Aiyoku—Nicole

I'm back! Sorry I skipped a month.

Looking at my last entry...

Daniel did get his massage license. However, things have been a bit stressful at the woodshop, so he hasn't been concentrating on getting that going. Now that things are settling down, though, he is beginning to motivate himself toward that more now.

Looking at the calendar...

I don't have much down for August or September. I lost my job in the middle of August, which means I have not worked for about 6 weeks now. On the same day, a contractor working for Daniel cut himself very badly on the table saw. He lost part of a finger and had two joints fused together as well as a couple of other places that needed stitches for deep cuts. It could've been worse, but it was bad enough. A week after that, Dan's cousin Eric came out for a week to help him finish up the pending jobs. He called it a work-ation. We had a lot of fun with him while he was here. Since then, I have helped here and there at the shop, and I am still looking for a job.

That's about all I have to say this time around. Hope you are all doing well.

Love,
Nic

Hello Loved Ones!

Looking at my last entry...

Dan took his test and passed, like I predicted. We are still waiting for the license to arrive in the mail.

We did have Dan's birthday party, and it was a lot of fun. Not much to say about it, a party's a party.

We also had a block party like last year for the 4th. We had 5 houses participate, so there were lots of people. We also had good food and a ton of fireworks. It was a blast!

And we went to Sedona like we planned. 4 days of fun in the sun. It was very HOT the whole time we were there. I didn't take a lot of pictures for two reasons; 1-I already have a lot, and 2-there was a nearby fire that was making everything look hazy. The pix I did take are not that bright like the ones I've taken in the past. Anyway, we went to Slide Rock, went on a really rough Jeep tour, and spent lots of time at the creek staying cool. Check out the photos.

Looking at the calendar...

We went to Tent Rocks near Cochiti, NM for a Sunday day-trip. The landscape there is very interesting, and the hike was not for wimps. It was also about 104° that day. Whew! When we left, we stopped at Cochiti Lake and put our tired feet in the water. It was a fun day, and there are photos posted of that too.

Danielle took me and the whole family out to dinner Monday night for my birthday. How nice of her, huh?! After that we went bowling. It was a lot of fun. I haven't been bowling in so long!

My car stereo was stolen a few weeks ago, so Dan bought me a new one for my birthday. We are also having a party tonight. I'm sure it'll be fun.

Not much on the calendar for next month yet, but I'm sure it'll fill up. The kids start school on August 20th, which is a little later than the last few years, so they still have a few weeks of summer left.

"See" you next month. Until then, enjoy your life and remember that I love you!

Nic

http://picasaweb.google.com/AiyokusIMLetters

I'm late for my June journal, so I'm just calling this one July and won't post again until August. A lot has happened since the last time I wrote, but I won't be able to write as much as you might want to know. So, here goes...

At the beginning of May, Daniel graduated massage school. I'm so proud of him! He is a very excellent massage therapist, and now he's almost legal! He still has not been able to take his board exam because they audited his account at the school, but all of that is now over and he is ready to be scheduled for the test. I'm sure he'll pass with flying colors and be working in no time at all! How exciting, huh?

For Mother's Day, Luara, Danielle, and I took mom out for lunch then hung out a local brewery where we were gifted chocolate-covered strawberries. If you haven't already seen the pix, be sure you give them a good look. It was a nice day. We also celebrated mom's birthday in May, and I had a girls night out with some old friends. I guess it was a girly month for me.

June started out with a trip to Spokane for my niece's HS graduation. It was nice to see my brother and his family again. It's been too long. And it was nice to see a few old buddies too. We went out Friday night and met up with a couple guys from the old "gang." Saturday morning, we took Dan and the boys to see Riverfront Park, and then to Manito Park and it's many gardens. Then we went on to the graduation and after party. Sunday morning, we went to Coeur d' Alene Lake, which was as beautiful as I remembered, and then we went back to Manito Park for a picnic before we had to fly back home. It's too bad the trip wasn't longer. Check out the pix, there are 5 albums, but they are each pretty short.

