Games

Jared helped me get the game page up and running. We have the rules to a few games on there. If you would like to write up the rules to some of the others or if you want to add new ones to the list, please do so. If you can't figure out how to get the new ones on the list, ask Jared.

Love ya,
MOM

What's New on Mom's Page

I just put up a few pictures from Amanda's Baby Shower. Clarissa and I went to it on Saturday. She got lots of cute stuff for baby Joshua.

I think it's time for a new question. I just reached in and pulled one out and I think it's rather appropriate for Oscar time. What movie had the greatest influence on you? Besides answering the question - please remember that I asked for help with my game page. I'm sure you can all help me add to my list of games and help with rules for the ones you remember.


I'm posting this under the OLD system. We'll see if it works.

Love ya,
MOM

the West Wing

We had a really cool tour tonight of the West Wing of the White House. We couldn't take pictures of the Oval Office or go inside it - just stand at the door and look in. It's not as big as it looks on TV. We couldn't go out in the Rose Garden right at first because "people were out there." We were standing in a hall, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff came through and said hello to us as he walked by. Then the National Security Adviser, Stephen Hadley, came through and walked past us while I was helping Summer walk around the room. She was giggling and all, and Hadley watched her as he walked past, and commented something like "Oh, she's walking!" Then we went out to the Rose Garden and took a couple of pictures. It was very cool. I'll email them out with the next batch that I send.

Aunt Debbie has been here since Monday morning, and she leaves tomorrow morning to go up to Kari's. It's been fun to have her here. Summer and I took her on a very fast tour of DC - we've done quite a bit over the last 3 days.

My videos

Hello everyone. I just thought that I would let everyone know that I have a channel on youtube. Just a warning though, some of the other videos on youtube are videos that should probably not be watched so I suggest that you only watch my channel. To get there you go to www.youtube.com/skipdipdawg. As of now I have three videos. I hope to get more soon. I have footage for another couple I could do, but finding the best footage is a little difficult.

Nathan

Family history

I'm taking an Institute class this semester on church history. It's a good class. The teacher wants us to learn everyone's names, which is fairly easy, since there were seven people in class today. Anyway, he asked us if we have any pioneer ancestors and to tell our stories about them during our next class. (This class is the second semester -- set after the Saints left Nauvoo.) I know some of the stories, but I want to check with you (mostly Mom and Dad, but if anyone else wants to reply) about the specific details of our pioneers.

On Saturday, a group from my ward is going to the temple in D. C. I've done baptisms there, but this will be my first time to do endowments there. So I'm excited about it.

new drawing

I just put a drawing up on my page .. top row, far right. I'm trying to do a drawing every month this year, and this one is January's.

Winter and the weather

The weather was actually warmer earlier in the week (in the fifties) but now it's rather cold outside. There hasn't been any snow, but there are reports about snow coming next week.

My perfect winter day would involve a nice snowfall -- the big, heavy flakes. I would go for a short walk, but I'd mostly be inside, with some music playing, a big (penguin-shaped) mug of hot chocolate, cookies, and a good fantasy novel. I'm like others in the family in that I do not like going downhill at high speeds.

best about winter

I suppose you mean other than Christmas ... I like wrapping up in a blanket and sitting on the couch or in a comfy chair with an interesting book. I like the warm smell of stew that's been in the crockpot all day. I like snowmobiling - it's amazing how much more fun snow activities are when you have waterproof clothing.

Nothing much going on here - just studying and housework and regular stuff like that. Summer and I went to Target today and got a present for Baby Joshua. We're excited to find out whether Baby A is a boy or girl (as opposed to a pony or a dog), so we can get him/her something too!

Winter Day

A perfect winter day.... hmmm...

When I was younger I would have said that it included having snow, so that we didn't have to go to school... but school doesn't get canceled for snow here.

The perfect winter day would be one when it's been a few days since the snowstorm, so that the roads are clear, and that I don't have to work. It would be sunny and warm enough that I can go outside without having my nose-hairs freeze. I think the perfect winter day would be spent in front of a roaring fire, with a pile of books that I really want to read. It would also include lots of hot chocolate. It would also include a walk through the snow, maybe even snowshoeing. (I don't know since I've never been snowshoeing.) It would not inlcude hurling myself down a mountain on anything (sled, skis, snowboard, etc.)

