Stanley Portkey

Still alive and kicking in New Mecico

2012-02-06T08:01:00.000-08:00

Ladies 80's night

Some of the ladies from Paradise Hill's

Kuliana

Erin found this dress at savers,with the tags still on it. What a deal. She looked so authentic 'Mormon 80's' that Harold said he is still having nightmares.

Love the passion Emily!

Also we bought a house
(or we have a house on loan, scary!)
We will be married 20 years this year. Harold says it is time to finally buy a house.

We bought a house

Miranda happenings
Winter Ball

Look at those shoes. Crazy girl. I think we spent too much time in Korea.

Miranda and Branden.
Then she did this.............

I think she is actually pulling it off. I am really getting sad that she is leaving this year.

Holiday greetings

2011-12-26T10:08:00.000-08:00

Caleb in the back corner ready to march.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Nacho on clean up crew. Man, we are turning in to dog people. It makes me sick!

Senior Pictures "sniff, sniff"
Of course she had to wear those shoes. She has been wearing them since 4th grade. I bought them a little big for her,sick at the price and the money I was wasting, if I had only knew she would get that many years out of them I would have got two pairs of them.

PARADISE HILLS WARD CHRISTMAS PARTY
These are pictures from our ward party that somehow we were asked to plan. Lucky us! I need a degree in party planning. It stresses me out, but ward parties seem to be a reacquiring theme in our lives so I guess I better learn how to do it right. I think it could be that we are always the new people that haven't been asked yet, it is also convenient for them because I can't say no.
We fed everyone Nachos and called it 'Nacho ordinary Christmas' It turned out well.

Not sure who Santa was but I swear he had on combat boots.

Merry Christmas.(this is the hat Militza made last year)

Girls camp , Harold's Birthday, The Balloon Festival And Max's Birthday.

2011-12-17T17:21:00.000-08:00

Girls Camp

Here is a picture of our ward at girls camp. I haven't been to girls camp since I was pregnant with Caleb. It was fun to go back as an assistant camp director. This was Miranda's last year! sniff, sniff

Harold turns 39

Harold turns 39 so naturally the kids got him depends. They think were old. I do love this picture of them all modeling them.

The Balloon Festival

These are pictures from the actual balloon festival.

These next pictures of what we all thought was the best. Balloon Chasing. You just get in the car and wait for the balloons to drop. Then you chase them down and watch them land. It was fun.

I really think this landing was on accident. None of the other balloons we saw landed in places like this. He was really close to a lot of houses. The Pilot had Dad and Caleb help him fold up his flag. It was kind of cool to see Caleb do something that cool with his Grandpa.

Every balloon has a ground crew to help them land and fold up the Balloon.

I love how you can see all the balloons in the sky. It is a really cool thing to see.

Max turns 1

while they were here for the Balloon festival Max had his first birthday. He is so cute.

1 and 9 come to visit

2011-08-19T18:30:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Joydell's and Ana's visit. It was a lot of fun.

Joydell at Explora. Juliana and Max.

JJ, Carson, Micheal, and Emma Playing at Explora.
Hanging out at home.

Max wanting to be bigger

Harold and Max

The kids at Cliffs

Emma and Logan at Cliffs. If you look close you can see that Miranda is holding on to her glasses, and Emma is crying. Good times.

Summer for the Stanleys

2011-08-18T17:26:00.001-07:00

The Powell's come to Albuquerque for almost a day.

Zach Planking

I think we may be getting too big for this.

We celebrate 'The 4th of July' Wyoming style.
With lots and lots of bang.

We even let the little ones hold Roman candles. It was like the wild wild west. Glad we didn't burn anything down.

Dan And Zach play leap frog.

We head to Roosevelt for some more bang.

Yes, This is what it's like in Roosevelt.

Emma packing heat

We meet in the middle(well sort of)

The Zeller's and the Stanley's Meet in Zion!
Seeing them was not as easy as it was when they lived right down the hall but we take what we can get.

Then the Kids are off to Trek

Before. So sweet! After.This picture is not doing justice.They were so dirty dirty and smelly too.
Then we threw then in the van and drove home. For real. We left SLC at 6 pm and got home at 4 am. It actually was not that bad of a drive.

Spring Update

2011-05-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

The kids in front of the house all ready for church.

Miranda turns 17
Man how time flies. Scary how fast they grow-up

Caleb turns 15
Caleb spent this spring like the two before on Crutches. This time he dislocated his knee cap. Which sadly, once it happens,it often reoccurs. He is off the crutches now and in to physical therapy.

THE EASTER BUNNY! I know this is just scary. The kids say they are still having nightmares.

Kari and I flew to Texas and actually tried out for the Amazing Race. She is crazy, and I can't say no, so it works. I do have to say it was an interesting adventure.

The line. We were in it for 21 hours. We Camped out under the stars with all the other crazies. It all came down to 1 minute in front of a camera. Pretty hard to show how awesome you are in one minute. No call back yet. :(

This is Kari's parents house. He is an engineer who builds theses houses. Great for tornado's I guess. Cheap to heat and cool too. I finally got to go inside.

Me & Joydell. It was great to see her. Micheal took this picture.
She seems so strong every time I see her I am amazed. Her Hair is growing back again and she is still working. She said Micheal asked her to pray that she wouldn't die. Maybe it is working.
As for me, I will be grateful for everyday she gets.

While I was gone the elementary school had a carnival. We never go to these but I signed up to volunteer at the putt putt station(thanks Harold for covering for me :) )I guess the kids entered a 'Guess how many x are in the box' to win an x box raffle.
This is Caleb finding out he won!

As we were walking out of the door Caleb said"Mom you know the truth, Logan won this. He just didn't have a phone # so i filled out the paper but it was his lucky number. Show when we got home we showed Logan what he had won
Showing Logan

So Happy together. Now they just wish their cousins were here to enjoy it with them. The fist thing Caleb said is "I have to tell Dan".

Sew Many Mermories

2011-03-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

Here is my finished Korean Quilt. I am happy with it and so glad that it is done. I hate having unfinished projects.
Korea is already feeling like a distant memory so I will cherish this always. Many thanks to all of you who stuck through with the whole process even though at times it was a little painful.

Here is the picture that Jen took. It is on the back of the quilt.

I was in a quilt group in Korea and one month we decided to make a Korea quilt. We all picked something that reminded us of Korea, and then we made that same block for everyone. At the end of it all we had enough blocks to make a quilt. I think it was fun and now every time I look at it I think of Korea and the person who made that block.
I made two of them here. The City and the Dress. It was kind of fun to get to design something new.

The Land Of Enchantment

2011-03-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

One of the first things I noticed about Albuquerque was the Hot Air Balloons. They are up almost every morning. I took this picture of one over the church. It made me laugh.

The Sabbath breaker.

Here is our new house we are renting.

The back yard. It is just a sand pit. I was kind of worried about it when we moved in, but Emma and Logan spend so much time out there digging I have decided I like it a lot. Fenced in entertainment is totally worth the bit of sand that gets dragged in.

Harold on the stairs with his lap top. I do Have to say having a lap top does make a transient life style so much easier.

Here the kids are waiting for our stuff to arrive. You got to love an empty house.

Boxes, one of the great joys of moving.
I do have to say I am amazed how entertaining a couple of boxes are when there is nothing else to play with.

Here is the Living Room

Here is the Kitchen. I love how it has a pantry and an Island.

The kids take up Ice Skating.
The nice thing about moving is you will try anything to help the kids adjust. This move our guilt included Ice skating lessons. We crazy we know, but would have said yes to much more. We have only a little guilt moving them mid year.

Getting ready to hit the ice.

First Lesson

I love these kids. They keep me laughing. I am so proud of how much they have grown on this move. They almost seem like totally different kids to me. Another positive thing that occurs with moving is the bonding that occurs among siblings when you take all their other friends away. It is priceless.

(?)

On the way to New Mexico

2011-03-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

Caleb jamming with his California Cousins.

We had to pick up the van in California. This was great because my sister lives in San Diego. It was so much fun. I was worried about the kids meshing because both of our husbands are in the military and our families have spent very little time together. No need to worry we all had a blast. As the trip went on I was seriously bitter that the military won't put us in the same place.

We went to the San Diego Zoo in December. It was awesome. We played a game of picture Scavenger hunt. It was so much fun. This is Emma and Courtnay with their picture of 'put your self in a cage'. The kids were so busy looking for photo opportunities and checking off there papers that they left us alone it was great.

