Fine, okay, it's a blog already!

We've just returned from our wonderful trip to Illinois. Thanks to all those who made it a truly special visit. Perhaps more on that later. What we really want to highlight right now though is the birth of our new niece Julia Leigh Stahl. Congrats to Brenda, Tim and the boys on the new member of their family. For more info, check out this link.

Hmm...they seem to have removed a picture from that link...here it is:

For those of you Wallenfeldt family member types who haven't gotten the e-mail from Carrie, she has set up a mailing group at this link.

Also, I just want to reiterate that we do have a new message board. Visit, sign up, and try to make it interesting. As a reminder, I would like any birthdays/anniversaries/etc. from you all so I can work on a calendar. Just email it to me. Thanks.

First off, a Happy Birthday to sister Brenda. Hope you have a good one.

And yes, more updates will follow - finally.

First off, before anything else, crack open a cold one for Tom's 21st birthday. Here's hoping his next one is safe at home.

Some folks on the Galva-Kewanee Armed Services Group (can I just call it GKASG or something from now on?) just plain disappoint me. The latest discussion, as with most people, concerns the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. While most have been shocked and remain fairly level-headed, we have some members who pretty much praise the stupid MPs who did this and assume these are regular interrogation practices. Yeah, but only in Oz.

Let me clear this up. Yes, I doubt most of the guys they captured are nice guys. I also doubt they've been very cooperative. However, humiliating them and getting photo proof of it will: a) not likely get them talking anyway, and b) will now only get our troops - and civilians apparently - into many more life-and-death situations. As much as I lay the blame for the 740+ dead at the feet of our current administration, they are now going to have to share the blame with those shameful MPs from here on out.

More importantly, the very acts alone ensure that our troops over there are more likely to get in harm's way. Sweeping the incidents under the rug and pooh-poohing it all away will increase that danger by another order of magnitude. Yes, it is not pleasant to think our troops - our side even - are capable of such cruel acts. But let's not lie and pretend it did not happen. Acknowledge it, actually apologize for it, try and charge those guilty of the criminal behavior, and do our best to be open and honest about never letting something like this happen again. When half the Arab world thinks that a beheading is a proper response to the way we treat our prisoners, that says a lot more about our practices than the imbecile criminals we're fighting. Let's worry more about regaining the moral high ground than on whether or not we can handle bad news.

I'm not talking about a witch hunt. I'm also not talking about having to see every piece of evidence on display on the evening news. Acknowledge the problem, deal with it fairly, and move on. Could we just do something without going to extremes for once?

And while we are at it, I agree with those naysayers on one thing at least: let us report the good we actually are achieving in Iraq and give us all a reason to be proud of our efforts there. Not for political gain, not to be portrayed as stooges of the government; merely because it should be newsworthy.

We stopped by PetsMart the other day and they had a Santa there. We figured we'd get a picture of Mono in and then they let us in too. Pardon the flannel.

In any event, Merry Christmas to all of you from us.

Click here for full image.

I wanted to provide you the whole online experience before posting this, but Brenda and Brent have a new son, Jaxon, born on Thursday.

Here's a peek at the little tyke and his info, or just reference the picture below.

Congrats to the proud new parents and to Chance, Drake, Julia, and Lauryn on their new brother.