26 May 2007:  All right, this is an update, just like the last.  So, as I said last time, it would be difficult to summarize the family updates for almost a whole year just here.  So, to get you up-to-date through the end of 2006, click on the Year-In-Review on the Updates menu above.  It'll fill you in on the entire year of 2006. So what's been up since then - lots of work.  Not only for Don at work (who works 60+ hours a week and commutes 1½ hours each way), but for us at home.  Lot's of renovations to the house.  We'll eventually post a page showing all them in one place.  Needless to say, we are not even half done with what we want to complete and we only have a little over a year left to finish them.  The girls are both doing very well in school and are really looking forward to the summer.  Though the 90 degree temperatures that have hit us the past few days have been unbearable.  Donovan is trucking right through the terrible twos and making sure he lives up to them!

01 March 2006:  OK, it would be a little difficult to summarize the family updates for almost a whole year just here.  So, to get you up-to-date through the end of 2005, we decided to send out a "Year In Review" summary with our Christmas cards.  It's on the menu now under updates.  Check it out.  Quick summary before hand though:  We moved from Virginia to Massachusetts.  The kids are loving it up here, as are Kelly and I.  My new job is great, but takes WAY too much of my time - I work more hours now than when I was on the boat (which is why I have been so behind in so many things).  So on to 2006 - started well.  I injured my knee and found out that I needed major reconstructive surgery for it.  At last check I have a 25% of developing arthritis within the next 10 years and 10-15% chance of needing a total knee replacement within 20 years - oh, what great news.   Anyway, that's why I have time to do this update, I'm at home recuperating from the surgery.

01 September 2005:  Just a quick note.  The move went well, we found a great place in Massachusetts and are getting settled in.  The real-estate market is extremely expensive here and I commute 68 miles each way to just to be able to afford what we wanted.  But it is really worth it.  The family is adjusting to the new area, the kids start school soon and are looking forward to it.  Nice to be the new kid at the beginning of school, less adjustment.  They are also looking forward to snow!!!  Something I can pretty much guarantee them that we will get while here.  Kel is loving the challenge of a new house (and decorating it).  I am staying ridiculously busy at work - it is taking up a lot more of my time than I thought it would (more than when I was in Norfolk).

27 March 2005:  Happy Easter to everyone.  Hope you had an excellent holiday.  We had a lot of fun with the kids and dinner was fantastic.  The kids are excited as spring break is this week and they have off the next week.  Unfortunately, with my upcoming transfer, I was not able to take any time off.  I'll be going to Boston at the beginning of May to look at houses.  We've been looking up MLS listings on the internet and have found that we can get what we want, it's just going to be VERY expensive.  Though we found that Massachusetts is actually cheaper than New Hampshire or Rhode Island.

19 March 2005:  We are all really excited now with the upcoming move and everyone is ready to leave Virginia and head back up into New England.  Living in Massachusetts will be a lot different (and a LOT more expensive).  It looks like I'll be heading up there at the end of May and then coming back to Virginia towards the end of June to pick up Kelly and the kids.  The girls don't finish school until June 17th, so that's what the delay is for.  Hopefully I'll have found a house before then and it'll be a door to door move.  An update on the littlest one...he's not so little any more.  He's up to 18 pounds (at 4 months) and is 24 inches long.  He's huge!!!  Of course, the fact that he eats non-stop may have something to do with it.  But hey, he's healthy.  He was born much smaller than both his sisters, but is now bigger than what both of them were at 4 months.

24 February 2005:  On the last update I mentioned that I had applied to serve aboard the USS CONSTITUTION.  I flew up to Boston last Friday for an interview and found out yesterday that I have been selected for the job!!!  Sometime around early summer we will be moving to Boston where I will take over as the Command Senior Chief of  "Old Ironsides".

09 January 2005:  OK, Happy New Year to you all.  Hope you enjoyed the holidays.  As I said in the Site Update, it's been a little busy.  After Kel's parents visited in November, my parents came back down for an early Christmas.  Elisabeth came and stayed with us for Christmas and then we went to my parents for New Years.  Virginia was also blessed with two snow storms - one a week before Christmas and the other the day after.  There are some good photos of them both.  The girls are doing fantastic - Kayla is kicking butt in school with all "A's" and an average of 97!!!  Kaitlyn is at the age when all of her teeth are starting to fall out - she's gonna look like her brother at this rate.  Donovan is growing like a weed and in 2 months, has doubled his birth weight.  Though he was born much smaller than the girls, he's now the same length/weight as they were at this time.  Kel and I are both well and currently in limbo waiting for a call-back for an interview for my next job.  I've applied to become the Command Master Chief of the USS CONSTITUTION in Boston.  This is a highly sought after and competitive job.  Old Iron Sides is still a commissioned Navy vessel with a crew of 50.  Not only will it be challenging but inspiring from the history and tradition aspect of it.

