Happy Holidays

Hello all,
It has been awhile since I have been able to get on, just wanted to catch you all up on what is going on. I recently got inducted into the National Honor Society at school Phi Theta Kappa. The parents were so happy. Ya for me only 19 more days and I will done until March when I go after my Bachlors in Social Work. Then I am taking some serious time off. I recently got promoted at work.YA! it's about time i got paid for puttin up with all the crap at work...lol. So life has been pretty good lately. Had Thanksgiving for me, Keith and Soleil at home. The other kids were with their mother. It was really nice. Went up to grams and took the rest of the pumpkin rolls. Aunt Denny was trying to keep them away from me, the nerve of that woman....lol. Went to bed early that night, had to get up at 1am to get ready for shopping. A friend and I started out to Gaylord at 2:30am, got to Kohls when they opened at 4am. Can you believe no one is open for breakfast at 3:30am????LOL So we started our shopping there and ended up getting back to Onaway around 2pm. It was great. I really put a hurting on the checkbook. I don't think the kids are going to be hurting for gifts. Lucky turds. Although my check book is still hurting and will until I get paid again, so much for the mortage....LOL
Hey Shani, sorry about not calling you back the other night, got wrapped up with somethings. I am mailing another gift out for you and Destiny. I will send it to Mammoth because I have yet to get your Utah address.
Hey Brand, see if I come out to the lake and visit with you guys again. To much work with all the wood. Just kidding I had a great time visiting with all of you. Give Riv and Ash hugs and kisses, the girls and I miss you guys.
Josh i love this, it let's us all keep in touch with one another instead of fifty differant e-mails.

Take care all and we will talk again soon! Jeanie

Rogue vs. Bison

So I know a lot of you heard about our mishap at antelope island yesterday.  Rogue got gored in the right hind quarter by a bison (or buffalo?).  We tied Pete's sweatshirt around his hips and had him walk out and took him to the vet.  He had surgery last night and they sewed his muscle and skin back together.  pete and I picked him up this morning and he's sleepy and sore but doing good.  So the furiest member of the Foeller family survived a close call.  Just want everyone to know he's ok.  Shani

Hi scattered family

Happy Thanksgiving all.  I missed everyone.  I hope everyone had a nice time.  I pinned my mom down for two seconds to write a message, so here she is.....xoxo

Buddy, Uncle John and I are excited to hear your coming home for Christmas.  I WILL get your mom on the site so please reinvite us so I can use my own site.  Happy Thanksgiving to Eve, Terry, and Jeanie and all the family in Onaway. We'll keep you posted on dates for spring break at Shani and Petes. Hi big Andy and Sue in Petoskey.  We'll see you on the 18th.  Jonna put some pictures of the kids on (I'll help-shani).  Darby please post a picture of you and Joey.  Thanksgiving was nice here at Pete and Shani's.  Pete's dad, stepmom and brother came along with some new friends.  Pete's dinner was incredible.  I'm looking forward to everyone seeing how beautiful it is here in Utah. Darby, I know you're from here and Joey had a chance to visit.  Andy and Andi, didn't you take a trip through here?  We are heading out for a hike on Antelope Island and then down to the city for the Christmas world market and lights.  Tomorrow we'll go see Pete train at his gym and then drive up into the Park City area to check it out.  We'll be seeing some of you soon in Oregon.  Love you to infinity.  Cathie and John

Happy Thanksgiving from Utah

Merry Thanksgiving Everyone!

I hope everyone is safe, warm, and full of food! I miss everyone. I'll be enjoying some turkey with Steve and Rommel today, so it'll be fairly low-key in comparison to Thanksgivings past.

Don't forget to watch our Lions upset the Titans today at 12:30. It could totally happen.

Love,
JoshJPants

Hi and hello from Corvallis

Hi Everyone,

I was just browsing what everyone has posted and this is such a good idea! I know I haven't met all of you yet, but I look forward to getting to know all of you. I just wanted to say hi real quick from all of us - Me, Joey, Ocean, Raine and Layke. We don't have internet at home so we rely on the library and my work.

We are all doing very well. Joey recently finshed his appreniceship with a record breaking high score on his final (I'll brag for him because I know he wouldn't) and is now working on a school in Silverton, I'm the Activity Director at an assisted living facility, and the holidays keep me crazy busy. The kids also keep busy: Ocean is in Ballet and Indoor Soccer, Raine is in Karate, Layke is in Gymnastics. They all just got done playing outdoor soccer. Other than that Raine recently had a birthday and lost both of his front teeth, Layke can't stop talking about her new crush, and Ocean is trying to stay caught up on her homework.

