Groneman Family

THE CHRISTMAS SANTA CLAUS FORGOT I feel ripped. I don't remember much about Christmas as I was drugged up and apparently slept through most of it. Even the parts I didn't sleep through, I don't remember much about. Christmas is my favorite holiday and I wait all year for it then miss it. Oh flarch. I have to apologize to you all for kind of putting a spoiling factor into your holiday....and don't tell me I didn't as I know better. I'm sad that Cambrie & crew had to leave early with that cute little granddaughter of mine and I'm sad that I wasn't much of a Grandpa to those two Dastrup boys. I'm sad that I didn't get to play games and have much fun with my kids. I'm sad you had to put up with me when it really wasn't me. I feel totally ripped. I remember when your Grandpa Groneman went into the hospital for an operation when I was probably 14 or 15 and how it shocked me to see how frail he was during his recovery as opposed to...

Kiera had her baby blessing at the Nelson home last night. She had a pretty rough little day yesterday but thankfully she slept through the blessing and was so pretty and sweet in her pretty dress that Grandma Groneman made (mom definately has a talent for sewing that I don't have!!-- thank you for the dress!!). Kiera has starting making little cooing noises which are so cute. I'll have to get them on video for ya'll.

Announcing the Brett Birthday celebration tomorrow at 1 pm!!! Come one and all! We'll miss the Nelsons, but at least the rest of us will be together! (He has a date in the evening-which is why we are doing it at 1 instead of dinnertime!!) :)

Dec 27...and we wish all was well. Kim is slightly improved. Very slightly. His last coupla days have been even more miserable . He has some very weird new stuff on his back this morning, like nothing I have ever seen. I am thinking that maybe it is the beginnings of a bedsore. Kim is wondering if it is frostbite from his ice downs that I did to him about 5 days ago, but I googled up some images and it doesn't look like either. Cambrie or Brigham, can you shed light on this new weirdness? And if there is anything we should be doing about it? Kim is in the process of trying to obtain a medical leave from Novell....

Kiera's first Christmas was spent at disneyland (what a spoiled child!!!) She spent most of the day eating her christmas meals (milk) and sleeping. But she stayed awake during Pirates of the Carribian (pictured above) and Buzz Lightyear (which was a little too loud for her). It was a long day for her mommy who spent most of the day worrying about her. It was about 70 degrees and beautiful. They have special passes at disneyland for people with babies so that they can enter the ride from the exit and get right on the ride without any wait which was totally awesome. Kiera didn't seem to want to open her only christmas gifts (from grandma and grandpa) so I had to open it for her. I think she liked the ducky and the clothes, but she didn't say much about it-- she just spit up (I don't know what that means). Steve got a suit for his birthday and for christmas (very exciting eh?). We hope ya'll had a good christmas

Little Kiera is one month old today!!! I can't believe it. My baby is growing up : ( We were sad that we had to leave, but glad that we didn't join in on the flu. Sorry buff, but I think we are glad you got the flu because it validated our need to leave. We would have felt really bad if everyone would have remained healthy. California is sunny and warm-- wish you all were here-- and healthy.

Benjamin and Jacob have arrived! Yea! Play cars and play in the snow. The bad news is that Jacob is sick and Kiera is leaving :-( The only one that isn't around is Chad. Brett and Buff both stayed the night last night.

KIERA HAS ARRIVED! Nelson's pulled in about 3:30pm yesterday. What a cute little munchkin! It's a good thing they pulled in yesterday. We had a skiff of snow. This morning I've shoveled the driveway/walks 3 times and the snow is still coming down. I can't wait to go sledding with Benjamin and Jacob!

eragon Buff and I just got out of Eragon. Not the best movie I've ever seen, but far from the worst. A fun adventure...rated PG which is unusual. It was fun going with the Buffalo. Buff, what did you think of the movie? Novell gave us all two tickets. let's see...tomorrow I get toys down out of the attic, set up a crib, etc. etc. Oh the anticipation.

We hope that you are all getting ready to have some great times together! And for all of you party animals out there, Brigham and I are planning on going country dancing together on the evening of Dec. 20th. So mark your calendars and get a date! We want to have you all there with us!

I'M WORRIED ABOUT YOUR DRIVE PUNKIN Keep watch on the weather. Keep us informed. Here's a better site to see your whole Utah route. Of course look at the weather gadgets at the left

So, I am still worried about little Benjamin. For those of you who don't know, he had a fever of 103.5 on Sunday when Chad was there. With no symtons...Brigham thought he probably has the flu. I am hoping if that is so, that its the short variety. I worry that they won't be able to come next monday so say your prayers, family. Dastrups, if you have time to read this, let us know how the boys are doing.

Can I just say that someone pressed the fast forward button on time since Nov 22nd.... I guess after the biggest countdown in the history of the world (which went extremely slow) time just seems to fly now. I love being a mommy and I am so excited to show you all my darling daughter!!

Plenty of Sleeping Room Yer mom has decreed; Grandpa goes. That leaves lots of sleeping room for all.

CONFUSED? BLOGGER HAS CHANGED Duh...you noticed already. I've migrated our blog to the new blogger software. There's some nice new features as well. Let me know if you have any problems. Official countdown: 7/8 days!.....er make that 6/7 days!...now 5/6 days! HOLY COW 4/5 days! Oh yea...Brett came over WITH A GIRL last night! They cooked up some pretty good stir fry. OH! And I've added Calvin & Hobbes in the left column. I LOVE Calvin!

