Lee Wrestling Picts

First attempt to send along some picts....hopefully they'll turn out ok.
Apologies if they are of poor quality.
Lee, in red at recent meets.

Ike

Funny from Jef and Sara

I just received this ecard from Sara (seems like she is home sick and not working on anything in particular). I just had to share it because it is laugh out loud funny and we can always use more
of those (Right, Lindsay?)

Go here

Update I
Here's another good one! From Brian

Fire Update (Again!)

These photos are frighteningly beautiful. (I snagged them from the LA Times). The fire is not near us at all, it is further north than our last brush with danger. You can see a map here that shows the fire locations (scroll down the page for the map) and if you slide it to the left you can see where Topanga is in relation to it.

It seems that they are taking control more quickly because although it is due to the same conditions as before--no humidity (6%!) and dry, whipping winds--the winds are not quite as erratic and continue to blow north, away from us.

Funny, though, I still haven't unpacked all the photos, business files and valuables: they are sitting in their boxes right next to me.

Thanksgiving

Hello everyone. We had a really nice Thanksgiving and are enjoying the leftovers. Hope yours was wonderful. And as Ann says, I am very thankful to be part of such a wonderful family.

A special tidbit that I should have posted earlier: watch this video at NYT (scroll down the page)and you'll be a pro. Olaf was our master carver this year and said he'll never forget it.

Wonderful "Families" Picture

Only Olaf is missing from this great shot; I can only presume that he is standing on a chair!

Watered down in Ohio

Thanks, Bones, for the details of your experience. I sure wish I could send you all some of this Ohio rain. There's flooding going on in many places because we've had a couple of days and nights of rain . . . and this after a bad drought that killed lots of plants and damaged trees. I wonder if there are still people who claim global warming to be a conspiracy theory.
love,
mickey

Tuesday Update from Topanga

Good morning everyone. All's well in our neck of the woods, in fact we are having a bit of a forced vacation. Originally you could leave the area and return with local IDs but now if you leave you can't come back in for some strange reason. I feel sorry for the early evacuees who have been away from home since Sunday, especially all the families with little kids. (Claire and kids returned yesterday because it was so stressful having the kids out of their familiar routine. So we're all "stuck" in our canyon.) Rumor has it that fires like this pull the crazies out of the cracks and the powers that be are afraid of other fires being set in our canyon(?) Not sure that makes sense after three days but that is the way things are right now.

The winds seem to have died down, which has been a major factor, but the heat is climbing to the upper 90s today and the actual fire is only 10% contained, so we still have some waiting and watching till this is over.

SoCal Fires (Update I)

Our incendiary conditions are nationwide news and I need to update you all on our individual circumstances.

The Malibu Canyon fire has traveled the past day and a half to within striking distance of Topanga Canyon. We are, in our particular zone, under a voluntary evacuation order. The street above us (Bowers) is a deadzone with everyone gone and gates left open if the fire department needs to enter. Claire and the three kids moved out to a hotel so as to not have to undergo the transfer in the middle of the night. As of this afternoon, the fire has moved to Las Flores canyon and they may be issuing a mandatory evacuation sometime soon.

We have packed all our valuables, photos, business records and are ready to go if necessary. We feel that our particular geographic position (way down Webb Trail as most of you know) protects us because the fires usually like to climb and if the front reaches this far it just might trip over to the next ridge. We do need to beware of embers and Janek and Robin are planning to man the roofs, on ours and with Brian up the street if need be.

The weather conditions are making it exceedingly difficult to contain this fire--NO humidity, whipping 20-60 mph winds and constantly changing wind directions.

I know that in other places it is even worse although I haven't been following them closely. San Diego is really under siege and I have heard that Christopher and Beth have evacuated from their apartment. I haven't heard anything from Cousin Ann.

All this to say that we are safe, ready and will keep you posted!

Update I
Here is a link to a great Google Map that gives you some perspective on where we are with regard to the fire. Zoom out one notch and pan right--we are in Fernwood up the Topanga Canyon Blvd.

