The Shooting Script

Hi Everybody!

I'm working on the shooting script still and hoping to get it out THIS weekend. It's just taking longer than I thought. Laurel helped with some storyboard drawings. I think you'll be able to tell which ones are hers. We're having some good laughs as we work on this project together.

I'm excited to see all of this come to fruition. I should have a production schedule put together during the next week. It's amazing that we're just over a week away from making the movie. Trust me. It's going to be fun, and it's going to be funny.

See you all next week!

Reunions!

So I'm guessing that everyone got the reunion message from Uncle Max. It seems like that reunion is SO short. (Probably because it is.) We really only have one full day... but it should still be fun!

So for ours... when is everyone getting home?? I plan on getting there Friday night. I'm not sure when. It all depends on when we leave here. I'm thinking we might leave a little later, since we all tend to sleep in a lot. Then we'll just sleep wherever we land that night. It's just the next day when we need to figure out sleeping arrangements. Some people have said we should all stay at Mom and Dad's, while others have suggested that a few of us go to Nate and Manda's. Has there been a final decision on this? I feel like I finally have time to actually think about these things.

Eric, I still haven't received that script from you... Have you sent it?

I'm going to go and make breakfast.
Love,
T

Great News!!!!!!

Today I took Brooke for an appointment with her urologist to get her test results from last week. She has no reflux and the ultrasound clearly showed the Deflux implants, which means her surgery went perfect. She no longer has to antiobiotics everyday. Hooray! Also at the doctor we scheduled a bladder function test to hopefully get the bottom of why she continues to leak urine. That is encouraging.

Now more good news, yesterday Brooke learned to swim. Bryan also has no problem putting his face in the water. Maybe he will be able to do an underwater swim soon.

Last Sunday, Bryan had the scripture in primary and he did it perfect, "Thou shalt not steal." He is still enjoying going to his school sometimes as a drop in. I'm doing fine. Jared is good, too.

good news for me!

Today, while at my training for school, I got a phone call from Macey's - a local grocery store where I had an interview last week. I had orientation today, which included all the paperwork, and then I have the store tour and such tomorrow, probably followed by the start of my training. I'm going to work in the Deli - slicing meats and cheeses, fruit trays, specilty salads .. stuff like that. It's $2 more than what I was making at Subway, and it already feels like they treat me much better than Subway ever did. They're looking for a morning person for now, and then an afternoon/evening person in the fall - which is perfect. Hooray for me!

another Happy day!

Happy anniversary to Nathan and Amanda!! I'm glad that you're so happy together and having a good time in Europe!! And of course I'm very excited to see them, and everyone else, in a couple of weeks at the reunion.

Today was supposed to be the Blog FHE, and to make up for missing in May as well. Sorry for being a slacker. I'll just make one comment real quick because it's getting very late at night here - that part of good parenting is having a good relationship in your marriage. I really like the quote: "The best gift a father can give to his children is to love their mother." I'm glad we have the examples of Dad, Eric, Jared, Nathan and Adam in being living evidence of this quote. Not Nathan yet in the "father" part of it, but he'll get there when the time is right for them, and they're developing a good marriage now to provide the foundation for their children when they come. Yay for good, strong, loving marriages!! Happy anniversary again to Nathan and Amanda!!

Summer is Beautiful

We arrived here safe and sound Saturday evening and had a nice visit that night. On Sunday Summer was blessed and we took lots of pictures. I was thrilled that her dress fit her very well. We had a nice barbecue afterward at Beth's house with lots of friends and lots of food.

Last night Adam's mom wanted to see some of the monuments at night so we went for a drive to see them. The Lincoln Memorial is really beautiful from the WWII Memorial, but by the time we got to the Jefferson it was pouring rain. We made it home to where Trina and Summer were waiting and listened to the rest of the storm from the safety of the apartment. No flooding or power outages in this area.

This morning I was exhausted so I took a nap before we left to do some touring. We planned on going to the Archives but when we got there it was closed because of flooding. We went to the Smithsonian but the museums on that side were closed - power outage, so we spent the day in the Air and Space Museum. It rained off and on but we only got caught in one big downpour.

We hope we're able to continue with the activities we have planned. We're supposed to have more thunderstorms for the next few days, including the one right now.

We hope you are all well and strong.

Love ya,
Mom and Dad

The Weather in Washington

I heard on the radio this morning that there's been a severe rainstorm on the East coast. How is this affecting the visit to DC? I suppose you can always hunker down and visit at home.

I'm really really looking forward to vacation. I have to focus in the meantime here at work.

