DETECTIVE FROSTY INVESTIGATES

Detective Frosty investigates who could have done this dastardly deed. It's very curious and all are giving it a lot of thought!

MEET JEANINE KRAUS, DEREK SANDERS FIANCEE

Here is the happy couple. So that we can know more about Jeanine, I asked her to give me a short bio. I've met her and she is a jewel. Derek loves her dearly and she adores him as well. She is a wonderful match for him. They plan to have their wedding sometime in the Autumn.

Here's her bio:

I was born and raised in San Mateo (about 20 minutes south of San Francisco) and I'm a true California girl who loves the sun and beaches. I graduated with a BS in Hospitality and Tourism Management from San Diego State University, which is where Derek and I met our freshmen year. Becky, my mom, is from Oahu and is newly retired which she loves loves loves! My dad Bruce recently passed earlier this year and never had a chance to meet Derek, however, I know that he would love him just as much as I do! Lindsay is my older sister and to say we are close would be an understatement! I'll be completing my last chunk of nursing prerequisites in Spring and applying to programs in the Bay Area with the eventual goal of becoming an RN. I am a huge Giants and 49ers fan... Derek and I joke about how 2010 has been an amazing year for us because we fell in love, got engaged and the Giants won the World Series :) He is my best friend and I fall in love with him more and more each day...this is just a very exciting and special time for us!

An added bonus for Derek is Jeanine loves sports!

CHRISTMAS WITH THE GERMAINES AND CARLTONS

Here's what Rhiannon sent me. Sounds like they had a super time. What a cute family.

Christmas Eve we had a little program inspired by the reunion talent shows and everyone participated either sang or read a story and the boys got to open there Christmas pj's and one brother present. We had a really good christmas.

EXTREME COASTER

Nona and Papa (Carol and Quinton) got the boys an extreme coaster for Christmas which was a big hit!

ANOTHER BUDDING ARTIST

Sophie is sharing her beautiful painting. Way to go granddaughter.

Three Amigos

They are growing up!
Steven, Nathan,& Davis Agle

WELCOME HOME (SOON) SISTER AGLE

Dennis and Suzannne have some exciting news to share:

"We got some exciting news from Danielle today, although it's news that Danielle has had to pay for the hard way. After discussions with her mission president, it has been decided that Danielle's mission will come to an end a month early so that she can come home to get some much-needed medical attention for her back. Her mission president told her that Danielle should have only good feelings about her mission, and that she has accomplished in her 17 months what it would take most missionaries 3years to accomplish. We will find out in the next day or so her specific travel plans, but she will probably be coming home Wednesday or Thursday. We will let you know when we hear more."

It has been an incredible experience to share in Danielle's missionary experiences. She has been one of the most positive, upbeat, happy missionary I know. Our prayers are for a safe flight home without too much discomfort.

FROZEN CHARLOTTE

Ruth made a special gift for a friend of hers in NY. It was inspired by a poem she read years ago and wanted to do something special with it. I asked her to send me a picture so I could "picture" what she did. Here's her email explaining about it, and the poem and 3 pictures.
(The actual poem was sent to us in beautiful form and font, but when I copied it into the blog, it just didn't come out in the correct form, no matter what I tried. Nevertheless, here it is.)

Happy Christmas Eve, Mom & Dad!

When you called yesterday, I must've been at Julie's house! We were having our long awaited movie date - that was our Christmas gift to each other: TIME. We had so much fun! We watched "Leap Year" and "The Nanny Diaries", two CUTE chick flicks! And of course we had snacks and Diet Coke!

It's been awhile, but you'd asked that I send you pictures of that thing that I made for my friend in New York, that "book" scene I put together based on an old poem, which was also based on a true story (actually TWO similar incidents occured in, one in 1830 and another 1839. When the second event occured it inspired the writing of the poem as a warning to young girls), which later resulted in the production of Frozen Charlotte dolls. Here's the poem, it's a little long but a quick read:

A Corpse Going to a Ball
Later known as “Frozen Charlotte”
by Seba Smith, 1792-1868
Based on a true story of a young woman named Charlotte J. who died in 1830.