Update on Mickey

Mickey had successful hip surgery last Tuesday and had three days in an excellent hospital with fine care. We had previously visited nursing facilities for a week-long rehabilitation and she ended up going to Scarlet Oaks (where your grandad ended his days). However, the place had really deteriorated and after getting her settled in on Friday, she had a horrible night (won't go into the details) and I pulled her out on Saturday (with a lot of help from many dear friends) and she has been in my new front guest bedroom since then. She will need 24 hr. care until at least this coming Friday when we hope she will have made sufficient progress in mobility to be on her own - renting a hospital bed etc., since she has a loft futon bed!

It has been a real ordeal for her (me too!) because she needed help moving out of bed/middle of the night etc. We communicated by cell phone across the house! However, we have had visiting nurses, physical therapists - who will continue for some time -and yesterday visits/flowers from the monastery, various well-meaning friends and even a Reiki treatment this afternoon. I juggled clients in and out today while removing the high toilet seat in my waiting area bathroom for clients. However, all is well and the physical therapist really helped today so she can get out of bed onto the walker by herself now - hurrah!

Despite all this, she is healing as expected and I assure her she will be skipping down the street in a couple of months without pain - maybe no pirouettes for awhile. She sends her love - as do I. We are thrilled to view the pictures of sweet Phoebe. I did have to cancel my flight to LA this Friday - I'll get out there later this year when things, hopefully, settle down. I know she would love to hear from family.

Love, Momma/Mom/Barbara

More on Phoebe

Slowly adjusting to life on this plane..................

Phoebe Jean

Nathie and Olaf proudly announce the birth of their DAUGHTER, Phoebe Jean Krull, who arrived rather quickly at 5:35 in the morning of October 3!

She was the result of her parents' plans and dreams, nine months of intense development and 4 and a half hours of labor. (Alright!--a mother's dream!) She had a water birth by candlelight (meaning she was born in a kiddie pool in her living room) and weighed 8 lbs. 12 ozs. and was 21 inches long. (In the photo no one yet knows who she is because she really just got placed on Nathie's chest--more pictures will come soon!)

Bonnie, Claire (Nathie and Olaf, of course) and three midwives of the "Sacred Entryways or Pathways" (or something like that--now that I don't remember the name it sounds funny but is no reflection on their wonderful, supportive, knowledgeable and professional efforts!) were all present. Julian slept through the whole thing in his bedroom but could not be cajoled into sleeping more after the onset of the lusty wails of his new sister.

She is beautiful, with a round face, pink skin, and extremely long fingers and toes--surfer or pianist, nobody knows!

Congratulations to all and welcome to Phoebe!

Hello from Colorado

Mumsy with Hannah


Amelia with Rador




Picture perfect!

News from Fort Collins with some gorgeous backpacking photos:

"It's been awhile since the Colorado Morgans have posted news on "The Sink", so thought I would give it a try. Here are some pics of our summer. Now autumn is upon us and on the 23rd of September, exactly, the leaves started to turn and fall! Time to get out the rakes and jump in the piles of leaves! All's well and happy here in this beautiful place.

Best wishes and love to you all. Cookie"

Baby Alert

Nathalie just had her latest visit with the midwife and it seems that "all systems are go."

Nathie is due on October 2, just a few days away.

We'll keep you all posted. Have a nice weekend!

Message from Lindy

Hey everyone!!
I've been pretty busy working and taking care of my horse at the barn, along with other things, lately. I have been trying to ride as much as possible, getting Vickie and myself into better shape. I haven't forgotten any of you, I swear. Send me an email or call me to let me know how you are doing!

Later,
Lindy

Ant mickey to get new treads . . .

Dear Family,
How beautiful to see Capucine again who I haven't seen since she came up to my knees, and then only rarely!

At Bonnie's odd request, I will expose a little info as to my upcoming hip replacements. On October 2, my left hip will hopefully be subject to a Birmingham Hip Resurfacing, a new procedure to this country that is only given to more active young people (belown 60?). Since I'm 55 and want very much to be able to sit in the "lotus" position for a good part of this visit to the realm of samsara, I am considered a candidate. However, Dr. Suresh Nayak can't guarantee the resurfacing until he gets into the nearly foot-long incision on my back side. With a Traditional Hip Replacement, I would not be able to sit and meditate, and I would have a 9 or 10 inch rod of metal to replace the sawed-off upper thigh bone. Either way, I'll still be setting off metal detectors, so I need to get to airports way ahead of time. I'll be recovering at home hopefully, and it's supposed to take 8 weeks to fully recover. About 3 months after the first one, I can get the right hip done. So I guess the next 10 months or so will be quite contemplative. Mom will be tending to me like I should be tending to her about this time in our lives. This is truly a dancer's ripening karma!

