Shawna's 37th Birthday!!

It’s Shawna’s birthday! Or should we say it’s Shawna’s birthday week! She loves her birthday, and celebrates it all week long. We usually go on vacation during her birthday, so it was a little different this year; what should we do? How could we celebrate such a wonderful, momentous event?

How about a party? (Seems original enough – No one had ever done a birthday party before, right?) However, Sterling and Shawna’s friends have big ideas. We were able to “reserve” the patio at a local restaurant, and invited a few of our friends. We had 35 people celebrate with us – it was a fun time. (The food wasn’t great, but the friends were.)

After dinner, we went to the Gallup’s house for cake and ice cream. We celebrated Grammom and Grandpa’s 45th wedding anniversary, and Grammom read a poem she’d written. Then we sang “Happy Birthday” to Shawna (who turned bright red and starting crying – yeah, success!)
Happy Birthday beautiful!

Remodeling the Bathroom...Beautiful

When we bought the house, the standard option was for wall-to-wall carpeting, including the bathrooms. Shawna didn’t want carpeting in there, but it cost more to have tile instead of carpeting. So, we reasoned that we could use carpeting for a few years, let it get “worn out,” and then replace the carpet with tile (since we’d have to pay for it at some time.) Well, that time has come, at least for the first bathroom…

The project itself isn’t too difficult – but it’s all the “sub-projects” that take so much time. We had to rip off the old tile, which meant completely replacing the drywall around the shower before we could even begin. Same with the carpet, toilet, sink, you name it. With every step, we had to paint or touch up areas that were covered by the old fixings. We replaced our crappy toilet (lol, sorry, that’s a stinky pun) with one that’ll consistently flush the product.

So, although the workers’ (Sterling’s) estimate was only for a week, he had to leave on a trip before he could finish, and the bathroom had to wait for his return. Portions of the project were fun (and Shawna bought him a nice wet-tile cutter)! However, the minutia of the grout, sealant, caulking, painting, baseboards, plumbing, etc got to be a bit old. He enlisted Tyler, Kenzie and Bryson to help with some of the chores. The end result looks pretty good, but it’ll be some time until he starts on the next bathroom!

Bubble Boy...Not so Funny

Tiny bubbles…Tiny bubbles, in my brain, make me sad, make me lame… literally. Sterling had an incident while flying in January. He was doing one of his “routine” test flights in the F-15 and had a rapid depressurization up high. This is a fairly common occurrence, and he descended and landed immediately. He was on the aircraft oxygen and felt fine. However, about 45 minutes after landing he started getting a tingling sensation on the skin down his left arm and down his back, so he went to the flight doctor. They gave him 100% oxygen again and he felt better. Sterling thought, “Thanks guys, I feel fine,” but he was wrong. They immediately transferred him to the Macon hospital and into a dive chamber for 5 – 6 hours to dissolve any remaining nitrogen bubbles back into the blood.

The next day he had to go see a Neurologist to get cleared to fly again. Sterling was thinking it’d just be a “rubber stamp” and back to the skies. Wrong again! The doc said his left eye was acting goofy, and ordered an MRI to check for a stroke and/or brain damage since the symptoms were isolated to his left side… This got everyone spun up, Sterling included. The flight doc was on the phone with the Air Force experts in Texas, Shawna flew down that same day, and Sterling wondered if he’d just had his last flight in the F-15.

Well, we’re happy to report that everything is ok. There was no evidence of a stroke (although based on the symptoms, the neurologist said he probably had a very minor one). There also wasn’t any brain damage (no more than usual at least). Sterling had get some more tests done, and he had to wait a month for the experts in TX to clear him to fly, but he’s back in the saddle!

Weight Loss/Life Style Goals in 2009

It’s January 2009! Yeah! It’s that time of year for Goals, especially those of the weight-loss nature – drat! We both know that Weight Watchers works (say that three times fast) and we’ve done it before. However, this past fall Shawna had to have three different surgeries on her legs to remove varicose/damaged veins. She hasn’t been able to exercise since her first surgery in October, and won’t be able to start until a month after her last surgery in February. (Sterling was very sympathetic (or apathetic) and decided to also not work out until Shawna could again.)

