Really Neat E-Mail

For those of you who read this past week's Old Photo Friday and clicked on the link for pacificwreaks.org, you may have read that local New Guinea pilot and aviation company owner, Richard Leahy, was the first to discover Great Uncle Chuck's plane wreak.

Through some creative Google searching, I found his e-mail address and sent an inquiry to him asking about the crash site and whether there were site pictures. His reply came back last night (well today, if you're in New Guinea). Here it is:

Dear Ms Chung,

Thanks for your note re your great-uncle. I was indeed responsible for locating that site although I was not able to accompany the CILHI (US Army Graves people) team that made the recovery.

That site was actually the first one that I identified. Through subsequent years I have been able to pin point quite a few crash locations and these discoveries have resulted in over thirty US Servicemen (principally Air Force) being recovered and taken home to the states for proper burial.

I took no photographs of your uncle's site because I never went there. I did however manage to obtain a set of B & W prints taken by a CILHI person who participated in the recovery.

Unfortunately they are dreadful prints and I do not feel that they would copy well at all. If you would like me to try for you, I will have them burnt onto a CD and send you the CD. I will have difficulty locating the prints, as I have a large collection of photographs and they are not in any sort of order. It will take me a while.

Meantime, send me your postal address and I will send what I have to you as soon as I can find them.

William Gronemeyer was an experienced pilot. I often wonder what went wrong. The trip from Nadzab to Port moresby is an easy one. The highest terrain only 12,500" above sea level, absolutely no problem for a P-38. The site is at about 3,500" (Ithink) and is nowhere near the higher country.

Sadly, almost all of the crash sites that I have located and visited over the years show no signs of battle damage. This suggests that the pilots became lost and subsequently disorientated and ran into a mountain.

CFIT, (controlled flight into terrain) remains the biggest reason for fatal accidents in this country even today.

I have not been much help I am sorry to say. If you would like the photographs, let me know.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Leahy.

God is Good at Everything

It's lightning and thundering out tonight - right at bedtime. Woody is the first to go in and console the younger girls. The nightlight goes back on and the music is turned up slightly to distract them from the thunder. Not happening. Woody goes for a different strategy, one befitting a recent six-year-old birthday girl. "God's bowling. That's what the noise is." Loud noise, must equal a strike.

Dad leaves, mom enters.

"Mom, God's bowling lots of strikes and spares in Heaven. He's pretty good."

"Umhmm."

"Oh! That's a good one, God. Did you hear it mom?"

"Umhmm."

"Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"I bet God's really good at Wii bowling too. I bet He uses a sparkle ball. Do you think so, mom?"

Kimchi is Serious Business

Kimchi is the quintessential food of the Korean culture. Made from fermented cabbage or radishes and pepper paste, there are more than 187 documented varieties of kimchi. This is according to the Kimchi Field Museum of Seoul.

Here's the dinner conversation. Somewhere in the middle of Parmesan tilapia, peas, and rice, Annika clearly states that she used to like kimchi, but now she doesn't anymore.

Woody lets her know, it's not her fault. "Your mother bought the wrong kind."

WHAT????!! Did I mention there are 187 different varieties and the label on the jar kind of LOOKS THE SAME to me. So I had a smirk and a laugh.

Ingrid, who has remained quiet during all of this, give me the squint eyes and says, slowly and methodically, "It's not funny, Michelle."

Kimchi is serious business in the Chung house....

Parenting Skills Always Need Refining

Today we learned a lesson or two about clarification. There are times when a parent should take their childrens' answers at face value, but other times, it's best to ask for clarification. The trick is to know when to ask for clarification.

Here's a quick conversation from yesterday:

"Morgan, did you finish the geometry page?"

"Yes"

"Did you have any trouble with it?"

"Yes, it was easy"

Morgan gets the paper and I let it pass right by my eyes and go with her to school. Today, it was returned home. I should have read the answers to the word problems that I glanced at the day before. Or maybe the question should have been clarified.

The topic was geometry, Lines, Rays, and Angles. Solve each problem.

1. On a football field, we call the end line the goal line. Is it really a line? Justify your answer.

Morgan's answer: " Yes. There's a line. If there isn't, then because for football, how can the tell if they win?"