Here is Amy in 'Bigger then Life' she was my partner.

After California we headed to Utah.
Here we are introduced to Max & Nian, Our new cousins and the Kong Kone.

Max

Nian

Here is Caleb with his Kong Kone. This is ridiculous and pretty much impossible to finish.

On December 23rd my parents' celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. We have been planning this celebration for years, we all gathered at a cabin in Provo Canyon. It was one of the coolest things our family has ever done. The Whole family was there except for John who is on a mission.

Views from the Loft.

Grand kids on the stairs. They were all there except John.

This is what we call our 'Brady Bunch Picture'. Here we all are in order from oldest to youngest. It was truly a blessing to have us all together for this.

Here is a blanket that my sister in law Shelby made for my parents' 5oth. It was beautiful.

There was a lot of snow the kids had a blast. Seriously one of the best Christmas ever

Gift Exchange

We had Joydell's name this year. One of the gifts we gave her was this toad purse we got in the Philippines. They were so gross and so cool at the same time. Micheal is not impressed. It was totally worth it to see Joydell Laugh.

Leaving Korea 'Sigh'

2011-03-10T07:59:00.001-08:00

It is a unsettling feeling to see all that you own packed in boxes and crated. All ready to go on a ship to a home you don't have.

I can't believe how much Koreans can carry. I mean they aren't very big people. This carry on the back thing is crazy. My friend said when her dryer broke one man came and carried it away(down the stairs and everything) like this.

So here is the wall of growth. This wall brings tears to my eyes. I really am sad to leave it here. Man My kids have grown-up so much in a little over three years.

Last Beef and Leaf
We say good bye to one of our favorite Korean Meals.

Koreans Love their Kimchi. Really they do. They eat it for every meal. I may miss it a little but not the smell of it.

Harold found a Korean restaurant here in Albuquerque last week. He ate there for lunch. When He came home 6 hours later. The first thing I said to him is"why do you smell like Korea? He laughed so hard and told me where he had went for lunch.

Tuesdays with More(E)

This is my last Tuesday in Korea.
Tuesday's have a special meaning. A couple friends(sniff, Sniff)of mine decided that we were wasting to much time and we stared 'Tuesday's with More(E)'. You Know playing off the book. Every Tuesday we would get together and try to learn more. Mostly we would eat. Man, I miss them Every Tuesday. I need entertainment. Glad to have spent my last Tuesday with two of my friends. Kimberly and Jen. We had a great time. Good memories. We just drove around taking pictures.

sexy Santa
My kids think this is the funniest Santa ever. Logan came home and told me, after he had gone to sing at the Dragon Hill Lodge. "there is a Santa there and he is doing a sexy pose" Love it.

This cut out is hilarious. It is in the theater on Yongson. As luck would have it, and much to our joy, the building unlocked. Jen has always wanted pictures with this little man. I hope this is not illegal.

Mine

hum

Jen with three

Here he is with Jen's hat. Priceless.

Also these metal MP's are a crack up.

Goodbye Korea.

Thanksgiving in the Philippines

2010-11-30T04:15:00.001-08:00

Harold had to be in the Philippines for Thanksgiving so we decided to go to him. He has spent a lot of the three years we have been here in the Philippines so I am so happy we got to finally go see it.

These jeeps are everywhere. People just hop on and off all the time.

It is like anyone can charge for a ride. There were so many autos like this just stuffed full of people.

This is Rally Harold's(his company) driver He makes about 40$ a week and is contracted to be available 24 hrs. a day 7 days a week. I felt bad because his pants were always ripped. Still this is more money then a lot of Philippines make. The maids at the hotel make around 6$ a day, also a lot of them travel 2 hours a day each way for these jobs. It made me feel so grateful and also like a putz.
I don't know how they eat. We grocery shopped there and it was not much cheaper then normal.

So many shoes.

Need a knock off purse? We saw millions.

Dinner at the Hobbit House. Yes it is owned and ran by little people. I thought it would be fun but I have to admit, it felt a little like the time we stopped in Oklahoma to see the cow with 6 legs.

Here we are in front of the world famous Hobbit House door. I swear the little person who took this picture was like under three foot high.

So many Jelyfish
This is me being artsy at the aquarium. those are also Jellyfish.

Thanksgiving dinner back at the hotel. It was pretty good. Nothing like seeing the Philippines to make you truly grateful.

"sister Stylist"

2010-08-08T05:34:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Emma decided that she wanted bangs. Miranda felt up for the job. The older sister always does. I know because I have 4 of them.

Not to bad.

This sister cutting is something I swore I would never allow in my house and this is why. I grew up a product of the"Sister Stylist" Here is the sad proof.

Really mom you let me go with that hair and that shirt on picture day. And then you actually paid for the picture.

I remember this cut. I have to say I am not quite sure which sister was the cutter. Why am I not the one with a towel on my head. (Yes, I am shacking my head again. Ridiculous!)

Online Bonding

2010-08-08T04:54:00.000-07:00

Normally I would not be a fan of online gameing but with Harold being gone so much it has actually been a blessing. Whenever it is convenient he will get online and play with the kids. It is kinda cool. I also have to say "yay for skype!"
I took these pictures one day when he was home.
I would like to title them "the boys being super nerdy"

Harold in the office

Logan in the living room.

Caleb in the dining room.
(yes, I am shaking my head right now, it is rediculous!)

They play while Emma runs around serving them drinks and whatever else they can think of. This only applies if she is wearing the Apron and chef hat. I myself have taken advantage of her in this state.

Father/Son Camp Out and a Hen Party

2010-07-30T04:13:00.000-07:00

Here are the men folk in the district at the service project following the camp out.

Alexander and Logan at the camp out.

The ladies just waiting for the men to come home.

Look at all these adorable little girls. No more being sad they got left behind. I am going to plan a party every time. It was a blast

The moms playing a quick game of split second

Joanna celebrates her lead.

The girls Karaoke.

Kathryn and Nicole Join the girls.

Miranda and Charlotte play tap tap

ooooops! I did help them after I took a picture.
This was a fun filled night full of Music and food. I was a little worried the MP's might show up we were being so loud.

Logan turns 10

2010-07-30T03:58:00.000-07:00

Logan turned ten in May and is super excited to be a I.D. carrier.

This birthday puts him in the double digits and is one more giant step in his life long quest to be a man.

Branch Variety Show

2010-07-24T05:43:00.000-07:00

So just to recap the 3rd week in April almost killed me. Let's start with saying. Harold was gone. He was trapped in Alaska with mechanical,and weather problems. Miranda because we didn't get a dress before Hawaii, had 4 days to get a prom dress, and since are choices to buy included slutty and sluttier, whatever we bought would need to be altered.(those sleeves were not there)
Caleb had a birthday and an eagle project that was totally stressing us both out. Plus as activities leader I was in charge of a ward variety show that just happened to end up on the same day as the eagle project.
Anyone who knows me can understand how crazy this was for me. I don't handle stress well and I do even worse when Harold is not here(he mellows me out). I lost 7 pounds that week but I survived and all in all things turned out pretty well I think.

-side note- I want to publicly thank any past, and future activities leaders who have ever,or will ever entertain me and my family thank you truly.

Here are some picture of our branches variety show.

we don't have a stage so we did this picnic style.

The Branch presidency skit about Sam I Am

Lehi, Nephi,Sam & Lamen and Lemuel
"That Sam I am, That Sam I am. I do not like that Sam I am." It was really cute.

The singles K pop dance. I love the singles.

The Young Mens There was titled "the best skit ever". It was a crowd pleaser.

Young women do a synchronized swim.

Me on my trumpet. Scary.
There were a bunch of other great acts. It was a good night. Especially when it was finally over.

Up with the Birds

2010-07-24T05:19:00.000-07:00

For Calebs Eagle Project he counted Birds. Every year this needs to be done on Yongson Post and this year they were looking for someone to take it on. Caleb scoutmaster asked around and Caleb accepted the challenge. We are not really bird people but this was a great experience.

Volunteers had to be up with the birds and an amazing amount of them showed up at 5:30 a.m. to help look for birds. This was no small sacrifice for a Saturday and we were truly grateful. Everyone was given a tally sheet,binoculars, a spot on the map and some pictures of birds common in the area. It was actually kind of fun.
It was a lot of work. In a world where the bar seems to be set a little low for our boys, scouts can truly help make a difference.

Caleb turns 14 and Miranda goes to Prom

2010-07-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

Caleb turns 14. And is now as tall as me.