The sad news is that while we were gone, Daniel's father passed away unexpectedly. So, when we got home, we had a week full of sorrow spent surrounded by loving family and friends. I am so impressed by how much love we have in our lives, and it makes me all warm inside. Thank you to all of you who showed us support throughout that week. It means more to us than words can express!

Saturday, for Father's Day, the boys and I went rockhounding with Daniel (in honor of Ed). I took some lovely photos of the canyon we went to. It was really nice. I missed the opportunity to take a pic, but we saw a very tightly coiled rattlesnake that rattled at Daniel when he got too close (about two feet away). Thank God it didn't strike! We also saw squirrels, tons of bunnies, a jackrabbit, birds, and lots of lizards. It was a really nice day. Pix have been posted of that too. Sunday, for Father's Day, we grilled steaks and played games with my dad, which was also nice.

This weekend we will be having a birthday BBQ for Daniel, and the weekend after that is the 4th so I'm sure we'll do something that weekend too. Isn't summer wonderful?! We're also planning a trip to Sedona in the middle of July. I can't wait! It's been waaaayyy too long since we've gone!!!

So, that shortly sums up what we've been up to. Hope you're all doing well too. Love you all lots and lots!

http://picasaweb.google.com/AiyokusIMLetters

Hello All!

I skipped a month so there should be lots to say, but I'm not feeling particularly talkative. So...let's look at the calendar.

Dan and I have both had a lot of recent tattoo work done, but most of you probably don't care too much about that.

We had a potluck for the Intenders on March 22nd. That was fun, but I intend to have more people at the next one.

The boys had spring break, but they didn't really do anything exciting for it.

On April 4th, Tony Burroughs (the founder of Intenders of the Highest Good) came to ABQ to do a workshop at the CSL (Center for Spiritual Living). It was awesome. Afterwards, a bunch of us went to dinner to chat, then we attended a group meditation to the sound of beautiful crystal bowls. It was an amazingly uplifting day.

On April 11, Keith had his 15th birthday, complete with a party/sleepover. He had a blast, while we didn't get much sleep that night. He got mostly money instead of gifts, and it ended being enough for him to buy himself a Wii and some games for it.

The next day was Easter. We didn't do too much. We did have an egg hunt for the boys, then we had dinner with a few family members. It was nice and simple.

Marylyn and John were just in town for several reasons. One of them was to see grandma. She's doing well, but not as well as she hoped to be by now. A second reason was to set stuff in motion on the house. We are getting new kitchen countertops and backsplash put in. The first appointment is this Friday. And another reason was to celebrate Daniel's graduation from NM School of Natural Therapeutics. The ceremony was Saturday the 2nd, and we had a BBQ/party after. It was a very fun day, even though it was rainy and hailing. I'm very excited to have Dan home in the evenings again after a year of not seeing him much, and he's very excited to have his diploma. As soon as he takes/passes his national exam he will be licensed and ready to get started. Meanwhile, he's been very busy with woodworking.

There have been a few changes at my work lately, which has kept me pretty busy during the day. I've also been otherwise busy with building websites, which has been a lot of fun.

We got a new kitty. She's about a year old, a calico about half Lacey's size, and we named her Maia. She's very sweet and incredibly playful, but she's a little skiddish and afraid of Lacey. Lacey's a big bully, but she's starting to get used to her. I think they'll be lovey with each other in no time, and then Maia should be more lovey with us too.

Can't think of anything else right now. Have a great May..."see" you in June. Love you all!

PS There are lots of photos posted now. I haven't posted any since last time. Go check them out at this address: http://picasaweb.google.com/AiyokusIMLetters

Hello.

Trent's ankle seems perfectly healed now. Once in a while, he says it's sore from doing too much, but after slowing down it gets all better again. I think that's pretty normal.

Grandma has finally gone home. She is very excited about that. We installed Lifeline for her, so that's a good peace of mind for everyone.

