This upcoming Fast Sunday

Those who are able, I'd appreciate if you could join us in a family fast for Andrew. He's making huge gains by learning sign language w/the speech therapist, but the M, B, and P sound are not coming, or it appears not any time soon. He's not able to put his lips together the right way for those letters yet. He should have mastered these over 6 months ago. The speech therapist wants me to try giving him drinks w/straws & those little party favors where the paper thing rolls & unrolls when you blow in it. She's recommending more signs and imitation of enviornmental sounds(cars, planes, animal sounds) for the time being.

By the way, we have a piece of good news regarding Andrew. When we got home, I got a message saying the county finally decided to give us respite hours for Andrew(so I can get a break & also reimbursed for his being babysat). Before they had been putting up a fight (for at least a month) about combining the hours for the boys. So last week, before the wedding I asked if we could have the hours separate--means writing 2 separate checks if the boys are babysat together. Thanks for the blessing on Friday night Dad! I completely credit this to that!

Our Trip Pics

Most of these are w/the kids(since they were who we saw the most of), not Aaron & Kristen. Sorry. Anyone else who has pics, please feel free to post yours too.




Car ride up..thank goodness for books w/the annoying buttons. They also watched movies to & from Vegas.










Some smoke off San Bernadino Mts? Or whatever other ones may be out that way






Ivy called the joshua trees : "cactus trees". This is also about where she kept asking "Are we there yet?"...only to ask again 3 minutes later. Nice.






The first city past the Nevada border, Primm. Stopped for a bathroom break. On our way out, we saw this (Terrible's Casino). I thought it was funny. In Las Vegas, we also saw Terrible's Car Wash(Tom asked if they use mud..lol). Kristen says it's a franchise.

Taking a breather after the main pics out of the temple. I know I already said it, but a huge thanks to Jared & Erica for watching our kids during the sealing.

waiting for the parents

All 3 kids were asleep when we got to the reception for pics. Ivy kept turning her head when the flash went off. I wanted to get a pic of her sleeping on Tom's shoulder. After awhile, Tom bribed Ivy (with In N Out stickers) to get her pic taken w/the other girls who had matching dresses.







at the hotel...kids favorite thing was to jump between the 2 beds







More of the same..that's Collin's fingers in the corner.

On the way back, in Baker, CA(about 30-50 miles from Barstow). Tallest thermometer I've ever seen. It's hard to tell in the pic, but it said 101.

Happy 1 Day Anniversary Aaron & Kristen!! Hope all went as you had hoped!!

Back to school...

Well, Ahnna & Ammon are both in school now. Ahnna started 1st grade last Thursday; Ammon's first day of kindergarten is today. They're both very excited about going. Ammon has the same wonderful teacher that Ahnna had last year *hooray!* That just leaves

at home in the morning with Todd and/or me.

Family Stuff

Hi, y'all,

Have any of you been on this site and imported (MOM??) our family stuff? I'd love to do it all myself in my spare time, but there are easier ways i've heard...

http://new.familysearch.org

I'm so excited...

Can you tell Reagan likes taking pictures?

So, we had more visitors! Tony and Greta got a vacation away from their kids for their (belated) anniversary and decided to come out. They came in Sunday afternoon and the whirlwind tour started.

We headed up from the airport through Massachusetts to Vermont, stopped for them to get maple syrup, look out at the 1000 mile view from Hogback Mountain in the Green Mountains. From there we drove the other way through Vermont, into New Hampshire, and got so caught up talking that we were almost to Boston, so we headed down there for dinner.

Since Jeremiah and I had just been there in June, we knew enough to get around. We found a parking spot and started walking towards Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market where there are literally like 50 places to eat. We ended up at Ned Divine's which is an Irish Pub, the food was amazing!

The weather couldn't have been better, it wasn't too hot and since it's right on the water, there was a nice breeze. So we took advantage and walked around some more so Tony and Greta could get photos.

