where is the map?

Hey, where is the map?

Nathan

PS. We are getting closer to the time of the unveiling of the most spectacular extreme makeover ever.

Service

Well it looks like everyone has mentioned something about service to Jared except me. At least that is what he said when he called me last night. So here are my thoughts about that. I do not have any specific stories about me or Jared but a theory as to why service works the way that it does. Jesus said in the sciptures that when you are doing service unto the least of these my brethren you are doing service unto me (matt 25:40). The scriptures also say that you can not serve two masters because you will love one and hate the other (matt 6:24). I believe both of these are scripture masteries so everyone has heard them over and over, but here is my theory. When you are serving for the wrong reason (ie reward, you were forced) you do not feel of the spirit as much because you are serving the wrong master. But when you are serving with the intent to serve, you are serving your master by serving the least of his brethren. Obviously both those scriptures are refering to service but they are more closely related than I previously thought. When serving with an attitude of gain and greed, you are serving the wrong master, but when serving righteously the spirit can more fully bear witness to you that what you are doing is the right thing.
I hope that all of that made sense and that it helps you with your talk Jared.

Nathan

Travel

Well, I have a lot of little trips (South Dakota, LA, Houston, D.C.) that I want to take at the moment, but those are mostly to see people. I also want to go to Disneyland and Disney World again. Those places are great. Let's see... my dream vacations include: Alaska, Europe, and Australia. I would love to take a trip where I see the majority of Europe. I've only been to Germany and that was way to long ago.

Anyway, I found out that school will probably not start until August 30th. So I have an extra week to get ready. I'm glad about that, especially since I am moving on Aug. 22nd and school was originally starting on Aug. 23rd. Why the delay? Well, the building is still under construction and now they don't think it will be finished until Aug. 24th.... we can move our stuff in on the 25th... hopefully.

I was super lazy yesterday, so I'm making up for it by running around like crazy today.
Love,
T

P.S. I'm glad to see that people are posting again.

Traveling and so on

I have a lot of places that I would like to visit. My dream vacation would be to take a cruise to Alaska and then take a train from Anchorage to Fairbanks. That would be awesome. I'd also like to go to Hawaii. My goal is to visit all fifty states some day. I think I only have eleven to go: Alaska and Hawaii, Michigan, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi. (Yes, I am missing most of the southeastern corner of the United States, except for Georgia and Florida. I don't care if it was just the Atlanta airport; I was in Georgia.)

My church calling is the music conductor. I'm also a visiting teacher supervisor.

Emily

Explanation

When I made the August calendar, Brooke wanted to help. I selected a picture of Bryan to use, and then Brooke and I started playing around with some of the special effects. The "fisheye lens" one looked really funny because Bryan's open mouth is apparently the exact center of the picture. Then we added the "charcoal pencil" effect to make it look like a weird charicature or something.





I think the resulting picture came out pretty cool.

Answers

To answer the travel question, I think where we want to go on our next vacation is to Hawaii to visit our friends the Skafs who just moved back there. They met at BYU Hawaii and Daniel just finished his Master's degree (his MFA) in documentary film here in So-Cal. They were in our ward until a few weeks ago.

Another trip I'd like to take is to Germany. I want to go with Jared to do family history research. I have to study up on my German first though. I think Laurel and I both have places we want to visit someday: my mission in Hong Kong, New York City, Southern Europe (for all the art and history). But for now our priority is on building our family and establishing our home here in the USA.

To answer Trina's questions: We have family home evening together. We never did get into the combined thing for whatever reason, though we've considered it a few times. I think we did get together with a bunch of couples in our current ward for an FHE once or twice a few years ago, but generally we just have family night with the two of us. Anyway, we hold it on Monday night. We recently decided to alternate being in charge of family night. That means one of us puts the whole thing on, picks songs, teaches the lesson, etc. We used to be big into refreshments, but recently we've laid off the ice cream and whatnot. It's an option, but it can get a bit, er, fattening.

We used to plan FHE about a month out, usually on Sundays when we were thinking about that sort of thing. Recently we planned all our family activities and FHEs for three months out (mid-July through mid-October). I think we both felt the pregnancy was going by very fast, and we wanted to make sure we did everything we wanted to do.

So we planned lesson topics for each week, and then we added activities. The way we planned the lesson topics was by alternating weeks. Laurel had a bunch of topics she wanted to address, and I had my own set, so we just went back and forth until the calendar was filled. Occasionally we switched weeks because of some significant thing happening (the temple or our hospital tour), but it works out nicely. The activities for the next few months generally revolve around projects that we're working on anyway, like the quilt and the birthday cards, and some other things we're making for the baby.

So that's it. I think it's very important to hold family home evenings for yourselves, even if you don't have kids. There are a tremendous amount of resources out there, and you have all your own creativity as well. Have fun!

travel bug

Adam and I have lofty travel dreams, like backpacking around Europe and snorkeling with the brightly colored tropical fish in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Our "local" travel plans include the following:

-- a Church history tour to Kirtland, Nauvoo, Winter Quarters, and around Missouri.
-- a Civil War history tour of all the major battlefields in Virginia
-- camping and hiking in the following national parks/regions: Shenandoah Valley, Aidirondacks, Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and others that I can't think of right now. (Not all in the same trip.)
-- California to visit Eric and Laurel, and Brandon and Beth, and Sarah and Joseph, and lots of other family and friends, and because Adam has never been to California. I would like to attend all the temples in that area, and go boogey-boarding at the beach.

There are others, but that's a start. We really do want to go to those places - "travel wishes" doesn't have to just be all those places you truly don't think you'll ever get to go.

Eric - a question about your family time - do you do FHE with other people, or is that just for you and Laurel? How far in advance do you decide your FHE plans? Do you have FHE on Monday or some other day? What made you choose those subjects and activities? Just looking at your list gave me some ideas, so I was hoping to get a few more details from you.

I also have a question for everyone, also triggered by Eric, cuz I didn't know he was in the Elder's Quorum presidency. What calling does everyone have in their ward? I realize that Jared/Michelle and Nathan/Amanda probably don't have any right now because they just moved ... or maybe their bishops were speedy. I was just wondering ... Adam and I are ward missionaries, we arrange the ward temple trips, and I teach Gospel Essentials at church.

Oh yeah, and second Mom's question - what's up with that picture of Bryan on the calendar? He's all mouth. Was that taken through a window or something?

Ready for a new question?

Good Morning,

Jared - don't be so hard on your little brother. Anticipation is half the fun. I enjoyed the latest artwork, especially Brooke's rainbow and Bryan's face. I still haven't printed off the maze, we need a new ink cartridge for our computer. What's up with the calendar picture? My grandson is much cuter than that.

It sounds like everyone is busy at your house, Eric. Jared's busy with the new job and getting Brooke ready for school and I kind of know what the girls are up to. We're taking Mindy to Utah next weekend and going to Seattle to see Trina two weeks after that. I know you're all busy but since it's summertime and we all like to travel, I thought I'd give you a new question to ponder: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

My immediate answer to that one is everywhere, but I'll come up with something to post soon. I've been enjoying your answers to these questions so much that I've gotten a little behind on answering them. I'd better fix that.

Love ya,
MOM

News from Eric and Laurel

BUSY AT WORK
I'm delivering my first sales training class next week on Tuesday and Wednesday, so that's exciting and a bit nerve-wracking. What's even more so is delivering my first Underwriting class, the program I've spent the last three months working almost exclusively on developing, the week after that (8/9-8/12). So it's a busy time here at work.