We had a Super Bowl party, which was a lot fun. We also had a birthday party for Trent. Pictures were posted for that. It was on Valentine's Day, so he gave his girlfriend a gift before the party got started. She held on to it the whole day. It was so cute! And the bulk of the boys spent the night. Trent had a lot of fun!

That's all I've got for ya this time around. Hope you are all well. I'd love to hear from you.

Hello All.

January was a strange month for me. I feel like I did nothing, but I somehow managed to not have time to get things done. I don't have much on the calendar...and don't have much to say either...so this will be short.

Around the 14th, Trent's ankle started hurting again, so we took him back to the doctor on the 16th. They said it wasn't broken, but they put on a new cast anyway. After a month out of it, I thought it was odd, but they wanted to immobilize the joint because of the type of pain he was in. He wore it for two weeks and was given stretching exercises to do as a kind of home therapy for it. So far, so good.

On the 19th, we were finally able to go to CA for grandpa's funeral. We came back on the 21st, so it was a quick trip. Not much to say, but photos have been posted.

Sandy had her heart surgery, a double valve replacement, which went well. She is at home now.

Grandma is still in a rehab-type medical facility from her fall in December, but she is doing well. I think she should be going home soon.

That about covers it for January. "See" ya next month.

Love,
Nic

Hello Everyone!

Not much on my calendar for December because we were busy making our Christmas gifts and getting ready to go to California, but we did have an Intenders potluck on the 13th. It was a nice change from our normal weekly meetings, and we will be doing that quarterly from now on. Also, Trent got his cast off on the 17th. No surgery, no return visits, no physical therapy. He did amazingly well healing himself. It took him a couple of weeks to rebuild the muscles in his leg enough to not walk with a limp, but he’s doing very well now. And grandma is still in a nursing home or whatever you call it recovering from her fall, but she’s doing well too. And Sandy has been scheduled for her double heart valve replacement surgery on January 19th at 10am if you’d like to say prayers for that.

The big thing I have to talk about this month is our trip to California. We went to San Jose to see Dan’s mom (Marylyn) & stepdad (John) and his sister (Abigail) & her wife (Geena). It was a very enjoyable and perfectly refreshing break from our day-to-day routine.

Our flight was on Wed. the 24th, which of course is Christmas Eve. When we took off in Albuquerque, there was a family behind us on the plane, and the mom explained to the little girl that there might be some turbulence and was describing what that is and what causes it. As we were coming into Phoenix, we hit a little bit of bumpiness, and the girl said, “Wee, mommy, I like "turbalation!" It was adorable, and how great that she got the word so close at such a young age (maybe 5). Every year NORAD posts a Santa tracking site, and I set it up to be accessed on my cell phone. So, while we were traveling, I continuously tracked Santa for Trent. We got into San Jose pretty late and spent some time with Marylyn & John when we got there, so we got the kids to bed just as he was flying over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Thursday, Christmas morning, the boys opened their stockings and found a note from Santa saying that he left the big stuff at home so we wouldn’t have to pay extra to take it on the plane with us. They seemed ok with that, even though it built up the anticipation more. After stockings, we had breakfast, opened gifts, had a nice Christmas dinner, and played games. A very good Christmas.

Friday night, Abigail and her friend Kim took Dan & I to a club in San Francisco called Ruby Skye. It was a lot of fun, and quite expensive compared to the clubs here. However, the bill that we have a receipt for, never cleared our checking account. So, I guess we had an unexpected free night out. Yeah for us!

Saturday, after sleeping in from clubbing, Geena made us all breakfast…very nice of her, and yummy too! Then we went to the Tech Museum, which the boys enjoyed a lot. We even saw an IMAX movie while we were there. After spending time at the museum, we walked through the nearby park where they had it all set up with trees decorated by community foundations like Boy Scouts and churches. They called it Christmas in the Park, and there were other neat displays as well. The boys liked the fake snow that was really just bubbles. It was fun.

