Hi again everyone,

It's been a while since we have taken the time to sit and write in our journal, but we decided that since it's been over a year that we should probably bring whoever takes the time to read this page, up on the new developments in our life.

Well first and foremost, we have moved into our new home on April 7, 2000. It was a very busy and hectic day. We were excited about moving into our own home, but it was really disappointing that much of the final details still had not been completed on the home at closing. Therefore, we had to endure contractors coming in and out for the next couple of weeks. Our first year in our home has been relatively uneventful; no tornados, or anything like that, although we did have a little skunk invite himself to move into our yard for a couple of days (glad he/she decided to move on). Since we had just moved in around Janay's birthday, we decided to delay her party until after the new school year had begun and she had an opportunity to meet some new kids. We did finally have her birthday/slumber party on September 29th & 30th (see Photo Album for pictures of that event).

Barb started another job in January 2000 after having to work for a somewhat psychotic dentist for about 4-5 months. Had a little problem trying to collect her final paycheck, but after a visit to the Oklahoma Department of Labor, we finally recieved her earned wages. For those of you who remember Barb as timid and reserved, you would be shocked by the transformation taking place in her life. She has become very outspoken and assertive, something that I am proud of. She now works for a dentist not far from our house (about a 5-10 minute drive). She has a decent salary and enjoys her job much more now. With the relocation of our home and Barb's job, we also decided to relocate the kids daycare to a more promixmal location. Kimmie started Kindergarten this year, and goes to school from 12:15pm until 2:45pm. Janay is now in 8th grade. Marcus is getting bigger, and we are working on his being "better". He walks around trying to run everything, and daddy has to set him straight.

Victor was required to go TDY (a business trip for the non-military minded) for about two months, leaving Barb and the kids all alone in a strange house and neighborhood. But I am happy to say that they all pulled together to keep things in order while Victor was gone. They even endured some scary weather with some tornado "warnings". Of course whenever Victor goes out of town, the car is sure to breakdown, leaving Barbara to have to arrange towing and repair of the car. She did a great job!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and are planning on having a similar Christmas. We have decided to limit commercial influence on our holiday experience and focus more on the reason that we celebrate Christmas. Of course the kids are not too excited about that, but we feel it is necessary because of all that they have. Most of you may know that Barb and Victor have a birthday approaching, which November 27th for Victor and December 4th for Barbara. No need for gifts, just a call or card would be nice.