Finally an update!

Wow ... sorry it has been such a long time since our last update. We have had numerous requests from all over the world, so here it is. :)

A few days after we returned back from our California trip Fletch fell very ill with ... well ... I won't go in to details, but it was terrible. His worst complaint was dehydration. Thanks to Phil, our houseguest, for suggesting an electrolyte drink. It definitely helped!!!

Unfortunately Fletch was recovering while my parents were in town. We had quite the house full of guests for the 1st night. We were extremely blessed to have every bed filled: Phil & Leslie, Levi, my parents, and us. My parents also brought their very large greyhound, Lance. He did great on the trip in the vehicle. Zack enjoyed Lance's visit as well and I think Lance did a great job at tolerating the puppy. Now Lars had to hide for a few days, but he came out from hiding after Lance left. Simba didn't let anyone push him around and he stood his ground ... most of the time. :)

We had a great visit with my parents just hanging out at the house and taking our dogs for walks. It seemed like a short visit because we tried to encourage them to stay a few days more but the inevitable had to happen sometime ... they had to drive home at some point. Fletch felt like he barely got to see them because he was in the recovery stage and trying to catch up on work while they were here. In the long run, it was best they left. I came down with the illness the next day after they left ... I don't ever want to be dehydrated again! Oye! I had to stay home from work for 2 days which was bad because I'm trying to get my 3rd, 4th and 5th graders ready for their music programs starting on November 29th!!! The students are doing quite well, though. My stress level is very low at this point. :)

We had one of my ex-coworkers from Ellicott Middle School and her husband over tonight. We love entertaining and were glad to catch up with them. I haven't seen Joni since my last day at Ellicott in May!!!

On the other side of the family the big news is Fletch's parents are coming over the pond for a visit in late April!!! The four of us are already making plans for travels during their visit. There may be a father/son visit to the motherland ... England ... to see Tom's family while Heather and I stay home working on crafts and sewing. :) The four of us will head off to Washington/Canada/Montana in early June. We are all getting very excited, but I'm sure Tom and Heather are extremely excited. Heather missed America the day she arrived back in Vanuatu after their last trip here (March/April 2005).

Here are some more pictures from our trip to California. The one on the left is of Fletch inside a jail cell on Alcatraz Island. The one in the middle is one of the many staircases in the Winchester Mystery house. The steps are said to be really tiny because Mrs. Winchester had arthritis and was having difficulty taking the stairs. The picture on the far right is a crazy picture of us driving north on the side of the Southbound lanes of Interstate 5 in Los Angeles during that big wreck. Those poor trucks had to stay there until all the cars were able to move out of the way!!!

We've updated our basement in the form of a game room. Fletch put a pool table together over the past 2 nights. We also bought our first blueray player ... in the form of a Play Station 3. Fletch is also very excited to get a hand made guitar amp from Germany called a Diezel Herbert.

All is well here in the Whipp household. The weather is unusually warm at the moment, but I'm not complaining ... Fletch on the otherhand is waiting for snow. :)

Well it's getting pretty late, so I'm signing off for now. Thanks for the messages to update the blog!!! :)