Miranda goes to Prom with one of her best friends Sam.

What is prom with out cosmic Bowling.

Hawaii

2010-07-11T08:28:00.001-07:00

So for spring break we went to Hawaii. Harold had to travel to the states anyway to pick up an airplane. There is some pilot rule that says for every time zone you cross you need a certain amount rest time. So long story short he would have to just sit in the states for 5 days before he could fly back home. So instead of him just sitting alone we all went to Hawaii to sit with him. It was a blast. Juliana even met us there. It was so much fun. I can see why people go back to Hawaii over and over again.

The boys swimming in the ocean.

Logan building a sand castle

Ana on the beach

Miranda on the beach.

We love this place.

Caleb just chillin'

Building a sand castle.

Emma

Everyone told us we needed to drive the north shore and get some shaved ice. We looked up witch place to go and drove til we saw the line. Here we are waiting in line.

Logan with his shaved Ice.

The Dole Pineapple Plantation

I love this quote.

This is how pineapples are grow. Look at the baby one.

Pointing to home.

The Polynesian Cultural Center

Hottie in the tree. Miranda made me take this picture. She said she was in love.

Trying to start fire before the other guy.

He totally won. It was awesome. I Love that man of mine.

Harold with the Samoan fire dancer. I love how he is on his tippy toes.

Snorkeling

We went snorkeling. It was our favorite thing on the whole trip. I really want to do it again.

Harold snorkeling.

The boys after snorkeling.

Me and the girls after snorkeling

The end

Juliana took my camera and I found this little surprise picture when I go home. I Love it. Looks like that speedo is comfy. I do have to say I saw a lot of over baked people there.

Time to catch up this blog

2010-07-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I started this blog was so that I could kinda use it like a family journal. Well, like all my journals, I got behind. I really want to print it out some day so I need to catch it up so here goes......

Emma and Logan with their spoils from Australia. We all love it when Harold guilt buys.
"sorry I am never home, but here's a present." Yes we are that shallow.

I love this picture of the girls just chilling. It makes me sad that Miranda is getting so close to leaving the house. Where are my sweet sisters. I miss them.

Feeding the masses. As activities leader this is what I do. Our Branch just combined with another branch and now we are huge but we are still a branch. It's good because we used to say we were more like a twig. Sorry if you are not Mormon, I know this will make no sense.

So a couple of my friends here decided we needed to enrich ourselves and try something new. We came up with the idea of Tuesdays with More(e). After Yoga we would spend the day together doing something new. One of those days we decided to make a Souffle'

Have you ever made a souffle'? We used so many eggs. Here it is before we put it in the oven.

It really did look pretty and then this happened, still it was so good.

Jen and Amanda eating chocolate souffle'

I guess you can just get too much of a good thing.

Ohh and by the way I learned how to make the best chocolate chip cookies ever. If you want some just give me advance warning because they have to sit for at least 24 hr. before I can bake them. Totally worth it. All ingredients are weighed and not measured . It takes a good cooking scale, two types of flower and over a pound of Chocolate chips to make. So yummy.

Crazy amounts of baby blankets. The idea was to maybe sell them. Mostly I just have fun making them. Ana Do you see one you like? Tell me and it's yours.

I have been sewing blankets like crazy. One of Harold's brilliant guilt buys was a new sewing machine. Something to keep me busy while he's gone. Plus he was stuck in a little town in Alaska for a week and apparently there was an awesome quilt shop there. Thanks to the sales lady who ripped him off. If I am ever passing through I will stop and give you a hug.

Team Awesome. We love the Fabric market. It makes all things possible. Miranda needed supper hero cloth for girls camp. She actually squealed when she saw it. It was less the 3 dollars a yard and came in like every color. Man I am going to miss that place when I leave.

Life in the Land Down Under

2010-03-28T16:28:00.000-07:00

Harold had to fly a mission to Australia a few weeks ago. He actually took some pictures so here they are.

He stopped on a little island called East Timor. He said it was a sad little country with bad food. Who knows why this rooster is tied up or why the fish are in the tree?

Here is a picture just before they landed in Australia.

He was in the Perth Area in Australia. He saw all this just a short walk from his hotel.

Crazy to see pretty birds like that just flying around.

There was a golf Course behind the hotel. He said it was full of Kangaroos. Somehow I think my brothers would like a game of golf like this. They did tell Harold to keep his distance because Kangaroos can be quite aggressive.

Of course we have to have the fighting shot. Strange creators. They look kinda human throwing punches like that.

2010-03-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

Sweet 16

2010-03-28T15:46:00.000-07:00

Sweet Sixteen. Scary. I am so glad she's a good kid.

She got a new car, actually she got like 5 of them.

Happy Birthday Miranda

Snow much fun (??????)

2010-01-24T20:38:00.000-08:00

So I tried Snowboarding for the first time. I was not great to say the least. I do have to say that Miranda and Harold were very patient teachers. I feel so old now and well I am fluffy(really that just means fat but ouch I just can't say it).Harold stuck with me the whole day and watched my many falls. Then he would ski down and help me up again & again & again & again ect...... How do you get up?
Finally when I went into muscle failure(which sadly didn't take long) and Logan, bless his heart, had had enough, Harold let me rest.

Then Harold taught Emma who caught on pretty quick. She is not even sore at all. Oh to be tiny again and be made with cute little rubber bones. I on the other hand wondered if I could drive to church the next day. I never want to go back ,but he made me promise I would try it at least twice before I quit for good. Poor Harold spent the whole day helping someone else and he never even complained. After his heroic behavior how can I back out of a promise.

Everyone in the family enjoys this so I feel like I need to like it. Ahhh the pressure. Still none of them have had four bone weakening babies right. I may have to play that angle.
I do like the idea of sitting in the lodge, getting massages and eating. Only drifting out to the slopes for the occasional picture.

The camera battery died before I could get any pictures of Caleb or Harold. I guess I will have to go back.

Winter break catch up

2010-01-18T23:37:00.000-08:00

We had a great winter break. I feel like we really got into Christmas this year. Harold was supposed to be gone but one of the guys from his unit volunteer to go so he came home on the 18th and was here with us for Christmas and the new year. I think that is really put things in perspective. Christmas is not about stress. I feel like we just took it easy and it was nice. I was released from my primary calling 2 weeks before Christmas and put in as our branch activities leader. The first thing I did was cancel the Christmas party. I did have some guilt but to tell you the truth I think that it was a relief for most people. One less thing to do. Here are some pictures from the break.

This is at the Battalion Christmas party. I love how they set Santa up in this Chinook.

Here is Emma on Santa's lap. They are in the Chinook.
Here is how Santa arrived. This is the first time I've seen this.

I know it is cheesy but the kids(and grown men) thought it was pretty cool.

We had the first ever
STANLEY FAMILY CHRISTMAS EVE TALENT SHOW

Here's Harold singing with Emma And Logan. Logan and Harold also did a dance. WOW!Is all I can say about that.

Here is Miranda rocking for us on her Guitar.
Caleb and I played a Trumpet /Saxophone duet. We recorded it but there are no pictures. And You do not want to see the video.

Happy New Year!
We ring in 2010 with some great friends.

And when you walk in and find this you don't ask questions you just get the camera and take a picture.

And just when you have had enough "family time" and you are ready to send them all back to school and work. You wake up Monday morning and find this.
Two more long precious days of family bonding. Everything shut down for the worst snow storm in 40 years.

Happy Holidays!

Milk and Eggs

2009-12-06T21:43:00.000-08:00

I was just thinking how this will be our third Christmas here. At first so many things struck me as odd when we first got here. Now I am noticing that things which once were odd have become normal. Like for instance. I buy Eggs in a group of 10, not by the dozen .

And how I can only buy milk by the half gallon.

And that is doesn't expire for over a month sometimes. Yummy! It is really convenient though.(the expiration date not the half gallon thing. That is just annoying.)

I just bought this milk 2 days ago, and I am good until after the new year.

Happy Turkey Day!

2009-12-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

It all stared off with a neighbor of mine. We decided to rent the community center near our house and invite a few lonely people over for Thanksgiving. We put out an open invitation at church and had a few bites. No one want to be alone on Thanksgiving. So we end up with like 4 families that want to join us. Then a few more. Then we found out that among the families coming a few of them had also invited missionaries to come. No problem right. How about 14 sets of them. That's right we had 28 missionaries there. 28 missionaries that were soooooo excited to be eating American food.
So when it was all said and done there were over 8o people there. It was a little crowded but still worth it to see all of there happy faces and by some miracle full bellies. We had 4 turkeys 3 hams, about a hundred pound of potatoes(that was the one thing we had left over) and a lot of pies.
I am so glad that we had people to celebrate with. Harold had to fly some 3 star around that day(and he didn't even get a coin for it, cheap skate General) so we really would have been alone. It is never fun to be away from home for Holidays. I am so glad we had friends here to share this Thanksgiving with.

