Well, we had a blast for Halloween, I didn't get a picture of Brennan as he dressed at his friends house. Here are the pictures we did get. I hadn't dressed up in years, but the kids enjoyed my costume. Had a few little guys that I had to take off my mask for. Aidan & Lucian went door to door with Auntie Tracey. The boys were done after about 15 houses. They came home and helped pass out candy after that. They couldn't wear their alien and ninja costumes to school on the 29th, so I got them the Doctor outfits. Am posting a couple of those also. Love and miss everybody at home.

I know it's a long time in between posts, but bear with me here. We've been getting adjusted here in Utah and the boys have generally been great. Kieran has spent most of my time here grounded, but the other guys have been great. Brennan as started his own leaf raking business and has made $63.00 so far. Aidan is doing really well in school and reads like a maniac at home. He has memorized all of "The Cat in the Hat Book". He is totally fascinated by the "Fox in Socks" book and can't get through the whole book without howling at the beetle battle parts. Lucian is writing his name pretty well, thanks to Aunt Tracey. He enjoys school very much as does Aidan. I Love their teachers Mrs. Spangenberg and Mrs. Moore. Mrs. Spangenberg is my favorite and I am lucky enough to talk with her everyday when I pick up the youngest from school. We've had 3 light sprinklings of snow and the temp has been pretty low for the last couple of weeks. Tracey gave Lucian a mohawk last night so I'm going to try and post a pic here. Hope it works out. Will send more of our costumes tomorrow.

Last one!!

The boys swordfighting...I think Kieran believes he's a ninja.

More blackmail!!

So this is my first time posting a video on here so I hope it works!! Let me know if you guys have trouble seeing it. Tracey and the boys were playing the canoeing on the wii, and they looked like such goobers that I decided I need some blackmail. Enjoy!!

Hello everyone, I know I was going to try and get on her more, but WOW!!! I haven't done this much laundry in what feels like 20 years. They guys have been staying busy with school and friends. Brennan had a friend spend the night last night and we all piled into the van to go see "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". I have to say it was pretty cute. Tracey went and picked up our tickets early so we wouldn't have to stand in line. You're gonna love their prices here! For 2 adults and 5 children it only cost us $49.50 and that was for the 8:00pm show. It was our first big outing with everyone and we had a good time. After the show we were treated to a fabulous lightning extravaganza on the way home. The thunder shook the whole house this morning at 0514, but only Trace and I heard it.
Jeanie has called a couple of times. We're preparing another big box for her this week. They don't sell Trix cereal etc. so she's having us send some for the young troops who go into sugar withdrawals. Amy sent her large amounts of candy and pumpkin lights for her room. She is in a 4 person room, so privacy is nil and she's already had her shampoo and conditioner stolen from the shower. Go figure. We drove Tracey to Salt Lake yesterday to interview with the Petco down there. She just can't live on 17 hours a week. They had at least 30 cats in there for adoption. The horrible fact in Utah is that they don't seem to spay/neuter their animals, so overpopulation is outrageous here. Saw some adorable cats and dogs! Hopefully she'll get hired on down there and be able to make some decent dough. Miss Washington horribly, but I'm hoping fall is on the way. Tom is trying for leave and a drive down here in November. Can't wait to see him. Miss him something awful. Hope you're all doing well. The Marveling Murphy's

Jeanie made it to her vacation spot. She had a couple hour layover in Shannon, Ireland and did some retail therapy, picking up a few things for the boys. Packed up a box for her yesterday with full size pillows, gum, chocolates and a sheet set. She had to bring all of her own bedding which is interesting. Got an email this morning that she'd been bitten by something already and it made her ears swell and get red! Fun times...
The boys are pretty well settled in school. Brennan gets on the bus at 0844 and returns at 1510. I hand Aidan and Lucian off to Aidan's teacher at 0850 and she hands them back at 1525. Kieran walks to and from their school.
It finally cooled off yesterday. I had to laugh when Brennan came back in and said he needed a sweatshirt cause it was cold. It was in the low 60's!! Lucian complained when we got to school because it was so cold. Tracey and I sat out on the porch and took in the coolness last night for a change.
Miss everyone at home but really, really don't miss the dog and cat hair. It's wonderful to take my socks off at night and not have them look like big foot!!!

