Michelle's thumb

I was just chatting with Eric and I realized we hadn't told anyone else what had happened...

Last night, Michelle was trying to lock the bedroom window when the pane shattered and sliced off a piece of her left thumb and cut into the artery. I had just left for a cub scout pack meeting, so she called me home and then went to the neighbors, who called 911.

Michelle's visiting teacher came and took the kids while I took Michelle to the ER, and the neighbors cleaned up the glass and blood in our house. She got a whole lot of stitches in there, and she'll need to see a plastic surgeon to get skin grafts and whatever else it takes to put her thumb back together.

She's in a lot of pain - multiple prescriptions take the edge off, but that's about it. She can't drive right now because of the medications, and can't help with dishes or baths or anything like that because of the bandages.

I don't think there's really anything any of you can do to help, except pray for her. I'll try to keep you informed as we know more.

henry calendar

i am holding henry right now so i only have one hand. i put up a new calendar of him. if you go to my part of the site and click on his image you will find it.

cell phone plans

(If anyone saw the original post I put up 30 minutes ago, ignore it, and read this one instead.)

I'm returning to Idaho next Thursday, the 16th, since school starts on the 20th. With the return to the states, it's time to pick up a cell phone! I looked all over the internet at plans from Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. And I'm going to go with the T-Mobile because they're the only ones with plans that don't require a 2-year contract (since I'm planning on returning to Canada the middle of next year). The biggest difference between the month-to-month and a contract is that I have to pay full price for my phone. So I'll pay the $60 for one that I found/like, and save $140 on the $200 cancellation fee (for breaking a contract). And I like the idea of not being tied down.

So I'll have the Fav5 plan - 5 phone numbers on any network that I can call whenever I want and talk for as long as I want. I know I'll talk mostly to my family, so I want to give you guys first dibs on my five slots! I also don't want to add anyone's cell phone if you are picky about your minutes. I know that Tawnia also has the Fav5 plan, so she'll just add me and we'll talk whenever. I'll probably add the house phone for Mom and Dad, instead of either of the cell phones. I know Nathan and Amanda have a house phone to call (cuz I miss hearing Joshua!), and I know that at this point Trina does NOT have a house phone. I will have unlimited nights (after 9pm) and weekends though, so I won't be cut off from anyone. So let me know what you think, and I'll be up and talking next week!

pictures?

Clarissa promised pictures of Henry right away (no, I wouldn't expect Nathan and Amanda to post anything until at least tomorrow), and Summer is asking to see Baby Henry. I think she thinks I'm referring to Baby Henry from our DC playgroup (he turns 1 this month - wow! I hadn't realized he was that old!), so it would be nice to see pictures of the Cousin Baby Henry instead of Friend Baby Henry.

Welcome to the World

Welcome baby Henry! I'm so excited that you are finally here. Remind the people around you to take lots of pictures to share with those who are far away. Let your parents rest, but remind Grandma and Grandpa and all those aunts to document your first few days on camera so the other aunts and uncles can see you. I look forward to meeting you this summer at the family reunion. Grow strong and healthy so you don't get picked on by your older brother (and cousins). I love you so much.

Love,
Aunt Mindy

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!

To my Texans

Dear Bryan,
Congratulations on losing your first tooth! That is awesome. I'm sorry to hear that your daddy left it at the restaurant. I'm pretty sure that if you write the tooth fairy a note, she will be willing to make a detour to the restaurant to pick it up and will still live you something under your pillow. (You've probably already discovered this.) Which tooth was it? I can't wait to see pictures of it soon. (That's a hint to your dad!)
Did you know that I teach science to first graders like you? In fact, my first grade class is one of my favorite groups of kids. I think you would be great friends with them too. What do you like to do for fun?
I hope that you are being a good boy for your mommy and daddy and taking good care of your sisters.
Love,
Aunt Tawnia

Dear Brooke,
So how is Sunflare doing? Have you tried holding a mirror up to her (or is it his) bowl. I have heard that bettas will puff up to look scarier to their enemy, even if it is just their reflection in the mirror.
How is third grade? Have you read any good books lately? Have you read, "The Tale of Desperaux" by Kate DiCamillo? If you haven't you should! If you have, then have you seen the movie? They are so different... so I recommend doing both, or at the very least, reading the book!
I heard you got braces and glasses! How do you like that? You are getting so grown up.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Love,
Aunt Tawnia


Dear Emma,
I hope that you are growing big and strong. Please convince your mommy and daddy to come to the reunion in August, because I want to see you! What new things have you learned lately? I want to hear about all your big accomplishments and I'd also love to see more pictures of you. I'm sure you've outgrown your newborn look. Keep being a good girl!
Love,
Aunt Tawnia

Tooth Fairy, reporting for duty!

Bryan lost his first tooth today!

We had just sat down at the restaurant when it came out. I offered to hold on to the tooth so he wouldn't lose it, and then I left it on the table when we left. I'm a bad daddy.

Also, Brooke got a betta fish today. We use sticker charts to reward the kids for good behavior, and Brooke saved up 500 stickers to earn a fish. She named him Sunflare.

Productivity

I've found that I am much more productive in my life if I have a list of things to get done for the day or the week. I have started setting weekly goals (see the sister's blog for this weeks goals), write them down, and then try to get those things done.

Currently I am at work and my goal for work this week is to get my report cards done. I have to type up the report cards, copy them, and fill them out. I also need to make sure that I have lessons planned for this week and next.

Other goals for the week: Practice guitar every day (this one's for you Jared), Get an oil change and tire rotation, see the two movies I've been wanting to see at the theater (reviews will be forthcoming... after I see the movies of course), get Marne's blanket at least half-way done, and plan a menu for the next two weeks.

What exciting things are you doing in your life?

My Project

For those of you who have noticed my note on Facebook (that should include everyone who looks at this blog), you read that I'm writing a non-fiction book on Devon Rivers. This is my first attempt at writing non-fiction, so I'm a bit nervous. Still, I've figured out the simple steps I need to follow.

1. Collect information. (I just spent nearly three days listening to Carla ramble. It's a start.)
2. Organize the information. (This will take a lot of work.)
3. Collect more information to fill in any gaps I missed, clarify details, look at it from a different point of view, and so on.
4. Make a readable manuscript.
5. Make a publishable manuscript.
6. Sell manuscript.

I estimate each will take upwards of a month to complete.

ha. ha hahahahah ...

So Adam is back from Vicksburg, and still doesn't have a job offer. The circular nature that is the hiring process for the Army Corps of Engineers is thus ... he interviewed with the DC main attorney's office (General Counsel). They liked him and "highly recommended" him to the Vicksburg District office. He went to Vicksburg and interviewed yesterday there - Henry, the Chief Counsel for that office (the boss), was basically within 10 feet of him for the entire 4 1/2 hours he was there. Henry showed Adam around the office, introduced him to a lot of people, discussed projects and work responsibilities and training things that Henry wants to send Adam to. Everything except actually make the official offer because now Adam's application has to wend its way through Human Resources and back to the DC office. Then the DC office makes the final decision, and since they're the ones who recommended Adam to Vicksburg in the first place, that seems rather arbitrary. But there you go. We will get the official offer from the DC office.

So we wait. For 1 to 2 more weeks. And then Henry would like Adam down there about 2 weeks after that. So yeah. When I said this move was going to turn on a dime, I didn't realize how extreme that actually would be. My friend Debi described her adoption process as "like being shot out of a cannon" from the time they got the phone call telling them there was a baby for them to when they were on a plane. I think that phrase is going to apply here.

Target date to leave DC: Tuesday March 10 (because I just schedule Marnie's doctor checkup for March 9 in the afternoon.)

Target date for Adam to start work: Monday March 16.