So, in the meantime, it’s strictly calorie control – no fun. Shawna is tenacious – she’s an animal! Whatever she sets her mind to, she does! She’s already lost 8 percent of her body weight, and she looks yummy! Sterling has lost over 12 pounds, but it’s only 5 percent of his body weight.

This past week, Shawna got the early go-ahead from her Doc, and we’ve started running and exercising. Theoretically the weight will plateau for a little bit (since muscle weighs more than fat) and then keep decreasing. More importantly the inches will continue to come off.

We took “before” pictures, but we’re not posting them here – don’t want you to throw up on the computer… We’re getting ready for Triathlon season… tune in later this Spring/Summer to see how it goes!

Bryson's 12th Birthday

Bryson’s 12! He has had an amazing year, and had big changes as he transitions from a child to a young man. He was also ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood, and is very thrilled to be a Deacon and in Young Men’s. He is making great strides and growing up nicely! We celebrated his birthday the weekend after Christmas break, so he could have a party all for himself.

Bryson, Jamie Gallup, and Ashley ready to eat some cake!

Sandy Gallup made his birthday cake, the “all-spark” from the movie “Transformers.” (Sandy is a professional cake decorator.)

New Year's Eve at Disney World!!!

Ok, Disney World is our home away from home, except it’s a lot more expensive and the food doesn’t taste anything like what Shawna makes for us. Nevertheless, we had been told to go there to see the Christmas decorations, since “It’s absolutely beautiful!” So away we went.
On our drive out of Missouri, we literally drove out of an oncoming winter front, including freezing rain. We were able to get out from under it after a couple hours of driving. However, it caught back up to us, and rained buckets when we were in IL and KY. (We’ve had a lot of rain on other drives to DW too, hmm.) Then on the drive home, there were crowds of football fans all heading home after the Florida bowl games! It was bumper-to-bumper until past Atlanta. We didn’t stay at a Disney hotel, nor did we eat on their dining plan. However, we thought it was great! Our room was bigger, with queen beds, and we ate better meals (at IHOP and Outback) than the counter services at Disney World.

The decorations were very pretty, especially the extra lights they had on Cinderella’s Castle! They even had fake snow (a sort of bubble bath) falling down Main Street. (Ashley and Brandon were trying to catch it on their tongues like real snow – yucky!) They also had hats and noisemakers for everyone. (Hats – Yes. Noisemakers – No.) But probably the nicest thing was the cooler weather. We’ve never been except in the heat of summer, and it was nice to be there and not always be sweating. We didn’t feel as tired as we do in the summer. However, since the kids have school, we’re stuck with the summer visits, (unless we take them out of school…hey, that’s an idea.)
The fireworks were truly incredible! They’re like the 4th of July in two regards: they both have the same show a day early, and the fireworks come up at the same time from all around you. We’ve seen both, and they’re spectacular! On the 30th there weren’t very many people, and we had a front-row view right in front of the Castle. On New Years Eve however, they were at maximum capacity by 11 am. We couldn’t even park there, and “had” to go to Epcot for most of the day. In the evening, we went to customer relations, and asked if Magic Kingdom was still full. They said no, and allowed us to transfer our tickets (and gave us Hopper privileges) and go there. When we arrived, the park was still full, full. (We witnessed a lot of family meltdowns that day.) However, since we know the system, we were still able to ride a fair amount of rides before midnight. Then, pushing both kids in the double stroller, and with Summer and Shawna as secondary blockers, we managed work our way “up-stream” through the crowd (since DW must leave walkways open for crowd control/emergencies, etc.) and arrive right in front of Cinderella’s Castle and Main Street just as the fireworks started! Sterling and Shawna just giggled about it, since people had stood in those places for many hours to get a good view. Brandon and Ashley even got out of the stroller to see the fireworks this time, although they kept their hands on their ears.
After the show, we went back to the rides, which were deserted. (Most everyone went straight for the exits – silly.) We rode a bunch of rides until just after 1 am, and decided the kids were getting tired. As we excited the park, there were still hordes of people waiting to board the ferry and monorails to leave. So we walked a short distance to the Contemporary hotel, boarded the next monorail, and left without any wait! I think our DW experiences are much different, and happier, than the average tourist, which is probably why we keep going back…

The fireworks were completely surrounding us! You can see the Christmas lights on Cinderella’s Castle.