Tawnia: I know I didn't get the storyboards/shooting script out to you this weekend, but it will be coming soon.

travels

Adam and I will leave in about 20 minutes to pick up Mom and Dad at the airport - Yay!! Adam and Summer are taking a quick nap right now before we go. It's been a long day already. Adam's best friend Kevin went through the temple this morning for his endowments, and we had to be up at 6:30 to get them to the temple on time. This was after we were up past midnight for various reasons. We did take Summer with us to the temple - Beth took care of her at the visitor's center so I could also attend the session.

Yes, Nathan, we will be bringing Summer's infant carrier which is also her carseat. So you don't have to worry about finding anything for her to be in your car. Thank you for picking us up!! 2 weeks from today, and we'll all be together for the first time in 6 years - wow!!!

Tours

Hello everyone. Amanda and I are now in France, our final country. We have had a wonderful time and are excited to share our travels with you, but only if you want to hear about them. We are going to see so,e castles tomorrow and see where da Vinci spent the last few years of his life. We are going to Paris early next week, and then we are making the long flight home. Trina, do ze need a car seat at all for transporting Summer, or do you have a carrier/carseat deal? We are so excited to see everyone and meet the new Palmer and Caudle. The weather is much nicer here in France than Italy. It was too hot for me there.

sorry this post is so random.

Nathan

Getting Ready

Tomorrow is the last day we'll be home. On Friday I have a doctor's appointment in Portland at 1:30 so when we leave for that we'll just keep on going. (I'm seeing a dermatologist who will, hopefully, be able to give me some answers about my legs.) That means I have to get everything finished around here tomorrow. What gets done is done and what isn't will still be here when we get home.

I had a nice long visit with Nathan today. He called from Florence Italy. He and Amanda are having a wonderful time. They were able to go to the temples in both London and Switzerland. They've has some real communication challenges but it's been worth it. They'll be the ones picking you up from the airport Trina. Dad suggested we have them give their Europe report Sunday night after dinner. We've also scheduled pictures for Monday.

I'm really excited to hold my sweet little Summer and to see Trina and Adam,too. I'm not looking forward to the long plane ride but I'm sure it will be worth it.

I still have a bazillion things to do and it's getting late so I'll say good night.

Love ya,
MOM

inchworm

I called Summer a tapeworm when I was pregnant with her, because I was always so HUNGRY and had to eat all the time. Now Adam is calling her an inchworm - this last week, we started doing "tummy time" with her, which is when you lay her on her stomach for a few minutes so she's forced to lift her head to look around. It helps babies develop their neck muscles to hold up their heads. Summer hasn't started lifting her head yet, but she braces her feet and pushes with her legs and scoots forward. Saturday, she moved from the middle to the end of the couch like that. It's kind of funny to watch.

Summer also started smiling as a response to people this last week, instead of only smiling as a reflex. It's SO cute!! We're still not quick enough with the camera to catch it - she'll be smiling, and then stop as soon as the camera's pointed at her. I hope she behaves better for the camera when Dad gets here this weekend.

Happy days!

Happy Anniversary Trina and Adam! And a late Happy Father's Day to Dad, Dad, Dad, and Dad (you know who you are). We are in Florence, and just got back from Pisa - the tower is still leaning. We had a good time there...you really have to see the tower to appreciate it...it was pretty cool. Our hotel is really nice, but a little far away from Florence, so we have a curfew, but that will be ok. We have a night train on our last night here, so we can spend a little bit more time here that night. Anyway, since we were in Pisa today, and only went to the bus stop yesterday when we got here, we haven't actually been IN Florence yet, so we are planning to go out on the town now! We are looking forward to coming back and meeting the new babies and seeing everyone...we were talking about that today. We have not been able to do any filming of us running for the family movie, because we have already filled up two memory cards, and are now having to go back and delete things, just to fit the last days of our trip on them. We are sorry about that...it would have been cool, but we were not able to get a video camera. So we only have two stops left! After Florence...though we have just started our Florence adventure, so we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves...we will be heading to Tours, to see a whole lot of castles and cool stuff in the Loire Valley (in France), and then our last stop will be Paris. It seems like we have been gone a very long time, and that we have a long way to go, but we are enjoying it! Love to you all, Manda and Nathan

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day FOR THE FIRST TIME to Adam and Eric!!! Yay!!! I hope that being daddies to Summer and Stevie is all that you ever thought it would be and better. And of course, Happy Father's Day to Dad and Jared also, but not for the first time.

Dad, you're the greatest and I love you tons, and I'm so excited that you and Mom will be here on Saturday!! Eric and Jared, see you at the reunion, which is going to be the best!! (Yes, Jared, worth your $1600 ... and our plane tickets were just slightly less than that for only 2 people instead of 4, so you'd better help make it worth our while too! Ha ha ...) Love you guys too!! Adam, you're wonderful with Summer and I love and appreciate you so much!!

