoula Children's Theater again this year. Only Lacey made the cut. She worked hard all week learning her part, which consisted of jumping up and down and yelling "baaaaaa", (she was a lamb). Come performance time, she nailed her part. So, she was a star for a day. Alan got straight A's, which was almost more than Jordan could stand. Alan's report card was like something out of the twilight zone for someone like myself who always looked for ways to change the F's into B's. My teachers always wondered why I wasn't a good student, "like Tyler". Alan got that similar rare genetic defect where he actually cares what his teacher thinks and tries to please them. They have spelling tests and, trying to challenge Alan, the teacher had to add bonus words. The spelling lists look like this: call, ball, wall, mall, hall, and bonus words, philanthropist, cellular, circuit, and dodecahedron. True. Alan has yet to miss any of the bonus words to date. I guess it's okay for now, but it is kind of eerie. Jordan, is not stupid either. He got second place in his school (which goes to 8th grade) in the Geography Bee. He was in the paper for that one. Actually, I sit back in amazement as Julie does so much work helping these kids reach their potential. It's exhausting just to watch. Jordan is getting better at basketball, too. His team came back to win a game where they were down 11 points at the half. He is no real offensive threat, but he's a great leader and rallied the troops on defense and hustled up and down the court. I told him I wanted to see him beat everyone up and down all day long, and he darn near succeeded. That was one of the few times I saw his face go flush because he was actually working hard. They are now 2-0.

So, that's the news.

I have a new email address. It is valisa@frontiernet.com. I haven't thought as far ahead as Jakes wedding but I guess it is coming up isn't it. I am enjoying my job but it does make my time a bit scarce, so I apologize if I haven't been very good about keeping in touch with anyone. I know I have a babysitter or two available if anyone needs them but please ask them so they won't think they are being picked on. Shari also has several friends who could help out and that have experience in the babysitting profession. Analise is also excellent for someone who has just a few kids. She is really growing up. Ben we sure enjoyed seeing you at Christmas/New Years. You and Julie have a great family. I hope you know that you are always welcome at our house. Well, I had better get going. Love, Lisa

Looking forward to Jake's wedding. Anyone have babysitters in mind or lined up? What about hotels?? Let us know, we are planning to go but would like to know what you all are planning as well.
Love, Juliette

Just stoped in to say,

Happy New Year!!!

Hey Ben,
You never call me :) ! I really have a little bit of time for sleeping but that is about it right now. I was stupid and took on remodeling...and anyway I am sure at least some of you know the story. Working keeps me busy all day and my kids keep me busy all night. Other than that I have not been doing much except help mom move and keep Dan's suitcase packed with clean stuff. I have gone out of my way to not make anything this year. I will get my Christmas cards out if it's the last thing I do. By the way I am still waiting for life to slow down. I would love to see you Ben. We will most likely be here through the holidays working on this house and getting caught up. Let me know if you want a place to stay. I know Tlers house is empty right now as well. Anyway, I love you all and think about you a lot more often than I write or call.
Love, Lisa

Christmas is almost here, so who is doing what? Julie and I will be in Utah for Raelynne's wedding to a nice guy there. Not for Christmas, but after, for about a week. I am not suggesting any sort of gathering, but I would like to stop in and spend a few hours chatting, or perhaps dining with, any family in the area. We will likely make a trip up to Idaho as well to see Angela and Jarom while we're at it. Oh the joy of traveling with five children. Anyway, drop me a line if you'll be around.

did you hear about Granma Lula's heart attack? I guess that she is doing OK and will get through it. But you know we should post things like that on here so people are informed. I heard this from Angela. She went and saw her last weekend.
I heard that she (Angela) is going to mom's for Thanksgiving and so is Lisa. So it should be fun. Tyler is going to Ruth's family though so he won't be around.
I wish we could be there. We are hosting Andy's family though. His mom and dad and a brother and sister are all comming so we will have a full house.
We are doing pretty well. I am just counting down the weeks until I can have this baby. something like twelve I think.
Well I hope you all have a happy holiday and remember we are all thinking of you even if we can't be there.
Polly and Andy and Family!

Our trip to Sanfransisco is cancelled, and we are using our free tickets to fly to Salt lake for thanksgiving. We are going to spend a couple of days with mom, then a Thanksgiving with Chris' family. Maybe we will get to see some of you.
Juliette

Hi everyone, I can't believe it is almost Thanksgiving time! I wish we had the dough to go somewhere, but we are trying to save to go to Idaho for Christmas. I guess we will be hanging out here by ourselves, but since I never see my husband anymore, any kind of time with him is great! We are all well, Conner had croup a couple of weeks ago and ended up in the ER, but he is fine now. He is attending a 4 day a week preschool, and thoroughly enjoys it. Jackson is my little pretender, he has quite the imagination! He was diagnosed with a moderate hearing loss in one ear, but we have yet to be referred to a speech pathologist to see what we can do to help him. He is doing well with language, but I worry that he misses so much. Bryce is finally pulling himself up on things, but still does the army crawl at 11 1/2 months! He is a great baby though, and I much prefer that to one that is running by now. Chris is doing great in school, and is steadily racking up the free airline tickets from going to Vegas every weekend. I am doing well in my classes, and actually like the time away for a few hours a week. We hope to go to San Fransisco in December, but our plans may be on hold because we just found out Chris' mom has breast cancer. We are praying that she will get through this, but don't know much yet. If you think about it, a few extra prayers from my family sure wouldn't hurt. I guess that is it, we love you and think of you often!
Love, Juliette