Now, Charlotte lived on the mountainside,

In a bleak and dreary spot;

There was no house for miles around,

Except her father's cot.

And yet on many a wintry night,

Young swains were gathered there;

For her father kept a social board,

And she was very fair.

One New Year's Eve as the sun went down,

Far looked her wishful eye

Out from the frosty window pane

As merry sleighs went by.

In a village fifteen miles away,

Was to be a ball that night;

And though the air was heavy and cold,

Her heart was warm and light.

How brightly beamed her laughing eye,

As a well-known voice was heard;

And driving up to the cottage door,

Her lover's sleigh appeared.

"O, daughter dear," her mother cried,

"This blanket 'round you fold;

It is a dreadful night tonight,

You'll catch your death of cold."

"O, nay! O, nay!" young Charlotte cried,

And she laughed like a gypsy queen;

"To ride in blankets muffled up,

I never would be seen.

"My silken cloak is quite enough,

You know 'tis lined throughout;

Besides I have my silken scarf,

To twine my neck about."

Her bonnet and her gloves were on,

She stepped into the sleigh;

Rode swiftly down the mountain side,

And o'er the hills away.

With muffled face and silent lips,

Five miles at length were passed;

When Charles with few and shivering words,

The silence broke at last.

"Such a dreadful night I never saw,

The reins I scarce can hold.

"Fair Charlotte shivering faintly said,

"I am exceeding cold."

He cracked his whip, he urged his steed

Much faster than before;

And thus five other dreary miles

In silence were passed o'er.

Said Charles, "How fast the shivering ice

Is gathering on my brow.

"And Charlotte still more faintly said,

"I'm growing warmer now."

So on they rode through frosty air

And glittering cold starlight,

Until at last the village lamps

And the ballroom came in sight.

They reached the door and Charles sprang out,

He reached his hand for her;

She sat there like a monument,

That has no power to stir.

He called her once, he called her twice,

She answered not a word;

He asked her for her hand again,

And still she never stirred.

He took her hand in his - O, God!

'Twas cold and hard as stone;

He tore the mantle from her face,

Cold stars upon it shone.

Then quickly to the glowing hall,

Her lifeless form he bore;

Fair Charlotte's eyes were closed in death,

Her voice was heard no more.

And there he sat down by her side,

While bitter tears did flow;

And cried, "My own, my charming bride,

You never more will know."

He twined his arms around her neck,

He kissed her marble brow;

His thoughts flew back to where she said,

"I'm growing warmer now."

He carried her back to the sleigh,

And with her he rode home;

And when he reached the cottage door,

O, how her parents mourned.

Her parents mourned for many a year,

And Charles wept in the gloom;

Till at last her lover died of grief,

And they both lie in one tomb.

I found this poem several years ago in a doll magazine and it fascinated me and I've always wanted to do something with it. I finally did! I used a paper mache "book" for the box. The silk ribbon embroidery on top is something I made awhile ago for the cover, I had the horse and carriage pin cushion on hand, I painted the scene inside and used glass glitter for the snow. It was fun! I like the way it turned out. Brenda received my box to her yesterday - and already opened it! - and she loved it to.

So there you have the story of "Frozen Charlotte"! Have a Merry Christmas Eve! It's snowing right now and is quite pretty - we're going to have a white Christmas! I know I'll be talking to you soon. I LOVE YOU!!

Ruth

Guess who's engaged??????

More pictures to come. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-UL ring! Lovely hand.

Joseph (aka Davis) in the manger

Our Christmas Testimony

Photo courtesy of Liken Studios.

2010 CHRISTMAS GREETING FROM DAD & MOM

As we recall back over the past 57 Christmas’s we have spent together as husband and wife, one thing stands out. We do not remember one gift we have received or given that truly stands out, but what we do remember is the gift that we received as the result of the birth of Jesus Christ.

We are deeply grateful for Heavenly Father’s plan, which allows us to gain a body, have free agency to make our own decisions based on our knowledge and our understanding. Knowing we would make mistakes and sin, he provided a Savior to come into this world and live a perfect life and then suffer for our sins and make atonement for them so we could once again live for eternity with our Heavenly Father and his Son our Savior, Jesus Christ. We truly express our gratitude for this every day and often many times during the day.

