Here we are almost mid November (well kinda) and I’m so very glad. I’m glad this week is over, I’m glad the pantry is ripped out and almost rebuilt, I’m glad stake conference is over and won’t occur again while Mike is gone (even though it was a very good mtg. It was just stinkin’ hard to keep the kids quiet and relatively still for 2 HOURS!!) and I’m glad Ammon and Allison are living here and doing so much to help me. I’m playing the Polyana game cuz I’ve been bad today and had a bad attitude.
This week has again been really busy and I think I’ve spent every spare moment on the kitchen remodel project. Thursday, Ammon and Allison were here from early till way after dark. Bless them for doing so much on my kitchen. They were back again on Saturday and again we got a fair bit done. It’s been a lot of fun, this crazy remodeling project. But I think I want my kitchen back in order so I can find things and don’t feel like I live in a disaster at all times. It’s interesting to me that when this main room of the house is in such disarray, I feel like the rest of the house might as well go to pot too.
We have had some more normal events as well this week. Michael had a B-ball game on Saturday and while they got beat (to a pulp) he played very well and scored all the points on his team. Our Halloween candy is gone and I’m so thrilled. We are all healthy, Mike is doing well in Germany, the girls all love dance and are doing good with that as far as I can tell.
We had a mouse in the basement that I saw on Friday night so on Saturday we cleaned the storage room extra well and vacuumed and all that and I set some traps. Nothing in the traps yet and no sign of mice anywhere since Friday night so we’re praying it was a rogue and that we really don’t have a mouse problem.
Well I think my brain is fried and so I’m just bouncing around from topic to topic. I am thankful for my friends and family and even the country we live in even if they are so very foolish to have elected a jerk for president. I’m sure the Lords will has been done and we must do all we can to live righteous lives regardless of where the rest of our country and the world are going.
This is a quote from the first presidency message from the Ensign of April 1942. “We again warn our people in America of the constantly increasing threat against our inspired Constitution and our free institutions set up under it. The same political tenets and philosophies that have brought war and terror in other parts of the world are at work amongst us in America. The proponents thereof are seeking to undermine our own form of government and to set up instead one of the forms of dictatorships now flourishing in other lands. These revolutionists are using a technique that is as old as the human race—a fervid but false solicitude for the unfortunate over whom they thus gain mastery and then enslave them.” And there is more to the quote but that was the thought I was having and wanted to share.
So anyway, was that election just this week? Wow it seems so long ago. I don’t think I’m making sense anymore so good night everyone. Love from Colorado.
Oh my gosh! I can’t believe I almost forgot. We also had Daniel’s second birthday this week. It was fun and he was adorable as usual.

Allison made some way fancy pancakes for election day!

Ammon and Allison got to join us to celebrate Daniels Birthday.

The mega demolition of the pantry begins.

Halaluja for November!

This weeks installment is a combined effort with Mike's comments in black and Mylinda's in red. Typing is pretty tough with this dumb brace on my arm so most of it will be in black.
Hello from the Stones and Stein! Hope this week finds you all happy and well. We are enjoying the fun of extreme kitchen make over coupled with the start of basketball season and the end of the soccer season at the Stone house. Ammon and Allison have been graciously working with Myna on the kitchen these past several days and we have some beautiful new cabinets mostly in place. Next on the list is the demise and reconstruction of the pantry and movement of the fridge and a few other items.


Well, some people might like this but I thought the cabinets were hideous so here are the before pictures and in a few weeks I'll post the after. I must say, I'm LOVIN' it so far!

The boys had a great time playing on a trampoline covered with leaves.

Michael's latest clay creation. All the kids decided this was their favorite pass time this week.

Gutting and carving pumpkins is always great fun. Due to a wrist injury, the kids were on their own this year and they did a terrific job.

The family found some time to have some fun this week as well. Amidst the normal fray of school each day, dance lessons, basketball practice and piano there was time to carve pumpkins and attend the ward chili cook off slash harvest party. There was fun had by all as they enjoyed chili and the very torturous "brownie tasting". The kids had some fun with booths and then the looting of cars - I mean trunk or treating of course - of all of their candy. Later in the week there was some amazing pumpkin carving art that the kids did on their own. Myna has tendinitis in her wrist so the kids did their own carving of necessity. I don't know exactly how I injured it but it's making life a bit difficult! I'm just glad I just have a removable brace and not a cast. I can still give baths and change diapers and do dishes etc. etc. Everyone came through the affair with 10 fingers and some very nice pumpkins.

The week culminated with a trick or treating run through the neighborhood courtesy of our backyard neighbors. The kids were so so cute and since most of our neighborhood is older people they were pretty popular and invited in and asked to come back. Then Myna and the kids had a fun chicken soup dinner with them. What a wonderful blessing these neighbors are for us. Michael had a great basketball game on Saturday. He scored more than 60% of the points and was key in preventing the other team from scoring any. And everyone enjoyed a little extra sleep with the time change for the weekend.

All in all it has been another great week of life in the Stone and Stein locations. Mike is very busy solving problems in EUCOM but still unable to compare with the work Myna is maintaining at home. We are very grateful to you all for your faith and prayers. In particular we are grateful to Ammon and Allison for the enormous amount of help in the kitchen and every where else too!