So my question is... did Mom and Dad have to go back to school this week? How's the winter weather in other parts of the country (Texas, California, Virginia, D.C.)? It has been extremely COLD here.... highs in the teens and lows in the negatives. I don't even send the kids out to recess because it is to cold out. On the other hand, it hasn't snowed since last weekend, so that's nice.

Tawnia

Thank you

Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes sent my way. I hope that everyone enjoyed the 16th. So far today I have visited the mail center three times getting packages. We are getting baby items and are getting excited. Two more months to go. Derrick had his second child on my birthday. Another little girl. For those of you that don't know he married a woman from Thailand who is several years older than him and already had two children so Derrick now has four kids, two of which are naturally his. So this child's birthday will be easy to remember. I think I'll call her little Skip or Skipette. We'll see.

Nathan

Happy Birthday

Sorry I didn't make up a picture page for you (blame it on Mom for not sending me the pictures) .. BUT, I do want you to know that I wish you the happiest of birthdays. I hope being 25 has treated you as well as 24 did .. well, it will probably be BETTER! By this time next year your son will be about 10 months old .. and tons of fun.

Happy Birthday to you...

...Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday my dear sweeeeetie - Happy Birthday to you! I love you my husband and I hope you have a great birthday! You deserve it. I hope everyone knows what a wonderful husband this husband of mine is, and how grateful I am for him in my life. Twenty five years sure is a long time to be alive, huh? A quarter of a century. Well, my dear - you've accomplished a lot in those 25 years, and this year will be a HUGE year for you - becoming a dad and all! I'm proud of you and I love you and happy happy birthday!

Love,
goblin

P.S. Everyone should look at the photos Nathan posted on my page of my tummy growing fatter as the months go on!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN!!!

Sure hope you're enjoying your cold icy birthday. I'm glad the weather was good yesterday so we could go spend the evening with you. We had lots of fun and dinner was delicious. Thanks so much.

Dad's school is closed today and mine is running two hours late so I have a little extra time this morning. I hope everyone is safe and warm. I'll post my January hike soon so check for it.

Love ya,
MOM

Hello, everyone

First of all, happy birthday, Clarissa, again. (I called her to wish her a happy birthday.)

Well, I've gotten everything unpacked. I'm not sharing a room with Rebecca this semester, although I'm sure she'll still be in my room fairly often. The other two girls don't really get along that well. I got unpacked on Saturday, and then I hung out with some friends, and then in the evening, there was a pizza and movie ("Dead Man's Chest") up at the school.

I went to church yesterday. I'm in a new ward -- fourth. It'll be my third ward here. There are plans to have a temple trip for endowed members about two weeks -- on the last Saturday of the month. So I'm getting excited about that. On Sunday evening, there was a fireside. The speaker talked about families, especially parenthood.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CLARISSA!!!

Hey Clarissa!! Glad to hear that you made it to Becca's safely... I mean home safely. I hope that you had a good time in California and that you have a good time celebrating your birthday here. 21 was a good year for me. I got engaged that year to my beautiful wife, Amanda. It was also nice to hear from you on the blog those couple of times.

Take care and eat all the birthday cake because mom and dad aren't supposed to.

Love,
Nathan, Amanda, and baby

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy birthday Clarissa! You're 21 and having fun! Hope your birthday really is fun, and that you don't get into TOO much trouble.

Everyone, please take the time to check out the Clarissa pictures on the front page (there are a total of four pages to look at). She really is a cute girl, and we've got the pictures to prove it!

D.C.

I spent 10 hours at the school on Friday. About three hours was spent in meetings and the other seven were spent putting together report cards. One of the meetings was about the conference I get to go to in D.C. at the end of February. I was asked if I wanted to take a personal day and go early. I very quickly said YES! Then that turned into going the Saturday before. (The conference isn't until Thursday.) And I said YES! So I get to spend five days hanging with Treen before the three day conference. I'm mucho excited! It made the fact that I was spending all that time on report cards less frustrating.

So, Emily- If you had a way to get up to D.C. for President's Day Weekend... then we could totally hang out and it would be very fun.

-T

she's on the move ...