07 November 2004:  This is the follow-up to the quick update I did 2 weeks ago.  Kel went in on 26 October and delivered our 3rd child - a boy finally!!!  Donovan Ryan Abele was born at 12:05 weighing 7 pounds, 15.5 ounces and measuring 19 inches long.  He is the smallest of our 3 children, but also took the longest getting here (Kel went a full 39 weeks).  There were no complications and mommy and son were home in 3 days and are doing well.  I've spent the past 10 days on leave at home enjoying lots of bonding time.  Alas though, my time is up and I have to go back to work tomorrow, so I figured I'd get the updated pictures posted as well.  The new pics start on page 10 for 2004 and carry over into page 11.  I promise there will be lots of new pics coming soon.  Also, please remember this Thursday, 11 November is Veteran's Day.  Please take a moment of your day to remember and honor all of the veteran's (past and present) that helped make our country the greatest in the world.

25 October 2004:  This is a quick update to get photos and stuff up to date.  Tomorrow is the big day.  Kel goes in at 8:00 am for delivery.  We are all VERY excited.  This has been the longest pregnancy of the 3, so we are all anxious.  Sometime this week, as time permits, I'll post the pics of the new one.  In the mean time, we are all doing well, and looking forward to tomorrow.  Until then...

18 September 2004:  OK, it's been a while, so let's see what's happened since July.  In August I went to Florida to help with disaster relief from Hurricane Charley.  Click here for the pics and story.   I am now finally getting paid for Senior Chief - a nice raise - and I only had 5 months to wait for it.  September brought school for both Kayla and Kaitlyn.  There are some pics of them on Page 7 of 2004.  Both are doing well (Kaitlyn loves it).  Kel and the baby are doing well.  She was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, but is controlling her sugar very well with diet.  We expect it'll be sometime during the week of October 26th that she'll go in for delivery.

31 July 2004:  As I mentioned in the Site Update, we've been pretty busy the last month and a half.  We have had quite a few visitors here (Lori, Shelly, and then Elisa) and even took a trip to NJ to visit for the 4th of July.  We also took our annual 2 week pilgrimage to the woods for camping and relaxation.  All totaled there are over 500 new photos since the last update.  Of course, I'm not posting them all - I'll probably get it down to about 150.  Just start on page#2 of the 2004 photos and go from there.  We are all doing well.  I'm as busy as ever, even more so now that the Chiefs results are out - initiation season has begun.  You should also check out the fiasco I had with my truck - CLICK HERE.  Kel and the baby are both getting larger (OUCH:  slap to back of head) and are both doing well.  She is in her 3rd trimester now.  Kayla amazed us with her final statewide exams, called the Virginia Standards Of Learning (SOL).  There were 175 questions - she aced 172 of them, missing only 3 in the whole test (which took 5 days to complete).  Needless to say we were quite impressed.  She also finished up a 2 week advance curriculum course the school offered in July.  She did very well and loved it.  Kaitlyn celebrated her 5th birthday while we were camping (lots of pics) so she's now ready to start school in September.

08 May 2004:  If you missed the announcements for April, you can check them out by looking at "Updates...Family Updates" from the menu above.  Since then we have been doing well, Kel is in her 4th month now and did very well when we went unexpectedly hiking in the Shenandoah National Park for 3 miles (half of which was uphill from 3000 to 3500 feet).  Needless to say, we won't be staying at that park this summer.  The girls are both doing well, Kayla looking forward to summer and Kaitlyn to starting school (we registered her last week).  And me???  Well, on Friday, 07 May I was promoted to Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman (HMCS / E8)!!!  CLICK HERE to check out my shiny new star at the top?  Needless to say I am very happy about it, not only because of the raise in pay, but because  it's a reflection of my hard work and dedication over the past 4 years.

08 April 2004:  All is well with us.  If you've not heard, Kelly is pregnant!!!  Yes, this was planned (very well, I might add).  Right now she is about 10 or 11 weeks along right now and had her first OB appointment yesterday.  There was a bit of scare when they couldn't find the baby by ultrasound in the Doctor's office.  So we went in today and had a full one done in Radiology.  They were able to find the baby and things look all right.  CLICK HERE for the ultrasound pic.  She is expected to deliver sometime in late October or early November (right around Kayla's birthday).  So that's how she's been :-)  Me?  Busy at work, even more so than usual, but hanging in there.  Kayla is doing amazingly in school and has been given an invitation to attend an advanced curriculum this summer!!!  She will probably be starting softball this summer.  Kaitlyn is looking forward to school this fall (we register her in May) and is as ornery (is that really a word?) as she always is.  The girls both got really cute haircuts and with our new digital camera (yes, I sold the old one), hopefully I'll get better pics.

