More updates

If I didn't know better I'd say Eric gave me his cold over the phone because I've had a miserable day. I stayed home from work because I didn't get much sleep last night. I probably got it either from Clarissa or the kids I work with. Anyway, since I was home I got another vacation all done. It's 1991. Check it over and correct me if I got the facts wrong.

I hope everyone is getting well. This has been an awful year for colds and such.

I love you all.
MOM

WOW!!

Mindy,
You did a super job on Trina's page. I really enjoyed it. I also love the new background you added to the soap picture on your page. I was going to post, on the blog, the pictures you fixed for me but I couldn't get it to work. Is that what you're going to put on "before and after" on your page?

Is everyone ready for another new question? By the way, my answers are posted straight to my site. You can check them out there. Our new question is "What do you remember about your baptism?"

I have names ready for everyone who needs them and it worked out great taht I have couples for each of the couples. I thought that might make it a little more special.

I'll get those in the mail right away.

Love ya,
MOM

Space

Well, now that we have more space... maybe I'll update my page a little next weekend, when I have time.

My life has been plugging along as usual. I am sick with a stuffy nose, sore throat, and earache... but I'm still functioning, so that's good.

Sports: I love to watch Hockey and basketball. I actually watched some football this last season, and it wasn't so bad. I also really enjoy watching the Olympics. My favorite would be the hockey though, live or on TV it is quite enjoyable. I don't follow any particular team, but I do like it. When it comes to playing sports, I'm not really into anything. I don't mind soccer or raquetball and I like to swim... but I detest volleyball and don't care for softball.

I need to do some homework.
-T

P.S. Yes, Mom I need a name to do for the family temple day... and I'd just like to point out that that is the day after my birthday.

P.P.S. Mindy I like the changes on the Cookbook... I especially liked the headings "Bread and Breakfast" and "Meat and Potatoes" those were cute. Do you say p-AH-sta or p-A-sta?

updates

The cookbook is finished, and ready for viewing pleasure. I had fun putting it together, and picking out the backgrounds and stuff. I want everyone to see and appreciate! If you have any other recipies to add, let me know, and I can do that (or you can do it yourself, it's a very simple format). There are a few news ones added since we last had the cookbook up before.

I've also updated the BBC page, so the opening picture isn't quite so shocking, and there are quotes on all the picture pages (since those are the only comments I heard about it anyway).

MindilyJA has been updated some. I decided to change the name, since I'm hoping to send a lot of friends over to see the page and artwork. I just felt weird telling everyone to click on "Mint Jelly Associates" .. at least "MindilyJA" makes more sense. The rest of my pictures should be finished and uploaded by the end of next week, and then go and look and everything .. and comment! I spend a lot of time working on all these webpages, and Mom's really the only one that says anything. Please let me know what you think of the backgrounds and layouts and artwork and everything.

New Space!

Good evening everyone!

This is Eric with great news: our new web hosting provider is up and running. We now have 100 times the space! We'll pass the hat at anniversary time, which will be next month!

You should be getting an email from mom with the new ftp user name and password.

Have a great weekend and talk to you soon!

Eric

family names

Mindy and Jason both need family names for the temple. We haven't started doing the geneology for Jason's side of the family. His dad's side is all Japanese, and his mother was adopted. It's going to be tough! We've talked about the temple day, and we're going to plan for Edmonton. We're looking into staying at a hotel up there for the weekend, and things like that. Should be fun. 2 o'clcok sounds okay, we could even go another hour later if that's easier for people. Looking forward to it though!

I'm going to California

I hope I don't throw too much of a kink into our plans for our temple day, but I'm going to California to be with Cheryl and I'll be flying home on Saturday, March 26th. My plane arrives about 11 a.m. so I won't be able to be at the temple until about 1:00. I'll need to get my luggage and some lunch so we figured that would give us enough time. Does that work with everyone else's schedule? I know we were going to let Mindy or Jared pick the time and I'm sorry about that. I hope this works out for everyone. That would put Trina at 4:00, Jared at 3, Mindy and Tawnia at 2 and the rest of us at 1. Please let me know what you think.

