The day has arrived

I am a father... I mean we put our pictures and journal up from our Europe Adventure. If you click on our pictures link it will show you the way.

the end

Tap Dance Video

With the recent surge of YouTube movies from our family, and the need to subcribe to it because of Eric's movie, I decided it was time to add my own movie. A friend took a video of Tawnia and I at our dance recital. The quality isn't very good, and you might have to turn the volume up to actually hear it, but you can get the basic idea of what we danced like. You can find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7viDt1JX1GY

I'm glad to hear Bryan is okay. Both Tawnia and I combined haven't been to the emergency room as many times as he has, and he's only four!

Bryan is OK

This morning at church, Bryan was sitting on the back of the bench and flipped off backwards and hit his head. We called the paramedics and they took him to the hospital where he had two staples put in. He was really scared and hurting at first, but calmed down during the ambulance ride and he did really great when they were treating him. He's all fine now, and he'll get the staples out sometime next week.

In other news, I did indeed have a happy birthday. We went out for lunch, and then shopping for birthday presents. Michelle and her parents got me the latest Star Wars book, Brooke got me a candle, a teddy bear, and Men in Black II, and Bryan got me a puzzle and a huge Charleston Chew. I also got the Happy Birthday song several times (yes, including the one on the machine from Tawnia and Mindy).

As for the timeline thing, I know I'm still missing lots of information. Trina's got the right idea - if you see something missing, either fix it up yourself or have me, or somebody else, fix it for you. And like Mom said, make sure you update the current version (in case somebody else just updated the same page). As for the missing years, I'll try to populate the rest of them some time this week. And I'll add the info Trina gave me. I want to include not only graduations but also anytime someone started a new school - ie, middle school, high school, new colleges, etc. Basically, any major life changes. If you want to include job changes yo can, but I won't - I've had way too many to count, and so it would be more significant to me to have a second year on a job than a first.

Anywho, there's the news from us. I'm older, and Bryan is OK. Have a nice day!

timeline additions

Hey Jared - The timeline looks cool! Thanks for putting that together! A couple of corrections for you:

1980 - I was actually baptized in November, not October. (Nov. 1)
1982 - Adam Caudle was born on June 25 in Gainesville, Florida. I noticed you don't have Amanda on there either, but I don't know what year or where she was born. 1983?

Can't wait to see what you put on the remaining years!! For future reference, since I don't know if you know this, Tawnia and I walked in our college graduation ceremonies in the spring of 2001, but both of our official graduation dates were December 2000. (Utah State, Elementary Education. Western Oregon University, Social Science.) I think we even finished on the same day, within a couple of hours of each other. Also, Adam completed his Bachelor's degree at Georgetown University in December 2005 (Sociology and Government), and began law school at American University in August 2006.

We're doing well here. Summer is scooting around in her army crawl and babbling like there's no tomorrow. She's starting to pull up on things. Adam is super busy with school - he has another moot court thing this month. The writing is due on Feb. 13 and the oral arguments are Feb. 24. This is the competition to get on the team - he won the 1L (first year) competition a couple of weeks ago, so he should make the team pretty easily. I'm staying busy with studying - I'm into the 700-some audio files now - and general household and Relief Society things.

Also, we're starting to talk about moving in May. We need to get into a 2-bedroom place. There's really nothing we can afford in the city, so it looks like we're headed a little bit north up to Rockville, Maryland. It's still on the Metro line - it would only be 6 stops for Adam to school. (It's 9 stops from here to downtown where we were working.) I found a complex listing online that I want to look at - dishwasher, patio, decent parking, and a POOL!!! All the more reason to move in May instead of waiting until August ... Plus I want to get a big planter pot for the patio and put a couple of tomato bushes in it.

Videos, etc.

I was hoping that Eric would reinvite me to view his cute Stevie videos. I got to see them because Mindy showed me, but then I accidentally erased my invitation to view them. The invite went to my junk mail and as I was deleting my junk mail I saw it was there.... but I'd already hit delete. Blast! So I'd like you to reinvite me and I'll try not to delete it this time! Thanks.

Jared has been bugging me about the video of Mindy and I tap dancing. I guess I'll put it on if I join youtube... for private viewing only that is.

Mindy was saying that she wanted to see video of Stevie walking... well in a dream I had last night Summer was walking. I think I'm getting excited for my trip to D.C. I doubt Summer will be walking by then, but you never know.

I hope that Emily is at least reading these posts, even though she is struggling with getting to post on the sites.

I think Michelle is cool too.

Mindy and I thought of a game to add on to the game page -- Huckle Buckle Beansnitch. Or however you spell that.

I like the timeline idea Jared has put up, but I think it should have pictures.

Have we thought of making our website passworded, so that not everyone in the world can see it. I just think sometimes that the entire world doesn't need to know this much about our family, though why anyone out in cyberspace would take the time to read our family blog, I don't know, but... yeah... passwording is a good way to make things private.

Okay... that's enough random stuff from me.

Happy Birthday Jared. Did you get the message from Mindy and me?

-Tawnia

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JARED!!!

I totally forgot to post a birthday wish for you until now. Sorry about that. I hope that when you went back to work tonight that you did take the car and that the test was a success. Have fun being 31 and share those lemonade cookies with your wife. Unless she doesn't want any.

Nathan

Michelle is cool!

Just hadda hava title. I am doing well. Same-o, same-o. I got tons of housework, but having fun today sound, well, like more fun. I will have to make sure Jared has a happy birthday. So far he has celebrated by going to working very early, then coming back home by 8:30 and going to sleep. Party on! Kids are great. Both love reading. Bryan is into Curious George and Magic School bus right now. Brooke is reading full novels now like Annette, Heidi, The Black Stallion, Sand Dune Poney, and Julie B. Jones. They are also into video games, no suprise. We obtained an old Sega Genesis. Pretty cool. I'm finding the games at pawns shop for about $3 each. Also, the individually own video store and the corner has a few to rent out. Cool beans. My stomach hurts this morning, bleh-unfortunate side effect that I occasionally get from one of my medications. Seems to happen if I don't take it at exactly 24 intervals. Huzzah!

