Jerry's 30th Year Class Reunion

Hello everyone - well, Cheryl, since we talk at least two or three times a week, you know what I've been up to. Nothing! A family reunion sounds like a great idea, but as you know it never seems to work out for everyone's schedule. Mike makes just one trip out here every year, first of July, and Steve is limited by his schedule, but I'm always here. Just waiting around for the really nice weather to get here so we can start doing the fun Seattle stuff again. I hope to have pictures soon of Jerry and Cathy's trip to Mexico with our neighbors and Pat Brady and his girlfriend, but in the meantime I thought I would add this link to pictures from Jerry's 30th year class reunion. I hope everyone is doing well and I am looking forward to seeing anyone who does make it out here this summer. By the way Mike (if you are reading this) thanks for finally responding to my invite to facebook. We'll see you this summer.

Hey everyone...what's going on??? Where is everyone??? Anybody have any interesting summer plans? Anyone going to Seattle? Anyone want to come to North Idaho, and camp for a night or two? Just let me know...it would be fun...there is river floating, food and drink all day long, (No, I don't know why we all eat constantly when we're up the river, but we do!!!) hiking, fishing if you are so inclined, bike trails...and some very pretty country side... Maybe I should plan a family reunion up there...for probably next year...see how many people we could get there...if anyone might be interested in that, just let me know...anyway, we need to get some summer plans posted on here...need to be posting more...let all your wonderful relatives know how things are going...let's see some pictures, etc!!! Talk to you all later.

Hawaii 2009

Jerry and Cathy brought home a lot of great pictures from their trip to Hawaii, and instead of cluttering up the family blog with a whole bunch of pictures, I put them all on this page on our Family Photo Album. http://www.jayjenks.com/Hawaii2009/ Enjoy!

Aloha!

We really enjoyed having Jerry and Cathy over here, and wish they could have stayed longer. Erik and Erin were especially sorry to see them leave. I'd explain the unfamiliar faces in the picture, but perhaps you've heard the old saying: "What happens on vacation, stays on vacation." And this picture is so well-posed, even our drinks are symmetrical! Anymore, more to follow, if I can just find the time...

Hi All, Thought it was time to post some new pictures...I actually had a specific order I wanted them to be in, but obviously I'm not smart enough to figure out how to do that!!! I tried to make everything nice and balanced and all of that, but just couldn't do it...so sloppy as it looks, here it is. Nick got married January 24, and all these pictures are from either rehearsal, or the wedding...No, my grandkids did not go to a wedding looking like this rag tag little group above.

Kelcie, Sydney, and Nick. That's how we do things in Idaho,make sure ya got a flower girl before you plan a wedding!!!

Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas Stinson

John and Hanna...John was the best man.....

This one is my favorite, I think...if you look at Nick's face, you will know he is never gonna be a wino!!! Apparently this was a fine California champagne, but I'm guessing Nick is thinking..."What the hell is this?"

The four of us...

Late Pictures

Okay, so I didn't quite post pictures on Thanksgiving...but it isn't Christmas yet, right?

The pictures on the left are from Thanksgiving on the Beach. The other two are from the postage stamp we call a backyard (good spot for beer and a BBQ though, with wild pigs making occasional appearances). I looked but there was no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. A real disappointment, as I could make good use of that. A pot of gold will get you pretty near a tank of gas in Hawaii. And the picture of Erin is in the backyard again; that is some sort of mix between oranges and tangerines, and as of right now, they are mighty sour.

Happy Holidays!

Well, I haven't been on here in a bit, so I thought I'd wish everyone a happy holiday season and post some new pics of the kids. As you can see they're getting big. Probably due to the popcorn and cereal that Darrius told his pre-school class we had for dinner on Thanksgiving. If we eat that grand on a big holiday, imagine what we're having on normal days! Of course, those of us that know and love Darrius are not surprised he told his class this, as he is also the little twink that told his teachers I beat his sister. Jaylani is doing excellent in school (despite the frequent beatings she's apparently getting) and gets the equivalent of straight A's. (They don't get letter grades in 3rd grade.) Hopefully she'll keep loving school as much as she does, and some of it will rub off on her brother. Keep your fingers crossed! Anyway, hope you all have a great holiday season!