Now we hadn't planned this all out, so I just let the kids wear flip flops thinking we'd be in the car most of the time, not really doing much walking. Reagan had picked a pair that I bought at the end of summer last year thinking they'd fit her this year, which of course they didn't, but she insisted on wearing them. Of course after not much walking at all, she was complaining her feet hurt and she kept tripping. Fortunately for her, there's a Crocs store right there (and she didn't need to twist my arm). For those who don't know, Reagan thinks she is Hannah Montana, so needless to say, she was in heaven when she spotted the new Hannah crocs, and Eli went with Batman.

On the way back to the car, we walked along the new greenway that's a result of the space made by the Big Dig, and let the kids stop and play in a fountain. I had pictures, but one of the pastimes in the car for the kids was playing with the camera and taking pictures like this...

and I think they erased a lot of pictures. Reagan was obsessed with taking pictures of the back of Greta's hair, along with her shoes, the ceiling, her stuffed puppy, and a lot that look like the lens cover was still on.

The journey continued Monday morning when we set out for the ocean. All the beaches up the coast in CT are in the Long Island Sound and aren't really that great, plus they really wanted to actually swim in the Atlantic ocean. For that, you have to go up into Rhode Island, and instead of just going to any old beach, we went to Point Judith.

The beaches were surprisingly packed for a Monday, but it was still a nice day and everyone enjoyed it. It was so bright and sunny that I couldn't really get any good pictures that you could actually pick anyone out, but I know they're out there.

Tuesday morning I dropped the Rice's off at the train station on my way to work, they took at train down to Manhattan to stay there for a couple days.

We picked them back up on Thursday night and all went to sleep that night filled with excitement for the fun that Friday would bring.

We headed out early and made our way towards Boston (yes, again) for a Duck Boat Tour. The kids enjoyed quacking at people, and actually got to drive while we were in the river, well, they got to sit in the driver's seat and hold the steering wheel. Again, not great pictures, but I didn't really have many options.

Now, as if that wasn't too much already, we continued the trek up to Ogunquit Maine

so Jeremiah and Tony could enjoy "real" Maine lobster. And enjoy it they did...

Jeremiah's beast was 4 pounds! Tony went small and only got a 2 pounder. Greta, the kids, and I sat and watched the massacre and then went across the street to a great little candy shop to have a feast of our liking! The perfect end to the perfect day (well, excluding all the time we spent in the car). The kids loved the little village so much that Eli literally had to pull Reagan away when it was time to go.

The Sharpe's are known for doing everything in excess, so we're no different...Saturday morning we took the Rice's back to the airport so they could get home and get Corinne ready for her first day of school on Monday.

Instead of going home and resting, we went straight from there to a fair in the small town of Chester CT with some friends from church and spent the rest of the day there. It was a good reward the kids for putting up with the numerous hours we had spent in the car during the week. They got an unlimited ride bracelet and got more than our money's worth.

Reagan's favorite thing was the petting zoo, she spotted a little baby goat with a pink rhinestone collar and wanted to take it home. She probably fed it $20 worth of feed from the 25 cent machine! They both liked the pony ride too, but who doesn't (Tisha?).

Eli's favorite thing was this bungee jumping thing.

And that's it. We're officially done for a while, Eli starts school on Tuesday and Jeremiah starts babysitting for our landlord's 5 year old Eamon. It's only Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning before kindergarten and after school until his mom gets home from work.

Wow, that was long.

House Update

Next set of upper cabbinetts are ready to go up as soon as helpers are available.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

BACK TO SCHOOL!!
Don't let the photo fool you. The girls were up before seven dressed and ready to go. Harrison tried to act like it was the end of the world, but he had to make sure he was wearing his coolest shirt and spiked his hair. Josh and I are going to hang out today with my new babysitting buddy, Jeffery. Life is good (other than the headache of coarse).

411 on the wedding

Sorry for the upcoming lengthy post!
Below is a time schedule for Thursday and Friday.

Thursday - those flying from Columbus on the am flight will be arriving at 8:25 after which we will collect bags and go pick up cars. The rental car place is a little ways from the airport so we'll need to take a shuttle. Huge favor: if those flying could bring an extra suitcase to carry back wedding presents that would be wonderful! I will pass out maps and directions to the Texas, my parents house, the reception location, the temple, and luncheon at the airport.