The groundhog saw his shadow yesterday. To early spring, I say bring it on. I even had to get out a jacket this week. Whoa. I didn't read the sisters blog, but I did read Adam's post. Instead of looking up Luddite, I had to look up pervasive. Pervasive mean spread throughout. I suppose that it rains on both the good and the bad. Pervasive internet is spread thoughout the honest and upright, as well as the dishonest and criminal. Pervasive internet is a great technology that benefits individual user, medical sector, businesses, machine 2 machine, and others. Of course that also means more vulnerablity and risk of infilteration. I believe that you gotta protect yourself. Use common sense. Unfortunately, there will always be those with ill intentions no matter what the circumstance. It is their fault this is even an issue. Let's "Take all the rope in Texas find a tall oak tree, round up all of them bad boys and hang 'em high in the street for all the people to see." Then we'll "raise up out glasses agains evil forces, whiskey for my men, beer for my horses"Toby Keith. As far as influential movies, I would pick Jerry Maguire. "I love the man he want to be and the man he almost is." It is a great movie, check it out. it is all about inspiration, love, and what really mattters. And who doesn't love football. Root for the bears tomorrow! Super Bowl Sunday! Yeah!!!!

a new topic for discussion (kinda)

Okay. So I'm a little behind. I read Emily's post on the Sister's Blog today. (Why is it called the "Sister's Blog" if everyone reads it?) It stirred the pot in my head and a question popped out. How/what does everyone feel/think about the pervasive use of the Internet and/or privacy concerns about the Internet(s if you're George Bush.) ? It seems that we have Luddite in one corner and the technogeeks in the other. So what's up?

Adam

I did it

Yesterday I was practically forced to switch to the new blogger sign-in thing. It offers you the option of signing into the new blogger or old blogger, but in reality makes you sign up with google when you try to sign up with old blogger. At least that is what I found. I will try to sign in with Amanda's account and see if she can still sign in with the old one. I am writing this after having read Emily's blog. I think the trouble came for me when I first signed over to the google sign-in way. Today I had no trouble at all. And Emily, I don't think you have to worry about google search engines taking over the world. I know you don't trust them but I think we are safe from a googlopolis. Unless of course you are worried about the cyber world. we could be in grave danger...

Nathan

Updated, again

I know I know, another little message from me, saying that I've added more art. This time it's on the fourth row down (or eight, if the rows don't go all the way across on your screen), far right. It's something that I've been working on for a few days, and it's completely different from anything I've done before. I did it entirely in Photoshop, and I'm very excited about it. I think it looks great, and I'm pretty proud of myself. Let me know what you think!

Games

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

Love ya,
MOM

What's New on Mom's Page

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

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


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

Love ya,
MOM

the West Wing

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

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

My videos

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

Nathan

Family history

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

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

new drawing

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

Winter and the weather

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

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

best about winter

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

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

Winter Day

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

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

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

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

Tawnia

Thank you

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

Nathan

Happy Birthday

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

Happy Birthday to you...

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

Love,
goblin

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

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN!!!

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

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

Love ya,
MOM

Hello, everyone

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

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

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

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CLARISSA!!!

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

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

Love,
Nathan, Amanda, and baby

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

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

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

D.C.

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

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

-T

she's on the move ...

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

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

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

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

I've half an hour to type

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

More later.

Clarissa

In Virginia

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

Well, I'm off to buy textbooks.

Update

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

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

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

Love ya,
MOM

Back to Blogging

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

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

I love you all.
Love,
Tawn

I'm Here

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

~Clarissa~

Balki ... LIVE!!

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

Just thought I'd share.

Pure Chaos Updates

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

visits to DC

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

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

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

Happy New Year and the like!!!

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

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

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

Good luck with all your new year resolutions.

Nathan

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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

Love ya,
MOM

Happy birthday, Brooke!!

Love, Summer

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKE

check

Speaking of goal lists, as much as I love to make them, it's even more fun when I can actually check things off. Today is a day that I can check something off. I just finished reading the entire standard works within a year. I'm very excited to be done. Now, reading the Book of Mormon will seem easy, which is good, because then I'll do it more often.

I have a list started back in Utah, so my official list of lifetime goals will be posted sometime in January. I'm not sure if it will look as cool as Jared's, but I'll have a fun time making it anyway. And as soon as my computer is up and running, I'll work on finally finishing the Russia page I've been working on for the past year.

A little note about blocks

Hi all,
I hope you all liked your Christmas blocks, and I just wanted to tell you something hopefully helpful. When my parents opened them, there were some white streaks on them from the wrapping paper, and I heard that this happened on at least some of the ones you guys got. Soooo, all you need to do is take a cloth or paper towel and get it a little damp and rub the paper off. The decoupage stuff should be fairly waterproof...at least water resistant, so scrubbing it off works quite well. It made me sad when I saw all the white stripes on them, and after I wiped them off, they looked MUCH better!!! So you all should try that!

Love you!
Manda

A post

I'm posting... because I want to see it updated on the new nifty front page thing. I don't have anything exciting to say. I have been thinking a lot about what goals I want for January. I beat Nate and Manda and Mom at Settlers. Then Mom won. I played Blink with Clarissa and then I played Blink with Emily... we were pretty evenly matched both times.

Tonight after eating snake legs we're hopefully going to play Cranium.

I really like snake legs.

Love,
T

something missing from my stocking ...

It just occurred to me that there was something missing from my Christmas package from Mom and Dad ... I got my calendar from Mom, and my movie from Dad, and Summer got her photo book. But we did NOT get a CD of ALL of the family portrait pictures from the reunion. Can I PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE get a CD of all the family portrait pictures? Finally? And all the other pictures that Dad took at the reunions? I have all the pictures that you took when you were here, because you downloaded them onto my computer. But I have no others, except the few you've emailed - about 5. There were a lot more than 5 taken that week.

You don't even have to mail it. You can burn the CD and put it in Emily's luggage, and she can give it to me when she comes up for spring break. But at least then I'd have them!! Thank you.

Love, Trina

top 100 lists

Happy birthday, Emily - I'm glad you were able to go through the temple today and that it was a good experience for you!

Jared, you've inspired me to take another crack at my Top 100 list ... you're right, it is pretty hard to get to 100. I have random things written down on various pieces of paper scattered about, and I recently put them into one computer file. I was stuck at about 25. I went through some of my journals tonight, where I have more random things written down, and also looked at your list and Mom's, and got mine up to 57. I'm sure I'll come up with more ... I was just listing things at random, but sorted them into categories. Here are a couple per topic to give you an idea of what I'm interested in, and maybe get some more ideas for yourself.

Spiritual uplift: Study the Gospel Doctrine lessons at home every week for 4 years (since I haven't gone to that Sunday School class since 2003), attend endowment sessions in 30 temples with Adam (we're up to 5 together), and be in the Hill Cumorah pageant.