Harold Cooking the 25 pound turkey he didn't get to eat :(

Tonya And Karen serving it up.

Emma at the "what are you grateful for" tree.

The teen table.

Jody getting some food before it is all gone. She is my neighbor. She is moving next month :(

Look at all those happy faces. It was all worth it just for that.

Growing Pains and the Gift of Time

2009-11-10T20:58:00.000-08:00

What a crazy fall this has been. A month after we got home from the USA our family got some bad news. I should have known when everything lined up so beautifully for that family picture. My oldest sister found out that her cancer was back. She has been clear for almost ten years. Cured we all believed.
She has been feeling fine but while we were home she was finding it a little hard to breath. We really thought nothing about it. We all said "It must be Utah allergies." "You know our family, we have bad lungs, remember Grandma Jackson?" "We are all heavy breathers."
Anyway when she got back to Texas she didn't feel better so she went in to have it checked out. The news is not good. The cancer is back and it is all over. She had lots of fluid in her lungs and some big masses in there, which is what was causing the breathing issues. It is in her liver. Her bones, and joints and just pretty much everywhere.
It was a blow and we were told they would probably give her 6 months. She is only 47. It was so sad. Further test showed that this cancer was from the same strain as her original breast cancer. They thought they had got it all but I guess not. Stupid cancer it doesn't play fair. The good news is even though they can't cure it, they think, since they have done it once maybe they can get her into remission again. So now we are all hoping for the gift of time.
I really felt the need to go home and see her. So that is where I have been.
On a happier note my little sister decided to get married. So I flew in to Salt Lake City for a few days for a wedding before heading to Texas.
It was a great trip full of much growing. Some of which I would rather not do. So at the age of 35 I feel like I am having some major growing pains. Ahhh Life! What more can I say.

Juliana & Jarek with mom and dad. I am so glad that I was there.

Here's a crazy coincidence. I was in Salt Lake City the same time that Tiffany(now in Maryland) and Nicki( now in Washington state) were there. We all got together and went to lunch and then they took me to the airport. I can not think of a better time to see two great friends. The really made me feel strong. What a blessing.

TEXAS

Here we are ready to go out.

Micheal, Joydell, and Christmas.

Billy and Micheal carving a pumpkin.

Micheal and Christmas taking a nap. They are best friends.

What do you get when your mom's name is Joyce ,
and your dad's name is Gardell and your the first girl born.
You get named Joydell.
It was so good to see her again.
We had a lot of Laughs, just as many tears and made some priceless memories.I also learned to never waste a minute. Time is truly a gift, use it wisely.

The beatles come to Korea!

2009-10-02T05:37:00.000-07:00

Look what happens when you work together
$40 from Caleb
$40 from Logan
$40 from me
$20 from Miranda(cheap skate)
$ 20 from Emma
Home delivery from Harold

We have already had many hours of fun.
This is the family rocking out before bed time.

Here are the kids and some extras after school

Here is what mom does while the kids are at school. Thanks Jen and Jody(9 months prego here) for the jam session. Now I am almost good enough to play with the kids.

A day at the Aquarium.

2009-09-20T02:58:00.000-07:00

Dr. Fish again. These little fish are always hungry for more flesh.

A two headed turtle. Just seeing him is supposed to be double the luck.

I can't even explain these next pictures.
It must be a Korean thing.

???????????????????????????????????
Kind of interesting don't you think.

Happy anniversary, and first day of school.

2009-09-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

We celebrate 17 great years together! Honestly we didn't mean to match. Miranda was so embarrassed she wanted us to change before we left. We didn't. Well this was a day early because he left on our anniversary for the Philippines Again. Funny how he seems to be missing all the big "Stanley Days" this year. Still we are lucky because we get to see him in between his trips. A lot of military families don't even get that. It really works in his favor because it makes us appreciate him all the more when he's home.

The kids go back to school.

Emma and Logan in front of their bus ready to start 2 and 4.
Miranda and Caleb getting on their bus. It's taken from afar so as not to embarrass them. They start 8 and 10 this year. Ahhhhhh "Slipping through my fingers" "sunrise,Sunset"
"Bye mom, thanks for not homeschooling me."

Another great picture from this summer.

2009-09-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

So we don't look great, but I love this shot. This is life with my sisters.

Good luck getting out of this.

2009-08-17T19:13:00.000-07:00

We went to a church meeting last Saturday and I was amazed how many cars they fit into our church's parking lot. It has 3 levels of parking that are pretty good sized. When we got there we were like 10 min early and they put us in the bottom lot. I thought we were lucky to be getting the last spot. Then they probably put like 20 more cars on our level alone. It was crazy.
After the meeting, you could tell people who had spots where they could move were on the run to get their cars moved so others could move too. Most cars that are parked blocking someone in will have: A note with a number to call, or Keys left in them, or be left in Neutral so others can push them around a bit to get out. Some how I can't see this working in America. It is like this at a lot of the stores here too. I've seen people pushing another persons car so they can get out themselves. Still when you are packed in this tight all you can do is wait. This picture doesn't do it justice but look at how many cars are going nowhere.
Still it says something about the Korean people. First, they make it work. I guess this comes from having a lot of people with very little space, and second, they must be pretty tolerant and patient. I didn't see any cars get dinged or any fist fights break out. In America I think someone might have got shot.

My baby is seven!

2009-08-09T18:23:00.000-07:00

This was the night before I had you. You refused to turn head down so I had a scheduled C-section with you. I should have known then that you did things your way.

We were so happy to have a little girl in the house again. Dad bought this dress months before you were born. You were so cute when you cried.

Here you are with your siblings right after our move to Germany. Dad was gone that year. I am glad you were so good.

You were such a good sport when it came to dress-up. Your sister did this to you all the time. She still does.

I love this photo. It was taken minutes after your dad came home from Iraq. The other kids ran to him with open arms, but to you he was a complete stranger.
I love how you need convincing and how he was so willing to convince. Now your great pals.

Ahhhhhh! Chicken Pox. You were my only kid to get this. Anyone who doesn't immunize for this is mean. Go get the shot!
It was so sad for you, and for me. Poor girl.

Classic."Look a little sink" You brushing your teeth at the bidet. I corrected you after I got the picture.

Another cute crying picture.

Here's another cute crying picture.

This is what you ordered.

Here you are having fun with dad.

Pure Joy!

Happy Birthday Emma. You sweet, sensitive, lovely girl.

Tickets Home: $4000 / Getting this shot: Priceless!

2009-08-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

So we flew home this summer and it was a blast. It has been along time since we have all been together, so shots like these are rare. In fact it wasn't even supposed to happen.

Last summer everyone was there but me. I have a sister in Texas and one in Virginia,and a brother in Wyoming. This summer we were all there except for my sister who lives in Virgina, her husband is in the Marines. Two days before our return home to Korea, my brother in-laws sister died and they were rushed home. She was only 34 and it was quite a blow to the family. We are all so sad for them but what a great blessing for us. Just two days later and we would have missed them.
We were all(everyone, Spouses, Kids,siblings. 41 people all there) able to get together for the first time since 1997. And since the oldest grand child will be gone by the next time we all get together this was just a really special, really short, reunion for us all. Priceless! I am so grateful for this picture.
It took a trip home from Korea, a baby born early, and a death to get us all together. Life is hard, it is also beautiful.

Schools out for summer(sing it like the song)

2009-06-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

I swear I can't get my feet under me. With the kids home I never even get time on the computer so my blogging is so sad right now.
The good news is, we are going to the states in just 5 days I can't wait.

Summers in a military lifestyle(or some other move every two or three year job) are hard. It is really making me sad to say goodbye to so many great people and know that I will probably never see them again(unless you count heaven). I don't know what to say about it but, it just sucks. Goodbye all you fun people. I will miss you.
Last week some of the ladies went out to say good bye to Tiffany. We ate out and then went to a karaoke bar. They are big here. It was quite the experience.

This was really good. They cook the chicken right there in front of you and then you eat part of it and then they come and turn the rest into a tasty rice stir fry. It was good.

