Photo shot

We all got together this morning to get some pictures taken...

on our way

we are on our way to see ya!!! YAY!
:)

it's a BOY!

It is a boy. Took forever to get here. Not sure of his name but we can call him "Snail" or "Tortise" hehe All are healthy and doing well. Poor Glenda didn't get to eat for I'm guessing almost 24 hours.
He was 8lbs 6oz and 21 1/2 inches long. and to quote Matt "light blondishreddishstrawberryblondekindof hair" well it went something like that

apparently he is cute ;) of COURSE!!!!

Can't wait to see him. and everyone else! woo 17 days til Christmas in Greenwood!

<3
stacie

Katy's Turn :)

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.
She will not feel the confusion and devastation that I endured

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What's there?
A desk

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
A lot like love

4. Without looking, guess what time it is:
5 ish,

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
4:59

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
My prof.

7. When did you last step outside?
2 hours ago

8 Before you started this survey, what did you look at.
notes for class

9. What are you wearing?
comfy pants and a hoody

10. Did you dream last night?
lol it was a weird dream about elephants

11. When did you last laugh?
A while ago

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
chalk boards

13. Seen anything weird lately?
Not really

14. What do you think of this quiz?
I am ready for it to be over

15. What is the last film you saw?
A lot like love

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
A college education for myself, my brothers, Matt, and Aiden - A house, and a new Saturn

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know:
I really hate the Winter time

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do? I would give ALL violent and child rapists the death penalty and probably hit people a lot more

19. Do you like to dance?
Sometimes

20. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Elizabeth

21 Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Well it was gonna be Aiden and that obviously is not going to work.... so I really like some other names

22. Would you ever consider living abroad? Yes!

23. What do you want to say to God when you reach the pearly gates?
I will let you know if that happens...

Tamara's answers to the questions.

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4. It was the check book and you don't want to know.
2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What's there? Shew just space...glad it was not the right.. Gotta fix that side before Thanksgiving.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV? the news

4. Without looking, guess what time it is: 1:50 ish am. My spiritual advisor woke me up and got me to thinking. Now its almost time to go to work.

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time? 2:02 am

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?I think it is Zack's TV.

7. When did you last step outside? 6 hours ago

8 Before you started this survey, what did you look at.facebook

9. What are you wearing? a fleece robe, way to sexy...LOL

10. Did you dream last night?yes, and we are not discussing it.

11. When did you last laugh? Feeling stupid for something I said.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in? Some pottery, a couple plates and an old bowl of Del's moms.

13. Seen anything weird lately? Just kids growing up

14. What do you think of this quiz? Feel like I am telling you stuff you know.

15. What is the last film you saw? Don't mess with Kohan..... ???? Someone......really stupid movie Del rented.

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy? Where to start?

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know: I really really love you guys!

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do? Nick has this shirt....coexist....can't we all just get along.

19. Do you like to dance? Sometimes, but I married a man that does not unless he is well....ya'll know....slightly drunk.
20. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her? Well I guess we will never know that. But I think....slightly unusal names and family names are cool. But, I always hated mine till I grew up.

21 Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him? Well, I guess Zachary LOL

22. Would you ever consider living abroad? is Key West abroad, probably not, but lots of places to visit.

23. What do you want to say to God when you reach the pearly gates? You are an awesome God, thanks for forgiving me when i got mad at you and did all that stuff I shouldn't have.

Its OFFICIAL!!!

We're COMING HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Quenten got orders to A-School so he leaves January 26th!
that means we get to move back to the Real US 12 weeks after that. We will know where we are going by march i think :) :) :)
YAY!!!!!!!!

while you are looking for your pictures!

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4. Write it down.
he'd wanted.

