Calendar?

Hey Jared,
I went to print my February calendar and it wasn't there yet. Are you going to make one soon? Please? I really look forward to seeing them each month, they're my kitchen calendars where we write what's for dinner.

Thanks,
Love ya,
MOM

History Updates

Mindy, It's looking good. If you want pictures for certain activities to put in the history I'll see what I can help with. Dad put in his "History of Chaos" that the actual date of his promotion to Captain was summer 1986 not 1985 as we thought when we told Jared. Could you correct that when you're making the other updates?

Hopefully Eric will get back to us soon on increasing the size of our page. I'm going to remove the 2004 items from the archives. I'll check that file periodically and remove blog posts as necessary. I also need to go back in and add the pictures to the earlier files, once they are on my computer, before I put them on a CD. I may need some help with this because I'm not sure I have all the pictures that other people posted.

Have fun and keep on posting,
Love ya,
MOM

Corporate History

I've tweaked some pages in the Corporate History .. changed a few pictures, recentered (or uncentered) a few things .. check it out! Eric - when did you move to California? I want to add that in (I've got a map ready too!). Mom - send me a '97 BBC picture, to add to the 1997 page. Also if you could, send me a picture of Clarissa's graduation .. I mentioned that on the 2004 page. Everyone - we could add other important events .. like Mindy going to Russia, Emily working in Disneyworld, missions, Tawnia going to Germany .. send me the years of that, and a picture if you have it. I'm having lots of fun updating stuff, so tell me what you think!

This was up yesterday, but now...

This is strange. I set up the logo and everything was updated yesterday, and now it seems to have reverted back to an old version of the site. At least that's what I'm seeing here at work. I'll try to get it straightened out though.

I love you all.

Rock on.

Eric

Where is everyone?

OK kids, you can post on the blog again. There's enough room for that, so let's hear what you're up to.

Great LOGO Eric, if any of you had your volume off when you brought the site up, turn on the sound and do it again. You'll love it.

Thanks Mindy for the work you did on my page. Most of the things I really liked so I left them alone. Some were hard to read on my computer or I liked what I had so I changed them back. I'd like to learn how to do those frames around the pictures they're really cute. And I love what you've done with your page, too.

After talking to most of you we have decided to increase the size of our webpage. Eric is taking care of making the adjustments with the host company and will let us know what the cost will be. Dad said that everyone can contribute whatever they feel able to and he'll take care of the rest.

Also, I'm sorry to say, that after talking to everyone and counting the votes, Captain Chaos will retain the title of Captain, at least for the time being.

Now let's get on with our Logo contest. Are there any more submissions? We have ones from, Jared, Eric, Mindy, Mom and Dad. Come on guys, share your ideas. If you want to submit more than one, that's fine.

Also, it's time for a new question - Describe a childhood birthday or more than one if you want. Did you have a party? What gifts did you get? Why is it memorable?

Enough from me. I'm going to work on shrinking those recipes so we can have a little more room.

Love ya,
MOM

Updates

With the joyous news that the website is back up and running, I have changed a few things around on my page. The most obvious would be the layout on the front page (no, not all the links work yet), and the wedding section is pretty much done (just a few changes with the pictures, nothing major). I had a lot of fun doing it, and I'm trying to figure out what to do with those other pages .. what else could I put besides pictures? I was thinking of writing about travels, but that's more fun with pictures, and I have no way of getting all my Russia pictures on the computer. When that changes, then I'll add that. If you have any suggestions of what else I could add, let me know! Also check out some changes on Mom's pages. I was in a mood, so she got some updates too. Over the next few days some of that will probably be changing (she didn't like some if it and couldn't read some of it) so check back again later to see the final versions. I'll keep working on my site, and let you know when other sections are changed.

Grandma-sitting

Dear family,

Today I spent all day at JoAnne's with her mom. She's really old, so she can't get around by herself really well (when Clarissa was over there last week, she sat on the floor and we couldn't get her up). She likes to listen to opera music, since she used to be an opera singer. Anyway, JoAnne doesn't like to leave her alone, so I'll be staying with her every Friday. This will also give me a little bit of money, about twenty-five dollars a week. And while I'm over there I can read my history or something.

Emily

The BLOG is Back

Sorry kids,

Our website was full. We have 20 MB of space and it was all used up. Eric gave me the address of the host. I am emailing all of you with options for increasing the size of our page, meanwhile I removed, at Eric's request, his movie that took up 10% of the space. There was also a folder with all the previous blog posts. They were in annual folders and in the archives, so I removed the 2004 folder. The genealogy uses 1.4 MB so I'm thinking about moving it to another site. I think we might have a free website with our server; if so I'll move the genealogy there and put a link to it on our site. Please give your opinions on upgrading. You can either send them to me or to Eric.

Also please put a title on your posts because it makes them easier to scan through to see if you've missed reading something.

Love ya,
MOM

Hail to the Captain

I was just thinking... if Captain Chaos was given his rank in honor of Captain von Trapp, wouldn't the next logical promotion be to Commodore? von Trapp was a sea captain, not a groundpounder.

