Our New Home!

So, the moment you have all been waiting for...here is the house. It is now final! There were a few (or several) things we asked the owners to do (that is why it took so long to tell you all for sure) before we released our contingencies. We were/are completely shocked and overjoyed they have agreed to do most of those things. Escrow is supposed to close July 17th, (so fast), but we already know it will be a few weeks after that. Wow, this has been a very stressful ordeal, but we are sooo excited. It is a cute, small thing (compared to what we have been living in for the past 4 years), but it has a fantastic floor plan. It is not the 3000 SQ house we dream of, but it is a small 1750+ house in California just 36 miles from the beach (the warm one). It is located in a great neighborhood in Simi Valley/Santa Susana. It is on the East side, so east that if you go anymore east, you will hit the 'other valley'-SF Valley (where Dan grew up). We have already met several of our neighbors who seem very cool. No, it is not in Newbury Park, which made ME very sad at first, but we (I, mostly) are willing to sacrifice. The commute for Dan from Simi to Westwood will be much shorter and much easier, so we are excited for that! It has 4 bedrooms and two baths. We have a very fun park right in our backyard (see pictures). The kids are all excited about that! It has a big apple tree in the front yard and a nice climbing tree for Melanie in the back.

The owners just recently moved out, so I will need to get some inside shots for you all. Note: there are some shots of the inside online, but it is sort of hard to look past all the clutter the previous owners had. The house has beautiful, newer hardwood floors throughout. It will have a brand new roof this next week (we hope). We will need to scrape ceilings and paint before move in. So, those looking for a service project, please contact us soon! We will also have to re-due the kitchen eventually and the driveway. So, we have a little work ahead of us but it is move in ready, which is hard to find around here in this very competitive price bracket of ours. We really are sooo excited. Can't wait to start our new life in a new area!

Three years Later...

Dan's mom has this first picture on her desk at work. It was taken 3 years ago. Three years later she wanted it updated. Can you see a change in the kids? Look how fat Chelsea is!! The Clinger Grandchildren!!

NASA Gives Space Station Crew 'Go' to Drink Recycled Water

Spencer and I were watching the news one morning and they were talking about this. Spencer was so funny! He was totally freaking out!

NASA's Mission Control gave the Expedition 19 astronaut crew aboard the International Space Station a "go" to drink water that the station's new recycling system has purified.

NASA Photo: Expedition 19 Crew on International Space Station Toast Their New Recyled BrewMission Control radioed the news to the crew Wednesday, following a report from the Water Recovery System team that station program managers approved. The decision is an important milestone in the development of the station's environmental and life support systems, which will begin supporting six-person crews at the end of May.

Expedition 19 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and Koichi Wakata celebrated the decision with a toast in the Destiny laboratory.

"This has been the stuff of science fiction. Everybody's talked about recycling water in a closed loop system, but nobody's ever done it before. Here we are today with the first round of recycled water," said Barratt. "We're really happy for this day and for the team that put this together. This is the kind of technology that will get us to the moon and further."

"This is an important milestone in the development of the space station," said Kirk Shireman, International Space Station deputy program manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "This system will reduce the amount of water we must launch to the station once the shuttle retires and also test out a key technology required for sending humans on long duration missions to the moon and Mars."

Space shuttle Endeavour's STS-126 mission delivered the Water Recovery System to the station in November 2008. Mission Specialist Don Pettit and Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke installed the equipment before Endeavour's departure. The system has been processing urine into purified water since shuttle Discovery's STS-119 crew delivered and installed a replacement Urine Processing Assembly in March. The system is tied into the station's Waste and Hygiene Compartment toilet and recovers and recycles moisture from the station's atmosphere.

The crews of STS-126, Expedition 18 and STS-119 returned samples of the recycled water to Earth. A total of 5.28 gallons (20 liters) of recycled water were tested for purity at the Water and Microbiology Laboratories at Johnson. A special Space Station Program Control Board meeting on April 27 reviewed the analysis, which showed contaminants were well below established limits, and concurred that the water is safe and healthy to drink. Mission managers elected to postpone consumption until a sticky check valve in the Urine Processing Assembly was removed May 18.

Space station crews will monitor the purity of the recycled water with on-board equipment and periodically send down samples for testing on Earth.