Another plug for Google Checkout: If you use Google Checkout, EACH order that you do through them you can use their special offer: $10 off $30 orders, or $20 off $50 orders. Yup, EACH order you get that deal. Since I'm planning on getting a Wii, I'm buying Wii games individually to make them $30 instead of $50. Here's the info from buy.com's website, but it works with any Google Checkout place. http://www.buy.com/corp/promos/google_offer.asp

I was over to my mom's today with Ann and Kathy putting up her Christmas stuff. I told Ann that Kiera has already rolled over from back to stomach and from stomach to back. At 13 days. Ann says that she had talked to Malesa about how Kiera can scoot along and how strong she is, and Malesa (who worked for a long time as a NICU nurse at Primary Childrens) said, yes, that doesn't surprize her. She says that babies that are born from mothers who had very difficult pregnancies are always stronger than babies who are not. I don't have a direct quote from Malesa but in essence she said that it is natures way of preparing an infant for what appears to be a tough life...making the infant tough in advance of birth to be strong enough to withstand what comes. She says that the babies in NICU who struggle to survive the most are the ones that's mothers had easy pregnancies. I have been telling people that I thought she was strong because of the steroids Cambrie was on for so lo...

Well, our little one is well on her way to being an olympian. Yesterday she rolled over from her back to her stomach independently. At this rate she'll be walking by the time we come to Utah! Speaking of coming to Utah, Nelsons will officially be in Utah from Dec 17th to the 23rd but steve will be working via the internet every day but the 22nd and 23rd. He has to work 10 hours every day but he can pick the hours.

FREE LUNCH - Take II Chad was the first one to actually take me up on my free lunch offer. He called me up this morning and said he was in town and asked to meet for lunch. Buff tried yesterday, but the airhe...er...cute girl forgot to take her phone with her so we couldn't communicate. Nice try but no cigar. I'm hoping to get more phone calls in the future with people wanting me to take them out to lunch.....

(mom got this posted in the wrong area so I'm reposting) Attack of the Terrible Tumbleweed! It is true, while driving between St George and Cedar City, I was ruthlessly attacked (unprovoked!) by a ginormous tumbleweed that tried to bash in the driver door of the Prius...I made a hasty get away, and have lived to tell the tale!! So, it really did scare me. It was dark and I didn't see it coming at all, and suddenly this like 5 foot wide tumble bashed into the car so hard I could feel it on the inside. But amazingly, their was no obvious damage to the cars body. We do have remnants of a smaller one that also attacked the front grill. No, no memorial is planned for it! It was quite the day. I went 2+ hours out of my way to go see Nadine, as Cambrie mentioned. I do not have the time to write it all down here. If you would like to know more, I will tell ya when you come. Lets just say, that upon her opening her front door, a total stranger would have instantly surmised that a crazy ...

DO NOT CALL If you are not on the national do not call list, you can be. If you want to verify you are on the list, you can do that too. CLICK HERE I know a few of you have changed phones recently and may not have registered your new numbers. Cambrie: Why do you have your number blocked so people can't see who's calling? When we get a call from you it says your number is blocked....which is bad because I'm wanting to set my phone to not accept blocked numbers. (I figure anyone that blocks their number doesn't want me to know who's calling for a reason....)

BRAINBASHERS: 41 Cambrie Nelson 77 Brett Groneman (I apparently misspelled it when I put my name in Dad) 111 Kim Groneman 150 Christa Dastrup 359 Steven Nelson 1009 Chad Groneman 1045 Breanna Groneman 1533 Marilyn Groneman CAMBRIE AND BRETT! You are more common than I this month! Marilyn, you are just one of a kind. :-) GO HERE to play the December round.

Here's one movie of Kiera Here's another movie of the munchkin pushing herself along.

All you Utahns will be happy to know that the mother ship has began her voyage back to frozen tundra. She left this morning about 8am, but she was going to visit aunt Nadine (or whatever she changed her name to). Pretty crazy stuff to see your sister after 20+ years. Pretty scary to have psych issues in the family. They say you get it in your 20's so Christa's pretty safe-- the rest of us still could turn out on the loco side of life. Kiera is still as sweet and wonderful as can be. She has held her own bottle up 3 times in the past 24 hours (without prompting, hand positioning, or assistance). PS-- while taking the above pictures we ended up with a little yellow puddle in the middle of Kiera's pink blanket. Oh dear- that's what we get for taking her diaper off.

Brigham and I returned late last night from Brett's old stomping grounds in North Carolina. (Actually we were in Chapel Hill and Durham, and I don't think that Brett actually ever stomped there. But we thought of him anyway.) We left the boys with some friends so that I could go to Brigham's interview day at UNC with him. I'm very glad that that I was able to go for many reasons. The first of which is that I was able to take our car into a mechanic while Brigham was interviewing. (It started stalling every time we got to a stop light after we arrived in NC-- and in case you're wondering-- yes, this is the same car that broke down between his interviews in Pittsburg. You can all start a guess chart on how long it's going to survive. Winner gets the Orioles dice hanging on the rear-view mirror.) To make a long story short, though, we were both very impressed with the program and the friendliness of the people there. It has moved to the top of our rank li...