Hello Efry-buddy,

I hope you're all doing well. Life is okay in Provo-land. The weather is pretty blah today. Foggy and pretty cold. Tonight is FHE.... do you all have exciting plans? We're having it at our apartment tonight, since Amy is the FHE mom... so yay, I don't have to go anywhere. I think we're having a lesson by Stephanie and then playing a game (it's a fun one where you first right a sentence about anything, and then the next person has to draw it... then they fold over your sentence and the next person has to write a sentence for the above drawing.... etc.... it's pretty fun actually and afterwards you read them all and laugh really hard.) And then we'll have refreshments. It will be interesting meeting our new FHE group.

Anyway, I may be going to Las Vegas this coming weekend.... but I'm still not sure. I'll make sure to post as soon as I know one way or the other, so that you'll all know where I'm at. My cell phone will come with me so you can always call me on that.

Have a fun FHE!
Love,
T

Problems

Mom, you aren't the only one. I made up the next page in my wedding series, and I haven't been able to get it posted this morning. It came up with errors too, so who knows what's going on. Either we wait and see, or have Eric fix it (if it is something that can be fixed). But I'm having a lot of fun with all my pictures and pages anyway .. backgrounds are a LOT of fun. And if someone could answer my question about aligning pages with borders, that'd be helpful. I'll probably be continually updating my pages for the next little while, so check back often. Trina, the reason I didn't make it obvious (excpet that I did tell you guys) was that I'm going to change the front page .. I'm just not sure how yet. When I do change it, it'll be more apparent. That, and I want the wedding stuff to be finished before other people check it out (like my friends, who I tell to go see!). I've also noticed that the blog wasn't updating on the page (but it was at blogger.com) .. is it maybe that we've filled up our site? I really don't know how much space we had, or how much space we used, but that's the only thing I can think of.

suggestion

When making webpages, could y'all put some kind of "click on the picture" notice when there's something behind it? Because, really ... how is anyone supposed to know to do that? I like looking at everyone's pictures and their stories, but unless someone actually says outright, there's no way of knowing that something is different. So please, MAKE IT OBVIOUS. I wouldn't have known to click on Mindy and Jason's picture if she hadn't said something because the page doesn't look different at all, and Jared buried something in the "corporate history" thing - I can't even remember where it is, but one of the pictures has some artistic additions from Brooke. He told me about it on the phone.

At this end, Adam is taking his turn being sick. Sinus infection, all kinds of congestion, fever ... when his fever broke on Saturday, you'd have thought that I hadn't fed him for a week. He ate dinner 3 times. I'm going out of town all weekend for work. This will be the first weekend trip when he'll be all by his lonesome. My other trips have been during the week ... the redeeming value of this is that I get two extra vacation days that I can take whenever I want. We're thinking about a little excursion through the South in May when his sister gets married in Pensacola, and two extra days then would be nice.

OOPS

I was going to put a couple of new vacation pages on tonight but the computer wouldn't let me. I kept getting error messages so I decided to try again tomorrow. If the same thing happens I'll let you all know.

Mindy, your pictures are great. I really love the frames you added to the wedding pics. I'm anxious to see what else you come up with. And thanks for your vote, even if I do disagree. By the way, the voting was supposed to take place this week so everyone be sure and get your votes in. If you voted before the 21st, vote again to be sure it gets counted.

I'm going back to work tomorrow, so I'd better get some sleep.

Love ya,
MOM

Hooray for Emily finally having her own computer with internet. Since you spent a lot of time on there anyway, now you'd better be posting a lot too! But then, I've got my own computer with internet, and I spend a lot of time there too, so I guess I'd better post a lot too, huh?

I love the updates on everyone's websites. Eric and Laurel and such fun things to share, and I really enjoy reading everything on Mom and Dad's sites. When is everyone else going to update stuff too? I've added a few more pages (click on the picture of Jason and I), but I had a question. If you've got a background with a border, how do you align all your text, so it isn't right on top of it? And the background on the 3rd page I made myself .. I just found a picture from a stamp website (stamps for scrapbooking and stuff) and went from there. AND check out Tawnia's page .. I didn't change anything but the background -- I made it myself! All the little pictures were from another stamp-website, and then I made it into this! If anyone else wants borders or backgrounds, I'm having fun!

My official vote is - stay with Captain. Let's wait a few more years for General .. when he's got a few more grandchildren, or when he reaches 60 or 65, or when he retires .. something more than just because. I know that the promotion is an eventual thing, just not yet.

My computer

I am writing this in my room; I am connected. Can you believe it! Finally! Rejoice, my family! It only cost about $120, for the router and the cable to stretch from the office to my room -- and about half an hour with Dad using the staple gun to attach the cord to the ceiling, and then me panicking because I could not find the directions needed to route it. I'll probably be on a lot more, just because I can. And I plan to update my web page sometime this weekend, on my own computer. Oh happy day!

Emily

Emily's Folklore Project

Dear fam,

As part of my Mythology and Folklore class, we have to make a collection of our own folklore. For my project, I plan to collect inside jokes, such as, "The jello is good." Of course, I can't just give the one line -- I need the story of its background and what inspired this comment, best if recorded from one who was there when the infamous line was first uttered, or even the person who said it! I can use myself as a source, but I'll also need your help. What inside jokes do you know -- and are willing to share -- and remember where it comes from and what sparked it and when you say it? I'll post this project on my webpage when it's complete, which will be about the middle of March. I already told my sisters about it, and they responded with enthusiasm.

