The Groneman's wedding pictures are now available. Happy New Year!
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Due to the insurmountable clamoring to reveal the correct answers of the Groneman anagrams posted last month, we felt it necessary to succomb to these requests. Here are the hidden messages behind our innocent names: 10. Groneman dad Garden Nomad 9. Groneman mom Mormon Mange 8. Lone pear HS Loner Phase 7. Brettisha Groneman Something aberrant 6. Kiera F Nelson Forsaken Line 5. Brigham Dastrup Burst Diaphragm (possible cause of death???) 4. Cambrie A Nelson Sociable Manner 3. Kim L Groneman Mongrel Makin' 2. Chad S Groneman Grandma Chosen (some may disagree) 1. Malesa Weber Males Beware
Like the Nelsons, the Dastrups also had a great Christmas. Jacob figured out the whole unwrapping thing and really got into it. He was very excited about his toys, and would fight his Dad to get them back when Dad was trying to free them from the packaging. Benjamin got a Spiderman bike from Grandma and Grandpa, so he had a great Christmas, too. Here are a few pictures, and if you have the desire to see more, feel free to go to the link on the left.
E rica and I are back! And guess what? 14 Days since we were married! And she's still with me! Okay, okay. So... I want to know why the Nelsons make us go to their blog to get the good stuff. I'm used to making my rounds to the photos & videos. But now they have a blog and think they can just stick the goods there. I formally protest this and plea that they might come to their senses and post all the good stuff on picasa or youtube, depending on the media. For those of you who haven't seen, there's an awesome video of Kiera & D'Anthony losing their VL. As for my part, expect the Wedding Day Photos to appear on Picasa later this week.
Words of wisdom from Dad: In cold weather you should keep your gas tank as full as possible (for example fill up when it's half empty instead of waiting until it's near empty). The reason is that in cold weather, water vapor condenses on the inside of the gas tank not covered with gas, especially if the temperature varies from warm to cold, etc. Water is heavier than gas so once it condenses it goes to the bottom of the tank and is sucked into the engine. You may not even notice, but you may notice sputtering or even stalling and hard starting. The more full you keep your tank, the less surface area the vapor has to condense on. There ya go......isn't your life enriched now?
For those of you who have not received the official word yet, Katie's and My wedding is going to be Saturday July 12, 2008 . Nelson's, we'll be sharing anniversaries then I guess. It's not perfect for everyone's schedule unfortunately, but there was no way to make that happen. But hey, it's on a Saturday. And if you can't make it, I'll personally mail you a piece of ice cream and cheesecake. You'll never want to eat it by the time it arrives, but...
Here it is, the blog you have all been waiting for: The Nelson's Christmas summary . I couldn't help but put alot of pictures on the blog. Call me a blog hog if you want. PS I would recommend checking out our picasa pictures. There are some fun ones! Buff was nice enought to stay with the sleeping babies while steve and I went out to eat for his birthday. She was also nice enought to make the cookies for santa. She slept in the living room (the room with the fireplace) I know she was just trying to get a good look at santa. But apparently she was sound asleep when he came. This was our first Nelson Christmas. It was different to be on a santa end of things and it was also different to have to spend a half hour changing diapers and feeding babies before we could go have Christmas. But it was fun nevertheless.
It snowed more last night! Oh boy oh boy. Last night I helped Darin Simons (neighbor) take his two bikes and his little battery powered ATV over to his house. Santa used our house as a storage depot. This morning I got up early and hopped on my ATV and plowed the walk both sides of the neighborhood as well as my own driveway. I love snow! It's still dark and our Christmas lights are twinkling outside in the snow. I love you all! MERRY CHRISTMAS! | (9:30 am update) Oh! Oh! I got some new snow boots and two shirts and a DVD of a movie I've never heard of! I got some sugar free candy and pudding and a kid picture calendar that's up to date with Erica and Katie on it! Oh boy oh boy oh boy!.
So being 30 is painful, but my birthday itself was good. Benjamin apparently put a lot of thought into my birthday present. According to Brigham, they had a conversation that went something like this: Benjamin: "We've got to think of something great for Mommy's present!" Brigham: "What do you think she would like?" Benjamin: "Well, I know she really loves two things-- me and her Roomba... but she already has those. Hmmm... she likes to brush her teeth... maybe we could get her a toothbrush!" His great plans were foiled however when I went to the dentist two days before my birthday and got a new toothbrush there. To celebrate my birthday we went out to Wendy's for lunch (because what better way to celebrate a special occasion than with a kid's meal?), and Jacob was hilarious. I was walking him around while Brigham ordered the food, and he kept zeroing in on people who had fries. He would walk me right over to them and would NOT be t...