And the official verdict as of today is - nothing is official.

First Five

I found this on Jared's blog and decided to jump on the bandwagon. Maybe this will inspire some activity on this blog instead of just on facebook.

Okay, here's the deal: The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It’ll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it’s going to be. It may be a story. It may be photography or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may sew or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that’s for sure! (Note: that theoretical list was lifted directly from the source. I'd rather apply my creativity to coming up with what I WILL do for you, instead of making up new random suggestions.)
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

Thank you!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who called/e-carded/blog-posted me on my birthday. And even to those who didn't, because I'm sure they were thinking of me and had a really good excuse. Sorry I wasn't able to return all the calls/e-cards/blog-posts.

I love you all!

vicksburg trip

I'm not sure who I've told this to ... Adam is flying down to Vicksburg next week on the 11 and 12th to interview in person. From our fasting and reading between the lines of the email exchange he's had with the Chief Counsel in the office there, we definitely expect him to get it and we'll move sometime in the first half of March. Well, we expected it before, but we're even more confident of it now.

Adam will have an afternoon free while he's there, so we got a hold of the bishop in the ward there and got a referral for a realtor. Since Adam has some time to look around, we're going to try to go straight into renting a house and skip the apartment. We don't know how that will go yet, but at least we'll make the attempt.

In other news ... 19 days until the bar exam.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JARED!!!

They say that when your age and the number match it's your "Golden Birthday" What if the number shows up twice in your age - does that mean it's your "SUPER GOLDEN BIRTHDAY" ? Whatever it is I hope it's a happy one and that you enjoy your celebration. After all you're only 33 once so make the best of it.

Sure love ya,
MOM

church stuff

Aaron made a fabulous decision when he decided to stay in this ward instead of moving to the singles ward. They are so incredibly welcoming and kind, and I'm glad to be part of the ward, even for just a few months. Even though I have to give a talk next week. If anyone has any good stories on hope, please let me know.

Also, yesterday they gave me a calling. They had already talked to me a bit about playing the piano in primary. They have someone now, but she isn't always there. A majority of the ward is older, and a lot of them don't play, so they are happy to find anyone that knows how. So when the second counselor talked to me about something in the Primary, I didn't realize he would ask me to be the Secretary! Their last person was a young single as well, and although she lives in the ward boundries, she decided to go to a different ward where her friends are (although she'd do her visiting teaching in the ward she is supposed to be in). So they hadn't had anyone since mid-December, and although they know I'm only here until April, they were more than excited to have me accept. Aaron and I went over to the Primary President's house yesterday after church, so I could pick up my binder of stuff, to get familiar with what I'm doing, and we ended up staying over two hours chatting with her and getting to know her. I'm really getting to like this ward.

t minus 3 hours

Adam's interview is today, not tomorrow. In 3 hours. We fasted yesterday and Adam feels confident about it. I'm having a major bout of nerves right now. I just want them to give the formal offer on the phone call instead of making us wait even longer. Get it over with already! We've only been waiting on these people since October!

Emma!

I know we're really lousy about taking pictures, so I thought I'd go the extra mile and actually make a video this time, so you all can see her smiling and hear her laughing. Enjoy!

Updates at last

I finally did a few things on my page. I have a few more to do but I thought I'd let you know now anyway. I have a new question answered and I updated my favorites page. When I first put that section up I thought it would be easy to think of categories to list favorites in. It's not easy. If anyone has suggestions I'd be glad to think about them.

Tonight we are watching Joshy while his mom and dad have a night away for Nathan's birthday. When we first put him to bed I thought what a simple task that was. Then he started calling for Grandpa. After 5 or 10 minutes Grandpa gave in and went and got him so now they're watching TV together and will probably both fall asleep in the recliner, soon. I sure do love spending time with my grandchildren.

Sorry about the scare this past week. The doctors didn't find anything wrong and I'm feeling much better. Thanks for all the calls and prayers.

Love always,
MOM

I made it a goal

So I'd better post on here. It's one of my resolutions to write on the Family and Sisters blogs at least once a week. I didn't actually set this goal until after January 1st. Since my birthday isn't until the 14th I think that the new year can start then for me.
My other resolutions are
1) Write in journal at least once a week. I really need to work on this one.
2) Drink a half gallon of water a day. I have a half gallon water bottle to help me with this. I usually drink about half of it in a day. I did meet this goal once. I've been doing this for about two weeks.
3) Exercise for 30 minutes three times a week. I haven't this one yet but I'm planning to soon.
4) Write to my friends who are on missions at least once a month. This would include my friend Amy Christensen (Spain) who gets home March 11, Sister Jennifer Lee my former companion who gets home March 25, and Sarah Durtschi who leaves for Temple Square February 18. And any other friends who leave this year.

Since Jared hid my blog, I guess I'll have to post any big news on here :P

job search update

So I'm not sure who knows this whole thing, but here's the situation for Adam's job search ... He has of course applied for a ton of jobs, and he wants to work for the federal government. He got only one interview in October with the Army Corps of Engineers which is yes, under the Army's administration, but mostly employs civilians and Adam would be in a civilian position. So no military assignments or deployments or time commitments or anything.

The interview went very well in October - Adam felt really good about that job. They said they'd do callbacks for 2nd interviews in November, but we never heard from them. So we figured it was gone. Then out of the blue in December, in the middle of Adam's finals, he DID get a callback with the USACE. The 2nd interview was the week before Christmas with the General Counsel, who is the top attorney for the entire Corps, here in DC. It was supposed to be a 45-minute interview, and it lasted almost an hour and a half. That's a GOOD thing. They said they'd get back to him after the holidays but to email his preferences on a specific list of offices that had openings.

At the end of last week, he got a phone call from the Corps office in Vicksburg Mississippi to schedule a 3rd interview. It's not scheduled yet because the lead Counsel for that office is out of town until next week, but Adam will most likely have to fly down for the interview (and could look at apartments at the same time). We will hopefully have this resolved with a final offer and commitment by the end of the month so we can turn in our notice at our current apartment.

We are figuring this is it - we just need everything to be finalized. And to be perfectly honest, we've had the "We're going to Vicksburg" vibe since the 1st interview in October. We of course would love to stay in the DC area and we'll be sad to leave, but it seems like it's time to move on. My frustration with the whole job search/interview process is that I just want it over already so I know what's going on. But at the same time, NOT knowing way far in advance means that I stay focused on the here and now because I have no idea what the future is.

We'll let you know when the last interview is scheduled and everything is finalized. If/when we move for this, we'll be headed to Vicksburg in March. Here comes the Southern tour of duty ...

ADDITION: About an hour after posting this, Adam called to tell me he got the scheduling phone call from Vicksburg: Tues. Jan. 27, 2 pm, on the phone. He does not have to fly down to Mississippi for it.

reunion notes

1. Mom put in the sisters' blog comments that she thinks the Palmer reunion should be in December with Mindy and Aaron's wedding, so if you can afford to travel only once this year, skip the July Beers reunion and go to Oregon in December. Is that now the official policy? Or is it up for discussion? Does anyone disagree or have concerns? If you do, why? I have no opinion yet - I'd like to hear what other people think first.

2. I think the Beers reunion, since it's in Oregon, should be BEFORE July 25, or at least include that weekend. July 25 is the last day the Portland Temple is open this summer before the 2-week cleaning break. If we're going to do a group endowment session, it has to be on July 25 or before, or wait until the end of August but I thought that option was out for the reunion.

3. Since the Rexburg finals don't end until July 23, that kinda puts the squeeze on the temple idea. Just so the planning board is aware of it, I guess.

4. Mindy, I checked Target for leftover clear-out Christmas stuff but everything was already gone. Sorry. I know I have blue and/or silver stuff, so when I get my decorations back out next fall, I'll see what I have to contribute. I definitely have a lot of silver garland, but it is getting kinda beat up - I've had it the entire time we've been married so 5 Christmases. We have white lights.