Sunday, we went to the CSL, had lunch, and hung out mostly at home. Monday, Marylyn took me to her stylist for a haircut, then she took Dan and I to the chiropractor where the three of us got adjusted, then Dan and I took the boys to the Winchester Mystery House. It was a very cool and strange place that we all enjoyed very much.

Tuesday, we spent the day in Monterey at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The best part of that was watching the diver feed the fish. There was a wolf eel that was more aggressive than usual. I guess he was pretty hungry. Even the speakers were amazed at his behavior. When we got home from that, Dan gave Abby massage. I think she liked it!

Wednesday, we spent the day packing up and getting ready for our flight home. We had a long layover, so we drank a couple beers and ate some nachos. When we got back to Albuquerque, the boys were finally able to open their Santa gifts. He got them Rock Band, the one that comes with the software, drums, microphone, and a guitar. He also left them a second guitar. Daddy set it up for them on the big TV. They’ve really been having a ball with that.

There was a lot of fog in CA while we were there, which I love to look at. It just makes me very happy to see moisture in the air. Fog is like being hugged by the Universe. While I was enjoying the fog, it was snowing in Albuquerque. I guess there was around 4 inches, but it didn’t stay longer than a couple of days and was mostly gone when we got home. Oh well.

Thursday, New Year's Day, we celebrated dad's birthday since we missed it on the 31st. I think he liked what we gave him, and the cake was excellent!

On Sunday, Jan 3rd, we played Santa and delivered the gifts we hadn’t handed out yet. And that’s about all I have to say about December. Be sure to look at the photos I posted. http://picasaweb.google.com/AiyokusIMLetters

One last thing. Grandpa Fults, my mom’s dad, died on Wednesday the 7th. We cannot have a funeral for him because of a paperwork nightmare for 2-4 weeks, but we will be making another trip to a different part of CA soon. I’d appreciate your prayers for us to have a safe trip and be able to get everything done that needs to be taken care of while we’re there. Thanks!

Lots of Love to You All,
Nic

Hello Everyone!

As you can see, I didn't post last month. September 30th seems like so long ago!

At the beginning of October, we were going to have an Intenders circle in the Jemez Mountains, but we got rained out. I guess we'll try again in the spring.

At the end of October, on Halloween afternoon, Trent ran into another student in gym class and got a pretty badly hurt ankle. We took him to Urgent Care, they x-rayed it, and we were told it was a sprain. For trick-or-treating, Luara and I pushed him in a wheelchair from house to house until we were too worn out to go any further. He made out like a bandit as an "injured" ninja because everyone felt so sorry for him. The next day, Dan and I went to Denver to see a Broncos game for our 15th anniversary and left the boys at home with Auntie Wawa with strict orders for Trent to keep his leg elevated. He was very good about staying off it and keeping it up, but when we got back three days later, it had gotten worse instead of better. Wednesday morning, five days after the accident, we took him to another doctor who sent him immediately to an orthopedic surgeon. She looked at the original x-rays and saw two bad breaks that she would've done surgery on the day of the accident if she had been the one to see him. But she didn't want to re-break it if she didn't have to, so she put him in a cast, took a new x-ray to be sure the cast was holding it in the proper place, and told us to come back in two weeks. When we went back, they removed the cast and x-rayed it again. She was happy with the healing, but she was still not certain that he wouldn't need surgery. He got another cast and was told to come back in another two weeks. When we back that time, she gave him another x-ray and said he was still healing very well and that he could ditch the crutches and start walking on the cast. Definitely no surgery. Yeah! He goes back on the 17th to have the cast removed. He shouldn't even need a brace. That should be the last appointment. What an ordeal! Poor little guy!

Our trip was fabulous! We had a very nice dinner and night out in downtown Denver the first night. The next day, we met up for lunch with some friends who were also in town for the game, went to the game, bought lots of stuff at the team store, watched the Broncos play a poor game and lose because of it, went out to dinner with our friends, said our goodbyes, and went to bed early worn out from all the excitement of the day. The next day, we packed up and went home. It was a quick trip, but it was a nice anniversary gift to ourselves.