So this guy used to be my supervisor a few months back in my Loss Prevention position. He interviewed me for the job. I worked with him and his wife before they both got fired. His story is pretty sad. He used to be a really good guy, and made some not-so-good choices that completely messed up his life. Frankly, good thing he's in jail now when he's doing stuff like that. Salt Lake Tribune's Story KSL's Story

So, here I am, again. YES Today, the Santa Anna winds have raged fiercely all day. Alls I can say is that if there were indians that lived here 150 years ago, they didn't live in tepees or theres no way in heck they had any protection durring this season! The apartment trembles under its rage, and dirt blows in nice little piles under the door seal, and the gas fireplace howls relentlessly. The first little pig wouldn't have stood a chance here either. Honestly, I weathered a hurricane with the Dastrups in Maryland, but this has felt worse. Now to start over on the long blog that I added yesterday. It was about the star of the show, Kiera. I thought I was coming to California to help. But I am here to tell ya, that Cambrie doesn't need any help, from Steve or I and she has both! Kiera is the EASIEST newborn that I have ever had the privilage of taking care of! She is amazing! She is so patient! AND Easy! She only got up once last night in 10 hours of sleep! Cambrie g...

Extended Groneman Family Christmas Party WHEN: Saturday Dec 23rd, 5:00 pm WHERE: Our house WHAT TO BRING: Every entity (family or single person) is to bring something to eat such as a dish of food. Of course, bring a white elephant gift for everyone as well.

So I haven't created a post on here for a while. Lest ye all think I vanished, I'd just like to announce that I have an 8-10 page paper due on Edgar Allan Poe tomorrow (Thursday) which needs much work. I have a quick little date tonight to the BYU Synthesis concert. I've been out with her twice before, but one was back in the summer and the other was probably last winter/spring. And there's 1 1/2 weeks left of classes. Hallelujah! And there's your update on my life. Now to business: Dastrups, I have you for Christmas this year, and frankly, the "gift wish list" blog isn't helping me out at all... I vote you do something about that. :)

Let it snow! It snowed slightly as yer mom was leaving for California (in the AM) and it started snowing hard about noon yesterday. It sure seems a lot more Christmassy (is that a word?) around here. Just nobody to share it with. :-( Marilyn: I went to Wallgreens and got some more people on the way back from One Man Band with Dad yesterday. Yer mom always seems to have the camera when I need to take pictures (I used our webcam for this). I hope you are taking lots of pictures of Kiera! I wish my grandsons were here to slide down our back hill. UPDATE: It was 13 degrees when I left home this morning. Brrrrr! I love it. Update to the update: 7 degrees this morning (Thursday)

Hey Benjamin! Click on this:

Kiera's Bath:

Where's my plaque?!? I doubt if anyone has donated an amount above my significant contribution. I WANT TO SEE MY PLAQUE! Also, how do you pronounce her hame? Is it KEY-RA or KEY-AIR-A or KEY-EAR-A? It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the Groneman house! Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhTsWIJT4jw another video

I would just like to tell everyone what I wonderful husband I have. As you all know, Steve loves BYU football and today was the big rival game of the year and steve was so excited to watch it. Well, much to our dismay, last night Kiera started vomiting dark brown stuff so we took her to urgent care this moring and and were there for 2 1/2 hours getting tests and such. Steve didn't have to go with me but he volunteered. We thought we might be able to make it back in time for the game but we didn't. I know Steve was dying inside but he didn't complain or anything. he was so sweet with his little daughter. He scored some major points with his wife too. they didn't find any problems with Kiera so we're just suppose to watch her. They say it's possible she swallowed some feces in the womb and that she is just now vomiting it up. Poor baby!!!

So I'm just wondering if there will be any white elephanting this Christmas season. I think there is always one at the Groneman party, right? We just want to know whether or not to get passage for our elephants.

Thanksgiving at Gronemanville Here are some pictures. It was a great day. Mom cooked up a storm (bless her little heart...she'd been working on pies/rolls/etc. for a few days). Buff had spent the night, Chad and Brett came over about noon. Grandpa Groneman came up and we all spent the rest of the day together. We had a great dinner and some fights over pie (as you can see in the pictures :-) We played a lot of games and of course I won most of them (Who's your daddy?!?!) and we watched a movie. Friday was spent putting up Christmas decorations and playing a few games. Today we put the finishing touches on the Christmas decorations. Hey! There's presents under the tree for everyone from the oldest of family members to the very youngest!

Click on the box below to watch her video...I'll figure out later how to click the actual video onto the blog (I did it for you Punkin'....) (I made it a decent size for you dad...) I made it small on purpose so it didn't take so much room on the blog! Just double click the small ones and they show as big ones.

Kiera's intro

Happy Holidays! Brett and I are here at the parents' house watching Dad put up Christmas decorations. We're doing a good job of cheering him on. We started thinking (dangerous, I know), and tried to think how Gift Exchanging was going to work this year. We couldn't think up how to do it, so we decided to take a vote. Choice 1: Draw names Choice 2: Everyone give a small gift to everyone else Choice 3: Everybody give gifts to Chad Choice 4: Everyone just give gifts to the older brother of your choice. Vote now by adding your comments! Disclaimer: Voting is not anonymous. Gift giving is void in the following states: Nevada, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Texas. All warranties are void after 30 days. Cash value $0.00005.

Quick Update: I'm home really quick to get last minute things together before we get discharged from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day. We'll post more pictures later, but I wanted to give you a glimpse of the newest member of our family...