We love all of you and will share more soon. May God bless you. We will be joining all you in praying for the Lord's hand to be manifest in the outcome of the upcoming election as well - although that may well mean that this country face the consequences for the evils of our day. Thank you all for your love and prayers on our behalf as well.

The Stones

Well for this week I’ll make it short and sweet (I hope). Not much out of the ordinary happened this week. Michael started basketball on Wednesday and while his team doesn’t look to be the most talented bunch of kids, I think he will have fun. He also finished soccer this week. I must say I’m so glad it’s over for now. I am also very thankful that he was on this particular team this season. He actually loves playing soccer again. That hasn’t been the case for some time. It was a good team with good people. He has lots of new friends on the team now and I am ever so thankful that the Lord guided us in that decision this last summer. It has been a blessing for all of us.
Mike has had some good times over in Germany doing some traveling for a conference for work and got to be a victim of a bombing for a training drill that was held this weekend. He’s also been very busy with normal work stuff and always volunteering to do extra just to give him a little more to fill his time. It has been great to be able to visit with him on the webcam most days. We sure do miss him but I think we’re being helped through a lot of the grief due to prayers. Thanx all for your love and prayers.
The rest of us are all doing fine. The kids are terribly excited about upcoming Halloween parties and trick-or-treating. I’m not looking forward to big bags of temptation being all over the house for the next long time but I guess tis the season. I am so excited for Thanksgiving and our planed trip to Utah. I pray the weather will allow that. We also enjoyed a great primary program in sacrament meeting today. The kids all did a great job on their individual parts and my four primary kids along with Hans got to sing a verse on their own. It was really sweet and they got lots of compliments. There is always lots to be thankful for. Love to all, Until next week.

from Mike again

So another week gone and that means that we are about one quarter of the way through this Deployment for Mike! So far things have gone fairly well despite the ocean we are appart. The Lord has been good to us.

On Monday things were pretty normal for everyone. Mike took an exploratory adventure into the little town of Boblingen Germany to look for a German toystore that we had frequented while in Germany. Alas, they did not have the item we were looking for but it was a fun adventure all of the same. Myna and the pebbles spent a fairly normal Monday on the homefront and we enjoyed a nice Skype session to boot.

On Tuesday things were a little busier as usual. Mylinda got a babysitter so that she could leave the kids and go to Brittany's band concert. Michael's soccer practice was canceled due to weather so the whole hand off of children was much easier. The couple who babysat was great and took care of the logistics of 6 of the kids while Mylinda enjoyed the Brittany Pops Orchestra performance. Brittany is playing 4th chair in her clarinet section and loved showing her talent off.

On Wednesday things were a little more calm and preparations were made for the Thursday school day for the younger homeschoolers and a couple of days off from school for Brittany. Thursday was filled with shopping and fun phone calls from Mike to talk to the home bodies. The homeschoolers enjoyed a fun filled day of art projects, relays in PE, science projects and other school subjects with their peers. This was all followed by the grand finale on Friday when all of the kids were home, did some school, played with friends most of the afternoon and then watched "High School Musical 2" for family movie night to cap things off. Myna was up a little late with some neighborhood events she and her friend Faith across the street were dealing with but for the most part it was a tolerably good day.

Then Saturday was a great success of cleaning and scheming in the kitchen. The kitchen cupboards were thoroughly cleaned and re-organized. Then Mylinda went to work planning their destruction and replacement for a future date yet to be named. Mike had a great time shopping for Christmas gifts for Mylinda and checking in to working as a tour guide with the USO to get in some free travel opportunities.

Now it is Sunday. Mike met the local Seminary teacher today and was quickly recruited to teach for a week in November for her. I will be teaching from 0700-0740 (nice late hours for seminary) during the week of 17 November. I will probably get another week of teaching in during December. It is nice to be teaching seminary even while not in Colorado. Mylinda and the kids will have just returned from a fun evening at the Sperry Redd's home when you get this to cap off another great week.

We love you all and join with you in counting our blessings that the Lord has granted us all. We count all of you among those blessings and pray the Lord to bless you according to your faith.

Happy Birthday to Catherine

Aunnika and her lincon log creation
Sportin' his lovley hat hair
Allison made Catherine's barbie a new dress for Catherine's birthday
More Catherine Birthday

Trampoline static hair


Brittany's band concert

Report via Mike

Well, I don't know if anyone is reading this blog anymore but I will keep posting as a journal entry anyway. This week Mike got to write up our summary and I don't have any pictures so here's Mikes letter.

We Stone's thought you might like the European view of life for us this past week so I (Mike) am writing to you all from Stuttgart Germany - home of the Daimler-Benz (better known as Mercedes) company and more importantly Ritter Sport Chocolate company. For you auto enthusiasts there are also Porsche factories here.