This past Friday, December 5th, Daniel's grandma fell in her kitchen. She has a few bruises and cuts and a broken finger, but doesn't seem to have anything major at this point. However, she is still in the hospital to be tested for internal bleeding because she doesn't seem to be feeling any better after 4 days. We think it may be a hairline fracture in her pelvis that is bleeding because of her Coumadin prescription, but she should be fine in a few days. Please pray that all is well. Thanks.

I guess that's about all I have to say. I hope you all enjoy your Christmas. We will be going to San Jose to spend time with Dan's mom, step-dad, sister, and sister-in-law. We plan on having a blast.

Lots of love to each and every one of you, Nicole

Hello!

Hope you all had a wonderful September. The highlight of mine was finding a few high school friends on MySpace that I have been chatting away with. It's nice. I recommend it.

Keith is still chugging away with high school. He's really turned into a nice guy these days. No more angsty rebellion. I hope it keeps up. It's nice to have raised a good boy. Trent, on the other hand, has decided he's not so fond of middle school after all. He doesn't seem to be organized enough to deal with so many teacher's needs all at once. But we're working on it, and I'm sure it'll all get better in time.

We spent last Saturday doing demolition on the back yard. We tore out the spa room from the patio, took down an old metal shed by the back fence, removed some old cabinets from the garage, and chopped down a couple of trees. It was a very productive day. Otherwise, there's not much on the calendar to show that we did anything all month besides more tattoo work and watching football.

Enjoy a beautiful October!

Love,
Nic

Hi All!

Wonderful news! Annabelle was born and is doing quite well. She's an amazing little girl with an awesome set of parents! To know more, go to this site: http://www.thedawgrun.blogspot.com/

The boys started school. If you can believe it, Keith actually doesn't hate it this year. I guess high school is fitting him better than the other schools did. Or maybe he just decided to change his attitude. And Trent, as usual, loves school. He likes middle school better than grade school because he gets a change of scenery several times a day instead of the same boring class with the same boring teacher all day long.

Dan's mom and stepdad came for a visit. It was really nice. We got a chance to discuss multiple things about the house, so we should have projects coming up pretty soon.

We had a block party yesterday for Labor Day. It was a lot of fun. We partied from about 2 in the afternoon until some time around midnight. Lots of great food, a little bit of alcohol, and several fun friends to make a day/night really cozy.

Hope you all had a good August. Happy September!

Love You,
Nicole

Hello!

There’s not really anything on the calendar for July except Brandon and Cory’s wedding, and the bachelor party beforehand. Dan and I attended part of the bachelor party thrown for Brandon. We met up with the gang around 11pm at the strip club. After that place closed, we went to one that stays open later. We didn’t get in until about 4am. It was a great time. Two days after that, we drove to Santa Fe for the wedding. The ceremony was beautifully moving, then a Mariachi band led the wedding party through the plaza so tourists could take pictures and all that fun New Mexico stuff. The food and service at the reception was excellent, and the club parties afterward were fun too. It was an all around good time had by all. Congratulations to Brandon and Cory! I hope you stay happily married as long as I have…and even longer too!

Dan’s tattoo is coming along, and he’s still loving school tremendously.

My 35th birthday was Thursday the 31st, and we had a BBQ/party on Saturday the 2nd. There are new pictures posted from that.

Sunday the 2nd we went to Animal Planet’s Expo at the balloon field. It was fun, and mom got some good pictures of it.

The boys start school next week. Keith got registered this morning, and Trent gets registered on Thursday evening. They are both moving up to a new school, 6th grade middle school for Trent, and 9th grade high school for Keith. Can you believe they’re that old already?

Hope you all had a great July. Happy August!

Love,
Nic

Well, the biggest news this month is that Dan no longer works for Highway Supply. His "stripping" days are over. He is back to working at Ed's shop as a woodworker, and he is still loving school.

The boys have been enjoying their summer off. I don't think either of them want summer to end.

For Father's Day, we took Ed with us to Bisti. I posted pix shortly after.