CHRISTA!!!! Happy 1st anniversary of your 29th birthday!!!! How does it feel to be as old as your pa? Ya doin' anything special today? Oh...and HAPPY WINTER everyone! And here's a good joke for you: While attending a Marriage Seminar dealing with communication, Tom and his wife Grace listened to the instructor, "It is essential that husbands and wives know the things that are important to each other." He addressed the man, "Can you describe your wife's favorite flower?" Tom leaned over, touched his wife's arm gently and whispered, "It's Pillsbury, isn't it? The rest of the story gets rather ugly, so I'll stop right here.
Tragedy strikes in the Nelson kitchen: So, it would be easy to try to blame my problems on the 2 sick babies who were at my feet and clinging to my legs (well, periodically), but in actuality there is nobody to blame but myself. I made some orange rolls which I planned on giving to neighbors/ Friends with some oranges. I was ever so upset when I realized that I burnt half of them. "oh well" I thought, "at least I have about 12 that are not burnt". But no-- I discovered soon after pulling them out of the oven that I had forgot a vital ingredient: salt. Ooops 2 little teaspoons of salt make a major difference in taste. Then to top it all off, I cooked my very first turkey today (16 lbs) and overcooked it so it's a bit nasty to eat. Now THAT was an expensive mistake. AAARRRRGGGG !!!! PS , I still ended up giving some orange rolls to 2 of my good friends. I figured that they would like me even of the rolls were not that hot. PPS don't forget to ch...
Jacob put a new twist on an old trick today. I was getting ready to take the boys to Benjamin's joy school Christmas program (where Benjamin starred as Joseph), and I started by getting Benjamin ready. With only minutes to spare before we needed to go, I went to go put Jacob's shoes on him. I found him sitting in my room with his pants off (old trick), his diaper off (another slighly less-old trick), and woo everywhere (new trick). He had apparently been stepping on it because it was all over his feet and ground into the carpet, but when I came into the room he was happily mashing it around in his hands. Need I tell you that the leading man was late to his first performance? But despite Jacob's attempt at stealing the show, Benjamin was still an Oscar-winning Joseph. I was only slightly distracted by thoughts of mucking out our stable once we returned.
Ok, a big oops on my part:I started taking my Sociology Final online this morning at about 10am. It is a timed test, but open book so I didn't study much. I was about half way through it when Steve came in the room and let me know that the LA county social worker was there to see me. (Background on this social worker: she is really mean and got really mad at me when I had to cancel an appointment with her in order to get Danthony's cast off.) I still had half of the questions left on my final and time was ticking quickly so I asked Steve to take the final for me and I went and entertained her for 20 minutes. I came back when there was 4 minutes left. OOPs. I should have looked at my calander this morning! Good thing Steve was home to help me out! The social worker said that chances are good that Danthony can go straight to live with his Aunt who lives in a studio appartment. She just has to aquire a fridge first (apparently she eats out every meal). So, looks like Danthony'...
So I'm pretty new at this whole blogging thing, but I thought I'd give it a try. I've been studying for my final all day, listening to classical music as I'm prone to do. After I listened to everything I had, I suddenly remembered my new Pet Tunes CD. You were right Christa and Brigham, that's pretty good stuff. You all missed out big time on the White Elephant exchange!!! Thanks!
HEY! I actually feel NORMAL today! No Flu effects left---YEAYYYYYYYY! Life is great aint it???!!!! Course, if it was viral, it will probably come back. But I feel good today! And even when I had it, it could not conquer my joy! Can I just say HOW MUCH I LOVED THIS WEEKEND? IT WAS SO WONDERFUL TO HAVE MY FAMILY ALL HERE FOR CHAD AND ERICA'S MARRIAGE! And it was so fun the night of the Christmas party too. My heart is so full of warmth and joy, just remembering it! And even though the nasty little bug put a not so wonderful aspect into it, already that part is nearly forgotten (except that I keep wondering and being concerned over Chad's and Ericas health on their honeymoon). Chad, as soon as you come down from Cloud 999 enough to read this, let us know how you two are doing/did. The whole wedding day was just a great event!! It seems SO WEIRD to me that Christmas is one week from today. It is the same feeling I had after Brett was born Dec 28. When I came home, actuall...