Anyway, thanks to DSN phone connections and Skype I am able to keep up with the rolling CO Stone's exploits on a daily basis. This week was no different than most for us. School was in full force all week long with full schedules each day. Some of the high points of the week though. On Monday, all of the family went to Country Buffet for dinner using some coupons the kids had from a summer reading program - no dishes for anyone! The first real challenge was surviving Tuesday. That is the day for Soccer, Scouts, Activity Days, and Young Women for the older kids. Things went whirlwind fast but fairly smooth for everyone as Mylinda handily moved the schedule along. Wednesday was a little lighter schedule revolving mostly around piano lessons for everyone. Myna did get the kids together and head to Ammon and Allison's for a look at some cabinetry to keep things lively though. Thursday was dance class for the big girls and Michael had a carpool ride to soccer. Also, in keeping with the financial crisis of the rest of the world, the Stone's once again did a financial reality check (budget work) to find the Stone family industrial average down several hundred points - not at an all time low though. Okay, just trying to make doing the budget into a fun headline for you all. Then on Friday ,there she sits, my amazing wife, casually taking control of 7 children, 3 different dance schedules, home schooling, a birthday party, two little fellas that need their mom's attention, directions for our Alli to tend to the garden and oh by the way casually mentions that she canned 7 quarts of beans in all of that spare time she has, mowed the lawn too. I did not even mention that all of this happened while she was dealing with a terrible headache - as if the craziness were not enough.

While Myna and the kids were keeping up with that crazy schedule, I had spent the day with the USO touring the Mercedes museum - 8 stories of history dating back to 1887 or so when this Daimler guy souped up his horse carriage and Benz built a over sized tricycle and motorized it down to the speedster versions of today. Do you know that they have cars for sale in their show room that cost 500,000 Euro! Works out to 3,000+ Euro per month in payments. Then on Saturday the CO Stones did cleaning, pulled out the garden, went to soccer games, got ready for Sunday and talked to me when I returned from a USO trip to Prague in the Czech Republic. I went on a bus that left at 0100 on Sat morning and got us home again at 0130 on Sunday morning. Prague is a beautiful old city with things that date back to the 1300s still in use today and beautiful views of the city from the castle courtyard. Pictures will be coming soon.

And here we are now on Sunday. I had a fun time at church where I found some folks that know Sperry here and others who had mutual friends with me from Florida or went to my Student Ward in Logan before my mission. It is truly a small world in the church and military circles. After speaking with Myna and the kids it seems that church went okay today and all is well for them there.

I am richly blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family and to be in a safe place while I serve our country. I plead with all of you to pray for our country though and then act on those prayers. There are evil forces afoot that will ruin all that we hold dear if we do not get actively involved. Satan is working hard to gradually poison our society and us with things like gay marriage and other acts that rationalize away truths we hold dear. Please be sure to cast you educated votes in the elections this year and let's do our part to be answers to prayers to preserve the truths that keep our families safe from the forces of evil.

I heard a story today from George A. Smith. A traveler observed a city the was full of riches and lavish things and said to his guide that this city must be very righteous as he could only see one small devil there. The guide said on the contrary, this was the most wicked of places and was so bad that it only took one small devil to keep it evil. Then the traveler observed an old man laboring under a hard burden to climb up a hill. This man was surrounded by 7 huge, mean devils. The traveler observed that here must be a very wicked man to which the guide respond that this was the only righteous man in the city. The large devils were enlisted to move him from his path of righteous and for all of their size could not. Let's not be a part of the city that his being led with a flaxen cord on paths that lead far from home.

We sure do love you all and count ourselves richly blessed to be part of such a wonderful family. May the Lord bless each of us with the strength to exercise our faith as we turn to him to make our burdens light that we may be able to bear them. Love the CO and Stuttgart Stone Family.

Things are mellowing (or maybe it's just me)

We finally had our last track meet for the little ones and it was great. Everyone of them did better than last week and Michael and Allison beat their previous times by a full 2 and 3 minutes respectively! It was fun and I am glad we don't have that anymore.


Skip to Thursday, the next interesting day of the week. Catherine turned 6! She got to go to "school" and take cupcakes with her. Thanx to Ammon and Allison who were here Wed. evening and helped make the cupcakes and do some decorating. It was way too busy of a day but we still managed to have a quick little celebration opening presents and eating her beautiful barbie cake and ice cream.

Friday, after all the dance classes etc. the kids finished off Catherine's birthday celebration by watching a new Barbie movie she got.

Saturday morning we had Michael's soccer pictures, Brittany's dance, Michael's soccer game, get packed up and ready to go and we were off to Sara's for conference. We enjoyed watching the afternoon session with Sara, Ammon, and Allison and then that evening, Allison, her sister, Lauren, Sara and I went to dinner and a movie. Oh it was so nice to get out for a while.

Sunday we again watched conference had a nice lunch, watched more conference and then returned home. Did I mention we slept over at Sara's? The kids thought that was TOPS! Well Daniel was a monster all morning and then started throwing up during the first session and continued throughout the rest of the day. (I'm so sorry Sara!) We got home and had a quick dinner and now I'm coaching the kids into bed so I guess I better go be a little more involved.
We are surviving without Mike here but that's it. Not flourishing, just surviving. I don't think I can say as much for the house. My goal is that it still be standing when he returns and perhaps even be inhabitable. 1/8 of the time is gone though so Yipee for that.

Good night friends.