HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROSEMARY!!!!

We hope that Rosemary had a very special birthday. WOW!! Two years old already. We can't wait to see you again. You are growing up so fast. We love you so very very much.

Love always,
Grandma and Grandpa

Christmas planning

Gift exchange again this year? Cousin book exchange for the kids?

Or is this just a tough year for everyone? I am well aware of job struggles for some, major moves for others ... not an easy year on anyone's finances. Even Tawnia and Nathan, who are the only ones who had any semblance of job stability this year, still had big changes with Tawnia's grad school plans and Henry being born. Well, what is life if not a series of changes, one right after another.

I'm good for the gift exchanges and would like to do them again ... but I don't think anyone should feel pressured about it. What's the consensus?

A few words about Family Home Evening

A few months ago, we came up with a new system for our Family Home Evenings. We made up a list of as many ideas as we could think of, and put them all in a box. Every week at the end of Family Home Evening, we take turns drawing out of the box our topic for the next week.

Tonight, after we finished our Astronomy lesson, Brooke pulled out "Video Chat." I realized one small problem with next week - I'll be up in the Dallas area on Monday night. So, we decided that next week we'll have our video chat FHE on Sunday instead of Monday.

Now, we just need someone to be on the other end of that video chat. Any volunteers?

On My Past Week's Activities

This week has been interesting, with family coming and going. Last Monday (or was it Tuesday?), we went on a hike at Silver Creek Falls, with Joshua wanting his daddy to gallop along the trail. Joshua also enjoyed splashing in the creek and throwing rocks at Double Falls. We cut back at Winter Falls, which was a wet patch of rock. August isn't the best time to see the falls.

And there was the family reunion from Thursday to Saturday. There was always someone there for a game of cards or putting together a puzzle. Most of the teenage boys spent the whole time playing video games. I loved zipping around the Puget Sound in Sid's boat. And we had singing and skits on Friday night. I especially enjoyed a song that Sid and Ben wrote about Frands Petersen.

Mom and I are teaching a new Primary class. Instead of the six-year-olds, we'll teach the ten-year-olds. This class is about half the size of the last one. And it makes it easier for me to fulfill my other calling of teaching nursery. They called me so someone would teach a lesson. But it seems like I spent more time mopping up spilled water.

Yesterday, Tawnia and I drove out to the beach and just sat on the sand for a few hours, enjoying the sound of the waves and the smell of the breeze. We walked a bit, but mostly we just read. I put on sunscreen, but I missed a couple of spots, so the backs of my legs and one shoulder got singed.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Sure hope you are able to celebrate your anniversary soon. I know you don't like being apart on your special day but it will be worth it when you're all settled in your new home. Take care and remember that I love you both and I'm so glad you're a part of our family and part of my life.

Love ya,
MOM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYAN!!!

Hello Bryan,
I hope you are having a wonderful birthday. I hear your party was on Saturday. Did you have a super time? Have a great year being seven.

Love always,
Grandma and Grandpa

blogging marathon

I just put up the last post from our vacation on my personal blog. (Eric, did you ever get your account figured out to get in there?) I also put vacation pictures on Facebook, since my blog is private with a very limited number of viewers.

I don't know who all is reading my politics blog these days, but I've been posting about the health care stuff. Not that I like health care, and not that I'm particularly interested in it. Because I'm not. I am interested, however, in not having Congress and the President entirely crush what's left of the economy before it has a chance to get back on solid ground. So I'm absolutely opposed because of the cost. We can discuss the merits of government-run health care and whether it's a right or a commodity some other time.

The recipe blog has suffered from a lack of attention because I haven't been cooking for about a month now. Adam has cooked dinner every night since we got back from our trip because I'm braindead and just don't come up with any ideas of what to cook. I need to get back into that.

And I posted on the sisters' blog earlier in the week because I finished 2 more things on my Top 100 list. Hooray! And I've got 3 more that I will finish by the end of next month.

Sorry if that's too much for you all to read right now, with Eric and Jared both in the middle of moving and everyone else in Oregon for the reunion. (Wish we were there with you!) But maybe you can go through all the pictures together or something, and someone do me a favor and find out what Sid thinks of the health care stuff. I'm curious to know if he's a doctor who wants this kind of reform, or if not, what his other ideas are.