Melanie's talk

Today Melanie will be giving a talk in church today. Her talk is on how faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ can strengthen my home and family. I thought I would share her talk because it is about a time when my children gained a true testimony of faith and prayer. Here is her talk:

This is me and Carnell. I like to call him Grandpa, because he has always been like one to me. Sometimes on Sundays he comes to my house for dinner. He doesn’t live very far, but when he goes home, he always calls us on the phone to tell us he made it home safe. One night after leaving our house, he did not call. We waited and waited and he still did not call to let us know he made it home. I noticed my Grandpa Merrill getting worried. Grandpa Merrill got in his car and drove to Carnell’s house. Carnell was not there. Grandpa Merrill drove all the streets in Newbury Park looking for him. He was no where! My family and I were very worried. I was worried he might me hurt. My daddy asked if I would like to go help look for him. We drove for a long time, but did not see him. As a family, we all knelt down and said a prayer that Carnell would be safe and be found. We called the police and they had all the police looking for him. We could even heard helicopters. It was now very, very late and way past my bedtime. It was hard to fall asleep. My mommy told me to say another prayer and to have faith that he would be found. When I woke up in the morning, Carnell was still missing. Then all of the sudden the phone rang, it was Carnell’s neighbor. His car was in his driveway. He had gotten very lost, but made it home safely. I know that it was my prayers to Heavenly Father and my faith in Jesus that helped my family find Carnell. I am thankful for prayer and for my faith. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

2 Roosters

My mom sent this this to me and I am still laughing! I love it!

What Is For DINNER?

About 1:00 this afternoon I got a call from Dan. He asked if I would have the kitchen sink cleaned because he was coming home with dinner. Him and his buddies all have spears and so today they all went spear fishing.
This is what he came home with.

Most of the fish were Rock. I had never even heard of Rock fish before, so I was a little nervous. The kids loved watching Dan "do his stuff", cleaning and gutting them. I, not so much. I had my bottle of bleach and kept spraying it everywhere. During the picture above, Spencer noticed one of the fish still moving his gills and mouth. Sure enough when Dan put him into the sink full of water, he splash around wildly. It kind of freaked Spencer out! He sat and watched those fish very closely!

So, my new favorite fish is Rock! It is the best tasting fish! The kids really loved it! Chelsea kept saying, "yummy" as she took bites. They all told Dan that he should have brought home more. So, with a hunter of a husband, I have to say we are pretty set if the economy gets bad and we can't afford to buy food. Who needs a year supply when you have a spear and a gun??

It's National Jedi Day!

Spencer wants to know why he has to go to school today when it is clearly a holiday. I asked him what he would do all day if I let him stay home. He said, "watch all 6 stars wars movies and play with my lightsaber." Ummm...sounds good to me!

FACEinHOLE

I have to explain...Chelsea said to me today that she wished she was a barbie. OK, so I searched for barbie and found this very funny site. Now she says she wants to buys THESE barbies. UMMM!!
Create your own FACEinHOLE

COLE!

Those of you that know Spencer, know that he is TERRIFIED of dogs! He was attacked by one when he was 4 and has not forgotten it. It doesn't matter the size and it doesn't USUALLY matter if you tell him that "he won't hurt you!" It could be the nicest dog, Spencer is terrified! It is sad actually. When he is invited to a friends house, the first thing he asks is if they have a dog. He won't go if they do. Well, this past week, my brother John got his family a dog. We knew they were looking for a large dog and that made Spencer nervous becasue we spend a lt of time at the Merrill's house. Well, this is Cole and Cole is a LOVE. He is a fully trained, full bred, 1 year old golden retriever. They got him here. If you are interested you could read more about him here. Tonight, we had a little family birthday party over at my brother's house. We were excited, but a little nervous to see Spencer with Cole. We really didn't know what would happen. Madison (Spencer's closest cousin and pal) introduced Cole to him slowly. He was a little scared at first, but by the end of the evening, he was holding the leach and walking him around the house. Yeah for Cole. We plan to go over often to overcome his fear.

Chelsea's first day of dance class!

Chelsea is taking a dance class every Wednesday after school. It is a ballet/tap class. It is a 8 week class through the community. Her teacher is wonderful. Some of you might know Melissa from one of the T.O. wards. Melanie took her same class when she was 3 and 4. It is so fun to watch these cute girls dance. Chelsea especially loved the tap! I don't know...I think she did pretty good for her first time!

