Habitat hunt hooks house Home purchase marks new era of itemized deductions By Rey Lator special to the Times After a thorough but inexhaustive search, Ken and Laura Menningen managed to locate a permanent residence on Franklin street in Whitewater, WI. Although its meager 25,000 sq. ft. and 11 bathrooms earns the domicile a description as "cozy," it was decided that the family should purchase the property for the sake of fiscal responsibility. Although its
	Siding Scrutinization Ken Menningen, Dave Nehlsen, and Kim Udovich take a moment to assess the Certainteed Siding situation. See the story page 2. We hope to have a better photo of our new house by next year.
meager 25,000 sq. ft. and 11 bathrooms earns the domicile a description as "cozy," it was decided that the family should purchase the property for the sake of fiscal responsibility. However, shortly after moving in the mortgage lender discovered that the $1.1 million down payment bounced higher than the International Space Station's orbit and the family was forced to acquiesce to an even cozier 1600 sq. ft., single bathroom home. They are comforted by the fact that such a tiny dwelling still boasts twice the floorspace of their recently vacated apartment, and is easier to clean than the first house. Hardwood floors, an open layout, family room with fireplace, and spacious garage also help to alleviate any disappointment. There is also a 12'×40' in-ground pool, but an old and hopelessly damaged liner will require $3k to repair. The family's financial advisors are considering the matter. Despite the discouragement of the previous failed deal, the new home owners report a high degree of contentment with their new residence.

	Family flees to Philadelphia Vacation trip covers eight states by Vay Cayshun of the Times staff The family of Ken and Laura Menningen ventured on a vacation trip to Philadelphia in late May of 1998. Passing over hill and dale in their green Taurus wagon, they left the midwest in search of rest and relaxation. After sleeping on a warm air vent on a downtown Cleveland street, their stay in Lisa & Kazushi Ueda's tool shed in Philadelphia was positively luxurious. Keeping the tractor running all night provided extra warmth and a soothing hum, as well as the incomparable smell of fresh diesel exhaust. After several days of pleasant visiting and sightseeing, the Taurus was loaded again and took the family to Washington, DC. Alex greatly enjoyed the biggest and best space museum in the world at the Smith sonian Air & Space Museum. Lee & Barb Menningen hosted the wayfarers that night, clearing some space in their laundry room to accommodate the visitors. The warmth and steady hum of the dryer made for restful sleep. After a fine visit and an introduction to their lovely granddaughter Emily, the 'ol Taurus pointed west to Parkersburg, WV, where the family dropped $130 in one night due to a motel fiasco (see the story page 3G). Unfazed, they courageously
Posing Percussionists A drum and fife squad takes a break in Independence Square, downtown Philadelphia. One of only a few decent photos we managed on vacation.
headed west again to Cincinnati, where cousins Butch and Debbie Gore had painstakingly prepared a cozy spot in the rafters of their garage. The cars ran out of gas during the night but running the lawn mower filled in nicely. All too soon the fun was over and it was an uneventful trip back to Whitewater. Resident father Ken Menningen reflected on the trip: "There is nothing like getting into a car and driving across this great country of ours. One gets a feel for how vast it really is. As the miles go by and the plains give way to the rugged beauty of the Appalachian mountains, one starts to think, 'If we had flown in an airplane we would have been there yesterday.' Ah well, driving also affords the freedom to change plans and to hit multiple destinations." There are currently no plans for vacation 1999.

Infant is imminent Baby to be born in March by Heyda Storck special to the Times An increasing number of reports are confirming the impending arrival of a new baby to the family of Ken and Laura Menningen. Witnesses say Laura's abdomen has increased in size lately, and local grocers have noticed more frequent visits by the couple in recent weeks. An interview with a family physician has confirmed the couple is expecting, with a due date set for March 20, 1999.		Web Watch Site to contain photos by Nat Weystatime Times computer consultant Sources indicate that the web site devoted to Dr. Kenneth L. Menningen, professor of physics at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, may soon contain photos depicting his family members. When asked whether these photos were going to be periodically updated, Dr. Menningen replied, "no comment."
	Benevolent brothers This is how the first two infants turned out. Will the new baby also get the goofball genes?
	Authorities are monitoring the situation closely to ensure that the local network is not overloaded by the vast numbers of downloads that are expected soon after the site is updated in early 1999.

Palmyra provides prime parish New church chosen in nearby town by Churchill Wehr special to the Times Ken and Laura Menningen began attending Fellowship Bible Church in Palmyra, WI in early summer 1998 after the dissolution of a church plant they helped start in fall of 1997. The couple reports contentment with the new fellowship mixed with sorrow over past church woes. Their son Alex recently sang in his first Christmas program, belting out the first few lines of each song before becoming hopelessly distracted by the microphone. Next year they might let him play one of the sheep.
	Family Photo circa May 1998. Nathan looks older now but this is probably the best picture of us from the past year so we decided to include it anyways. Shown left to right, Ken, 30 (!), Nathan, now 16 mos, Alex, 4, and Laura, still 21 after all these years.

Yes, it's true. Ken Menningen was born on September 9, 1968. Now he's over the hill.

We wanted to stay in Parkersburg, WV, so we called the Econolodge 800 number and arranged for a stay. I think I even looked it over on the net, I don't remember. Anyways, when we get there after driving several hours we find the parking lot nearly empty, the deserted outdoor pool, the not-so-new-looking exterior, and an exotic dancing joint two doors down. Not the place to rest a family. So we head on into town and find an Amerihost Inn. It is new, pleasant, nice staff, indoor pool, just great. We call the Econolodge to cancel but they said "Sorry, it's after 4pm." Negotiations continued with the motel and with the Econolodge 800 number, but to no avail. So we paid for a full night's stay at *both* motels, gritting our teeth and saying, "oh well, it's only money. Besides, we're on vacation!" The whole family had fun in the pool, and we went on our way the next morning towards Cinncinnati.

We learned not to start wallpapering projects after 9 PM. We learned you may not be able to redecorate an entire bathroom in one week. We learned not to cut all the wallpaper pieces ahead of time without thinking about how the

Alex had a cataract in his right eye when he was young. It was surgically removed when he was 20 months old. Since then he must wear a contact lens in his right eye in order to compensate for the missing natural lens, and he must wear a bifocal eyeglass in front of his right eye in order to see different distances. And since the surgery he has been wearing eye patches on his left eye as therapy to help strengthen his use of the right eye. In spring of 1997 his vision was 20/100 with correction (about one year after the surgery), but quickly improved to 20/40 by November. By summer 1998 it had improved even more to 20/30. He now wears the patch about seven hours a day, and the patching will likely continue part time until he's nine years old.

Some pundits of the english language might accuse the editor of overdoing it a bit with the alliteration. Luckily, he has literary license to liberally utilize alliteration. Like it or not.

After we moved in we didn't get around to installing the TV antenna until sometime in October, so the TV was never on except for videos. We didn't miss watching TV very much, and don't watch much anymore. Waste of time. In many cases, it's a waste of talent for people to be making the sitcom shows. We can't believe these studies that say the average American watches six hours of TV a day. What is there to watch?

The Better Homes and Gardens recipe for homemade chocolate pudding is exceptionally good, especially if you use whole milk. It rivals frozen custard in my opinion. It takes a bit of work, though, but so does nearly everything good in life, doesn't it?

Many thanks to Bill Nye the Science Guy for this idea from his show about caves.