Thnksgiving on the Beach

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We have been busy for the last month+ just trying to get settled in. We lived in temporary housing, a townhouse, for one month, then moved into a bigger place that we are renting for a year, before probably buying a house out here. Our first two weeks in this house, we had no furniture...all that finally came two days ago, and the house is now chatotic. So far, we think Hawaii is a great place...to visit...but think it unlikely we'd want to stay beyond the initial three years.

It seems very wierd to be celebrating Thanksgiving with temperatures near 80. Since we are just now unpacking, we are joining about 180 coworkers for a potluck Thanksgiving, on the beach?!?!? That may sound good, but again, it is a little surreal.

Since moving here, we've been using our webcam with Skype so that Erik and Erin can stay in touch with their best friends in Maryland, and it works great. I hope we can do that with any of you out there who are willing. Skype is free, and Skype to Skype calls are free, so we can have videoconferences for nothing. A pretty good deal.

Have to run, to get ready for my first Thanksgiving on the Boogie Board, so have a great day, and I'll try to post today's pictures when we get home.

Calendars for Troops

Alrighty all of you Jenksters! Tis the season to be jolly and we're shipping my calendars over seas to troops in Iraq in a care package for christmas! please please show your support and buy one from janellejenks.com!! I also know that all of you have yet to purchase one for your personal collection! I could be famous one day! haha not really but still..Happy Turkey Day and hope to see all of you soon!
Janelley Poo

eldora's visit

On October 25, Terry and Marsha Steele had a nice family get-together at their home in Edmonds. Here are some pictures of some of our cousins who were there.

Claudia and Eldora

Jeff Blaze

Joanne Beaurain

Julie Beaurain

Terry Steele

Rich Steele

Mary (Steele) Holcombe

Brad Steele

Gail (Steele) McNutt

Erin Steele

David Woodrum

Andy Steele

And, of course, Cheryl

picture of mom...

Hi guys...I have to say, I don't think that's Mom, sitting with Grandpa...if I had to guess, I would have to say Eldora...For one thing, I don't see Mom out shooting birds with a shotgun!!! And for another, if I'm not mistaken, the family left South Dakota when Mom was about twelve...when they got to Seattle, Mom immediately, (or real close to their arrival) got tonsilitis or appendicitis, or something like that, and had to have something surgically removed...and Grandpa said it was cuz they moved to Seattle...this is a story I heard from Mom...I heard a few, not alot, but a few...anybody ever hear the story about how Mom and Uncle Leroy got caught smoking??? Anyway, if you go to Mom's section of pictures on the website, you will see the young pictures of her when she was on the farm, and then there's another, titled "Mom and a friend", and that's gotta be in Seattle...

Just a nice picture of Seattle

Just a nice picture of Seattle. As usual, if you click on the image you will get the big version.

Janelle's Calendar

For anyone who may not have known, Janelle recently competed for the opportunity to appear in a Campus Girls calender to raise money for Breast Cancer Research and she won. If anyone is interested in this, you can learn more at http://www.janellejenks.com/. We hope to circulate this link as much as possible to raise some money. Also, check out her video! Thanks.

Grandpa Green and Mom?

Hi Everybody, our cousin Julie sent me this picture that she thinks is Mom and Grandpa Green on the farm in South Dakota. It looks like Mom to me too, but I wanted to see what others thought about it. It's kind of hard to tell with this small image, but if you click on it you will get a 1000x629 pixel version and you will be able to check it out better. Can't tell for sure, but it looks like they were out bird hunting. If you replace Grandpa Green with a picture of a younger guy, you might think it was Bonnie and Clyde, just back from robbing a bank.

Too Bad!

Sorry to hear about your change in plans. We were really looking forward to seeing all of you (especially Erik and Erin). Although I don't think I want to fly (too much of a hassle), you may get some other West Coast visitors sometime. We were just talking about that the other day, about how nice a trip to Hawaii would be. I'm assuming that you guys will be on the Big Island? You see how I have the local lingo down already? In place of an actual visit, here are some pictures of a recent trip down to the waterfront so that you'll remember what we all look like anyway. Good luck on your trip and with your new home.

