Mom 'n' Dad

Dearest Children,

We love you and are exceedingly proud of you. Proud of you? Perhaps better said, proud of your accomplishments and the way you live your lives. That includes how you treat your own children and spouses. When we see and talk to you there is always more joy and happiness in what you tell us than tragedy and sorrow. That indicates to us you are on the right, straight and narrow path. As we close the year at Mojave we often compare our lives to those who surround and work with us. Adults and children. What a difference! It often gives us the feeling there is no hope for the world. Then we see or talk to you and families. Hallelujah!! There is hope! We can't put in words what we truly feel. Perhaps as you contemplate your feelings for you and yours, you will have the same sense of limitless love. There is nothing else in this world that compares. When I say we, I am telling you how your mom and I feel. Now what about me? I love your mother with out measure. Linda is my life. Stay true to your spouses and families. You fill our cups to overflowing.

On that note of closing our year at Mojave, we suddenly realized we have many dear friends to tell good-bye. Working closely with good people really creates tight bonds. As we say good-bye, they all reassure us that we'll stay in touch, continue to do things together and always stay friends. On the contrary, we always seem to move on as our lives take us in different directions. We live busy hectic lives that keep us headed down new paths. The same could easily happen with our families. In order to maintain our family bonds, we make the effort to take time out of our industrious lives to make the annual pilgrimage to our family reunion. It's a struggle to get time off work, pack up the kids, make arrangements to take care of responsibilities at home, and pay for the expenses. Thanks for making the effort! We can't wait to see you all!

Love you all tons,

Mom and Dad

Mel 'n' Andy

from Atwood Attitudes: Sunday, June 14, 2009

prepare for long and boring . . .

Last June I started this silly little blog in an effort to keep my far-away family members up to date with our day to days. I found out it was a great way for me to celebrate those fun family moments, with which we are blessed beyond measure. Now here we are, another year gone by. My kids have 2 weeks and they'll be out of school; I'm way too busy with all of those crazy end of the year activities that having four kids in 3 different schools does to a mom. But I wouldn't dream of doing anything else with my time, except maybe lying poolside in Vail with Martha or taking a dawn walk with Becca.

Last year at this time, Andy was in the process of firing a very toxic personality that nearly ran our business into the ground; needless to say June 2008 was an extremely stressful time. In all honesty though, the last 3 years of owning this dental practice has been nothing short of a nightmare. From the world's worst ever transition, to the landlord from h***, to dishonest employees, to a dentist trying to blackmail us, to fighting contract flaws in our glorious legal system - just vaguely speaking, believe me you don't want the details. We've spent enough in legal council to buy a small island, which is what we should have done and then moved there to live our lives out as exiles.

Now here we are again; last week Andy fired another one of those toxic personalities. This one single-handedly destroyed our dental lab, which looking on the bright side has freed up some time for me at least.

We also spent some time at our old home in Maple Valley weighing out pros and cons for moving back. Charlie would love the fenced backyard on the trail, I would LOVE the gigantic kitchen and the master suite with its brand new bathroom and its closet the size of my current bedroom, sigh, and the kids would go crazy with all the extra space to play and hide and be kids, not to mention our incredible family friends in the town. Ultimately there are so many unknowns with the dental office, it's not a good time to throw an hour commute into the mix for Andy. So rather than keep hassling with renters, it's time to say good-bye to our Maple Valley house, which is the practical choice. Besides, I love my current neighborhood, and the kids are all signed up for fall soccer, and this country girl finally knows her way around the city, with gps help. So for now it's time to de-junk so we can actually fit into this little house. For those of you who caught me crying like a fool during church, now you know I was crying for no good reason other than Sacrament meeting is the only time I sit still long enough to let emotions get the better of me, and I suddenly realized how much I miss that big box of a house we left behind in Maple Valley.

June causes reflection for me. Five years ago in June we were leaving Iowa City upon Andy's graduation from dental school. I remember feeling so excited to be moving into our first home, then loving my AWESOME neighbors like family and having actual family close by to cheer us on. Andy loved practicing with his dad, and I loved my early morning running friends.

I'm not sure what more to say except I'm feeling so homesick, and I'm not even sure exactly what I'm homesick for. But I've got a crazy day and if I don't get to the field trip with 2 coolers of Popsicles, the consequences will be grave.