I have lots of cute pictures but I thought I'd share a recent one that may just be my favorite

Joey made me a birthday cake, and the kids really enjoyed it

Hope everyone is doing well, we miss you all and can't wait to see you soon - some sooner that others!

Darby

HEY GUYS

HELLO PEOPLE, ITS TAKEN ME A LITTLE WHILE TO FIND TIME TO WRITE ON THIS BLOG, I AGREE GREAT IDEA, AS YOU ALL KNOW I RECENTLY HAD A BABY BOY, RAUMULAS JOSEPH ALLEGRETTO,BORN OCTOBER 10TH, 9LBS. 12 OZ., THE LARGEST BABY BORN AT MAMMOTH HOSPITAL! WE THINK HES GOING TO BE A BIG GUY, HES ONLY 6 WEEKS AND WEIGHS 14 LBS. AND IS WEARING 3-6 MO. CLOTHES, HES JUST BEAUTIFUL, AND WE CALL HIM RAUM-BO. 

LIFE IS GREAT, FIGURING OUT HOW TO BE A MOMMY, IVE TEMPORARILY TRADED IN MY PASSPORT AND SURF WAX FOR DIAPER BAGS AND FORMULA, WE HOPE TO CONTINUE TO LIVE OUR LIVES JUST WITH RAUM AS THE NEW ADDITION, WE HOPE TO GO TO PERU WITH HIM THIS SUMMER COMING, HE HAS ALREADY BEEN TO INDONESIA SURFING AT 4 MOS (PREGNANT) I THINK HE ENJOYED IT!

NICK AND I STILL LIVE IN MAMMOTH LAKES CA, AND FOR NOW THIS IS HOME, WE HOPE TO EVENTUALLY MAKE A MOVE BUT LIFE IS GOOD HERE. 

JUST TO GET THE IDEA OUT THERE, NICK AND I ARE PLANNING ON GETTING MARRIED IN ABOUT A YEAR FROM NOW, WE ARE HOPING TO GO TO HAWAII, SO I DON'T HAVE EXACT DATES BUT WOULD LIKE TO GET YOU THINKING, GREAT EXCUSE TO GO TO HAWAII, I HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE ,YOU'LL BE THE FIRST TO KNOW.

ANYWAYS, RAUM IS WAKING UP, I MUST GO FOR NOW, MISS YOU ALL DEARLY, 

LETS MAKE AN EFFORT TO KEEP THIS GOING, LOVE YOU D

WHAT DO YOU 8 FOELLER KIDS THINK OF EXCHANGING NAMES FOR XMAS? COULD BE FUN? 25$ GIFT LIMIT, I KNOW EVERYONE IS BUSY, BUT WE MUST MAKE TIME FOR EACH OTHER, LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK? 

Snowing in Michigan

Shani - i'm glad the praise the lord thing is working for you. Chad will think long and hard about moderating my swear words in the future (but I do have to say my swearing is down considerably). So are my daughters beautiful or what? River is turning 11 in two days - she is an amazing person - and now I know what my parents must have had to deal with with five kids. It is getting cold here and snowing in bits and pieces. We were up north over the weekend and Dad and Uncle Chuck DID NOT let the free labor go to waste (we made them pay in beer - heavily). We raked an acre of leaves and the guys cut down 4 trees - which I had the pleasure of stacking - my arms still hurt. I laugh when people ask how I got started racing triathlons - I tell them i've been ready since I was little - I would swim all day, my gram would pay me a dollar to mow an acre of lawn and I would ride my bike 4 miles round trip to buy some candy. This was weekend was also opening for deer hunters so Riv got traumatized on the way down state by all the dead deer strapped to the vehicles we were passing. Lots of fun, no doubt. I hope everyone is hanging in there.....

I hate computers

I'm struggling to add photos (last of the computer illiterate)... My Mac is actually an expensive typewriter.  No way.  I got it. Praise the lord (that's been working out for me brandy - thanks).  The two pictures of Pete are from Jeremy Horns Fight Night (it was my birthday and he won in 1 minute 8 seconds so that was nice) and a grappling tournament at his gym.  He made the throwdown fight team and he's doing his first Throwdown fight here in SLC on Feb 7.  Speaking of fight night - his Oregon fight is in Bend on the 13th of Dec. for everyone going I figured we'd drive over there Sat. morning and I want to get a room at a hotel with a pool for the kids, Brenna is really is excited to go, so I guess I can't chicken out.  The other house pictures are: from my backyard- it makes me feel less suburban and still in the mountains.  I'm struggling with the whole minivan, mom pants thing (by the way I dont have either).   Also, out front with Rogue and Lucky, at home with Lucky getting comfy on grandpas lap and me and Rogue at Snowbasin (our closest resort - which reminds me of A-basin - its nice to have left Mammothwood for the riding purposes anyway).  This is the first time in 16 years that I wont be riding (maybe a few spring days) so if you love me please don't mention powder days.  Just wanted to say hi quick.  I miss all yall.  Take care. Love Shani

Greetings from Alexandria!

