Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Hoping everyone a merry & happy holiday!!!

Crystal (Miller) Bridgeman

Merry Christmas from the Mehringers

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

Hillary (Newland) Hopkins

So I have to admit, this is the first entry ever in any blog for me, so please take that in to consideration while you read. Here goes the story of me:

After high school graduation I moved to Kansas City and went to school at UMKC's medical school. It was a pretty tough transition for me, with lots of trips home at first. During med school, I took about 8 months off, and worked at a church in the city and did a medical mission trip to Cameroon, Africa.

This is a picture of some of the kids I took care of in Africa at Banso Baptist Hospital.

Both were great experiences - especially working at the church, because that's where I met my husband. We met in 2002, got married in August 2004, and moved into a rental house in a fun neighborhood in Kansas City, MO (Brookside) where we still live.

Mitch started dental school at the end of the month after we got married, so we have basically spent the first four years of marriage in school/residency. I graduated from medical school in May of 2005, and started family medicine residency in July of 2005. Mitch and I both finally graduated this past summer. We went on an amazing trip to Canada for graduation, and here are a couple pictures from that vacation, as well as a picture of Mitch and Grace at his graduation and the three of us at my graduation.

We don't have any children together yet, but Mitch has a daughter (Grace-- see above), so I have a beautiful, intelligent, 6 year old step daughter. She is such a blast, and we have enjoyed watching her play tee ball and soccer for the first time this year. We also have 2 dogs: a black lab named Rilee and a yellow lab named Harper. They are very sweet, but a little on the hyper side. Here are pictures of Grace horseback riding at Dad's and playing tee ball last summer.

I, being a glutton for punishment, have decided to do another residency. This year, Mitch and I are working in Kansas City (as a real dentist and doctor...finally!), but will be moving to New Hampshire in June 2009 for my dermatology residency. It will be three years, so anyone who wants to come do a little "leaf peeping" in the fall is welcome to come visit! I was there last weekend, and it really is beautiful. Grace will be here in KC, so we'll be back to visit and will be moving back as soon as we can.

Unfortunately, my camera is not very good (as evidenced by my disposable at the reunion), so I don't have a lot of pictures that I can post right now, but I'll try to update them. Who knows, I may be hooked on this blogging thing! It was great to see everyone at the reunion, and I hope to read updates from all of you too!

Corin (Lancaster) Mehringer

You may remember me here: (Sorry Andrea I didn't have one by myself)

After graduation I went to Truman State University. After three years with no major I finally picked Communication Disorders.

In the Spring of 2001 I went to visit Sara (Slaughter) Smith on spring break in Virginia Beach. While there I met Stephen Mehringer.

He was stationed on the same ship as Sara's husband Marc.
In October 2002 were married.He was deployed shortly after and I stayed in Kirksville to finish my degree.

I graduated in Dec. of 2002. It took me five years and I ended up with a degree I had no intention of using, but I did it I suppose that's the important part.

Once Steve got back from his deployment we moved to Bremerton, Washington for the Navy. We loved living in the Pacific Northwest. It was very senic and it never gets to hot or to cold there. Sara and her husband were stationed not to far away from us, so it was nice to have someone from home close by.
The beach on the West Coast is a totaly different experience then on the East Coast.

I like the West Coast better.

This picture is from my first camping trip ever. I'm not a camper but I have to admit this scenery helped.

Here we are at Marc and Sara's Halloween party. Sara is so good at hosting parties (as you may remember). One of the things I miss the most about living there is being able to go to there house for parties or just to play cards.

Steve got out of the Navy in the Spring of 2006. We wanted to move within driving distance of both our families, so we started looking for jobs closer to home. We were both lucky enough to get jobs in Kirksville before we left Washington. We weren't really planning on being this close to home but things just seemed to fall into place. So In February we left and took our time moving back, snaking through California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas ... I can't even remember, we hit a lot of states, I know that. The great thing about the Navy is they pack all of your stuff and move it for you door to door, which is awsome.

This is from Valley of the Giants in California.

So now Steve is a System Administrator for the Bank of Kirksville and I am the Office Manager for SunBrite Laundry. We recently bought a house West of Kirksville on Hwy 6 and we love it. And in July of 2007 we had our handsome baby boy Levi Jacob. (I swear when I named him I didn't know that was the name of Nick's little boy.)

I almost forgot our other child. Winnie Cooper our Deuchson/Jack Russell mix. She is cute but not nearly as well behaved as Levi. But she is his best friend so what can we do. Levi chases her everywhere and laughs at everything she does.

So here we are. I hope it wasn't to many pictures. They are my favorite part of over people's blog so I wanted to have lots. I'll update you with any exciting changes. But I've got to warn you, we are very boring so don't count on hearing from me for awhile.

Andrea (Tallman) Frederick

I guess I will be the first to post about my life since I'm the one who came up with this bright idea! Here goes nothing....

As most of you know, I married Vance Frederick in 1999. We will be married for 10 years in June! Seems like a long time and then it seems like the time has flown! He is a lineman for Tri County Electric and received a journeyman lineman diploma in January. I threw him a HUGE surprise party for his accomplishment in February and he was shocked. He still doesn't really trust me b/c he thinks it's creepy how well I lied to him! Oh well, everyone has their talents. (He's at the top right)

In May 2002, we had our son, Colby Curtis. He is now in 1st grade. Colby and I get along like vinegar and water sometimes. He is a wonderful, helping boy 80% of the time, but when he's not....WATCH OUT! He loves being outdoors: fishing, riding horese, roping, etc. His dad is definitely his number 1 fan!

On Colby's first birthday, we got some news....Surprise! we were pregnant again. So a short 20 months after we had Colby came Emma in January 2004. She is now 4 1/2 and a little princess. She loves clothes, makeup and accessories. She has just now discovered the wonderful world of shopping. Emma and I love hanging out, just us girls! She also has a strange sense of understanding at such a young age and a deep love for God. Although, Emma is a princess, she does not object to being outside and usually comes in dirtier than Colby.

In addition to my children, I am a teacher. I have taught for 7 years. This year I am in 1st grade and loving it. It's a nice break from the hubbub of kindergarten. It is hard to work with an age group and then come home to that same age group in the evening.

Vance and I have also started building a house this summer. We are excited to see it change everyday when we go look at it. It consumes a lot of our time and thoughts as we get closer and closer to moving in. We should be able to move in November. YAY!Well, there's my life in a nutshell. Please post your's. If you can't figure it out, just email me or leave a comment here and I will help you out! Happy blogging......

The Reunion

The 10 year reunion for the Class of 1998 was August 30th. We had lots of catching up to do and seem to get back in touch with many friends. First, at 1:00 some of us met at the park to introduce each other to kids and spouses. We attempted volleyball, but mostly just chatted and caught up. Then on to Memphis, where we had supper and "drinks" at the Fabius. We were there from 6:00 to 1:30. Some of us had a better time than others, but I think we can all agree when saying we're glad that we had it! Everyone needs to thank Hillary for being the main "chief" behind the planning. I just wasn't up for it this time around. I know some of us already have plans milling about for the 15th, so keep thinking!

Info

O.K. guys. I think we all agree after our very fun reunion, we need to stay closer together. I'm not sure how this will work, but I've invited you all to be authors of our post. Please include new babies, houses, jobs, marriages, moves, and anything else exciting going on in your life. Your first post should be an "updating everyone post." Just remind everyone where you "are" in life and maybe share a couple of pictures. I'm very excited about this and hope it works. Good luck.....
P.S....we are not here to critique everyone's work, so let's just hope Mrs. Rowland is not reading our wonderful grammar mistakes:)