That's all I can think of right now.

December plans

I know it's a good year away, but when purchasing plane tickets a lot of warning is a good thing. There was a discussion through comments on the sisters blog about when/where the wedding will take place. Aaron and I have decided to get married in Portland, sometime at the end of December. (His parents don't know this yet, so that'll be a fun discussion.) There was talk of a Palmer Christmas reunion at some point, so will this be the time? Or do we all gather at the same time as the Beers reunion this summer? Mom said we should do it at Christmas, but I guess everyone should have a vote on that. As for the actual date of the wedding, we're still not sure. Aaron isn't done with school until the week before Christmas, and I'd rather be with the family for Christmas Eve/morning, so the soonest would be the 26th, or the following week on the 29th or 30th. Then we would head north to Canada for a reception before getting to Idaho in time for school to start (this year it started on the seventh).

Along the same lines, if anyone finds inexpensive Christmas decorations (since it is after Christmas now), and wouldn't mind picking them up for the wedding, that would be great. Our colors will be white, silver and blue - a true blue, light or dark, but not teal or aqua. Ribbon, garland, oranaments, lights, whatever. Just something to keep our eyes open for, since it all should be on sale.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hooray! I manged to get on this time. Sometimes I can't get on to the website to post or comment. We'll see how it goes, now. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas; I certainly did. It was great having three grandchildren here and watching them. Christmas morning with little ones is so much fun.

I'm working on setting some goals for the new year. I think 2009 is going to be a much healthier year for me. I hope to accomplish a few more things on my 100 list.
I'm looking forward to the reunion in the summer. We still don't have an exact date for it. I sure hope everyone can come and join us.

I have several updates to get on my page and I'll work on them in the next few days. I need to answer the questions I've asked and some of you have answered. Now it's time for that special question you've all been waiting for. What did you learn in 2008? I'll work on that question first then get back to the others.

Sure do love you all.

MOM

My birthday

I would like to thank everyone with birthday calls (Trina, it was so nice hearing Rosemary talk), cards (including an e-mailed card), presents, and wishes for a happy birthday. Thank you.

We had the cake and birthday dinner on Saturday, because Nathan, Amanda, Joshua, and Tawnia were going to Salem for the weekend. And then on Sunday, I went to church. The Primary kids sang happy birthday. Eric made Chinese. Then Aunt Marli, Sarah, and certain Dicksons came over in the evening. We had great fun playing "In the Manner of the Adverb." Sam was great -- he held hands with his wife hungrily and pulled weeds reverently. And I had great fun brushing my teeth suspiciously and watching a movie defiantly. It was so funny.

I hope you all are having a great Christmas. I got a new dress, a couple of movies, and five books, including a fantasy trilogy by Terry Brooks (which I'm greatly enjoying) and "Rebekah" by Orson Scott Card. And I've been having fun with my niece and nephews.

the proposal story

So Aaron and I have been talking about getting married for a while, but had decided it would be best to wait until next summer to get engaged. He wanted to ask Mom and Dad's permission, and we didn't want to be engaged for a long time. Basically, I was not expecting anything.

We were spending Christmas Eve at his mother's house out in Cremona, with all of his family. Due to family circumstances and plans we opened all the presents on Christmas Eve after a large dinner. I was happy, watching them all open things, and collecting quite a stash myself as well. Didn't have a clue what was coming up. Thinking back on it though, he couldn't seem to sit still the entire night, like he was waiting for something to happen. Anyway, we all looked around at one point and figured that everything had been opened. That's when Aaron went back behind the tree and pulled out a little red box.

He brought the box over to me, where I was sitting on the floor, and kinda got down on one knee. I pulled off the lid and found a sparkly pink heart necklace and matching pink earrings.



I can't remember exactly how the rest happened, since I was in a daze, but I think he held out his hand with ring number one, and said something like, "I think this would look great with those."



He slipped it on my ring finger and said, "You can wear that until we get THIS one re-sized." And then he went back up to the tree, pulling a little box down from near the angel.



This time, he got down on one knee and said, "I know we've been talking about it, but here's the official question: will you marry me?" I got all blubbery like a girl and started crying and somehow remembered to say yes. (And so we're all clear, the ring isn't purple, it's a pink sapphire.)



We hugged and kissed and his family said hooray. And then I asked, all startled like, "Did you ask my parents?!" He chuckled and said yes .. that was who he had been on the phone with the day before, when I was yelling at him that he would be late for work, and he said it was his mom. And then I called everyone and walked around in a daze.

To answer the other question: the wedding will hopefully be next Christmas, or the following August. Either when he finishes school (next December), so he can move down here while I finish, or when we're both done (I graduate in July 2010) and I can move up to Canada where we plan on living.

pictures

Christmas pictures are on my personal blog now. Hope everyone enjoyed the snow in Oregon - wish we could have been there with you!

FHE

I found this in an old journal and just had to share it.

"Dec 17, 1995

...we came home and had family home evening.

I was lesson and for that we watched "Mr. Krueger's Christmas." It is one of my favorite Christmas movies. Our special number by Eric was interesting. He asked Trina and I to join in whistling "Love at Home," but we kept laughing, so we sang "Joy to the World."

Last we had activity, a round of "Do You Love Your Neighbor?" and then some catch. Then we ate some vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips on it."

Salem Winter Wonderland

Hey everyone. We aren't getting nearly as much snow as Lafayette but here are some pictures from the past couple of days.

Bush on 12-21-08



Bush on 12-22-08

Parking lot 12-22-08

On 12-21-08 Joshua couldn't take being inside anymore and so we ventured out into the wintry paradise.

On the 21st again playing with what he called icicles.

We had fat flakes this morning (22nd) and we went out to see them.

When this picture was taken the room was only lit by half a dozen candles. Joshua is holding a flashlight and that is a windy LED light on his play mat. Our power was out most of the day yesterday, but came back on at 7:30 pm.

On the 21st I wandered over to Minto Brown Island Park across the street and took some pictures. The interesting thing is this dock has always been partially submerged. In this picture it is frozen in this pond.

This tree is getting a little drowsy.

"Christmas trees" on the corner of our street.

It is really beautiful and quiet outside but very cold. We hope we're able to make it to Mom and Dad's for Christmas. At least we're in a warm home and have plenty of food and diapers and not at an airport or bus station trying to get somewhere or trying to find a spot to sleep like many other people right now.

Merry Christmas everyone!

speaking of "awwww "

I need to put this on my mommy blog, but I thought I'd put it here too since the title fit so neatly after Tawnia's post ...

Summer occasionally asks for the "Awwww" song. She says it rather drawn out. It took me awhile to figure out what she was referring to - she wants us to sing "Angels we have heard on high" where we sing "Gloooooooooooooooria, in excelsis deo." She apparently doesn't realize there's a "Gl" on the beginning of the "awwww" part and that we're actually saying a word.

P.S. Adam has a job interview in 10 MINUTES. Prayers today that it goes through! And his last final is tonight, and all of his papers are turned in so as of 9:01 pm he will be officially DONE with law school!

YAAAAA HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Sweet

Yesterday I sang a duet with a girl in my ward for our ward Christmas program. It just so happens that this girl is the older sister of one of my former students (small world I know). We sang, and did well (and then today I came down with a cold.) Anyway, I saw her at FHE tonight and told her about all the compliments I had gotten (and therefore she had gotten also since we sang together.) A few minutes later she came up to me and said, "hey I've been meaning to tell you this.... I mentioned to Emily (her sister that I taught) how we were singing together and she told me that you were her favorite teacher and always would be." That pretty much melted my heart. You can all say "awww" now.