Family: Make a swaddling blanket for each of my children, help plan family reunions, and take my daughters to a spa for a day-long treatment the week before they get married.

Home: BUY A HOUSE (that would be important, ya know?), have an herb garden in our kitchen, do the 12 Months of Christmas (one Christmas project per month for a year).

Education: Finish this medical transcription course (FINALLY), get voice coaching, take a class in infant massage, lots of reading - biographies and classic literature.

Evil politics (yes, that's how I wrote it): get a Master's degree in public policy, write a blog for a year.

Travel: Go on a cooking tour of Italy, visit all the Church history sites, go to a bunch of Civil War battlefields.

Cool stuff to do: Go to a World Cup soccer game, see a Broadway play in New York City, watch the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean.

I'll post the whole thing when it's finished. I'd like to get it done by the weekend. I have plenty more traveling and fun stuff that I'm sure I can come up with. I'd like to see everyone else's ideas, so put them up on your page!! P.S. Jared, I like how you did all the pictures on the page for your goals - that was fun to go through!

Happy Birthday Emily!!

Emily - We're very excited to see you at the temple in an hour and a half or so and we hope you have a wonderful wonderful 26th birthday. We hope this year is a great one for you - filled with all sorts of exciting surprises :c)

We love you!
Manda and Nathan

P.S. We're excited to see all you other cool Palmers at the temple in a little while too!!

New Years Goals

Here's a random thought from Jared about goals. It's not necessarily about New Years Resolutions, but since people generally think about goals this time of year, why not think about this now.

I know that Mom has a page on her website listing out 100 things she'd like to accomplish in her lifetime. I'm vaguely aware that several other people have similar lists - Trina and Emily and Mindy come to mind, but I don't know about anyone else. Well, now I do too. It took me a while to complete my list, but I now have 50 things I'd like to do listed on my page. 100 was just too much - it took me forever just to come up with 50.

So what I want to know is - what are your "big" goals? What do you want to accomplish before you bite the big one? Maybe we can all help each other come up with more ideas by sharing our lists!

Happy happy birthday
Now come and get your licks
We'll spank you 'til you're black and blue
'Cause you are twenty-six!

Merry Christmas

Look... I'm actually posting!

I know that Christmas was a few days ago, but I'm still on my "Christmas" Break. I hope that everyone had a fabulous Christmas and got many good things.

I had a bit of an adventure on the way home from Utah. I was at the airport when I realized that I did not have my drivers license on me. So I had to be searched a bit extra to get through security. It didn't really add to the time much, but it was interesting. You have to stand in this box and they shoot air at you with airpuffers. Mindy said that it made my hair poof out. Then I had to sit down and watch this guy wipe down my phone, CD player and the inside of my backpack. He looked through everything inside and after about five minutes he sent me on my way. And the most exciting thing is... I'll have to do it all again on the way back to Utah because I am pretty sure my license is in my dance bag in my bedroom in good ol' Springville.

I am just really glad that I am able to post.

-T

Christmas Eve

Hi Family!

It's the night before Christmas. Laurel is wrapping a few presents we bought last night for Gary's family.

Last weekend we had a ward Christmas party and I played Frosty the Snowman. It was a scary costume, but I think I made it work.

Friday night we went to dinner with Speedy's family. Jody, James and Jacob were there with their families. Back at the house, Stevie had a great time with the kids. Jamie and Jake both have boys Stevie's age. Laurel wasn't going to go but changed her mind at the last minute. I'm glad she came along.

Laurel has been very morning sick these days. It's been tough on all of us, but mostly her.

Stevie decided to get up and walk today. We knew he was close, but he doesn't respond well to our goading him. I was dozing off on the couch and saw him take a few steps, fall, and then get up and take a few more steps. I jumped off the couch and woke up Laurel who was napping in the bed. Later, while Laurel was making us hide in his room while she wrapped presents, Stevie walked most of the way across his room. Even later, while we were reading the Christmas story and singing Christmas songs, Stevie walked from his toybox to the futon a few times. It's exciting times. I'm trying to capture it on video, so stay tuned.

I hope you like the presents we sent. Laurel spent a lot of her precious energy putting them together. We love you all and hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I'm sure we'll all be talking to each other during the day tomorrow.

Love,
Eric

packages

I just wanted to let you know that I sent the Christmas box today to Mom and Dad's house. It was sent priority so it should get there by Saturday.

Eric and Jared, I am also sending you a Christmas package for your family, but I'm not quite done with it. So you'll get your's as New Year's gifts, I guess. Sorry about that. This took a lot longer to get put together than I expected, especially since I made 12. (Well, still making.) 6 for our family, and 6 for the Caudle side. I'm not done with all of their's either.

That's been pretty much all I've been up to the past few days ... that, and baking cookies to send to Joe. (Adam's brother in Iraq.) Adam found a recipe for chocolate pretzels - they're basically cookies, but twisted around like soft bread pretzels, and they're SOOOOOO good. Except for the few I set aside for Joe, we ate them ALL within an hour of coming out of the oven. With egg nog. Wow. That was amazing.

Getting ready

I've been doing quite a lot of that over the past three days. On Monday, Mom and I went to Wal-Mart. Then on Tuesday, she had a doctor's appointment in Portland, so I went with her. Mom and Dad got me a birthday present -- a long white dress. And we went to Deseret Books and some other stores. And today, Mom and I went to the grocery store after we dropped Clarissa off at work.

Do you remember what Eric was like before his mission? I've been like that over the past couple of days. Dad got some new DVDs, including a set on Church history, and I watched some of them, as well as older videos. And there are still some that I haven't watched -- yet -- like "Mountain of the Lord." But I'm sure I'll get around to that in the next week.

My birthday is going to be the best ever.

A random video clip

A friend of mine sent me this video. It's really cool!



This machine was built as a collaborative effort between the Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of Engineering at the University of Iowa. 97% of the machine's components came from John Deere Industries and Irrigation Equipment of Bancroft, Iowa, yes farm equipment!
It took the team a combined 13,029 hours of set-up, alignment, calibration, and tuning before filming this video.
It is now on display in the Matthew Gerhard Alumni Hall at the University and is already slated to be donated to the Smithsonian.