I'M A GRANDPA TO A CUTE LITTLE GRANDDAUGHTER!!!!! My first granddaughter! Born at 3 'o something (can't remember). She has curly blond hair and dimples. Cambrie is fine but very tired...she only got about an hour's sleep last night. Well done Cambrie & Steve. Hope to hear from you after you get some rest. Oh yea....looks like Chad was almost right on in his guess.: ....Chad Groneman said... ....Date: November 22, 2006 ....Time: 07:18 AM PST ....Weight: 7 lbs 0 oz ....Hair: Brown, but on the bald side ....Name: Juanita Esmerelda Nelson

(Drum rolls in the background, accompanied by the heralding cry of the king's guard trumpets!!!!!) LADIES AND GENTLEMEN (AND ANY OTHER CREATURES THAT MAY BE READING THIS) CAMBRIE AND STEVE NELSON ARE EXPECTING THEIR BABY TODAY!!!!!!!!!!! THE DOCTOR BROKE HER WATER, SO NOW THE BABY MUST COME IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. STEVE JUST CALLED ME WITH THE HAPPY NEWS. SO FAR, CAMBRIE ISN'T IN LABOR, AND ISN'T WALKING AROUND BECAUSE WHEN SHE STANDS UP SHE IS STILL GUSHING WATER...BUT ME, IN ALL MY MOTHERLY WISDOM, HAS THE ANSWER TO THIS PROBLEM AS WELL! I TOLD STEVE TO TELL THEM TO GIVE HER A DEPENDS SO SHE CAN GO FOR A WALK AND GET LABOR STARTED AND GET THIS BABY HERE!!! YOU MAY ALL WANT TO SAY A PRAYER FOR THE UPCOMING PROCESS THAT IT WILL GO SMOOTHLY AND WITHOUT COMPLICATIONS I AM UNDER INSTRUCTION TO PASS ALONG THE FOLLOWING: "DON'T CALL US, WE'LL CALL YOU WHEN WE HAVE SOMETHING TO REPORT" WE ARE SO HAPPY FOR CAMBRIE THAT SHE CAN END THIS MISER...

So I'm just wanting to get the details of when everyone is coming home for Christmas. Last I heard, Dastrups were coming from Dec. 18 - Jan 13. Is that still right? What about the Nelsons? What about everyone else's plans? I'm trying to just see in advance when would be the best nights to request off of work so that I can make sure I can come spend it with the fam when y'all are partying. As for me, school gets out for me on December 7, minus perhaps one test I'll have to take the next week. The rest is just scheduling my life around work and activities, etc.

ATTENTION ALL GRONEMAN KIDS: PLEASE SEE THE COMMENT LEFT ON CAMBRIES LAST BLOG ENTRY ABOUT GRANDPA'S WHEREABOUTS, AND COMMENT PLEASE. IT IS AN EPISTLE...BUT IT IS IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. IT NEEDS A RESPONSE FROM YA'LL.

Today during preschool I was teaching the kids about the history behind Thanksgiving. I was reading a Thanksgiving book to them, and I pointed to a picture of some Indians and asked the kids if they knew who they were. Benjamin immediately shouted, "Lamanites!" Smart boy!

OPEN INVITATION FOR LUNCH I'm in Provo a lot. I'd like to go to lunch with anyone here of my immediate family that's in Provo and would also go to lunch. I'll buy! You just have to let me know when you're available and we'll do it. This is an ongoing invitation (we can go to lunch next week and the week/month after that...etc. etc. etc.)

I would like to propose the following sleeping arrangements for when we all come in December as a solution so we don't have to boot Grandpa out of his home: Mom+Dad's room: CK and Brigham Mom+ dad's closet: Bubby and jacob guest room: mom and dad Basement: Nelsons (so nobody has to hear our baby cry) computer room: Brett or Buff (who both say that they MAY spend the night and if they do they would be happy to sleep in the living room). Chad's appartment: Chad (who doesn't plan on staying the night in Cedar Hills at all). Beings that Grandpa's little basement appartment is all that he has left as his, I think it would be terrible to boot him out of it at Christmas time. And what a way to make someone who is already depressed feel unwanted. I would far rather stay in the spidery basement than do that to Grandpa. Besides, I bet the best christmas gift we could give him would be to make him part of our holiday instead of getting rid of him. What does...

A 1998 study of induction of labor via stripping membranes concluded that 72% of women who had membranes stripped at 38-weeks had onset of labor within 7 days of the procedure compared to only 8% of those who did not have the procedure done. Another composite of several studies (probably more reliable) indicated that stripping membranes makes it less likely that you will go well beyond 40 weeks, but not necessarily more likely that the baby will come right away following the procedure. Who needs doctors and studies anyway? They're just confusing and expensive! Anyway, not sure Cambrie why your doc told you that there was a 75% chance of labor within 2 days (perhaps a different study and perhaps just a gut feeling). Anyway, don't give up hope, we're all going to welcome our new niece very soon!!

Mommy ran the Towson Turkey Trot yesterday , she was soooo fast. While Mommy ran around like a cheetah, Jacob and I met with some of our local Maryland wildlife. Daddy told me not to get too attached to the big bird, particularly this week--I'm not sure what daddy was talking about. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Today I went to the store and bought some food. The trouble with buying food lately is that I have to haul it up the 3 flights of stairs to our appartment. So as I was unloading my trunk I was debating which was worse: trying to carry all of it in one load, or making 2 trips up and down the stairs to get it all. I had just decided to go with the one load option when a black male neighbor of mine whom I'd never talked to before came and offered to carry them for me. I was very grateful as it is hard enough to get myself up the stairs lately. I thought it was very nice of him and I thought, ' I hope my brothers are the type of people who would do that'. I think they probably are.