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What's there?
couch cushion,cell phone, and remote

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Suite Life of Zach and Cody

4. Without looking, guess what time it is:
12:05

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
12:04

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
the fan and the tv

7. When did you last step outside?
hm a couple hours ago

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at.
myspace

9. What are you wearing?
pj pants and a shirt

10. Did you dream last night?
not one i remember

11. When did you last laugh?
at the TV during a movie, they showed a preview of Four Christmases Cant wait!

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
a few paintings/pictures and a clock

13. Seen anything weird lately?
hm proabably a lot, i cant remember at the moment though

14. What do you think of this quiz?
i liked the first questions better....

15. What is the last film you saw?
at the theaters it was Role Models :) bery bery funny ;)

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
a plane ticket HOME!

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know:
hmmmmm this could be tricky...... i was always jealous of Patrick and Nathan when they got cool toys to play with in Christmases Past. I will probably only have boys when we have kids so i will prob take those words back when i fall over one someday! haha

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you
do?
I would make it spin the other direction..... wonder what would happen then

19. Do you like to dance?
yes at random to the music in my head!!! just like meredith and christina on Grey's

20. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
I aint sayin cause I think matt and glenda will steal it because secretly they look at this blog and dont tell anyone :P haha
eeeeeeeeeeevah

21. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
See answer to #20
waaaaaaaalleeeeeeeeeee

22. Would you ever consider living abroad?
um hello from Puerto Rico....

23. What do you want to say to God when you reach the pearly gates?
Thanks for letting me in!

oh, I just found one

He will kill me......but how often do we see him on here....heehee

more old pics

Zack playing baseball like 4 years ago.

Here is one from our wedding shower!

I will look for more!

Thanks for keeping everyone updated.

One Day we will get a lap top so we can update as we go...until then I guess we will text and hope that I text the right people. Some don't text back, I guess they don't get them...Don, Sylvia? Ya'll did a great job getting the pics up, Thanks! My favorite was the one where everything else was blury.... he was in the stands with us just standing there looking for him and there he was!





Lets see what I can find in the old pic files.......

Nathan's first Prom Date

for those of you without facebook or myspace...

i came across some old pictures when i was cleaning my house. Most are from my college days but i found a few from before. well one but whatever :) enjoy :)

olivia when she was a little one ( well littler)
Katelyn and Matt

When Nathan graduated HS

When Nathan and his friends came to see me in Wilmington

um like my Freshman year of HS, not sure how old Nicky was then (and that was when he was actually going by Nicky)

Katelyn at Daytona Beach one year

i came across some old pictures when i was cleaning my house. Most are from my college days but i found a few from before. well one but whatever :) enjoy :)

Take a look see if you have any old pictures, you could embarass someone :) or just jumpstart their memory :)

I'm a theif!

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!

And this one! Aiden is such a cutie! and so patriotic!

That's one proud dad! :)

LOVE IT!

What a great birthday present for Nicole!! Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He's Here :)

Nathan is home!!!!
I am sure yall all got texts this morning but just in case somebody didn't hear.
That is all the info I have! WOOHOO!

Nathan News!

This info is from the family:

Nathan was supposed to be home either today or tommorrow. However, his flight has been pushed back AGAIN! But, either way he is out of Iraq and will be home soon. Daddy and Tamera are with Nicole and Aiden right now and they will send updates when they get them :)

anything new?

So whats new everyone?? Not much is going on here... just workin and surving the Puerto Rican Trafic :)

this picture is from when we went snorkeling. I saw the Butterfly and had the camera in my hands and caught it! its my fave :)


any request for a new song on the blog? I'm getting tired of john mayer


<3


stacie

Sorta good news from Michigan!

So... Matt got a job offer. Which is really cool, however.... it was not a job that he applied for it was one that he was contacted about. If he takes the job then he will be working with Chemical Accounts with Toyota (he has until Wednesday to decide). At this point he is taking it and we will be moving to Battle Creek or Jackson within the coming month. So I was kinda curious about somethings.....

-- This job has nothing to do with his degree but at the moment is all he can find... Will he still be able to work in Engineering later? or will him being out of the feild make it hard to find a job?