Joshua's blog

Joshua posted on his blog. If you have not seen it...you should.

safe and sound

So yesterday I got up shortly after five in the morning, and got the last few things loaded into my car. I was out of Rexburg by six, out of Idaho by seven. All the mountains in Montana that I was worried about were clear - no snow at all. The roads were perfect, and I actually made it to my halfway point (Great Falls) in less than five hours. It's a good thing that part of the trip went so well, because the rest was a little less fun.

I got to the border, and they made me go inside. I had had to in September too, but it wasn't a big deal. This time was more complicated, because I was planning for staying so long. And, after they looked in my car, seeing all my stuff (since I didn't put any in storage), made it look even worse. And it didn't help that I've gone through the process of permanent residency before, so they can tell I've wanted to live up here before and am aware of the process of being able to stay. I had to explain the track system at school, and just pray that they believed my story. The girl seemed reluctant to let me in, but she said, "Don't make me regret doing this," and then gave me a temporary visitor's pass thing, saying I can't work or go to school (which is expected), and I have to leave the country on or before April 20th, since that's when school starts. I'm not going to make her regret it, because I do plan on leaving Canada, and I plan on taking all my stuff back out of the country too. But it was a stressful little bit, while she asked me all sorts of questions and all that.

So the border took up an hour of my time, putting me back on schedule. The next hour and a half was fine, but after passing through Lethbridge, it started to snow. At first there was more snow blowing around on the road than the grass, but eventually it got harder and harder to see the edge of the road, and then it became difficult to even see where the lanes were. We all generally drove behind each other in the slow lane, so it would stay partially clear. But, even after all that slowing down, I still made it to Aaron's apartment only 30 minutes behind schedule. The drive through the snow was scary enough, I don't even want to think about what it would have been like after dark. But I'm here, and I'm safe, and VERY grateful that I drove out yesterday and not today!

Packages

Well... packages are on their way to Florida, Maryland, Texas and Canada. I even had to fill out customs on the Canadian one. Woohoo. It came to a whopping $30 to mail the four packages, so I hope you are all happy and that they get there before Christmas. They asked if I wanted to get e-mail notification when they had been delievered for an extra charge. I said no, because I figured that you would all e-mail me and let me know when the packages got there. So... this is my asking for e-mail (or blog, or phone call or smoke signal... just kidding) confirmation that the package arrived.

Thanks!

And for all of those who will be in Oregon. Please, just let me know that I've arrived home safely with your presents on Christmas morning and that it isn't just a fabulous dream!

New Family Photo

Hi all. Here's a picture our hometeacher's wife took of us today. Isn't that nice? (Actually, we never have that much good luck taking pictures of the kids. Laurel worked a little PaintShop magic to get both of them looking at the camera...)

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Happy Birthday Dad/Grandpa! We love you and are looking forward to spending Christmas with you and Mom and all those other guys (just kidding, we love all of you too)

Love,

Eric, Laurel, Stephen Frank, and Allie

the final days

If you haven't seen - Jared put up a bunch of pictures of Emma! Hooray! She's a beautiful baby. And I love seeing more pictures of Brooke and Bryan. Bryan has such personality in his expressions .. and when did Brooke get braces? I had no idea! I look forward to seeing all of you guys at the reunion next summer.

So I'm down to my final weeks. Week and two days, actually. I got my work schedule last night and I'm driving north to Canada next Saturday. And then Aaron immediately told me that he's working on Saturday - from 5pm to 2am. I guess I'll see him when I wake up in the morning. But I'm very ready to get out of Rexburg .. I just have a ton of stuff to do in the meantime.

T 12/4: Graphic Design class, Outlet release party*, Old Testament, work (maybe)
F 12/5: Graphic Design class, dance practice with Daniel @ noon
S 12/6: group practice @ 11:15, dance competition** 12-2, work 3:30-9:15
S 12/7: work 11:30-5:15, Christmas broadcast, work party 8:00
M 12/8: Doctrines of the Gospel class, Social Dance class, Design and Color class, work 6-9:15
T 12/9: GD Poster/Presentation due, OT class, group performance/Big Band Dance 7-10
W 12/10: DofG class - take final, DandC class - final, work 6-9:15
T 12/11: GD class, OT class
F 12/12: GD workbook due (worth 25% of grade), work 5-9:15
S 12/13: Leave 6am for Canada

Besides being where I need to be, I have to actually do the assignments, study for the finals, write/mail my Christmas memories, make two more birthday cards, pack up everything, and find time to sleep.

And if anyone hadn't heard, my cellphone will be turned off after I head into Canada, and Mom and Dad will terminate it then. I'll come up with my own phone when I come back in April.

*Outlet release party. So around the same time I entered stuff into the BYU-I gallery (end of October), I also submitted a few pieces to the Outlet. It's a magazine published by students of student art and writing. A few weeks later they sent out an email to let us know we could pick up our submitted pieces, and they would email us later that day to let us know if we made it in. I never got an email, so I assumed I didn't make it. Alas, on Monday of this week, I DID get an email, saying how they hoped everyone had gotten the email to let them know they were in, and that they were having a party on Thursday to celebrate. I'm hoping this means I get a free copy of it, but if not I'll buy one anyway, because that's just cool. I have no idea what made it in, so I'll have to update you later on that.

**Dance competition. For my social dance class we have to participate in a competition. We get the same grade if we make first or last, but if you're in the top you get a ribbon! (ooooh and awwwww) We have the opportunity to dance either waltz or cha-cha or both. While the teacher was talking about it, a guy named Adam asked me to dance cha-cha (which I'm excited about, because cha-cha is fun!) and then later after class Daniel asked me to dance waltz with him. I feel very popular.

A "Great" Teacher

Today I taught the Kindergarteners about how the Earth revolves around the Sun and rotates at the same time. We practiced revolving and rotating. I was the sun, and they walked around me for the revolving. Then I had them spin around for the rotating. (I didn't have them try to attempt both at the same time.) After leaving my room they go out to recess. I was heading upstairs to make some copies at that same time and one of the kids was trying to put his coat on (upside-down... just doesn't work to well, go figure.) So I helped him put his coat on and we had the following coversation.

Daniel: Thanks for teaching us that stuff about the planents going around the sun today Miss Palmer.
Me: You're welcome.
Daniel: How did you learn that stuff?
Me: I must have had a really great teacher when I was younger.
Daniel: Was Mrs. Neiger your teacher (she is the kindergarten teacher and has adult children, but none my age, so probably wasn't teaching when I was in Kindergarten.)

Anyway, after that I had to go and tell Mrs. Neiger that she must be "a really great teacher" at least in Daniel's eyes.


Another quick story. I was reading with some of my first graders and we were discussing the book afterwards. It was about a girl who moved to the city and didn't have friends and then she went out and made friends. So we talked about moving and having to make new friends. One of the girls then asked, "Do you know how many friends I have?" I said, "No." And she replied, very knowingly, "About a million." I chuckled a little to myself and turned to the other girl and asked her how many friends she had. She thought about it for a minute and then said, "Five." I think one of them was exaggerating, but I'm glad to know she feels loved.

And to finish it off. I am teaching my fifth graders about genetics. Today we were talking about learned behaviors versus inherited traits. One of the students said that personality is inherited. It was at the end of class and that sparked a bit of a discussion. I sent home the question as homework (they have class with me again next Monday). So I want your input... is personality a learned behavior or an inherited trait?

Okay, one more. I drive a couple of girls home after school and on the way I was asking one of the girls what classes she is taking (she's in seventh grade). She told me. Then I asked her about her favorite one. I then pointed out the fact that sometimes the teacher makes a really big difference in the class. I asked her if her favorite teacher was the one that taught her favorite class. Her fifth grade sister was sitting in the back seat and I teasingly said that I couldn't ask her because I'd be hurt if she didn't say it was me. The seventh grader then said, "Actually, she does really like you. She's talked about it at home, so I can be her witness." It was one of those sweet, "aaawww" moments.