So, at lunch today Kim was reminiscing (? my children got their lack of ability to spell from me!) about Christmas past and he said he remembered one year that we took our children down to Provo and rode the double decker bus (that the city had bought from England). I have zero memories of doing that in Provo. I do remember doing it in England. So I was just wondering if my children can verify that we did it in Provo. If we did, it obviously didn't make a great impression on me....

Got Baby? I guess this little runt is recieving last minute instructions in heaven or something because she aint coming. Oh well, I don't want her to be undercooked. So, we are trying to be patient around here. We'll let ya'll know if anything happens.

Nelson baby update: Steve and I went to the doctor's office today where we got lots of good news. Baby is doing great and is in a head-down position -3 station. I'm 80% effaced and dialated to a 3-4. The doctor stripped my membranes and said that she thinks there is a 75% chance I'll have the baby in the next 2 days. So far I'm having a few more contractions but nothing major yet. I'm trying to stay on my feet and let gravity pull the baby out. We are so excited to get this little one here!!

Last night Steve and I went to a the premire showing of Work and the Glory 3 in Hollywood . It was pretty cool to see all the actors watch their movie for the first time and see what they look like in real life. There were also a few other actors from TV there including the grandma on Everybody Loves Raymond and the president's advisor on 24. We came to the conclusion that actors are a different breed of people. Work and the Glory 3 was about as good as the second one- and it kindof leaves ya hangin' (once again). I don't think that they plan on making any more movies those cause poor Larry H Miller is loosing $ on them.

Chad's review of Google Checkout I used Google Checkout for the first time today, and am very happy with it. I was buying a backpack online to hold the mammoth of a laptop work gave me, and when I was ready to check out, I noticed a link to pay with Google Checkout. I clicked on it, having not set it up previously. Since I was already logged on to Google's personalized homepage, it prompted me if that was the account I wanted to set it up for. It asked for the basics - Credit card number, billing address, phone number. Very easy to set up. When I was finished, it automatically took me to a google page with my shopping cart already there. It prompted me to log in again (I was happy with this since I usually stay logged in to google on my computer, and don't want others using my google checkout), and it asked me if I wanted to give my email address to the merchant, or if I wanted Google to act as a proxy and just forward me the reciept. That's what I chose, and th...

Movie Review: The Prestige I went and saw The Prestige yesterday, as it appeared to be the most interesting movie that's come out in a while, and Kirk said it was good. The title comes from the third and final stage of a magic trick, that brings the applause, such as an object that disappeared reappearing. "The Prestige" is about a couple of magicians, set in London in the early 20th century. These two begin as friends, but after an accident, they become enemies who try to damage each other as much as they can, often in ways they ought to be arrested for. Also, one of the magicians is jealous of a trick the other created, and is obsessed with finding out how it's done. The flow of the movie is a little interesting -- it begins in a "present" with one of the magicians in jail, and from there it jumps to a relatively recent past, from which it jumps back and forth from, to more distant past events, all explaining how this situation came to be. It eventu...

DASHING THRU THE SNOW....yup, it snowed last night. Not tons, but enough to make it really feel like the holidays are coming on! I am so relieved to have my yard finally put to bed so I can focus on some other things for a season! LIKE CAMBRIES BABY PERHAPS MAKING IT'S DEBUT NEXT MONDAY!!! EXCITING stuff! I hope little miss Nelson is ready to come we can play babies sooner...but only if she is READY. We did a NICU baby a year ago, and I am not going to be ready to do it again any time soon!!! So yesterday I spent 8 hours at the family History library in SLC. It is great fun when you find what you are looking for in great quantities. And no, I wasn't finding any new people I don't already have record of...I am doing what we have been instructed that our generation (yeah, that means you too) needs to do. And that, is documentation. Sounds boring. But it is important...because currently the LDS churches geneology is the biggest mess in all the world, because they have...

Which Instant Messenger Program? I reinstalled everything on yer mom's computer..it was running way too slow with too many problems. What IM program do you folks prefer to use? MS Messenger? Google Messenger? AIM? Yahoo Messenger? It's kind of silly to install them all. Does anyone want to use IM video any more?

The Chad Report So I've completed my first week of real work. And it is work. I went to Monterey and to Hermosa Beach (near L.A.) this past week, and worked tons -- 74 hours in one week! It's cool though, because what else am I going to do when my relatives that live nearby are in San Diego? And my company gives me 1.5 hours of time off for every hour over 40 I work in a week. So I earned 51 hours off, which I'm using. I have a cold, probably a mix between being in a confined tube with a lot of other people from all over, and breathing the smog of LA. I'm taking today off to try to work it out of my system. BTW, can y'all send me an email so I have everyone's email address? I have some, but not all. I have Dad's, Mom's, and CK's. But for the rest of y'all I have old, outdated email addresses I think. Send it to the lower case letters in the following: cISFORCHADgronemaAn at the gmail . com.