NEWPORT BEACH TEMPLE OPEN HOUSE
The temple open house is going on now. I participated in our ward's parking assignment on Monday (I took a day off work for it). I got some sun, but it wasn't as hot as it had been, so it wasn't so bad. Tuesday evening we went through the tour with Rachel and Loren and their kids (and Soy and Taylor, Loren's neice who's Beka's age). It was a very neat experience. The temple is very intimate and very beautiful.

FUN AT HOME
Last Friday night we bought a video camera and a computer. We're having fun editing the random footage we've shot. Laurel is happy I've finally donated all the old computers and parts I had lying around. We gave three computers and a monitor to the Goodwill last Saturday.

LAUREL'S PROJECTS
Laurel has been taking care of the house, which is looking very nice these days. She's also decorating the baby's room. Pictures to come. She also recently did a drawing for her brother Anthon's wedding, coming up in a few weeks.

FAMILY TIME
Our upcoming FHE topics include child care, patriarchal blessings, temples, pioneer stories (actually that was last Monday's), and the Plan of Salvation. We're also planning activities such as making birthday cards, making a quilt for the baby, and touring St. Joseph's Hospital. We're also planning on a day of museums in Los Angeles (LACMA, the Tar Pits, etc.) for our anniversary weekend.

But I beat you

Sorry Nate, I updated my page ahead of you. Of course, I personally avaoid the whole "coming soon" nonsense by not announcing anything until it's done. Brooke and Bryan have both added new artwork to their sections, and I threw in a new page in my artwork as well. Feel free to check it out, and give me some feedback. Let me know if anyone ever solves it... And of course the August calendar is there for your planning enjoyment. (Oooh, double meaning there. Both the enjoyment of planning and the planning of enjoyment. Cool.)

In other news... I'm still working on my talk. I may use some of your stories and experiences directly in the talk, or I may just use them as personal inspiration in preparing to say something completely different. I may post the full text of the talk on my website later. But there won't be a link to "Jared's Talk" that only leads to a "coming soon" page. I'll build the link when I'm ready to post it.

The time is near...

It is getting closer to that time where Nathan and Amanda's page will be different. Just so you don't forget, I thought that I would send out this little reminder. We went and saw cats at a humane society today. There was a pink one there. It did not start out that way, and his name is Picasso. The story is sad, but the cat is pretty cute. Here is a picture of him: http://www.pet-ark.com/regional/pets.pl?j=pD&lS=Cat&idx=11&os=&org=&d=-1&cy=&st=OR&b=All%20Breeds&x=Male&sz=Any&lC=&a=Adult&g=
Amanda is going to find the link to the website so hold on.... just be patient.... SIT DOWN AND WAIT!!!!! What is funny is that you just read all that be patient crap in two seconds and I was typing it as if it was longer. HA!!! That is funny.

Here is the website...the pictures aren't very good, though:
http://www.pet-ark.com/regional/pets.pl?j=pL&g=or&lS=Cat&lC=Adoptable&os=510021211&org=Humane%20Society%20of%20the%20Willamette%20Valley

Love, Nathan (ok ok Amanda is writing this cuz Nathan would never put "love" but he loves you just the same - and so do I) Have a happy rest of the week.

Title

No new posts yet today?? It looks as if most people post in the afternoons anyway. So being that I'm the first to post today... today's word is "truncation" Now, if you don't want to know the actual definition of this word... don't continue reading this post or look it up at dictionary.com or in a normal dictionary. I just happen to be sitting at a computer in BYUs Harold B. Lee Library and looking at a little reference thing they have so that people don't have to go and stop the workers from getting paid to do their homework. It says "Truncation Symbols will help you with your search of periodicals. Truncation is the shorteningof a word to broaden your search, e.g. gene* gives you gene(s), genetic(s), general." Now isn't that exciting. Okay, so not really, but you just read it and found it highly entertaining, or at least slightly amusing.

Have a HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Love,
T

My turn! My turn!

I like service. I like it when Amanda makes me dinner, and when she rubs my feet. I also like it when she does the dishes, and cleans up our home. Amanda is such a good servant. I mean server.

Wow!

I looked to see if anyone had posted on my question today, and boy oh boy! Those are some great stories and experiences. Keep them coming! Remember. I'll be rewriting this talk all week long, so don't be afraid to send me any new thoughts you might come up with.

And thank you!

updated

I put up an "under construction" notice last Thursday, and I've already got the first section of my page done, and up for viewing. I'm going to keep working on other sections as I get them, but I do hope you enjoy what I've got as of now.

When I was in high school, we had seminary in a little house about a block off of campus. One day in the spring (my senior year, I think) I was walking there, and I saw a huge pile of sawdust in the driveway of our neighbor. Jenna came up with the great idea of helping out, since it was an elderly couple that lived there (and I do mean elderly), so we got permission from our seminary teacher .. and we spent the entire class period, and some of after school helping out by spreading the sawdust in all the flower beds (which were absolutely beauitful). It was tough work, but totally worth it .. she gave us each fresh boquets of flowers from the garden, and said the sweetest things. And of course there was that wonderful feeling we had afterwords. She sent notes over to the seminary building, with a treat or flowers, several times, just to say how impressed she was with the youth that passed her home. So, not only were we doing service, but we were showing this lady what wonderful things come from the church and its members.

Service and Camping by Eric

Hi Jared,

I like your question. I actually spoke in sacrament meeting on Sunday (as part of the EQ presidency) and part of what I spoke on was how a quorum is a service unit. One such area is home teaching. I think it is sometimes brushed aside because it's open to most everyone (much as parenthood is in the general population) but really it's a rare opportunity to do what Christ did: to go into people's homes, preach the gospel and bless them.

When I think about service, like most everyone else noted, I think about how good I feel afterwards. It's always an enobling thing, whether it's working at the cannery or helping someone move or spending a little longer on the phone with someone who needs some cheering up.

About camping, I think all the camping in Oregon as a Boy Scout (think rain, mud, more rain, and occasionally freezing rain) turned me off to the whole enterprise. It doesn't help either that the last few times I went tent camping (in 1997 in college at Yellowstone, and in 2003 in Death Valley with the scouts) it was a less-than-enjoyable experience. Because of that, I haven't really taken Laurel camping. She has always wanted to go, but I've always put it off. I should remember that I've had good experiences camping too.

You know what else I can't stand... being dirty. I'm such a sissy, I know.

And more...

Emily and I just finished inventorying your stuff, Trina. I'll email you a list of what we found. One thing of note is one of Grandma's stories that she sent you. It's the story of "Homer the Wayward Worker Bee". Do you remember that? I would like to scan it into my computer and share it with the rest of the family.

Now I need to work on a family history project called, Tell Me About Your Family. It's a missionary program to introduce people to the church by doing a little of their family history, then showing them how to continue. I've done this with members and part member families but these are people I've never even met. We'll see how it goes.

Between those two projects and the regular Mom things I do, this is a day full of service.

Love ya,
MOM

More on service

When I think about service, I remember my very first young women's activity. We made teddy bears (we worked on this for about a month), and then in February, we delivered all our bears to a nursing home and sang "As I Have Loved You." It was a very wonderful experience. I also think about all the times we pulled weeds or spread bark dust or picked up trash. The last time I was involved in that sort of service project was in the middle of a thunderstorm, but we just kept on working, and it was great. But another point about service is that some of the most important things we can do are in our own homes, among our family members.

