More on Michael

Mike's glad to be back "home" in Sasebo, Japan. His ship is undergoing some cleaning, so all of the sailors have been moved, literally, to a berthing barge. They work on their ship, eat and do all of their regular activities, but they go to the berthing barge to sleep. He says its just for a short time, so its no big deal.

He's been able to chat with us lately on either Yahoo Messenger or Facebook. Nate and Rachel have enjoyed getting to catch up with him.

More info as we get it!

Where in the World is Michael?

Well, he's been all over the place lately. He left Japan about 2 months ago, headed for the Land Down Under. It took him about 2-3 weeks to get there. Once there, his shop stopped in Cairns. He was still working the night shift, so he was awake when they arrived in the middle of the night. He went out on the flight deck and watched as the ship came in. Many people from the city came to welcome the sailors. They were so excited because this was the biggest ship that had ever been to their port. Mike and his fellow sailors spent about a week in this city. Mike loved going out to meet people who spoke English and who were so nice and civilized. He said the girls loved buying the sailors dinner and drinks, so they just let them. That's my boy!

After some time there, the ship headed out again. This time it stopped in Brisbane. Mike was a little lonely and tired of the traveling and didn't even want to get off the ship, but Mom (me) told him to "get his little white butt off the ship and away from all of those gray walls and go see the city". He did and he and some buddies rented space a hostel and had a great time. They hung out with a bunch of people from many places around the world who were traveling and they talked and got to know a little about them. They also got to go to a zoo/farm in Brisbane.

While in Australia, those on the ship had the opportunity to do some training with the Australian navy. Then, the ship headed back out to sea. Mike's TAD (Temporary Assigned Duty) has been mostly done while on his way there and back, so he's almost done with that and can't wait to go back to his regular job in the fuel pump room. They landed back in Sasebo, Japan after dropping the Marines off in Okinawa. He's happy not to have the Marines on board anymore and for life to go back to normal. He now has earned the right to stay longer off the ship, even overnight, so he already took advantage of it by staying up all night, hanging out at an internet cafe downloading stuff to his computer.

He's thinking about coming home for the holidays and we are looking forward to going there next summer to visit. We just have to figure out when his ship will be in port, so he will have time to tour Japan with us. He misses home so much and all the luxuries of the United States. He is just a few days away from his 1-year anniversary in the U.S. Navy. Good job, Mike. Keep going strong. It should get easier now, but we'll still be so happy when we get to see you next! We love you so much and are so proud of you.

Send us some pictures soon! That's what Mom keeps telling him, but we'll see if it ever happens!

On the road again - To Tucson and then home!

Dropping Dad off at the airport in Las Vegas so he could get home to work. Mom, Rachel, Marshel and Kellee headed out on our way to Tucson. We made a quick stop at the Hoover Dam, so the kids could enjoy the sights. Kellee was too tired to care, but Marshel thought it was really cool.

9 hours on the road, with a few short potty breaks and lunch, and we made it to Tucson to visit Gramma Jackie for a day.

It was too hot to do anything outside at Gramma's, so we headed to the mountains for a picnic. The flies apparently heard we were coming, because we were attacked as soon as we arrived. We ate, looked around a little and headed back down the mountain. Grampa Bill's grand-daughter Caitlyn was visiting so she hung out with Rachel while we were there. Grampa Bill even took them swimming, more so he could get out of the house away from the little ones.

Since the flies ruined our mountain picnic, we thought it would be a great idea to take the kids to a community park that had some grass. It must have been the only grass in all of Arizona, because as soon as we walked through it, we saw all of these bugs flying around. Looking down, we saw that our legs had turned black. We were being attacked by mosquitoes. Apparently, we had walked through the mosquito breeding grounds. We grabbed the little kids and ran back to the car, swatting mosquitoes all the way, and even after we got in the car we still had to get rid of the last few hangers-on. It was pretty disgusting. That's when we decided our day out was over and we headed back home. We went for a long walk around the subdivision to wear the little ones out, took them home and gave them a bath and put them in bed watching a movie. Then Gramma, Mom, Rachel and Caitlyn played a competitive game of Phase 10.