We are also very grateful for those sweet spirits who chose to come to us and allow us to be their earthly parents. Each one of our children is very special to us and we have unconditional love for them. They are also special gifts to us.

As our children have matured and have become adults we have gained additional gifts of new sons and daughters through marriage. We are also grateful for their children, our grandchildren, who are precious gifts to all of us. As we have watched, some of our grandchildren have married and now have children of their own, our great-grandchildren, who are more precious gifts.

So as we look back at Christmas’s spent in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Utah and England, what we remember and the gift we are so thankful to have received is you, all of you, and the opportunity to be an eternal family.

With much love and appreciation for what each of you mean to us,

MERRY CHRISTMAS
Mom and Dad Agle

What a unique picture.

Can you guess who these young men are?

YES VIRGINIA, WE HAVE A MARATHON MAN!.

This is a picture of Mark the night before the race showing what he'll wear.

Well folks, he did it! Mark Sanders completed the Honolulu Marathon and as far as I know, he is the first and only in our family to do a marathon. Well done Mark. We're proud of you. Here are his thoughts the night before the big race.

11 December 2010

I feel extremely nervous, lots of anxiety, excited about the possibility of finishing and don’t know what to expect for the 2010 Honolulu marathon. It is 7:28pm Hawaii time (Saturday night) and I am getting up at 2:23am tomorrow morning to catch a taxi at 3:00am to go to the marathon starting point. The marathon begins at 5am and I hope to finish in 5 hours. I know that is a bad time, but my training was slowed the last five weeks due to a troubled left knee, weather in the teens, darkness and a lack of motivation to complete the race. But now that it is here, I must run the race. I cannot “wimp” out now and must complete the race. I am nervous because I don’t know what to expect and feel unprepared about the task at hand. I know that my legs will kill and my body will ache all over, but I need to suck it up and get the job done. It is me against myself – mind over matter. I ate Chicken Alfredo at the Cheesecake Factory to carb load and have been chugging water all day. Got to just relax and dominate in the race tomorrow. I have a distinct advantage over others as I don’t drink, smoke or do drugs. I have never really competed in an official race since high school (sophomore year) for Cross Country. I will make a full report tomorrow once I complete!

THE RACE IS DONE, THE COURSE COMPLETED.

This is a picture of Mark and the finish of the race. Loki, the man he ran with is just to his left.
(He doesn't look that miserable to me. Actually pretty happy! Grandma)

Here's Mark's description of the race.

On Saturday night, I laid low in preparation for the race, but extremely scared/anxious to get the race started. That evening, I put my race bib on my shirt, laid my clothing out and set my alarm for 2:23AM. I woke up with surprising energy and ready to start the race. We got to Ala Moana Park at roughly 3:15AM where I waited for the marathon to start at 5AM. I prayed tirelessly the night before that I could find some peace, lessen my anxiety (typically I am not anxious or nervous for anything, but this whole marathon thing was out of my league) and to be able to finish the race. At 3:45AM, a Japanese man (Sam) sat down next to me and began talking to me in broken English. He was in Hawaii with 20 high school classmates for their 40th high school reunion. He said that he hoped to finish in 8 hours where he’d probably walk the entire race. That was an answer to my prayers! I realized that I was anxious and nervous before the race because I always excel in any athletic event and I felt overmatched by a marathon. But after this five minute talk with Sam, I gained a large amount of confidence as I knew that I would beat 8 hours and that I wouldn’t walk the whole way – this talk gave me perspective and help me realize that I would not finish last. At about 4:30AM, I found my way to the 4-5 hour projected time marker. I sat down and struck up a conversation with a man named Loki – a native Hawaiian who was running his fourth marathon. I told him that this was my first marathon, so we talked marathon strategy – how to pace, when to drink water, etc. He told me to drink every water station, walk as I drank so my body could take in the fluids, don’t get excited like others in the first three miles as I’ll lose precious energy, walk if I need to and to just enjoy the scenery. Another answer to prayer! This was no coincidence – he calmed my nerves even more and I felt like I could do this race – finally peace came to me. I went from being nervous and not happy, to realizing that I was in Hawaii and in roughly five hours, I’d be a marathon finisher!

