Happy Birthday Joshy

WOW!!! Two years old!!! Happy Birthday Joshy! We love you, you sweet fat baby boy!

From: Eric, Laurel, Stevie & Allie

Happy Birthday Joshua!

Have a fabulous birthday today (especially since I know Aunt Tawnia is around to spoil you!). And here's hoping that your little brother shows up soon. I love you Joshua!

Love,
Aunt Mindy (and Uncle Aaron)

moving update

The Caudles have arrived in Mississippi and are back online. Our trip from DC was 3 days, 20 hours of actual drive time, and covered 8 states. We took a little side trip through the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina - very pretty. And the mist and fog do look like smoke! We stayed at the famous Chattanooga Choo-Choo hotel by accident - Adam made reservations at the Holiday Inn with an indoor pool that was also close to Lookout Mountain ... and there we were! How about that! It rained the entire time we were in Tennessee, and we literally couldn't see the top of Lookout Mountain even though we were right at the base of it. So there went the idea of going to the top for the view, although we did get a more accurate perspective on why the Civil War battle there was nicknamed "the battle above the clouds."

Pictures will be on the personal blog as soon as I have time to download them.

We haven't seen much of Vicksburg yet, and our first time at the ward is in about 2 hours. We have noticed a plethora of dollar stores and payday lending places - probably more than 10 each ... not exactly a sign of a thriving economy, but a good indicator of the poverty level here. Sad. The townhouse is fine and we'll be loving the pool in June! Our lease here is up at the end of September, so we have a little time to figure out if we want to settle in here or find a 3-bedroom HOUSE to move to for the longer term.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAWNIA!!!

Tawnia! You're a great sister and a fantastic aunt, and we all love you very much.

I hope you have a great birthday and have all kinds of fun.

Love,

Eric


(and also Laurel and Stevie and Allie)

Clarissa's big news

I'm going to BYU-I. I'm not sure exactly when but I'm going. I'll tell you more when I know.

Love Clarissa

Guessing time

Alright everyone. It's time to get in your guesses for:
1. The name,
2. date of birth,
3. time of birth,
4. weight at birth,
5. length at birth,
6. sex at birth,
and
7. place of birth
for our second child.

The winner gets something really cool. I can't tell you what it is because I don't really know, just know that it is something everyone will want.

Some helpful hints:
1. The due date is April 2nd.
2. On March 4th Amanda was dilated 1 cm.
3. Amanda has been having some painful contractions the past few days.
4. Joshua was born one day after his due date.
5. Nathan is The Best.


LET THE GUESSING BEGIN!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG!

It doesn't seem like it's been that long but I'll believe you. I need to do a better job at posting what I've been up to. Mostly, just working on my sewing projects and being beaten all too often at Scramble or Word Twist. We had a great Boggle game at Nate's the other day and I was doing great until the final round. Amanda was glad to end the game then because she passed me up. The same thing happened when Nathan came in and joined us for another game. This time it was Nate's turn to win in the final round.

Right now it's time for FHE so once again HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG! I'll try to post more often.

MOM

Hey all

I have been wanting to get on here and post, but I couldn't think of anything. I still can't really but I can post in honor of this blog being 5 years old. That is pretty crazy.

Five years, huh?

Yeah, it has been that long, hasn't it? Since that time, I finished at Chemeketa and went on to Southern Virginia. And now I'm trying to make a living as an author. I'm still researching for my book about Devon. On Thursday, I visited the hospitals with his mom, so that I can describe them.

This weekend was filled with trips to and from Salem (since Amanda needed some extra help). I beat Mom and Amanda at a round of Boggle. And that wasn't even the round where I got the six-letter word (steers). There were only three vowels, all in one corner, and Mom and Amanda had to cross off all their words. That left me with one word -- elk. I won. But after the third round, I went back to my typically low scores.

Sunday, I was teaching Primary. The time was longer than usual and the lesson didn't have a lot beyond some discussions, so I ended up spending ten minutes telling an overdramatic version of the story of Alma the Younger. (The lesson was on repentance.) Then I looked up ideas for Achievement Days (my other calling). And we went to a baptism that evening, one of the little girls from the ward. It was very sweet.

then and now

THEN ... Adam's and my first dress-up date when we were engaged to the symphony at the Kennedy Center.


NOW ... Adam and me with Summer and Rosemary at the DC Temple Visitor's Center, taken just this morning.

me too

Sure, I'll post too. I baby-sit all day and attempt to work on the book at the same time. It is difficult, to say the least, but at least he still takes naps. The other day he even took a nap while eating his lunch. He kept eating though. I even got it on video. Oh yes, and besides the book and the baby-sitting, I've had the opportunity to work on some portraits and do some graphic design work. I'm staying very busy, and even then I don't feel like I get enough done. For a break tonight though, I'm going to do some visiting teaching and then head over to Aaron's for dinner - we're making grilled asparagus and mini pizzas, with banana bread for dessert.

The Proposal

So I am hopping on to post per Eric's request, but I actually have something to tell you all today.

Today, at thirty years old, I received my first marriage proposal. I promptly said no, but let me explain.

There I was, sitting on the floor in my science classroom with 12 first graders. We were getting ready to read, "Sarah, Plain and Tall." I had just handed out the books when Jack leaned against me. I turned to him and sat him back up the non-verbal cue that he should be sitting up tall. He leaned against me again and I looked down at him again. He looked up at me with his adorable blue eyed blonde haired face and said, "Will you marry me?" I didn't laugh. (I'm amazing! I know!) Instead I just smiled and said, "No. I just don't think it would work out." Some of the other students heard my response and wanted to know what Jack had asked. I said, "That's between me and Jack." And then we went on to read chapter five.

The fun part was then going around and telling all the teachers that I'd been proposed to and waiting to see their responses. Then informing them that I had said no... and then telling them that it was a first grader that proposed. I also text messaged a few friends... and I might have made a phone call or two to tell the same story. Let's just say, that it made the rest of my day very enjoyable. So although I'm still single... at least I can now say that I've been proposed to.

5 YEARS OF THE FAMILY BLOG

Sorry everyone. I know I've been slacking on the posts. I don't even really have anything all that Earth-shattering to post at this point, I just felt the need to send out my love to all of you and to support the original Palmer Family blog which is... FIVE YEARS OLD TODAY. Wow, I didn't even realize that until after starting to write this post. Seriously. Isn't that crazy?

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to reading the printed and bound version of this blog some day, sitting by the fire and tossing a tear for old times' sake. A lot has changed in the last five years. Bryan was just a baby when this was started, Adam and Amanda were new on the scene, Mindy was married to some other guy... what was his name? And most of the grandbabies we now know and love were still waiting in the wings. So... Yeah. Five years. Be sure to hop on today and post something!