Emma Laughing

What do you think? Next $10,000 Winner?

Thanks for the Pics

Thanks for posting new pictures, Jared. I really liked the one of Emma at the zoo. She is getting so big. It's fun to see the things the kids have been up to lately. Brooke looks so cute in her glasses. I hadn't seen pictures of her wearing them. Did Bryan get his birthday present from us? If not it's in the mail. By the way, there are a couple of pictures that I couldn't see; the ones from April 20th. Thanks again,
Love ya,
MOM & Dad

home

We're back from Charlottesville, and now I will spend the next week digging us out of the disaster that is our open luggage and dirty laundry. And that's when Summer and Marnie leave me alone for 5 minutes instead of wanting me to read to them or paint or some other activity that requires my full attention. I'll send out an email when I get around to getting the vacation pictures posted on my personal blog - with the way our morning is already going (and it's not even 9 am yet), I'll be surprised if I even get them downloaded today. At least my first trip to the grocery store is already done! We dropped off Adam at 7:15 this morning and went straight to the store. We came out of the store at 8:04 am, and it was already 85 degrees and 80% humidity. Hooray. When it's already too hot and muggy to go to the park at 8 am, you know you're in for a bad day. (Week? Month?)

Allie's Birthday

Hi everybody! Thanks for the birthday calls and greetings so far today. I'll be sure to post some Allie birthday pictures soon.

Laurel was so excited for Allie's birthday that she gave her one of her presents to open in her crib at 11 PM last night. Stevie and Allie were still awake (long nap on Allie's part - I don't know what Stevie's deal was).

I just got back to work after having a birthday lunch with Allie (and Laurel and Stevie) at McDonald's. She really enjoyed it, and she was ready for her birthday nap.

Tonight we're going to have cupcakes and ice cream and more presents.

Allie's a very special little girl and I'm so proud and happy to be her daddy.

Eric

birthday girl

Happy birthday, Allie! We wish you were already here in Virginia so we could finally meet you! It's very fun here! We like the parks and the trees and Virginia Beach is a really fun beach! Maybe we can visit you there next year and we can play together!

Love, Summer and Marnie

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLISON!!!!

We hope you are having a wonderful day doing lots of fun stuff. We wish we could be there to give you birthday hugs and kisses. We love you so much. Your gift will be a little late this year but it's coming. We will see you in Idaho before you leave on your long trip to Virginia. Be good... Have fun... And always remember that your Grandma and Grandpa love you very much. HAPPY BIRTHDAY 2 YEAR OLD!!

07.08.09

Hey family .. put up some new pictures on my page. I'm still not 100% updated, but close. There's mostly new stuff in the colored pencil section (although it was from this winter) and several new things in the watercolor section from class assignments.

I'm almost done with classes, just two weeks left. Staying busy with all the homework and projects and studying for tests, but getting very excited to see Aaron again. I'll head up there right after my last class around noon on the 23rd, and then I'll see lots of you at the reunion a few weeks later! We're still working out the details but Aaron might be coming too! He's very excited and is looking forward to meeting more family.

174 days until the wedding.

happy 4th

Happy Birthday Mom! 60 years and still looking good! You are an amazing mother, and I'm excited to see you this summer. Have a good time, and I hope your day is more exciting than mine - which shouldn't be difficult. So really, I hope your day is amazing.

happy!

To celebrate Michelle's birthday, we finally got our Maryland tax return and I zeroed out one of the credit cards with it. HOORAY! By the end of today, the tax return will be entirely gone and we will be $1027 closer to being OUT of debt. (It's A LOT of debt. But still.)

Anyway ...

Happy birthday, Michelle! Hope you have a good day! (And go check Facebook, if you haven't already because that's where all your birthday notes are.)