So they put you in this little room and you pay by the hour to sing your heart out. It was fun and they actually have a pretty good selection.

Here's Jody keeping it real. Check out the face on the screen. She is so tortured.

Here's Tiffany giving it her all. She always does.

Here is a cool shot of the street we were on. Feels like Korea.

Little Lo turns 9

2009-05-11T05:11:00.000-07:00

I can't believe he is nine.
Do you think I can still call him Little Lo?

What can you say about Logan, but that he is one of a kind.

He weighed in as the runt of our family at 7 lbs. 2oz.

But pretty soon he was busting at the seams. He had the cutest little screw on hand you have ever seen.

He was so bad. He put every thing in the toilet. Then he would give you that look. "What."
"what"
I had just got him out of the tub. Got him all dry, put on a new diaper and nice comfy sleepers, and I turn my back for one second. "what."
Or I would find him sitting on the counter eating what ever he could find. How did he get up there?
Logan in Holland with a goat. He was so excited. He always is.

On a beach in Italy "What."

Jumping off the diving board Logan style.

Logan Playing Guitar Hero. He said the strap hurt his neck. Does he quit?No he comes up with this.
Crazy Little Lo.

He makes me crazy.
He makes me tired.
He makes me smile.

Finally we get a break, only not the kind we needed!

2009-05-10T06:08:00.000-07:00

On Thursday Caleb was playing football with the guys from church and came down wrong on his foot. He has a small fracture on a bone in his foot. It should heal pretty quickly but, as of now it looks pretty nasty and painful.
This was my second trip to the ER this week.(why is Harold always gone when this stuff happens? or why is he always gone.....) The first was when Logan cut the top of his pinky finger pretty good. All I heard was "Logan that is a lot of blood."and I flew in to action. They didn't give him stitches, they just sent us home with the strips. For some reason that took 3 hours. What a waste of time. I should have just super glued it. I hate trying to make the call to take them in or not. I asked a neighbor and they looked at me like I was mean."yeah, they are going to stitch that" So I took him in.
Anyway on the way home I was thinking how lucky we have been. We had, had no stitches or breaks(til Caleb). Anyway we have been lucky.
All in all this has been a "wonderful" week. I had two trips to the ER, two lost wallets(which yea!! were returned by the MP's. I love honest people.),and a few other petty problems that have got me down. Still we made it through!!! And there's good news,Harold should be coming home this week.

I officially have two teenage kids. Heaven help me.

2009-04-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Caleb. I can't believe he is only three years away from driving. Why do we let them drive so soon. Will he really be ready by then? Will I be ready?

Here you are in the beginning. 7 lbs. 10 oz. most of that weight was from your cheeks.

You and your big sister became fast friends.

Two months after you were born we headed north to Alaska. Dad was in some crazy unit up there where he did skiing and rock climbing (and he got paid for it). This was the hat he wore

Here you are with your favorite blanket. Remember(I know you do)when we left it in a hotel on the way to Utah from Germany. You were so sad, there may have even been tears.I don't blame you even if you were 10 at the time. That blanket had seen more then most people do in there entire lives at that point. Needless to say it was well traveled and deeply loved. I'm sure the poor house keeper who found it threw it quickly away. It looked like a dirty rag by then.

Alaska tough! Burrrrr

Here you are at 4 in a tire swing at Powell park. We only spent three short years in Utah but you made strong bonds with your cousins that last even still.

Off to Alabama. You and Logan were quite the team there. Exhausting! How did you ever make it to be this age. Most mothers would have maimed you. Lucky for you I was to tired to do any damage.

See what I mean. Look at the smile! Ahhh!!!!

Here you are again in Dad's hat. This was minutes after he returned to us from Iraq. Out of all of us, you took this deployment the hardest. You really are quite sweet. That was a great reunion.

And now here you are all grown up.

Spring break in China

2009-04-12T06:07:00.000-07:00

We just got back from china. It was a great vacation. We went to Beijing and Xian. It was a great spring break. Here are some pictures of our trip.

Chinese Acrobats. These people were amazing. I can see why their gymnastics team kicks butt. They are built so compact. Although they do seem so be a little more curvy then the Koreans.

Emma skipping on the wall. The tour guide gave us a choice between an easier climb and a steep climb but better view. She said if we had little kids we should stay on the easier climb. We went the hard way and the kids did far better then the adults. It was so steep and allot of work but it was really cool.

Now whats for dinner.

This is me with our Korean tour guide. This was our last dinner it is called hot pot. Everyone gets their own hot pot(even the kids it was a little scary) The pot has water in it and then they come and light the flame under it and you just start adding what ever ingredients that you want. It was crazy. It is really hot plus you get on set of chop sticks to add the raw meat with and then to also eat with. This would never work in America. Still it was O.K. and a great experience.

One night was all dumplings. it was cool because they all had a different shape. Emma is holding a pig. We had duck, fish , shark fin,walnut, and a few other ones.

Here is the fish one.
One night we stopped for street food. nasty but a fun opportunity.

Harold and Logan ate a whole scorpion(they fry them first) Caleb tried the tail and I ate a cricket leg. That was all I could get down. Miranda's friend ate 2 whole crickets (or are those grass hoppers?).

We took a flight to see the Terracotta soldiers. It was pretty cool. That emperor was crazy. I wonder how he got them to do all that for him.

remember these from the Olympics? They are huge.

Speaking of the Olympics here is a shot of The birds Nest

From our tour guide we learned that in china you have to retire at 55 so at the parks we saw a lot of retired people. The were playing insturments, singing, dancing, doing Tai Chi, playing games. It looked like fun, they were very friendly. I just wish they would have paid us a dollar for every picture they took with Emma. One lady kept saying "good luck to take picture with her" Emma did pretty good but was really getting tired of it by the end.

One of the funniest thing that i learned there was the concept of split pants and squatty potties. It was really hard to use those. Koreans have them too but they seem to be more modernized here so there are almost always normal ones also. I really hated them but I guess if you get used to them maybe they are not so bad.

Now as for split pants. When a baby turns one they are out of diapers and in to split pants. It was so cute to see all those little cheeks. I guess it just makes the process quicker. I tried several time to get a good shot but was to slow. Plus I didn't know if it was rude or not.

here she is from the front

there's a shot from the back. Darn 12 was in the way. It just made me think of how we all take a different approach to life's little adventures.

Is that what I think it is?

2009-03-25T05:27:00.000-07:00

I know I should be afraid of getting nuked but really this is my biggest fear in Korea. I don't worry that my purse will get taken or that my kids will get kidnapped. I worry that I, or my kids, will get ran over(My past experiences have proven this to be a legit fear). I also worry that I will run over someone else.(Now it is Harold's turn to fear the past.)
Pedestrians and drivers are crazy here. It really is stressful to be on the roads here. When I saw this on the street near my house it confirmed my fears. I know at least three people who have seen people get hit here so it doesn't surprise me but it does scare me.

Army Brat Psychology

2009-03-15T05:18:00.000-07:00

Are my kids going to come out of this life style O.K, or are they scarred for life? This is the question I have been asking myself lately. Harold has been gone a lot these last few months, but considering the fact that he is not in Iraq or Afghanistan right now on a 15 month deployment I think we are pretty lucky. He has just been doing the go for two weeks come home for two weeks, go for a week , come home for 5 days go for two more weeks, spend three weeks at home go....... Well you get the picture. So I am thinking that we are getting pretty used to this crazy randomness and all is going O.K. under the circumstances. Until this week.
He is on a two week go away deal when he gets the chance(a week into it) to come home for roughly 24 hours. Is it worth it? For me, heck yea! You take what you can get right. So he comes home for a day and we fill it full. But when he goes to leave my kids lose it. Mostly from the bottom up, but still they all are not cool with it. Like they don't get that we have been given a gift of 24 hours.
So I wonder, would it have been better for them to not have had him come home at all? I have heard that people say the same thing about R&R, it's good for the wife, but bad for the kids.It was like it broke their tender little hearts all over again to have him leave. Even though it is only for like 5 more days. I don't get it. They should be used to it by now. See why I need a therapist. I don't know how to parent kids this way. "Sorry your daddy is gone but if he doesn't get killed he will be home in 6 months to a year". What? Really this is hard. My dad left for the occasional hunting trip but other then that he was home. So I don't know personally how it feels.
Anyone who grew up military, and is not nuts I would love to hear from you. Other mothers of army brats, do you have the answers? I would love to hear them. I have to say that I am finding this very therapeutic to vent right now. Wah wah wah!
I know there is a great deal of good that comes from this life style. Oh, the things my kids have done, the places they have seen, the truly once in a life time opportunities they have had.(Growing-up I barley saw the surrounding states. We are talking exciting places like Wyoming, Arizona.) I do see the good in it but will it, in the long run out weigh the bad? That is my concern.