Emily

more service

I played secretary for Adam today and scheduled our visit to the campus of William and Mary. It's Sept. 12. He won't have classes on Mondays, and yes, I will take the day off to go with him.

Mom - that's awesome that you're working in YW. I had a blast. Are you going to earn the new YW medallion like I did? Recommendation: don't rush it like I did. I knew I had to rush it because of moving in the fall, so I did. But looking back, I kinda wish I hadn't. I definitely would have gotten more out of it if I had taken my time and focused more. And do the journal entries. Those are a fantastic way to reflect on how the Personal Progress program really can help anyone grow - adults as well as teenagers (and men as well as women, if you get right down to it). I tried to take all of the tasks which are obviously written for teenagers and mold them to fit my life and circumstances - I didn't take the easy way out of doing them exactly as written. That was a good thing too. I also think it helped that I was literally working WITH the girls and signing things off WITH them, instead of just saying "I did this when I was a teenager and you should too." Good stuff. I think I'll get out my Personal Progress journal when I get home and read some of it.

Service

I remember that Jared used to serve me by driving me to and from seminary and school. It was his senior year, so he was going too, but it was also service to me. I can still remember the time we almost got in an accident. Also, when Jared was a senior and I was a sophomore, we both tried out for a play at gallery. He got in, but I didn't. I was pretty sure that it was mainly due to my lack of experience. So Jared ended up calling the director and asking why I didn't get a part. They said I sang well, but I didn't have much acting experience. He asked them to give me a chance and they said I was welcome to show up at the first rehearsal. At the first rehearsal one of the other girls didn't show up, so I got her part. Now, I'm not this amazing actress or anything, but I enjoyed the experience of being in that play and I'll always remember that my brother was the one who got me that chance.

The other thing that service really makes me think of is Visiting and Home teaching. I have seemed to end up with fabulous visiting teachers who truly love me and want to serve me, right when I seem to be struggling the most. And twice those visiting teachers have ended up becoming my roommates later. It is interesting how the Lord puts people in our lives when we most need them. I think it is important for people to listen to the promptings of the spirit because you never know when you'll be answering someone else's prayer.

Anyway, I'm off to do some service now. I'm helping do assesments of all the kids that will be starting at our school this fall. (All 525 + students) Okay, so I won't be assesing ALL of them, but several.

I'm excited that Brooke is so excited about school starting, and her school uniforms. I hope that enthusiasm never dies. And good luck with potty training Bryan. I can still remember when Brooke called and I answered the phone and she said, "I went potty!!" She was trying to tell Grandma, but she wasn't at home... so I got to be the one that heard.

Have a great day everyone.
Love,
T

Service

The first thing that comes to my mind is our Christmas Caroling cookie deliveries. Some people have mentioned that it wouldn't be Christmas without our visit. I think we've only missed a few years in the 35 years we've been married. Were you with us the time we caroled to the Belnap's in August? They were leaving on a mission and wouldn't be home at Christmastime. We've done lots of other service projects, of course, some with ward members and some on our own. My latest service is my calling as a family history consultant. I love helping people find their ancestors. Today JoAnne is going to come over so we can get several names ready for the temple. That is very rewarding service.

By the way, I promised to tell you all what my new calling is. I am now the first counselor in YW. Rachel (Vigil) Rollins is the president. I'm excited and a little nervous. I told her Sunday that this must be to make me feel young. I'm sure I'll be involved in lots of service projects with this calling.

I'd better run and get ready for JoAnne to come. I also have a bunch of other stuff I need to do.

Love ya,
MOM

at least she's not Eve

Jared, you lament that Brooke loves shopping for clothes at age 5 ... are you sure she likes the shopping for clothes, or was she just excited about going to school? And at least she's not Eve. Eve is our friends' 14-month-old daughter - SHE likes shoes and phones. She liked the phone even before her first birthday, and played with Anne's shoes before she could even walk. Now THAT is an omen for the future ...

My thought about your talk on service did make me think of an experience, which did not involve you. When I was the activities director of the student ward in Monmouth, we had a weekly service project where members of the ward would go visit with the residents of the local senior care home. We didn't DO anything - just sat and talked with them in the dining room during the Sunday dinner hour. Sundays were so totally busy for me that I was usually completely wiped out by the time the service time rolled around, and there were many times when I did not want to go. The only reason I did was because I was required to as the activities director. Without fail, I always walked out of the care home feeling less tired and much more cheerful. EVERY time. So my lesson was/is that when you provide service, it uplifts the people you're helping AND it uplifts you. Granted, some mental depressions require medication. But a lot of them just require you to not think about yourself for a while and help someone else, and you'll feel better.

Here's a new question...

Michelle and I have been asked to speak in sacrament meeting next Sunday. We're not really surprised about that. What was surprising, though, was that they did not assign us topics. We got to pick our own. So my topic to speak on next Sunday will be "The Celestial Law of Service." Or something like that. So my question for all of you is, what are some experiences or memories or favorite quotes or inspirational teachings about service? Experiences or memories that include me are of course preferred, but anything that you find particularly inspiring will be most helpful. And since I have to give this talk next Sunday, please share your thoughts sooner rather than later. And thank you in advance.

As for the last question, my special memory of camping was just a few months ago when I took Bryan on his first overnight campout. We had a stake father/son outing in the spring, so I borrowed a tent and took Bryan to roast hot dogs and marshmallows, sit by the campfire, and sing songs. He had alot of fun.

We are gradually getting settled in to our new home here in Houston. We have begun potty training with Bryan, which is quite an adventure. Everyone has finally gotten over strep throat and whatever other ailments we were afflicted with last week, so we are now back to relative health and wellness. Brooke still takes antibiotics for her kidneys, of course.

Speaking of Brooke, she will register for school next week, and class will begin on August 16. We have purchased her school uniforms (yes, uniforms) already and she is very excited. Michelle said that when she was trying on the clothes at the store, she would dance in front of the big triple mirror in the fitting area with each article she tried on. Michelle said it was very cute. I can't help but think she's 5 1/2 years old, and she already loves shopping for clothes. I'm in trouble.

Happy Birthday

We had cake and ice cream yesterday, when Nathan and Amanda could be here for dinner. Mindy's trying a new mac&chees recipe for her birthday. If it's good we'll put it on the recipe page.

I posted the pictures you asked about, Tawnia. They're on my camera page. I've also put another section of vacation pictures on. I'll keep working on it.

Love ya,
MOM

22

H A P P Y
B I R T H D A Y
M I N D Y !!!

Love, Trina and Adam

Camping

I remember when I was a kid looking at people in RVs and thinking that they didn't know how to appreciate the outdoors. I also remember that the first time I ever stayed in a motel was in 1996. But we did a lot of camping on that trip, too. We got very good at putting up the tent. I remember in Maine we got to the campsite after dark and there was a lot of wind, so that wasn't easy. (I never liked having to do that after dark.) It wasn't fun camping when it rained, either, because the tent would almost always leak.

We have camped in some nice places: Yellowstone (the water was actually warm because of the nearby hot springs), Yosemite, Sequoia, Crater Lake (it was July but there was still a lot of snow on the ground -- I think the best time to go there would be about mid-August), Zion, and lots of other places. I liked waking up early and listening to the birds. And I loved stepping outside to look at a deer or mountain or river. And I liked being with my brothers and sisters. (Nathan, remember the time you told us about the Indian squaws but you couldn't remember the word so you called them sasquaches?)