Okay, I'll stop talking in exclamation points now.

Rome

Hello everyone. We are in Rome now. Yesterday we went to Vatican City, and the day before we went to the Coloseum. Today we walked around and saw several fountains and the Pantheon. I do not know if all of my spelling is correct so please forgive me. We are having a good time. It is crowded and hot, but the food is generally good. Amanda and I are still getting along, so all is going well. Tomorrow we head off to Florence, and then we make our last two stays in France next week. The people are mostly friendly, but sometimes the communication is a little misunderstood. Crazy traffic here, and the pedestrians are just as crazy. There are thousands of mopeds and motorcycles here in Rome, and they just weave around the people and cars and buses. We are both getting tired, and are excited to go home, but we are still ready for more here. We cannot wait to see everyone at the reunions and meet the new babies. We love you all and will see you in a few weeks.

Love,
Nathan and Amanda

Home Again

Well, I have made it back to Utah. I didn't realize until after I was at the airport that my flight went to Pheonix first and then to SLC. At least I didn't have to get off the plane.

Today I get to move everything into my new classroom. That will keep me busy for today. Then this evening Mindy and I are going to a Luau thrown by the ward we'll be moving into. Tomorrow we have a bridal shower for Annie, a tri-ward activity (we will make an appearance) and then we're going to go and play games with our friend Abi (it's her birthday tomorrow). So it will be a busy weekend. Next week I'll be at the school doing stuff everyday. I have training Weds through Friday of next week... so that'll keep me quite busy.

California was great. Eric- I probably won't get the pictures to you until this afternoon or tomorrow... or maybe even Sunday.

I need to go and eat breakfast now.
T

Update

There are new pictures of Stevie up.

There will be even more once we get some pictures from Tawnia.

She should be getting home about now.

Brooke at Girl Scout Camp

Check out this website for pictures. There are some good ones of Brooke. The pictures are being updated each day this week, adding pictures for that day.

http://www.freewebs.com/alief_twilight_camp/

reunion note

I talked to Mom about this because I have a number of friends in Oregon who want to see Summer and talk with Adam (since the only other time they've met him was at our wedding, and that's just too hectic). I'm meeting with friends on Saturday and Sunday ONLY, since those days don't have main reunion activities planned (except singing in sacrament meeting, which we will be there for). That way, we don't have any extra people coming in and out, and I won't leave in the middle of something, during the main activities. I just wanted to pass that on to all of the other out-of-towners as a suggestion as well - meet with friends on Sat/Sun, and keep the rest of the week for just family.

Summer has a couple of new posts on her blog, if you want to check those. We'll get more pictures up right quick here. It's been pretty busy with Clara and Tim here and they took a bunch of pictures. They downloaded their digital camera onto our computer, so we have them as well. They left Tuesday afternoon. Then Summer and I spent ALL DAY (close to 12 hours) at the hospital yesterday. Our friend Beth is having some pretty major back problems and went to the hospital yesterday morning, and we stayed with her for moral support.

So here's a funny story...

Today is the last day of our production cycle at work.  We've been running way behind this month, mostly due to part shortages and supplier delays.  So at the managers' meeting yesterday, the boss commented we may need to sacrifice a chicken in order to get all the tools out on time.  So today, my supervisor handed my a big toothpick, like the kind they use for club sandwiches, with my name on it.  Apparently the boss has been given a ceramic chicken-shaped planter, one with lots of little holes.  He's going to carry it through the manufacturing floor, and everyone will "stab" it with our toothpicks.  And then we will be able to meet our quota.  Part of me says "Yeah, okay, whatever (freaks)" and the other part of me says "Hehehe, that's funny."  I think the "that's funny" part of me is winning.

another update

A couple of weeks ago a friend saw my scrap picture of Calvin and Hobbes, and asked me to make one for her - she'd pay me. Of course, I said yes. She left it in the hands of her friend (a guy in my ward) to pick out the picture. When I showed him some options he picked two, that he would pay for, for her birthday (surprise!). So I finished them this evening, and put them on my page, under artwork (top row, right end). Check them up, I'm pretty happy with them (the second one more than the first, but oh well).

Eric, I have to agree, the Stevie movie is adorable! I'm looking forward to picking up Tawnia tomorrow, not only to see Tawnia, but to see all of her pictures of Stevie (speaking of which, when are you going to add more?). And I'm REALLY looking forward to July so I can see the little guy in person (along with everyone else, but of course). Trina, I'd rave about Summer a little more if there were more pictures of her!

Reunion Plans

Dad says I should post the latest in the reunion plans so we're all up to date. So here's how I see things. If you pictured things otherwise let me know.