Good news: I got my flu shot.... AND I had a doctor's appointment today and the doctor said baby Nelson is perfect size and doing perfectly. AND I am 75% effaced and dialated to a 2. So, she plans on stripping my membranes next monday morning (for those of u who don't know-- that means I will very likely be having a baby early next week). We are so excited!!! Steve and I spent this past weekend in beautiful San Diego where we went to a wedding of one of Steve's friends from Loma Linda. (I am the chunky one pictured to the left). it was a a very traditional wedding which was interesting to see. Steve was a groomsman and got to escort the bride and grooms parents and grandparents all of whom loved Steve (of course). We rebelled against the 7th day adventists and ordered chicken for both of the dinners we attended (they are all vegetarians), but that's what they get for making us attend a wedding on OUR sabbath day. So you all officially have permission to sta...

Vote on Tuesday Yea, it's not a major presidential election, but the philosophy of who leads this country, your state, and your town is important. Many lives have been lost through the years to guarantee YOU the opportunity to voice your opinions in the voting box. It would be a shame to waste that sacrifice. Another fatherly advice moment: Take the time to learn something about the candidates and the issues then spend the relatively little time/effort it takes to vote. Even if you feel you are in an area where the outcome is a forgone conclusion, the margin of the election can have an effect on what happens as well as future elections. " Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost ." - John Quincy Adams " Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote. " - William Simon For those around here that wonder how/where to register/vote. GO HERE

Just wanted to let you all know that the Dastrups just extended their trip to Utah until Jan. 13th (and saved $330 in the process-- weird, huh?)! Our plan is to hopefully have Brigham do his interviewing in the west during that extra week. We look forward to spending more time with you!

So I was just playing with Google's Picasa Web Albums which I think all of you should be using for sharing pictures (instead of, oh. . . say, snapfish for example where I can't see the pictures because they deleted my account). Here's some pictures from Mesquite back forever ago, in case y'all never saw them. Mesquite 4.2005

Holiday Schedule Due to the fact we common laborers must schedule time off during the holidays, it would be advantageous for us to know of the Dastrup and Nelson plans. Now I realize Nelson plans are a little hard to determine at this point, but can we get a start with the Dastrup plans? Which days will you be gracing us with your presence at the Groneman household? I don't want to be working when the family is here and taking time off when nobody is around. I'd think the rest of the worker bees (Chad, Brett, & Buff) could benefit from this info as well.

So i guess since Brett doesn't get on anymore to tell us about things that are happening, i guess I'll tell you about this new update in our stake. So Starting this last wen and going through to the 21st, our stake president challenged us to a "media fast" which means no tv, no music (besides mo-tab and byu choirs) and no internet (besides school things and i'm including this since I want to stay updated in the happenings of the fam) so it should be interesting to see what comes of this. I'm kinda excited about it. Me and my roommates are going all out with it. In other news in my life, most of you already know about this but some don't so here's the story. once upon a time i had a stalker...from ohio. I told him i wasn't interested in him but he still wanted to be "friends" and said I was his best friend and would call me all the time. I didn't enjoy talking to him (because he talked about himself all the time) but I didn't...

I rather doubt that we have any Oprah watchers in this family..(I don't watch her either...but she has come up with a good thing: "The Pay it Forward" challenge. She gave each member of her audience $1000.00 and a video camera and 1 week to do the most good they possibly could with the money for someone else-neither friend or family...maybe someone they barely know. I will have Kim attach some links to this so you can read more about it if you're interested. Anyway, the recipient of the challenge lives in Lindon and they came with the videocamera yesterday to the Humanitarian Aide Project I was at. They did quite a bit of videotaping RoseAnn Gunther (whose efforts she started 17 years ago gave rise to the church's Humanitarian Efforts) They also videotaped us in action (we were quilting at the time). If hers is selected they will be showing some of what she taped on the Oprah Winfrey show! YUP! you got it kids! Yer ma may be FAMOUS for a millisecond on Na...

HAPPY CAMBRIE DUE DATE MONTH!!!! ARE WE EXCITED??? OH BABY, YEAHHHH!!! Just had to get that off my chest. It has been wanting to come out for a long time, right punkin? Hey, if you all would, could you add Sydney to your prayers tonight. She went in yesterday to have the permanent like pic (whatever it is called-what they give her her chemo treatments through) into her chest last night. The surgeon had a hard time getting it in because she is so thin (she has been losing weight and she was already thin to begin with). Anyway what was supposed to be a simple procedure ended up not simple. They punctured her lung and she had a collapsed lung-the most painful thing she has ever been though she says. Well they had to insert a tube last night to re inflate the lung, only it didn't do the job, so this afternoon they had to put in another at the bottom of the lung that wasn't inflating. So she will be in the hospital again tonight, fighting pain, nausea, and a migrain...and just ...

BrainBashers: Common Answers Wahoo! I'm more common than ever before this month! Beat that! http://www.brainbashers.com/commonprevall200610.asp Kim - 13th Brett - 126th Christa - 361st Chad - 414th Cambrie - 797th Steve - 1176th (Cambrie, you married a very uncommon man.....) Apparently Buff and Mom and Brigham are PARTY POOPERS!!!!!! Be sure to play November's round: http://www.brainbashers.com/common.asp

It's Time for the Great Stork!!!!! Yes, boys and girls, it's the month of the Great Stork. That time of year when couples everywhere wait to see what the Great Stork will bring them. Of course, only good boys and girls get visited by the Great Stork. One night the Great Stork will be helped by his elves to pack his bag with babies to deliver around the world and after dark (yea, it's always after dark) he starts his flight with his huge bag full of babies and delivers them to good couples that have set their crib out by the fireplace. Of course he will only deliver if couples are asleep.......but once in a great while there have been reports of people actually seeing the Great Stork flying through the air carrying his bag in his beak saying "Ho Ho Ho!" as he flies in front of the moon. I'm really excited and anxious to find out if anyone in our family will get visited this month!!!!! I love the holiday season!