Loki offered to run the marathon with me – which I was grateful for. When the gun went off, there was a HUGE firework show that was fired from a boat from the ocean. I was so impressed by the fireworks that it got me even more excited to run the race. We ran through downtown Honolulu and the great people of Hawaii were cheering loud for us (even at 5am). Loki explained what he did for a living and why Hawaii was such a good place to live. I listened to my friend Dan’s iPod (as I lost mine a few weeks ago) which just had country and Christmas music on it (not my first choices, but beggars can’t be choosers). I recalled people walking after one mile which made me realize that I would not finish last out of 25,000 runners. We came to the first water station (mile 1.5) and felt amazingly well. People were just chucking their water cups all over the street so I did too (really fun actually – I had seen it on movies, but now I was able to do so too). Miles 3,4,5 came and went. I came upon the next water station and drank water and Gatorade. I felt sick to my stomach as I had consumed so much liquid that my body was giving me a warning to get rid of it or I’d do it for me. I found a bathroom at the 10K mark (6.2 miles) and felt much better. The port-o-potties were absolutely disgusting and with no hand sanitizer. But I knew that I was in a marathon and today was a different day where I knew that it would be a “gross” day. At this moment, I felt fantastic with my conditioning. I only had 20 more miles to go – the weather was perfect and nothing really hurt.

At mile eight, I came to Diamond Head. Many people were walking as we approached, but I tackled that mountain with ease. The views were spectacular as I watched the sunrise with the waves crashing down atop the highest point on the shore (on top of Diamond Head). I ran down and before I knew it, I was through ten miles! Before the race, in my mind, I said that if I could make it to mile 10 without injury and exhaustion, I could finish the race (little did I know that 10 miles was really not that far in a 26 mile race. Little did I realize that 16.2 miles were a lot more than one realizes). We ran by the golf course where the PGA tour holds the SONY Open where I saw amazing views of the lush green hills and white poufy clouds that Hawaii has to offer. It rained a little as I reached the 13.1 mile marker – half way! In all honesty, I was starting to feel the “hurt” at this moment. At this point in the race, I had not walked (except as I would drink at the water stations). At this time in the race, runners were coming back the opposite direction (they were on mile 21 heading back to Diamond Head). I really wanted to be them! For miles 11-14, every part of my body was hurting (my left pinkie toe, right calf, right quad, etc). I had to take about a ¼ mile walk-break where I felt refreshed. The weather was getting hotter and due to the rain, the humidity was high. I stopped at mile 17 to use the port-o-potties and as I came out, my right arch on my foot was on fire! It felt as if my shoes were cinched tightly, but after I loosened my shoes, it hurt just as bad. I could not believe how much pain was coming from my pain. Loki was hurting too and he explained to me what I would see for the duration of the race – people’s bodies hitting the “wall.” He said that from about 13 miles and on, runner’s bodies start deteriorating. It is hard to explain, but simply put, the body shuts down and can go no longer. I started seeing runners (many grown men) drop in agony, not be able to get up and some needing assistance right away. After seeing this, I took it easy by walking a lot of the rest of the race as I could not run that well with my right arch in so much pain. Every step would hurt my right foot in the worst way (walked a lot on my heels), but it was one step closer to completing the 26.2 mile course.

At mile 24, I reached Diamond Head. I knew that once I hiked over the mountain, I would only have one mile to go. Many thoughts went through my head – that my friends and family would be excited that I finished, personally be proud of myself, be able to take a shower (wash my hands too) and be able to take a nap. When I saw the finish line, adrenaline kicked in and I forgot about my hurt arch. I ran/hobbled the final 1.2 miles. When I crossed the finished line, I gave Loki a huge high five and was so happy that I finished. The race officials gave me a seashell lay, a finisher coin and tee-shirt.