-- Toyota will pay for him to go back to school for his Masters, should he go ahead and do it? or will it be hard to get a job with little experience and a Masters?

Ahhh... I thought the stress would go away after the job offer came in but it is far more stressful!!! Arg!

Ohhh.. p.s. I am getting ready to start getting ready for my GREs any studying advice??

Love you guys, looks like we will be home for Christmas and maybe Thanksgiving! :)

Never ask for a Rum and Coke!

San Juan Baptista Statue... never knew who it was.... always wondered why he was in that strange "we're number 1" position. Now at least one question is answered.

About to take our tour of the Bacardi Factory

The Bacardi Bat : fruit bats were living in the orignal factory and they needed a trade mark. They represent luck and prosperity and something about family

Mom and Dad are here in PR with us!

Just a few pics for starters, and a lesson in bartending ;)

http://casabacardi.bitmove.tv:80/bitmove/casabacardi/index.jsp?uid=CDF9FFC74D7C11AF99248996BAD6AF0A

Always ask for BACARDI and Coke :)

Alrighty. The News from Etowah.

So, last weekend we attended Aiden's 2nd Birthday party. He is such a cute boy! Going to have to get him over that saggin pant thing though, shhh...so funny. Then we went to my old churches 50 anniversary with mom and family. Not so much fun, but neat to see some old people from my teenage years. We were suppose to attend Franks 44 birthday but Del got called to Lake Toxaway and didn't get home till late. The boys made it there and wished him a good one.

See, Katy its really boring here.

Ahh. I have quit smoking for 12 days. Del is down to half a pack a day and says that this is going to work.

This weekend is Tiffany's wedding! Outside and its suppose to rain 2 inches. This may get ugly. And I have to make 150 cupcakes for it. Dee is decorating them. Katy plan on rain or have a backup!

Del and Patrick are moving Nicole and Aiden back to Fort Campbell next Friday and Saturday. She found a new place, sounds really nice! They will be able to have a washer and dryer..and its new! That seems to be a rare thing there. Sunday is Zack's Eagle COH.

Nick is working at Ingles in Etowah, Zack is at Office Max in Arden.

Del is putting up walls in "man land". All the wiring is done, now he gets walls! Maybe in 10 more years it will be done. lol

All for now!

Earthquake and Tropical Storm

EARTHQUAKESSSSSSSSSSS The largest yellow square happened on Saturday morning... Yeah I slept riiiight through it :) 6.1 the yellow's represent Earthquakes from the last week. The Blue squares are within the last day. and the red is within the last hour. Larger square means Larger quake.

you can see more at :

http://temblor.uprm.edu/recenteqs/

And now there is a tropical storm heading this way! Crazy! Apparently there is going to be catastrophic amounts of rainfall. We will keep you posted! We have our supplies ready to go :)

Hopefully PR will still be here between sinking into the PR Trench and getting catastrophic amounts of rain for when my parent's come next week!

<3

stacie

Nobody is posting :(

Hello family!!

First of all, your puppy is super cute Stacie! :)

Now for good news, according to daddy Nathan is not going to Texas!!! WOOHOO!

Now for an update on the life and times of Matt and Katy!
Matt graduated (like 2 weeks ago) and is looking for a job now. He has two more interviews this week, one person who is calling to schedule an interview, and one interview in the making that he will have to fly to Texas or Colorado to go to. He is having a little bit more luck lately but we are still looking. We did find a really nice 2 bedroom apt. (for not much more a month than we are paying now) that is close to the most probable job. We obviously have not moved in yet but when our lease runs out we are moving (unless he does not get this job of course). and the best part is that we can get another dog if we move there :). School is good, first round of tests is over (thank god), and now all of the projects are due :(

On a good note, if Matt gets hired with TRAM then we will be able to come home for Thanksgiving!!!! :)

That is it for now! Love you guys!!!

P.S. people need to start posting on here, I know yall have more interesting lives than this ! lol!