Emily

Christmas in July

I'm very proud of myself right now so I'm going to post this - I have finished the first of the 8 fleece blankets I'm making as Christmas gifts for our nieces and nephews. (Since they can't read, I can post this.) I got the cutest fabric for Brooke (it's castles for the princess) and Adam's nephew Ben (he really likes frogs) - I cut the edges last night and tied the knots all around the sides on Ben's. Adam finished tying it this morning. I need to get the material for all the others, but it's a start and one is done. Yay! I'm not making them double-thick - just one piece of fleece. All of our nieces and nephews live in warm climates - Florida, Texas and California.

Nothing particularly stands out in my memory about camping as being unusual from any of the other trips. I always liked it. I think the only time I've been camping as an adult, since 1991 when we went to Yosemite and Sequoia was when I went to Glacier and Yellowstone with Terry and Brian when I lived in Montana. They had all the gear and I used one of the Nowling's sleeping bags. Hiking the Highline Trail at the very top of the Continental Divide was really awesome - the jagged peaks were literally just above us. Adam and I plan to camp - we've been coveting camping gear any time we walk through that section of a store, but we don't have the money to get it right now and we don't have anywhere to put it anyway. We do have an air mattress and pump, and we got a regular sized cooler for our road trips that we can use while camping. And we have our list of places we want to go sooner or later.

Pictures

hey Mom,
The pictures from vacation are great so far... so I was wondering if you could post some of the pictures from when we went to beach with Deb and the kids. I know I took a few there.

Camping adventures... well, I've done lots of camping with my family and also went to girls camp for, I think, five years. The things I remember from girls camp are the times I was involved in playing pranks. I was never the ringleader, but I still got involved. I also remember that one time I was asked to sing the national anthem as we raised the flag. That was pretty cool.

One of my favorite feelings is waking up while camping out in a tent. You always tend to wake up early because the sun comes up and wakes you. I love the feeling of cool morning air and then curling down into your sleeping bag to get warm and listening to the birds or running water and then smelling the campfire. That's what I like the most about camping.

I remember that the first time I ever saw a lightning bug was when we were camping. I believe it was in Wisconsin (I know it was on the 1996 East Coast Trip.) I saw this green glow in the grass and looked down to see what it was and it was a bug. Very cool to see.

I think camping has been included in most of our family vacations. I used to always think it was because it was cheaper then staying in a motel... and that's probably the real reason, but I do enjoy it and plan on forcing my children to do the same thing, even if we have enough money to stay in hotels.

Love,
T

on second thought...

I decided to take Mindy's suggestion and put the first group of pictures from vacation on my website. I'll get them up as soon as I have them ready. So far I only have the Utah ones done but I'll get more on there soon. Look on my travel page and scroll to the bottom. Today we're having a Pioneer Day celebration in our ward so I don't know how much more I'll get done. Let me know what you think.

Love ya,
MOM

New Question

Tawnia suggested that it's time for a new question so I found one that's rather fitting for summer: What exciting experiences have you had in scouting or camping?

What have I been up to? I've been working on my calling as a family history specialist and I have a new calling, that's going to keep me very busy, which I'll tell you all about on Sunday. This afternoon Dad and I went to the bookstore and then to the temple. I've also been working on getting my pictures ready to post. They have to be resized and I'm trying to make them look good. I hope it's worth waiting for. I'll try to get it all done before we go to Utah. Also Dad and I need to figure out our plan of attack for the Family History Center. We're going to spend a couple of days there while we're in Utah.

Sure love ya,
MOM

It is time...

My family-

The time has come for major renovation of something that I like to call... my part of the webpage. I know that you have all been looking forward to the time that I would make this grand announcement, and the time has come. There will be no more "under construction" or "coming soon" nonsense, because nonsense truly is all that it is. I've never even worked on any picture things, except a couple of times. So mark your calendars, because the day is at hand. My goal is to have it ready for viewing by the end of the month. I will leave reminders every couple of days so that way none of you short-term memory people will forget.

Nathan

P.S. I am now paranoid to post without having Amanda proofread my post. Thanks, Trina.

*all checked out! any spelling errors can now be attributed to me - Amanda*

Hello??

So there is a serious lack of posting lately... what's going on? I know that for myself life is about to get crazy. Not only do I have all the prep work for school (which starts in ONE month!), but I also will be moving the week before school starts, Mindy will be moving in and on top of all that I am being asked to help do some extra stuff for the school to get things going. And yet I still post (though the frequency of this may be going down a lot in the next month.) So what is everyone else doing?? How is Nate and Manda's new apartment? How are things for Jared at his new job? Did Michelle ever get her new washer and dryer? What fun things did Eric and Laurel plan for FHE? How is Laurel feeling? How did Adam like Harry Potter 6? Has Emily read HP6? What is Clarissa doing with her summer? Is Mindy enjoying being at home? Why hasn't Mom posted pictures from vacation? If Mom doesn't have time...what is she doing? And why can't the girls post some of the pictures for her?? Mom, don't you think it's time for a new question??

Okay, so I'd like to hear more from everyone, obviously. I may not get onto a computer until next Tuesday (Monday is a state holiday since pioneer day lands on Sunday.) So that gives you all plenty of time to respond.

Love,
Tawnia

Spending Money

So yesterday I went to a training meeting in the morning and then stayed discussing classroom ideas with the other fourth grade teachers until almost 2 p.m. Then I came home, only I wasn't feeling so great so I didn't go to institute.

Today I went to Wal-mart and spent a bunch of money.... but most of it wasn't my money. It was the school's money and I was buying stuff for my classroom. The back seat of my car is currently full of most of my school stuff. I am really looking forward to the day we can get into the school. Supposedly it will be done on August 15th (one week before school starts) But we'll see. If you want to see what the school currently looks like go to www.reaganacademy.org You can also see a pcture of me if you go to the news link. I got a lot of stuff today, but I didn't even spend a third of the money I've been given to set up my classroom... that's nice though, because that means I can get a lot more things for my classroom.

I hope everyone is doing well and I still want to see pictures of this vacation that all the home bodies went on.
Love,
T

only if you're interested

The Washington Post and the New York Times have pretty fair and calm editorials today about the John Roberts nomination to the Supreme Court. The jist is - don't go into a panic over whether you're going to be freakily opposed or rabidly in favor. Let the guy go through his hearings and say his piece, because his judicial portfolio is really quite thin. He was an attorney for a long time, but has only been a judge for 3 or 4 years. Adam did a check this morning on some things - one thing he read recently was speculation that the nominee would have made speeches to the Federalist Society. Roberts is a MEMBER of the Federalist Society, which is a solid indicator of his constitutional leaning. Adam is optimistic because he's planning to become a member of that same organization when he starts law school next year, and what little I've looked at about the group so far, I like as well. We have no further opinion at this time.

Let me know if you're interested in the editorials and I'll email them - the Post and Times are both online-registration only and you can't get into their articles unless you cough up your personal information. I read them frequently enough for work that I registered for access (it's free) and get their daily headlines via email.

speed readers

Adam finished Harry Potter 6 Sunday - he beat everyone here. He's a speed reader - this will serve him well during law school.

And speaking of ... we're now at the stage of deciding where to check into, investigate further, and apply to for law school. Adam has started receiving recruitment letters and emails. He's been pretty stuck on the idea of staying here in DC, which didn't quite sit right with me. I kept suggesting looking into some schools out west, which wasn't sitting quite right with him. Today, he got a recruitment from the College of William and Mary, and that triggered us discussing a list of all the law schools in DC, all of the law schools in Virginia, and the schools out west that we've talked about before. Oddly enough, I felt the best about the Virginia schools away from the DC metro area, which surprised us both. We're still going to apply to pretty much everything in the area, and I want Adam to make official "tour" visits with all of the campuses in DC and VA. But at the moment, William and Mary, which is down in Williamsburg, has launched itself to the top of the list. Just thought you'd like to know.

