2005

 

 

 

The Wood family wishes you ALL a

 

 

 

                     Leslie

 

 

Requesting Pictures

I am working on a Family DVD and would appreciate any pictures, especially of Grandpa Gil. There is space available on my website

http://groups.msn.com/DeanFamilyScrapbook/friendsampfamily.msnw

 

Thank you!

Audrey

Lynn

 Lynn has been in bed since yesterday morning after a bad spell and
has kept the oxygen on.  Carlos stayed with him last night till about 3 am
this morning till someone else got up/  They have him on some other
medicine with the mophine which makes him drowsey.  Carlos sounds ok now
but was shocked at first of the week.  Love Mom Darlene

Greetings from London

 

I received an update from Greg.  He's entertaining to read whether you know him or not, so I'm posting his letter here to share with everyone.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Well, I've been living in Europe now for three weeks, and I can hardly believe it. It seems like only a few days ago I was living in a hotel in little ol' Chertsey wondering when the time would come when I would have a flat all my own to go home to every night. Oh, wait a second, it was a few days ago that I was wondering that. That's right, I got to live in a hotel for TWO WEEKS! For those of you that haven't tried it, I don't recommend it. The novelty of having my bed made for me every morning is now completely gone.

I must admit though, I do miss the full English breakfast every morning...nothing like a cooked pig's bladder with baked beans and Marmite(tm) to start off one's morning. But seriously, I jest, the food was truly delicious and there was a lot to choose from, which is more than I can say about the selection of television stations. Cricket anyone? No? Football, rugby, or golf? I'm not complaining really, who goes to another country to watch television anyway?

Over all I had a pleasant stay at the hotel.

So, you might be wondering what it's like to live in England. For those of you that have never been to Europe, at least the places in Europe that I've been, you can't quite shake the feeling that you're living in a WWII movie. Many of the buildings are made of brick and are covered in either moss, dirt, spray paint, or a combination of all three. This is especially true of the train stations. I had no idea what to expect when I started hunting for a flat. I had pretty good luck with estate agents and had found a place within the first week of my being there. I would have been able to move in right away if it weren't for that little problem of not having a bank account here in England. Oh yeah, and that wouldn't have been a problem if it weren't for that other little thing about needing a permanent address before they'll let you have a bank account. I think I got it all squared away now. I moved into the flat on Monday night and it's wonderful. It's a fully furnished flat in Addlestone, Surrey. Hardwood floors, a dining room table, couch, bed, dressers, wardrobe, microwave, fridge, washer/dryer, and a perfect spot to sit next to the window and strum the guitar.

And now to the hands-down, absolute, no-doubt-about-it, best part of the move so far - Tiffany came to London the second weekend I was here! I met her at Heathrow and we rode the bus to Feltham and then the train back into Chertsey. We managed to squeeze in an incredible amount of sight-seeing in London on Saturday. The train to London goes right through Addlestone, where I live, and Chertsey, where I work, which is very convenient.

On Sunday we rode the train out to Salisbury and took a bus tour out to Stonehenge and back through Salisbury. The

cathedral at Salisbury is easily one of the most impressive buildings I've ever been into and Stonehenge is even more awesome than I'd imagined. In the cathedral they have one of only four surviving copies of the Magna Carta, a nearly 800 year document which a lot of modern law and much of the US constitution was based on. Incredible.

Well, there's probably a lot more to tell, and probably a lot more people wishing I would shut up. Everybody know that my door is always open. Flights over here are very reasonable and I'm always up for company provided I'm not off in some other country for the weekend. For instance, don't come the second to the last weekend in August, because I will be in Paris. Also, don't come the next weekend because I will be in Denmark. Gotta love it! But when you DO come, once you get to Heathrow it's a snap to get to my flat by train. I can meet you at the train station and tell you how to get to just about wherever you want to go for the weekend, and of course you can stay at my flat. I miss you all very much and can't wait to get together to watch a movie, go out to dinner, go dancing, make out, go drinking, or go for a walk, depending on which of you are reading this at the moment.

