Just a Quick Note

I just had to quickly let y'all know that we hope to get back to the blog again soon. We are recovering from The Great Computer Crash of December 13th! After 10 days, our friend determined that we were better off putting $ into a new computer rather than trying to fix our old one. So, we have a new computer, but still have lots to do to re-install programs and documents and data and all. The Christmas letter will hopefully get done during this next week and we will get a little more normal again.

But we ARE still here! Aloha!!

Your Wish is My Command!

So Valerie wanted to be in three of my posts in a row, so the genie grants her this wish! (I had fun granting Marci's wish the other day when she hadn't heard the flamingo song) It's the season for giving, right?!
We arranged with the DC temple for Teagan and Talmage to join a group doing baptisms. We offered Shan as additional priesthood help and off we went, dragging Val's crew too!
We tried to get the kids all here at the same time, with pleasant looks on faces, but it just wasn't happening!
Staci gets a little practice at tour guide for Caroline. They both enjoyed the home display in the visitors center.
Tanner and Seth enjoy the displays.
Talmage and Teagan, ready to enter (and hopefully find some cute girls from Pennsylvania!).
"Aunty Balerie, Caroline went in there."
Six of the seven all content in some shade on the temple grounds. James took the older kids on a little nature path, too. They were pretty patient while Teag & Talm got their temple experience!
"Sydni, you push it like this and it lights up."
Tanner and Rachel fit so perfectly under this beautifully arching tree! Their own little space.
The kids were pretty good in the lobby of the distribution center while we adults took turns going in for necessities.
Only missing Shan in this one! Sydni didn't like being there at first, but I think everyone else did. James went on a mercy mission and found the makings for a great picnic lunch. We had just started eating when Shan, Teagan and Talmage joined us again. Thanks again, James & Val, for being great hosts when we were in your neighborhood!

S&T Historical Part 3 - the Zoo!

One problem I haven't solved yet in Blogger is when I remember where more pictures are after I have already done most of the post! Guess where these semi-happy little girls are?
We sent Teagan to see what he could see of the famous pandas, and this was all he could see, after fighting his way through a thick holiday crowd.
Brad enjoys the mist - AHHHHHHHHH! Now the beginning of the original post!
In order to get to the National Zoo, we got to ride the subway -- quite the feat for a family of 8, but we were able to do that a couple of times.
At the zoo, we met up with Val and James and kids and Dad and Brad! It was so bright and sunny that we took as many chances in the shade as we could.
No surprise -- Brad quickly renewed his special ways with Sydni and Staci. Here they are tickling him -- I think he was a bit tired of it by the end of the day.
Brad points out the hippos to Syd & Stace.
Rachel helps Grandpa figure out where to go next with Eliza while Seth wishes his Dad would cast a bigger shadow - the bottle of water wasn't enough.
Teagan works his magic on girls of all ages -- I don't think Carrie appreciated his charm enough.
Eliza, Seth, Tanner and Taggart loved watching the birds -- trust me, they LOVED it, even if they don't LOOK like it!
OOOooooohhh! Flamingoes! I've excluded other pictures of the animals, but this one introduces the next pic:
Seeing flamingoes meant Val and I had to sing "Mister Stand on One Leg." Got a couple of funny looks (not all from our kids, too), but sometimes you've just gotta sing! I think Val's kids thought I was the weirdest aunty they have -- always singing goofy songs and trying to make them laugh--especially Seth, since he wasn't feeling his best that day.

We didn't last the longest, and didn't see the pandas (too long of a line to get there and apparently not easily seen that day -- they were taking the Memorial Day off too!), but we had fun being together!

S&T 2008 Historical Part 2

With all the rest of the Krumps gathering this past week, here are the missing two of us and our families from this past May:

We arrived in the late afternoon and got to head right over to "Aunty Balerie's house", as Staci and Sydni say! After 13 hours of travel, our kids were anxious to stretch their legs and get out the wiggles! (After Staci got the chance to wake up!) Caroline also needed a chance to get used to this huge clan of invaders!
Talmage, Eliza, Rachel and Tanner go off into the woods!
Syd & Stace tooka few minutes to wake up and warm up, but were glad to play on the slide!
What a great yard to run and play in! Even Teag couldn't resist climbing on the play equipment! It was similar to ours at home, so they got comfortable fast!
Tag and Seth were buddies pretty fast, too!

I bet we helped make Val's house WAY louder than the neighbors were used to, but then, we have that effect lots of places. (Like their ward on that Sunday when a noisy little Staci girl didn't want to share her crayons and had to be taken out during the sacrament -- yelling all the way "I don't WANT you! I want my DADDY!!" -- we entertained their ward for the week instead of ours!)

S&T 2008 Historical Part 1

Way back in May, we took this trip to Washington DC. I have hesitated putting too much detail about the trip and why we went because we were blog-stalked early last year and I haven't really wanted to put the full security on here. So we'll stay a little vague, but still give you a glimpse at the once-in-a-lifetime family trip!Just the boys on the steps of the Supreme Court. Certainly one of them will return someday to argue a case before them or to serve on the Court. Given the picture of Tanner, I pity anyone going up against him!
While we were at Val's for a couple of days, we finally got to watch the second National Treasure movie (thanks, Netflix!). Thus, we had to have a picture of the Library of Congress building! I think even Talmage could find enough reading material there without having to re-read books!
From the steps of the Capitol, we could look down the Mall and get this pic of the Washington Monument! We were grateful for our fellow tourists who were very patient with our clan and worked hard to get everyone looking roughly the same place at the same time!
This is the back side of the Capitol -- before we got around to the front.
Yep, they are saluting the sun! You'd think we didn't ever see it where we live! Lots of coaxing to keep the girls looking the right place and the boys with their hands down! We also had LOTS of comments about our matching apparel. At least it was easy to know who was with us!
But we did kind of get one eventually! This picture was featured in the paper during the Fourth of July weekend in their travel section. Since the paper was one of our sponsors for this trip, we were happy to allow them to use it. Lucky we live Hawaii!

These were the highlights of our wandering tour after the first day of official Bee activities. More of all that soon!