Saturday: Everyone arrives. Dinner lasagna -Mom - guests welcome but please let me know so I can make sure we have enough. (grocery run)
Practice song for Sunday.

Sunday: Breakfast - cereal. Church in Yamhill 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Trina will leave right after sacrament meeting and visit friends in Salem) Dinner Chinese food - Eric

Monday: Girls time out for breakfast or lunch??? Some filming of select scenes.
Dinner Chicken Enchiladas - Tawnia.
FHE - family meeting/ games.

Tuesday: Breakfast - Pancakes - Emily. Movie Day. Dinner barbecue Adam and Nathan.

Wednesday: Breakfast Muffin Tin Breakfast - Clarissa. Beach Day (for those who choose to go) Final edit of movie. Video scavenger hunt. (Make list at family meeting on Monday) Dinner Beef Taco Skillet - Mindy.
Movie night.

Thursday: Breakfast French Toast -??? Temple Day Beers reunion. Dinner Pizza

Notes: The people whose names are by a meal are in charge but everyone helps. Meal times: breakfast about 8 a.m. Lunch - open kitchen 11:30 to 1:00 (help yourself to leftovers, sandwiches, etc. If a dish is made ahead for dinner please mark it.) Dinner about 6 p.m. If you are in charge of a meal please get me a list of items needed including quantities.
Games are available anytime.
What have I left out?

I hope this is a nice relaxing time for everyone.

Love ya,
MOM

cool stuff Mom and Dad get to do in DC

I'm visiting Adam for lunch, and conveniently, Senator Specter's personal office called down here a few minutes ago to arrange some tours for Mom and Dad. So get this into your schedule ...

Wed. June 28 - 12:30 - tour of the White House (general public tour - it's a walk through, or you might be on a guided tour with some Girl Scouts)
Thurs. June 29 - 12:30 - guided tour of the Capitol, followed by lunch in the Senators' private dining room.

Cool, huh? Just Mom and Dad for the White House, because we've gone through it before. I'll join you for the Capitol tour and lunch if we can get someone to take Summer for a couple of hours. She's not allowed in the dining room.

Mom, I'll call you soon because I have a question for you about the reunion. Preview: Adam wants to know if we can borrow a car while we're in Seattle so we can go visit his brother James (who does not have a car). Also, I need to talk to you a little more about the idea of going to Charlottesville to see Monticello and the other stuff.

PS - Love the new movie about Stevie!!

New Movie

I think I forgot to mention the other day that there is a new Stevie movie up. Check it out!

In other news, Tawnia is here. We went to Disneyland yesterday and I got a little sunburned, but everyone else was smart and wore hats and sunscreen.

Stevie got really excited about seeing Tigger and Pooh. He got his picture taken with Pooh and Pooh didn't want to let him go. He sure is a cute baby. You'll see. Tawnia said he's cuter in person than in pictures or on video.

Stevie also pooped through two diapers and two pairs of pants and we took him home before the fireworks. We'd met up with a few friends from our ward and had them take Tawnia home so she could watch the fireworks.

It was a very long but very fun day. Tawnia's there today with a friend of hers, and then Laurel and I are going to meet up with her in the evening. Good thing I can rest up here at work.

this little piggy

Today I went job hunting. I applied at Macey's (grocery store where a couple of girls I went to Russia with, one of which does the hiring), Claire's (where they already asked about when I would be available, and were super nice), Payless Shoe store (filled out their 30 minute job survery thing at the store), Bath and Body Works (probably least likely place I'll get a job, just didn't seem interested in hiring), and Hallmark (where they aren't really looking for people this summer, but might hire anyway). And while I was at Hallmark I bought two new piggy banks - Pink and Chocolate. They're on my piggy page.

I am on TV!

This is the weirdest thing ever, but I am typing this on the tv in our hotel in Cologne! It is really hard to get this little keyboard thing to work, but it is free, which is better than the internet cafe. We walked for hours today. It is beautiful here and very hot. There are so many people here for the World Cup and it is cool to see them so excited! There is a lot of drinkng, though, so we headed home before it got dark, although it is after ten, and it is still fairly light out! This day was definitely a good one. It has taken me like half an hour just to type this, so I think I will go to bed. We love you all! Goodnight for us, but guten tag to you all!

the traveling Palmers

the next update

Summer's one-month birthday was yesterday - we started off by taking her to the doctor to be weighed. She's now 8 pounds 9 ounces. Just over the course of the last week, her growing has really taken off. I can tell she's bigger than she was a few days ago just from looking at her and/or picking her up. Since we were downtown anyway for a 5-minute doctor appointment (that's literally all it was), I took her to my office to show her around. My friend Nadia was very excited to see her. And we went over to Adam's office for lunch and hanging out a little bit. Adam was able to leave early because it was Friday, so we waited for him and all came home together.