Those are the joys of teaching.

Christmas review

To make sure everyone remembers their Christmas exchange stuff, the info is HERE. And to make sure I know who is where, so I know where to make sure the memory letters go, here's what I know of:

OREGON: Dad, Mom, Eric, Laurel, Stevie, Allie, Tawnia, Emily, Nathan, Amanda, Joshy, Uncle Gary, Aunt Karen.

DC: Trina, Adam, Summer, Marnie

TEXAS: Jared, Michelle, Brooke, Bryan, Emma

CANADA: Mindy (and Aaron)

FLORIDA: Clarissa

Did I get that right?

grateful

This year, I am thankful for ...

~ Adam. There are so many things that I could list that he does for me - it would go on and on and on all day.
~ Summer and Marnie, and the bit of heaven on earth that they are.
~ the spiritual power of the Book of Mormon.
~ living so close to a temple, and that we can attend frequently.
~ babysitting swaps.
~ our generous and supportive friends, here in DC and anywhere else in the world.
~ living in a city where there's tons of stuff to do with kids and it's FREE.
~ the support of our extended family, even though everyone lives so far away.
~ that we don't need anything (except, apparently, egg nog which Adam just announced from the other room). We have plenty of stuff, plenty of food, and a comfortable home.
~ that even though we have a lot of debt right now, it was responsible debt (school and a car, and no craziness with the credit cards) and it's manageable.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

The Joy of Three-Year-Olds

This evening, Laurel put Stevie and Allie to bed and then watched as Eric and I battled it out in Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit. Stevie was on an air mattress on the floor in the library. After the game, I came to my room to get ready for bed. I heard this scratching noise coming from the next room and went to investigate. Stevie was scribbling on the wall, cheerios covered the mattress, and he had scattered the pieces of the chocolate and vanilla ice cream puzzles, cards from Big Fish, Little Fish, and everything from the Cradium: Family Fun game.

I took the pencils to Stevie and reported the damage to the others. Laurel said she wanted a playpen to put Stevie in, so I got Joshua's out of my closet. We also had to pick up all the puzzle pieces and game pieces, and then sort them. Report: Baby Wipes do work on cleaning pencil off the wall.

Mom waited until we were at the other end of the house before laughing.

artwork updates

I uploaded about eight new pictures on my page this evening. Most of them were assignments, but I've somehow managed to do two non-school related paintings as well. I'm really looking forward to the winter when I can work on the book, and actually have time to do my own personal creations as well. If you have any requests for pieces, now would be a good time to put them in my brain, since I'll be more likely to get to them in the next several months. And happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I'm grateful for a few days off, so I can spend time with Tawnia.

Happy Anniversary!

Sorry this is a day late! I thought about you all day yesterday and then thought I shouldn't call because you were probably out on a date (at least I hope you were!) Anyway, I tried to add a picture of Emma, but for some reason the one that is on-line here wouldn't save to my computer. So sorry! Anyway, here's to 39 years and the hope for 39 more (times infinity!)
I love you Mom and Dad!

39

Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad! It was great to see you this past summer, and we're excited to visit you and everyone else at the reunion in July! Love - Trina, Adam, Summer and Marnie.

Weird

So I am home being sick today. It's not a normal illness... I don't know quite how to describe it. I just feel.. "out of it". I have moments of dizziness, light-headedness, and wanting to puke... I think I have had a fever off and on, but then I'll feel just fine at other times. I came home from work early yesterday because I was just feeling awful, and got it all arranged so that I didn't have to come in today. So I'm home being lazy and decided that I should post on the blogs since I haven't done that in quite a long time.

I heard rumor that someone was asking why I wasn't teaching full-time if I'm not taking classes. To clarify... I AM teaching full-time. I am just not the typical classroom teacher. I teach as much (if not more) than the classroom teachers right now... so yeah, I'm working full-time... which is why I have health insurance again, hooray... so if this continues I CAN go to the doctor.

Anyway, just wanted to expell that rumor and tell you all that I love you.
Love,
Tawnia

Stevie calls me "Goofy"

A few days ago Stevie decided to start calling me Goofy and calling himself Mickey Mouse. (Allie is "Daisy" and Laurel got left out of this for some reason.) So now I get to hear "Goofy, I want some candy" or "Goofy, I want chocolate milk." If I'm not in the room, I hear him ask Laurel "Where's Goofy?" The best part though is when he starts talking in a high squeaky Mickey Mouse voice, which is even funnier than his robot voice from last week.

Baby Emma

I thought you would all like to see our beautiful new baby. I've been having some issues with my camera charger so I didn't get any good pictures at the hospital. I got this one right after she came home on Monday. Everyone agrees that she looks just like Brooke and Bryan. She's certainly a cutie.

I'm enjoying myself here in Texas, having fun playing games with Brooke and Bryan. Today I organized Emma's little clothes. She has lots of tiny ones but hardly any of the bigger sizes. I told them that she may get to wear each little outfit only once. I guess that would save on laundry.

Sure love ya,

MOM

Where has Eric been?

Actually, several of you know where I've been because I've seen you. I'm busy working right now (yes, on Sunday) but I thought I'd take a second to express my appreciation for our family.

So on Tuesday, October 21 I found out there was a stop work order on our contract in Monterey (since it was protested by a competitor) so we decided to take that trip to Oregon we've been putting off. We spent Wednesday through Sunday in Oregon. We spent time with Mom, Dad, Emily, Nathan, Amanda, and Joshua. Good times. Stevie and Allie had fun meeting their cousin Joshy.

We got home Monday night, and then on Tuesday morning Laurel drove me to the Monterey Airport and then drove to her sister's in LA. She got there before I got to Austin, which is where I spent the next few days teaching a class. On Wednesday night I drove down to Jared's and we watched the last few innings of the World Series and ate pizza. Michelle was still pregnant and very cheerful and positive. Brooke and Bryan are taller and skinnier (probably skinner from growing taller). And Jared's fine. It was fun. I flew to LAX on Thursday night and Laurel picked me up. We spent Halloween there. We did the trunk or treat at Rachel's ward, and that was enough for Stevie and Allie. Stevie watched a movie with his cousins and ate lots of candy after that.

We drove back yesterday and went to church this morning. Craig and Becky Kiser attended our sacrament meeting today. They were in town for a medical conference and were about to fly back. It was fun to see them. I learned that he was just called as the new Stake Patriarch. If that don't beat all.

Anyhow, that's my last few weeks. It's been very busy with work, but it was nice to see so much of our family last month.

could it be?

Since I have received no phone call from Texas, I'm assuming that Baby Emma has not decided yet to grace the world with her presence.

Do we actually FINALLY have a November birthday in this family? Woo hoo! Combining both sides of our extended family - the Palmers and the Caudles - there's a birthday in every single month EXCEPT November ... until now! Yay! So with just the Palmers, that means September is the only month left now with no birthdays.

review

Thanks for all the birthday phone calls - it was nice to talk to everyone! We didn't do anything for my birthday ON my birthday. It was a Sunday, so it wasn't like we could go out to dinner. The weekend was really full with random ward stuff, including a convert baptism on Sunday. So the entire day Sunday was geared toward that, particularly since Adam is the ward mission leader. It was our ward's first convert baptism in 2 1/2 years, so it was a big deal for us. A number of people at church did wish me a happy birthday, because they saw it on the Relief Society monthly calendar (that lists everyone's birthdays). But mostly, I just said that it was Lin's day and I didn't want to steal his thunder. I have a birthday every year - you get baptized only once.