I'll be flying down on Thursday the 17th because there is no school on Friday and the tickets were cheaper on Thursday. By flying back on Saturday Dad can pick me up at the airport.

Who, besides Trina, needs family names? Please let me know so I can get that taken care of before I leave.

Love ya,
MOM

Yay for Jared's graduation!

And thanks for calling me this morning, Nathan.
That is all.

Michelle sports thoughts

I haven't been watching many sports all at lately, but that may be because I haven't been watching much TV. I like playing any sports Bryan likes, which is just about everything. He now has 3 footballs, a tiny basketball, a volleyball, and a t-ball set. Though he also like bowling, tennis, golf, soccer, ect. Its not exactly team playing, but it is fun all the same. Brooke wants to go fishing in Bear Creek, so maybe I like doing that, too. I'm doing great. We are excited about Jared's graduation ceremony on Sunday. I'm looking forward to attending. Take care everyone.
Love, Michelle

History Class

Dear family,

I got back my history midterm today. I already knew I had gotten all of the map right. To do that, I just had to know where everything on the globe was, and what names the places had in the 1800s. Then there were four short answers and one essay. With the short answers, he offered several topics and we had to pick one and write what we knew on it -- for example, the Opium War. I got 10 points on two, and 9 points on the other two. The essay was worth fifty points, half the test grade. I wrote about different ideologies and how these affected history. And I got fifty points! My teacher said it was the best test he had ever seen. I was really proud of myself.

Emily

Sports and Stuff

I like watching all kinds of sports. These days baseball has been my favorite to watch since we live so close to Angels Stadium. We live just as close to Arrowhead Pond (where the Mighty Ducks play), but as Trina pointed out, there is no hockey season this year.

So I really like baseball, but basketball is, of course, a game I like to watch, play, and coach. Game 2 for Team 2 is tonight! 9:30! It should be a good one.

And then there's swimming. I still like to do it, and watch it in the Olympics.

I'm hoping that I enjoy tennis. I'm planning on taking lessons in April, once basketball is over and school is winding down. I need some good cardiovascular exercise, and I get bored just running.

Thanks for the follow-up on the temple day. Just let us know what time, and we'll be there.

Laurel and I are doing fine thanks. We love you all.

PS The website is going to be hosted on an all new server where we will have much more space. I'll be posting more information on how this will all be worked out and paid for. I'm hoping that Mom can help us out by transfering files over to the new server. Anyway, more to come on that but hopefully it will be done this week.

Love, Eric

Sports

What sports do I like watching? Hockey. I used to watch some basketball, but not lately. I like the Olympics, especially swimming, skating, skiing, and diving.

What sports do I like doing? Scripture chases. (I was the best in the stake three years running.)

Emily

temple day

So to confirm the date, we're doing Family Temple Day on Saturday, March 26.

My suggestion is that we let Mindy and Jared decide the time for that day, because Mindy has to travel the farthest, and Jared has to get the kids taken care of. For us out here, we can do it as EARLY as you want because 9 am here is 6 am out west. It's the late-ness that we'd be concerned about. The latest we can go to the temple is 8 pm, which is 5 pm out west. So, Jared and Mindy - what are your time suggestions?

Also, we have not begun working on Caudle geneology - we'll probably get all that type of stuff from Nancy the next time we're in Florida. So please send some Palmer cards ... keeping in mind that I did some names for Michelle at New Year's 2003, and she still doesn't have the cards back. They're done and I know exactly where they are - it's just been that long since I've put anything in the mail. So if you don't want to wait that long, you'll have to remind me. And keep reminding me until I confirm that they've been sent.

For the sports question - the BIG FIVE major sports are all fun for me, depending on who I'm with. It really is about who you're watching it with. I was a big basketball junkie back in the Blazer glory days, I watched football with a couple of the guys I hung out with in Monmouth, and my roommate Cari got me into baseball. Adam is a big soccer buff, and that's a fun sport to watch as well. I love watching hockey (especially with April Ward/Brewster - she's a freak. It's hilarious.) Adam and I plan to go to watch all 5 at the professional level eventually, but well, ya kinda need a hockey season in the first place to watch it.