My parents have offered to feed everyone for lunch. We'll plan on lunch sometime between 12 and 12:30. The menu is BBQ chicken and pork chops with salads.

Next, the decorations will be arriving at 4pm and we'll need some good strength (men and women alike :) to unload the truck and help set-up the tables and gates.

Aaron and I are planning on taking anyone who wants to join us to the strip that night. We'll be heading out about 6pm. We're debating between hitting a buffet or In-n-Out for dinner - opinions are welcome! We'll walk the strip and see some of the cool parts of Vegas. Also, my parents will have dinner for anyone who doesn't want to join us on the strip.

In between times you are free to wander Las Vegas as you wish. Don't feel obligated to come if you have other plans...just come to the reception please :)

Friday:
Sealing is at 11am, guests need to arrive about 10:30. You will wait in the chapel (inside the temple) for the sealing. There is a lobby for those who can't come to the sealing. Otherwise, we plan on being out by 11:30ish. We will be exiting through the South doors (the main entrance is the east doors). A few family pictures will be taken on the temple grounds.

After the sealing we will head to the chapel near my parents house for a luncheon. Menu: chicken salad sandwiches, cold cuts for sandwiches, green salad, fruit, chips, cookies and brownies.

Again there will be some down time. If anyone wants to come early and finish setting-up for the reception you are more than welcome. Also, my sister has a huge basement with a projector screen if some people want to watch a movie.

Arrive at the reception no later than 6pm. We will be taking more pictures then with everyone in their "reception" attire. Have fun, enjoy the heat of Vegas, the food, and mingle. Afterwards we will open the presents so they can be more effectively packed into extra suitcases.

Any questions, concerns, comments please let me know! Vegas here we come;)

Railroad update

If you want to see the layout progress, it's here: http://www.2guyzandsumtrains.com/Forums/viewtopic/p=72043.html

Back to......What?

We all know the infamous "Back to School" ads, news stories, etc. I keep seeing them pop up all over the place. But when I see them now, it's like "Wait a sec... I'm not going back to school?" It is definitely the oddest feeling I've ever experienced, so far. How long will I last against this torment? Only time will tell...

In other news, I'm starting to ride around town progressively. So, who knows where you'll next see me; j/k. Or am I?

Ian's first soccer game!

I was able to watch Ian playing his first soccer game today and it was such fun!! Here are some photos I took of him during the game. Hope his mom & dad don't mind my posting them!

Engagement Pictures

Alright. Here are the links to see the engagement pictures of Chris and I the good, the funny, and the others.
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=145736&l=e18c7&id=795055520
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=145716&l=1257e&id=795055520

And here's a fun one of a cool story that a district leader let me show:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=89067&l=a1a17&id=795055520

Have fun looking and reading.

aaron's wedding

do we know what time the sealing is, and the reception?

It's not a tumor.....

Well my Ct scan showed no sign of a tumor or blood clot, but now we have to figure out what is really causing the headaches and neck pain. So I'll try to keep you posted. BTW I haven't really slept since Wednesday of last week, but wow that Xanax stuff knocked me out. Slept for 5 hours after the test, woke up with the headache, but it felt great to sleep again.

car windows

Hey Jon, or anyone else, you mentioned to Brandon I think a while back when his back little triangle window was broken that he should just do it himself. Do I just need to go to the junk yard and find one and guess how to do it, or what? I don't feel like paying $200 to have "people" do it for me.

Sorry...

I was tired and grouchy, "What?!", you say, "Jon tired or grouchy? Unheard of!" Yes it still happens , so anyway... Happy Birthday Erica, Sorry Alisa, Thank you Deanna, Tisha and Abe, Keep me posted Mindy and if you have any questions at all please ask. I don't know a lot about Naval deployments but we do have a ton of Navy folks on post I can ask.