Happy 15 for Miranda

2009-03-09T04:58:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby is 15.
I can't believe they even let us leave the hospital with her 15 years ago. He looks like he is in Jr High school.

What a poor little guinea pig she was for us as first time parents. All the bumps along the way seem to have made her strong.

Over the years she has grown.

In a few short years she went from this to this.

She is pretty amazing. And such a big help. Too bad for us she's counting down the days until she gets to leave the nest. Look out world, she is one year closer.

A Suspicious looking device.

2009-03-04T03:23:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was quite the day. I had just put the kids on the bus and was on my walk to the gym. This man stops me and says "mam don't go down there there is a suspicious looking device on the street right there." I couldn't really see much but he had an MP there so it was getting worked out. I take a five minute walk out of my way to the gym. Even a bomb is no reason to not hit the gym.

So I go to the gym and hurry through my workout because after all I am pretty curious.

So when I leave the gym I can see more police officers and a few curious onlookers. So I go back to my house where I can actually get a pretty good view. So I'm looking from this little window in my apartment at the device, and it indeed looks like a bomb! So wanting a closer look my friend and I get a pair of binoculars and a camera.

Go a head and click on it. get a better view, it's a fricken bomb
Holy Crap!!!!!!! That's a bomb!!!!! And here I am taking pictures from a hidden location. All for you my fellow bloggers. By this point there are several more police, several more spectators, and a bomb dog. He circles the device and sits down.

At this point I decide I have got to tell my husband this. After all its not everyday that you have a bomb threat in your parking lot. So i get my husband on the phone and he tries to blow me off. But before he can hang up i say "OK but there's a bomb in the parking lot", he says "what does it look like". I say " A bomb, dynamite strapped together with a cord coming out of it", he says " Oh No!, does it say exercise, exercise, exercise on it, I think its mine."
I don't even have time to ask why he has a fake bomb and why its now laying in the middle of the parking lot surrounded by police, bomb dog, and a growing number of spectators. Because he says "RUN!!, give the phone to the nearest MP", I try to talk him out of it but he insists. So here I go running out through the spectators (aka neighbors, and close friends) and to the nearest MP. The MP tries to stop me but I say "I think I know what that is and here's my husband on the phone". He calls the other MP's over and the detective who has now arrived and they all speak to my husband, while I stand there with everyone looking at me. They then go pick the bomb up pass it around and put it in the detectives car, and give me back my phone. They then inform me that I have to go to the police station and make a statement about the events, all the time worrying that my husband was going to jail for planting a fake bomb on a military installation. I'm not sure but I think this is a pretty big deal.

Before I left the station the MP tells me "good thing you came out when you did. We were getting ready to evacuate all the buildings." Can you imagine what a big(o.k. bigger deal) that would have been.

So far he hasn't been arrested but they have given him a new name at work " The Hannam Bomber"(Hannam is the name of the housing development where we are currently living) Good thing I love the man. This is even worse than when he totaled the Humvee.
So anyone who can top that for embarrassing I would love to hear it.

All of this comes after my ill fated talk at district conference just Saturday. My debut as the new district primary president(First and last probably). To sum it up. I show up 10 min after the meeting has started(It took me 50 minutes to go 10 miles, the roads were so bad). I can see a look of relief cross over the faces of the members of the district presidency. The speaker right before me is wrapping it up and I am frazzled and nervous. She finishes so I walk to the stand from the congregation. It is so embarrassing to me. I get like two minutes in to my talk and my cell Phone goes off. You all know how well I hear so you can imagine just how loud it was. Thankfully I left it by Harold and he hurried out of the chapel with it. I did however pause and mumble the words" unbelievable" before beginning my talk again. It wasn't until after the meeting that I realized that people thought I was cursing at whoever phone that was, not knowing it was mine. I would rather they know it was mine then to think I am just mean.
So this week I hope we have met our quota for embarrassing moments for the decade at least. It can't get any worse right?

Our year so far

2009-02-16T04:07:00.000-08:00

Miranda blew it! Seriously that is a big bubble. She has so much talent. Plus she cut her hair. And got some A's on exams. I can't complain.

Emma Goes the extra mile. I helped her with her homework and then had to leave. The assignment was to write three sentences about a book we had read. I came home and she had done a few more then that. She said she could get extra credit. In first grade! Does she need meds?

Also that same day she decided to mark her scriptures. What! I need to remember what I fed her that day and feed it to her everyday.

Logan goes for the Gold!We survived another Derby. Poor little Lo had less then impressive results but hey he was smiling when we left so, it's all good. We discovered after the race that his car was much faster with one wheel missing(it "just fell off" after he drove it off the table a few times) and backwards. So after the offical race, when they were all just messing around, he had a moment to shine. The gold one is his.

Sweet Music for Caleb Caleb got moved into advanced Band. He is not a real fan of school so band has been great for him. Since he no longer gets recess, band is his favorite thing about school. He really seems to enjoy his Sax so any news here is good news.

As for me!

2009-02-16T03:00:00.000-08:00

I made my first visit to Deagu to visit there primary there. What were they thinking making me the District Primary President. Are they that desperate? On the way home we got lost for like two hours(all in all we spent 8 hours in the car yesterday. It was O.K. because check out the view from my hotel room when we did finally get there. Priceless!!!!!!!!! That wall was like a foot away.

I also made a blanket and almost burned my house down I really don't even know how that towel caught on fire. I just walked in and found it in flames on the counter. Scary!

So all in all a pretty good month for the Stanley's.

This year is taking forever!

2009-01-24T03:14:00.000-08:00

I was feeling so motivated at the first of the year but I am already losing steam. I feel like this month has lasted forever. We are back to the same old thing. Home work ,exercise, meetings, appointments, house cleaning, Ect........ What did I expect? I expected a whole new life. Well I guess i will give it some time.
My skills are coming along nicely. My weight not so nice, but hey i am not fatter. That's good right. I think that i an about to get a spiritual jump start, I am hooked to the cables just waiting for some one to turn the key. As for being a better person I guess there have been no great movements. I may need to put a little more effort in to these goals. I guess i could just read
The Secret again. (really I don't think I could make it through that book again)

On the plus side, American Ideal is on again. I love seeing the auditions. Ther are so many delusional people out there. As parents should we tell our kids they sing like crap or... let them try out for American Ideal and let Simon tell them? What makes you a worse or better parent really. I don't need to know this because all my kids sing so beautiflully. I tell them so too. And if American Ideal ever comes to Korea. I will incourage them to go for it.

Are things this bad?

2009-01-11T01:44:00.000-08:00

Poor Santa. I saw this when I walked out of my apartment last week. It made me laugh so hard. Santa hitching a ride. Like even Santa is feeling the pinch. Tough times.
As for us, we still get a pay check and for that I am truly grateful. Investments don't look good right now, but hey, we got time. So all in all we are doing fine.
I do feel sorry for anyone who has lost their job or maybe wanted to cash out their retirement soon. What a raw deal to work so hard and just have it all taken right at the end. It sucks! I hope it will all get better soon.

It is 2009. Where are the robots?

2009-01-01T16:09:00.000-08:00

It is 2009. I thought if we were supposed to be getting around in flying cars by now, and have robots doing all our work. What happened? I could really use a good robot. I really hope that I can remember to sign stuff 2009. I really don't put the date on many things as a house wife. I mean when we used to write checks I did.(does any one still use checks?) Remember when everyone wrote checks, now if I get behind someone in the store who is writing a check I switch to another checkout stand. It just seems like it takes forever. There aren't many people who do. Mostly just old people, paranoid people(ATM cards are not safe!), and people who are writing a hot check, hoping there will be money in their account when the check finally gets to the bank(which, watch out now days, it is pretty fast). Man I got off the subject, and also I apologies to anyone who fits in any of the above mentioned categories. Really. Here are my goals for the New year:
(1)So I am going to try to really be a better person this year. Get rid of some of my nasty habits, physically, mentally, and socially. Out with the old, in with the new. I really hope being a better person includes being like 20 pounds thinner by next January.
(2) I need to work on my skills. Yea, I got skills. You know like some of those talents I've have been hiding under a bushel. They are coming out this year.
(3) Another area in which I need to improve, the spiritual area.(Harold, stop clapping). Really, I am going to kick it up a notch. I have to, I need the blessings. I am so greedy.
I know those of you who know me probably would like to make requests about some much needed improvements but I am just going to start with these. If you know anyway to make these goals come true(with as little effort on my part as possible)please, let me know. Now that I have written it down. I have to do it.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-26T05:46:00.000-08:00

So christmas is over. I am really enjoying having all the family home. we are pretty much just lying around. It is great. Harold got me Momma Mia, Into the woods and The five pennies(you know with Danny Kaye). All of them are great movies. I just have to fight for the t.v. My kids think they are all super lame movies.
I think all in all the kids are happy with what they got. Logan is my new favorite child because he asked Santa for tomatoes. He totally got them. I love it when they make my job easy.