I need to mimic a post Erica did on her family blog: I wanted to post some info about this week's activities, so we're all on the same page. 1. Schedule: Endowment session (for those available and interested), Mt. Timpanogos temple 4:00 session on Thursday, December 13th. Luncheon (all immediate family, some aunts / uncles are invited, including the kidlets), Friday @ 11:00 am at the Northampton House in AF Sealing: Friday at 3:00 pm (be there at 2:30), Mt. Timpanogos Temple Pictures: immediately after the sealing at the temple, then also at the Alpine Country Club when it gets dark. Reception: Friday from 7-9, Alpine Country Club. 2. Ties. Mom & Dad bought (Chad picked out) cranberry colored ties for all the guys. We'll bring those to Mom and Dad's house on Wednesday night. You don't have to wear it if you don't want to, but it'll be there for you.
Imagine playing with your toys and making neighbors happy at the same time. That's me with my ATV and new snow plow blade! It's been a great snowstorm. Yer mother and I have been really enjoying this. After a great dinner of curry and pickled beans, we took a drive up AF canyon just to see the snow.
CONGRATULATIONS TO CAMBRIE!!! Cambrie ran and finished the 1/2 marathon today!!! She is probably icing down her legs, as I type! Either that or taking care of sick little kids. I am hoping that the little kids are better. ARE YOU ALL PRAYING? Anyway. I think that is quite an accomplishment Cambrie. Anyone take any pictures for you to put on the Blog? In case anyone missed it: We have cranberry color ties for all the guys to wear this friday, so you don't need to do that. 6 days to go! And 4 days till I see my KIDS!!!!
Hey, I think that we need to have all of us pray every day between now and Dec 12 for health for the family. Cambrie still has 2 sick little guys, and if they are still as sick on Dec 12, they likely won't be able to come. And even if they could, I doubt that CK and Brigham would welcome it into their home with it's nausea and diarhearra (and it is altogether PROBABLE that Erica and Chad don't want it on their Honeymoon either:) : We need some Heavenly intervention. Cambrie says the last time Kiera got this, she had it for like 10 days, and she has only had it going like 4 days thus far... You know, Cambrie: I have to wonder...could it be the same Virus that started this problem in the first place, and it just mutated so it came back on you? A true flu bug will do that...
WANTED: Your ideas Erica and I have a bit of a predicament. It's our wedding photos. We didn't realize how dark it would be when we get out of the temple. We'll get out around 4, and only have about 15 minutes of poor lighting before everything will need a flash, if it's a clear sky (probably will need it for those 15 minutes too). We could get up well before the crack of dawn so that Erica could get her hair done, then we could go get pictures taken at 9 AM, but that kind of defeats the purpose of having a later wedding. We could pay the photographer $200 more and have them come to the reception as well, and we could get all the family shots there. Any other ideas?
DANTHONY STAYS Looks like you will all get to meet Danthony at Christmas time (and looks like Buff and Dad will have one more to babysit during the wedding). I just got the phone call from the social worker who informed me "They are giving his mom and dad 6 more months to clean up there lives", "So we keep him for 6 more months?" "yes-- although supposedly there is a sister interested in trying to get him, but she still hasn't even been fingerprinted so it's not very promising." I have mixed emotions on the subject. Beings that today was a particularly difficult day, I'm disappointed, but I know that Kiera likes having him around, and I am pretty much adjusted to having the extra child, and I found out that I'm going to continue getting paid as if he was still a "special health care needs" baby although he is not. Anyway, that is the news.
I've been so crazy busy the last couple of weeks that I haven't been able to be on the blog much. And I don't see things getting much calmer before Christmas, so I thought I'd give a quick Dastrup update. Brigham is working 30 hour shifts every fourth day and wondering why he chose medicine. The rest of us are wondering who the scraggly, bleary-eyed man is who drags himself in to eat every now and then. Benjamin is going through a really adorable phase where he loves me more than everything else. It's great! He tells me at least 20 times a day how much he loves me and prays for his "sweet, sweet, sweet, adorable princess mommy" every time he prays. We'll see if this lasts after Christmas-- maybe he's smarter than I think he is... Jacob is a darling terrorist. He has figured out how to open doors, so nothing electronic is safe anymore. He has decided that he HATES grocery shopping and will scream from the moment you put him in a cart until th...