Yadda, yadda, yadda... nothing new here, Jenn doesn't get in for her CT until Monday, she swears it nothing, I worry anyway. Hopefully I'll be changing from 1st shift to seconds soon - when only half the day will be warmish. I don't know if mom has been getting email updates from A Co's FRG (Family Readiness Group) - oh ADD moment, Mindy there should be a FRG or something similar setup for support, benefits and answers for Tom's unit, if it's not setup yet it should be - but supposedly there have been emails from the upper eschelons talking about our possible/likely return. I can't give a lot of detail here - OPSEC (Operations Security) reasons - suffice it to say we should be state side a little before our 12 month mark for DeMob and back in Ohio a few days later.

Jenn and I have been talking a lot about what comes next... she has too many friends in Ohio to want to stay West, even though that is my dream. I have compromised (given in) that we will move back to Ohio for the time being, until the oil money starts to flow - write your Congress person and tell them to allow drilling in Southern Utah!!

I am faced with many options right now - you may or may not know that I am not the most decisive person when faced with multiple choices - and so I am trying to narrow the field. I am at the top of the promotions list for my MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) of RadTech, which means as soon as a postion opens anywhere in Ohio for that job I will be promoted to Sergeant. However on the same token I am eligible for a Direct Commission to become an Officer (2nd Lt) which pays a whole lot more. I have chosen to focus on the latter, since I can actually do something about it, besides waiting. Also Fifth Third has been holding my job and I will be able to return, however I would much rather find a position shooting Ionizing Radiation through people, so I am going to do what I can to find a position doing that rather than return to 5/3, but I will most likely have to go back there for a little while before that happens. Finally Jenn and I have been talking about leaving her and the kids in Colorado until the end of the school year, a little more stability for the kids rather than moving them mid year again. So that will put me in Ohio all alone for a few months, so someone better make sure that I go to church (I put that in for Jenn), while I look for jobs and hopefully a house seeing as how I never want to give my money to someone else for where I live. I realised that we threw away nearly $50000 by renting for 5 years... made me very mad! Since the housing industry is tanking right now I am optimistic that we will be able to find something reasonable, plus I should be eligible for a VA home loan with no PMI and a realatively low rate with next to no closing costs. What a bonus for sitting in the desert for a year.

Thats about it for me. Thanks for putting up with me, just remember friends you can choose, family you're stuck with. o.O

Merrily we blog along......................

WEll, it seems like almost everyone has gotten into the blogging mode!! I never would have imagined something like this in my lifetime!! Thank you all for making this possible! It IS kind of like being at home (which you may or may not like!).

Tisha mentioned to me a few days ago that it's been the one year anniversary of her kidney donation and her recipient friend came over and thanked her and told her that Tisha's kidney has been accepted without any rejection attempts! WOW!!!

It just reminds me of how proud I am of each and every one of you!!! You are all amazing people in your own rights! I take no credit for this, just grateful to have all of you as part of our family!

I know, I know- by this time you're all sick of the mushy mom's ramblings, but just know that I love you all!

So, this is "THE BLOG"

Sitting at work was kind of dull, so I decided to finally open up this blog. After a nightmare of technical changes- like making a google e-mail for both Mike and me, here I am. Not a whole lot is new at the Howlett home. Being newly weds, both going to school part-time and working full-time. We spend our saturday mornings together-ish by working at the Columbus Temple. We also team-teach on sunday in CTR 6 (primary). So, if we seem a little stand off-ish, it's NOT you. It's US.

Deanna- we WANT to visit. How is September 13-ish? I didn't realize ya'll moved up close.

That's it for now- gotta get back to my job (gross).

Mom

Can you email with the hotel info for Las Vegas?

Thanks! I got it!