Well, Tracey and I made it to Utah on the 14th of August after a great trip. Jeanie and boys were already in their new house and almost all unpacked. The house is beautiful and only a 100 yards or so from their old one. The base is interesting, but the sunsets here are spectacular. We've had 1 gully washing rain storm, but the rest of the days have been hot, hotter and dry. Jean spent the last two weeks packing her bags and getting last minute stuff taken care of. The 3 oldest boys began school on the 24th and Lucian will begin tomorrow. I have volunteered to help out in his classroom for 40 minutes a day to help with lunch and after lunch recess. The 3 youngest get out of school at 3:30 and Brennan gets home from junior high at 3:10.
Jeanie leaves tomorrow at 0400 for the airport. One of her troops will drive her to the airport. Tracey has found out that the PetSmart they transferred her to has 12 groomers including her with only 5 tables available. They have her scheduled for 17 hours this week, so don't know what she will do about that. Can't live on that I can tell you right now. She drove a friends motorcycle from the repair shop to his home yesterday. She was excited about that. He had surgery on his finger and can't drive it, so ask Tracey if she could do it for him. Miss everyone at home, but was fun to celebrate my birthday with Jean and the boys. They were eyeballing my presents of chocolates and a new game for my DS. Still have the chocolates, but Brennan has already played the DS game. Will get into the swing of things in the next month or so and get schedule going. Haven't done so much laundry in years and years!!! HA HA Will try and get some pics on here this week or next.

Jeanie just called and said they're all boxed up and ready for the big truck to move them tomorrow. Their new address for you guys out there is 3309 "B" Liberty Way, Hill AFB, UT 84056. Jeanie also gave me her "Vacation" address. It would be great for her to get some snail mail while she's there.
MSgt. Jeanie Purvine
455 ELRS/Supply
APO, AE 09354
Her new house is beautiful with 4 bedrooms, 2 bath, and a real garage. It's large enough for 2 cars, which will be great for me and Tracey. No having to push snow off the car windows etc. Still within walking distance for the 3 youngest guys also. They had a great time at their deployment retreat. The Teddy Bear Co. donated enough bears for all the kids with the voice boxes. The deploying parent is able to record their message for their little ones to listen to while they're gone. What a great company! They went hiking and had classes to let the kids know what to expect while their parent was deployed etc. Well still in the process of packing for our trip to Utah, so better get busy.

Great News!!! Tracey's mammogram today showed nothing. They did the mammogram, ultrasound and some kind of dna thingy. She was greatly relieved as we all are. She only works three more days and then her friends are having a going away party for her. She has some absolutely wonderful girlfriends and they are welcome at our house anytime for any reason. They have really helped her through a rough time and they are SUPER!!!!!!! Jeanie and boys will be in a new house next week. We should get there just in time to unpack boxes and thoroughly gum up the works. HA HA
Amy & Kevin are going to the State Fair in Indiana sometime in August in search of all sweet things FRIED. If you can believe it they do fried twinkies and oreo cookies for just a few. Those crazy kids. They also plan on visiting the zoo and other things in the area. Kevin is an Indy 500 super fan so they will I'm sure go visit the track if they can. Hope they have a fun filled time there. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Tom got me hooked on the J.P. Beaumont series written by J.A. Jance. She writes a couple of series, but I'm hooked on this one. It takes place in Seattle, which is always fun to read about. The others I am reading are by Charlaine Harris. She writes several series, and have read all of the Aurora Teagardens, and am woring on the Shakespeare series now. I have a hard time finding books that hold my interest and enjoy series much more than individual titles. It helps me if they have repeat characters. Of course, Janet Evanovich is my favorite series and can't stand the wait until a new one of hers comes out. Tracey and Shana also read these. Will try and geet the boys more interested in reading with some of mine and Tracey's favorite authors for kids. Can't beat "The Worst Christmas Pageant Even", or the "True Adventures of Charlotte Doyle". Glad you guys stayed cool in the pools out there.