Look we’re actually wearing jackets! It was beautiful weather! You can also see the fake snow (the white spots in the photo) falling around us. It was an artificial winter wonderland with my sweetie pie!

Ashley and Brandon like the fireworks, but they don’t care for the noise. Summer helped out a lot, and we were very excited she was able to come with us this year.

Three beautiful girls, having a party and hanging out at the home of a Million Dreams. Depends on who you’re with, I’d say. My dreams have already come true!

Christmas Day 2008

“Santa came! He did, I saw it.” It seems every year, no matter what roadblocks or instruction we give to the kids, there is always one little munchkin who quietly rises, ignores the warnings, and goes and peeks at what Santa may have left for all of us. This year was no different, although Ashley claimed she was trying to prevent Brandon from seeing the presents. Needless to say, we don’t have any pictures of them with the initial shock/surprise of Christmas morning, but they were pretty excited when they came running into our room while we were sleeping…

Sterling has the official duty of passing out the presents in such a way that no one goes too long without opening a present, and everyone finishes during the same round too. Plus he has to make the Christmas Bread – there’s so much pressure!

Grandpa and Grammom overlooking the production from the comfort of the couch.

Here’s a shot of the shredded wrapping paper and opened boxes from the morning’s festivities!


Shawna has the smile of satisfaction of another Christmas well-planned and executed. She’s the primary shopper, and does a fantastic job of giving everyone the joy of Christmas, both in presents, and with the love and spirit of the season!

Christmas Eve at Grammom & Grandpa's House

Can you feel the excitement? It’s Christmas Eve! We went to Grammom and Grandpa’s house for the traditional “roast beast” (from the Grinch Who Stole Christmas) and Tapioca pudding.

Grammom thought the roast was undercooked, but we thought it was perfect!




The kids “hanging” with Dad. (Hanging, get it?) Ashley’s already learned the art of taking pictures and making either a funny face or hand signs.

Mom and Brandon posing. Aren’t they cute?

Brandon got the nut! He’s able to open the first present of Christmas and/or the family present, which was a snowboarding game for the Wii Fit board. It’s a lot of fun!

Back at our house, we open up one present, which is pajamas that Mom either sews or buys for all of us! We read from the Bible and also the book, “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” We then set out our stockings, (with some milk, cookies and carrots for the reindeer) and go to bed with visions of sugarplums (actually more electronic games) dancing in our heads!

Snow Day

It was a Christmas miracle! On Christmas Eve it started snowing. It didn’t snow a lot, but it sure helps the Christmas atmosphere when there is fresh snow on the ground. We were able to play in the snow a little bit, but Ashley and Brandon mostly just liked shoveling the snow! (Hopefully they’ll enjoy doing it for many years to come.) The snow was light and fluffy (it was very cold) so we just cleaned the driveway and sidewalks. However, the best part was coming inside, and having Mom make us hot chocolate with marshmallows!

Aren’t we cute?

Look, I’m a big boy!

Cheese! Wait, what’s on Ashley’s thumb? Oh well, take the picture, it’s freezing out here.

New York City...

Out of the blue, Tim sends out an email, asking if anyone wanted to join him in NYC for a couple day visit. Well, there was only a week notice, but hey, that’s plenty! Grammom and Grandpa agreed to watch the kids; we used some frequent flyer miles for Shawna to fly (business class no less) and we went to the Big Apple!
We went and ate Reuben sandwiches at the same restaurant where they filmed “When Harry Met Sally.” The sandwiches were huge! Seriously, one shouldn’t eat that much meat at one setting. We also had NYC bagels, hot peanuts, pizza, and hot chocolate too! All the food in NYC was very expensive. Oddly, however, most of the other touristy stuff (toys, clothes, knick-knacks) were the same price as anywhere else.

Tim’s hotel was right on Times Square. They already had the “New Years ball” (the one you see fall every year) up in position. We were surprised to see the pole holding the ball was so short. Turns out it doesn’t fall very far… It would be fun to be there for New Years Eve, but looking down from the hotel room – not on the streets; too crowded. It was a perfect time to be there; everything was decorated for Christmas and it was purely magical.