I like to play volleyball and racquetball. I haven't played volleyball in years, so I don't know that I could do it anymore, but I got to be decent in my Dayton YSA days. Adam and I have played r-ball together and keep meaning to play more often, but haven't made the time for it.

Temple Day and a new question

Greetings children,

It's only a month until the first Palmer family temple day so we need to finalize our plans. First, do any of you currently have family name cards that you plan on doing that day? Since many of you have spouses I thought you might have names from their families that you'd like to do. If not, we have names that we can mail to you. Second - What time are you planning on attending the temple? Our temple, here in Portland,is open from 5:30 am until 8 pm. We all want to be there at the same time so we need to coordinate that. Trina, yours will be the earliest session so what time do you want to start? Mindy and Jason have a 2 to 3 hour drive so unless they drive down the night before we can't start too early.

Our new question is: What sports do you enjoy watching, and which sports do you enjoy doing? My answer to the fears and fantasies question will be on the my site as soon as we get more space. I have it written and ready to go.

I love you all,
MOM

Fears and Fantasies

Hello, family.

We saw Nathan's play on Saturday, and he was great. I think he got more applause than anyone.

Concerning fears and fantasies -- I never was afraid of wolves (which is strange since I really don't like dogs) but I remember having nightmares about panthers. Lots of things scared me, like the Death Dogs in "Willow."

I was always making up stories when I was little. I liked to walk outside and dream up interesting people and places; at least, I thought they were interesting. I would sometimes draw pictures and could tell everyone what it was (even though I can't decipher them now). Of course, my stories in those days had very little in the way of plot and were usually based on a cartoon show or something I'd read. (I remember creating a combination of "Charlotte's Web" and "Little House in the Big Woods.") Most of my ideas would only last for an afternoon or two, a week at the most. I didn't come up with anything really original and lasting, with a decent conflict, until I was eleven or twelve, and that was something I came up with playing with two little dolls, a tiger, polar bear, puppy, and penguin. That was my first fantasy story. It has evolved considerably, but a few names (such as Ryan) and certain elements (like woodsmen and bandits) can still be found in my current writings. I knew I was going to be an author from the time I was five, and ten years later (I was sixteen) I started my first book. And I haven't stopped writing since.

Emily

Positive

I got to sleep in and it's a three day weekend, those are my positive things.

Dad - At work we're going to be teaching the kids about the middle ages soon. I was wondering if I could get a copy of what the "Palmer Family Crest" looks like and an explanation of why certain things are on there.

Clarissa - I got the nickname of "Tawnga" from Annika Dickson. She was three years old and that was how she said my name. It got picked up by the rest of her family and several others. I really like it. At EFY I was given the nickname Tiajuana because of the way my name is spelled. If you actually pronounce a W it makes the "jua" in Tiajuana... though it is really a BAD pronunciation. There are not many people that continue to call me that nickname. I was also called "Mama T" for a week, but that went a long with "Papa J" one of my co-counselors. And we had decided that we all needed nicknames that week. Jeremy decided I should be Mama T, but that's not the nickname that stuck that week.... because it was the same week that I got Tiajuana, which was much more popular. It's funny how you can have a nickname for just a week or two. I'm guessing this is for the same project that Emily needs inside jokes for. Anyway, I have had a lot of other nicknames in my life, but I won't go into all of those.

For instance, the reason I sign my posts as "T" is because that is what my roommates call me a lot. Annie started it and now Amy is starting to pick up on it.

Okay, I'm going to continue studying, like I need to.

T

Nicknames

Hey! I need everybodys nicknames and how you got them. I would really like:
Nathan: Skippy
Tawnia: Tawnga, and the ones from EFY
Adam: Why is Peaches called Peaches?
Eric and Jared: Who was Run and who was Jump and why didn't those last?
This is for a school project. Please e-mail me with any questions and please send the stories soon.