The Christmas Toy shop!

2008-12-12T01:06:00.000-08:00

The cast.
After the play.
Miranda and 3 other girls from the branch.
During the play.
Hold that pose.

Miranda is in a community play right now. I went last night. Here are some pictures of her. Someday I really want to be in a play. It looks like fun. In my younger years I always wanted to be in 7 brides for 7 brothers. Not now, I would just be one of the fat moms in it and not even get a cute dress. Not fun. So I guess I will have to find a new play.

Besides the gas masks in the closet, life here is pretty much the same.

2008-12-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking that life doesn't change much no matter where I live. Even here in South Korea it is business as usual. We have been here a year and I feel like we are finally back on track again. So this is my life in a nutshell, no matter where i live.
My kids keep me busy.
My church callings keep me stressed and fulfilled .
My house is always a mess.
My Husband is always gone( I am being dramatic). Harold, I hope you are enjoying the weather there. It snowed here today!
and..
the best part, I always find friends to party with.
Y.M.C.A.

Lets Party!

Tiffany, Darsha, And Jody way past bed time. Jody you look pretty awake. (I think she is a vampire and therefore needs no sleep.)

Aint she sweet

2008-11-25T15:15:00.000-08:00

When my family was here I went out with my sisters and mom. I left the kids with my dad and Harold. Which is to say I left them pretty much on their own. When I came home Emma greeted me with"Come she what I did." .
I swear she did this all by herself.(I am pretty sure she learned it all from her big sister, at least the video part the rest, Hummm, I am not sure who taught her that.) Anyway Ana, here it is.

Family comes to visit.

2008-11-21T05:32:00.000-08:00

these are silk worm larva.
Yes, You eat them.(Never again!) Juliana eating silk worm Larva
Shopping And seeing the sights.
Anna and Gwenna with the palace guards.
Mom And Dad great a pre-school class. (We don't even get that dressed up for church)
At a Korean Folk Village.
Grandma with Logan And Emma.

So Two of my sisters(Juliana & Gwenna) and my parents came to Korea for a visit. It was a surprise to me when my parents decided to come. When I left the U.S. my mom told me to go see Korea for her because she didn't think they(mom &Dad) would ever make it over. They came! My Dad 75 and my mom 71 got on a plane and came to Korea. It was a great experience for all of us. Here are some of the highlights.

Sew Much Fun!

2008-11-05T02:31:00.000-08:00

How they get the material in the building
Need some thread?

Maybe like a million zippers
It just goes on and on and on.......................

I am ten minutes away from the fabric market here. There is a 5 story building there full of everything you need for sewing plus more. And the prices are great! I get so distracted every time I go I really am not sure what all is there. I find something new every time. My heart is racing just thinking about it.
Here is the down side. I can't understand a word they say. I wish I had the gift of tongues(for purely selfish reasons). So when I go,there is a lot of hand gestures and them holding up calculators with the prices typed out for me.(I feel like such a "stupid american") I am too scared to go alone so I drag Amber along. My awesome, smart, fun, adventurous, beautiful(I hope she reads this) friend who can communicate pretty well with the locals. She even pretends to be happy even though she doesn't sew and it is probably wasted time for her. What a great friend. I need to pay her more.

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-02T21:53:00.000-08:00

We made it through another Halloween. Randa was a hippy, Caleb a Mummy, Logan a Jedi knight( note the hair he was very proud.), and Emma was an Egyptian Princess.

Are they slowly cooking us?

2008-10-22T17:25:00.001-07:00

So the other day I filled up the van and it came up to 50$ and I thought"only 50$ " What the heck A few years ago i would have sat down and cried. So I was thinking about that story you hear about the frog in the pot. You know the one. Something about slowly cooking the frog without it being aware. In a few years will we even blink at a 90 $ tank of gas. Or maybe will run on corn by then.

Be proud of your burnt toast!

2008-10-18T03:43:00.000-07:00

That is what I got from the relief society Broadcast this year. It was a great eye opener for me. We are too tough on ourselves. Sure there is room for improvement but we women need to chill. I loved the broadcast and the company I went with. Thanks for a fun day.(yes, in Korea it took us all day, most of that day in the car. The time went pretty fast because we were solving all the worlds problems) So my sisters,next time you serve up slop for dinner, be proud. It is good enough.

Homecoming

2008-10-12T18:13:00.001-07:00

Brief Miranda update~ I went to homecoming on Saturday and had a ball!! My dress, in my opinion, was absolutly gorgeous!!!! I have some pictures on my other blog if you want to go look. There are also pictures of Gender Bender day... an awesome day at school were everybody dressed up as the opposite gender...the boys did a whole lot better job then the girls it was really funny :D

Miranda
p.s. mom wants me to clear up that those boys in the back are NOT our dates, they just brought all of us flowers they are like our bros!!

Improper use of chopsticks!

2008-10-09T21:00:00.001-07:00

So this is how my kids use chopsticks. Does this mean we watch to much Harry Potter? Or is it just common sense that a chopstick looks more like a wand the an eating utensil? I don't know.
I m also sad to say that I heard them shouting at least two of the unforgivable curses. Is nothing sacred? Man I love these kids but if I got a letter from Hogwarts tomorrow I would pack their trunks and put them on a train.

Happy Birthday Harold Dewain Stanley Jr.

2008-09-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

So guess who turns 36 today.
The man with 4 first names.
Happy Birthday Harold! Thanks for coloring our lives.
If anyone was wondering, Yes we know how lucky we are to have him as a friend,father,and husband.

How are you enriched?

2008-09-25T02:39:00.001-07:00

So I was thinking this week of all the enrichment activities our little branch has. I do knitting(badly we are making a dish cloth, mine looks like a Rabbi's hat), Book club, and a Scripture Study Class(out of the preach my gospel manual). I took a class on digital scrap booking, and we have also had a few lunch get togethers.
So it made me wonder what you are all doing? Anyone feeling super enriched. What are your favorite activities?
I think we need classes like ..."Oh no, my home teachers are coming where do I hide my mess". or "How to say no classes"(is that just me?) or "surviving sacrament meeting with kids, with your pride( the righteous kind) still intact". Man those little suckers are humbling. Is the secret cough syrup? I swear if it is I am going to try it. or" How to turn a bag of tatter tots into a dinner everyone will love". or " Dump the guilt" classes, or "How to feel sexy in sweatpants"the list goes on and on.
What do you all do?

Blond hair in korea.

2008-09-21T05:16:00.001-07:00

Emma did some modeling a few weeks back. They Just approach you and say"can she model for us" They just like the hair. Sad because korean kids are so cute. We met them on post and the took us to the studio and took her picture for three hours. Gave us a 150$ and then it was over. Just type in minicamp.net. Find the one you can't read that is in Korean. You should see her pic on the top. More flashy ones below. It was kinda fun.

Dr. Fish

2008-09-17T16:27:00.000-07:00

So on labor day we went to a water park. It was fun because it was pretty empty since it was an American holiday not Korean. The coolest part was the Dr. Fish. You pay like 3 $ And then you can put your feet in the pool. The fish eat your dead skin. It was really quite strange. More intense then I expected. If you ever get the chance try it. Although don't pay for your kids. Emma wouldn't even put her feet in and I think she is still having nightmares from seeing us do it.

My friends around the World!!!!

2008-09-14T19:15:00.001-07:00

Hey all we certainly found a lot of people surfing the net we haven't heard from in awhile, but not all of you have contact info for us to respond to. Please if you don't have a blog leave an email so we can stay in touch. Love you all and hope we see even more people around the Stanley Portkey.

Love Darsha

What the crap is that?