What? Nobody's posted today?? Well, so far today I've read Harry Potter 6 and finished it.... so anyone else that has finished reading it call me sometime because I want to talk about it and don't know who has finished it.

I have meetings all day tomorrow for work and I do need to get some things done today.... Plus I'm making lasagna for the girls I visit teach today.

Keeping busy as always,
T

My Vacation

Well, I left here on Thursday and headed up to Logan. I left at 4 p.m. so that I could be at least partially through SLC before 5 p.m.... but noooo... there was construction on the freeway from Orem through the point of the mountain... so I got to South SLC at 5 and finally made it to Logan at 6:30. My friend Terrilyn and her husband Ben came over and had dinner with Erin and I that evening. Then Erin and I went for a walk over to the temple and then talked until around midnight. The nice thing about Logan is that the temperature cools down a lot at night (unlike Provo where it has been staying in the upper 70s even at night).

Friday I spent the morning running some errands. I had to buy a swimsuit and a toothbrush (things I had forgotten to bring), then I went to Aggie Ice Cream and had a sandwich and ice cream cone for lunch. After that I hung around Erin's until she got home from work. Once she got home we visited my friend, Jen, and then the three of us went to the movies and to Subway for dinner. Then Erin and I came home and talked until about 2 a.m.

We slept in Saturday and then went out to breakfast (okay, brunch) at Village Inn. Then we headed up to Bear Lake. Our first big adventure was getting Erin's car stuck in the sand. Thank goodness for some helpful people with fourwheelers that were able to pull us out. Then we spent about two hours in the lake. After that we had to go and get our raspberry shakes, which bear lake is famous for. We headed home, watched a movie, ate pizza, and comisserated with each other over our sun-burned bodies.

Sunday I went to church with Erin. It was weird because I used to be in that ward, but there weren't many people I knew there. After church I went and had lunch with Karen and Braden Hoth. (Karen and I were roommates one summer.) Then I went back to Erin's packed up and headed home.

Today my only big excitement is reading Harry Potter 6. Annie got it for her birthday. Tomorrow hopefully I'll spend getting some organizing done for school and Wednesday I have a bunch of meetings for work. Plus there's a picnic Thursday evening for the school. So that's my week in a nutshell.

I hope everyone is doing well. I'm looking forward to seeing some pictures of all these adventures that people have been having.

Love,
T

Emily's Continued Review of Vacation

I wrote about the first week of our trip, so here is what followed:

June 30: Knotts Berry Farm -- I am not a big roller coaster fan, but I did have some fun. My favorite ride was the Wilderness Scrambler.
July 1: Day of rest at Aunt Cheryl's.
July 2: We went to Uncle Gary's, watched home videos, ate steak, and played ping-pong.
July 3: We went to church with Eric and Laurel; the testimonies were on patriotism and the temples.
July 4: We went to Disneyland and spent most of the time in California Adventure. I really liked the Aladdin show. There was one part where Aladdin just told the genie he would not wish him free and the genie said, "Well, you know something?" He paused, and we could all hear a baby crying in the audience. "That baby's crying because of you!" That line got a lot of laughs and applause. We also got to watch the fireworks show, sitting in Main Street, playing cards while we waited. Their show was incredible, and it lasted almost half an hour. Getting out of the park was also an adventure.
July 5: We visited Eric and Laurel.
July 6: Disneyland again -- I lost one of the pins I had bought on Monday, and when we couldn't find it, a cast member got me a replacement. We ate at Village Haus, which is the equivalent to the restaurant where I worked. We attempted to go on the Roger Rabbit ride, but it broke down while we were in line. We got to ride in the golden canal boat in Storybookland; a lot of the rides have golden cars -- a golden carousel horse, a golden Dumbo, a golden teacup, etc.
July 7: We went to Aunt Cheryl's house.
July 8: Seaworld: I liked the shows, especially Shamu and the sea lion show, and the aquariums, and I really liked watching the penguins. (I got a little stuffed baby Emperor penguin.) My favorite ride was Wild Arctic, which took us to the exhibit with polar bears, walruses, and belugas.
July 9: Wild Animal Park (I think I would rather have gone to the zoo.) It was very hot, but we did see some interesting animals like an okapi and a white tiger. I also enjoyed the acrobatic show we saw late in the evening.
July 10: Church with Aunt Cheryl.
July 11: Our final day at Disneyland. We got in early and ran around Fantasyland. Mindy and Clarissa went on as many golden vehicles as they could. While the others went on Indiana Jones (I'd already been on it and I didn't want to go on it again), I waited in line for the Jungle Cruise, but a boat got stuck just before I got on the ride. After we finally got on, we had to wait while the other boats were being loaded, so we heard a lot of corny jokes. We watched Mickey Mouse climb the Matterhorn from the golden horseless carriage. We went to the ESPN zone, since we had free ten dollar passes for it. They had racing games and air hockey. We watched the electrical Parade that evening, and then we had to hurry to get to Space Mountain, and we watched the fireworks from the line. We didn't get out until the park closed because we were buying souvenirs. I got a CD with music from the Disneyland rides and shows.
July 12: We drove all day to reach Yosemite and had to set up camp in the dark.
July 13: Mom, Dad, and I went on a geologic walk in Yosemite Valley, learning how it was formed, and we went to see Yosemite Falls, which were running this time.
July 14: We drove some more, taking a shortcut through the mountains. Maybe it would have been better if we had stuck with the freeways. The campsite, while beautiful, was home to swarms of mosquitoes, and we ended up in a motel.
July 15: We visited the Redwoods; the trees were incredible, and it was wonderful to walk through a grove. Then we went to Oregon Caves, which I loved. We saw some very interesting formations such as those resembling a whale's back (the "spine" is actually a fault line), a wedding cake, a heart, bananas, and the Washington Monument. We also saw a cave spider which we named "She-bob." There were some steep stairs that I did not really like, but the whole cave was wonderful. And on our way out, we walked through a manmade tunnel and everyone made lots of noise to hear the echoes. (Apparently the natural tunnels don't echo.) Then we kept on driving and finally got home at 8:43 p.m.

HAJ

First we had HAT, and then HAN ... now it's HAJ! Happy anniversary, Jared and Michelle! We hope that you're all feeling better, and you were able to get a blessing from your bishop or someone in your ward.

The short version from this end is that Adam was switched off the Supreme Court confirmation project at Senate Judiciary - he's now working in the Crime unit on some terrorism stuff. The reason for the switch is because he can only intern part time (they won't pay him, so he has to work part time as well), and they wanted a full time intern on the confirmation. At first he was ticked because working on the court stuff would be really cool. But now he's fine with it because the stuff he's working on in the crime unit will be much more applicable to law school and his future of being a lawyer. And he can still say that he interned with the Senate Judiciary Committee on his resume.

And THAT means that yes, he is coming to Seattle with me. I talked to Mom last night about which weekend we should go up (before or after the conference), and I talked to Uncle Max as well. Neither Mom nor Uncle Max were much help in making a decision and it doesn't matter either way to me, so the travel agent will make the decision for me. Whichever flights are cheaper. And I will let you know in the next couple of days what the verdict is.