Memories of Treasure Hunting.... I remember on the morning after Halloween Brett and I would get on our bikes and roam the neighborhoods looking for candy on the ground that had been accidently dropped by some poor unfortunate soul. We usually found about 10 pieces of candy each. I don't know why we felt the need to do this-- as if we didn't have enough candy (we were usually the first trick-or-treaters out and the last one's in on Halloween). I decided it must be the treasure hunting instinct in our blood. We come from a family of arrowhead hunters, metal detectors, etc.. You'll all be glad to know, I resisted the urge this year to get on my bike early in the morning and go and look for candy on the ground.

Last night we took Thomas the Tank Engine and his sidekick frog trick-or-treating around our complex for a little while and then took them to the ward Halloween party. On the way to the party, Brigham and I were just talking about random things. Out of the blue, Benjamin suddenly shouted, "This is the greatest thing I ever did in my whole life!!!" We asked what was the greatest thing, and he said, "Going to a Halloween party at the church!" We had a great time and Benjamin is enjoying a whole bag of candy at his disposal. As for news on Jacob, as of yesterday he is able to push himself back up to sitting whenever he wants to!!!! It's so exciting to watch! And it's really nice not to have to sit him back up all the time!

I saw my doctor again, had another formal ultrasound and a non-stress test. Baby Nelson is doing fine-- just small. I think she is going to be a karate kid for Halloween.

PICTURES Christa, I LOVE the pictures you send. Those boys are just adorable. Once in a great while I get a glimpse of you in there too! Give Brigham the camera once in a while. Keep up the great pictures!

So I guess there are 300 million people in the USA now. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starting to feel a bit crowded. So I got to thinking. If we got rid of all those obnoxious liberals we’d be down to 150 million, then get rid of all the illegal immigrants: 140 million. Next lets take out all the grandma drivers and maniac drivers along with anyone who has any piercing on their face or tattoos: 50 Million. Eliminate people who like pineapple on their pizza or their stake still mooing and we’re down to 20 million. Then get rid of people who don’t appreciate country music, anyone who likes cats, gays, and people who leave their Christmas lights up all year round: 5 million. Take out people who paint themselves for football games, anyone who says “like” more than a normal person should, and those obnoxious Texans who think they’re special: 1 million. Then eliminate the polygamists, the granolas and tree huggers, and the people who play their music so loud that...

I got my flu shot today, have you got yours yet ? Brett/Buff/Chad/Marilyn, you can get yours in a drive through in front of Timpanogos Regional Hospital (by our old house) for $15 (if you bring me a receipt, I'll reimburse you Brett & Buff) Wed. Nov 1 and Fri. Nov 3 from 9am to noon. Just drive by their main entrance, hand the nurse standing there the dough, they give you a shot. You don't even need to get out of the car. (click on this -> to see a more readable version)

Google is having some problems with their hardware - which is causing some "problems" when trying to publish to the blog sometimes. If you publish and get a java error, let me know and I'll see what I can do to fix it......until they get their servers fixed on their end. - Dad

Benjamin is no longer the timid little creature that he once was. On Friday we took him duck-pin bowling (all of you have been out here know what I'm talking about-- little pins and balls) to celebrate the completion of Brigham's surgery rotation. Benjamin was crazy pumped to go. We went to the counter to get a lane and pay, and I turned around just in time to see Benjamin chuck a bowling ball down a random lane that was right next to a family that was playing. The ball almost went into their lane, and they were all frozen with expressions of confusion and horror on their faces. I ran and grabbed him just as he was picking up his second ball. It was awesome! We guided him to our lane and had a great time playing. He was actually pretty good at it! We did have bumpers, but his final score was 69 and mine was only 72! Beginners' luck!

Halloween Costume. The 'bling' is in fact a tape dispenser with aluminum foil wrapped around it.

So, I really did put the wishlist post in the right spot...but apparently I never signed up to be able to post anything there, so it came here. So I am just wondering if any of you out there are watching the new series "Jerico"? I knew nothing about it until I got back from Baltimore. The series is about 5 weeks old, but you can go and watch the first 4-5 segments on the computer, pretty much commercial free (maybe 1 min worth). We like it. So just wondered if any of ya'll are hooked. Christa I told Anne about your adventure in being informed that you can now call your previous small sweetie to "Sir", and she about laughed herself silly! My mom and dad really cracked up too. I am going to send it to the Readers digest...and if they publish it, you can have the money. Still, it is making me smile.

I don't know where my unborn child learned to do the Hokey Pokey (sp?) but she is pretty good at it..... she puts her right foot in, she sticks her right foot out..... and she shakes it all about, she does the Hokey Pokey and she turns herself around. I've been trying to convince her not to do it in the middle of the night. I've told her that Christmas is coming and santa's elves are watching, but I get the feeling she doesn't really care. The tough part is when she kicks and wiggles after eating something and I don't know if it's because she likes it, or doesn't like it. We need to come up with a code or something: Knock three times on my belly if you want more food; twice on my pipes-- if the answer is no. 3 more weeks!!!