The Crazy Life of Alisa

Wow; what a week. So I don't know if some of you knew that last December I got bumped by another car while I was in the mission car with Sis. Hann (my comp.). Well, I got a very interesting phone call about a week or two ago that I kind of blew off but then received another phone call just a couple days ago from the insurance company of the woman who bumped us. No real damage was done to the car but my companion and I did see a chiropractor a few times (a member of the high council ) and ended up seeing a doctor (also a member) for a muscle relaxant for me and something else for my companion. Now the insurance company is calling both of us to compensate for any physical damage that was done (for "pain and suffering" if you will). In some ways I feel like I don't deserve the amount that they want to pay me for this because it was just something that happened and thought it would go away after I went home. Now, add that to "I want to/need to get a car soon.." and "got to get announcements worked on and printed in the next week and a half" and "I need to find somewhere for Chris and I to live" (for those of you who don't know, Chris travels out of town ever other week usually). I feel a little over whelmed-no one else's fault for it but if anyone has suggestions or advice or feeling so generous to help me in some of these endeavors I would greatly appreciate it. "It's all in your head...."
Where should I go to print 130 or so wallet size pictures for announcements? Target? or a real picture place like Cord Camera? Anyone know a photographer who would like to do some wedding pictures in October?
Well, I hope some of you are having a less stressful week than I am. I've just got a lot on my mind and a weird sleeping pattern because of it.
Thanks for any help!

Oh, by the way, first time back to the dentist for a year and a half and NO CAVITIES!! very happy about that today.

just thinking

could we add an rss feed for this blog?

how about changing Klan to Clan...the current one has strong connotations...

So here's the thing

i didn't mean to upset the delicate blog world when i changed my profile for...what's it been now, like a week?

i needed to show my superintendent (Dr. Weedy--for real) what his blog would look like, and didn't realize i couldn't maintain multiple personalities under one email address. so Mark's out of our blog world--it's just me :)

just trying to spice things up!

Guess who's coming to dinner?

You'll never guess, so I'll just tell you...

Bryan Abfalter!!!

So, ever since we moved, Jeremiah and Bryan have joked back and forth about getting together for dinner. Well, last week Bryan asked if he could come over for dinner Thursday, and of course Jeremiah said yes thinking he was joking again.

Thursday rolls along, I was working from home, and Bryan calls about 3pm to talk to Jeremiah, I tell him he's outside cutting the grass and I'll have him call back.

I didn't think much of it until Jeremiah calls Bryan back and tells me that Bryan said he was in Milton, PA on his way to our house. We both kind of blow it off, again thinking that Bryan is just having fun pulling Jeremiah's leg.

But, the calls keep coming from Bryan telling us where he is, so we tell him to take a picture with his cell phone and send it to us to prove where he is. He says he can't get a clear picture (conveniently) but assures us he's really coming.

Then I get a call from Erica asking if it's really ok for Bryan to stay with us or if he needed to stay at a hotel. So now we think Erica's just trying to pull us deeper into this farce, but I decide to start cleaning up dirty dishes and tidying up just in case.

Well, needless to say, Bryan did end up at our house Thursday night. Most places around us close at 5pm or 6pm, so all we had to offer was leftover chicken enchilada casserole which he didn't seem to mind since he said he didn't stop to eat all day.

I took Friday off and we drove around and gave Bryan a quick tour of CT. We drove up the coast of the Long Island Sound (and debated whether or not it's part of the ocean),

ate at the famous Mystic Pizza in Mystic CT, and then went to the aquarium to walk off the pizza. We saw Beluga whales, penguins, sea lions, giant stingrays, lots of fish, fluorescent coral, anemones (or is it anemoni?) and lots of other wildlife. Unfortunately I left my camera in the car, so I didn't get any pictures there, maybe Bryan will post some.

Then we went just up to the border of Rhode Island so Bryan could get a picture...

then headed back towards our house and stopped for the boys to get seafood.The day ended with Jeremiah and Bryan playing Halo for hours.Bryan was leaving Saturday morning, so we decided a trip to CT wouldn't be complete without breakfast at Dunkin Dounts, and then he was off. Not a long trip, but it was nice to have someone other than Jeremiah's parents to "show off" CT to.

Who's next?

Tomorrow (Thursday) is Erica's birthday!

How about giving her a call or e-mail and wishing her a happy one? She has lost over 35 pounds this summer on Weight Watchers and looks great!!!