Hawaii Move

I guess this will start sounding like a comedy of errors, but due to the inability to make anything close to a good connection out of Baltimore and then out of Seattle, and the requirement that we stick with Delta, we are going to have to go straight to Hawaii this time. I'm sorry about that, and can only hope that we get some visitors out there in the near future. Hopefully we can take advantage of free military flights to get back to Seattle soon.

Steve

What We Did Last Summer, and What We'll Do This Fall

Hello everyone,

We will be moving west, way west, in October. I can't say exactly what day it will be, because that depends on how soon we can get an appointment to pack and ship all our household goods. I requested an October 2 departure, because the school the kids will be attending in Hawaii starts its second quarter on October 13 (the school is year round, with breaks of a couple of weeks between each quarter), but that may be a little optimistic. If all goes well, we will have a firm departure date by sometime next week.

Once we have that, we will decide how we are getting there. We may 1) drive out to Seattle (government is shipping only one vehicle, we have to sell or ship the other ourselves...$2100 from here, half that from Seattle, 2) fly from here to Billings so that we can make a little Yellowstone trip, something that Jane really wants to do, and then fly from there to Seattle, or 3) if short of time, fly straight from here to Seattle for a couple of days before heading out to Hawaii.

Although October 2 may be a little bit too optimistic, I'm afraid we won't be delaying it enough to be there when Eldora visits. On the positive side, while Baltimore to Seattle is about the same as Honolulu to Seattle, from Hawaii we may be able to fly to McChord on military aircraft for nothing, compared to an arm and a leg on civilian aircraft from here.

Here are a few pictures of the kids over the summer...common theme, most everything involved water...

Cheers, and hope to see the NW Jenks's soon.

Hey everyone...the little Marine has gone to Iraq, and will be gone for 7 months, hopefully...I will be sending address and email as soon as I get them, so you can all send notes and cards, or whatever...that would be so cool, and he would love that...and also, YES, I CAN SPELL!!! I know on my last blog, you probably all made a comment about spelling "certainly", but it was a typo, not a dork that can't spell!!! So there!!!

kegger spots??? i certinly never went to a kegger when i was a younger person!!! and I believe I have to take issue with the comment about me being drunk for every picture---those pictures came out pretty good!!!

And we send you glad tidings from algona....

Hello everyone! This is the weekend that you all have been waiting for! It's Algona Days 2008! We expect a HUGE crowd, but we will hold spots for all of you on the parade route. In the meantime, here are some pictures from the week that Cheryl and Mike were out here visiting. I may get more eventually, but Cheryl was our official photographer, and she was usually drunk. The pictures are from our trip down to the waterfront and checking out the old boat show. No shots of us on the old boats unfortunately.





Chris, you're looking good. Being married must agree with you, but calendar material? Probably not. One more thing that might interest you ex-Absarokians, here are some nice pics of Stillwater River as it starts off past Nye and meanders down past all our old kegger spots and eventually meets up with first the Rosebud River, and then eventually the Yellowstone River.
and here's a little map if you need to refresh your memory. I almost forgot how beautiful it is up there!

OK...

...enough of J No's scantly clad friends...this guy needs to be put on a calendar as well.

Taken yesterday during a day-trip to Edinburgh.

Finally joining all of you fellow jenksters!

This was on my 22nd birthday...

Ohhh little Lola!! and the other one is of my and my friend from work in vegas..the blonde..we dont know the other 2 girls..but used their friends for bottle service and a free place to stay the first night since we had no room! woops! i might need to get a new liver from that trip!

Well hello Jenks family!! Its been wayyyy too long since i've seen all of you, so ill put my little world into a fairytale nut shell! Once upon a time a little girl Janelle graduated from Auburn Riverside H.S. and went on to WSU. After far too many years binge drinking and avoiding class, She ventured home to work full time and take WSU classes online. Dying of boredom in Algona (no offense), she moved to Bellevue to work at a Restaurant called Joeys and started making lots and lots of money from married douche bags searching for their trophy wife. Janelle and her newly ex boyfriend bought a little puppy together named Lola and is the love of her life...ta daaaaa thats all! The End!