Hello

I added some stuff to my page just now. It is in my section which you get to by clicking on the image map at the bottom.
Mom, I hope that you are ok. Amanda and I won't be coming over today because Amanda is on call and has to check her RAs out. Stay off your feet and get better.
Emily, I am glad that you made it to Oregon in safety. Sorry to hear that your face was plastered to the window. Was it easy to get it off.
Jared, I am going to get Skip's info to you soon. Sorry it has taken so long to get it.
Clarissa, you should hurry up and get your stuff done too so that way everything can be done for the actors page.
Everyone else, I hope that you are doing well and know that we think of you often and miss you all very much.

Nathan

sacrament meeting program

http://www.defordmusic.com/silentnightcantata.htm

This link is to the Christmas cantata our ward did this morning. It lasts only about 20 minutes (so there was also a Primary number and a speaker besides the choir), but it's absolutely beautiful. It's an entire cantata based on the song Silent Night, and all the narration is the Nativity straight out of the scriptures. We had a flute with the first song, and a violin at the end. I did the 3rd verse solo and the "Jesus, Lord at thy Birth" solo. (They're right together.) If any of you can do any suggestions for your ward choir next Christmas, I highly recommend this entire thing.

I haven't listened to any of the other music on this website, but I'm definitely planning to. All of it has MP3 files, and all of the sheet music is available for download. And for FREE!! Also at the link above, although that link is specific for the Silent Night cantata. Just thought I'd share some great music!!

P.S. I loved Amanda's actor bio on the Pure Chaos page - I learned a lot about her!!

I am here

Hello, family.

Well, I made it to Oregon without any difficulties. I got to the airport early, and I passed the time by talking with some people from SVU who were also flying out. Then we got on a little plane and flew to Atlanta. That airport is unbelievably huge. I don't think I appreciated the size of it last time, but that was in the middle of the night. This was in the middle of the day. I grabbed a bite at a food court and then headed to my gate. This plane was really big -- the biggest I've been on. There were probably close to 300 people on that plane. It was a long flight to Portland. Usually, I couldn't see much out the window but a layer of gray clouds, but it finally cleared up over Wyoming. I saw the Tetons and Jackson Hole from the plane, and when we were coming in for a landing, I had my face plastered to the window. I had a great view of Mount Hood -- ah, it's so nice to see a real mountain again. And the lights were beautiful. Have you ever seen Christmas lights from the air?

Well, I'm here now. I'll be going to church with Mom and Dad and Clarissa, and then tomorrow I'll go Christmas shopping.

Happenings at Home

Life is full of ups and downs around here, especially for me, it seems. On Thursday I was up one minute, took a step back and I was down - flat on my back - in the parking lot at Wal-Mart. My back hurt a lot so I got it checked out at the hospital and nothing is broken. I stayed home from work yesterday and I'm on some pain pills. I'll be fine but it may take a few days before I'm up and running again.

Today Emily is coming home. Dad was asked to help with the youth baptisms this afternoon, so when he finishes there, he'll pick Emily up from the airport. I'm excited that she'll be here soon.

I like the new pictures on your page, Jared, and the updates on "Pure Chaos" just a couple more things on the Actors & Characters and those sections will be complete, I see.

I guess that's all for the moment. I love you all.

MOM

My turn

In about 25 minutes my last final begins. This is the one that I have been dreading because it is comprehensive and all the others were not. Yesterday the the worst Friday too, because I knew I had to get up for this final. I wasn't even able to really enjoy trading spouses last night. What is the big deal? Well I should go and get some last second studying in.

See you later.
Nathan

forever ago

I know that it has been forever since I last posted, but I really do have a good excuse. My computer is still in the process of being fixed. After getting a new motherboard and fixing everything, Dustin (the guy fixing my computer) found out that the new motherboard doesn't work, so he has to get a new one. I'll be lucky to have a computer before Christmas. So, instead of doing all my homework at home, I did it at the school, in the hours between me being done with work, and the end of school when I tutor four times a week. It was convienent and kept me busy while I waited to do the tutoring. I was/am able to earn extra money with that, so I can be sure to have money for rent in January (since I won't be working over Christmas to get a decent paycheck). Anyway, so I did my homework at school, where I studied hard and got straight A's! Now I only have one term left, starting in January, and then I'll be done with my Associate's Degree. Anyway, so the reason I haven't been able to post, is because I haven't made it over to the library in a long time, and the school blocks all blogs. I made it to the library today, because I didn't have tutoring, and because I had to get some addresses so I can mail some of my textbooks off (hooray for Amazon.com!). I'm happy to read everyone's news and everything. I felt very out of the loop for a while. I'm really looking forward to Christmas, and spending time with the family I get to spend time with. Only one more week left of school.

Final final

Well, in about thirty minutes, my final final will begin. It's the Civil War test. I spent most of yesterday reading. I also signed a contract to move into a different house next semester. It's closer to campus. And there are no pets. Rebecca will still be my roommate. After the final, I am going to go pack and get everything ready to go early tomorrow morning. In twenty-four hours, I'll be sitting around at the airport. I will be getting there really early.

For those of you in Oregon, see you soon! Merry Christmas! Wish me luck on my final final.

The liberated moose

Well here he is sitting on our sink. He isn't too big.





Nathan

Do you know what day it is?

That's right. It's Tuesday Towel Day!!! To bring in the new day, Amanda freed a moose and has a new goal of freeing a reindeer. Of course I am ever so helpful. I really wanted the moose to be free so Amanda started to help and with the two of us working at it we got him out and he now sits on our sink. So next time you look at the calendar and see that it is Tuesday Towel Day think what you can do to help free a moose.

Nathan

I haven't posted here in a while. We are doing fine. Jared is working a lot, 14 or 15 hour days. Kids are great. They are really excited about Christmas. Things are pretty much the same with me.

The week before Thanksgiving, Snowflake (one of our pet rats) got a huge abscess on her abdomen. It was quite gross. The vet lanced the abscess and got it cleaned out good. She was put under anesthesia and everything. We did 10 days of antibiotics after the procedure to make sure the infection didn't return. She is doing very well now. She did get terribly skinny afterwards, so we feed her Ensure. That fattened her back up. Our other rat (Flower) never had any problems.

Last week we bought a new computer. It currently has windows XP media center, but it came with a free upgrade to Windows Vista when it comes out next your. I like my new computer. It felt good getting rid of that old computer.

YouTube

I think everyone got an email about my YouTube channel, but if you didn't you can go to www.youtube.com/ericpalmer to see videos I've put together. If you join YouTube and subscribe to my channel you'll be notified when new movies are posted (or at least that's the theory).