We went to the Empire State Building, and it was really windy up there. It was however, a good view of the city. It must have been very exciting to be able to go to the top 80 years ago. We happened to ride up the elevator with a couple actors that we recognized, but didn’t know their names… We also went to ground zero, where the Twin Towers stood. Very sad. They’re building a set of inverted pools/waterfalls where the water descends and eventually disappears into the middle void.

We went to The Today Show, and saw Bette Middler (who was tiny – much smaller than what we thought). We were all able to get on TV in the background, but Tim and Sterling positioned themselves for close-ups. Their faces covered the whole foreground of the camera shot. One of Sterling’s friends even called to say that he saw him on TV (even though he didn’t know we were there.) We also saw the Radio City Rockettes for our final night!

We also went to the Statue of Liberty. While we were there it started snowing huge snowflakes! They were almost the size of a silver dollar - very pretty. We also went to Staten Island, but didn’t go in. Instead we went to Grand Central Station, Macy’s (where they shoot the parade) and the NYC library. Both very grand, but rather small for the amount of people they serve.

We had a wonderful time in New York! Thanks Tim for inviting us.

Kenzie's 14th Birthday Party!!

Wow, is Kenzie 14 already? Time flies. However, we couldn’t forget her birthday, since she reminded us continually. She had two parties, one with her friends (and she had a hard time limiting the number of guests), and another party with us.
She made cupcakes with her friends during her slumber party. They stayed up late on Friday night, having pizza and soda, along with the cupcakes and plenty of other treats. They were pretty wired!
On Sunday, we had her family party, and her birthday cake. She’s pretty excited to be another year older, and especially happy she can go to church dances and other similar activities!

Kenzie is a beautiful, young lady.

We enjoyed watching Kenzie interact with her friends. She's very entertaining!! I thought this picture was interesting...how did we ever make it without cell phones growing up?

Summer & Ashley had fun playing with the wrapping paper.

Kenmore - No More!!!!!

Argh! Why is it that appliances don’t last long anymore? When we were children, our parents and grandparents had sturdy American appliances that lasted forever. They were simple, effective machines that did what they were supposed to do. Nowadays, it seems we can get 5 years out of them, (and our vacuum only lasts a year or two). One would think household appliances would last a lot longer… not so!

We’ve only been in the house for four years. All our kitchen appliances (Kenmore) were new when we moved in, and we actually “upgraded” them from the basic models that came standard with a new house. We also bought a Cabrio (the top-end of the Whirlpool brand, which should be named “Crapio”) washer and dryer set. Well, in the four years our dishwasher had to be taken apart and cleaned/fixed over three times, our range had to have the “brains” replaced, and our microwave quit, and had to be replaced. Now, two weeks ago (while Sterling was on a trip, of course) the oven quit, and so did the washing machine (which had never done a very good job anyway). While researching replacement parts for each (two parts were over $ 150 each, and more parts were probably needed) Sterling discovered that our microwave (the one that quit) and our dishwasher had been recalled.

After talking with customer support (or lack of), they questioned how we found out about the recalls, as if we had discovered a hidden secret. (Of course, they had our product registration information on file, but didn’t send us any notices.) We were also upset to find out that they wouldn’t do anything about the microwave we already replaced, and would only send out a technician to change out the motor on the dishwasher (the old ones have a history of catching on fire). We offered to use the money they’d spend on repairs towards a new machine, but they will spend money to fix an appliance, but not give you a new one.

So, long story short. We got rid of the three faulty appliances, and replaced the entire set with LG ones. It took a Friday afternoon and all day Saturday, but we’ve got them all in – hopefully these will last longer than the other pieces of junk! If you have any Kenmore/Whirlpool appliances, beware!