I'm confident that all will go well with this improvement of my life, but I am filling out a Living Will stating that I want a natural death (when and if it's time), without any artificial supports. I guess the most important message I would like to give to immediate family is that, if ever anything should happen to me, please be sure that I receive a Buddhist approach to death, to death itself, and a Buddhist funeral rite. I would like to be cremated. I'm sure this is nearly taboo to talk about and most of you will feel I'm being morbid, but we Americans unfortunately deny death to our great detriment.

The Buddhist treatment of the body before, during and after death is very different from what hospitals do, so please call my Teachers so they can perform the proper rites.

Ok. That's it . . . I expect to be bounding over barrels in a year! Much love to you all,
mickey

Hello from Capucine

HI ALL
Finally some pictures... 3 weeks ago, in France.
The beautiful young girl there is Daphne [Capucine's half sister] and her boy friend, Matisse and Romeo have grown a lot right?!
Kisses,
Cap

Greetings to all from Cincinnati . . . much love, mickey

Bonnie's Been Taking a Vacation from the Sink

Oh well, summer is over and we're back on to the serious stuff.

Doesn't anyone else out there have some news? Is it really so hard to post to this thing? If there are any brave souls I still offer to hold your hand and walk you through...

Well, here is the LA update:

We have a new baby Krull arriving in under three weeks!!!

Misia had her 25th birthday.





















Olivia had her 7th birthday.

Nathie had her 33rd birthday.

Tobey has a mouthful of new teeth.

Chloe has lost some!

She and Mila have been taking belly dancing classes (only in Topanga!) So they dance any time they can...




And, Janek is in Greensburg, Kansas.

You may have heard of the 2.5 mile wide Category 5 tornado that swept straight across this 1.5 square mile town this past May. They had 20 minutes warning. Janek has been asked to be part of a team to make a new "Green" Greensburg--a newly planned, sustainable town. You can see more pictures here. You don't often get a chance to work with a blank slate! Poor people.

Janek & Bonnie Take a Vacation

Wedding pictures are still being assembled but I thought you might enjoy some pictures from the little side trip Janek and I took to Washington D.C. While I was born there at Walter Reed Hospital and later went to school just outside the beltway, exploring the city was going to be new for both of us.

The pictures are taken with Janek’s camera phone so they are passable, hardly printable; but fun nonetheless. We had a great time.

We got lost plenty inside the city and were late to learn the NE. NW & SW etc. indications on the quartered up city. We spent some time arguing about being on 2nd street and just go that way and we'll find the White House--to just end up in some truly poor, shambly part of D.C. Yes, you can find it in every city in America, even withoug getting lost... I am glad we saw it.

We went to Alexandria, VA, just outside the beltway. I wanted to revisit my boarding school from my high school years: We couldn’t find St. Agnes Episcopal School for Girls after searching up and down Braddock Road, in Alexandria, seeing stone walls I remembered, the Episcopal Church where we walked every Sunday—finally asked a mailman who directed us to the “back” of the property where they have made the new entrance.

There it was. We had fun climbing through the old boarding house (the only original building left) because only a cleaning crew was there but all was open. I showed Janek the big kitchen with the sixteen burner stove and the 6 x 12 butcher block prep table (many a hot cocoa and fudge night with Bobbie Bruce and her “orphans” on weekends) and the infirmary where Nurse Russell would incite us to “flush our kidneys” whenever we tried to get out of going to class. The old Lloyd House is now administrative offices so it was hard to pinpoint my room but the kitchen and front receiving room and bay windows all were there. Truly surreal after 38 years!!

Following this visit down memory lane, we went to Old Towne in Alexandria, a place of cobblestone streets, restored fishermen cottages and plenty of outdoor eating and drinking.

This was our last day. In the morning we drove to Durham, boarded our flight at 5pm, flew and changed in Phoenix, arrived in LA at 10pm, got home at midnight. Traveling is hard work!

Happy Birthday Olaf

(And we all hope you feel a lot better than you did yesterday!!!)

Jef and Sara -- Fait Accompli

Durham was warm but the wedding was sweet and simple and fun. The two families got along well and we all got to know one another just a little bit; certainly for us I feel more and more that Sara is in good hands.