The Third Trimester

Well, Laurel and I are back home at our apartment after house sitting for two weeks. We spent Friday night with our friends the Skafs who flew off to live in Hawaii on Saturday. We watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which was much better than I expected. Very funny and well made. You should check it out.

Saturday morning we planned out the next three months. The baby is due in 90 days! We planned Family Home Evenings and what we're going to do for our anniversary and all of that. We've been so busy with family (and housesitting) for the last month and a half that we're amazed to find we're at the third trimester now. The baby is growing like crazy, as most of you know. It's really cool to be able to see Laurel's belly move when he moves around. We're very happy and excited.

Saturday afternoon we had a sealing assignment at the LA temple. Laurel wasn't able to go in since her recommend expired a couple of weeks ago (oops!). So she spent some quality time at the distribution center and at the visitor's center. Afterwards we ate Chinese food with some friends in the ward who were helping with the assignment.

Sunday we had church and Laurel invited our new hometeachers over to visit after church. She was good and proactive at getting them started.

It's nice to be back. It was fun to have a pool for a little while, but all in all it's nice to be in our own home.

I repent

OK, Jared, I got the message. I spent yesterday doing laundry and trying to get things a little organized around here. Today was busy with church and then Nathan and Amanda came over for dinner. We played some games in the evening and now I'll take a few minutes to let all of you know that I really do love you and I love to hear what everyone is up to. We took over 300 pictures on our trip but I won't be posting all of them. I'll put some on my page soon and I hope you all enjoy them.

We have a couple more adventures coming soon. We're taking Mindy down to Utah and spending a couple of days in the Family History Center and we're going to Seattle when Trina and Adam are there for a conference. We're looking forward to both of these.

I need to go to bed soon so I can get myself back to a normal sleep schedule.

I love you all,
MOM

What happened?

Our wandering travelers all should have arrived home a couple days ago, or so I thought (since I did talk to Mom on the phone), but I haven't seen anyone get back to posting yet. I could understand it being a little sporadic while half the clan was out on the road, but what's the problem now? End of rant.

Some of you may have been aware that I was very sick Friday night. My fever spiked so much that I had severe chills and couldn't stop shaking. I took my time driving home from work -- I stopped to rest twice in the 7 1/2 miles. I took some medications after I got home, but nothing could touch the pounding headache. I felt a little better in the morning, and went to the doctor. It was probably just a virus, but they're running some bloodwork to make sure.

We're starting to find our way around here now. Our ward is much smaller than the last three we've been in, but that's okay. We're getting settled in pretty good.

I guess I need to go make some dinner now, Bryan is getting hungry.

Travels

Well, I figure that everyone is busy traveling, so I might as well too... right! So I'm leaving tomorrow evening to go up to Logan and hang out with my friend Erin for the weekend. I'll come home sometime on Monday. While there we're planning on going up to Bear Lake, and also spending time with some of my married friends.

So all of the company has finally left my house. We had 9 people sleep at our apartment on Friday night. Monday afternoon when we realized it was down to just roommates at home we had to take a picture. And so our apartment is finally getting cleaned up also. I haven't been up to campus at all this week. Monday I spent doing my laundry. I had a LOT to do! And since our dryer was still broken at that point I had to hang everything on hangers all over my room to dry. (and I took my whites to a friends apartment and borrowed her dryer for an hour.) Tuesday was Annie's birthday. Natalie and I spent the afternoon at Wal-mart, then we came home and decorated Annie's room. After that we took her out to the Olive Garden for dinner. Today all I've done is clean my room and then come here to check my e-mail. I also need to go and turn in my insurance papers that were supposed to be turned in yesterday. (oops!) And then get ready for leaving town tomorrow. And there's institute tonight.

So yeah, that's my life in a nutshell.
-T

"cradle of the restoration"

A very funny Gospel Doctrine teacher in Rochester, New York, who looked kinda like the mad scientist on UHF with his white hair sticking up, reminded all of the visitors in the class that Utah was the Lord's SEVENTH choice. "Welcome to the Cradle of the Restoration." Palmyra was fabulous. Pretty much everything we did was on Saturday because we drove up there Friday night after work -

-- Palmyra Temple. All of the windows in the entire building are stained glass of trees, and one of the windows in the foyer looks out over the Sacred Grove. We could hear a thunderstorm during the session, and when we came out of the temple, everything was soaked but the sky was blue and it was a gorgeous, cool, breezy day.
-- Hill Cumorah. We saved our seats for the Pageant - people are there at noon marking their seats so we did it too. The visitor's center has costumes that are no longer used on display. They also have a small Christus (6 or 8 feet tall rather than the 12-foot tall version) and displays about the gold plates and stories from the Book of Mormon. The coolest thing there was original copy of the Book of Mormon. We climbed the hill to see the Angel Moroni statue at the top - holy smokes, that was a straight up climb! It's the weirdest shaped hill.
-- Martin Harris farm. There are no tours of the house or property, which isn't the original anyway. But it was his land, so they have a parking lot for people to stand around on the front lawn.
-- Alvin Smith grave. It's in Palmyra, just a couple of blocks from the printing shop. We went just to see it. Not a lot to do in a cemetery.
-- EB Grandin printing shop. Where the Book of Mormon was published. The missionaries gave explanations of the process for doing so - man, that took a lot of work!
-- Joseph Smith Sr. farm. This had a replica of the log cabin on the original foundation, and the frame house that Alvin and Hyrum built. We toured both. The upstairs of the log cabin was where Moroni appeared and told Joseph about the gold plates. There were 6 or 7 other people in the same little room with him and they all slept right through it. Crazy.
-- the Sacred Grove. Adam and I took my quad with us, and we went in pretty deep to find a quiet spot. Considering it was the height of "tourist season" for the area because of the pageant, that was next to impossible. But we did find somewhere quiet to read the story of the First Vision from the scriptures.
-- the pageant. Jori was like a kid at Christmas with going around taking pictures of all the costumed people before it started. Adam and I got a couple of pictures but she was much worse. Jori decided she's going to save up to apply to be in it in 2 years - Adam and I can't be that specific yet but we want to do that as well. I thought the pageant itself was much too short. One hour is not nearly long enough. We talked about what stories in the Book of Mormon we would use to fill in what we thought were some gaps. The special effects, considering this was done on a stage, were really cool - particularly the storm scenes.
-- Peter Whitmer farm. Sunday, on our way home, we stopped in Fayette to see the farm where the Church was officially organized. That's a little tiny place to cram 60 people - I'll bet they weren't all actually inside. The visitor's center had some interesting displays about the Apostasy and Restoration.

All in all, it was a great experience and I'm glad we did it even though it was a super-fast weekend. I really do want to be in the pageant some day - sooner rather than later. I'm still processing that I was actually there and how everything felt, and it's a little surreal that it happened at all.

Greetings from the long lost wanderers

I guess that's what we must seem like to you, anyway. We are back at Cheryl's today and I thought I should take this final opportunity to write while we're on vacation.

To bring you up to date - We had a great visit with Gary and Karen on Saturday. Leigh and Theresa were there and Gary barbecued steak for us again. Eric and Laurel came over and we had a ping-pong tournament, sort of. We enjoyed the house where Eric and Laurel are house sitting. They have a beautiful pool and we had another barbecue there on Sunday evening. Gary and Karen came over and Laurel's sister and family were there also.