At any rate, that's my latest thing. I'm still working on the Beers Reunion DVD and the Pure Chaos re-edit. And Laurel says I need to stop spending so much time on the computer and spend more time with her.

Yellow pages?

I was going through some of the different sites and I noticed that there was a new picture thing on Jared's. I never knew that Michelle liked to read the yellow pages. So, Michelle, do they have to be local yellow pages, or could you read them from somewhere else, like if you got one from Oregon would you feel ok with reading it in Texas? Not that we are sending you any, I was just curious.

I hope that everyone is having fun getting ready for the holidays. I have a week of finals and then I am done.

Nathan

So, Dad, I hear you're sixty now.

 

How's that workin' out for ya?

I Got a Job

I went in for an interview today at Osprey Court, an Assisted Living Care Home. I got the job. I call on Tuesday to find out when orientation is. I'm now a Resident Assistant. I assist the residents, with everything.

That is all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!!

Holy cow! You're how old?!?! Well you made it to the big 60. I hope that you have a wonderful birthday and that everything goes well. You should quit your job today and retire early.

Love,
Nathan, Amanda (I didn't type this), and grandson #3.

the big 6-0

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y, D A D !!!

Or Grandpa, as the case may be.

We love you - Trina, Adam and Summer

8 hours!!!

Summer slept for 8 hours straight last night!! Woo hoo!! We finally got her down at 10-something last night - close to 11, and she slept clear until 7 this morning. Yay!! Then she took a 2-hour nap this morning after eating her oatmeal and applesauce (mixed, with a little bit of formula as the milk), and now she just finished her lunch of turkey/rice/sweet potatoes - baby food, mixed with babyfood peas - and pears on the side. She's eating like a champ, and she's figuring out the sippy cup. She's currently wandering around in her exersaucer and playing her little piano and talking away. She's on the verge of cutting teeth. I still don't feel anything in her gums trying to break through, but she's chomping on things pretty hard these days and getting randomly fussy.

And there's your Summer report ... Adam has his first final on Thursday, so he's been at the library all day every day lately. He was there all day Saturday, and was even going to go on Sunday after church but his study group got cancelled. He feels pretty good about how he's doing so far, and he got a blessing that said he will do well. But that doesn't mean he can slack off. His last final is on the 15th, and then we have 3 weeks of freedom!! And boy, do we have plans!! It's going to be a great Christmas!!

I'm fine. Doing my own studying, working 2 days a week for our bishop's wife so stuff never gets done around here, behind on making Christmas presents ... you know the routine. Same ol' same ol'. But if I was still working, it would be even worse because I'd be in San Antonio this whole week. But I'm NOT!! I'm HERE!! Hooray!!

M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S !!!

Happy Tuesday Towel Day!!!

I am so excieted that today is Tuesday Towel Day. This is one of my favorite days of the week. Of course I like Saturdays, but I have a chemistry final on a Saturday so I don't know if I will like that one or not. I will like at least half of it I hope because I final goes from 8-11am so I should like from after that until the end. Especially since that is my last final. But enough about Saturdays because today is Tuesday Towel Day. Three cheers for Tuesday Towel Day!! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, Hip, Hooray!! HIP, HIP, HOORAY!!!

See ya' later.

Nathan

Over the weekend

On Friday, right after I got out of class, my roommate and I went out for ice cream. It was to celebrate the end of November and National Novel Writing Month. I'd finished my book (by writing 10,000 words on Thursday) and she was halfway done. So we got a really big sundae. It was good. Then we went to the flute concert.

On Saturday night, I went to Black Friars. It's a theater in Stauton that looks like an original Shakespeare theater. So we were sitting alongside the stage (some people sit on the stage) and the lights are kept on throughout the performance, and people are allowed to eat and drink in the theater (if they purchase food in the lobby). My roommate is in the Shakespeare class, so she invited me along. We saw "The Tempest."

Then on Sunday, there was church, and I talked to the bishop. (I need to set up an appointment with the stake president.) And in the evening, we went to the Christmas devotional. Did you all see that? After the devotional, a group of us got together, and we went caroling. We walked around town and we sang at different houses. It was fun, but it was cold. It's one of those cold and clear days now.

I have less than a week of classes to go. There are no classes on Friday; that's a reading day. And then there are finals. And then I fly back to Oregon.

My New Calling

Today I was released from my calling in Young Women. I'm going to miss my girls. Even though I won't be able to receive my medallion I'm still going to keep working on the goals anyway. It's one of the things on my 100 list to earn my medallion. It doesn't say I have to receive it.

My new calling is in Primary. I'll be teaching the 6 year olds. Right now I'll only have about three active kids and a couple of others who are there occasionally. I haven't taught on a regular basis for a very long time so it will be different for me. I'm sure we'll have a fun time.

I hope you are all healthy and happy. I know you're busy with all of your Christmas plans, school finals and everything else that's going on in your lives. Take a minute to post on the blog occasionally. I haven't seen much on here lately.

Sure love ya,
MOM

Happy Birthday!

I would also like to say "happy birthday" to Laurel, even though I already did. In person. I'm meeting her at the dentist in a little while. Yes, that's how we're spending part of her birthday. We're going out to dinner tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to that (I hope she is).

Laurel is a great person with a strange and abiding interest in creating fake lemon trees. She also has an almost superhuman ability to paint things that look like things, including people, flowers, and a variety of fruits (for example, lemons).

She is also a very good mom. She takes very good care of her little boy named Stevie. She loves him very much. He is a very good-looking baby, especially in the way that he looks like his mother.

Be sure to pause today to consider what a wonderful, beautiful, smart, loving, and talented person Laurel is.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LAUREL!!!

Laurel-

May all your birthday wishes come true this year. I have socks on my hands.

Nathan

School

Thanks for the feminist responses. They were perfect for my assignment. Other good news is that I only have three assignments left this week, and then two tests next week, and I'm done. I've already registered for classes (starting Jan 8th). I'm going to be taking math and geography (of US and Canada), to finish all my requirements, and then music appreciation and art history to fill in the last two electives I need. Then I'll graduate from Chemeketa with my Associate's Degree. After that, I'm thinking of either BYU or BYU-I, with an undecided major as of now, but possibly animation or illustration.