Dan headed off for Switzerland yesterday. He will be there a week. We had a great time in Breckenridge. The place we were at was really beautiful. There was just a skiff of snow on the mountains and the weather was definitely cooler but beutiful for hiking and biking. We went to a gold mine and hiked to a lake, went four wheeling over a mountain and spent a day cruizing the outlet mall in Silverthorn. The scenery was gorgeous. I thought of you Ben but remembered you had said your kids were not out of school and we were about 2 hours south and west of where you live. Tyler and Ruth were wanting to come but they had things come up as well. I should have called but I was positively running to get "on vacation" and by the time we had mellowed out enough to call, the trip was almost over. I was just thinking how sad it is that we are all so busy running around that we don't take time to stop and smell the roses as it were...or to remeber our neighbors, let alone our families. It's that trouble of having to prioritize everything until you have prioritized your life right out of control. I must be doing something wrong...Anyway, I do love you all and think of how you are doing. I hope it is well.
Love, Lisa

Well Ben I admire you and Julie. I wish I ran more. I guess I need one of those jogging stroller things I always think I will just wait until I can leave them with Drew (I walk in the AM with friends) this year has been so pleasant for so long that we have not had to quit yet. But I don't think I will be running walking is enough. Although there is a lady in my ward who can walk the 10K in 12 minutes but maybe it is the 5K I can't remember but a bunch of ladies in my ward who walk each morning were very impressed. Anyway I beleive in taking care of yourself. If I have to get old I better look good doing it.

All is well in Idaho. The weather is beautiful and the kids are fine. We have had the usuall colds and stuff but nother major yet. Max is growing fast and loves to smile and laugh. He has more of the personality of his sister than Sam which is good and bad. He got his shots today and was very offended by them. Every time he wakes up he just cries really sad like. Sam has always been one who was very tough and he never cried when he got his shots or when he falls down. In fact now he runs staight to the mirror so he can see the blood, he wont even let me put a bandaid on it till he had stared in the mirror for a while.
Marissa made it into the nutcraker again this year. But that means not going to far for Thanksgiving because of practises. We have tickets to the Utah game the weekend before so we will be at moms then and Drew has the whole week off. We thought we might head over to Denver to visit Drew's aunt and uncle and stop by Ben and Julie's but if you are not going to be there let us know. Take care.

Love,
Angela

I can't believe I forgot Dan and Lisa were going to be in Colorado. You should have called as I only read this thing once a month or so. It will make a nice family history someday.

Julie and I took the kids and did our stake sponsored 5k/10k run on Saturday. We had a pretty good turnout, around 80 people ran. It was fun, and I'm getting to be a better runner, usually I'm sore for a week afterwards, this time it was only a day. There were missionaries at every aid station, and it was well organized. Julie got 4th overall (men included) which rocked. I was, ahem, somwhere in there, too. I pushed the runner and herded Ryan, Lacey and Alan on their bikes. Ryan made it the whole way, and many people were pretty surprised to see a three year old riding a bike like that. The church is sponsoring things like this now, and I think it's great. It's going to be an annual event because one of the new requirements to get the Duty to God award is that the 14-15 year old boys run a 5k in 30 minutes, and the 16-18 year olds have to run a 10k in 60 minutes. I think that's great, and reflects well the fact that as a church, and as a society in general, we need to pay more attention to our health. I think many of us take our health for granted, and assume that if we don't drink coffee or beer, we'll always be healthy. To "run and not be weary" implies to me that you should be running sometimes. The promise is not to "surf the channels and not get a finger cramp". I was especially glad to see a few of our larger members out there huffing and puffing away at it. Good for them, I hope they keep at it. We heard more than once that "of course the Whitehead's are here," which tells me we're setting a good example, I guess. Either that or they think we're whacked.

I am currently the first counselor in the young men's, which means I teach the teachers. There are a few of them that are on the verge of turning their life into a tragedy, but most of the others are good kids. Julie is the primary president. We just got a copy of a picture the ward took of all the mothers with new to ~6 month old babies. It's unbelievable, there are about 20 mothers, including Julie, holding their babies, one lady with twins. It's unreal. When I peaked into the Relief Society room to see them taking the picture, I saw all of these beautiful women lined up, smiling for the camera with their children. It brought tears to my eyes, it was overwhelming. I had to duck out, lest someone see my less than manly demeanor.

Sorry such a long diatribe, hope all is well with each of you. We currently have no Thanksgiving plans, so feel free to start the invites now (hee hee). We're spending Christmas at home. Anyone is welcome to come, and we'd love to help with any travel expenses you might have getting here. Take care.

Lisa, I hope you feel better soon! I am sick too, going on a week and a half wondering if I have allergies or a really long lasting cold. Glad to hear you are all doing well anyway.

We had a fun weekend, we went to a wedding near Calaveras Big trees national park. The wedding was ok, the groom was plastered and could hardly cut the cake. But the camping was the best part, it was really beautiful there. I need to figure out how to post some pictures so everyone can see...anyone willing to help?

Polly is coming to see me today! She has an ob visit, and I get to babysit her kids. Guess I'd better get cleaning!
Juliette