Around dinner time, Adam's sister Clara and her husband Tim got here to visit for a few days. They needed to return their rental car, so we all went to drop it off and then went to the monuments. Summer was getting tired so we went to only 3. We'll go to some more tonight and tomorrow evening. Today, Clara and Tim took our car out to Mt. Vernon. We're not sure what we're going to do with them the rest of the time we're here - we'll take it one day at a time. They leave Tuesday afternoon.

Hello Palmers, here is a bit of info about what we have been up to just in the last couple of days. The keyboards are frustrating, but I got used to it fairly quickly because of having to do it in France before. So...here you go!

We are in Brussels right now, and I am not a big fan, but we do have a chance to write email for a bit, which is nice! It is much more stressful when people do not speak your language, so we are feeling homesick for England. We really had a great time there, I cannot believe it is already over. So many wonderful memories. Oxford really was a wonderful way to finish our England experience. We did not have a clue where to go (by the way, I cannot find the apostrophe, so I cannot make contractions, which makes this read more akwardly) so we just wandered. We had dinner at a really good open air restaurant where there were tons of college students eating...we just watched them and enjoyed some very very good food! By this point, we had gotten over the fact that we pay twice as much for food there, and stopped being quite so stingy. Anyway, after a nice dinner, we walked down the road a bit and came across a sidewalk that went along the river (Thames). It turned out to go a long way, and then cross, and then come back where we started from. We enjoyed watching the huge beautiful white swans who swam right up to us, which is really kind of unnerving after a bit, because those birds are huge!! There were ducks and other birds, a British kitty climbing up a fence, and college students racing each other down the river in the kayak/crewboat type things. It was really neat...the sun was setting, and it was nice thinking of who else might have wandered romantically down this very same river. So then this morning was a huge mess of catching a bus to catch a train to catch the Tube to catch a train to catch a taxi to get to our hotel. It all worked out, though, and knowing that we were under the English Channel was pretty cool.

Time for sleeping since we need to get up early and head over to Germany in the morning. Love to you all! Manda

Belgium

Hello family!

We are no longer in England. I am having a difficult time typing because some of the letters are in different spots. The a and q are switched, and the z and w too. The m is also in a weird spot.
If there is a misspelled word, I am sorry. We are having a good time and are excited to be some where for more than one night again because these last few nights have been one night stays. This keyboard is way too frustrating. Just saying hi and we love you and we miss air conditioning, even though we do not have it.

love,
nathan and amanda

This is what we will sing

After much careful deliberation, the executive music committee -- Mom and me -- has come to the following decision regarding the Sunday performance. We will sing Hymn #339, "My Country 'Tis of Thee". I know the harmonies are more "interesting" in America the Beautiful, but that's actually the main reason we settled on this one. Since we're only going to run through it once or twice, I want something simple enough that everyone will be able to sing it well. I also decided that we should have a pianist to help us out, for the same reason. Mom is going to ask JoAnne if she would like to do it. After all, she's practically part of the family too. If for some reason JoAnne can't do it, Mindy has said she's willing to give it a shot.

Here is the arrangement we're going to sing. We will be doing the music as it is printed in the hymnbook, so hopefully everyone should already have the music, or at least have access to see it. You can get it online at the Church's website if nothing else. For the first verse, the men will sing in unison. The second verse will be the women, in two-part harmony (soprano and alto). The third verse will be everyone singing in four-part harmony, and the fourth verse will continue the four-part, plus the pianist will add to the music on that fourth verse. Each verse will also progressively get just a little bit louder.

We're going to have only one opportunity to practice this together, on Saturday evening. Once things get a little more defined and as the reunion gets closer, Mom and Dad can set a specific time if necessary. Therefore, please go ahead and practice ahead of time so that you are familiar with the music.

We tentatively divided out the parts this way. Sopranos: Mom, Trina, Tawnia, Emily, Brooke, and Bryan. Altos: Laurel, Michelle, Amanda, Mindy, and Clarissa. Tenors: Dad, Eric, Jared, and Jeremy. Basses: Adam and Nathan. If anyone would feel more comfortable on a different part from what you have here, just let me know.

Singing in Church

I just talked to Jennie (Blanchard) Kern, our ward music committee chairman, and she thinks it's great that we're volunteering to sing. The theme for that Sunday is Patriotism and Liberty. We could sing either America or America the Beautiful, which are in the hymn book and the congregation will sing the other for opening, (they're doing the National anthem for closing). If we choose something not in the hymnbook, we'd need the music right away. I feel it's best to choose something we all know and can sing a capella. That way no one is stuck at the piano.