Josh this is such great idea. I hear North Carolina is a great state. Love the photos you posted.

It is good to hear from everyone. Congratulations to Destiny and Shani. 

I am in Alexandria, VA. It has been a bid crazy since finishing grad school, and I just started a new job at Conservation International as a Graphic/Photo Coordinator. It is great I can do design, photo, and help the environment. 

I am getting my own place finally, and moving in today. If anyone wants to visit feel free. Word on the street is that I could make good $$ if I rent out my place when Obama gets into office in January. 

I should get packing. Hope everyone is well! Later, Karen ;-)

A Trip to Kings Mountain

So we managed to visit the Kings Mountain National Military Park on Saturday. I had wanted to go to Cowpens as well, but we ran out of daylight. (Some pictures and information on the battle are here: http://www.nps.gov/kimo/) Kings Mountain might not have the grandeur of larger battlefields like Gettysburg and Antietam, but it possesses an undeniable beauty of its own. Here are some pictures I took of the ridge where the fighting took place and a couple of the monuments:

After touring the park, we hiked up to the top of nearby Browns “Mountain.” Although it doesn't measure up to the real mountains of western NC, it was still a nice day trip. Unfortunately, I thought it would be a good idea to wear my sandals, so my ankles are currently destroyed with some painful sprains. Oh well. A view from the top:

Another bit of fun: We went to the Dropkick Murphys show last night. As soon as I take a picture of my black eye, I will post it here and give you all some details on the concert.

Hello Josh this is aunt cathy and aunt eva, hey josh the one thing that aunt cathy is happy about and this is of course political at least with Obama in Nancy won't be running the house. Seeing your dad and mayle at black lake i don't know if you have chucks e-mail or not it is XXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Wish we were back at your dads property for one more night without being the run. Everyone is going to Shani's for Spring Break so make plans to meet us out there. Fill you more in later on that. Can't wait to see you lots to talk about, will blog you from the lake on Wedesday night. Love aunt cathie and aunt eva

Hey All

Hi, Josh what a wonderful idea and thanks for inviting me. So just to let you all in on what has been going on in the past little while. God knows we don't see each other enough! We really need to meet at least once a year at someone's house for a few days and catch up. Anyone got any ideas?????
Ok so on to my lovely life. As most of you know I have been taking care of my brothers lovely children for the past 15 months. Gee I didn't know raising a teenager would be so much fun, otherwisse I would have had them first. Let's see I am currently taking care of Amber 15, Desi 11, and Soleil 7 (which is my lovely daughter). Gary my brothers son, stays with my mom and dad (poor boy...jk) We won't know for sure until we go back to court next week if they are going to stay with us until they are 18, again, aren't I a lucky person. I love my neices very much, but I am the first to tell you "raising a teenager is like nailing jello to a tree". Soleil is active in Cheer America, she has been doing this for like 4 years. Loves it. Desi is also a cheerleader for our pee-wee football team. And Amber who is like the most uncordinated person I know is trying out for cheerleading for basketball. OMG what am I going to do??????LOL Other than that they are great.
As for me personally and my sanity I lost it a long time ago, but I will try and give you all a brief update. I am still at my same job that I have been at for the past almost 8 years as a Customer Consultant. I aslo work on the weekends at out local drug store, I am President of the PTO and I volunteer in the summer for Little League (thanks to uncle clark) I will be done with my Associates Degree FINALLY in December (next month). I also managed to get invited to join the Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society. So needless to say I am very busy. Oh and I finally learned how to cook. YA for the kids, they are no longer starving....jk (they know how to use the microwave). On a lighter side of things. Keith and I have decided to take a break from each other. Just alot going on. All is well though and we remain really close not only for Soleil, but for us as well. So it is now an all girl house....aaaaahhhhhhh stop the madness..........No really all is well. The girls help with cleaning and things like that! They do keep me on my toes though. Thank goodness for texting. They all have cell phones to keep in touch with me.

So that is it in a nut shell. Can't wait to talk with everyone.

Keep this going, it's a great idea

Brand I will see you this weekend. The girls can't wait to see River and I can't wait to see you and Ash. I am thinking we will see you on Saturday! Pop the wine!