Last but certainly not least, I leave you with this bit of useful information for your own visit to England:

- The most important tip I can offer is do not, under any circumstances, try to determine how much you just spent on that meal in US dollars. In fact, don't convert any prices into US dollars. You will be sorry and you may starve by the end of your visit.

- Black Pudding: If you're curious, try it and don't ask.

- Get in on the left side of the car. You will fail to do this, there is no doubt about it. In fact, I'm so sure, here's a new tip - get used to hearing "you wanna drive?" in a sarcastic voice followed by mocking laughter.

- Black Pudding: on second thought, just stay away (hint: I mentioned it by key ingredient earlier in this letter. hint: it's not Marmite(tm).)

- If you're drunk, and you have to get home, and the train is the only transportation that you can afford, you probably take it. Also, being drunk and being on a train is on par with eating a grand slam breakfast at Denny's before going deep-ocean fishing for salmon. I guess the tip here is either a) don't catch the last train back from London, or b) be mindful of who you sit next to on the train

- Hint: it's not baked beans, either

- Go with Guinness, it's always cold.

- Chips = French Fries

- Not having a British accent helps you tremendously when delivering the line "I'm sorry, I was told that I could buy a ticket from you once I had boarded the train." This tip comes with a free bonus tip - keep track of who you tell this to, it only works once per attendant, and the fine is small, but impressive (especially if you failed to follow the first tip).

That's all I have for now. I miss you all and hope to see you soon!

Love and hugs for everyone...

Cheers,

Greg

Holiday Messages

 

 

Best Wishes For This Holiday Season

And For The New Year,

From The Wood Family

 

 

Welcome new members!

 

A big HI to our new members, Jared & Jessica. Please make yourselves at home on our pages. We could use some new ideas and active members. Let me know if you have any problems adding your input to our message boards or photo albums.  I know my great-nephew Jared is from our "Mikesell" line, but haven't kept up with recent activities.  If you would like to introduce yourselves here, please do.

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Dean family.  God bless and we send our love to you all. 

 

Sorry I didn't wish the gang here a happy thanksgiving but Boyd was down with a virus and was not a happy camper so it kept me busy. I ate a turkey T.V. dinner and he had milk toast. We're all fine now. We are going to try to put our "blow-up Santa family" in the yard soon.  We haven't got the big star that's on the barn lit yet. We need to replace two bulbs. We are usually the first in the area to get lit, [ha ha] but not this year. What are your Christmas plans or decorations, family? I want to hear from all of you.

 

 

 

 

Happy Halloween!

Hope all of you have a fun time. Boyd & I have already started to eat the halloween candy. May have to get more before the trick-or-treaters get here. The Wood family is busy getting the old farm ready for winter. Thanks to Guy, we have a new photo album here with some great photos.  I hope we soon hear from more of you busy people. Please stay in touch, we miss you.  Leslie

 

 

Guys Family

This is Guy's son Benjamin and his Grandad (Edsel) Mikesell.

Photos of Guy's family past and present

Greetings--

Hello  there  A note to Thank you for the clippings and memorial
of Lonnie.  Such good pictures too  We appreciate your doing that for
us.   Love Darlene

message

Just a note to let you know Bud Dean passed away.  LaRaine called this
morning.  It has been a long time in coming and in and out of the hospital
the last two years.         Also if you
get on Gerri's site those pictures are there  Love Darlene  I have to
call MSN as when they switched me to 9 from 8 I haven't been able to put
pictures on

Lonnie Wood May 1958-July 2004

Lonnie passed away unexpectedly Friday July 16, 2004 in Spokane. His heart stopped suddenly as he was being prepared for routine tests at a local hospital. Prayers for our family would be appreciated. The lady chaplain at the hospital said that now he was home & would be running, dancing & fishing in heaven. It helps to think of him that way. leslie



Lonnie & Kathy, 1997 at our family picnic

Update on the Wood family

  Hi family, hope everyone enjoyed the holiday week-end. We would love to hear what's going on with everyone. Boyd found a hairier hawk nest, on the ground, while he was cutting hay. It had four eggs in it (the size of small chicken eggs) so he left a large circle of grass around it. Now there are two eggs & two fluffy white baby hawks. The others will soon hatch. And a large bull moose came running across our field while the haying crew were picking up bales. Nature is alive & well on our old farm.