In summary, I am glad that I ran the 2010 Honolulu Marathon. I ran well through 17 miles, got hurt and had to walk/run the last 9.2, but I finished! It is one of my greatest achievements of my life. It is now a week later and my right arch still hurts (but I finished so it was worth it). The next morning after the race, I could not walk to the bathroom to take a shower – yes, I was that sore. I walked like a penguin until Wednesday, could get out of bed normally by Friday and as of this morning, all of my soreness is gone. It was definitely an amazing time and you all should run one as well. I am planning on competing in the 2012 Honolulu Marathon.

PS - I forgot to add that I finished in 5.5 hours. I was on pace for just under 4 hours through 30K, but with the right ankle injury, I was definetely slowed

More Pictures

 

 

 

 

Ken just sent these to me. This is the day of the HUGE GARAGE SALE. IMPRESSIVE, YES!

EAGLE SCOUT, DAVIS MCKAY AGLE

Our newest Eagle Scout joins his cousins, Robert, Derek & Mark Sanders in this elite group! CONGRATULATIONS, DAVIS.

Beginning to sort all the collected items!

 

In order for Davis to receive his Eagle Scout Award he had to complete a special project. A lot of work goes into this. First you must submit the project, get approval, execute it and then summarize the results.
Davis planned to ask families and businesses in the area to donate items for a community sale and with that money purchase school supplies for an orphanage and have them shipped there. This orphanage, Corner of Heaven Orphanage or (Foyer Coin des Cieux Orphanage) was one that had been identified by Ken on a recent visit to Haiti).
The collection of items took several weeks and a lot of storage space!
During the process, a massive earthquake hit Haiti and because the infrastructure was destroyed, it would prevent them from mailing any supplies to Haiti so he altered his project to replacing the beds in the orphanage. The beds for the children were in very poor condition even before the earthquake, and needed to be replaced years ago. Moreover, the money could be wired to a wholesale supplier already in Haiti and the orphanage personnel could go get the beds and install them.
The sale was extremely successful and $1,935.50 was raised. His parents donated more to bring the total to $2,300. The Orphanage received 10 bunk beds with 20 mattresses. Well done Davis and all who helped out with this massive Eagle project.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK ANDRUS

 

This picture was taken at Aunt Florence and Uncle Albert's home where we were visiting. I'm showing Mark the pretty flowers! Happy double nickel Birthday, Mark.

(MOST OF) THE RUMMLER CLAN

Here is a family group picture of the Rummlers. (Missing is Brent's family)
On the left is Neysa's brother, his wife and 3 children and her mother next to them.
Next is Keith, Cindee and 4 of their children (Bonnie is at college in Flaggstaff) That's us! Mom & Dad Agle
Next in the back is Barbara & Steve
To their left is Greg, Kellie and their children including their married son and his wife.
On the far right is Caryn and her son daughter with her husband and little daughter
In the front are the reason for the occasion. Kevin, Neysa, baby Kurt, Grant & Julia. (Neal is serving a mission in Hungary)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN

He is now 12 years old and has a mean arm. It was a great toss of the football. Happy Birthday Ryan with many more to come.

Remodeling the Carlton's (only) bathroom

These are the before pictures with the boys in the old bathtub, the start of the project and some of the pipes that needed work. Handyman Eddy is becoming a real expert as you will see with the finished bath. It's beautiful. Here's what Rhiannon wrote.
"Our house was built in 1968 and our only bathroom had the original tile. We had been putting a band-aid (just putting chalk over cracks in the grout)on our bathroom for a couple of years. Eddy was about to rechalk the tub when he decided it was time to tear it all out and re-tile it. So another project was born. I plan and design and assist, and Eddy executes. It was suppose to be a simple weekend project--ha! One problem after another but finally three weeks later we finished. Eddy had to replace quite a bit of plumbing that had corroded and Home Depot didn't order the rest of the tile like they were supposed to have. We lived without a shower for three weeks and no water to the house for 24 hrs and no bath tub for 4 days. We bathed all the kids in the kitchen sink. I definitely would rather live without electricity than running water. We finally have a wonderful shower and just a few projects left to do in the bathroom to finish the redo."