Star is very cute! How old is she? I'd say if she is over a year old, don't worry about the foot... it may cause some arthritis later in life, but it won't cause any major problems. It may have been broken at a young age and not fixed correctly (or at all) and that is the way it healed. If she is under a year old, you could talk to the vet there, have some xrays done, and see if there is anything you can do for it, but if I were you, I'd leave it alone unless it's causing her pain/trouble. Surgery can be very costly... anywhere from $700+++.

Arthritis is easily treated (w/ prescription meds or just aspirin) and you could start giving her glucosomine to help "lubricate" the joints. She can take the same stuff that people take (probably around 500/600 mg daily.) It's just like a vitamin.

I'm ready to see the pics of what Q does for a livin... :) He doesn't really work... don't try to lie... he plays in the water all day! It's okay, we all know!!! LOL! J/K.

Can't wait to see ya'll...

Loves!

Star's Foot

Meet Star :)

We have known her since we moved here in February and she officially became ours in March. She is the CUTEST thing ever! She sleeps under the covers in a tiny little ball right up against me.


Anyways, her foot is crooked :( We are just wondering if it is a serious thing that would need to be corrected or if she is fine with her lil crooked foot? Lauren can you diagnose? or can someone take the photos by Dr. Doug?



And actually both of her front feet are crooked but we are more concerned about the right one. The left one is crooked in a "normal way" if that makes any sense. The last picture shows a good pic of the left one. It kind of just looks like its supposed to be a back leg too. These Puerto Rican dogs!

Look Mom I know how to pose for pictures!

How many more?? I'm tired, its past my bedtime!

Why did i get 3 back legs and one crooked one?

Lose something??? ... or FIND something?????

(ew hope its a toy lost under there i don't want to find a lizzard!!!)
Haha she was doing this while i wrote the Blog so I had to take another picture and put it on here.

Hurley was already upstairs in bed so no Hurley Pics tonight.

Drug Bust

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jn23RVRoF3mHJzF5S7QA4us-YrHAD93HVL5G0

News from USCG Puerto Rico

Some of our friends helped with this. And there was HUGE Navy ship in for it.

By the way they aren't done searching it. There could still be 6 more tons on it in the fuel tanks.

Quenten has some pics of what he actually does on his camera but we havent put them on the computer yet. Maybe this weekend we will have them up! Sorry this is so short. Its been a long day ( i have an ear infection i think but i refuse to go to the doc again this week!!!!!!!!! so self medication it will be!)

NATHAN IS COMING HOME!!!!!

So Nicole sent a bunch of us text messages but just in case people did not get one..... Nathan is coming home!!!!! Very soon actually...

He flies out of Olsen (I have no idea where that is or if it is the right word lol) on November 8

And Then-------

He will be flying into the states on November 14th :) So start getting very exciting!

Flash of Genius

thought you might wanna see this.... since we are mostly a ford family :) love ya

ITALY!!!

All I have to say is ITALY!!! 11 weeks of me in Italy, one is all by myself traveling around Italy, cheaper than a semester at MSU, 2 Italian classes, one class where I tour rome for 2 hours twice a week, and one that I have not picked yet :) I am so freaking excited!!!!!!!

This is why there are no spiders in PR

We're still out here. Nothing going on here just a lot of RAIN!!! There is a big red blob over us on nhc.noaa.gov...... I think the nursery rhyme is correct... i have only seen 1 spider and I think it is because the rain washes them all away! (now i'm probably going to see millions!)
Oh there was so much rain that a guy that I work with found his car floating away in the parking lot!!! Not sure what kind of car it is probably a mini cooper or something but still floating cars!

We just wanted to say hi! Hope everyone is doing well!
<3
stacie and quenten

Zack makes the Front Page!

Updates

Alright so.... I will not be going to PR or NYC for spring break which is a major downer but I did get the site leader position for Asheville! So I will be home for Spring Break (but I will be working the whole time with Mountain Area Housing Network). I get to play tour guide for 12 Michigan people lol!