Adam and I have a date scheduled for next week - we're doing a babysitting swap with Sarah and Taylor, because it's also Sarah's birthday in a couple of weeks. It's not THE day or even THE weekend, but whatever. We fit it in when we can.

And speaking of converts, or potential converts ... I have a couple of friends (who are now married to each other) from college who I also worked with at the Capitol in Salem. Marc occasionally asks me for advice relating to spiritual things, and recently, he emailed me asking a few questions about gaining answers to prayer. I kept getting off track when trying to email a response, and I also was trying to figure out how to suggest to him that the missionaries would be able to help him better than I would. I've referred him to the missionaries before (about 3 years ago), and he got mad at me for it.

We finally talked on the phone yesterday and ended up talking for about 2 1/2 hours. It was fairly close to the beginning of the conversation that I brought up the missionaries. The bulk of the conversation was along the lines of, "If I became Mormon, what about this and this and this." He's a former Catholic so he asked about confession. He also wanted to know if he and Jessica would be required to serve a mission, what happens in the regular Sunday church services, how tithing and donations are paid, and a couple of other things. Ultimately, he did agree for me to give his name as a referral. He said he doesn't think Jessica is quite ready for a substantial religious commitment but he's looking for direction in their lives. YAY! I'm very happy about this. I've thought for a LONG time that he and Jess would eventually join the Church. I don't know if it will happen right away, or if they'll take awhile. But they'll get there.

They're in Nathan and Amanda's stake - the Turner Ward. If they need some extra support, I'll give you guys a holler.

I'm in a gallery!

So the Spori Gallery does a variety of shows. The last one was of faculty art, and the next one (opening tonight) is the student show. Anyone could submit up to four pieces. And I figured, what the heck. The worst they can say is no. So I submitted four .. and THREE got in! Hooray! I'm very excited. Too bad I can't actually go to the opening, because I have to go to a dance class, but I'll skip out on it early, and go see. I'm not sure if I actually won money (I would love to just break even, to pay for all the framing), and I don't know when I find out, but I'm just happy to see them hanging up in there! The show runs from today until November 14th, so if anyone happens to be in the Rexburg area, you are encouraged to stop by!

And the three pieces are:

Happy Birthday Trina!!!

It's still your birthday here in Oregon even if it's past midnight in Maryland. I hope you had a wonderful day. Send us some details and pictures.

Eric and his family came to visit us for a few days this week. It was great having them here. We really enjoyed playing with our grandchildren. They are so sweet and fun to be with. We got some extra visits from Nathan's family too. I can't get too much of my grandchildren.

On the first I'm flying down to Texas to see Jared's family. I guess this is family time for Mom. It will be fun to meet my newest grandchild. I'm looking forward to playing with Brooke and Bryan, too. I'll be there for two weeks.

I can't wait until next summer when all of my kids can be together again. Sure hope that it works out for everyone to come.

Love ya,
MOM

My new calling

Yes, I have a new calling, and I've done it for about three weeks, despite the fact that I have yet to be sustained. They're a bit slow in Yamhill at times. Yes, Yamhill. If you didn't know, I defected.

My calling is to help with the girl's achievement -- girls ranging in age from eight to eleven. The first week they were coloring charts for family night. This week, they painted pumpkins. I helped with squirting paint and cleaning things up. One girl added a lot of paint to her pumpkin, including the stem. She also got paint on her nose. She put on so much that even after the snack (pumpkin pie -- no surprise there) the paint had not dried so she had trouble carrying it. And she dropped it in the hallway, and it rolled along, leaving splotches of gray and orange paint behind. I think we got it all out of the carpet.

Christmas exchanges

All 3 of the boys emailed me and said that they're in for the gift exchanges, so here's the name draw that I just did:

Trina and Adam - to Mindy (and Aaron?)
Eric and Laurel - to Emily
Jared and Michelle - to Tawnia
Tawnia - to Eric and Laurel
Emily - to Nathan and Amanda
Nathan and Amanda - to Trina and Adam
Mindy - to Jared and Michelle

Clarissa is out of the exchange because of being on her mission - I hope that everyone will at least send her some cookies and a card in December, if not a small gift. I'll email her as soon as I'm done with this post to tell her what's going on.

Tawnia suggested that we do some kind of memory gift - a small item related to a memory you have of that person. You're welcome to make something that costs no money at all, or spend a small amount. Nothing extravagant of course, not that anyone can afford to compete for the "best" gift anyway.

ALSO, if everyone could write memories of everyone else ... how do we want to work that organizing? Everything gets emailed to Mom and she organizes it and sends it back out? Or just put it in an envelope and stick it in with your Christmas cards? Hmm. Actually, I kind of like the idea of getting a bunch of different letters - I will mail all of mine individually.

Everyone else can do this as they have time, but I wanted to throw it out there that I will also write memory letters for each of the spouses. It would be nice to have them for Adam as well, but nothing is "required" or should feel like it's an obligation. Participate in the memory letters as your life permits.

Book exchange for the grandkids - if you can't/don't want to buy books, I think it would be fun to make them for each other. Either way is fine:

Brooke - to Stevie
Bryan - to Joshy
Stevie - to Marnie
Summer - to Bryan
Joshy - to Summer
Allie - to Brooke
Marnie - to Emma
Emma - to Allie

Yes, the sibling exchange was a blind draw. I tweaked the kids a little to make sure they were not giving to a sibling - the point is to have an exchange between cousins.

Did I get everything?

Tawnia's Classes

First Grade Assistant: Each morning between nine and ten, I help in the first grade classroom. There are 18 first graders and when you want to read individually with each child, it takes more than one adult to cover all 18. We have some kids who are just barely reading and a few that read on a third or fourth grade level... so individual reading is important. I go in and read one-on-one or with small groups. I enjoy it a lot. I really like this group of kids and it has been fun to be able to listen to them read and help them move forward in that area of their lives.

One day as I was helping a little girl turned to me and asked if she could go to the bathroom. I paused to think about it and before I could even respond she looked at me and said, "I just went a little in my pants." I told her to quickly go to the bathroom and finish... but it was to late. Unfortunately the room we were in was carpeted... and we don't have custodians... so guess who had the joy of cleaning up that mess! Yeah, ME! So at lunch that day she came up and asked if I'd ever had pink ice cream. I said yes and then she asked if I'd ever had blue ice cream and I said no. And then she told me that once she had had pink ice cream and it made her throw up. Oh, the conversations I have with first graders! They are so funny.

Fifth Grade Math: I teach the fifth graders math while the fifth grade teacher teaches the sixth grade math class and the sixth grade teacher does either administrative stuff or teaches a public speaking classes at UVU. There are 12 fifth graders and we work well together. I enjoy them most days. They can be really chatty but then again, sometimes they will work really hard for me... usually when recess or a lack of homework is being held over their heads. Most of the students understand math pretty well but a couple of them really struggle. So far we've covered basic arithmetic, measurements including converting measurements... something I don't remember ever learning, and now we are starting into fractions. We also learned a really cool way for checking multiplication, division, and addition. It's called casting out 9's. I'll have to show it to you sometime. It's baffling at first, but it works and I really like it.

Kindergarten Science: My kindergarten science class consists of nine rambunctious five year olds. They are an interesting group. I originally had ten. Two of those tens were twin boys and those boys were nearly impossible to get anything done with. They hated taking any directions and were basically out of control constantly. I knew it wasn't just my problem, because I work very closely with the kindergarten teacher. Eventually it was decided that they were not ready for kindergarten yet. (It was only two weeks until the decision was made but that was a LONG two weeks!) So that dropped us down to eight and then a couple weeks ago we got a new little girl... so now there are nine. Last year there were 14 kindergarteners and they were EASY compared to this group of nine. They are getting better though. We are working on following directions and taking turns. I think we actually made it through an entire class where I didn't have someone throw a tantrum once so far. (And that was yesterday!) I am coming to love the kids though. It's hard to resist when they come up and hug you around the waist (or knees). Also when they see you and get a huge grin and yell, "HI, Miss Palmer!" even though they are supposed to be being quiet.