  We had a nice visit with Thelma & Wayne. They had a whirl-wind trip including Wayne's family reunion, Thelma's Oregon high school reunion, a trip to Spokane to visit her sisters, and visiting in Clarkston with Debbie & their new great grand-daughter.

   Boyd, David & I spent time with Lonnie & Kathy. I visited with Lonnie while the others put in new posts to hold up Lonnie's old fence. Boyd also lengthened Lonnie's wheelchair ramp to the back door to make it easier to get up. Then yesterday Lonnie was admitted into the hospital with another infection & dehydration. Doctors have decided not to remove his remaining leg. Prayers are still needed. Leslie

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary Carlos and Darlene. 

Did you do all your celebrating over the weekend, or do you have any big plans for tonight?

Has Vicki and Matt come back to Spokane yet?  I heard that it was a nice visit with Vicki down there.

Congratulations to our Graduates

Congratulations go to Candy, grand-daughter of Thelma & Wayne, who is graduating from High School in Reno.  Ginny writes that Candy has exciting plans for her future. She also writes that Peter has finished his A school in the Navy and is going to be on an Aircraft Carrier. We send our best wishes to them both. Ginny, how about placing their photos in our "family fun" pictures?  leslie

What a nice visit we had!

 

Carlene Belisle                            Gerri Lockwood                            Darlene Allen

 

 

Mom,   It was so wonderful to have you in Spokane over Mothers Day. 

I'll miss you.  Have a wonderful visit with Bryan, and a good trip home. 

Greetings from Denmark

My son (that would be Carlos and Darlene's grandson) Greg, and his wife Tiffany are in the process of possibly moving to Denmark. The two of them went over for 10 days to get her settled, before Greg had to come back home to the states for work. It was hard for him to come back and leave Tiffany behind in Denmark.
He compiled a picture story of their time together while they were there. He wrote it like a travel guide, and it makes for some interesting reading.

http://www.gnance.com/greg/denmark/

If the link doesn't click to a web-site for you, you may have to copy it and paste it into your address bar.

Visit myfamily.com for more news of the Carlos Allen family. For access, email me. gerri@scottgerri.com

Welcome Debsgarden2

Welcome to new member, Debsgarden2. Is that you Debbie  W. my namesake? We're always glad to get new ACTIVE members. How about some baby photos? Hope to hear from you often.

Leslie

  

Crazy Cat Woman Here to say Hello!

Hi Ya All!   Cat Woman here!