Matt has two interviews next week so we are hoping for the best. One is with Rousch/Ford and it is a face to face interview (he made it through the first phone interview and the hiring manager :) ) and the other is with TAC Manufacturing and it is another phone interview. So Hopefully one will work out! We have one week left and he is done with school :)

Hmmm... oh a couple more things.... I am going to start volunteering with two new groups!!! The first one is Footprints Residential Treatment Facility (I will be mentoring juvenile female offenders) and the other one (which I am stoked about) is Ele's Place. Ele's Place is super awesome! They work with grieving children through the Hospice's in and around Lansing and the hospitals around here. I am starting out with office work but once I go through my training in December I will get to start working with the kids and the families to help them through their loss. My advisor is concerned I will get too attached or involved but thinks it will be a super chance for me to work on that (so when I am in the feild I hopefully will not do that)!

So yeah that is about it for us.... We are looking for new apartments in Jackson (just in case matt gets the TAC job) hopefully with two bedrooms so we have more room for all of our crap haha! Love you guys!!

We took Aiden to the WNC Fair on Friday night. We had a great time, and Aiden loves COWS!

My New Game

This is the new game called SPORE. I am not much of a gamer, but it is quite cute and fun :) I can make my character dance and do tricks. Isn't it cute!!! Anyways we're just hangin out on a Sunday afternoon. Quenten finally made it back from the VI, after his boat broke down and they had to be towed back by one of the cutters. Not much else is new. No storms our way..... at the moment :)

This week !!

So this was an interesting week for us! For one our gas (at least in Lansing) went up to almost $6 a gallon (until police started reporting gas stations for price gouging) but as of now it is still like $4.50 a gallon which sucks. It has rained non-stop for like 5 days now which is another downer.... and I got pulled over for going too slow by a dumb Michigan State Trooper. I in all honesty wanted to punch him in his face (but I refrained).

On the job front... Matt got an interview with Roush (sp) to be an NVH engineer. He put the application in and they called him within an hour which is a good sign. He has two weeks left :) It is only a part time position meaning he will not get benefits but he will still be getting paid well and working at least 35 hours a week so no worries there. After the contract runs out he would be hired full time (hopefully.. that is what the hiring manager said). He got some more callbacks and did some more phone interviews and now one of his profs is helping him out with his search now. So we are just waiting on somebody to give him an official job offer.

I have some exciting scholarship news but I want to wait until it is official before I share it with yall! Hopefully when we come home for Christmas this year I will be able to tell yall for sure.

Ahh last thing... I got my placement information for next year for SW. I have a couple of agencies to choose from but at this point I will be working with the Ingham county court with kids that are going through the courts!! YAY! I hope everybody has been having a great week :)

Hey Katie and Matt

Sorry the job search isn't going well. I can't remember what your degree is in exactly, but the federal government is always a good place to look... the website is pretty self explanatory (choose your city/state and then go for it. Don't have to choose anything else) so check it out at www.usajobs.opm.gov

Good Luck!

Note to everyone... Christmas in Greenwood on Saturday Dec 20! Hopefully all can be there. Additional details to come later!

Loves to all!

Job Search

So the job search thing is not going well :( Matt has gotten a few callbacks but in general they are all to say thanks but no thanks! Which kinda sucks.....

We are looking for any job search advice that yall can offer...esp. from those of yall that just went through it.. any good sites to visit? any good companies in mind to check out? We are only two weeks out before he graduates so at this point anything even closely related he is considering.

p.s. since when does entry level include 5-7 years experience???? these job adds are freaking crazy :(

Texas anyone?

This is all we know, don't have anymore details. Nicole sent a text yesterday...that right after Nathan gets home...they will be relocated to Texas. Don't know which base yet, or exactly how soon. Just wanted to let everyone know.

Now this is just Classic :)

hehehehehe actually had the camera there when she did it and caught it on camera. Had to make it a little music video for your enjoyment.

Eventful day!