Oh! On June 11th, ill be going on my first modeling photo shoot for Campus Girls USA, which is a company that raises money for breast cancer thru professional swimsuit calendars. Ill be begging all of you to buy one for $15 soon!! Alrighty well love you all!!!

Living in California Now

Hi everybody,

It has been a while since I've written anything on here (mainly because I couldn't remember my login and password combo)!!!

Well, I packed up and left the snowy/rainy ski resort and headed to Southern California to relive my college days; it's rough getting this old!

I just moved into a tiny studio apartment in Hermosa Beach about 30 baby steps to the beach. I like to believe that I am making an investment into my future by spending so much on rent, thus forcing me to work 12 hours a day just to pay for the place. It makes sense in my head...

I will get some pictures up as soon as I take some, showing a little contrast between here and my place on the ski hill.

Uncle Steve, the pictures from the East Coast look pretty cool! I wish I could get out there sometime, not near enough zeros in my bank account to do that now.

Well, I hope everyone is doing well and I will be back on more often now that I know how to sign in!

Summer in Seattle

Okay, everybody, been weeks since anyone blogged on here...k, here's the plan...or at least my plan...I am going to seattle June 14, coming home on 16th, (got a new job, hard to ask for time off on short notice) and mike will be there then, too...Steve, if you're going in July, let me know when, and maybe I can come out there for a quick weekend...unless of course, you'd like to come to idaho...in which case, i will be here. Talk to you all later...

Gratuitous Washington DC pictures

Here are a few pictures from your capital city from two separate trips. One was on the opening day of the annual Cherry Blossom Festival, and the other for no special reason that found us in the front of The House of George...Erik's future home. The picture of a building across a pond is the Jefferson Memorial.

Chris, that pepto pink was really lovely...and can you believe when I was a kid, I had that color in my bedroom!!! EEWWW!!! Cool pictures! I love castle pictures...and hey, while I'm here, is anyone planning on being in Seattle this summer? And if so, when? Could Ya let me know, Please!!!

DIY!

My dad just commented (my past castle post) on painting walls, and after reading it, I realized that most of you don't know I just bought a home. I therefore decided I would post some pics of my past DIY mishaps and current projects.

After moving in (last month), the first thing we wanted to do is paint the boring white walls a color that would match our wonderful red IKEA sofa.

Past DIY mishap:

Despite watching at least a million DIY home shows before buying our house, we decided not to paint the walls a neutral color...we went with pink:


(that's me flashing the west coast sign)

We then decided that pepto-bismol walls were a bit too eccentric, and went with a more neutral duck egg:



The next DIY project is the second bedroom. So far I've taken the carpet out, and put some insulation on the floorboards. Now all I need to do is figure out how to put these laminate floors in!



Dad...Jerry...any advice??? They're the non-glue type (click on). Do I need an electric saw (e.g., jig saw or miter), or will a hand saw do the trick?

Easter Break, as we call it here in sunny England

The blog has been quiet for some time now so I thought I'd upload some photos. Sorry Jay, no nude photos of myself.

Here's two photos from a castle (Bamburgh) we visited yesterday (one hour drive).






















Better photos and info on:

http://www.bamburghcastle.com/

Spring Break, North Carolina

Hi y'all. We made it to North Carolina. Jamestown Settlement was very interesting, but someone ?!?! put old batteries in the camera, so we didn't have it when we needed it most. These pictures are from the Kitty Hawk/Kill Devil Hills area, where we are staying. The top picture is a full-size, flyable replica of the plane Wilbur and Orville built. The marker on the top right shows the exact spot from which the plane took off. The third is a picture of the markers of the first three flights, as each one flew a bit longer (120, 150, and 175 feet, I think). Way down in the background of that picture is another marker that you can barely see in the picture. In the 4th flight of the day (Dec 17, 1903) Orville flew 852 feet, 59 seconds; unfortunately, he landed the plane upside down so they were done for the day. The other pictures are from the beach in front of our hotel...we were hoping for a little warmer weather, but as you can probably tell, we didn't get it. 48 degrees when we arrived, up to mid-50s today, and possibly up to 70 tomorrow, but after a short visit to the beach in the morning, we will be headed back home. More later...