Clarissa "Clare"

Fears/Fantasies/Special feelings

Okay,

Positive thing: Our basketball teams won their first games. Back-to-back coaching and we won! Both ended up close by the end. Of course you can follow the basketball link on my page to see how all that is progressing.

Fears... I was scared of clowns as a small child. I remember having a scary dream about a clown around the time we moved to Oregon. I remember waking up in different places as a small child and having that dream there: Norwalk, the Bland's house in Dayton, and I think in Lafayette too. It's one of the memories I have of that time.

Fantasies... I wanted superpowers as a small kid. Flying, of course, and something like "the force" in Star Wars. As I got older I wanted to know karate or some other martial arts. Nowadays I fantasize about being a world-famous cartoonist or filmmaker, but then I think: "What would be the point of that?"

Special feelings... Well, getting baptized was a special feeling I remember. And one day realizing that I was happiest when I was doing fun things with my family. That was a special feeling. I guess for me, heaven is a clean playroom on a Saturday morning.

That's all for now.

Love,
Eric

the other T

There are two of us, you know.

Positive thought for the day - I'm getting quite a bit done at work the last couple of weeks since making my MASTER LIST. Now if I could just get the phone to stop ringing every 10 minutes so I could focus ...

The fears and fantasies question - I was going to answer that in my last post, but then Adam came in with all those roses, and there went that idea.

Anyway ... fears. When I was a kid, all the stories about wolves in the Little House on the Prairie books freaked me out and I've had this weird recurring nightmare clear into my adult life of being chased by wolves. It also made me really skittish to be out at night in Montana, where we had bear and cougar sightings all the time. I was also very scared of the water when I was little, and it still makes me nervous. Adam says that our kids will not be allowed near a swimming pool unless he's there - he won't let me be the lifeguard on my own. I don't have a problem with that. And then there's claustrophobia and a fear of falling to the point that I won't drive in an outside lane on a bridge unless I have to (HATE that here in DC). Those are fun things too. Heh. Boy, am I a big baby.

My big fantasy most of my life has been to be a humor columnist, a la Dave Barry. I was in journalism all the way through high school, and that was my first major in college (and my 2nd was English). I did write a humor column for my college paper at Western Oregon for about 2 years, and really enjoyed it. Since graduating from Western, my life has gone in a totally different direction that I don't know anyone anticipated. I sure didn't. So that's no longer my target, but I do still enjoy writing and editing.

T

Well, I'm trying to think of something positive to post for today. Well, I got three hours of studying in, though I never get everything accomplished to that I want to, so I don't know if that's really positive. Besides which it makes me tired and irritable, so it really isn't positive. It snowed today, which caused me to be late to work, but that's okay... I was able to stay a little later then I was expecting and so that worked out well. Hmmm... so something positive... As I was walking to campus I ran into my friend Bethany and she gave me a big hug. She makes me happy.

Fears and fantasies with special feelings eh? Umm... "special feelings"? Like being scared silly?? Things I was scared of as a child: The witch off of "The Wizard of Oz", the child-catcher on "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and Freddie Kruger (I saw ONE commercial and had nightmares for a month... this is why I don't like horror flicks.) I think the combined fear of these three characters made me scared of the dark.... something that occasionaly still frightens me. I've never liked haunted houses either. Fantasies: I used to make up families of children and then those children got to do all the things I didn't get to do, like travel, and take ballet or gymnastics and become world famous. I don't know if there are any "special feelings" that go with those.

Sorry, I'm really tired tonight. I came home from work, made myself a quick dinner (tomato sandwhich yum!) and then came up to campus. I've been studying for three hours straight and my brain is fried. I hope everyone is enjoying there week... tomorrow is Wednesday and then it's down-hill to the three day weekend.