Feminism

Mindy

I would say that feminism today suffers from a split personality. You have the old guard and their close descendants who run NARAL, Emily's List and like organizations. They're the militant ones who get in your face if you dare suggest that women aren't exactly equally in every way to men. These are the ones with a chip on their shoulder the size of the Rock of Gibralter (2.5 sq. miles, 1,397.6 ft. tall). Then, you have the more moderate section that still takes umbrage at the idea that women aren't equal to men in every way, but have decided to engage the rest of the world rather than just shouting at it from their ivory towers. A convert in our ward runs the Women's Outreach Program at my university and fits very nicely into this category. The third and final category is exemplified by my old boss, Carolyn. She's one of the best trial attorneys in Pennsylvania and has shown that she can beat virtually any guy in her field. She also recognizes that women are very different than men in many ways. Unequal does not mean subservient to her and she proves it.

As for feminism affecting me today, that's a big topic. We can go back to the 19th Amendment and women's voting rights and World War II and women in the workplace and lots of other changes. Can you be more specific?

Adam

Happy Tuesday Towel Day!!

Today is our first Tuesday Towel Day. We are now going to change our towels being used every Tuesday, because Tuesday is Towel Day. I hope that everyone will celebrate with us. I also hope that everyone is traveling safely. We have had some snow here and there have been several accidents on the news and I don't want to see anyone from my family in that situation. So, take your time.

Mindy, I do not have a response to your questions because when I think of feminism I think of girls with short hair, hairy legs and pits, and not wearing bras. I don't really think that is accurate, but unfortunately I think those thoughts when I hear the word feminism. I think that feminism is taking a direction of helping other oppressed groups such as minorities. Amanda has given me some insight on more about feminist goals, but I don't remember what they are. I really don't want to make you ladies mad, but growing up when I did in McMinnville that was the type of feminism that I saw.

Nathan

Feminism

As part of my final week of Women's Studies, I am supposed to ask three men a couple of questions. I am using a few other sources, but thought I could get some interesting responses from here as well. The sooner the reply the better.

How would you define feminism today? How has your life been impacted by feminism in the United States?

Thanks!

My Thanksgiving Break

Last week, Rebecca and I had a difficult time after one ride fell through, but fortunately we ended up finding a ride heading in the right direction. So we made up to D. C., finally. We spent all day Wednesday in the kitchen, and on Thursday, we had another visitor join us for dinner. I spent Friday working on a history paper that's due on Tuesday. Saturday, Rebecca and I took the Metro downtown, and we visited two Smithsonian museums -- Natural History (I love the geology exhibit) and the Air and Space Museum. American History is closed, but they have some displays up at Air and Space (such as the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, J.E.B. Stuart's Civil War gun, and the Nauvoo sunstone). Sunday we went to church. And this morning, we headed back and made it to B. V. without any difficulties.

Concerning Christmas traditions -- I like caroling, and I like having Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and reading the Christmas story on Christmas Eve, and then opening up presents early on Christmas morning. I'll probably keep those traditions. I probably won't keep having everyone sleep around the tree on Christmas Eve, and I'll only number the presents if it's absolutely necessary.

the baby is online

If you go to our webpage and see the little image map with the yellow house and the two people waving you will notice that there is now a third little person. He is standing right between the bigger people. This will take you to a new page with ultrasound pictures. Now you will see why Amanda's stomach is doing somersaults. I was thinking of making it so you click on Amanda’s belly to get to this page, but that would be more difficult to find than clicking on this nearly impossible to see person. I hope that you enjoy the pictures. The last one on there is our favorite.

Nathan and Amanda

Christmas is Coming

Good morning everyone. We had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving at Deb's. We taught them how to play "In the Manner of the Adverb" and laughed very hard, as usual. I made some pumpkin pie with Splenda, instead of sugar and you couldn't tell the difference. I also made a banana cream with sugar free pudding and some sugar free jello, so we got our sweets without the sugar.

Yesterday Dad and Clarissa and I braved the crowds at Wal-Mart and got a few things for Christmas. Clarissa got a job for Christmas but I'll let her tell you about that. Nathan and Amanda stayed here after Thanksgiving and worked on their Christmas project. Amanda commented how funny it is that no one seems to be asking for Christmas lists this year from all the family. It looks like everyone has some project that they're working on, or they haven't gotten around to asking yet. My projects are basically finished, so I reached my goal of getting them done before Thanksgiving. We set up our tree and got it decorated but we have the rest of the decorating to do and lots more shopping.

I would like to ask a Christmas question this year. What traditions, from your childhood, do you plan on keeping for your own families and what ones do you want to change? I remember one time when my Dad came to visit at Christmastime and he commented, "We always opened gifts on Christmas Eve." I told him, "Yes Dad, but WE open them on Christmas morning." I'm curious what your family traditions are or what you think they'll be.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Love,
MOM

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

Hey, I like your pictures Jared. We've recently discovered and enjoyed the updates. They're funny and cute. And awesome.

This morning I played in our ward turkey bowl while Laurel headed over to Gary and Karen's to help with the food. It was a small gathering this year. Theresa, Ray and the kids were there, but that was it. Jackie's really sick from the chemotherapy, but Jeff and Jackie are both optomistic.

The dinner was delicious. Stevie was the star of the neighborhood when Sadie and Maddie pushed him down the street in a stroller.

We took a nap at home and now Laurel's watching "Deal or No Deal" and reading to Stevie during the commercials. He's the sweetest guy. I'm going to try to get her to play a game with me, like Scrabble or something like that. We'll see how I do.

I'm Thankful Too

I hope you are all enjoying this Thanksgiving Day. We're heading off to Deb's in a little while. I made some pies yesterday and some Jello salad. Yes, I'm being good - using Splenda and sugar free Jello and Lite Cool Whip.

I have a lot to be thankful for this year, too: for Summer; for a wonderful trip to DC and two fantastic reunions; for legs that work and don't hurt all the time; for 37 years, so far, with a wonderful husband (thanks for the anniversary greetings); for the Gospel of Jesus Christ; for everything and for all of you. I could go on and on but I need to eat a bite of lunch and head over to Deb's to play games and such as we get ready for our feast.

I LOVE YOU!
Mom

P.S. I answered the question about autumn. It's on my page.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hello all!! Happy Thanksgiving!! We definitely have a lot to be grateful for this year ...