I hope everyone is doing well.  Sorry it takes me so long to get back on this site.  My computer is rather sick, and probably doesn't have a long life ahead of it.  My car got sick as well, my insurance went up, so now I am not driving.  I don't mind as I have been too tired.  Doctor is giving me B12 shots each week to see if this helps.  Thanks to my mom who has been taking me to get the shots, etc..  This last weekend was so beautiful I did some yard work -- was very painful, yet my yard looks good.  I do some crafts when I feel up to it, which is something I really love to do.  I watch HGTV a lot at night, and early in the morning.  I think I am addicted to this channel.  My son Bryan is still in the Navy.  In October it will be 10 years for him.  His wife (my daughter-in-law)Michelle has a lot of physical problems now, yet is still trying to stay head of them.  I sure wish they lived closer.  Bryan will be able to transfer some where in about six months.  I hope he chooses the coast of Washington.  They are very busy, so don't get to chat very often.  My son Chris is in to baseball season right now.  He has been having a lot of trouble with his right shoulder, and a knee.  He is going to two different Orthopedic Specialists right now, and will be going to therapy soon.  Hopefully he won't have to have surgery. He is a junior in high school, and will be 18 in October.  Bryan will be 28 in September.  Chris is so busy with his youth group, church, sports, etc........  I get to see him once in a while.  I made some gifts for Christmas that I have never seen done before, and would like to make a video ("How to") someday, and have it professionally edited, and marketed.  I have so much fun doing these things.  I also applied to be on the show "Extreme Makeover Home Edition", which is on Sunday nights (8:00 Pacific Time) on ABC.  If you haven't seen this show, it is really a great show.  I would love to have all the stuff done to my house from this show, so we'll see if I get picked.  I sent my video, and application out about a week or so ago.  I am also thinking about applying to be on the "Extreme Makeover" show that has to do with helping the people themselves with surgeries, etc..  It is also a wonderful show that is very positive.  If anyone wants to apply for any of these, just go to www.abc.com and apply.  I still have 13 cats at this time, with most of them being of geriatric age.  In other words I have an old cats home (tee hee hee).  It is rather comical to try and sleep at night when I am not the only one snoring, and keeping myself awake.  Cats can snore you know -- I know  too.  Also comical to see five cats sleeping with me on my head, and every where else they find comfortable.  I guess it keeps me warm at night.  The oldest cat I have is in her 15th year, yet she still plays like a kitten at times.  Then there is Eddie, my little weiner dog.  He likes to bark at anything that moves.  He is my faithful watch dog.  I didn't hear him the other night, and he politely left a whoops-a-daisy on my floor for me to discover in the morning.  I have not had any more raccoons on my sundeck in a long time, ever since brave ole Eddie decided to attack one that was 2 - 3 times his size.  I didn't see it when I let Eddie out to do his thing one night.  He might be small, but he packs a mighty paw.  Eddie the lion hearted.  Well, I guess I should end my adventures for now.  I will try and get back to this site more often.  I will try and remember to send Bryan and Michelle this site, as I have forgotten all along.  Take care everyone, especially Lonnie, Dusty, Sara, Uncle Evan, Aunt Betty, and anyone else.  My love and prayers are with you all.

Bev Binder-Baker (alias cat woman)

Another Mikesell here in the group

Greetings,

 

I am Guy Mikesell. My direct line starts with my father Edsel E. Mikesell Sr.; Guy E. Mikesell; Luther Terrance Mikesell; Garret Walls Mikesell; Independence Mikesell and so on back as far as we know to Johan W. Meiyssel, ca.1640.

 

My Father was born in Oakland, Iowa and his family moved to California. My bsae family are all in the Redding, California area.

 

I currently live in S-W Missouri.

 

I do have a website that I would like to put in the members links section but I do not really know how to insert it. It is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mikesell_family_tree_branch/ 

 

I would like more members there. I only have three now but it has the same idea as this one. I have posted several pictures of my family including Luther terrance and his wife Bertha and Garret Walls and his wife.

 

Thank you for accepting me into this group.

Guy

What's the weather like at YOUR house?

Hi gang, Burrrrrrrrr!!!!! January has been crazy here! Monday we had a high of -1 degree & a low of -22 degrees. Boyd was kept busy thawing out pipes for people that forgot how to weatherproof their pipes. Now that it's warming up we have a foot of snow on the ground & it's snowing. The weatherman says that it will snow for 3 more days. I did a lot of baking, roasting, etc., trying to keep the house warm with the help of the oven. Good thing the electicity stayed on. Hope the old oil furnace doesn't give out this winter. We're still selling hay, good thing horse people will drive thru a storm to keep their horses in hay. By the way, Betty is doing good at St. Joseph's nursing home. Evan sees her everyday, even when it's cold & stormy. What's the weather like where you are at? Let us know here by clicking "reply".

                                                                                Love Leslie