Love,
T

From Emily

Dear family,

It's been somewhat of a busy week for me. On Thursday, we had our midterm for history. I spent most of Wednesday studying for the said midterm, including preparing possible essays, memorizing dates, and drawing a large invisible map -- it was about the size of the family room by the time we were finished; at least I think it was. Do you know how hard it is to keep the scale consistent when you're drawing in the air? We were pointing at different points and saying what was there; it was really crazy when Clarissa started climbing on the furniture to reach Iceland. Apparently this mode of study, though perhaps unorthodox, worked because I was the first to get ten points on the map. I aced it. Our teacher said that most of the students in his other class bombed the map section, and they spent so much time staring at that, that they didn't have time to finish the essays. I'll have to see how I did on those.

Emily

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone

To answer Trina's question about Karen, since it's your negligent mother's fault that you haven't heard. She joined the military and has been in Iraq since just after Christmas. That's why Gary's back at home with Mom and Dad. They were in Sacramento, I believe, for a while. I'm not sure when Karen will be coming home.

My happy thought for the day is, I'm home. It's been a crazy day at work. Now I can rest for a few hours and then go to the square dance graduation and dance my feeties off with my sweetie.

Have a nice day everyone and answer the question about fears and fantasies.

Love ya,
MOM

my positive thought

Happy Valentine's Day - my positive thought is that I'm listening to a CD that Adam burned for me of random music, and titled it "Trina's Happy CD." It's very cheery and bee-boppin' music (while I draft letters to Congress saying that state legislators want to visit them in April. Whoopie. And the weather outside is totally miserable today.)

Adam said he would play chess online with Uncle Bruce. He likes chess. I'm willing to encourage this ... it gets him off his war computer games that drive me nuts. When is Uncle Bruce going home? Eric, fun picture of Aunt Cheryl's fridge. Just out of curiosity, where has Gary's wife Karen disappeared to? You said you went to the movies with Gary and Sarah ... which is fine, but where's his wife? And let me know what the new charges are for the website space upgrade so we can pitch in.

Okay, 20 minutes later ... Adam just showed up here at my office with 2 dozen roses. You can all say Awwwwwww now.

Update from Eric

Hi everyone,

I have heard back from the website hosting company and we're going to make the switch next week via phone. You should have an update soon on all the details, and we can get to filling up the larger space.

Let's see, what else?

We're having a pretty relaxing weekend. I helped clean up the gym floor Saturday so we could practice. Earlier this week I helped convince the Stake Athletic guy to give us two spots on the basketball schedule, so I also had to divide the teams up. That seemed to go over better than expected, so far at least.

Laurel gave her boss at Wet Seal three of her birds: Sammy, Robert, and Twinkie. That leaves three birds with us: Petey, Polly, and Skeeter. Laurel was sad to give them up, but it's for the best. They need a good home and we need fewer birds if we're going to give them the attention they need. We dropped the cage off with her husband yesterday, and he's a really sweet guy. They're at a good home.

Oh, if you haven't been over to the Birdhouse for a while, check out the new stuff, including Cheryl's fridge. It's pretty cool.

Well, church is in an hour, and then I guess we'll be off to Rachel's. We actually went over there last night too.

Work is busy busy busy, as is school. Sure beats being bored though.

Take care all!

Love,
Eric

Hello

Just thought I should tell all of you that I am still alive. My wife and I are very busy, and we still do not have the internet at home. Amanda has gone to Corvallis twice already in the last couple of days, and she is going back done again tomorrow right after church, so sorry she won't be able to be over for dinner. I should be there though so that I can play Settlers of Zarahemla.

bye.

Nathan

Michelle

Michelle is my something positive for today.

I don't really have any news or anything, but I figured I hadn't posted in a while, so now I did.

Positive

Yes Tawnia your test worked. My positive word for yesterday was that you can post again on the blog. Today's positive word? It's Friday!!! And the sun is shining. It was foggy and freezing this morning but later the sun came out and it almost got warm. Tonight we're going to a ward social and tomorrow night Dad and I are going to our first official square dance in a very long time. We've been going to classes but this is a real dance not just a class. Graduation is Monday and then there won't be any classes until next fall.