No worries. You don't have to start planning my funeral until 2028. Any of you go before that? http://www.deathclock.com/

Today while driving to the grocery store, I said something to Benjamin and called him "Sweetie." He said, "You don't need to call me 'Sweetie' anymore, Mom. I'm a big boy now. You can call me 'Sir'." Since we're coming out to Utah in a couple of months, I thought I'd better give you all a heads-up.

Chad's travelling begins I start travelling for my job next week. I'm excited to go do some real stuff. It looks like I'll be with someone for the first three trips, then I'll likely be on my own after that. My first three trips will come in rapid succession though: 10/29 - 10/31: Monterey, CA 11/1 - 11/3: Los Angeles, CA 11/6 - (11/8?): Chicago, IL I do get to spend halloween evening at home. Due to various reasons, they fly me home on Halloween afternoon, and I'll fly back to California early the next morning.

It snowed at our house yesterday! Last night there was about an inch of snow on the ground. Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way......Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!.....Oh the weather outside is frightful.......

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My exciting day at the doctors office: Today when I saw the doctor she was really upset about me measuring so small and so she sent me for an non-stress test saying "if anything comes out wierd I'm sending you to Labor and Delivery". Anyway, so I went for my non-stress test and I'd only been sitting in the chair for about a minute when I suddenly felt really strange, dizzy, and I blacked out. I was only out for a few seconds and then I puked everywhere. Fun fun fun!! I guess the baby didn't like me sitting in a slightly reclined position. Good news is that everything checked out fine- the baby is just small.

Prayers work: Today Steve got a phone call from the CEO of the VA hospital in Los Angeles Steve became good friends with her before she got moved to LA and became the CEO. She offered him a really good job (70-80k starting off). It is a great opportunity....except for the fact that Steve would have to work in LA and traffic is terrible. He was also told today that he has been given an extention on his temporary job status for a year at the VA in Loma Linda which would be great as well (especially if he gets into dental school at loma linda). He also went to a job fair today that happened to be in Loma Linda and he talked to a few organizations that sounded interested in him. 2 days ago we had no job options, and now we are swimming in them. Nice change.

Interesting prophecy I was watching the History Channel the other night and they were talking about prophecy (bible, Naustradamus, etc.) I was also listening to the radio last night when I was waiting at the airport and on KSL heard some talk about Ezekiel 38 & 39. I came across this paper which is a VERY interesting commentary/study on Ezekiel (more or less what the guy on KSL was saying) and points to Arab states, supported by Russia attacking Israel in the last days. CLICK HERE (it's a big PDF file so takes a while to load) Here's Ezekiel if you don't wanna flip through pages. Apparently some LDS author is coming out with a book about the same thing. Interesting stuff.

Yee Haw!!! Everyone get excited because the Dastrups are coming home for Christmas! We've already purchased tickets and will be there between Dec. 18th and Jan. 4th. So mark your calendars and get ready to PARTY!!!

On monday I made Enchiladas for dinner to feed the missionaries and Steve with. My baby decided that I needed to eat at 6pm instead of 7pm (when the missionaries were coming) so I ate a half an enchilada. Someone either loved it or hated it because she kick and kicked and CLOBBERED her poor mother. So, I guess I'll be avoiding mexican food for the rest of this pregnancy. Speaking of eating, I have to tell ya'll about my very strange pregnancy craving. First of all, you should know that the most difficult thing for me to consume this whole pregnancy has been water. I can only drink very small amounts at a time if I don't want to puke it all up. Anyway, so for the past month or so I've been craving water from a hose or sprinkler. Whenever I see sprinklers going I just want to go and get a drink from it. Wierd eh? Other minor cravings that I've had this pregnancy include cookies and lime juice. So my Statistics teacher is completely obsessed with my pregn...

My life this week without my sweetheart (yer mother) I've been fixing dinner for Grandpa every night. I made a winner meat loaf. I wanted to make meat loaf but couldn't find any dried bread crumbs so I went to the cupboard. I found the remnants of some soda crackers, ritz crackers, and ranch flavored tortilla chips . What the heck. I smashed them all up and came up with the required amount. I also didn't have quite enough hamburger in the package so I added a can of spam (I've done that one before). I also mixed in the rest of a bottle of BBQ sauce that's been in the fridge for about 3 years. Mmmmmmmmm! What a delicious meat loaf! It would win a prize at a county fair. I cooked brownies one night and Chad came over and refused to eat any (shocked!....I was shocked I say!) I suppose that has to do with his diet Kirk put him on, and NOT my cooking skills. Ohwell, Buff came over and made a significant dent in them. No worries...I made another pan yesterday...

The bidding has begun for favorite relative status for this little whippersnapper who will soon be born. The amount will remain undesclosed for the time being only to motivate competition, but the main contributor and first-place winner THUS FAR is our favorite dad!!! For everyone else, don't get left behind!

NOW HEAR THIS! Chad, Brett, Breanna: When we were on our cruise, I had multiple notes left around the house emphasizing to PLEASE keep the doors locked. When we got home, the door was unlocked. Today when I went to work, I double checked to ensure the doors were locked. When I got home, the mail was laying on the counter and the front door was unlocked. I would hate to have to change locks and lock you guys out, but if this happens a couple more times, I will have to. Don't make me do it. Marilyn: There's a message on the machine from Angie at Dr. @)(*^%&#@'s office 763-3850 that wants you to call her back.