The following weekend, some of our Intenders group went up to Jemez. I posted pix for that too.

For Dan's birthday, we had a BBQ/party. Dan took a class last month and learned how to grill and smoke food from a guy that has won many competition trophies and awards. So, for the party, he used that knowledge to make pulled pork, chicken, and several other things. We had a lot of food, and none of it was leftover. It was fabulous!

And a week later for the 4th, we had a big block party. All the neighbors brough their grills and tarps to the street. We just had an all-around great time with lots of people, lots of food, and lots of fireworks. It was an all-day thing, so we've just been resting and relaxing since.

I just posted pix from the last two weekend's parties. Go see them here: http://home.comcast.net/~aiyoku/photos.html

Hope you're having a wonderful summer. Keep cool!

Love,
Nic

For my mom's birthday, I took her to a salon and we got manicures and pedicures. For Mother's Day, my sister and I took her shopping at ABQ Uptown. We even stopped at the bar for an afternoon cocktail.

While Dennis was here, we did a few touristy things, and then we just hung out some too. It was a nice visit. Pictures have been posted.

My friend Kelly graduated, so I took her out to dinner, and then we watched movies at home. It was fun.

Keith was promoted from middle school, so he will be moving on to high school in August. And Trent was promoted from elementary school, so he be moving up to middle school in August. Here is a clip of Trent and friends in the 5th grade talent show. http://home.comcast.net/~aiyoku/FifthGradeTalentShowStarringTrentAndFriendsMay2008.wmv

Our friend Jini invited mom and dad, Daniel, Keith, Trent, and I to her cabin in Pagosa Springs for Memorial Weekend. We had a great time. Pictures were posted.

And that about sums up my month. I hope yours was wonderful. I'd love to hear something about it.

Lotsa Love to You All,
Nic

So, not a lot happened in April because everyone took turns being sick most of the month. Keith had a birthday party, but the photos have been posted for a while now. Since there’s not much to say about being sick, I decided to look through my posts back to last May and update you on stuff that I haven’t talked about since the original post.

From May 2007—My business Live Light Design didn’t make a single sale, so I closed it. ----- Abigail and Geena are still happily married and living a good life. ----- Live Light Travel also made no sales, so it was also closed.

From June 2007—Mom and dad are still in ABQ. It’s been a rough year for them, but things seem to be looking up at this point. I intend the trend continues.

From August 2007—Dan’s still stripping. ;-) Highway Supply treats him well, but the job doesn’t tickle his fancy. He applied and was accepted at a massage school in town. He starts May 6th. This will guarantee him staying on the path of being an energy worker, which he is very good at already. This just ensures he will be even better, and that he will be licensed to make money at it too. He will continue working full time at HS and take classes at night. It will take a year to finish. At that point, the plan is to get a full time job as a massage therapist and quit HS. ----- I am still working at FastSigns, and I still like it there. They treat me well, and I’ve received a couple of raises since I started.

From November 2007—Seems like I talked about our Halloween party a lot. They’re always so much fun! We’re already planning the next one. Looks like we will be hiring two live bands to perform this year. It’ll be our 15th anniversary. Can you believe it?

From January 2008—Daniel’s still working on his tattoo. It’s still coming along really nicely too. I’ve been taking pictures at each stage, and they will be posted in time. ----- Haven’t heard anything from Hania in a long time, but I’ve been thinking about her. ----- No more contact of any kind with owls or other wildlife. ;-)

From February 2008—Been thinking about going back to Bisti before it gets too hot. It’s already in the 80s, and I’m looking forward to going back soon.

From April 2008—My cousin and her baby are becoming quite the heartwarming story. If you want to know more, please go read about them. There are two blogs to look at. One is Matt’s side of things (daddy) http://www.thedawgrun.blogspot.com/, and the other is Shawn’s project for them (a close friend of theirs) http://www.annabellescircle.blogspot.com/.

So, that should bring you up to date on us. I’d love to hear something about you in return. Love you all!