This is a Test

Just seeing if I can actually post something on the blog and if it will work... if it does then everyone should read my post from a few days ago and DO IT!
-T

We're full

Dad took his stuff off the website so we can continue to post on the blog. If that doesn't give us enough room I'll pull a couple of things off. It's just temporary, until we get the additional space. Eric hadn't heard back from the people hosting the site but I'm sure we'll get it straightened out soon. Until then, I suggest that we restrict our updates to posts on the blog. Go ahead and get things ready and once we get more space you can put them on.

Now Dad and I are out the door to see the dress rehearsal of Tom Sawyer. Nathan is playing the part of Huck Finn. I'm sure it will be great.

Love ya,
MOM

Something Positive

Okay, so it's not that I actually have anything positive to mention, but I figure that with all the bad news we've been getting lately, we could use SOMETHING POSITIVE! So my challenge to everyone this week is to find something positive every day and post it on the blog... because I could really use the positive uplift each day.

Here are my two positive things for today. #1: Jaleece got 100% on her spelling test. #2 The weather is practically spring like and there were tons of birds singing in the bushes as I came up to campus. It reminded me of our bushes at home where all the birds live. Oh and #3 it's Wednesday which means I get to go to Institute which is always happy.

Good luck and may the positive force be with you.
T

Mindy's work

I sent Mindy a picture of my family that was all scratched and torn and she made it look great. I was going to post the before and after shots but I got a message that the disc space was exceeded. (Is that on the blogger or on our site?) Dad said that Mindy should go into the picture restoration business and use that picture as a sample of her work. You can see the final one on my Christmas as a child question, at least I'll try to put it there.

I also love what you did with your new BBC page, Mindy. Are you going to add sayings to the other groups of pictures? I thought they were great. Keep up the good work.

Time for a new question? Maybe this one will get some response, at least you can't use the response that it's the same as everyone else's. Do you remember any special feelings you had as a child regarding fears, fantasies, etc?

My answers to the last couple of questions will soon be on my site.

Love ya,
MOM

BBC Website

After several hours of work, we've got the official BBC website! It replaces the "Geneology" link on the side bar of Insanityinc.net. Lots of pictures and silly fun, so go and check it out!

Another trip to Redlands

Laurel and I spent Saturday night and Sunday morning in Redlands with Cheryl and Bruce's family. We headed over in the evening, after priesthood leadership meeting (it was our Stake Conference weekend), and went to the movies with Gary and Sarah.

We spent the night at Cheryl's, and Gary, Cheryl, Laurel, and I went to see Bruce at the hospital late Sunday morning. We spent a few hours there. I think we wore him out by the time we left. He's in quite a bit of pain. It comes and goes and he doesn't talk about it much, but you can tell.

While we were there, some Priests and an advisor from their ward came by to give Bruce the sacrament. He was very appreciative, as we all were. It was a special moment.

We had lunch back at the house, and Laurel and I left after the Superbowl started. We went right over to Rachel and Loren's and stayed there until late.

By the way, Uncle Gary called Cheryl while we were there, and I guess he's moving to Arizona soon. He said he'd stop by to see Bruce on his way. Cousin Debbie was on the phone with Cheryl when we left, but I don't know what they talked about.

I'll have some pictures up soon.

Love,
Eric

Guess Who?

Today, when I was driving home from work, I got a phone call from Deb. She called to let me know that Lorie had called Marli looking for Ray. So Marli had to be the one to tell Larry that his brother had been gone for over a year. She got the address and phone number and afterward called Deb, who called Max and me. As Deb said, we have a phone number and address that are good for at least 24 hours. When I pulled in the garage Clarissa came out with a huge grin on her face to tell me that Uncle Larry was on the phone at that very minute. If any of you want to call him I'll email you the address and phone number. They live in Georgia now. Deb mentioned that Larry's health isn't good; he has emphysema and a heart condition. Maybe we'll go see them when we go back east next year.

Title

Hello Family,

So is anyone out there?? No posting occured over the weekend, or is the blog full again and I didn't know?