Spring Break in Maryland

Erik and Erin are on spring break, and we are travelling a bit in Virginia and North Carolina. These pictures are from Colonial Williamsburg. Tomorrow morning we will stop by Jamestown (401 years old!) on the way down to North Carolina, where we will be staying near Kitty Hawk. Erik and Erin are keeping journals, so I will try to publish them to the blog, spelling errors and all. Hope all are well, and more tomorrow...

Life's Little Mysteries

Hello Everyone! The picture above was Matthew's living quarters during his time at Stevens Pass. Beautiful country up there, right next to Lake Wenatchee, and some of the photos in the link below show a little Luge run he and his friends put together that runs from one of the adjacent houses down to the lake. Even with this incredible entertainment, for some reason, Matthew decided to trade that in for better living arrangements down around Malibu. He will be looking for work and hanging out with old friends down there, and who knows how long he'll be there. He wasn't sure about the Internet connection in the place where he would be staying, so he's somewhat out of touch right now, but will be back online soon, I'm sure. Here are more pictures from Steven's Pass Pictures
Anyway, everything else around here is going well, no big changes, no big news. Just sitting around waiting for Spring!

Great Job!

Hi everyone - Been a while since I posted a message, so I thought I should post something. In my defense, I'm kind of old so not much new and exciting happens for me. I did find a long-lost Bruce Springsteen CD the other day. That was a pretty big day! Great video of the budding musicians! That's the kind of stuff I love to see on this blog. And happy belated birthday to Erin. I knew it was your birthday and I had it marked on my calendar, but sometimes my calendar and I lose touch with each other.

I thought I would share this picture I found that shows how much the Seattle skyline has changed since we were young'uns. I always tell people that I remember well when the Smith Tower was the tallest building in Seattle, and newcomers find it's hard to believe. Of course I know that this might open me up to some of Chris's old-timer jokes, but that's all right. You can click on the picture to get a larger version.Here is a brief Seattle PI article about the best places to view Seattle from, in case anyone is ever in the area. I have been up in both the Columbia Center and Smith Tower. The Columbia Center offers a much better view of course, but the Smith Tower is pretty cool because they have kept inside looking much like it probably did back in the 1930s http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/visitorsguide/entry.asp?ID=12

I also have another link to share for Janelle. She is trying to get selected to be in a calendar and win a free trip. This link is not R-rated or anything, of course, but probably not for young kids either. Vote early and vote often! She is in the bottom row. http://campusgirlsusa.com/finalists.php

Valentine's Day Serenade

Here is a little music to soothe your souls on Valentine's Day...big day for Erin, it is her birthday and Valentine's Day!

WamBamALam

Predicting the future in a very Nostradamical fashion(can I say that?), my wedding will be filled with dancing dwarfs (no, not my wife's family) and Swedish supermodels as bridesmaids... or are they additional brides??? Either way, it's going to ROCK guest's tuxes and gowns off; a little like our birthday bash at the local pub this year, but much classier. That's the thing about us Jenks folk, we consistently bring class, sophistication, and a dollop of delight to any occasion.

And Christopher Joseph, I've been checking my mail up here on a daily basis and must have somehow missed my plane ticket to England. I'm sure you can print another one and send it my way again, it was probably misplaced by one of several buffoons I work beside prior to my reception. I checked just now and it seems the $1162 minimum price during summer months is a little out of my price range, being that I will soon be defaulting on my school loans at this peasants wage.

And, once he begins adding to the news updates, I want to say that I'm happy for Nick on spawning another member within the Jenks Military Corps! We need all the bodies we can get. Janelle and I have successfully laid siege to Algona and much of Pacific over the past few years, and recently make significant progress on the Supermall and adjacent businesses.

Man I am bored at work, can't you tell?

My 7th Grandchild

Not a real good picture, but this is Sydney Olivia Stinson...

born Jan 29, 2008, in the evening, 6#, 2 oz, 18.5" long...

Her parents are Nick and Kelcie...I haven't gotten to hold the lil bundle of joy, cuz Mother Nature has other thoughts...Sydney was born in Newport, WA which in good weather, is only an hour away, but in the latest weather, it would take forever!!! Nick is still in San Diego, trying to figure out if he can come home or not, and apparently, just giggling like a girl!!! I spose that's something he will have to know how to do later in life!!!