We finally got our brand new, awesomely working, and very quiet dishwasher. It works wonders! Yippee!!!

There really isn't much on my calendar. The boys had spring break, and I already sent Easter pix. I do have a couple of special prayer requests for anyone reading this though.

I have two adult female cousins born under the last name of Bolles. One of the girls has had a recent cornea transplant that is working well when others have not. I pray that it continues on its path of success and that her body is very happy with the new abilities before her. The other girl is pregnant and has recently found out that the baby has a spinal disorder. I pray that her baby is healthier than they may expect, and that (regardless of the outcome) their family is wonderfully happy for many, many good years to come. Thanks for your support on these matters.

I really have nothing else to say on this April Fool's Day afternoon. I wish you all well. Lotsa love to ya!

Hi All.

Well, our Super Bowl party was fun, and the team I wanted to win did! I even won the pool we had going.

We still don't have a fixed dishwasher, but a new one is on the way. It should be delivered this week. Yeah!

We missed the Lunar Eclipse because it was cloudy. Bummer!

Had a nice party for Dani's 6th real birthday. It was nice.

Nothing much left to say.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Love to All,
Nic

Hello All.

The only thing of interest I have on the calendar for January is our trip to Bisti, but you should already know about that from my photo album.

Daniel’s tattoo is coming along fabulously, it looks really good and just keeps getting better. I will start getting my next one tomorrow. It will be a lotus flower in a ripply pond with a sunset background, and it will go along my lower back. I will post photos of each of them when they are complete.

We are having a Super Bowl party on Sunday…go Giants! I would really like to see the Pats go down, and in a big way! No matter who wins, I’m sure we’ll have a great time and hopefully see some funny commercials along the way.

The boys did manage to get a snow day this week. We had a storm overnight Sunday that left us with about an inch of ice on the roads Monday morning. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the only unexpected day off they get this school year.

We still don’t have our dishwasher fixed, but I intend that it will be working by my next entry.

Hope you all have an awesome February. Happy Groundhogs Day, and Happy Valentine’s Day to you all!

Love,
Nic

December brought lots to talk about, but I’m going to be short for reading purposes.

Daniel got the beginning of a great new tattoo. It’s going to cover his whole arm when it’s finished, but that won’t be until later in the year. It has a lot of spiritual meaning to him, and there is a lot of symbolism involved in creating it. When it is all finished, I will post a photo here.

We had a woman named Hania perform a channeling session at our house on the 11th. It was very interesting, and we all learned a little bit of new stuff. I recommend it to anyone who is interested, and we plan to have her back next month.

We attended a couple of Christmas parties. They were both lots of fun. It’s always good to be with old friends and meet new ones.

On December 22—the night of the Winter Solstice—I climbed into the truck with Daniel, Keith, Trent, Larry, and Berni to go to Santa Fe. We saw a very beautiful ice sculpture of Santa in his sleigh with the reindeer. We took the back way home so we could see the “Christmas town of New Mexico,” Madrid. It was a very quaint town with lots of adornment and fiery barrels along the roadside. They even had a horse drawn stagecoach giving rides. When we left Madrid, an owl flew right into our truck. All we could see was a few feathers sticking up from the grill, so when we could safely pull over we stopped. What we saw was unbelievable…instead of a few feathers, it was both full wings. Daniel put on some gloves, and when he pulled the bird out it started to flap and was still ALIVE!!! It stood about 2 feet tall on the ground and was dazed, but fine. It appeared to have working wings and there was no blood. Amazing! Go to my photo site http://aiyokunicole.myphotoalbum.com/ to see pictures of it.

On Christmas morning, we opened presents with just the four of us plus my parents. It went really quick since there were so few things to open. The boys are getting bigger and getting more expensive things, so there’s not as much to go through. It was very nice though. Presents aren’t everything. In fact, it was the rest of the day that made it so special to me.