Love ya,
Emily

Greeting from Michelle

I am so sorry you aren't feeling well Evelyn. Hope you feel better soon. I wish I could say I have been feeling better. After being sick for a solid month, I finally saw a doctor. I have sinusitis. It had gotten really bad because I waited so long to see a doctor. I started antibiotics 2 day ago and I am feeling some better now. Then I bit down on a cough drop and I am pretty sure I cracked a tooth. I am planning to see a dentist tomorrow. Before long I should be good as new. We are doing well down here. Brooke is really excited about her field trip to the science museum on Feb.1. Bryan is all healed up from his ailments. That is all for now. Michelle

More updates

Thanks Jared for clearing up that question. We loved your answer.

I have added several more pictures to the various answers on my website. There are still a few that I need to post but I've sort of figured out what I want on there. I was sick most of the day so I came home from work after only an hour or so. I had lots of fun with the question about traditions. I hope you enjoy all the pictures. I'm staying home again tomorrow but Clarissa has already informed me that she needs the computer most of the day to get her homework done.

I hope everyone is feeling better than I am.

Love ya,
MOM

Update to the Birdhouse

Hi all. I put a new page up. Also, be sure to check out laurelpalmer.com for the final version of Laurel's gallery. At least the final version so far.

I'm starting my new job Monday. So excited. I'm going a bit stir crazy waiting for it though.

The weather here has been beautiful. I've been wearing shorts and a t-shirt with the windows open the last few days. If the sun didn't go down at five and the leaves of some of the trees weren't missing I would think it was summer.

Today I watched the inaugural address on TV. I really enjoyed it. I liked the music too.

Well, that's all I guess.

Check out Dad's page if you haven't already. It's really good.

Eric

Hello?

Can anybody hear me?

Miniature Aardvarks Jumping Off Rooftops

The question was asked (was it emily?) what does MAJOR stand for. As soon as I thought that one up, I had a vision of thousands of aardvarks, maybe a foot tall, viciously attacking a city by jumping from the rooftops, snarling vicious little creatures. Something from a cheap action hero movie maybe. Captain Chaos to the rescue! If he saves the city from the mini aardvarks, maybe we could promote him to MAJOR....

Just out of curiosity, is anyone still on the fence, so we can furiously debate at them, or is everyone pretty much decided how they want to vote? I just notice that the Jan 21 deadline is upon us very soon now.

on second thought ...

We will not be going to the inauguration after all. Part one of the decision to not go downtown for the parade was the extent of the security. There's security, and there's paranoid. It's gone PAST paranoid into the realm of downright ridiculous. About 200 blocks downtown between the White House and the Capitol are completely barricaded as of this evening for a frickin' PARADE - everyone was "recommended" to go home early today to get out before the area is sealed off, but you had to take vacation time to do it. Excuse me? You're kicking me out and I have to pay for the privilege? My office is in the restricted zone, and our internal option was to go home early and make up the time later. Well, since I will be working approximately 35 hours in 3 days (instead of 21) next weekend when I'm in Memphis - voila! Time made up. And then some. To go back for the parade would have involved going through many, many security/search checkpoints and we would not have been allowed to take anything in with us. Going downtown to wait for a parade for 5 or 6 hours with no chair, no food, no nothing - nope. Not happening.

Part two of the decision: the weather has been in the balmy 60s - a VERY mild winter. But on Monday, the temperature took a nosedive to down around 20, clear to just above 0 with the wind. It started snowing around 10:30 this morning and we had over an inch in the first hour, so people started going home. Our head director went around just after 11 and said the same option still stood - go home early because of the weather and make up the time later. I have the same one-word response - Memphis. I left the office at noon, and because of the weather, my bus route was cancelled until the roads were plowed. So I worked my way via Metro and bus over to Georgetown, which took almost 2 hours, met Adam on campus, and walked the rest of the way home with him.

Very amusing, Tawnia - way to hide your calling right there in plain sight. As a veteran of many, many fields of combat in that arena, may I offer my sincere condolences and best wishes for your success. HA! I wonder how it will compare with being Relief Society president - I did have a lot of good experiences in that calling, but it also stands as the most difficult calling I've ever had. Good luck.

Updated

I've updated the Nekoshi portion of the page. There are a few new pictures (that you haven't seen), but nothing recent. Jon took his digital camera at Christmas, and we haven't really seen much of him since, so no camera! Nekoshi is doing great though. She's still very curious, but she's figured out that she can sleep half the day away too. Yesterday she broke one of my piggy banks - my little one ("Lucky") that's big enough for only a penny or two. Luckily, only a piece broke off the top, so it can be glued back on.

I'm not sure what else I'm going to do with my site yet (any suggestions??) but I'll let you know when I update.

Institute Rep

Hey Fam,

First off -- Laurel, I LOVED your post. Here I sit in the BYU library where it's as silent as the grave and I was laughing. I tried to contain myself but I didn't do to well. I also loved all the pictures and the video on your page. I had to get out my earphones to watch the video.

Jason- thanks for posting! It was great to hear from you too!

My favorite smells would be... my perfume. It's sort of lavender, but not really. It's called moonlight path and made by bath and body works. I really like it. I also love the smeall of lilacs. I could sit and smell those for hours. I think lilacs are my favorite flower... not just because they're pretty (which they are) but also because they smell so good. Of course those dryer sheets smell good. The smell of those was the only thing that made going to a laundrymat tolerable. Of course I love the smell of good food cooking, especially when I don't have to make it. And I like it when the person I hug smells good. I really like it when they have on just enough cologne so that you can't really smell it until you're hugging them. That's nice. And no, I'm not talking about anyone in particular.