2008-09-12T00:41:00.000-07:00

Jodi, You win!!(I'll get your prize to you soon) They are piggy banks. Atleast I think they are. Sorry for the photos quality they were taken by a 12 year old. I was the one driving. We were laughing so hard and just glad to have a camera.

You might be in Korea if you see this on your way to work...............

2008-09-11T02:28:00.001-07:00

I really wonder what the fatality rate is here for motorcycle drivers. How is that safe? I am amazed how much they can pack on a motorcycle.

Stanley's at mt. Sorak

2008-09-09T06:04:00.000-07:00

We had the opportunity to go on a Marriage retreat last week(yes, we had to take the kids) with Harold's unit. We had a nice couple of days in a nice hotel right near Mt. Sorak. They feed us some interesting food and we saw some sites. It was all paid for. All we had to do is sit through a 3 hour class taught by the unit chaplain. It was a little painful I'll admit, but still worth the reward.
We had a lot of fun. It was great to see some of Korea. Plus now our marriage is saved!

Darsha and kids in front of Street Vendor
Logan deep in mediation at the Buddhist temple.
Miranda and Emma(who is missing 3 front teeth) on top of Mt.Sorak

Harold and Caleb at the Buddhist Temple Its Ginormous!!!! Ahhhhhh Buddha.

Holy Crap, People read my blog!!

2008-09-09T05:18:00.000-07:00

So I have no idea what I am doing with this blog. As you can tell. I can't even get pictures on(some thing wrong with my computer not me). I guess I better kick it up a notch. You are all expert bloggers. I miss you all.

Nurture Or Nature

2008-07-30T02:50:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about this allot lately. I have four kids and I feel like i have raised them all the same but they are all so different. For instance the other day i was trying to figure out a way to break some bad news to the kids. Harold was going to stay for 2 extra weeks in the Philippians. I took the opportunity when we were all in the car I tried to sound up beat as I spilled the news.

What I got in return were 4 very different reactions to the same news. Miranda just got quiet, dealing with the sad news by herself. Caleb was instantly mad."dad needs to quit this job. He needs to just come home." Logan says cheerfully "It's O.K., it just gives us longer to get his welcome home poster done. Emma sits back and cries. Softly at first and then louder if we don't seem to hear. She needs us to feel her pain.

I know they are all sad about this news and all show it in there own way. I just struck me how different they all are. Some personality traits we learn, but i know some we must just be born with.

Miranda

2008-07-15T05:37:00.000-07:00

Hi!! I'm Miranda... the oldest Stanley child. I'm the rebelious teen:D...JK well partially... im not that rebelious, but I am a teen!!

To give a short intro on me... I'm a little.... well loud, but my family has learn to live with it!!

My mom really wanted me to post on here so I'm obeying her wishes!! This blog is kinda cool cause it documents were we've been and what we've done. I've been lucky enough to be part of this military family... I've seen things that some people haven't seen in their whole lives and I feel really lucky for it :D... although to my parents some times I may complain!!

I think that my favorite place to live so far would be Germany. We travled sooo much there it was amazing!

Blog u later!!

From the Phillipines

2008-07-13T04:16:00.000-07:00

Well all I am currently in the Phillipines, trying to fly as much as i can and waiting to head back to the family in Korea. Its really nice here everyone speaks english and they are really friendly. The only down side is the poverty, i was talking to a Filipino gentlemen today and he said their country had the worst economy in Asia, and I believe it. I live in the posh hotel and drive through some of the worst slums i've ever seen. I'll include a couple pictures of everything at the end. I've gotten to visit the Temple and its beautiful surrounded by the city clutter its very serene, i know they all are but its still wonderfull. What else I'm flying a BE20 a twin engine turbo prop for the army we do deliveries of personnel and supplies and help with relief throughout the island. Its good but I sure do miss the Fam.

Here's missin everyone

Harold

A Warped perspective

2008-07-13T04:10:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago i was taking Emma and Logan to summer school. They were fighting in the back of the car. So I said "look around and see Korea. You have cousins and people who would be happy to be here and just be excited to see a far off country, and you guys just take it for granted." They Quited down and I got to thinking. To Emma and Logan America would look just as foreign as Korea does. Emma is not quite six and she has only spent two years in the states. What a different life they have from me. I was 20 before I ever got on a plane, 22 when I saw the ocean for the first time. I never would have expected to raise kids as traveled as mine. Darsha

2008-07-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

We are the Stanley's I was thinking this would be a good way to track our family and our many adventures. I met my hubby in high school and feel madly in love. We have been married now for almost 16 years.

In those fifteen plus years we have had 4 great children. Miranda who is now 14, Caleb 12, Logan 8, and Emma who is a month away from 6.

Most of our marriage has been spent in the military. Harold did national guard for a little bit and switched quickly to active duty. He started out as a field medic and we were on our way to Fort Hood Texas. We spent 3 years there. Those were tough times. We were so poor. Miranda and Caleb were born there.

When Caleb was 2 months old we moved to Fort Greely Alaska. It was a great experience for us. we were in the middle of no where. It was very cold and the winters were long. all of the hard was worth it for the beauty and the Summers. we had 22 hours of sun a day(of course the flip side was 3 hours of sun a day in the winter, Not fun) It was great. I really think you need less sleep with this much sun. we saw some great things and had a blast there. We were there for two years.

It was at this point in our lives that Harold decided he was in it for the long haul(retirement) He also was worried that if he stayed enlisted we would not have enough money to live on when we retired so he applied for ROTC green to gold. In a few short months we were on our way to the University of Utah. Home!!!!!!!! We were there for three years while he got his degree and then we were back in as commissioned officers. The time we spent in Utah was so dear to me. It was the only time since we were married that we were so close to family. I feel like the kids got to know there cousins(the powell boys) It was so good for them. I hope that they bonded well enough then that they can always be friends. So far it is good. It was great for me to live around most of my broths and sisters again. I still miss it. Family is great. Also after a four year break between children and a heartbreaking miscarriage Logan was born there. what a blessing.

So after three years in Utah Harold was branched Aviation and we were on our way to fort Rucker Alabama. There he learned how to fly Black Hawks. Pretty cool for him. Alabama was good. we learned allot there and welcomed our last child Emma. We were only there for 18 months.

After Alabama we were sent to Germany. Harold was stationed at Giebelstadt air field. He went over in February to get us a house. He was there for six weeks when we were finally able to come over. We had just two weeks together and on May third he was sent to Iraq. I don't even know what to say about that time in my life. just the memory brings me to tears. I was not ready to have him go. Now I was in a new country with 3 kids and a baby. It was so scary and depressing. Thank goodness for the church and fast made friends. I wouldn't have made it. Also Gwenna and Joydell saved me. they came and got me through the Holidays. Thanks giving with Joydell and Christmas with Gwenna. Wow what a blessing. Gwenna came in the summer also. I know a far as a trip to Germany went it was probably not fun for them but for me it was a life saver.

He came home in February. After 9 months straight in Iraq. It was so good to see him. In a year we had only those two stressful weeks in Germany together. What a happy home coming that was. It was seriously one of the best days in my life. It ranks up there with the births of my kids. It was great.

We were able to travel there a lot we saw some cool places. we were there for three years.

From Germany we went to Fort Huachuca Arizona. Harold did his captains course here. We were only there for 18 months. while we were there Harold got a fixed wing slot and went to Ft. Rucker to learn how to fly airplanes. He learned how to fly the c-12. It is used for reconnaissance mission and also VIP missions. It is a dream he has always had so it was a great opportunity for him.

Ft, Huachucha was a great place for us. It felt like a long needed break from crazy army life. we were close enough to home to go visit for Christmas. It was our first Christmas home in years. It was great. He did have to go to Ft. Rucker for three months to learn how to fly while we were there. But other then that is was a restful place for us.

Next we moved to Seoul Korea. Which is where we are now. Harold is in a VIP unit. It was been a hard adjustment here but we are getting used to it. we are trying to stay for 4 years. We are trying to keep the family together. they don't usually go to Iraq from here so it is good. He is currently deployed to the Philippines right now. It is not so bad though. He only has to go for three weeks at a time so I can't complain.(still it feel like forever sometimes) I am not quite sure what he does there. Maybe I don't really want to know. All I know is he doesn't take any military clothes with him and he comes home with lots of flight time. As long as he keeps coming home. I don't care what he does.

I wanted to give a brief history of our Family. I will write as regularly as possible and get some pictures up too. Darsha