Halloween

Pumpkin carving has become quite the ritual at our house. Each child gets his or her own pumpkin, and then chooses a design to fit it. The designs, and especially the tiny pumpkin saws, are a huge improvement from years ago, when we’d carve them with a butcher’s knife, and try not to make Mr. Pumpkin lose too many teeth (and us lose any fingers) during the carving process. No wonder they all looked scary – they’d been disfigured by the poor kid trying to simply carve a smiley face. Nowadays you can make very intricate (and actually pretty) pumpkin designs. Now if they can just figure out a way to get the smelly goop out of the pumpkins, we’d be all right.
From the movie “Patton:” “Some of you may be asking yourselves if you’ll know what to do when the time comes. Believe me, when you put your hand in a pile of goo, that seconds before was your best friends’ brains, you’ll know what to do…” Ok, maybe scooping out the pumpkins isn’t that bad, but it sure feels and smells disgusting. (Yet pumpkin pies taste so yummy, go figure.)

Anyway, back to the story. We had a very enjoyable evening with the kids participating in the pumpkin ritual. The older kids all do their pumpkins by themselves, and Ashley and Brandon have help from Sterling and Shawna. We had lots of fun!
Now, details are still a bit sketchy about the next part, but at one point in the evening someone got a can of “liquid string” or “silly string” (which shoots from a can, then hardens into a soft foam) and started shooting the unwary pumpkin carvers. Needless to say, a small string battle ensued, as you can see from the pictures. By the end of the conflict, there were bodies, pumpkin guts, and green foam-string all over the floor. It was a good night!
Trick-or-treating was the next night, and we had a smaller crowd than usual, both of our kids and of neighborhood kids. Tyler had to work, Mackenzie stayed at home to pass out candy, and Summer was with her dad. So we went with Bryson, Ashley and Brandon. It was beautiful weather, and a very enjoyable evening. At the “scarier” stops, Bryson and Ashley would have Brandon go up first, to “test the waters” and make sure it was safe! Ah, gotta protect the young and small ones… Anyway, at 3 years old Brandon thought the whole thing was pretty cool, and would show us the candy he received after EVERY stop. “Look what I got!”

New Neighbors

We’re getting new neighbors! We’re not usually excited about neighbors, but these are special ones – Mom and Dad! They’re buying the house across the street from us. It used to be a model home, and Mom has looked at the house every time she’s visited us. Recently they decided to move out of Cheri’s house, and buy a home (the housing market is way down), and looked out in Utah. Well, they couldn’t find anything there, and felt pulled to Kansas City, so here they come! They got a great deal on the house too. It was originally around $60k more than our house, and they’re paying $30k less, plus they’re getting most of the model home furniture too! We’re very excited to have them out in Kansas City!

Food Storage...

Alright, time to get serious about food storage! We’ve all heard the counsel about food storage, and we’ve done a decent job storing food for around 6 months. After General Conference we felt we needed to get the full year (and also make sure our finances were solid.) We don’t necessarily feel that a great calamity will happen to us, (we sure hope not) but we need to be prepared and also be prepared to help out others as we can. Besides there is security with the extra storage, and most importantly, great safety and security following the counsel of the prophets and the promptings of the Spirit.

Shawna kept having an uneasy feeling about our finances, and Sterling had a sudden inspiration on the plane flying home – fix the finances. (They weren’t “broken” – we were saving a lot, and paying the bills; just not paying off some balances as quickly as we could have.) So we sat down with the spreadsheet to do so. When we were finished planning, we had cut our time to pay off the balance from two years down to six months. There wasn’t really any more money, (although we “found” some extra) just a different priority. The plan came together very easily, and we knew we were doing what we were supposed to do. It was a neat experience!

Trunk or Treat!!

Yes, we spelled it correctly. Trunk or Treat, similar to Trick or Treat, is an activity we do at our Ward for a Halloween party. There’s a potluck chili and dessert dinner (of course there is, it’s a Ward activity…) There’s even a contest to determine which chili or dessert is best, and various costume prizes. Afterwards, the adults open their car trunks (most are minivans, of course) and pass out candy.

Shawna sews costumes for the kids, which they wear for this party, for their school parties, and for Halloween. We enjoy the Trunk or Treat party more than Trick or Treat, as they aren’t really scary (in more ways than one) costumes. The kids love it, because they go around the parking lot, getting a lot of candy in a very short period of time. This year the weather was perfect! It’s been a lovely fall so far.

Seventeen Candles!!!