On the 4th we went to Disneyland as planned with Eric and Laurel, Cheryl and Tiffany joined us later in the day and we had a great time. I even went on California Screamin' a very fast smooth roller-coaster that goes upside-down. I might go on it again with Cheryl, tomorrow but I don't like it as much as Space Mountain. I was very glad that Space Mountain is opened again, I thought we would miss it. We stayed at Disneyland until just after the fireworks, which were spectacular.

Tuesday was a day to hang around Eric's and swim and go shopping. I made lasagna for everyone.

On Wednesday we spent our entire day in Disneyland rather than California Adventure. We'll probably do both again tomorrow. It was just us and the girls at Disneyland and we stayed until almost closing. We had fast passes for Splash Mountain at 10:45 p.m. It was still fun, even that late.

On Thursday we helped Laurel clean the house and then came over to Cheryl's for another laundry day.

Friday was spent at Sea World. We all enjoyed the shows and they had three rides that we went on. I'd highly recommend all three, but be prepared to get soaked on two of them, especially if you're in the front of the Atlantis ride, like Dad and I were, and if you have people shooting at you on the rapids ride. (Thanks Cheryl and Clarissa) We spent the night at Speedy's and some of the kids came over Saturday morning to visit for a while.

Saturday we went to the Wild Animal Park and enjoyed the animals there. They also had a few shows with African singers and Acrobats it was a little slower pace than our running at amusement parks and was a nice change.

Now we're up to today. We got in late last night and went to church this morning, so most of us took naps. Tonight we're going to Eric's apartment because we're going to Disneyland for an early entry at 7:00. Cheryl and Tiffany will be with us again tomorrow and after our fun day there, we'll come back here for our final night. On Tuesday we'll head out for Yosemite and spend two nights camping there and two nights in the Redwoods before we go home on Saturday. It should be a wonderful time.

Now I need to go finish getting everything ready to go, and eat the delicious pot roast that Cheryl made for us.

I hope you are all having wonderful summers, too.

Love ya,
MOM

We

I'm Alive

An update on my life.

By Tawnia G. Palmer

On Saturday I ended up going to Springville with a few friends. We listened to a concert while playing cards and were then given a free CD. Then we watched "Back to the Future" which I don't think I'd ever seen from the beginning. And the storm which we were told was going to rain us out avoided Springville until after we were gone (I guess it was really stormy in Provo while we were in Springville though.)

On Sunday I did the usual Sunday things, plus an unusual Sunday thing. I drove 100 miles to Brigham City and visited with Rachelle (Rawlings) Anderson and her family. She invited me to her grandparents for dinner with her extended family (whom I had mostly already met.) Janessa, her three year old, loves me now, which was nice, but Rawlin, who's just over a year old, would scream if anyone other than Rachelle was holding him. I did hold him for a bit while Rachelle was changing Janessa and was able to get him not to scream by feeding him fritos. The trip was all worth it though because I was told I was beautiful and asked where my husband was.... I thought that was pretty funny.

On Monday (the fourth) I got up early and went to breakfast at the R.S. President's house. Then I walked down to the parade from there. The parade was fun, it lasted for about two hours and I enjoyed it. I guess that SLC has big stuff for the 24th of July so Provo gets the parade on the 4th. After that we went down to the freedom festival for a bit, but there wasn't really anything there to do so instead Annie and I went home, ate lunch, and watched Pride & Prejudice. That afternoon there was a BBQ with about 25 people from my ward. I played frisbeee with some friends, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. We ended the day by driving to Lehi and watching some fireworks. Actually we watched most of them from the car as we were driving... got there, watched for five minutes, then they ended and we drove back home. (Funny thing there weren't any fireworks in Provo on the fourth... how dumb is that!)

Tuesday was spent at the library trying to get some things done for the beginnning of the school year.

Wednesday I went to Lagoon with Amy, Annie, Bryce and Ryan. It was fun. I like this new ride they have called the spider. It reminded me of this ride that Mom, Dad, and I went on at Disneyworld. Mom would laugh every time it came to any little bump and by the end I was laughing really hard, at her. Anyway, so I went on that ride twice, and on several other rides also. I figured that since Mom and Dad and the girls were having fun at theme parks I could at least have ONE day. Except that it really made me miss Disneyland, because they take much better care of their facilities, it doesn't smell bad, and the rides are at least 10x better.

Thursday I spent cleaning my room. I decided that the books that are just going to go and be part of my classroom library don't need to stay in my bedroom right now... so I labeled them, inventoried them, and boxed them up. Now they are in the back seat of my car, where they will remain until I can put them into my classroom.

Today I went and saw Madagascar. It was a cute movie, and didn't cost me anything. I had a gift certificate from my old school. Tonight is a ward BBQ (steak, potatoes, and water balloons.) And then I think I might be hiking the Y.

Tomorrow I have a staff meeting. The first one ever. It's pretty weird for me still, that I'm actually going to be teaching. Hopefully I'll have things figured out for the first week of school... but I'm still going to be scared spitless.

Anyway, Mindy I need you to call me, if you haven't already when you read this.

Love,
T

I am in Houston

I'm at work right now at my new job, and Michelle and the kids are taking it easy at home, after a very BUSY couple of days. Everything went very smoothly, with only a few minor mishaps (our vacuum cleaner blew up). Only trouble is, our stuff won't arrive until Saturday. All we have is what we brought in the car with us. But you should be able to call us now. We have a nationwide calling plan, so call anytime and we can call you back.

where in the world is carmen san diego

... and the rest of the palmer clan? just wondering. feeling lethargic because of a headache, so not using the shift key (or complete sentences) except when i have to ... how's everyone's vacation? how's the move for jared and michelle and brookie and bryan? anything else this week happening that i missed? when are mom and dad and the girls going back to oregon? just wondering. one more hour of work, and then i can go home to do more laundry and make banana bread if the managers actually fixed our oven ... it's been leaking gas something fierce in the last couple of days so we haven't been able to use it, and i've got this huge bowl of banana bread mix/dough/unbaked stuff in the fridge waiting to go in the oven. we're leaving for palmyra around 2 tomorrow.

4th aftermath

I called her, Jared, since I knew she wouldn't see the blog on her birthday, being at Disneyland and all. I called her from the parade set up area.

It was cool being in the National Independence Day Parade as a balloon wrangler - I don't know that we'll ever do it again because of varying circumstances, but it was fun to do. No Clifford the Big Red Dog balloon - he did not show up for the day. We had an Uncle Sam top hat that is 16 feet tall, and there were 5 of us working on it. We were out there at 8:30 am, and inflated the balloon around 10:30. We used the balloon itself for shade while we waited. We were put into the lineup shortly after 12 (the parade had already started) and were on our way around 12:30. It took us probably 45 minutes to walk the 10 blocks of the parade route - we had a great spot. We were between a marching band and the bagpipes of a Scottish group. At the end, we helped deflate the balloon - the helium coming out was nice and cool, so I pointed the vents at my legs and arms. When all was said and done, we finished just after 2, and the parade itself was still going.

The weather was about as good as we could have asked for - it was hot but not very humid. It was definitely tolerable. It was made even more tolerable by the fact that parade staff and police were constantly on the move with cases and cases of water bottles, just handing them out. At the end of the route, there were kiddie pools full of ice as coolers for the water bottle. Those felt GOOD just putting them against your neck. Adam and I both got sunburned, I was getting a headache toward the end of the route, and we're pretty sore this morning. But it was fun.

We came home and showered again and took a nap, and then we went to the Iwo Jima memorial to watch the fireworks. It's a really great view of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and the Capitol dome all right in a row. It was nice.

