2010 update - the road has led back to California, for the long term

It's been almost two years since last we posted...big changes!

Dusty is now a permanent resident of Kazakhstan. We hear he's having a lovely, purposeful life herding cattle on the steppes, building great muscles, and learning Russian. Good dog! We miss you terribly!


Quinn and Rhyan are now full-time residents of California. Quinn is about to graduate from the local public high school that both his grandfather and mother attended. He took the opportunity to go to the prom and had a great time with his date Erin and his friends. Everyone came to the house after prom and ate waffles! In the fall, Quinn is going on to community college. Hopefully that's where he'll collect the grades that'll get him into USC's Interactive Media program in a couple of years. His current mission is to find a summer job that'll help him save up for a car, school and a life more independent of his mother.

Rhyan is currently being home-schooled. After the lush life of private international schools which offered a student-teacher ratio of 6:1, Rhyan couldn't find the help he needed in a California public school whose classrooms were loaded 32:1. He's flourishing nicely now, about to finish 6th grade with much higher grades. He'll be staying with home-school for another year, at least. We'll see how it goes, and if his mother can last that long.

Rhyan is also busy with two activities he's finding to be really enjoyable, bass guitar and taekwando. He started both on his 12th birthday, having received a bass guitar and amp as a present from his mom, and having been forced to try out a single lesson of taekwando at McKellar's Taekwando. He's already up to a yellow belt and will be testing for his yellow-green belt at the end of May. He's also included in the leadership program, where he learns how to assist his teacher with training the students with lower-level skills. Through this program, Rhyan earns credit towards new belts and equipment.

Rhyan's bass repertoire now includes Seven Nation Army, Another One Bites The Dust, Louie Louie, Iron Man, plus a few Rush and Aerosmith hits. Mom is impressed. Neighbors, not so much. He's had the opportunity to play his bass accompanied by his teacher on drums. A very fun activity! He's ready to start a small band!

There's a new girl in town...Chloe! She's a Jack-a-Bee, a Jack Russell Terrier/Beagle mix. Chloe barks with a decidedly Tennessee accent, having been shipped out just last week from Nashville. To describe her as "spirited" is an understatement! She'll have her very own blog entry soon.