Here's our other example. After dinner tonight, the girls had a Friday evening treat - Fudgesicles. I let them sit at the table and went to the living room to help with Erik. I called back asking if they were enjoying them. Morgan and Annika quickly answered that they were already done. Ingrid didn't answer. Maybe, just maybe, I should have asked for clarification:



Apparently, Ingrid didn't like the fudgesicle. But rather than tell us, she just let it melt, all over herself.

Old Photo Friday

The article tagline, "Jungle Gives Up Missing Man" seems inocuous to the casual reader. But on the day this article was published, I was not the casual reader, nor was the article inoculous. I knew this article was coming and that it was being published in more than one newspaper in the area.


My great uncle - Charles Springer, aka Buster, was a WWII pilot who went down in the Pacific on New Years Eve 1944. And in 1980, his body and the body of another pilot were found in Papua New Guinea. My grandmother called my mom and told her the news about her uncle. My mom was a baby when he crashed.


I was a newspaper carrier for this paper at the time. The article about my grandfather and his attempts to have his brother buried in a local cemetery sparked a lot of local interest. A few Op Ed pieces were written on behalf of the family asking for the government "red tape" to be lifted. This article had my grandfather's picture in the ear banner on the top of each copy of the newspaper and the article appeared inside the paper. While delivering the 75 papers that morning with my brother, we saw my grandfather's face with every paper we folded and delivered.


28 years later, I have become fascinated about the P-38 plane and the crash in general. I came across this accounting from one of the three persons who found Buster, Capt Gronemeyer and their plane. Bill Leahy is an aviator in New Guinea and runs a charter airline there. Here's what he has to say about the P-38 that went down in bad weather and the wreakage that was found:

P-38 Wreakage found in New Guinea

Next month we are going to a P-38 museum in southern California. They have a P-38 Lightning, the same plane Uncle Chuck flew, in their hanger. I want to see one up close and view the cockpit.

Old Photo Friday #2

Robert N. Springer and Irene V. Danewick Springer together at Teepeota Point.

If you read the last sentence of the newspaper article in the previous post, you'd read that my grandparents' wedding anniversary is today. They were married 67 years ago today. I think of them often and found this picture of them together at the cabin.

Yes Daddy?

"Ingrid, come here."

Bong Bong. Bong. Bong.

"Yes, daddy?"

"Put this shirt in your dresser."

Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong.

[Dresser drawer opening sound, followed by a slight drawer slam]

Turn, Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong.

Ingrid no longer uses her walking muscles to get around. This is her indoor mode of transportation. It is most funny to see her "park" her transportation by her nightstand to get into bed. Then, if she needs to use the bathroom (which is across from her room), she gets on her hopper ball and crosses the hallway and "parks" her transportation by the door to the bathroom. We're working on a video to give you the full visual.

Boomerang Backpack

The backpack carrier is back from a wonderful journey.

I have written before about the one piece of baby gear that was special to our family. I bought the backpack carrier prior to Morgan's adoption and used it in Russia - primarily through the busy streets in Moscow - and on several vacation and hiking trips since then. In Moscow we used it as a high chair to feed Morgan while on the lawn of the Kremlin. We were close to the adminstrative buildings and watched Vladimir Putin's motorcade pass by us at slow speeds. We waved.

After Moscow and after our three daughters grew out of it, we sent the backpack to our friends for their daughter in Costa Rica. What a great adventure this backpack has had traveling the world. The backpack held little Soraya McEuen during Costa Rica's Independence Day where she watched the Costa Rican president speak and watched a parade. This backpack carrier must have a thing for foreign heads of State.

Now our friends are moving to Peru and their youngest daughter is nearly two years old. I found one more picture of Soraya snoozing in the carrier at a Costa Rican cathedral from her parents' blog.

Soraya's grandparents returned the backpack to us after visiting the family in Costa Rica. We are happy it was well used and served our friends. We are praying for their continued success as they begin their missionary work in Peru. Please consider joining us in prayer for this family and their work. You can visit them through their website and blog at

http://www.opencircleperu.org/

Happy Birthday Annika

Happy Birthday to you, Annika Elizabeth!