The neighbors I remember... well JoAnne and Larry of course. I remember just running into their house and yelling "knock knock" as I went in. Their home seemed like my second home for most of my growing up life. I also remember the Rileys. Mainly because I was their number one baby-sitter. I have a lot of memories of babysitting them. And I remember the Symolens. Even though I was several years older then them... there wasn't really anyone my age to hang out with in the neighborhood.... so I occasionaly would go and play with the little kids. From when I was really little I remember Lizet Lopez, and Jonathan... and I can remember Todd's name, but I don't really remember what he looks like.... and their was a boy named Jeremy who had a big black dog. I have a distinct memory of being told to stay at the top of the riverbank to watch that dog while all the boys went down to the river. I couldn't control the dog because (in my memory) it was as big as I was. So I watched the dog go down as well, and then went up and told Mom where all the boys were and that they wouldn't let me go with them. Then they got in trouble.

Okay, enough reminiscing. I have enrichment tonight and homework to get done in the next twenty minutes before it starts... oops. But I'll be coming back here afterwards. Anyway. Life is going well. I'm keeping busy. I played all weekend and didn't get anything done... so now I need to study hard so that I can take a test this weekend. And then the weekend after that I might be in Las Vegas.

I love you all.
-T

I completely agree!

Like Trina, I was very impressed with the updates of Mom and Dad's websites (I only found one picture that didn't show up - Dad's siblings from the oldest/youngest question). It made me want to have lots of info pages like that too. I liked reading about the younger days of Mom and Dad .. helps me get to know my parents better! I also enjoyed Laurels pictures too, and the way they're presented on the page .. very cool. I'm excited watching other pages develop, and it makes me want to have everyone look at mine and say how cool it is. I'll think about it, and come up with ideas and hopefully update soon (I just can't scan pictures like Mom and Dad, and Jon took back his digital camera).

And Trina, when you have only 15% humidity, and comfort level is 30-50% humidity, you really learn to appreciate it. Jason and I have to have a humidifier running constantly (you stop for any lengthy amount of time, and it drops right back down), to make it even close to comfortable, and that's only in the confined space around our bed. The rest of the house is still way too dry.

Now THAT is awesome!

Mom and Dad - those are awesome pages! The details, the pictures ... Wow! I am inspired. I can't say that tomorrow our page will pop up differently - likely not, because that's about #3 on the current priority list. My preceding priorities are to finish going through this monstrous stack of papers that I've been hauling around - they need to either be filed somewhere or shredded. The second is to finally get the reprints and enlargements done of our wedding pictures. But I have ideas for the webpage, and it will be good. Some things can just be put up and left, like our wedding pictures. Other things will be added to, like our road trip adventures.

Laurel, I like your paintings - they're really neat. I hope to someday have one of your paintings in our home, when we can actually purchase it properly. We'll commission Mindy to draw our children as well.

About the pez dispenser thing - I did laugh very hard at the Animaniacs thing, and then I laughed very hard when I first saw the statue at the Kennedy Center. I mean, really. LOOK at the thing - it's a pez dispenser! A head on a pillar! Just no candy.

My favorite smell is Adam right after he showers and shaves. I also like the smell of baking at Christmas (and any time of year, but especially the Christmas treats), of laundry right after it comes out of the dryer and it's still warm, of scented candles, and of grass and trees right after it rains. (Living in a concrete jungle, I can no longer say "outside right after it rains" because asphalt ... eh.) I also have learned that there is one okay thing about humidity - it makes the smell of flowers and blossoms a lot stronger.

Finally!!

Both Dad and I have updated our pages and the genealogy page. I haven't made all the changes I'm going to but I think Laurel will be happier. I've added a few pictures. I like all the additions to your page, Eric. Dad would like to change the name of his page. Any suggestions? Message from the Captain doesn't quite cover it. I'm not sure about mine either. So if any of you have ideas, please share.

Let us know what you think. There'll be lots more changes to come.

Love ya,
MOM and DAD

The Sense of Smell

Thanks for your post Jason it triggered a memory for me, too. Shortly after we moved here to Lafayette I went to People's Market. As I walked in the door the scent of the store took me back to my childhood. I'd been in other small stores, like 7-Eleven or Circle K but something about that small corner grocery smell reminded me of the little store near our home in Bellingham. I would go there, whenever I had money, to visit the candy counter or buy some other treat. It wasn't very big, about the size of People's and I hadn't thought about the place until my nose took me back in time.

I'll tell about my favorite smells on my site and I'll try to find a picture to go along with it, (just for you Laurel.)

Love ya,
MOM

Favorite Smells

ok.... been a while....

Favorite smells...... I like wildflowers out in the field. Spent much of my youth moving irrigation pipes across fields, always remembered the smell of the wet flowers. Very strong, almost pungent. The smell of buffalo beans (a small yellow flower, almost shaped like a bean I guess) on a hot summer day with no breeze. Willows. They smell good hot, cold or wet...they just do. Freshly turned earth, the smell of rain as it first starts hitting the ground, the smell of hay the morning after it's been cut. Wind carrying the smoky flavor of a distant fire. Rice, as it's steaming and almost ready. The smell of soya sauce and garlic as I make fried rice. The smell of a good spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove. The sweet smell of mint and the strong smell of sage. I could go on and on.... I always smile when a familiar smell from my past wafts by teasing and tantalizing my senses. Memories are very strongly associated to the senses. Much like how a song from the past will remind you of a friend or a place or some significant occurance that influenced you.