- Summer and that everything went well with her birth (yes, it took a heck of a long time, but there were no complications at all).
- of all the things we've needed to acquire and cram our apartment with for Summer, we've gotten most of it for FREE, or used for a very low cost, or someone gave us the money for it. The only things we paid full price for (and we got them inexpensive) were the rocking chair and the crib mattress.
- that we were able to travel out to the Northwest for the family reunions and have our entire family be together for the first time in 6 years.
- all the big and little things that have added up financially since we both quit our jobs (Adam's $5000 bonus when he quit the Senate, all the little jobs that have come up for me in the past couple of months, etc.).
- the opportunities that have opened up for Adam at school since starting in August, particularly with the Federalist Society (for example, an invitation to attend a debate by Alito and Breyer from the Supreme Court in a couple of weeks).

We hope everyone has a great day, and we'll talk to you sometime this weekend!!

(And hooray!! It's the first day of Christmas!! That's also one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving.)

I'm in D. C.

Yes, I finally made it. Finally! We (meaning my roommate Rebecca and I) had a ride, but then one of her classes was canceled, so she ditched us. We couldn't leave as early as she wanted, because we had classes. But we did get a ride, and then we headed up the freeway at 4. We were slowed down because of a big accident along the way, but we got to the D. C. temple around 9:30.

Summer is adorable, and we are going to be in the kitchen all day. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! And a belated happy anniversary, Mom and Dad. May you all enjoy lots of pumpkin pie, turkey, potatoes, and other great food.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! (or Grandma and Grandpa)

Love, Trina and Adam and Baby Summer

Happy Anniversary!

37 is one of those special prime numbers. Congratulations Mom and Dad. We love you very much and hope you have a nice day today.

Everything is fine here. I hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving weekend.

Love,
Eric
Laurel
Stevie

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MA AND PA!!!

It's that time of year again. Time to wish mom and dad a day full of joy and togetherness. I hope that you guys get to go out or do something worth your while today. Thirty-seven years of marriage bliss. Congratulations and keep the running total running. However you have had 34 years of having kids in your house. When is that going to end? Clarissa is getting ready to leave just in time for Eric to move back in with you. Well good job on being married for a long time. The ride's not over yet. See you this weekend for Thanksgiving.

Love,
Nathan

back from Utah

Well, Summer and I had a very nice visit with Tawnia and Mindy in Utah. We did a session in the Jordan River Temple (my friend Alisha babysat Summer) and got our hair cut (but not Summer - her's isn't long enough yet) and played games and watched movies and Summer and I visited them at the school a couple of times. We met all of Tawnia's class and they sang the Utah State Song for us, which, to be perfectly blunt, was more than a little scary. The "hooray for Utah, the Promised Land" promotion was rather extreme. It explains a lot into the Utah Mormon stereotype of the "Utah is the best and every other place in the world is the Mission Field" mentality, since this is what they're taught this they're children. Anyway, it was a great visit with Tawnia and Mindy. I wish we could visit more often and/or more easily.

And now we're back and getting ready for the holidays. I need to get cracking on all the family Christmas gifts. I'm making the same thing for every family and I'm still in the beginning stages of the project. I need to get at least the first one done by next week to send to Adam's brother Joe in Iraq. His wife told us that the box has to be out by Dec. 1 for him to get it in time. I'm very excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year because I do NOT have to deal with a work conference in the middle of the holidays. Yay!! I can BAKE this year!! I'm in charge of all things Christmas for the moment, because Adam got his schedule for his finals. His last one is on Fri. Dec. 15 in the afternoon, and we'll have our Christmas party that night. I want to do a cookie exchange with some friends, and maybe go Christmas caroling. I haven't ever gone caroling out here in DC.

I'm still working on my medical transcription studying, and I just started working part time for our bishop's wife. It's grocery shopping and cooking dinner a couple of days a week. Yes indeed, at long last, I am finally learning how to cook. And I'm not doing too bad at it either - just ask Adam. I also clean house for another lady in the ward every other week. So it's a little bit more money flowing through the system, which is good since Financial Aid is STILL yanking us around on student loans. I won't get into all that because I could go for DAYS, but I am seriously ready to grab someone by the throat over there. It's the week before FINALS of the first semester and they STILL don't have it figured out. We already know we're screwed for January because classes don't start until the 8th ... and that's IF we get the 2nd semester check on time ... because that could get dragged into February or March.

And now that I've worked myself into a ticked off mood ... I'm going to go study because SOMEBODY has to make some money around here because the &%^$#$& school sure isn't going to help.

Pure Chaos .com

No, I didn't buy another url for the movie page.  It's still in the same place.  But it's not quite finished yet!  I still need a few things from some people.

From the Caudle family, I need acting histories for each member of your family.  I also need a "backstory" for Invisible Girl - but the same deal as last time still applies, that is, if you want I can make something up for your approval.

From the Palmer family - the one in California - I need acting histories from Eric and Stevie, as well as backstories for Egbert and Super Runner (same deal I offered Trina above), Eric's thoughts as Producer of the movie, a "final script" (as in, what was actually said on film as opposed to what was written), and a copy of the movie itself.  I also need my crew list to be corrected and updated (the one on the "Under the Set" page).

From the Palmer family - the one in Salem OR - I need Amanda's acting history, and character stories on Skip and Havoc.

From the Palmer family - the one that is just Clarissa - I need your acting history, Kurai-dono's story, and a picture of the elusive Shadow Twins.

I've posted everything else I have!  Oh, and if you know of anyone else who has seen the movie (like Amanda's mom, or anyone from the WA reunion...) encourage them to tell us what they thought!  Uncle Gary is getting lonely on that page...

And the boys have it!!!

I see that most of you guessed the lastest addition to Insanity Inc would be a girl. However, most of you are wrong. The latest addition will in fact be a boy. The technician put his weight at 14 oz and estimated his length to be at 13 inches. I got to see his heart beating, his legs twitching, the umbilical cord pumping, and his brain. We got two funny pictures of him and a cute one. It is amazing what technology can do these days.

I have to go make my boy proud by doing my homework. thank you for all your prayers and cares. Keep it up 'cause we're only half way there.

Nathan

Well wishing

Hope you ultrasound is the picture of health. Maybe it will reveal a lot about the baby, like this picture.

Place your bets...

Alright, I hope that all your bets are in because this is your last chance to guess whether our creation is a boy or a girl. We won't be calling anyone until everyone guesses and posts it on the blog. Or we'll just call everyone anyways. Besides, our kid is probably a little embarrassed and will be covering him/herself up tomorrow when we go in for the ultrasound.

Nathan and Amanda

Trivial Pursuit from Tartarus

And what is Tartarus, you might ask? Besides one of the answers to the questions in the Quiz Bowl Tournament (which no one got), it is the lowest circle of the Greek underworld. I hope this will describe to you what it is like to participate in a Quiz Bowl tournament.