Six Years Old already. Intelligent and quickwitted, Annika is also very charming and sensitive.
We wish you all the best on your birthday.

Annika's birthday was spent with family today, bowling, dinner and home for cake and presents. She chose a slice of pie for her cake - split between her sisters, it was just the right size. Our friend Janet came over to watch Erik while we went bowling. It was Ingrid's first time and by the reaction on the photos, she loved it. She even mentioned it was harder than the Wii version but the ball was rounder (??).

Back home, Annika sure liked her big surprise present - a DSi.

Old Photo Friday

What does this picture say?

A picture is worth a thousand words, so the saying goes. Pictures tell stories. A bunch of pink scribbles on MS Paint is a picture of Barbie, her unicorn, not the plastic doll. That's according to Ingrid. A picture of a crab reminds Morgan of a trip to Redondo Beach, eating crab at a restaurant on the pier. I love looking at old pictures and remembering the stories behind the picture.

This is a picture I pulled out while visiting my grandparents. I immediately took it downstairs to ask my grandpa what was up with the picture. I said, "it looks like great grandma (Eva) is trying to "moon" great grandpa." She's got a grin on her. My grandpa immediately admonished the thought, explaining that dresses and petticoats were thick garments that needed to be raised when jumping over tomato plants. I shook my head and maintained the photo looks like she's up to something with great grandpa - just look at his reaction. He said I had it all wrong, the angle of the photo made it appear as such. He continued by saying you can see they're in the garden and women in that day would never do such a thing. Really? Well, maybe so, I said, but just imagine the photographer's point of view - and actually, who was it that took this picture??? That will remain a mystery. As for the story behind the photo, it certainly says a thousand words.

Erik Update - 2 Month Check Up

Calm and growing. That's a way to describe Erik's results from his two month check up, including five vaccinations. A quick cry and he was done. Smiled for the doctor. That's the way to do it, really. Woody and I both accompanied Erik to his appointment today. He's 11.7 pounds and 33 inches - 50th and 150th percentiles.

Really, there's not much more to say about the appointment.

He smiled, he cooed, he cried, and he slept. Was weighed, measured, poked and prodded.

We're looking into a referral for an endrocrinologist.

Celebrating Her 3rd Birthday

Ingrid's family birthday party this afternoon was a small and quiet affair. We celebrated with a few gifts, some helium balloons, a remote control helium shark, and a strawberry cake.

Ingrid enjoyed saying "Happy My Birthday" to everyone. She is considerably older and more independent this birthday, wanting to do things herself. That included unwrapping all of her gifts. Her sisters were eager to help as one can imagine.

Ingrid was most excited about her Bitty Baby backpack carrier and outfit. She also likes Veggie Tales, but she calls them "Gina". We don't really know why.

Happy Birthday Beautiful One

Our youngest daughter is three years old today. She is the most vivacious, sweet, full of life little girl. No longer a baby or the youngest child, she has grown by leaps and bounds this past year.

Happy Birthday "Big Girl" Ingrid Kristine

Saturday Morning Camera Fun

Old Photo Friday

Today is Woody's dad's birthday.

This picture was taken during the late 60's. The Korean Army served along side the Americans during the Vietnam War. Dr. Chung was serving as a dentist in this picture from Vietnam.

Happy Birthday Abanim and Harabagee!

Milk

Today's diatribe is about milk and school nutrition. I'm a little peeved at the Chandler Unified School District Nutrition department. It seems they've decided to use school milk as the budget neutralizer. What crazy logic to fund a budget shortfall by increasing the cost of milk by more than 40% in one year. My kids take their lunch everyday but purchased their milk in the lunchline. Now we're rethinking that.

Maybe I'm too nostaligic. But my school years were spent eating the same thing every day (my choice) with the addition of school milk. White milk, not chocolate. The cost? 4 cents in the early grades and 5 cents for the remainder of my grade school years. I went to Kellogg Elementary in Kellogg, MN and had a milk ticket. It looked like this:

Everytime I had milk, either at lunch or at milk break (yes, we had a break just for milk in the afternoon), the card would be punched. After 10 punches, a new card could be purchased for 50 cents.