This was a fun question, left me feeling nostalgic.

Jason

Don't Hate Me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN!

Nekoshi (not Tiger Lilly) was a present from Jason for Christmas. She has helped me be much less lonely and depressed while Jason is at work, and she's a great entertainer for all our guests. If you want a kitten, get one, just NOT MINE!

And to answer some of Mom's questions ... The neighbors that I remember are Larry and JoAnne, the Symolons, the Syphers, and then the various neighbors across the street, especially the Rileys. I always went over to JoAnne's after school, there are too many stories about the Symolons and climbing up the hill through the Sypher's backyard to get up to their house, and the Rileys had cute kids. Favorite smells - Vanilla, Jason's soap, Jason's cologne, cooking smells (onion, garlic, cookies, etc), rain (I don't get to smell that much here), fresh laundry, and the little purple bottle of lotion that I got from Amanda that reminds me of Tawnia's perfume.

Emily, you might have done a spellcheck, but you still put "What one?" instead of "want one?" and "you" instead of "your." You also forgot a comma after "by the way." And yes, Jason does know about networking and stuff like that.

Look, a giant pez dispenser!

Where did this line come from, you might wonder? Or maybe not if you've watched the twelve hours of Animaniacs episodes that we taped off TV. Wakko walks up to a bust (I think it's Sigmund Freud) and says, "Look, a giant pez dispenser! Want one?" Then he opens it up and candy pops out. Trina laughed very hard when she saw this.

Eric, watching your little video reminded me of the time you and I drove up to Seattle. We sang "You are my Sunshine" (with a modified second verse) and made up verses of "She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain."

By the way, does anyone know anything about setting up a home network? We have a router for my computer, but I don't know how to set it up. I want to get connected, if only so that stupid "you-haven't-updated-your-security" message won't keep popping up.

Emily

PS I ran a spell check, and the suggestions for Animaniacs were inhumanness or anonymizer.

Greetings Children

and Happy Birthday Nathan. We had a fun time for Clarissa's birthday on Friday and now we get to celebrate another one. They certainly come fast around here.

In response to your post Laurel. Read why the captain should become a major which I've posted twice before. I don't have pictures for some of my stories but I'll do my best. Just wait until you see what Dad is doing with his page. I loved the bird pictures. It looks like you guys are having fun with your new toy - the digital camera. You shouldn't hate Mindy because of her cat or be like Manda and want it for yourself. Remember girls, "thou shalt not covet they sister's cat" or something like that.

I have to go now and get some breakfast and start Nathan's birthday dinner - barbecued pork ribs. YUM!!!!

Love ya,
MOM

Page Update!

Laurel and I put a bunch of new pages up in our section tonight. Check 'em out!

Also, my vote on the Chaos issue is NO.

I Got a Job!

Hi all!

Just letting you all know that I got a job today. I'll start in another week, but that's okay. It's at People's Choice Home Loans in Irvine, about 10-15 miles from here, but not a bad commute at all. It's straight down the 5, and the traffic is not bad on that stretch of freeway.

I'll be working as a corporate trainer and instructional designer and I really like the people I interviewed with.

This is a real answer to prayer and I thank all of you as well for your love and support during this difficult time.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLARISSA! (I called her already, so everyone at home already knows my big news.)

Love,
Eric

Two Weeks of College

Hello everyone.

I've been busy with my college classes -- in geology we're studying the hardness scale and have to learn to identify nine different minerals, and for the next week we're adding ten more. The only way to learn this is to spend a lot of time with the specimins. And in mythology and folklore, we've been using crayons and markers to draw pictures of Greek gods and the Trojan War. (Next we're reading about Jason and the Golden Fleece.) History class is interesting, especially since there are only three of us in the class, and we were told it won't be cancelled since our teacher is being paid through McMinnville campus rather than Chemeketa. This week is on World War One.

As for my favorite scents, I like the scent of a new book -- the mixture of glue, ink, and paper. And I'm voting for Major CHAOS. (Does Major stand for anything?)

Emily

Cool birds.

Feedback

From what I'm understanding our temple day looks like it will be the last Saturday in March. That is the day before Easter so if you were planning to take the kids to an Easter Egg Hunt, let us know the time you'll be available for the temple, Jared. I think that's an excellent day to be in the temple.

I didn't get much feedback from my question about neighbors so I'll go ahead and post my thoughts. I was going to put it here on the blog but I think I'll post it directly to my website. Then you'll have to look there to see it. I'm still working on vacations to post there, too. If it doesn't show up, it means I ran into a snag. It's been a while since I've updated my site and I have to remember how to do it.

Meanwhile here's another question to get some conversation going: What are some of your favorite smells?

Also I haven't heard any comments lately on the promotion of Captain CHAOS to Major CHAOS. Dad was supposed to be getting some attention here.

Love ya,
MOM

Here's the Birds!

I posted some pictures of the birds yesterday Nathan, right after you asked for them I went and took pictures of them, and these are some of the best. Sorry I haven't labeled them, but with a few exceptions I can't tell them apart. The three on top of the cage are from the first set of babies (Sally, Skeeter, Sammy), the one with the strange head feathers is Seedy, and the one in the cage with the blue beak is good ol' Petey. Hey, I guess I can kind of tell them apart.