Love ya,
MOM

The Beach, Take two

Well, here's the plan. Anyone that would like to go to the beach... I am going on Wednesday during the reunion. Jared and his family are joining with Mindy, Emily, and I. Anyone else that would like to go, please just let me know. I'm not sure when we'll be leaving, or when exactly we will get back... but there you have it. The girls will probably spend a little time at the outlet mall, and we'll most likely do lunch out there. So that's the plan. Mom and Dad, we would like to borrow the van. Jared will drive it.

As our family grows bigger, it is very likely that not everyone is going to want to join in on every activity. It is normal (and good) that there are differing opinions. When it comes to some plans we will just have to realize that different people are going to want to do different things at the same times.... and then on some things, people will just have to put aside their dislikes and join in. That's the way life is.

Love,
T

songs and such

Although I am probably the worst singer in this extended family (just ask Trina), my thought is to pick a song (if you're so inclined) that no one really ever hears. While seasonal songs are great, the congregation probably just sang them or will be singing them shortly. So why not do something interesting and rather unique, such as singing "O Savior, Thou Who Wearest a Crown" to the tune of "If You Could Hie to Kolob." It's actually very simple to arrange (make a copy of both songs, cut 0ut the words of Savior en bloc and paste over the words to Kolob). Or something like that. I'm sure that Summer will be more than willing to sing her part descant.

Possible songs to sing

Well, when Mom told me about the suggestion, my first thought was similar to Mindy's: don't we have enough planned? But then I thought about it some more, and I think it could be really fun. We shouldn't need to practice more than once or twice, assuming people show up already knowing what we'll be singing. I wouldn't mind being "in charge" unless somebody else wants to volunteer. Make sure everybody has the music, knows which parts to sing, and so on.

So which song to sing?

I thought it might be cool to sing one that people might not be as familiar with, like Kolob (284) or Mysterious Way (285). Then I discussed it with Michelle, and she pointed out that it will be the Sunday right after July 4, so maybe a Patriotic song such as America (339). Pioneer Day will also be coming up, and something like Carry On (255) or For the Strength of the Hills (35) would sound really good too.

Since we'll be there for a family reunion, one of the family oriented songs could also be really neat. Love at Home (294), Families Can Be Together Forever (300), O My Father (292), or Each Life That Touches Ours For Good (293). Michelle's vote is for the Primary song I Have a Family Tree (Primary 199). Seriously, read the words. It's quite appropriate for the situation.

Other hymns we discussed:
A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief (29)
Love One Another (308)
I am a Child of God (301)
The Handcart Song (Primary 220)
Praise to the Lord the Almighty (72)
Nearer My God to Thee (100)
Come Come Ye Saints (30)
All Creatures of Our God and King (62)

The reason Tawnia suggested that we go to the beach early was because there weren't any positive comments about going to the beach all together. Yes Clarissa, there are beaches in California, but they are not the same as beaches as home. If you want to be a party pooper, fine, but since we're only going to be there for a couple of weeks, we thought that you'd actually want to spend time with us. If other people actually do want to go to the beach, I'm all for it, as is Tawnia. Whatever happens, Tawnia and I are going to the beach when we are in Oregon, one way or another. I would still love to go with a family, but considering the family situations that Trina brought up, I'd rather be more accomidating for everyone.

I'm going to vote no on the singing at church. I'd rather not add to the chaos and stress by trying to practice a song in just one night. I know we are talented, and whatever we would put together would be fabulous, but let's just enjoy our Sunday without performing.

The Beach

So here's my thought. I'd still really like to go to the beach... being that I live almost a thousand miles from it... I want to go when I'm less than a hundred away. Therefore my plan is that on the Saturday before the reunions Emily, Clarissa, Mindy and I will go to the beach and we'll see you all when we get back Saturday evening.

Love,
Tawnia

Greetings Fambly

Today Nathan and Amanda are in Dover. I hope they are enjoying their vacation and can't wait to hear the details and see the pictures.

I've been working on reunion plans and I appreciate the ideas that have come in. Thanks Tawnia and Eric for volunteering to make dinners. So far here is what we'll be having for dinners: Saturday - Lasagna (which I'll make ahead and freeze so we can just heat it up when we get home); Sunday - Eric is making Chinese; Monday (or Wednesday) Tawnia is making Chicken Enchiladas; Tuesday - Barbecue (Nathan do you mind being the chief cook for that one? We'll all help with the salads); Wednesday (or Monday)???Do we have a volunteer? You can cook whatever you choose - just let me know what ingredients you need. For breakfasts - Emily has volunteered to make pancakes one morning and Clarissa has volunteered to make "Muffin Tin Breakfast" We'll also have plenty of dry cereal, eggs and whatever else is needed. I've heard a couple requests for French Toast is there someone who wants to be in charge of that? For lunches I was thinking pretty simple - sandwiches, salads, chili, leftovers, chimichangas. Does someone need to be in charge? Dad and I talked about going to the beach on Monday but after Trina's post and talking to others I'm not sure it's a good idea. It's a long way to go for just a few hours. I suggest we all go to a park in McMinnville for a while. I think I mentioned the new park with the patio fountain. That should be fun.