Miss you guys! Take care Jeanie

Live From Michigan!!! It's 3am

Yeah - it's 3am and far from not having gone to bed i'm up after giving the baby her bottle and as often happens can't get back to sleep and so the ramblings that normally go through my head and get filtered out from sleep will probably now find a place here. So I race and I love it and many of you know the start of my racing came at a very dark time in my life and really these races helped saved my sanity and helped restore much of my self esteem. What some of you may not know is that at my third race during the swim I had a God experience - literally held in His hand. It took until a few miles on the bike to fully process what had happened, but when it did I was pretty much blown away. Basically it was not words but more of a mental awareness that the buoyancy was His hand and the knowledge that he literally has me and supports me - GOD TOLD ME TO GO FOR IT!!. It's been pretty powerful over the last couple years and it's easy to forget how much we are all loved. I try to be a good person, sometimes I slip, sometimes better than others, but I am aware that my girls are watching me so i'm quite motivated. Which brings me to last night, and a few other instances that amazingly, Chad has pointed out. When I get frustrated I may say Damn it or Jesus Christ. Chad brought up that this is in direct contrast to what i'm trying to do and maybe I should say Praise the Lord. Now I know he meant it as a joke, but for the next little bit when I get upset that's what he'll be hearing.

It's amazing sometimes when you start to notice a theme over the period of a few days or weeks, you'll come across some inspirational saying or just encounter a person who directly speaks to issues you may be working on. When I was in Jamaica my Dad sent me with a book on Lance Armstrong which was published back in 2000 before all of his wins and focused on his cancer and recovery (and directly pointed out something I had been mistaken on so I stand corrected). Lance points out he is agnostic but became spiritual at the point in his life when recovering - and more so after. He has a passage about how being human is the bravest thing we will ever do because we all know, ultimately, the result. Just getting up every day and keeping going in the face of our imminent death shows the power of hope. And then yesterday on the way to Connie and Gerry's I came across this:

"Courage is not easy to come by. Confronted with the brutality of the world around us, we need courage to even sustain hope, to believe that if humans can be cruel, we can also be noble, civilized and strong - that good is at least as powerful as evil."

Well, i'm smart enough to see a theme here - and I guess it's what i'm spiritually supposed to be working on right now. Joey, you are one of my favorite people when it comes to this, because you understand how important it is for all of us to fight evil (1House I love you). "Where 2 people gather in my name, there i AM".

And I know you all love me - which is the best that all of us can do. Saint John would drive his disciples nuts because he would constantly say "Love one another. Love one another." Frankly they grew tired of hearing it. And when asked by one of his disciples why he went on and on about loving one another he said: "It is the Lord's own commandment, and if you do nothing else, this one is enough."

So, for today, Love one Another. Know that I love you. Know that whatever spiritualty you hold dear we are all held in the creator's hand and that we are loved.

I'm going back to bed.

liiiive! from Portland

wow...great to hear from every1. Grats on the new and upcoming babies! Should we start a snowboarding camp and try to dominate the snowboarding world? My poor parents.....1 of these days we'll get around to it. And Kris, congrats to you and Angel on your lasting relationship and upcoming wedding....getting married can be fun and does create another bond....maybe we'll try and make it back to Michigan in June.

Shani, you and Pete are always welcome to stay with us in Portland (and that goes for every1). We have a futon in the living room that makes a good bed.....we're still stuck in an apartment :( but we are starting to look for a house again (prices have just been so silly but theyre coming down big time).

Brandy, think its cool that you are running in these competitions. Try and find a race in Oregon. We have a Mt Hood to the coast run every year that we should look into....i'd run it with you.

I'm just recovering from an evil cold that I just gave to Andi....we're such babies when we're sick. Andi is doing really good. She is still working as a web developer and in her free time she's making all kinds of glass thingys (pendants, beads, marbles...and other things I probably shouldnt mention)....and she's teaching glass classes as well. She's had a couple of shows this year. The last one was in Lincoln City on the coast and she has one in Portland over Thanksgiving....fun times.

I messed up and got a legitimate job. I'm teaching Adult Education at Portland Community College. I have 2 classes....one is for low level learners who can barely read or write and one is for people who dropped out of school and want their GED. It's a lot of fun with minimum behavior problems...I get to teach instead of babysitting. The women bring me food too!
I'm still planning on going down to northern California every summer for a month to help TJ with the grape vines....