I'm still alive, though I'm sick and it's snowing again. Just when I thought it was going to be spring already... I guess the groundhog was right. Darn.

I'd love to hear how everyone is doing.
Love,
T

Happy late Birthday, Jared

Jared, you are awesome. You know that, don't you? I still blame you for getting me hooked on Star Wars, ever since you explained to me what exactly the Force meant. When Clarissa and I went to Powell's a couple of weeks ago, I bought Star Wars novels, the first two books in the X-Wing series. (My favorite Star Wars character is Wedge, ever since I realized he was one of nine characters who appears in all three movies in the original trilogy, and he's the only one who survived both Death Star runs.)

Anyway, sorry about not posting on your birthday, but I didn't get on the computer at all. We had our midterm in mythology -- an in-class essay -- and next week we'll have our history test. He's already given us the essay questions, and we have to prepare responses for three of them because only three of the five questions will be available to answer. For example: How does geography impact history? What is meant by ideology, and what other factors contribute to history? It will take a while to do all that studying.

Emily

Happy B-day Jed

Jared - Well, I did already send you a card and call you on the phone... But I figured I'd get in all forms of wishing you happiness for having made it around the sun 29 times.

Michelle and Jared -I am sorry to hear that Bryan is sick. He's in my prayers as I'm sure he's in everyones.

Brooke - I LOVE YOU! You're silly!
Bryan - GET BETTER!!!!!

Adam - Good job at making Trina stay home and get better. I hope she was properly grounded. Trina - Good job listening to Adam and me.

Nate - The only things I'm thinking of are the love scenes from the different Shakespeare plays... a good one is "Taming of the Shrew" and the whole conversation between the two main characters when he's trying to woo her and she's putting up quite the fight. Of course that one is much more fun for the girl.

Amanda - You should post more, how are your grad school applications? Have you heard anything back yet?

Eric - I love the sound effects on your logo
Laurel - you should post more, too. I like your art and hearing about the birds

Emily - I like that I can call you and sing my favorite song to you.
Clarissa - You should post on the family blog too... have you done that before?

Mom - I like what you've done to your website... it's very fun to look at. I especially like the pictures.
Dad - I'll mail you all your favorite tax stuff this weekend. Do you need hard copies of the Utah tax forms, or are you going to do those on-line?

Mindy - Eye nose my knee toes
Jason - You have a really cool wife. Oh and we had a guest speaker today come and tell us about Japan, and then she gave all the kids dried squid to eat. (I didn't eat it though... I had a bad experience in fourth grade when my teacher forced me to eat seaweed... yeck!)

Okay, so now that I've given all of you some attention.... know that you are all loved by some crazy psycho chick in Utah... oh, and by me too.
Love,
T

It's that time again

I have to do a one act play or scene for my acting class and I do not know what to do. The person that I am with for the scene is a 30 year old female. Does anyone have any suggestions. I was supposed to have a scene about a three weeks ago, so anything will help. They are supposed to be scenes from plays, not just one acts. Thanks so much.

Nathan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JARED!!!

Hhhhhhappy birthday!

I tried to call you, Jared, but apparently, I can't tell time. It's 4:55 here, and for some reason, to me that translated to 2:00-ish in Texas. It's been one of those ... weeks ... Not just a day.

My trip to Memphis was okay. It rained the whole time I was there, and I never left the hotel. If I wasn't in some committee taking notes, I was in my room being miserably congested. Good things from the trip - the conversations were productive for what we're doing at work (interesting - sorta, something to share - not so much), and the restaurant in the lobby had really good minestrone soup. Based on my wanderings through the book section in the gift shop ... I have no desire to go to Graceland (and you all know what a touristy freak I am). The outside is a beautiful Southern mansion with fabulous landscaping. The inside is gaudy and garish and obnoxious. The colors make me want to vomit. Elvis music is great - the song that Adam and I danced to at our wedding reception was Elvis. But good night! Were the 70s really THAT bad? Or is Elvis and his taste in interior decorating just "super-special"? Either way, I'd like to go to Memphis with Adam and go to the jazz clubs on Beale St. It's a lot cleaner than Bourbon St. in New Orleans which has gone the way of the strip bar.