Wow, Tyler’s already 17! Time flies… He’s a junior in High School, and starting to realize there’s something at the end of it all. He has been doing his projects and homework, and has straight A’s this year. For his birthday, we cooked out steaks with mashed potatoes and Shawna’s famous homemade rolls! We gave him a “designer” cologne gift set, which smells really nice. (Ashley went to the store with Shawna, so she told Tyler that the cologne was from her and Mom.)

Ty asked for his usual birthday cake, angel food cake, but with blue icing – he even managed to blow out all 17 sparkling candles!

The "To Do" List

The “to do” list is never complete! I don’t know if it’s because we’ve never lived in a house for longer than 2 – 3 years, but I don’t remember all the upkeep required to keep the house, lawn, appliances, etc all working correctly. Sterling’s already had to take the dishwasher apart twice. It’s never “broken,” it just didn’t seem to clean like it did… In the pictures, the boys are installing a door to the back yard.

This week Shawna noticed a smell coming from our washing machine. Turns out that in the “energy efficient” washers the water is constantly being circulated during the load. (Saves water, since the machine doesn’t have to fill the tub completely full to get all the clothes washed.) Well, because of the recirculation, one must clean the machine every so often to remove any buildup of soap scum, etc that may develop. Let me tell you, it will build up – disgusting! Sterling had various pieces of washing machine in the sink, trying to clean the hard-to-reach places with a toothbrush and Shawna suggested he use the power washer sitting in the garage… What a good idea! (Did I mention it was cold and rainy that day?) It was cold and wet, but the washer did the job in a few minutes, and our clothes once again smell wonderful!

Do blondes have more fun?

Do they? And if they do, is that fair? But the real question is: If they do have more fun, do they even realize it?

When Shawna was in her twenties... Oops! I mean, when she was younger... Wait! That makes her sound even older... Hmm, how about this? A little while ago, she would get her hair colored, but had to cut back because her blond hair (OK, blond-"ish" hair) would get damaged by the chemicals, especially with her swimming and the chlorine in the pool. Reluctantly, she had to cut back. (Besides, she doesn't have much free time to just lounge around at the salon getting hair and nail treatments. Plus we couldn't afford the high price of hair coloring, especially the maintenance required to disguise the roots every few weeks!)

Well, Shawna had a relapse! She went to the "salon" (which is to say the strip-mall version, with an overpriced hair dresser.) She walked in a gorgeous blonde, and an hour later was a beautiful brunette! Once again, she has more fun as either a blonde, brunette, or even with red hair! (just a hint of red, let's not get crazy.) It appears it's the person, not the hair color, that determines the level of fun. Who knew?

Shawna hasn't had such a dramatic color change since we moved here, and people don't recognize her, not even her close friends. It's funny! Well, it's not that funny - A couple of her friends called her because they "spied" Sterling at the store flirting and holding hands with some good looking brunette... Men are such pigs!

The Kansas City Temple!!!

We have a temple! One of our very own! We're very excited to say the least!

We were sitting together watching General Conference, and President Monson announced five new temples. One in Calgary, Canada, another in Rome, Italy (which got some laughter from the audience) another one somewhere else we don't live, and one more... He then said the "greater Kanas City area..." Whoa. Did he just say KC?

We can't express the immediate feelings that swept through us. Eyes filled with tears of joy and gratitude stared at each other and at the screen. (We didn't even hear where the fifth one was going - we had to ask someone else.) We've never had "our" temple. The closest one is in Omaha, and that's not even the one to which we're assigned; that one is in St Louis. But now, we'll have our very own temple, and we'll be here from the ground-breaking to the dedication!

Now, to round out the story, a few Sundays prior, there was a brother visiting our Ward for a couple weeks. He was out from Utah, and worked for the company that is the "land branch" of the Church. Sterling asked him about church-owned land in the area (near one of the nicer areas), and he said yes. Sterling said, or tried to say, "no kidding?" and "seriously?" at the same time. You can guess what it sounded like... Yep, you guessed it. Anyway, it must be neat to work on future, confidential "projects" like this. Ok, now back to our story.

After the Conference announcement, we were discussing possible sites around the "greater" Kansas City area. Lo and behold, the temple is going to be two or three miles down the street! Can you believe it? We drive by the area all the time. We'll literally be able to watch the whole process, and in a couple years, have the great privilege of walking to the House of the Lord.