I'm still not sure what to do for our girl time. If you want to go to a mall there's an outlet in Woodburn or we could go to Washington Square but none of them are real close. We could just go out to breakfast or lunch or???
Eric asked if we're going to sing in Sacrament Meeting again. What do you think? Should I set that up? We'd only have Saturday night and Sunday morning to practice. What should we sing?

I have a big long list of things to do here at home to get ready for the reunion and for our vacation. Hopefully I'll manage to get most of them done. Thank you all for your love and concern.

Love ya,
MOM

Virginia

Hello, family. While I was looking at classes available at my school, I saw that there is a travel study program. And this fall, there is a trip to visit historic sites in Virginia, including Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown, Monticello, and Richmond. This will take place during Thanksgiving break. And I signed up. I am so excited about this.

stuff

Summer got Eric and Laurel's package yesterday - thank you!! It was a cute dress, a package of pajamas, and a little blanket.

Also, she wore the dress that Tawnia and Mindy sent to church today - it was still pretty big on her, but it fit her better than most other things we have for her. The sweater was rather unweildy, but I put it on her anyway because our church building can be pretty cold (and it was today). We took a couple of pictures when we got home from church of her wearing the outfit, with and without the sweater.

I have a ... concern about Tawnia's idea of the Day at the Beach at the reunion ... an all-day thing would be way too much for Summer. Stevie may be able to handle it (but what about his naps?) but Summer is going to be only about 10 weeks old. She needs someplace quiet and comfortable to eat and sleep, and carting her around in her carrier won't work because so far, she hates it. Also, there's no shade at the beach and I don't want Summer in the direct sun. So if we do end up heading to the coast, this idea would need to be seriously modified. We'd also need a Plan B in case the weather is bad at the coast, which is frequently is.

Jeremy and I have set the date for the wedding. December 27. Mark it on your calenders and we hope you all can come.

Reunion

Hooray! School is finally out and I can focus on other things, as well as getting ready for next year. I know that the summer is going to go VERY quickly because I have so much to do, but at least I have some very fun things planned.

To answer Mom's questions about the reunion. I think we're going to drive down on Friday... though we may stop and spend the night in Boise (it depends on how I feel.) And we'll drive back on the Tuesday following the reunion. (Yes, we can take Emily to the airport... unless our car is too full of the stuff we are bringing back.)
Food: Lasagna. I want that at least once. I think French Toast for breakfast, at least once, sounds good. I like to eat fruit (oranges, bananas, grapes, strawberries, kiwi) for snacks... and those are healthy. Also if you just have veggies out for people to eat (carrots, celery, broccoli), people will probably eat them. Other food... I think I could make chicken enchiladas one night, and Eric could make Cha Siu, and ... I don't know what else. We could have one person in charge of each meal and then everyone else should know that they will be asked to help out. Cooking is one of the things that can bring us together and it can be fun. If we include Saturday dinner and Thursdays breakfast... that makes 14 meals total. And there are 14 adults. We could each be in charge of making one meal. Just an idea.

Okay, and for the "girls activity", I think we should have the whole family go to the beach. Then the girls should go off to the outlet mall and then maybe do a sit down lunch somewhere. The guys can do lunch somewhere else and do... I something other than the outlet mall. (Or we don't have to do lunch seperate and out.) And then we could all hook up at the beach for a picnic, or a hot dog roast, or just to play and have fun. And Mindy suggested that we could do family pictures at the beach.

Speaking of family pictures, I think it would be nice to do some where we are all in coordinated outfits. That way it would look like we were a family, trying to be a family and get family pictures. I was thinking jeans and a white shirt... and then Mindy thought jeans and a red, white, or blue shirt.

I am really, really looking forward to the reunions and my trip to Cali, and havng Em and Cris here for a few weeks, and just being able to relax and have fun.

I love you all.
Love,
T

LONDON

Hi everyone! We only have a couple minutes to say hello, but we just wanted you to know we're having a lot of fun, getting VERY tired walking everywhere, and missing some of the comforts of home. The home we're staying in is very nice, and we've done a billion things today - touristy and wonderful and we're exhausted! We need to go but will post again later when we have more time!