The questions are almost all impossibly difficult -- questions about physics, chemistry, paintings, literature, terrorist groups, Croatian history (no, we didn't get that one), ancient history, astronomy (I did get the one on Pluto's moon), current politics, and African geography, to name a few of the topics.

And we played ten separate rounds against ten teams from schools such as VMI, William and Mary, and Roanoke. Twenty questions per round, plus bonus questions for those teams who get the toss-up questions. So we had to try to answer hundreds of questions. This takes approximately all day -- I got here a little after 8:30 in the morning to set up and we finally finished around 5:00.

So, how did my team do? First of all, understand that SVU had two teams -- one made up of the veterans, the others of rookies -- it was our first tournament. I hope that I remember everything correctly, but if not -- it was a long day.

Our first game: we lost terribly. I don't even remember if I answered any questions. Our second game: lost again. Third game: closer than the other ones, but still a loss. That was where I got the question on Pluto's moon. And the Great Wall of China. And I got the bonus question on Uncle Tom's Cabin. Fourth game: we played the other SVU team, and I managed to answer the only toss-up our team got the entire game. (Berlin Wall.) But we lost terribly. Fifth game: I was so weary with listening to questions that I missed the question on Mt. St. Helens! I almost up and quit right then, I was so frustrated. This was not fun at all. Fortunately, it was time for lunch, and someone brought pizza. So we ate and we got ready to go at it again. I stuck around (but let me tell you it was a very close thing).

The next round was a loss. Seventh round: I believe that was William and Mary, one of the best teams here. (I think they came in second over all.) But we did score fairly well. Eighth round: I had to keep reminding the reader to hit the clear button. It was close, down to the final question, but we lost. Ninth round: no one was scoring very much, but I did get 30 points for knowing landmarks in the U.S. And we won! We actually one a round! Sure it was only by about 15 points, down to the last question, but we won! Tenth round: We drove the poor VMI players crazy by getting the bonus questions on military groups and helicopter crashes. But I did get a power (that means I hit the buzzer quickly and got five extra points) on the question about Yosemite (I know where Hetch-Hetchy is). And I got the question on Brigham Young.

Over all, our team tied for ninth out of the eleven teams that were playing. And of course, the other SVU team won.

Will I continue to play? We'll see. If this affects my grades (meaning if I get a B in performing arts or astronomy), I may have to quit. I also might ask them to mix the teams up a little more, put the rookies and the experienced players together. So I don't know.

And if I thought today was rough, what is the next week going to be like?

Hello, family

Well, this week is rather hectic. But today, class was rather easy. For one thing, I only had one class today -- German. And we spent the whole time singing. It was rather fun. In other news, I'll be playing in the Quiz Bowl tournament on Saturday. My first tournament.

And I'm about halfway done with my Am Civ paper. It's due on the fifteenth, which is the same day I have to turn in a report to my astronomy class and take an astronomy test. So I suggested to my roommate that we go out to eat next Wednesday. I think I'll need a break. And I still have a week after that to finish my performing arts paper, and thankfully my Civil War paper is now due after Thanksgiving break. But I still need to have it pretty well written before that. I am very much looking forward to Thanksgiving and seeing Trina and Adam and Summer.

If I survive that long, that is.

Hair Cuts

My hair is very short today. I wanted it to my shoulders and instead it is to my chin, but I'm dealing with it.

It is really nice to have Trina and Summer here. I have been leaving work and not worrying about it. Today is Summer's 6 month birthday! Hooray for Summer. I think we need to have some cake to celebrate. I was thinking of Carrot Cake, since carrots are Summer's favorite baby food so far.

Work is going well. I got my grades done and actually met with all but four of my students parents. One student I had an IEP with recently, so her mom isn't worried about it, one student is currently in Guatemala so I'll have to meet with them after Thanksgiving; one student is brand new; and then there's the one that I need to call her parents and set an appointment with. I did not have any bad experiences with my conferences. In fact I think they were really quite productive. I even got some tutoring jobs for Mindy out of them.

Today we're going to have our book reports and then make trace fossils. It should be fun.

-Tawnia

the original

Mom found me the very first sister picture, from 1986, so I added it to the sisters pictures page, even without my computer. I'm at the school, finishing up my homework for the week, and just about to head home, but I wanted to let everyone know that I added the picture, and hope you enjoy it.

support the troops

I meant to tell you this before - Adam's brother Joe was deployed to Iraq last week and is in Baghdad. He's gone for a year, so his wife (of 1 year) has moved back in with her parents. It would be really nice if you could remember him in your prayers occasionally. Thanks! Love you all!

An Autumn Day

Fall reminds me of school. We saw a school bus while driving home last night and it reminded me of the first time I rode a bus in kindergarten and how big it seemed. It was green inside. That was the Fall of 1979. That memory goes along with memories of moving to Oregon that summer. I think that's when we got those puppets, the alligator, the dog, the monkey... there was another one too. Anyway, a Fall day...

I don't know how much I really like Fall. Maybe it's because it reminds me of school. Fall mornings are exciting and a little frightening. There are things I love about school and learning, but also some things I don't like. Homework, for one thing. But I have fond memories of being at Ricks College in the Fall. The Fall of 1996. Tawnia was there too. The air on Fall mornings reminds me of substitute teaching in Long Beach. Getting up early and meeting a new classroom of students. It was a very adventurous job.

I think I idealize the Fall sometimes because it reminds me of sweater advertisments. It makes me want to wear tweed and go to Harvard and read poetry while the leaves fall outside the window. It makes me want to get an expensive haircut and contemplate profound things such as what to buy people for Christmas, and whether I should start getting in shape for football on Thanksgiving morning.

Now I live in a place where Fall is subtle. It cools down, but the Winter it leads to is very mild compared with other places I've been. It's nice though, to realize that though the nights are getting longer and colder, it's not going to freeze.

When I was in New York in October, I talked to Laurel on the phone while leaves fell outside my hotel window. The sun was setting and the falling leaves cast shadows on the curtains.

Last year I spent a Fall night in Oregon with Nathan and Amanda. We were woken up at 3 AM by a fire alarm, so Nathan and I walked around Salem in our PJ's and blankets for a few minutes. It was pretty cold out.

And that's the perfect Fall day. A combination of all that. The cool morning air, school, work, reading, talking, and being woken up by a fire alarm.