In Kindergarten the topics we learn about in science coincide with what they are doing in their class.... and that changes each week. Lately we have been learning about Pets and Fall and we had a little safety and health mixed in there. Next week we are going to start on the senses. We will learn about the sense of sight next week. The week after that is the sense of taste, and we are also learning about pumpkins... yeah, so science is a bit sporadic and spontaneous. The activity can change from moment to moment and sometimes I will just pull something out to keep them entertained, but that's how it is in kindergarten.

A cute kindergarten story: The other day one of my kindergarteners fell asleep during my class. This little boy's dad is in Iraq so his mom is trying to raise her three kids (him being the oldest) and run a restaurant on her own. So I just let him sleep and we continued on in our activity. A few days later the little boy didn't want to leave the kindergarten classroom at the end of the day and the Kindergarten teacher (Sherry) teasingly suggested that he would be sleeping in the classroom. He thought about it and said, "No, sleep in Miss Palmer's!" Sherry had to come and find me afterwards and tell me about it.

First Grade Science: Eighteen first graders in my tiny little classroom is always an adventure. They are pretty good kids though. I just have to make sure that certain ones don't sit together.
In science this year we started out learning about our different Body Systems. The kids were really interested in learning about bones and muscles and the circulatory system, digestive system, and nervous system. Then for October we have been learning about the three states of matter (ie Solid, Liquid, and Gas). I made up a song to the tune of "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" and we sing it each time they come. We made examples of solids out of play-dough one day and this last time I used a solid and liquid to make a gas. (I put vinegar in an empty water bottle, baking soda in a balloon, and then put the balloon on top of the water bottle, and dumped the baking soda from the balloon into the vinegar. They reacted and caused a gas to fill up the balloon... the first graders were very impressed.

Funny story: One of the first things I did was have the first graders tell me what they knew about their bodies and what they wanted to learn. One little boy wanted to know how a cord could connect a baby and a mommy.

Second Grade Science: I have ten second graders and they are one of my favorite classes. Three of them are new this year and the others were all here last year. I love this group of kids because they are pretty well behaved. They also get really excited about whatever we are learning about. We spent September learning about the Digestive System. At the end we talked about eating healthy. Currently two of the little boys have become my "lunchroom monitors." They always come up and see what I'm eating. If it isn't healthy they say, "Miss Palmer, you is that healthy? You shouldn't eat that!" When they see me eating an apple or carrots they always tell me good job. Lately they have been asking if I am exercising each day. Sometimes I shake my head and think, "What did I do to myself!" but they are good kids and they are watching out for me.

We are now learning about rocks. They have become really interested and have started bringing me the "cool" rocks that they find outside. I even teach them the rock cycle, so that when they get into fourth grade they'll already have a basic understanding of it.

Funny Story: In the first week of school the entire Lower School (Pre-K through 6th) goes on a hike. This year we went to Cascade Springs which is beautiful and a pretty easy hike. I went and while I was there one of the boys (who happens to be one of those "lunchroom monitors" now) turned to me and told me that I was his favorite teacher. I smiled and said, "You say that to all the teachers don't you." In all seriousness he stopped and looked at me and said, "No, I don't!"

Third Grade Science: There are 12 third graders and most of them are pretty good. I'm not sure what happens at this age but the "I think it's cool to be snotty" starts coming out in some of the kids. Fortunately I know the parents of the ones that do this most often and can talk to them about their child's behavior. In third grade we are learning about sound and the anatomy of the ear. It has been pretty fun. I played my guitar for them and we discussed that. I have had them do some different experiments with hearing. And the nice thing for me is that I already have the anatomy of the ear pretty much down since it's been covered in at least four of my college courses so far. We'll be talking about Alexander Graham Bell this next week and then after that we'll finish up this unit and move on to learning about magnets.

I can't really think of a funny story to go with this class right now. I'm sure they have done something to make me laugh, or at least smile, but I can't think of anything at this point.

Fourth Grade Science: I have sixteen fourth graders. They have been learning about the rock cycle, soil, and fossils. They work best when I do something "boring" in order to earn a fun activity. This next week we will be making fossils. It should be fun.... and messy.

Fifth Grade Science: Again, there are 12 fifth graders. I talked about them above in fifth grade math. They have been learning some basic Geology and now are learning about Cells. They will be doing a "cell project" soon which I'm excited about. They have to make a representation of both an animal cell and a plant cell. It should be interesting to see what they come up with.

Sixth Grade Science: I have ten sixth graders and they are like a gift sent from above. Eight girls and two boys, and they take school seriously and want to do well. We have been learning about microorganisms and then I realized that they didn't have the background about cells that they needed. So we are learning about cells right now (just like the fifth graders.)

We grew mold on bread and bacteria on potatoes. It took awhile and was pretty gross, but I enjoyed it. I had the kids rub their dirty hands on the bread or rub the bread on the bottom of their shoes, or spit on it. Amazingly the bread with the worst mold was just from some water. I guess that the spray bottle was not clean because the other bread that had been sprayed with water didn't get any kind of mold on it.

I also had the sixth graders each do a report on a different microorganism. It was interesting to learn about e. coli and anthrax and some of the other things out there.

After school I go out and supervise the playground for ten minutes and then I tutor one of my fifth graders in math for thirty minutes and then I come home. My life is very busy as you can tell. I teach each science class twice a week, which means that I have three classes each day except Friday when I have only two and then get some time to prepare for the next week.

Marnie's birthday party

Pictures from Marnie's birthday party this morning are now on my personal blog here. Enjoy!

Fall Break

Today and tomorrow I don't have to go to work. It is our "fall break" and I have been VERY much in need of it! Unfortunately I have a mile-long list of things to get done over the weekend.

My car needs it's oil changed, tires rotated, and it needs a good cleaning... I want to go through all the papers and stuff that gets stashed in there and throw out the stuff I don't need. Poor Petey has been neglected lately. Part of the reason I'm needing to do that is because I'm going to be giving a couple of my students rides to and from school (and getting paid some gas money for doing it! Woohoo! The way gas prices are right now I'm in serious need of help with gas.)

I also need to get my apartment all cleaned up. Not for any particular reason other than that it's getting messy and I need to clean it up. (Messy being defined as dishes sitting in the sink and the bathroom really does need to be scrubbed down.) And I need to do several loads of laundry. And it would be nice to go through and clean some stuff out of my room and organize things.

Other than that I need to make sure I have lessons planned at least for this next week of school. I want to try and have things planed out from now until Thanksgiving, but I don't think that will happen. And I need to grade some math papers and get my on-line gradebook updated.

And I also want to be able to relax and have some fun... I am supposed to go out to eat with my friend, Laurel, at some point either today or tomorrow. I'm also going to go see a play with my friend, Janee, on Saturday evening. That and just chilling at home and reading a book or watching a movie and knitting (I'm currently working on Rosemary's blanket.) Oh, or practice my guitar!

I need to get as much of the above done today and tomorrow because on Saturday I have a retreat with my choir. Did I tell you that I tried out for a choir? We do firesides, though apparently not any until January. I had to audition for it. It was the first audition I have been to in six or more years... it was pretty nerve wracking. I got in and I'm very excited! I've been needing something more in my life, some way to share my talents and express myself, so I'm excited about this.