Summer has started the army crawl, so look out, world!!

Clarissa, what's De Anza? Have you applied and been accepted? What major are you thinking about? You need to fill in more of these details for those of us who don't talk with you very often.

Emily, glad you made it back to the east coast in one piece. What's up with the new place? Is it nice? Are you and Rebecca still sharing a room?

Not much going on this week - Adam started class on Monday, so now he's gone all the time again. I've been home with Summer, studying my medical transcription stuff (I'm finally getting in some decent times every day), and doing random cleaning, and trying to get Summer onto a regular nap schedule. This is much more labor intensive that it looks, especially since she's 8 months old now and into a pattern of "I'll sleep when I feel like it and not a minute before, and you can't make me." We're going to try some different methods with the next kid.

I've half an hour to type

I'm on a computer with a timer at De Anza. I like it here. I know what classes I want to take when I come back in the spring. The Astronomy classes look like so much fun and computer classes would be good for my major.
Sarah has been teaching me ASL and giving me drawing tips. We enjoy singing together, especially songs from Wicked. She is so much fun.

More later.

Clarissa

In Virginia

Well, I made it back. It was a very long trip. We left at four in the morning. I had been up for some time; I just can't sleep when I'm excited. Anyway, I got on my flight across the country, and then I had another short flight from Atlanta to Roanoke. It was only about three Sudoku puzzles long. There was a wait for the shuttle -- actually for other passengers on the shuttle. We finally left and drove up, and I had to find my new place. I met one of my roommates -- Lucy. She was the only one there. There will be four of us. We have the lower floor of a house, with two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

Well, I'm off to buy textbooks.

Update

I really like the new pictures on Amanda's page. Also Nathan showed us your cute Stevie movie, Eric. Are you going to put it on our site so it's easier to find? I have answered the following question and invite all of you to do the same. What do you like best about winter?

I've started setting up my game page but I need some help. I wanted to divide the games into sections so I should probably put them in a table of some kind. Looking at this HTML book I got from Eric isn't helping much. The sections I've thought of are: table games, parlor games, outdoor games, and car games. I also need a list of games you would like included and the rules if you know them. Tawnia, what's the game where you change names and try to get your team all sitting together? I can't even list it because I can't remember what it's called. There were also some fun drama games that Jared taught us, I think. There was one where you changed people in the middle of a scene and changed the situation; it was hilarious, but I can't remember the rules.

I hope you're all having fun working on your goals. I'm going to spend a little time with Emily, now. It's her last evening here at home; she leaves very early tomorrow morning.

Love ya,
MOM

Back to Blogging

Now that Mindy's computer is back (sort of) I can actually post again. It is nice to have internet access at home, especially since the blogs are all blocked on the work computers. This should be an interesting week... dance recital Monday, Field Trip to SLC Tuesday, Stake Temple Night Thursday, getting report cards done by Friday afternoon and then Stake Conference next weekend.

I like Mom's idea of having a game page. For instance Trina could tell us the official scoring for Ten Thousand... because I can never remember it. And we could remind each other about all of the other fun games we liked to play when we were younger. Then if someone is really not sure what to do for FHE they can give the lesson from the calander Trina made for us and then look up a game on the website. Voila! FHE is taken care of! (Of course it's different for the Single Adults in the family because we actually go to a big planned affair over at the local chapel.)

I love you all.
Love,
Tawn

I'm Here

I made it to California in one piece. Flying alone isn't so bad. I ended up sitting next to a young couple that liked Harry Potter. That's what I was reading on the plane. The flight wasn't that long. So I got there. I stood around waiting for my suitcase and Sarah to show up. Sarah won. I was hugged many a time. Then a strange boy hugged me too. It was her friend David. He's cool. After I got all my stuff, we (me, Sarah, David and her dad) went out for Mongolian Barbarque. I ate ice cream with chopsticks. Then we (me, Sarah and David) ran around town running errands. Back at Sarah's apartment we watched Corpse Bride. While taking David home, Sarah and I sang along with Wicked. It was a fun day.
Now I'm laying on Sarah's bed and listening to a mix of Irish music as I type this. Church is at 1. I'll post after that.

~Clarissa~

Balki ... LIVE!!