Things are a little more high tech in some of the Chandler schools. They purchased biometric scanners to record lunchroom purchases. The parents load the account online and the kids go through the line and use their thumb scan to debit their account with their lunch and drink. The district ran out of money before implementing them at all of the elementary schools, including Morgan and Annika's. At 50 cents per pint of milk, they can certainly buy more than a few scanners plus software. In the market, I paid $1.39 for a gallon of milk on sale. 8 pints of milk at CUSD is $4.00 HMMMM.

So we're opting to let their milk account run out, and allow the girls to have extra milk after school. The dairy is important to their diets, we're just altering the timing rather than spend $1.00 per day for a couple pints of Shamrock Farms "Rocky the Cow" plastic milk jugs.

By the way, the hot lunch price, including milk, has not changed in the past two years.

Eight Weeks Old and Darn Cute

Time for an updated photo of the little guy - two months old. Wow!

Baby Shower

It was a nice welcome back to work to find out my office decided to throw a baby shower for Erik. They had the Cheesecake Factory restaurant cater a nice lunch. In true Mercy Gilbert fashion, the party was toned down to zero decorations and games in favor of more time talking and relaxing. Woody brought Erik who spent some time with us and some time down in the CEO's office. Erik received very nice boy clothes, pajamas and toys, including a turtle puppet.

Erik spit up on his red outfit so we took the tags off a new shirt and pants - green with a cow and jersey cow pants. It had a tail on the pants and matching socks.

One of my coworkers gave the following advice - "be careful how you dress the boy, and be especially careful of the embarrassing photos you take. One day, your son will be picking out your nursing home accommodations." Thanks, Jason.

I'll take it under advisement, but the blog is more than equal in photos and true stories of all my kids. Hopefully they'll remember that when I'm old and senile.

One Potato Two

Friday night family fun included a new idea for dinner. We used Grandma's microwave potato bag and cooked big baked potatoes for everyone. The girls loved the idea of the potato bar with all of the toppings. This was definitely a thumbs up dinner by the girls. When Erik is old enough for foods we will be able to mash a matching dinner for him. Morgan enjoyed deciding what toppings she liked, eating them with a layer of potato and eventually starting all over again with a new layer of baked potato.

Our toppings included shredded chicken, maple bacon, pepperoni, peas, broccoli, chili, and cheese.

Old Photo Friday

Multitasking

This is my first week back to work after Erik's birth. It's the girls second week of school. A lot of changes to our schedule and upcoming additional changes have me juggling work and home. I wonder if someday I will go to work with a burp cloth still on my shoulder or come home to nurse Erik and bring a work document to read over his shoulder.

It seems my great grandfather, Charles William Springer, embraced the multi-tasking man with a seemingly girlish apron over his suit. Cooking? Gardening? Who knows what the additional tasks were that caused him to protect his shirt and tie with a flowered cloth.

Books

Finally, the books were removed from their toppling piles in our closet and brought back out to the family room bookshelves. It took more than eight wagon loads to get the books back from their summer storage. We finished with the remodel before Erik was born in June, but it is only now that we got some of the furniture and fixtures back in place.

With a series of heat warning days, it's best to keep cool inside with a book. Ingrid enjoyed "discovering" all of the new books that she missed over the summer. It'll take more than a few days for me to put them back in the bookcase in some sort of order.

Despite the work, we love the books.

Monster Jam

It's not a tea party with dainty dresses or tickets to the ballet that got my daughter excited. This evening Woody and Annika went with Kevin and Matthew to the UofP stadium (where the Arizona Cardinals play) to see "Monster Jam 2009 World Tour" Annika, who may enjoy wearing dresses once in awhile or may like purple butterflies on her wall, also likes things such as monster trucks and NFL football.

It was a fun and LOUD evening of motorized vehicles jumping over cars and reving their large engines for the crowds. These behemoths crushed the smaller cars and the tires were larger than humans. Spinning out and flipping the cars in feigned accidents wowed both Annika and Matthew.