In the afternoon, people started to arrive. We had the four of us & my parents, Abigail & Geena (Daniel’s sister and her wife), Mary Beth (friend), Jini (friend), Jane (Mary Beth’s friend), Daniel’s Grandma Donohoe, Dani & Joe (my niece and her boyfriend), and Bequie & Brandon. Dinner was fabulous! We ate on paper plates with plastic forks because the dishwasher crapped out a couple days beforehand, but it turned out perfect because we bought the kind of plates that are partitioned. That kept everyone’s serving sizes smaller, so no one got too full…at least not that I was aware of. So that’s my holiday tip for the year. Thanks dad for coming up with the idea and buying the right kind of plates!

This morning, Sears is coming to look at the dishwasher, then we are going to mom & dad’s to have a birthday dinner and cake for dad. After that, a few neighbors and friends are coming over to help us ring in the new year. I hope you all have a very happy and safe New Year’s eve, and may you all be blessed with creating for yourself a wonderful 2008!

Love & Hugs,
Nic

There's not much on my calendar, except our Veteran's Day picnic (which you should already know about from the photos and letter I sent that week) and Thanksgiving (which I will tell you about now). I somehow missed taking photos, but we had ten people here for dinner: Myself, Daniel, Keith, Trent, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Mary Beth, Dani, and Joe. We had lots of delicious food, played some funny games, and watched the parade, a little bit of football, and a Christmas movie. Before dinner, we all said what were thankful to be blessed with this year. Everyone got a little weepy, but it was a very lovely moment full of wonderfully sweet and sincere sentiments. It really helped make the already great day even more special. Then we got about 3 inches of snow as the night grew dark and into the midnight hours. We intermittently watched the snow fall while we sat in front of a cozy fire watching the movie. It was a nice way to end a perfect holiday. The next day, it continued to snow. It was fun for the boys and me to watch what looked like cotton balls falling from the sky most of the day. It's just too bad all the snow was gone by that evening. I wish it could've stuck around a little longer. Oh well, there's a whole winter ahead of us. Maybe we'll get some more. I'd love for it to be as snowy as it was last winter. And now that Halloween and Thanksgiving are over, we are busy getting ready for Christmas...making gifts, buying gifts, decorating, etc...as I'm sure you all are as well. I can't wait to see all the family members we have coming in from out of town. I expect it to be an awesome one this year! Hope all of you enjoy a pleasant Christmas season as well. My love to you all!

Hi All! I had an interesting and fun month of October. It's a good month to be child-like, isn't it? Dan and I had a night on the town with my boss and niece. I haven't seen The Pulse that dead in a long time, but they still had good music and we had a good time. My sister was in town, which was great. She also brought a friend that I really enjoyed meeting and wish I could've gotten to know better. I bought a couple of new CDs that are both really awesome, so did Daniel. (Serj Tankian, OTEP, Reaper, Soman) Music is great for making us happy! But the biggest thing we did was have a Halloween/Anniversary party. It was a blast! Daniel spent weeks getting together a playlist that was just perfect, and we bought a couple of new decorations to go with our hundreds of others. It took us about a week or two to get them all up. We had food and played horror movies too. About half the people we invited came, so we had about 60 people throughout the night...I'm guessing. I met a couple of people that I really clicked with and hope to hang out with again. And the party didn't end until about 5:30am after starting around 8pm. That's almost a 12 hour party. The next night, we had our annual midnight trip to the graveyard in honor of Todd's macabre-ness. I couldn't get my camera to work, but a friend leant me her photos. There are several photos of the party, graveyard, and a few other things in my photo album. Go check them out here: http://aiyokunicole.myphotoalbum.com/ Also, check out the Daniel montage I put together here: http://home.comcast.net/~aiyoku/TheManyFacesOfDaniel.gif He is such a character once he puts a costume on. On the 31st, Dan and I went to dinner while mom helped Keith hand out candy and dad took Trent trick-or-treating with Bequie and Brandon. I think everyone had a nice time. Trent gave most of his candy to a friend at school that couldn't go. Isnt' that sweet? Anyway, I think I've said enough. I hope you all had a wonderful October as well. Love you much, Nic