I'm sure at least most of you remember the 80s sitcom "Perfect Strangers," with Larry Appleton and Balki. Well, this evening, Adam and I went to a "staged reading" of the Shakespeare play "Twelfth Night" at the Kennedy Center, put on by the DC Shakespeare Theater Company (which is supposed to be one of the best in the country). A staged reading is that the actors all have their scripts in their hands to actually read them, and there is no set or costume. But there is definitely acting. The character of Malvolio was played by Bronson Pinchot, who was Balki. It was hilarious, and Pinchot was fantastic. Adam says that he's never laughed so hard at a play before. During the intermission, I was sitting there saying, "That's Balki!!" and Adam had no idea what I was talking about. Usually we completely forget about our age gap, and then it sometimes shows up over the weirdest things.

Just thought I'd share.

Pure Chaos Updates

I noticed the new reviews of the movie. Thanks to those who put them there. Since we sent a copy of it to Jared and Michelle, I looked for Michelle's new Actor Bio. You have your movie now so can we get your history? Clarissa needs to get hers done, too, and we need to learn more about the character Skip. That will finsih up the actor page, I think. I love reading and rereading them. I can't wait for the final version of the movie and to get Eric's thoughts on it.

visits to DC

Tawnia, will you please email/post the dates that you'll be coming to DC for your teachers conference next month? I need to get them into my calendar, and don't remember when you're coming. Also, are you staying with me and do I need to pick you up at the airport?

Aunt Debbie emailed me and she's coming for 3 days in 3 weeks. She's going to visit Kari up in New Hampshire, and her stopover was routing her through DC anyway, so she's going to stay for a couple of days. I'm excited to see her! We'll see what kind of tours we can get for her, even though Adam doesn't work on the Hill anymore ... we still have contacts over there.

We went to Philly today to meet with Adam's former boss, and see the sites. The "Independence Mall" is nice - it's very different from when we were there before. They built and opened some new visitor centers in 2001, and I was there in August 2000. There's a whole new building for the Liberty Bell, and lots of displays in a visitor center for Independence Hall. We also saw Benjamin Franklin's home and a couple of other things. The lunch with Carolyn was nice - she just had stuff ordered and we ate in a conference room at her office so that we didn't have to worry about Summer in a restaurant. She gave lots of advice to Adam about school and some possibilities for after graduation that has him thinking about different options. It was a nice day in general, and the visit with Carolyn was great. However, we do not feel particularly inclined to move to Philly, now that we've actually visited it and walked around a lot. The best word we can come up with to describe it is "sketchy."

Happy New Year and the like!!!

Happy Birthday, Brooke!!! I hope that you had a wonderful birthday. And Happy New Year to everyone. Amanda and I stayed in and watched Law and Order all day and then Amanda went to a youth fireside and I cleared off our little table so we could put a puzzle together. We got most of it together and after one I fell asleep on the couch. Amanda said she didn't get to bed until after 4 so she just got out of bed. And of course Mindy it was that Eiffel Tower puzzle. We still have to finish the sky.

A quick note about pictures. Dad, when you get a chance could you send the pictures from caroling to me? Jeremy wanted copies. So if you could email all of them, and then I could go through them, that would be great. Or you could go through them and send the ones with either Jem or me and Amanda I would appreciate it. Thank you.

By the way, I was signing on to the blog and it said something about a new version of blog or something. Are we going to do that? I am not quite sure what it is.

Good luck with all your new year resolutions.

Nathan

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I hope you all had a safe and happy time bringing in the new year. We enjoyed ourselves at the Dicksons' playing games and visiting. Tawnia and Mindy are now on their way to the airport. Their visit was too short. Clarissa leaves on Saturday to spend a week in California, then Emily will leave on the 9th so Dad and I will get a preview of the empty nest for a few days. We had a wonderful Christmas and I posted a few pictures on my "What's New" page. I also finally got my December hike in. Now it's time to take the tree and decorations down and to begin work on those New Year's goals. I have a project I would like your help with. I'd like to make a Palmer Family Game Book of games that can be played with little or no equipment. Those games you'd like to play with a group but you can't always remember the rules. If you think of games that you'd like to add to the list please do. Maybe I'll make a page to put them on. What do you think?

Love ya,
MOM