Wow, we survived our 102 degree heat lasting 5 days! That was crazy. Set some wild records I know that. The animals and I tried to stay indoors all week, but last night it finally cooled down so we could actually have the windows open. We have a portable A/C unit that I had in our bedroom and it kept the room at about 78 degrees. At least we were able to sleep at night. Thank goodness we don't have little ones to have to deal with anymore. Kudos to all you out there who do and managed to keep your heads. I know Tiff probably had hers in the pool. Unfortunately we had taken ours down after everyone left. I did manage to run to Barnes & Noble and grab some books to read all day long, while drinking enormous amounts of ice water. We should have all headed to Charlie & Mauricia's. They have air conditioning!!!! Had a great time with Shana on our Walk for Life weekend. Makes you stop and think how lucky we are to be healthy. Tracey's doctor found no recurrance of cancer on her cervix this week, but is sending her for a mammogram next week. Keep your fingers crossed. She and I will leave in 13 days. Yikes, time flies. Jeanie will be taking leave before she leaves for her "vacation", so she can spend time with the boys. We also found out that we'll be moving the boys into a new house in November. It will still be base housing, and only a couple blocks away from where they live now. Exciting for us all. Have a great weekend out there.

Well, Tom & I got Tracey's stuffed moved back to our garage today. Everytime she moves there seems to get less and less. In a few more moves all she'll have is her toothbrush! HA HA. I have known for quite some time that Tracey loves riding her motorcycle, and I've tried really hard to be okay with it, but today following her down from Issaquah on 3 different freeways, I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown and was in tears by the time we got home. People drive like A-holes everyday and I find it annoying, but today 1 huge pickup and 1 small car came very close to sideswiping her right in front of my eyes. Tom called about 40 minutes into our trek and I was in tears, trying to keep an eye out for Tracey and see through my blurry eyes. I felt much better after throwing up my lunch, but it's very lucky for several drivers that I was not not armed with much more than my useless horn and a cellphone, or there could have been major casualties. She was very sweet and said she's sell it if it upset me that bad, & believe me I was very tempted, but she loves that stupid bike and I love her so we'll just have to agree that she's a big girl and a very competent rider. Here's a cute pic of Tracey & Braeden on Tom's birthday. What an adorable pair!!!

The first picture is of "Farmer Lucian", 5 years old. I couldn't resist this one when I saw him with the grass in his mouth. Amy & Aidan in our kitchen. Told him to smile and this is what he came up with. Works for me. Kevin and his work program is the third pic. They were filling in holes left by me when taking up old bricks around our cherry tree. Jeanie and the boys had a great time as usual at our local farmer's market. We always have requests to go there when anyone stops by. The last one is Aidan, Brennan, Kieran, Braeden, & Lucian in front of Papa's campfire in our backyard. I thought the picture turned out really well. They had such a great time. Will spend alot of time thinking of ways to entertain them next year.

Hopefully I can get some photos on here. They're some Jeanie & boys visit, as well Amy & Kevin. We had such a great time. Jeanie and boys arrived on the 18th. Amy & Kevin flew in the 23rd. The house was brimming with activity, but we all had a great time being together. I hope the photos load. Otherwise I may have to call for help!

As eveyone already knows, Jeanie is divorcing and going to Afghanistan. I am hoping to keep this blog for her, so the boys can write and send pics etc. What eveyone doesn't know yet, except for Tom, I, and the sisters, is that Tracey and Graham are not a couple anymore. Yes, we can all breathe a huge sigh of relief!!! Come on now you've all been waiting to do it, just admit it familly. She is couch surfing as of a couple of nights ago. She is such a strong girl as are her sisters and we are so proud of them all. It seems the 2 of the Murphy Sisters have decided they have had enough and we applaud their decisions. Tracey has decided to go with me when I leave on the 13th for Utah, where is much adventure to come!!! I am hoping to post pictures of the boys so everyone can keep up with us. I'd like to thank eveyone who came to help us Celebrate Tom's 60th Birthday. It is always a blast to have you all here with us.

This is our starting blog. Am hoping to keep this for Jeanie and boys while she's gone to Afghanistan. I have enjoyed keeping up with other blogs, so I may ask for help occassionally on how to do this crazy thing. Will be leaving Oly for Utah on August 13th with Tracey. Plan on having a great road trip. Will keep eveyone updated, hopefully.