04 March 2004:  The family is all doing well.  Kaitlyn is itching for school and Kayla is getting straight A's and doing amazingly well.  Me?  Busy, as usual on the boat, but trying to find time for all my projects (like updating this site).  Kel is alive and well (surprise!!!) and she and I are getting a salad garden together for the yard this year.  Our seedlings are already over six inches tall.  We should have plenty of vegetables throughout the summer.

02 December 2003:  Not a whole lot to report.  We had a nice Thanksgiving together (my first in 3 years).  I smoked a 21 pound turkey - it took 8 hours, boy was it good (and is all already gone - go figure).  Kayla got her stitches out and it looks really good.  She recently got her report card and is doing VERY well.  Kaitlyn is the same little bug she always is.  We are all waiting for winter to arrive here in Virginia, we all really miss the snow.

23 September 2003:  Yes, we did survive hurricane Isabel.  Click here for the story and some pics.  Kelly is loving Virginia for the sun and lack of rain, which has made her a tan goddess (she made me type that), and is, like me, glad that the deployments are over.  Things are going well for me on the boat, but hectic as always.  Kayla loves 3rd grade (and is doing really well: 2 A's and a B) and Kaitlyn just seems to not be able to wait to start school (next year).  The two of them together can be a royal terror, but cute as a button two seconds later.  We spent a couple of weeks camping during the summer, my first real vacation in a while - look for the pics on the photo pages.  Kayla recently received 3 stitches after a biking accident - pics (and story) are also posted on the photo pages.  This recent update is taking forever for me to complete, (it's now 10 November and I still haven't posted it yet).  And in the mean time, other than Isabel, there was another spectacular phenomenon that occurred - the total lunar eclipse on 8 November.  I have an excellent group of photos I took.  Click here for the pics.

26 April 2003:  Boy did it take a while to go from Washington to Virginia.  I left not too long after the last update to the web site, spent almost 3 months at sea and then had about 6 days home for Christmas.  I flew back to Virginia and went back to sea for almost another 3 months (also spent a good deal of time in Kings Bay, Georgia).  All this time at sea was testing for the SSGN conversion which is scheduled to start soon.  There's a link below for more information about it.  Anyway, sometime around March I was finally able to fly out and get our house packed and move the family.  Things went well with the move - it was by far, the best I've had yet, mostly because we had a really cool truck driver.  The kids were surprisingly good during the trip.  Honey didn't seem to enjoy it very much though (she rode alone in the mini-van).  Kayla is happy in her new school and has made a really good friend next door.  Kaitlyn is taking it all in stride and can't wait for summer so she can swim in our pool.  Kel and I are looking forward to the summer when the boat finally gets into the dry dock and there are no more deployments for me.  Virginia is just as hectic as we remember, but we are living well away from the beach in Deep Creek and hopefully that will make all the difference when the summer comes (and the tourists).

02 September 2002:  A lot has happened since the last update.  I went on another deployment, add another 3 months to the "away from home" tab.  Things went well though.  Kel is doing well, nothing significant to report there.  Kayla is all ready to start school next week and is really looking forward to it.  Kaitlyn had a birthday (while I was gone) - she's 3 now and doing well (holding on to the terrible twos though).

We are positive now that we are moving to Norfolk, Virginia.  My boat has officially been chosen (and the funding approved) to be converted from an SSBN to an SSGN.  Click here for details on the SSGN conversion.  We are just not sure when we'll be moving.  I will take the boat around to Virginia in the fall and leave Kel and the girls here.  When the boat settles into the shipyard and I find a house I'll fly back out and drive them across.  Looks like I'll be away for about 4 months, though I will get to come back home for Christmas.  We'll then spend the next 3 years in Virginia.  Not exactly what I wanted to do, but I get to keep my specialty pays without actually having to go to sea.  Nothing like completing my last sea tour basically on shore duty.

Until next time - be well.  Later...

16 February 2002:  I decided to add this paragraph here to let you know the latest and greatest goings-on with the family.  As important events unfold, I'll update it.  Let's see...I'm just finishing up 3 weeks of vacation time (God it was nice) and will be returning to work on Tuesday.  Kel is doing great.  Kayla is doing very well in school, as is Kaitlyn at home - they are only in trouble half of the time, the other half they can be real angels.  Whether you've heard or not, our stay in Washington will be getting cut short.  My submarine will be moving to Norfolk, Virginia at the end of this year to go into the shipyard where we will be converted to a new type of submarine.  The process will take 4 years, of which, I will be onboard for 3 years (spending that whole time in Virginia).  While not thrilled about returning to Norfolk, it does put us back on the east coast, closer to family, and out of Washington where all it ever does is rain.  Until next time - be well.  Later...