Anyway, there you go. I'll have pictures of Polly and the new babies up soon.

Eric

Report

My talk went well on Sunday... I guess. At least that's what I've been told. I talked about Spiritual Goals. I mainly focused on the goal of Eternal Life. Which would be the long term goal. I read 2 Nephi 31:20 and then broke down the verse speaking about each seperate phrase. For instance "feasting upon the word" I talked about Emily and how she likes to say, "don't just nibble... FEAST!" Which is ironic since I can remember how she used to "taste-test" foods. Anyway, I said that sometimes we "taste-test" the gospel and don't like a principle because it is to challenging for us or we don't want to change. I also talked about all the ways we can "feast" on the word.

Trina, yes, I did mention the BBC blog. I said that my sisters and I had a weblog where we posted goals each month, and how it made us accountable to each other. I also talked about you at the beginning. How you are probably the most goal-oriented person I know, and how you make life happen.

I felt like I was talking a mile a minute, but my roommates said I was fine. So yeah... I wish you could have all been there.... but I guess your magical cars were broken down... oh well, I guess that was just Nate and Manda's. =)

I've been back at work all week and staying extremely busy. With the end of the quarter coming up I have to make sure we are ready for grades to go out. I am the "paperwork" queen. I think the main reason I'm with Eileen is to help her be organized.

Oh, here's another funny story. I was called in Sunday morning to get my calling before church. I was told to meet with the first counselor. I got into the office and sat down and then he couldn't find my calling written down... so he couldn't figure out what to call me as. I went out and found the bishop and so he brought me into the office and gave me a calling... I was set and ready to go... and therefore when Bro. Roberts came into Relief Society I didn't think he was looking for me. But he was. He said that the bishop wanted to see me again, ironically I was "escorted" upstairs by the first and second counselors. I got into the bishop's office and he told me that he had given me the wrong calling. So then I got my real calling. And after I got back to RS the president, Hope, told me she was mad that they'd already given me a calling because she had had me in mind for something. Oh well, I guess I can't just help it that I'm so popular. Remind me to tell you what my calling is after Sunday when I get sustained.

Anyway, I have institute in just over an hour and I should make and eat dinner before that since it doesn't get over until nine. So remember who you are and who loves you. (me!)

Love,
T

Show me the BIRDS!!!

Eric-
I have not seen any pictures (photos) of your birds. I would like to see some.

Thank you.

Nathan

Page Update

I've been putting my new camera to good use. Check out my page today and probably tomorrow too for more pictures.

Eric

Dear Parent:

Yesterday, I got a letter from Georgetown University, and it started out "Dear Parent." Adam and I found that very amusing. I am a lot of things to him, but "parent" sure as heck isn't one of them!

Two pretty major things to report - one is that I got a new cell phone number yesterday and I will email the number. Adam and I are now on a family plan together with DC numbers. Hooray! Number two is that the DC DMV has decided they've had enough of me pestering them, so after FIVE MONTHS of working on this, today I got the DC license plates and parking sticker for the car. They're in my bag - Zippy will be adorned with his new tags tonight when I get home. That one gets more than just a "hooray!" It deserves the frickin' Hallelujah chorus. We're becoming more fully entrenched in DC residency ... as far as I can tell, the last couple of loose ends to get finished up are for Adam to switch over his license to DC from Florida (which was a piece of cake and took 20 minutes, even with changing my name, and included voter registration), and for me to get signed onto Adam's bank account. And then we're set. It's a little strange to think of this paperwork transition period finally coming to a close, but I've been here in DC for 15 months, and we've been married for almost 7 months. It's about stickin' time we got all this garbage done!

march

Well, Tawnia is out on the first Saturday in March, Eric's out on the second, and we may be going out of town the third Saturday. That's the beginning of Brooke's spring break. Mom says Nate may not be available that week either, so I don't feel so bad. But the FOURTH Saturday in March, the 26th, should be good. If anyone wants to push beyond that, remember the first Sat in April is General Conference.

It's Raining

It's been raining all day here.

How cold is it here? Well, I checked Weather.com and it is 54 degrees at the airport. It's been in the fifties all week. Brrrr.

It's been a good week in spite of everything. I went on splits with the Elders Wednesdasy night, had wontons with our friend Dave Merrill last night, and today Ameriquest called back and said I should hear from them soon. I also set up two interviews for next week, one in Irvine and one in Culver City (LA). I hope I don't get the Culver City job. Too far and too little money. But I'm going to interview all the same. Ameriquest would be great, if only because it's less than five minutes away from our house.

I'm also getting ready for the basketball season. I'm going to run practices this year. We need to defend our title, but also we want to split into two teams and so to keep the quality up, we're going to work on our fundamentals. It'll be awesome. I'll keep you posted.

Trina, you're not lame for camping out for the Inaguration (did I spell that right?). I think it's awesome. What an historic opportunity. Seriously. You're witnessing world history.

Man, that rain is still coming down!

Temple day... I think the end of March will actually be best for us. The last Saturday or second to last.

Hmm. Well.

Tawnia, did you refer to the BBC blog when talking about spiritual goals? Not the blog itself, but how we set goals and what some of them are? Just curious. When you said that about your talk, I thought "Oooo! Perfect example!"