The next morning, we climbed back in the car for our 15 hour drive home. Mom had come down with a cold and was pretty tired, so we almost took a hotel 3 hours away from home, but Mom hung in there and made it home, before falling into bed, so glad to be home.

St. George - The Plays of 2009

We love Tuacahn. Grandma Hazel Jackson loves us all so much that she makes sure all the kids and grandkids and even some great grandkids get to enjoy her love of the theatre. This year we saw an amazing cast perform in "Annie". Wow, they were so awesome. What great voices these kids have and they were so nice after when the kids met them.

Night 2: Footloose! Brittan, Lindsay and Rachel enjoyed the dancing and singing and funny parts of this play. The lead, who played Ren, was Thayne Jorgensen. The girls loved that he starred in High School Musical 1 and 2 as well as the cool show, "So You Think You Can Dance." Mom's favorite was the cowboy who learned how to dance and was the funny guy of the show.

Nate was with us in St. George for the first week, but then flew to Orlando to spend a week with his Dad, causing him to miss out on the plays at Tuacahn. So, Grandma gave him the extra ticket to the Utah Shakesperean Festival, which he totally loved. We saw Henry V and As You Like It.

Thanks Grandma for being so thoughtful and allowing us to enjoy these great events every year. We love you so much and hope to continue this tradition for many years to come!

Here are some videos of Rachel jumping rope with Annie and Brittan and Rachel dancing on the stage of Footloose:

What is there to do in St. George?

Watching Camden push Great Grandma around the house

Playing Golf with the family

Hanging with Aunt Roxanne



Visiting with Jennie and Paul

Watching Uncle Brandon eat a whole plate of brownies

Cards with Uncle Mark

Being entertained by Camden

Talking with Uncle Brandon

Down time with Uncle Mark

Dairy Queen - Marshel, Brittan and Lindsay

Fun times with the sista's
Thanks Grandma for the Dairy Queen visit

Getting out of the house for a cold treat

Rachel, Brittan and Kellee playing in the river

AAAHHH! Sisterly love!

This water is freezing!

Strike a pose, everyone!

Hey, cool - A Waterfall!

Kellee trying to walk all the way to Grandma's by way of river - we had to make her come back!

Are you lookin' at me?

Enjoying Medusa's (I mean, Mackenzie's) morning hairstyle
Marshel and Spencer - Having fun with our cousins

Deja Vu - Grandma Welch (caught you snacking)

Playing in the Virgin River

Uncle Brandon wakes up Rachel gently, quietly and lovingly!

From Stillwater to St. George

We had planned on leaving Stillwater on Tuesday night, but a huge storm almost kept us there overnight. Chad and Marty had to move the trampoline close to the house to keep it out of the path of the huge winds; Marty grabbed the escaped chicken, returned it to its home, and battened down the roof of the chicken house; the rain and wind were amazing. We finally decided, though, to get on the road, so we could travel while the kids slept that night.

We had great weather, but it seemed like there was road construction every 60 miles, so it was a bit of a longer trip than we had planned. But, we kept our spirits up and made the trip fun. We even decided on a detour, so we could visit Four Corners. We wanted to be able to say we'd been there. We drove for about an hour out of our way, through the Indian Reservation, which was interesting. It was sad to see how poor the residents there are.

It was so hot in this part of the country, that Marty and Rachel were the only ones who would get out of the car for this picture. To get into Four Corners was $3 a person, which was actually a bit ridiculous, since you are only there for about 10 minutes -just long enough to stand on Four Corners and take a picture. But, hey, we've now done it! One more thing off of the Bucket List, right?

After leaving Four Corners, we had a beautiful scenic drive through Arizona, past Lake Powell and over the dam into Utah. Then we knew we were almost to St. George and the end of our driving.

The kids liked that we drove past Elm Street - noone had a nightmare.

Going into new Mexico

Now, Arizona
Lake Powell


Finally, Utah!