We got new furniture!!! YAY !!! (i know you are thinking why white?) It is HUGE! we liked a brown one but this one was just a bit longer so we went with it. And they are so darn comfy! way better than our bamboo furniture that has become patio furniture (what it was born to be).

Now i think i'm going to paint the wall so its not so washed out. and definately getting curtains!




the same day we got the furniture delivered (viewer beware): Quenten went surfing and was waiting on our neighbor while standing on a rock. A wave crashed and made him fall onto the reef and he had a hole in his foot of about a quarter inch. No stitches though. He refused them so he can go to St Thomas or St Croix on Monday *ugh Loser*

EEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWw :)

haha

oh what do you think of the new layout??

and one more thing: y'all were worried about us and the hurricanes and we got nothin! now we are worried about Quenten's family and all our friends back in Wilmington.

Hurricane's!

Hey Stacie,
Let us hear from you! Del wants to know if you have a big tree to tie yourself to?

More Really Good News!!!

Matt got a contact at Fluor Constructors... check them out they are an amazing company...best of all they have sites all around the world (including NC, SC, and TN)! It seems like this could be a really great oppurtunity! Heres hoping that this job works out :)

OUR VOICE COUNTS!!!

Okay ya'll. I stayed up entirely too late last night watching the democratic convention and it really inspired me...

To all my cousins, both abroad (Katie, Stacie, Quentin, Nathan, and Matt) and here at home (Patrick, Zach, and Nicole), PLEASE, make sure you vote in November! Remember that if you registered here at home, that you can vote on an absentee ballot, so don't wait until the last minute to do so... we really need the change if you get what I'm saying... =)

Katie, YOU ROCK! Rome will be awesome and so will NYC. I hope the internship works out for you. They would be lucky to have you.

Matt- YOU ROCK TOO! You will so nail that job! (But you still have to bring my cuz home for Christmas... trying to make it happen so everyone is there!)

Okay... I just wanted to remind all of the younger crowd to VOTE!

Loves to all!

Something Kinda Exciting!

So.. I have officially decided on study abroad location (I had a couple to pick from) and I will be going to Rome this summer for 10 weeks (maybe 5 depending on scholarships). I am super excited!

Also!!! I am applying to be a site leader for an alternative spring break! essentially you go and do volunteer work for your spring break and I am applying for a couple of programs (you have to pick your three favorites out of like 50) so I picked.... New York, PR (just so I can see stacie lol), Asheville (of course I had to pick that one), and I also got to pick a fourth one so I picked San Fransico ! They weren't in that order but those are the ones I picked so hopefully I will get to go! I am hoping for New York bc I have never been and would love to spend a week in NYC! well a homeless shelter for most of it but you know :)

One more thing(sorry it has been a crazy week)! On the job front... Matt has an interview with Stryker Instruments (they make medical equipment) as a design engineer and hopefully another one with Interface Solutions (they do sealing or sumtin like that)! If he gets the one with Stryker (fingers crossed) we will be moving to Kalamazoo (isnt that a cool city name) which is where Western Michigan University is located (and p.s. they have a super cool MSW program bc I checked)!!

Ok I lied one more thing.... I got a great lead on an internship with the Women's Center of Greater Lansing today so I am hoping for that oppurtunity to come through bc it would be super cool (although I am already super duper busy this semester)!

Alright I am done now :) But we miss you all and could use some praying for those job interveiws with Matt!!! He graduates in less than a month!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

KT

Fay

Hope your family is alright Tamara!!!!!!!!!!

Katy's Game (not as long as yalls)! Enjoy!

Age

Place I would like to visit

Favorite Place



Favorite ObjectFavorite Pets

Favorite Food

Favorite Color

Where I was born

Where I live now

Past Pet

Best Friend's Nickname (the only one that worked is Matt's nickname so this is Matt lol)

My First Name

My Middle Name

My Mom's Maiden Name

My Last Name

Bad Habit

My First Job

My Current Job

My Grandmother

My Degrees

What I am doing now