And now I will change the subject to talk about ME! Work this week for me has been "go go go go go can't you go FASTER?" And that answer would be a big fat "NO!" ... Wait, make that a big fat "H*** NO!" I feel good about what I've gotten done this week so the bosses can just chill out. Everything will get done. Eventually. One mah-velous thing about work is that we were just told a little bit ago that we get Inaugural Day off. The office will be closed - yippee! So Adam and I are going to camp out along Pennsylvania Ave. all day for the parade at 2. We'll take the Metro into downtown with our camp chairs and little cooler with drinks and snacks and cameras and something to read. And a big umbrella in case it rains. It's going to be GREAT! I hope the weather stays pretty warm and isn't too cold that day. To me, this is one of the DC things that you have to do at least once. We'd go to the inauguration day parade no matter who it was for, just to do it. I know. We're lame. But you love us anyway.

My Week

Well, my week has been interesting. I woke up Wednesday morning to a foot of snow on the ground. Amy and I started to drive to work, got a really bad feeling and came home... and then I've had the flu for the last two days, so I haven't been to work since Tuesday.

Regardless of having the flu... I had to complete one of my independent study courses today. I took the final and got 94% which means I got a 97% in the class... Yippee! I got and A. This was my Introduction to Audiology and Speech Language Pathology course. I got an extension on my Anatomy and Physiology class... so now I just have to push myself and get it done by April 14th.

It snowed steadily from Wednesday through last night... and it was a beautiful clear, COLD morning this morning. Now the clouds have come back in and I believe we're supposed to have a big storm this weekend, though I hear it's going to be more wind then snow, at least in the valleys.

I'm speaking in church on Sunday. I was asked Monday night, and actually wrote my talk on Tuesday, which is good, since my life has been absolutely insane since then. I'm speaking on Spiritual Goals. I'll tell you how it went afterwards.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day and has a fabulous weekend. I will hopefully get to feeling better this weekend, though sadly this means no playing in the snow. Oh well. I still haven't watched the movies I got for Christmas.

I love you all.
-T

FYI

Dan broke up with me on Wednesday.

Right now I'd just like to move on with my life, so ummm... ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies. Actually... just forgetting that the whole event happened would probably be best for the moment.

-T

What does warm mean again?

Right now it is -17 outside .. or +1 for all you Americans. The forecast says it'll be around -20 on Monday, and that's Fahrenheit! There was snow off and on before Christmas, all melted away by Christmas, but it finally snowed again on Christmas. Since then we've had a nice blanket of snow, and it snows at least once a week, if not a little bit everyday. Not that I'm complaining, since I'm indoors all the time, but well, don't complain about not getting the warmth Eric!

Any Saturday in March should be okay for Jason and I. At this point he does work on Saturdays, but I'm sure if he mentioned it they could re-work his schedule so he could get one off. On the other hand, he's waiting for a call about a different job, and if he gets he won't work on Saturdays at all. So we'll just have to wait and see. I will definately talk to him about it, so we can plan ahead.

second Saturday in March?

Mom, Tawnia said she might be off playing somewhere on the 1st Saturday in March ... and we might be as well. It's Adam's 1st spring break, and I'm thinking about taking a couple of vacation days for a road trip just for the heck of it. We're thinking Boston. So I suggest the 2nd Saturday in March - March 12. And everyone else needs to speak up about doing this AT ALL. The point is to have EVERYONE participate, not just a few of us.

And yes, Adam gets TWO spring breaks. Weird ... until you realize that Georgetown is a private Catholic university. They have "spring break" at the beginning of March and then another week off for "Easter break," which happens to be at the end of March this year. End of March is getting too close to my spring conference for work (which is in DC - no traveling this time - yay!) but I can take a few days off at the beginning of March.

Eric, I think your warm weather is over here. Virginia and Maryland are shutting down all of the ski slopes. They can't even use their snow-making machines because the temp is in the 60s. It's not supposed to be above freezing until March or April.

Trina's Temple Suggestion

Dad and I are available almost any Saturday. Just let us know far enough in advance. I think it would be great to all be in a temple at the same time. We have a few names available and are working on getting others ready. Let us know when the rest of you can go. Maybe we need to just pick a date and see if that works for everyone. Let's say the first Saturday in March. Does that work?

Sorry to hear about your computer dilemmas, Eric. I'll send you an email to verify the address for you. Remember if you post stuff to our site you won't lose it if your computer crashes. Just a thought.

Nathan, whether or not we want major chaos, it's here to stay. Sometimes I think the older I get the more chaotic my life becomes. Since it's such a part of our lives, why not have the title to go along with it. And what better person to carry that title than your hero and mine, the one and only Frank Palmer, head of this chaotic, insane clan. I vote YES for Major CHAOS. By the way, Dad just said that CHAOS now stands for "Children have all our support" believe me that's MAJOR.

Computer Woes

Hi all!

Great to hear about everybody's plans. Things are going along pretty well here. More interviews next week, so I'm optimistic. I'm also getting ready to roll on my final semester at Fullerton. Naturally I have no idea what's going on, so it should be great.

Laurel is still working at Wet Seal and she is really enjoying it.

My computer crashed the other day so I lost almost all my data. So sad. At least I'm up and running again, and backing everything up as I go.

I snagged all your email addresses off the settings page of the blog, but if you could all send me an email so I know for sure which one you're using, that would be great. You can also use this as a chance to console me on my poor lost data.