I stayed home on Mon and Tues sick - I'm still fighting my way out of it by eating cough drops all day and using lots of throat spray. But I had to be back at work yesterday because it's been a blitz week. I was on the Hill yesterday and today for meetings. I've worked on 4 different letters that have all been sent to members of Congress in the last 2 days. Next week, there's more fun coming. I'm going to the office early tomorrow so I can get myself organized. With 3 bosses and at least 10 subjects per boss, I have to have a Master List to prioritize and make sure things don't fall through the cracks. That, and I just feel better with a list. It's my work security blanket.

Happy Birthday Jared!

It's that special time of year for our brother Jared (or son, if you're Mom or Dad... or dad, if you're.... well, you get the idea). Hope you have a great birthday Jared!

I've been trying to think up your card for over a week now, and I think I finally have a good idea for it. It'll get there some time next week, but just know it's on the way. And in case Trina is reading this, you'll get a card this year too. I've actually sent cards to everyone else in the family (and Laurel's family) who've had birthdays this year so far. So there.

Love,
Eric

Photo of the month

Dad asked me to let you know that he has posted a new photo for the month of February. Thanks Jared for the calendar. It's printed and hanging on my refrigerator. Great picture and tell Bryan to get well. I loved your song, Tawnia, are you going to teach it to your kids at school?

Love ya,
MOM

It's really February now

Okay, the Feb calendar is there for all your planning enjoyment. I had it made a few days ago, but I never had time to add it to the site. Bryan got sick again. The doctor said he smelled streppy and his rash looked like scarletina. He's got really bad ear infections.

More updates

I added the vacations that I had tried to add when we discovered that our site was too full. I hope you enjoy them. Mindy, of you want to align the pictures better, please feel free. My program let's me adjust them by width but not really by height, at least in the "web ready" section. I suppose I could do it another way but there you save by inches not by pixels and I'm not sure how big to make them. I hope you enjoy them. I wrote my answers to the smell and birthday questions but I don't have them ready to post yet. Stay tuned.

Love ya,
MOM

This is the title

Mom asked us to always put a title... to bad I can't come up with anything witty, especially after studying for the last 3 straight hours.

I am proud to say that I talked to all of my siblings on Sunday and Monday.... hooray for me! I'm keeping the family connection.

Okay, I should tell you my fun stories. I actually tried posting yesterday but then it didn't work for some reason. (The computer at the public library doesn't like me.) First of all while I was at work yesterday one of my students asked me if I had a boyfriend. I told her no and she said "Good!" I laughed very hard about that. Then I drove home and pulled into my parking lot. There is a fence at the back and I just barely and I mean barely tapped it and was about to back up a little bit when I watched the whole thing fall over. (No worries there is about a six foot wide little hillside before the next parking lot so I didn't hit anything.) After that occured I just turned to Amy and laughed and laughed. In fact I'm still laughing about it because it is so funny... and the fence is still laying down, so every time I see it I get the giggles again.

Oh and then I got a letter from my friend Marne (she's on her mission in England) and did a dance of joy right by the mail boxes... and then read the letter while walking to the library, and not paying any attention to where I was walking.

Last night Amy and I were prettty tired and yet we still stayed up late. Eventually we made up a song to the tune of "Oh Christmas Tree" It goes like this: "I'm sleep deprived, I'm sleep deprived, yes I am very tired. I'm sleep deprived, I'm sleep deprived, that's prob'ly why I'm wired. Please do not take me serious, because I'm quite delirious. I'm sleep deprived. I'm sleep deprived, yes I am very tired."

Today's happy moment was when I was helping my kids write haiku poems. They were supposed to write one about something they find beautiful. This is what Ana wrote:
Miss Palmers pretty
Because she likes to smile big
Me too, I like smiles.

See, some people out there love me!

Love,
T