Love,

The Atwoods

Martha 'n' Jeremy

June 2009

We're all healthy and well. The kids are good and spend the days playing and swimming. We enjoyed visits from lots of family over the past few months. The kids and I had a blast with Mel and kids. Life seemed so dull after they left. It was fun seeing Mom and Dad so much too. Lyle loved having Matt and Megan over for his birthday. The kids and I are loving summer break and the extra time we get to see Becca and kids. So much fun! Now there are only days left until the family reunion and we'll get to see Summer and crew and Kereasa and fam and everyone else all over again. I'm thinking we'll take up a good section of beach area with all the partying kids!

Here's a recap of the past few months: Lyle graduated from kindergarten and can slowly, and sometimes tediously, read through Dr. Seuss books. He can finally play Twinkle and almost all the variations on the violin. Other people can listen to him and recognize what he's playing. He also remembered all his swim moves in the pool and taken them up a notch. He can now swim farther and hold his breath longer. Rummy finished his joy school. He still loves to play with, color, watch, and pretend to drive trains. He can pizzicato the first line of Twinkle on the violin. He loves to play with Jo-jo and try to make him laugh. He can also remember his swim moves in the pool. His favorite move is still 'the beast." This is where he stands up on his Daddy's shoulders and jumps into the pool. This is not my favorite move to watch. Lizzy is growing up and helping out more and more. She's my little sidekick and accompanies me all around the home. I love having the cute company. She spices up any mundane task by dancing or singing while we work together. She's not swimming yet but likes to kick around the pool in her spider girl floaty swimsuit. Jo-jo is almost 10 months. He is kind of crawling. He loves to eat mac n' cheese. Mel introduced him to this when she was visiting. She gave him some when my back was turned and then said, "Well, I guess he's not allergic to milk products!" I guess not because he really chows down on the m n' cheese.

That's about it. Besides running in the morning, I can't think of anything else I've done.

We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Love,

The Tanners

Becca 'n' Nick

Estelle told me today about a friend of hers. "She is so lucky because she has straight hair. I wish I had straight hair." Yes, she is only four. I can't imagine what brought that on so suddenly. She didn't seem too serious when she said it. I just hope I don't open the bathroom door one day to see her standing on the counter looking in the mirror with a pair of scissors in her hair and blonde curly locks all over the bathroom sink and floor.

Today Elissa told me, "I'm making Lissy Foe." She had her swimsuit and tutu in hand. I was a bit confused so Estelle explained to me that "Lissy Foe" is what she calls herself when she is dressed up like a fairy. Ahh, "Lissy Fairy." One day she came out of her bedroom wearing a swimsuit, tutu, magic wand, crown, fairy wings, and ballet slippers. Her swimsuit was actually on backwards . . . very revealing, yet innocent. On the other hand she bore her testimony last Sunday. She walked reverently to the pulpit and sat on Nick's lap until it was her turn. Then all-by-herself she said into the microphone, "I know dis chuch is too. In da name of Jeez Chwist, Ame." All I could see was the top of her pony tail poking above the pulpit. Then she walked down back to our bench in the back so reverently that she closed her eyes. Good thing she peeks now; last time she ran into a few people on her way back, from visiting Nick that is. This was her first time bearing her testimony.

Jonathan loves swim lessons and wishes it was everyday for the rest of the summer instead of just two weeks. He is becoming so grown-up. He swings a hoe like the rest and truly looks after his little sisters. He has begun teasing Emilyn, but hasn't gotten her to tears yet. They mostly laugh and tease together. Nick finished his chicken house. What fun. He can't decide if he should be embarrassed or proud. It is the cutest chicken coop I've ever seen. I don't even mind if it ends up in the front yard. He let me pick the color to paint it.

After a couple weeks of minivan OCD, I got one. I'm happy: we've got room for kids and groceries and a stroller. Before I used to struggle to fit two of those things in the car at the same time. With four kids, the time had come to upsize.

Emilyn is very mobile now and does not have "white-knees." They are usually dark brown or black. She begs to get down and crawl wherever we are. At church she ran all her nylons and now wears "black-knees" with her pretty little dresses. Her vampire teeth have grown in, but not her upper middle ones. I'm sure that not only her name is way cuter than Renesme's but also her smile.