Love,
Manda and Nathan

Reunion Plans

It's time to do a little more on our reunion plans. We'll be arriving back home on Saturday the 8th. Our plane comes in at 12:30, but we plan to go shopping at Costco and then back to pick up Jared and family when their flight arrives at 2:45. We'll get home around 4p.m. If any of you plan on arriving before that, it's not a problem. Nathan and Amanda have a key to our house and Emily and Clarissa do, too. I'm not sure when they plan on coming, yet.

Also when we go to Costco and stock up on food what should we get? Do any of you have requests or suggestions for meals or snacks? We are planning on having a barbecue with hamburgers and lots of salads one day. But I haven't figured out the rest of it. There are lots of goodies and sweets that Dad and I can't eat anymore, so we don't have those things around and will get them for you if you want. But I don't want to get a lot of that kind of stuff if it doesn't get eaten; it will go to waste or we'll eat it, which we shouldn't. So please let me know what you want.

The next question is what everyone wants to do. Do you want to have a talent show or a sing-along one night? What do you girls what to do for our time out? Are we still doing the scavenger hunt? Would you like to go to the park or the beach? I'm sure a lot of this will depend on the weather at the time.

Trina asked this morning if we need a KP list. What do you think? Should we assign helpers in the kitchen for various meals? If any of you have questions or suggestions, please post them so we can all know what you think this reunion will be like. I'm so excited that you're all going to be here. I just can't wait.

Jared's Big Announcement

Everyone may now commence gasping with amazement.  We have bought our plane tickets, so now we finally can officially say, yes, we will be at the family reunions this summer.  All four of us.  For the entire reunion.  Now the big question is: Can y'all provide us with one thousand six hundred fourteen dollars worth of fun?  I sure hope so.

quick update

I added another section onto my page tonight. It's of my class at school. These were the pages that were printed out for all the kids, and given to them in their end of the year books (which is why they're all in black and white).

Ballet is hard, but we're learning lots, strengthening lots of new muscles, and finding that our bodies can do a lot of things we didn't know we could do! Even though it's tons of work, I'm really enjoying it, and our teacher says that we've got a lot of talent for only being there once a week for just four months. And we've only had three tap lessons so far and she's already pushing us, because we're learning it all so quickly.

Only two more days of school. I've been so exhausted with everything going on, that I'm really looking forward to not having to get up in the morning for a little while. I do need to find another job, but nothing yet. Should be a great summer though, with Emily and Clarissa coming out at the end of this month, and then the family reunions in July - yippee! Can't wait to see you all.

Answers for Trina (and everyone else)

Sorry, some have to be only one line.

What’s his whole name?
Jeremy Samuel Mikkelson (pronounced Michael-son)

Age and birthday?
21 and October 6, 1984

Where did he grow up?
Washington and Oregon

What’s his family situation? Tell us about his parents, any siblings...
Mom- Sarah, raised a member of the church, but now very inactive. Dad- Pete, actually step-dad, but raised Jeremy since he was 9. Both of his parents like me.
Siblings- Two step-brothers, one half-brother and a sister. Jeremy is not really close to any of them. Jeremy is the youngest.

How long have you known each other, and how did you meet?
We’ve known about each other since middle school but we didn’t actually meet until a year ago in August. Rebecca introduced us.

What are his interests? (i.e. what should we talk to him about when we meet him?)
War movies, video and computer games, computers, music (mainly country), me...

What are his goals with education and a career?
He’s planning on going to technical school and doing webpage design as a career

What’s his situation with the Church? Testimony, etc...
He wasn’t baptized until he was 18 and he’s only an Aaronic priest for now (we’re working on that)

What do you like the most about him?
umm… his eyes and the way that I can talk to him for hours about anything and everything.

Will he be a good uncle to Brooke and Bryan and Stevie and Summer? Why or why not?
Yes because he loves children and he’s already an uncle.

questions for Clarissa

Well, when Clarissa and I talked on the phone about her getting married, I said that I'd post some questions for her to get more details ... maybe she's been waiting for that. I just haven't had a chance to get on the computer at all, but now Summer is taking a nap. So here are some questions for Clarissa about Jeremy ...

- what's his whole name?
- age and birthday?
- where did he grow up?
- what's his family situation? Tell us about his parents, any siblings ...
- how long have you known each other, and how did you meet?
- what are his interests? (i.e. what should we talk to him about when we meet him?)
- what are his goals with education and a career?
- what's his situation with the Church? Testimony, etc ...
- what do you like the most about him?
- will he be a good uncle to Brooke and Bryan and Stevie and Summer? Why or why not?

Okay, there's 10. Good enough start? No one-word or one-line answers, Clarissa. If he wants to join our family, we need the goods so cough up the details.