Click here for a few early photos of the event--many more to come!

Also, check in at jefandsara.com as more photos are available.

Happy 4th of July Everyone

Hope there are lovely barbecues going on all over the country. There certainly is one in "Morgan Country" in Fort Collins. I know Sara and Jef are having a neighborhood 4th of July parade down their street. They are picnicking on their lawn to watch. And there are others who are just relaxing and taking advantage of this sweet midweek break.

Janek and I are doing something entirely inappropriate or highly befitting, depending on your point of view. We are attending a Chinese wedding!

Gemini!!

From today until June 18, my sisters Nancy and Mickey are the same age! I am sure all the new moms and moms to be are working out the math on that one! And I believe the young mother responsible had not yet reached her 20th birthday.

So, Happy Birthday you two Geminis. The rose pictured is a recent acquisition that happens to be named "Gemini" and will make a lovely addition to my rose garden. Of course, I will always think of you both when it blooms--hot pink on the outside and butter yellow on the inside.

Love,
Bonnie

More May Birthdays!

Chloe is 6 years old!

Claire and Brian -- will have photos this evening.
The Happiest of Birthdays to all

Happy Birthday Jimmy!

I need some new pictures, bro'! Wish I could be there for the festivities. Love you lots.

Hi Cutie!

Hope you had a wonderful birthday Amelia! Happy 13th!

Mila's Birthday Party

Look at some pictures here

Happy Birthday Sara!

Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the houseflyin my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questionsof the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
How did it go? How did it go?
Forgotten Language, by Shel Silverstein

Tobey

Thought you might like to see the latest picture of the "little Brian"!

If anyone wants to make their own higher resolution print click on this PDF file

C%3A%5CDocuments%20and%20Settings%5CBonnie%5CDesktop%5Ctobey0307.pdf

At least you tried...

Our family blog uses a system developed by Blogger.com. A system few have been able to master. Now Google purchased Blogger.com adding an additional layer of complexity and the need to open a Google account. No wonder none of you can figure out how to post and only some of you attempt making "comments."

Jimmy tried to post his own news in February. I'm sure he was careful, tried to follow instructions, maybe even asked Amelia for help.

But he took one wrong turn on the cyberhighway and ended up making his very own atthekitchensink blog! Check it out here

Multiple Birthday Postings!

(Updated below on numerous items! Thanks for the corrections.)

I have been seriously delinquent in my postings lately everyone, please accept my apologies--and let me do Spring Birthday Rush in one fell swoop!

Lindy on February 18

I believe this is Lindy's 21st!! Congratulations!

Somewhere in South Carolina?...with Aunt Nancy





With fiance Kenny (wedding date unknown), place unknown.

Lindy writes that they will both come out to LA sometime. Her email is lindy.morgan@us.army.mil. Their address is 308 Madison Ave. #D, Ft. Eustis, Va. 23604. Also, per Lee, "Lindy is getting out of the Army tomorrow on February 28. She is being released because she is having trouble with her injured foot and they can't figure what the problem with it is. So, she is finally being released."

Jeanne on February 23


Exact age unknown, and I shouldn't dare hazard a guess, but Happy Birthday and have one of your famous margaritas for me!


Jeanne with beautiful family, taken in Cincinnati.


Robin on February 26
Twenty years old (!) and somewhere close to 6'6". New career to be announced soon.





With Misia, taken in Topanga

Julian on March 2
His very first birthday! Started walking, too!


With Dad, on a family outing.



Christopher on March 6
The ripe old age of 26? Time flies! Hope to see you and Beth in the next few weeks. Per Mickey's email also: Chris will become Sergeant Christopher Morgan-Riess on March 1, 2007. He and Beth have a new address as well: 3427 Calle Del Sur, Carlsbad, CA 92009.


Chris in Topanga


Lee on March 9

Or is it March 9th? (Someone correct me if I called this wrong) Thank you for the corrections. I believe this is birthday 17 for this very handsome young man.


Taken with cousin Amelia, in Cincinatti.


Bonnie on March 6 and Janek on March 12

Age unimportant! Grandkids just popping out all over the place! By the way, Nathie is expecting her second sometime in October...


Holding one of many of our little treasures, taken in Mar Vista.


Love and kisses to you all.