Lovin' Life,

The Bryces

McKay 'n' Keresa

We made it to the West just fine and were greeted by a pleasant dinner date in Logandale with Chris's fam, Dustin's fam, Matt's fam, and Gma Gpa Whit. What a fun evening that was.

I started the summer working for Southern Nevada Legal Aid because I didn't get any offers from all the resumes I sent out. But after my first day of work there, I got a call back from one of my resumes that I really wanted, and he offered me a job for the summer. I took it and have been with him for a few weeks. Its mo money, fun folks, and Spanish. What else could an up and coming lawyer ask for? ;)

A couple weeks before we left VA, our white car was making a whine and shifting hard. We had a little fix in VA, then the whining and check engine light came on again somewhere around Kentucky. Then in LV, felt like we missed 2nd gear. So the dealer shop told us they would look at it. They returned it saying there was nothing wrong with it. So we said, "Okay, can we trade it in for a new car then?" So they took it off our hands and gave us more for it than we had prepared for from looking at blue book and other dealers. So we have a different car now.

KGW is 17 weeks prego, had an appt today, all is bueno, and in 4 more weeks she will get the ultra sound to tell what is in there. So far I am the only one with the weird cravings. And Jackson. And Sydney.

We went to Disneyland right away when we got to the West. The kids loved it. It wasn't too hot outside, and we rode all the rides without waiting in line. It was nice. We found out Macaroni Grill in So Cal is cheaper than the IHOP across the street from Disneyland, and IHOP even said kids eat free!

For the whole time we've been in Virginia, neither child has been sick for longer than a day. They'll get a fever, runny nose, whatever, but the next day they are just fine. But since we have gotten to the West, they have taken turns being very sick. Finally it seems like they are both over their ear infections, flu symptoms, amoxicillin rash, stuffy nose, runny nose, general whininess, etc.

The missionaries in VA told us they would miss us because they would transfer away before we came back. So I told them they could be cool and say peace instead of goodbye, but they were missionaries so they would have to disguise it in a churchly sounding saying. So they decided on "Peace be unto you."

We want to go to the beach but can't find a good excuse...oh wait, the Whitney reunion! Funners!

Sydney got a new doll from Gma Gifford. She named it Emileah. Sydney said that one day she would have a baby in her uterus, and when it's born, she would teach it about Jesus.

Jackson said he had a dream about spiders. They would crawl all over him, and their legs tickled him so bad that he woke up laughing.

Peace be unto ya'll,

MK KGW SRW JGW

McKay & Keresa's Blogsite: Us 4 Whitneys

Matthias & Megan

I love Insight Technology!

I've just completed my first week at Insight and am now getting ready for my next!

My first day took me up to the observation tower for orientation, where three other new hires filled out paper work, watched safety videos, and sang the Insight Technology company song: "I love Insight Technology..."

The room with my desk/cube is the Work Instruction room, which is the department that writes out an illustrated process for generating products, so that a technician can reproduce it exactly. The work instruction department consists of four of the friendliest, chattiest ladies you could ever meet. And though they like to visit and their conversations go a mile a minute, they are efficient and expeditious in what they do! For example, when I mentioned that my wife was pregnant and that we needed to choose a doctor and a hospital, they went right away telling me about every baby they'd ever had and everyone they'd ever known who had had a baby and their sister's friend's cousin who was an RN at one hospital in the maternity ward and what he thought of the hospitals in town and the ob/gyn's around and before I knew it, I had a neatly organized annotated packet of materials they'd looked up and printed from the internet on information about both hospitals and several doctors we could have our baby with! Wow!

Though I sit with the Work Instruction group, I'm in manufacturing engineering, and I've been spending a lot of time getting familiar with the equipment necessary to fabricate a solid state infrared laser that will go into a future product. It seems that when a few different people saw that a new optical engineer was listed in the manufacturing engineering group, they signed me up for their project before I even started work! So I've been on this project from day 1, and I guess we've been behind since day 1 also. Yikes! And though Insight has a 9-80 schedule (9-hour days and every other Friday off) one of the guys I'm working with said that we'll probably work every off-Friday until this product is delivered in mid-July. Then he said, "Welcome to Insight! You'll soon learn what a real off-Friday is!"

Con Amor,

Megan and Matthias

M & M Whitney.