Happy birthday, USA and Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Don't worry, I didn't forget you.

Sad News

Sad News

Freedom Festival

Well, What I'll possibly be doing on the fourth is listening to concerts and going on carnival rides. Provo has this thing called Freedom Festival that started yesterday continues today, and resumes on Monday. (They skip Sunday, a Utah thing I'm sure.) There are concerts going on, a different group each hour from 11 a.m. until the last group starts at 9 p.m., and they are going on in three different tents as well... so LOTS to hear, and they also have booths selling things and carnival rides going on. I went down last night and listened to a group called "Moose Butter". I've heard them a couple times before. They are a lot of comedy, and some music also. They sang a song about Harry Potter and my favorite is a Star Wars song that uses several of John Williams songs (not just the Star Wars themes, but also Jurrasic Park, Jaws, Superman, and E.T.) Then we listened to another group called "Simple People" I liked some of their stuff, especially when they turned some oldies into Blue Grass. (Such as "They're Coming to America" and "Born to be Wild")

Today I think I'm going to head down and listen to a few more concerts and then tonight I'm going to Springville to listen to another concert and watch a movie in the park there. It will be fun.

I'm enjoying my guitar, I play it every day. My hair is really short and I'm still getting used to that. I've gotten lots of compliments on it, but it's still weird for me.

That's all my news.
Love,
T

P.S. My address for the fall will basically be the same, just change the #11 to #2 and leave the rest the same.
If you don't have my address I can e-mail it to you, or call you with it, orMom and Dad have it.

What's more important?

First of all, happy birthday to Michelle. I'm sure Mom will call to say hi, and I'll try and get in on that call. We love you and are very proud of the great job you're doing with Brooke and Bryan. And Jared.

On another more Trina-related topic, you're wrong. We will not be ignoring this riveting turn of events in our nation's history while at Disneyland. We will be discussing potential Supreme Court nominees while waiting in line for the Peter Pan ride and will be debating the legacy of Justice O'Connor while spinning around in the teacups.

Most importantly, we will be strengthening our family bonds and enjoying our time together. And when you think about it, this is actually one of the most important things we could be doing with our time. The Supreme Court will eventually pass away but our family is forever.

Oh, and I'm very excited for this fantastic opportunity for Adam. An insane amount of hard work and long hours is a great opportunity for growth. We're very proud of both of you.

Just remember, just because we're not as involved as you are in the machinations of the federal government, doesn't mean our lives are meaningless. The beauty of our country is that we can pursue our own interests. And some of us (not me, but some of us) are not that interested in government.

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Happy birthday Michelle!

We'll be out most of the afternoon but should be home later this evening, if anyone wants to call. I'm taking her out to lunch, and then we're all going to her sister's for cake and ice cream.

the circus has come to town

Well, if you're anywhere near any news today, you should have seen by now that there is indeed a Supreme Court resignation this session - Sandra Day O'Connor, who was speculated about but not the lead "candidate" for resignation (that was Rhenquist because he has cancer but he seems to be sticking it out). Maybe this is something that you can ignore while you fritter away your days at Disneyland, but it's a rather drastic change for us because yes indeed, this is Adam's internship. He is interning for the Nominations unit of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is THE group of people who will hold hours of hearings and vote to confirm whomever President Bush nominates.

So now I become the Accommodating Little Wifey and not insist that he come to Seattle with me, and take him food and go pick him up when he works until midnight. Summer classes end next week so he can put in a 3rd day per week on the Hill (he still has to work and do his thesis the rest of the week), and he checked his fall class schedule earlier today. He can continue working with the committee clear through graduation, because his classes are all Tues/Thurs. *sigh* I suppose this is the warm-up for the rest of my life, especially while he's in law school and when he's working in some ritzy slave-driver law firm for 5 or 10 years after that to get all the loans paid off.

The next week will be quiet because Bush did not name a nominee today - his press people say that he'll be reading through various profiles over the next week to choose someone. Bush is going to Europe for a multi-country leadership meeting until Fri. July 8, so I would guess that we'll get a name on Mon. July 11. THEN Congress will have officially stolen my husband. If the name is announced on Fri. the 8th, Adam is still going to Palmyra with Jori and me if I have to go to the Capitol and physically remove him from the building. He works there for FREE. They do NOT get his weekends and they are NOT ruining our trip to the Sacred Grove and Hill Cumorah. That is the end of Accommodating Little Wifey.

A day of rest and laundry

Hi kids,

It's Friday, today and we're taking a day off to rest here at Cheryl's and to do our laundry and such. We've taken over 100 pictures so far and I'll choose the best of those to put on my page when I get home. We're having a fun and relaxing vacation. We've spaced our visits to the various parks so we don't get worn out. Tomorrow we're visiting with your Uncle Gary and we'll spend Sunday at Eric's. Then on Monday we'll have our first Disney day. What a way to spend my birthday. It sounds like Trina will be having an exciting 4th of July and Eric will be with us, I'm not sure what Jared or Tawnia or Nathan have planned.

Emily and Mindy have done a pretty good job of keeping you up to date on our adventures. Mindy didn't mention that we learned that we don't like wooden roller-coasters; too shaky. I just wanted you to know that we're thinking about all of you and love hearing about your adventures, too.

Love ya,
MOM

Knott's Berry Farm

Yesterday we went to Knott's Berry Farm. To start off, Dad, Gary, Sarah, Tiffany and me (Mindy) went on a ride called the Silver Bullet. We were very excited, since we hadn't been on rollercoasters in a while (especially me, considering I hadn't been anywhere since Disneyland 10 years ago). This probably wasn't the best ride to start off on, since it had multiple upside-downs. Going upside-down isn't a bad thing, except that it was twisting and stuff at the same time .. Dad came off of it awfully sick, and me a bit sick. Neither of us got really sick though, so no messes to clean up, and by lunch time we were both feeling better. We went on a wussy "coal train" ride .. no speed at all, no drops, just boring ... and then the log ride. It's kinda like Splash Mountain, only more bumpy during the "slow" parts, and a shorter drop at the end. Fun though. I ended up going on the "Xcelerator" with Cheryl, Sarah, Gary, and Tiffany .. SUPER fast ride right from the start, up a HUGE peak, and then straight down the other side, around the track a few other turns, and you're done before you realize it. But it was cool, and very impressive to see how high I'd been. We went on the Carousel, Mexican Hats (like the teacups), and the DragonBoat Swing before we headed to lunch .. and had to wait a REALLLY long time for that. The food was tasty though, and it gave us more energy for afterwords. Then Bumper Cars, and Big Foot Rapids (twice). Gary, Sarah, and Tiffany went off and did other stuff while the rest of us went and saw "Snoopy's Summer Vacation on Ice" .. fun music, good skaters .. nice break from all the walking and walking and walking. By this time I realized I was getting sunburnt, but it was too late to do anything about it. I had already put sunblock on my face, and I still came out of the park looking like a tomato. Oh well. After that I went on the Perilous Plunge with Gary, Sarah, and Tiffany .. go up, small turn, and head straight back down, into a huge pool of water .. so you can get soaking wet, and splash everyone that's standing on the bridge. I was wet for most of the evening after. Ummmm .. and I went on a few other rides again, but those were the exciting ones. It was fun. We had a good time, and slept wonderfully once we got home. I'm sunburnt, but I'm hoping it mostly goes away by Monday (California Adventure day) so I won't look so red in all of those pictures too.