Reunion

So I know that Trina is all gung-ho about the Christmas reunion since she'll be there, but are we planning anything fun and exciting for this summer's reunion? I'd like to hike Silver Creek and go to the beach prior to going up to Washington. And I'll definitely be driving seperately to Washington because I have a friend to visit in Seattle. And then I'm thinking that I'll go from the reunion down to my friends in Vancouver. And leave from Vancouver to drive to Rexburg to see Eric, Laurel, Stevie, and Allie. And then get home after that. Any thoughts on all this? -- T

Tammi has the girls

Officially the girls are returned to their mom on July 6th but they are currently at her home. They will come down here for one more night, this coming Tuesday, to pack up all of their stuff. We'll haul it to Aloha on Wednesday and Emily and Clarissa can rearrange their things. We've had Hailey, Nicole and Naomi for three months and have had our ups and downs. I think it's time for them to be with their mom, she hasn't had them for a very long time. I'm sure she'll have some challenges but it will all work out.

We may take a little vacation to celebrate but I'm not sure where or when. Any suggestions? Now I can concentrate on reunion planning and getting things ready for Christmas. I have plenty to do to keep me busy. Maybe I'll even work on my webpage a little more often. Take care.

Love ya,
MOM

Christmas reunion planning

So it's on my Top 100 list to help plan a Palmer Christmas reunion ... and then Mindy very conveniently scheduled her wedding for Christmas! Yay! So what are the ideas that we have to celebrate Christmas ALL together for the first time since ... 1993? I think that's the last time all 8 of us were in Oregon for Christmas, because then missions started and then Eric and Jared got married ... and now it's 16 years later. SIXTEEN!!! That is way the heck TOO LONG!!!!

1. Christmas caroling. Because we always went Christmas caroling when we were kids ... although I don't think we'll all fit in the same van anymore. Har har. Poor Dave and Dolly Huber, if they still live around the corner - that would be A LOT of people on their front porch!

2. Baking cookies to give to the caroling families.

3. The Nativity "pageant" on Christmas Eve. It will be really cute to have the kids do it this year.

4. Mindy has family portraits scheduled for the day after Christmas - thanks, Mindy! Those will be fun to have with everyone in their Christmas/wedding finery!

5. A temple session? It would be the first time all 8 of us kids would be in the temple together. That would be COOL. Mom and Dad, start getting enough family names for us to take through, and don't forget to plan for Laurel, Michelle, Amanda, Adam, and Aaron! (Huh. That's a lot of A names.)

6. Because many of us will have to pay a lot of money to get to Oregon in the first place (4 plane tickets each for me, Eric, and Jared) plus Mindy's wedding and all, I would suggest keeping the gifts to a minimum - just the exchange like we've done for the last 2 years. If spouses want to give each other stuff, that's their deal. I likely would NOT pack gifts to Oregon for Adam and the girls, only to have to pack them back and risk something getting lost. We would just do that here in Vicksburg before we left or something.

7. For stockings, we could have the spouses fill each other's stockings and take care of their kids themselves, and maybe have Tawnia, Emily, and Clarissa do something with each other's stockings.

8. I'd like to do the book exchange with the kids. I don't know how the other families feel about it - if they're just going along with it because I want to, or if you think it's actually going to have the effect of helping our kids be closer even though we live all over the country. I really like it. What do you guys think? Even if this year, we exchange a book we already own so no one has to buy anything - I still like the concept behind it.

9. Mom and Dad, are you going to do your own thing for gifts for everyone, or do you want in on the exchange?

10. Mindy wants cupcakes for her wedding cake - I think it would be fun if we did that together. And yesterday at church, I found out about a little cake decorating class that's this week. So I'll see what ideas I get! And all the other girls (all NINE of us), see what you can figure out about cake decorating and experiment around with things. You have six months!

That's my start. Discuss.

reunion and Christmas

Well, Aaron was planning on coming to the reunion, really. But then he just got the dates for HIS family's reunion. They are at the same time. He's not going to that one either though. It's also the same weekend as a golf tournament .. which wouldn't be a big deal except that he works at the golf course that hosts it, so it's the busiest weekend of the season. No way is he going to get out of it. Sorry to all those who haven't met him yet - you'll just have to wait for December.

Speaking of December - I just got an email confirmation from Lindsay Zook. Looks like we're getting family portraits done on December 26th! Merry Christmas from me! That means we all better be there and looking good. I'm really quite excited for it, along with the pictures of just me and Aaron that we'll take later that day.

In other news, I just got 92% on the bubble-sheet portion of my cooking midterm. Hooray for me! And time to hurry to typography class so I'm not late.