I see Joey, Jonna, and all the kids every so often. We had a picnic about 6 weeks ago. I go hiking or backpacking with Joey about once a month. His new girl Darby is all smiles and treats him good....the kids love her.

peace
Andy

denver whaa??

hello everyone, it's been a long time since i've seen/spoken to any of you. angel just put a sweater on and thinks it looks a bit milfy, but i'm encouraging her to go for it. me and angel are living in downtown denver in an old building thats a bit run down but it has tons of character, including a great balcony that overlooks the city scape. we have a 2 year old black cat named turkey that will kill your face if he doesn't know you. **NEWS** since we've been dating longer than most marriages last we decided to give marriage a shot. we plan on tieing the knot the weekend of jan. 9, 10, 11 in las vegas. everyone is welcome except for our immediate family. and this ain't gonna be no PG event so if you are coming you may want to make arrangements for the little ones. there is also going to be family parties in MI next June. if you're interested in either let us know. thats really the only big news we have.
hope you are all well and congratulations destiny and shani i always knew you'd be great kid makers.
by the way my computer has a nasty virus that is probably attacking your hard drive right now...good luck with that.

much love Krock and milf sweater

Hey Karen...

Long time no talky talk... We never did manage to say hello while we were both in Ohio. (I assume you are elsewhere these days?) I made you an admin. Maybe you can use your skills to make our blog look pretty. I say go nuts.

Cheers to all,

Josh J Pants

What time is it?!

So it's Saturday morning and i've been up since about 5:30 through no fault (well maybe) of my own. These little kids of mine prefer not to sleep - even if I decided to have a couple of beers the night before. It's a busy time of year for our family - and just getting back from Jamaica (I got to race and my first ocean swim race!) only makes it seem busier. Ashly was baptized last weekend, Riv's birthday is on the 20th., Thanksgiving, Xmas and then Ash's birthday. Regardless of busy-ness - so much kid stuff at the same time makes for a money hemorage. Josh - happy you are mountain biking - maybe you can teach River how NOT to do a complete flip over the handlebars and gash her eye open? And now she wants a pogo stick for Christmas?? I don't think so. My current pursuit of contests is an adventure race in Scotland - I picked Josh, AJ and my Dad for teammates if they pick us (Pete I would have included you too, but residents of CA and UT - go figure- are not eligible. What's up with the CA and UT haters? I ran 6 miles with Ashly in the jog stroller yesterday - I wish I had some running buddies down here -my Dad is good but he runs so fast when i'me pushing the stroller and I try to keep up that it looks like i'm having a stroke. We're going to Connie and Gerry's for Gerry's b-day tonight. I guess that makes me the designated driver.

Hey There Everyone

Great post Shani! Thanks for the emails. I've invited more friends and family, so hopefully they will post here soon. Shani and Andi, you should be able to invite other people as well.

Brief update on me: I'm now living in Charlotte with my hetero lifemate Steve. I made the insane decision to flee Columbus after three hellish years in grad school. I have yet to find a real job, but I've been having fun mountain biking (just two hours from Pisgah!), playing disc golf, brewing beer (it tastes absolutely awesome b.t.w), and traveling. I hope to go to Kings Mountain and Cowpens battlefields in South Carolina tomorrow. I'll post some pics.

Hey Andi, I see you lurking over there...Where's the update? Where are some good pics?

Cheers to all,

Josh J Pants

Hi from California

Hi everyone.  Josh, great idea.  Hopefully everyone makes time in their busy lives to keep in touch.  Pete and I bought a house in Utah and are mostly moved in but right now we are in Mammoth with Destiny, Nick and the new basketball player I mean baby.  Pete and I will be in Oregon for a bit in December.  Pete has a pro fight there on December 13th.  Exciting and a bit scary.  Although doing surgery on trauma patients makes me realize that black eyes and stitches isnt really hurt so I guess you've gotta encourage people to do what they love.  Looks like we'll get to see abunch of Foeller's there.  Another bit of news for anyone who hasn't heard yet, Pete and I are having a girl (not twin baby boy huricane Petes but a sweet gentle girl - am I jinxing myself?).  She's due March 1st and I think we are naming her Kendall Scarlett.  Anyway, thats the latest big news.  Lets here everyones top 3 big news stories how about. Next... Love Shani

These days the people I love are spread so far apart...

I know that our insatiable wanderlust has pulled us all to the four winds, but this blog should be a pretty easy way for us all to keep in touch. Let’s all make an effort to post here from time to time. Silly stories, gossip, and pictures are strongly encouraged. (Mothers, and there are so many of you now, please note: it is really easy for you to add pictures of the kids to the blog.) Will those of you with other Foeller emails please send them to me? I want to make sure everyone gets invited.

How about something easy to get us started: Who did you vote for and why?

Or slightly less political: What else did you do today?

Cheers,

Josh J Pants