Derby Time!

So, the moment you all have been waiting for...

It is that time of year as most of you with scouts know. We had our derby race tonight. This is what Dan and Spencer have been working on for the past month. Yes, it was made with the actual "cub scout" car derby kit. Many people were questioning that! Spencer and Dan were pretty pleased with the out come except for it's speed. While it looks amazing, it was not the fastest. But that is OK, because they had fun making it together. Spencer got awarded Sportiest car. So, Dan gets it for design again! Such an Architect!! Dan says, he knows what he did wrong and next year it will look good and win! LOL!!

Rollie Pollie!

It was the weirdest thing~ Today, there were rollie pollies every where! The kids decided they needed to collect them ALL! The kids collected all these in less then 3 minutes. Rollie Pollies are cuter when they are crawling on the ground. When they are all in a cup together, they gross me out. GROSS!!

Scout Cake Contest

This was the cake Spencer and Dan made for the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Dinner. They had a cake decorating contest. The theme was American ABC's. Spencer decided he really didn't want to make a traditional flag cake like everyone else, so this is what he came up with. He was so proud of his cake! It tasted awesome too. He won LONGEST CAKE!

First Day of Pre-school

Yes, I know, this is kind of late in the year to sign up for pre-school. Actually, it is early! In order to get a "priority spot" in Mrs. Pat and Mrs. Lori's pre-school in the Fall, you have to be "already enrolled" in the program. Otherwise you get to stand in line at 5:00 a.m. on sign-up day, because the line wraps around the building. It's crazy!! Like Disneyland! I decided I didn't want to be one of those sitting in line in their PJs, so I decided Chelsea needed to be "already enrolled". There was an opening for a spot in the current class this last week. So, I signed her up for the last "session". That makes us already enrolled and we now have priority for fall. Yeah! I really don't like lines!! She had a fabulous day. She loves school and already knows three kids in the class from church. One being her little cute buddy Addie!

SEE SOME SERIOUS UPDATING BELOW!!

My Personal Valentine!

I was having a scout meeting here at my house with a bunch of women, when there was a knock at the door. I had no idea who it could be. Melanie was due home from school, but the door was unlocked and she would have just walked in. So, I open the door and this is what I see...

Chelsea's First Class

Chelsea was so excited to go to her first "school" class. We signed her up for an arts and snacks class with her cousin Ashlyn. The two girls are 6 months apart and love each other to death! We recently learned that they will be in the same school year. How fun is that!! Now, if we can just stay in the area until then, it will be very fun! Today they made special Valentine pillows, a ceramic heart jewelry box and a little fruit cake. Christian was able to tag along, which was fun! He got to eat all the leftover cake and help the girls paint a little. He just had to be in the second picture below. He is so handsome!!!

Cub Scouts

This post is for all those NP2 originals! Look at who is helping Spencer make a bird house! Sharlene Kreiner, can you believe it? She is still the scout leader! She was just here at my house for a meeting the other day. She was looking at the family wedding pictures on our (mom and dad's) wall. She said, "Wow, I knew your parents before they got married. I had all your 4 brothers in scouts. Who would know I would have one of the grandchildren in scouts?" She is pretty excited to be Spencer's leader. She is also so excited that he is doing so well and can't believe he is getting his wolf this month. Yeah for Sister Kreiner!!

Kid Eat Free Tuesday!

OK, if you don't know about Island's Kids Eat Free night, here it is. Be sure you check with your local Islands first, but most do it. Every Tuesday from 4-close, kids eat free! What a deal! So, you buy your meal for say, 8 dollars and you get all your kids meals free. We always have more then enough leftovers to take home to dad. I was just thinking, if you have a ton of kids like my mom did and my friend does, then it is an awesome deal! You have to beat the crowds though. We usually go by 4:30. There is a balloon guy at ours too, who makes balloon animals for the kids. They love it and you get a night off cooking dinner. Try it!

Spencer's Panjoe

Spencer has been studying musicians and instruments in school this month. For one of his assignments he had to make his own instrument. He came up with the "PANJOE". Basically, two pie pans glued together and a whole cut in the center of one. He took three rubber bands and a dowel and attached them to the pans. There you have it...a panjoe. He was pretty proud of his instrument!