So all of that is my fall break... which is just a four day weekend! I must get busy on things soon. And I'm watching my friend's two pet rats for her while she is in St George for the break. They are named Niya and Flower. They aren't to bad, just wake me up with strange noises sometimes, but I'm dealing with it.

Christmas reunion in DC

First of all, I'm not suggesting this be in 2 months, or even next year. But eventually, I think it would be awesome to do a Christmas family reunion in DC. Check out all the awesome stuff there is to do in DC in December ...

- the DC Temple Visitor's Center to see the billions of lights, the international Christmas trees, the collection of international nativity sets, and there's a music performance every single night of December. Last year, we went to a bell choir.

- the White House with all the Christmas decorations, as well as all the Christmas trees out on the Ellipse, with the "national yule log" (a big fire pit that is great when it's freezing cold) and lots of miniature trains around the base of the main tree.

- the miniature electric trains at the National Conservatory.

- the military band Christmas concerts at the Daughters of the American Revolution concert hall

- the "Messiah" sing-along at the Kennedy Center. Wouldn't this be the most AMAZING thing to do????

And it's all FREE. Free free free.

There's also a candlelight tour at Mt. Vernon which goes into sections of the house that are not open the rest of the year, but you have to pay admission for that. And Colonial Williamsburg is also supposed to have a ton of really neat Christmas stuff that you also have to pay for.

We haven't done the Kennedy Center yet but it's definitely on my Top 100 list. I don't think we're going to go this year because of having to be there 2 to 4 hours early just to get in the door, and then the 2 hour performance, etc ... It's 2 days before Christmas and I won't ask anyone to interrupt their own holiday to watch our kids for so long. So we'll just wait until they're a little older. I am going to try to get tickets to the DAR hall for the Navy Band concert this year - the tickets are free, they're just for crowd control. That one is on the 20th this year, which is also the last day of law school for Adam. Definitely a day to celebrate.

You all have to wait until we actually have a big enough home to fit everyone for a few days, but I just thought I'd throw this out here since I was thinking about it.

Mindy's classes

Doctrines of the Gospel - an excellent class, touching on the main points of the gospel. My teacher has us read a lot of articles along with reading the manual. Our tests are all open book, as all of his questions are directly out of the chapters or specified sections in the scriptures. Some can be a bit tricky, and force us to read things very carefully to help us understand things better. I got 100% on the first two. This week we've been talking about the Atonement and it has been amazing. If anyone can get on Gospelink or find the book called "Broken Heart" by Bruce Hafen, the article (or chapter?) there is called "The Atonement is not just for Sinners." It is excellent.

Social Dance - We've learned the foxtrot and swing, and this week we start cha-cha and waltz. It doesn't help me to know all the steps if I don't have a guy leading me who knows them to, so I look forward to being able to teach Aaron some of this stuff. For the end of the semester, I have to know the names of all 30 guys in my class .. which I did by the third week. It's a fun class with no stress.

Design and Color - this is probably my favorite class, so far. My teacher is always very impressed with my work. He gets to put favorite examples of work from each assignment, and mine has been out there every time so far (twice, woohoo). I did post one of my assignments up on my website, but I haven't had the chance to photograph any of my others yet. We just started painting this week, but we're just doing value scales, so nothing to show off there. I'm learning though, and having a lot of fun.

Old Testament - We started in Abraham, but now we're up to Genesis 24 or so. We talked about Isaac yesterday, and Rebekah. There aren't as many assignments due in class for this one (although I did get an A on the one paper we had to write), but there's a lot of studying we're supposed to do on our own. Lots of scripture reading, of course. And, instead of taking the final, we can do a "scholarly project" throughout the semester. I'm finding Ensign articles on the topics we are studying, and reading those to gain more insight. I look forward to getting a copy of the Ensign every month (once I'm settled down enough to actually get a subscription). Oh! That's what I should get Aaron for Christmas! HAHA!

Graphic Design - This is my most demanding class. I've gotten B's on both of my assignments thus far, but I'm actually okay with that. I'm going to rework my first one, and hopefully get a bit better (instead of an 82), but considering how many C's he says he gives out, I'm happy with the B. The teacher is very intense, but he's very real and practical. This week we're starting our logo project - a reptile themed exhibit (of our choosing), that we're creating a logo for. I'm thinking of doing a reptilian art exhibit, but that might change. I'm learning a lot, and surviving this class might determine if graphic design is really what I want to do (along with taking illustration classes).

Art History - besides a little bit of outside studying, this is one of my least involved classes. Sit, listen to the lecture, take notes, and focus on remembering what pieces go with which period. Our grades are entirely based on our tests - and I got 100% on the first one, and just got a 92% on the second (that we took yesterday). He said that the second test was usually the hardest, so I'm not worried. Besides, we take 5 tests and get to drop the lowest score (or not take one), so I'm good to go.

Celebration

I'm ready to celebrate. I am finally done canning pears, (and everything else until my apples are ripe enough). I was given several boxes of Bosc Pears and just got the last of them canned and I've filled every jar I own. I'm not sure what I'll use for the applesauce. Maybe I'll have enough empty jars by then.

I have also purchased my plane ticket for Texas. I'll be there Nov.1 thru 15. The baby should certainly be born before I come home. She'll probably arrive before I leave here. I'm excited to see them all again.

Now that I can take a break from canning, I should be able to get busy making the blessing dress. Then I'll start on my Christmas projects. I have plenty to do.

I may even have time to post on here, occasionally or to update some pages.

Love ya,
MOM

But Of Course

Yes, I'm in on the Christmas gift exchange and the theme of "Memories".... I'm the one who came up with it. I guess none of the boys or Mom or Dad are interested.... since I posted about it on September 21 and they still don't seem to know if they want to do it. Or if they do they aren't saying anything. Maybe it will just be a "sister" gift exchange.

I will be typing up something for everyone regardless.

Tawnia

Memory Exchange

I vote a big YES on the memory exchange for Christmas this year. Whether it is specifically of Christmas memories or not (I vote not), I'm ALL about hearing from everyone! I also think it'd be nice to gift exchange, with the name drawings. I like the idea of using the memory theme along with that too. If Trina wants to do the official name drawing, then that's cool by me. So you know, Trina and everyone else, I'll be up in Canada for the holidays, and the few months after. It's my break from school, and that way I can just drive ONE direction during the winter, instead of home and then north. I'll be living with Aaron's mom, and working closely with her on the book I'm illustrating (since she's the author and publisher). I found out that I might be able to use that as some internship credits for school too!

In other news, I'm doing well. My classes keep me busy with lots of homework, but I'm enjoying it. Design and Color is probably my favorite class, although Social Dance is entertaining as well and has a lot less homework (none!). I've done well on all my assignments thus far, and the B that I got on my Graphic Design project can be redone as many times as it takes until I get an A. (The teacher is more focused on actually getting us to LEARN than the grades.) When I'm not in class, I'm usually doing homework, or working at Payless. Occasionally I find time to sleep, and make late night runs to Dairy Queen with my roommates. (If you haven't tried their pumpkin cheesecake blizzard you REALLY should!)

back to Christmas

I was scouting out Christmas gift options for the girls this morning when I was at Toys R Us to get Marnie's birthday present (a little piano). And it occurs to me that I should get crackin' with my Christmas memories letter to the whole family if that's what we're going to do. So ... are we? I'll do the name draw again if everyone wants to do something.

Also, to Eric/Jared/Nathan - do you want to do the book exchange with the kids again? I really liked that and would like to make it a tradition for the next few years at least (until it becomes totally unwieldly, but that won't be for awhile). I don't mind if people want to make little story books instead of buying anything to save on cost that way. Either way is fine with me.

I have pictures!

Hey all,

I decided to finally upload all our pictures from the camera from the last few months, and so I've updated my picture calender now to include stuff from August and September.