The rain has stopped here for now anyway. It's been cold here though. We're hoping it will get back up to normal temps, you know, warm.

Love,
Eric

China

First of all, Trina, I like the plan... and I'm pretty open. I'm actually planning on attending the temple every Saturday, the only one that could possibly be an issue, would be the first Saturday in March. I have an extended weekend and may go out of town, or attend the temple earlier in the week... but going more then once isn't a bad thing.

Now, as to my title. Really this post is directed at Eric because I am not sure which e-mail address to use to write to you. In about a month we'll be starting a unit on China in the fourth grade. I was wondering if I could get some info from you. About the Chinese New Year, and about the Chinese culture, food, music, etc. Also if you know of any good websites to get info from, that would be great.

If you hadn't noticed I made it back to Utah in one piece, and I've been running since the moment my feet hit the terminal. I have tons to do today, and this whole week... both at work and in my own life. But I will most likely be posting more regularly because I have to come to the library to study.

I love you all.
T

P.S. I'll post goals on the sisters blog another day... when I have time to think of some... oops, my bad.

family temple day

I came up with this brilliant idea last year, but never did anything about it. This year, I'd like to try it. The idea is to have all of our family (including the in-laws), no matter where we are, do a temple endowment session at the EXACT SAME TIME. For example - 10 am on the West Coast is 1 pm on the East Coast ... so everyone out west would do the 10 am session while Adam and I are in the 1 pm session. We'd all be in the temple at the same time. I think that would be cool.

I realize this will take some planning ... I've gone through all the applicable temple schedules for where everyone is, and all temples are open in March. That also gives Eric and Laurel the option of going to LA or San Diego, and Mindy and Jason can go to Cardston or Edmonton. I would also be willing to send Jared and Michelle a little money to help cover babysitting (since they're the only ones that applies to), if necessary. So here are the questions to get this coordinated:

- Assuming that Saturday is the best day to do this, and those who work on Saturdays will have enough notice to get one day off ... what Saturday in March will work best for you? What Saturday is absolutely out of the question for you? If not a Saturday, what is your other option?

- What time of day works best? Morning, afternoon, evening? Any specific time that you have in mind?

Email me or post your thoughts, and I'll get the details figured out and then do another post about the verdict. Also, maybe Mom and Dad could send everyone temple cards with family names so we can all do family names. If we get this to work now, I'd like to try it again in the future, and make it a regular once or twice a year thing.

Brooke's first roller coaster

Yesterday we got some free tickets to Six Flags, and since Brooke has reached that pivotal height of 43 inches, she was able to ride her first real roller coasters. I took her on the Runaway Mine Train and the Shockwave. The Shockwave is one of those big metal ones with a couple of loop-de-loops. Brooke is a true Palmer and loved every second of it. She is also big enough now to ride the Texas Tornado, which is a big swingset that spins everyone around to almost horizontal. She had a great time. Bryan also had fun in Looney Tunes Land, and he rode the carousel four times.

Today we went to church in the morning, which was a nice change.

here's for you dad

Well I have not been on here for a little while. For the sake of my old man getting more attention I will encourage all to vote NO on ballot measure 1. This is the one that, if passed, would increase Captain CHAOS's title to Major. Is that really something that we want? Major CHAOS? I don't think so.

Nathan

Happy New Year

Greetings, Palmer clan.

My first goal for this year is to update my web page, just as soon as I figure out how. Other goals include get my associates, visit several new states, start a regular exercise program, and do all my visiting teaching.

It's been a great holiday -- three weeks between terms. I spent a lot of time pretending I'm a full time writer. Christmas was a little different because we only had five people at home, but it was still fun. And on New Year's Eve, Clarissa and I watched all of Lord of the Rings. Yes, it took twelve hours. Next year? Maybe we'll watch Star Wars -- all of them.

Emily

I'm Second!

Happy New Year!

Laurel is working today (she volunteered to help her boss) so I went to our friends the Strongs' house for a party with a bunch of young families in the ward and she went to bed last night. It was a good time. When I got home she woke up and was wide awake for a couple of hours. It was kind of funny actually.

But earlier last night we went to a surprise party for our friend Bobby. It was at his sister's house in Brea. We got there late and by some bizzare coincidence we arrived the same time he did. I figured we'd blown the surprise, but then Laurel started talking about how we were there to see my cousins who lived just down the street and he bought it! We went in after we heard them all yell "Surprise!" and had a good chuckle. It was funny too because when Laurel was making up her story she kept adding details about who the people were that we were visiting. And then he asked "which house is it?" and Laurel said "I don't know, this is our first time here, we're kind of lost." It was one of the funniest times I think I've ever had.

Well, today I think I'll go to a movie alone and play with my new digital camera or "digicam" as we call it. I've taken several hundred pictures since Christmas. It's way too easy. I think I'll buy some extra memory for it with the Christmas money I got.

Goals for the new year...

I want to get a job
Finish my Master's
Coach the Elder's Quorum basketball team to another championship
Attend the temple more (once a month)
Read my scriptures every day
Take tennis lessons in the Spring

That's probably enough for now.

I love you all. Happy Birthday to Emily and Brooke. Amanda, thanks for your great post. It's great to have you in the family.

Love
Eric

I'm number 1!

Hooray! First post in 2005!

Well, we're off to Six Flags now!