Not much new here- I canned 13 jars of diced tomatoes yesterday and froze several packages of green beans. I'm making today my "annual" (LOL! It's a joke, okay!) clean out the fridge day whether it needs it or not! Wonder what surprises I'll find!!

Calendar...

Mom emailed me and suggested adding a calendar with birthday's and anniversaries, great idea!

She also included the list that I used to post them and apparently there were a couple typos...I only caught one, I believe Emily was born in 1996, not 1976. Andi also emailed me already to let me know Ammon's birthday was June 7, not the 6th.

Please let me know if there are any others that need to be fixed.

Also, I decided to leave off the birth year for everyone except the grandkids. Hope nobody minds.

One more thought...maybe we should add due dates, what is Rhonda's?

Updated...ok, seems like some people do want the years left in for the adults too, so I guess just let me know if you do not want your year posted.

Last Weeks Progress on Our House

Here's the progress we've made on the kitchen so far . Thanks everyone who has helped and will continue to also. This week we'll rest from the house. Next week I'll work on it again.

62 hours of Work

This morning I started my 6 twelve hr days. Today I'm a sitter . This week I'm taking a break from working on the house. I'll post some pics after I'm home.

no easy way to say this..

wow! lots going on with everyone.

i'm going to say this now, so it's not an elephant in the room at aaron or alisa's weddings.

so..we found out tom's coast guard reserves unit is getting activated. he starts local training in long beach the beginning of october. we get to see him during that time. we should know this weekend about if he's able to get time off for alisa's wedding--he already put in a request when alisa told us the date was moved to october.

after that, he'll be down in san diego training w/some navy units. his unit will be mixed w/3 navy units. not sure yet if he can come up for the weekends during that time. probably in late december/early january he's going to be deployed overseas for 6 months. we don't where yet, they're mixing up the coast guard unit & the 3 navy units between 3 countries. probably middle east--countries that are friendly w/us, so that means not iraq.

w/tom's job, he got this info after the interview so boeing doesn't know. he's talking to his supervisors today(who have been on vacations for awhile). legally, they can't take the job offer back. they are also legally required to hold his job till he gets back. so we will still have our regular insurance. tom's going to be teaching me who i need to email copies of coast guard paystubs to so they will pay us differential pay(difference between regular pay and miltary pay). trying to get other stuff squared away too, like power of attorney so i can do taxes next year. jenn..if you have any info about poa's, can you email me?

guess that's it...except the kids don't know. i'll tell them when it's closer. we'll keep everyone posted.

Hello...

Mom told me I needed to start posting here. So, here I am. Just feels funny right now not to be getting ready for going back to school. In freetime, I mostly hang out with my favorite dog. (That & being on the computer. :P) A couple weeks ago, I was sustained as a ward missionary. A week later, I was ordained as an elder. I've now been out with the Gahanna Ward missionaries a couple times & I am now, as they have said to me, a "pro bike rider". ^_^ So, things are going mostly well for me at the moment.

Tomato harvest today!

Had to have Jared help me pick the tomatoes today! It's time to can diced tomatoes, I think!!

Harvest Day!

Good morning, everyone! It's Monday morning here and a little chillier so I decided that it would be a perfect day for harvesting and preserving from the garden.

I took a photo of the green beans I picked this morning. Ian had helped me plant the seeds for these green beans and I must admit, I wondered if they were ever going to come up!! But they did!!
And I have a better (that means any number more than 1! ) harvest of green beans than I ever have before!!!

I'm going to try to post the photo of today's green beans.

Wow!!!! I did it all by myself!!!! I took the photo, put the little thing into the computer, saved it and actually was able to figure out how to post it on this blog!!!

I expect lots of congratulatory comments over this!!!LOL!!!

After I get the green beans cleaned, cut, blanched and frozen, I'll send tomato photos and show you all the diced tomatoes I can and the fresh salsa I make!

Who'd have guessed I would actually be able to move into the 21st century (or is posting photos and using a blog still 20th century?)