We should be finding out in a matter of hours if Danthony goes or stays. His fate is currently being decided. We have mixed feelings on the subject. Kiera definately likes having him around (for the most part). We had 24 hours of respite care this past friday and i was so excited to have 1 on 1 kiera and mommy time. .....too bad we couldn't enjoy it because Kiera was too busy wandering the house whinning looking for Danthony! She was SO excited to see him the next day. Anyway, I'll update when I find out.
Everyone but Chad and Christa, I need you to do something : 1 - Go to http://www.brainbashers.com/common.asp 2 - Login. (created a user and login if you haven't created a user yet) 3 - In the upper right, click on the YOUR HOME PAGE link 4 - In the top section, click on the EDIT YOUR DETAILS link 5 - Scroll down to the bottom and under the LEAGUES category enter: Groneman Why? This will save poor Brett from having to manually search for each user next month.
BRIGHAM! STEVE! Hey, there's a box coming to each of you DON'T OPEN THEM . They are your Christmas presents (read the label...if it's from somewhere you don't recognize chances are it's the box I'm having sent or a bomb....either way, not a good idea to open it). Ho Ho Ho! I know what you're getting for Christmas and you'll love it!
WE HAVE A GHOST! And it is a naughty one! Last night I had a Sunday School Party I threw here for my class (because the only girl on my roll that never came, was babtised). We made and ate pizza, and played a bunch of games and then I put on "The Ultimate Gift" DVD. After it was done, the boys were just talking in the Fam Room and I was doing dishes (all of the girls had gone home). Anyway, all of the suddenly there was a horrible noise that came from our bathroom. I went in there to see what in the heck it was, and was shocked to see that our bathroom shower door had exploded into about 2000 pieces and was all over the bathroom (like 6 feet away from the door). Go figure. No one was in there. So, today, Kim had to go and spend another $180.00 for a new set of doors. Luckily, they still made the same one, so he didn't have to install new framing....but it was still a pain in the tush. It exploded into my laundry hamper that was right next to it, so I had to ca...
The Brainbashers Breakdown! Introducing this month to our midst, the beautiful and talented Katie Boren! Also, un-introducing Marilyn Groneman! . . . Where'd you go Mom? So I'm pretty proud of myself for getting "Bempty" as the made-up word that rhymes with Empty right. I also think it's interesting that the first four people in our group all got the same worst score in the family on question 10. Cambrie, while everyone else has to get into a boat and row over to the other side of the river, you and I can take the bridge. I prefer our method. Then again, I don't know what Steve is taking? Hovercraft? Airplane? Way to go Brigham. It's almost scary how well he knows how other people think. Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 32 Brigham Dastrup 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 4 49.8654% 174 Brett Groneman 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 4 1 4 11.5328% 180 Chad Groneman ...
So last night, my roommates and I invited all the girls in our group over for homemade Orange Chicken and eggrolls. Yes... be jealous... it was SO tasty! I got the recipe for the orange chicken online from copy cat and it was a copy cat of Panda Express's. It took longer to make it than it should have cause I wanted to make sure I was doing everything right but now that I've made it once, it shouldn't take nearly as long. And I was going to make it for Cambrie and Steve tonight when they came over but I got roped into covering for one of my co-workers so it'll have to be another night... Sorry cambrie and steve. After dinner we all went to go see Enchanted. It was SUCH a good movie! It was a chick flick but it was the cutest and one of the funniest chick flicks I've ever seen. I think you would all enjoy it. It's definatly one I'm going to buy when it comes out on video. Anyways that's my adventures.... this must be some kind of record for me......
So today, Keira and D'anthony got to come and see aunty buffalo's new apt. and I got a few pictures and videos. They were cute enough I decided to put them up so all ya'll could see them too. Oh and I have a question for Chad and Erica. Have you 2 decided on your wedding colors yet? I need to know so if I don't have something of that color that I can start looking for something to wear for the big day!
I really don't know how I could be happier ! This year has been SO GOOD to us, I really can't remember a better year ever! But of blessings too numerous to mention, by far the best is the fact that our 2 boys have found such FABULOUS girls to marry and spend time and Eternity with! WE are THRILLED!!! I cannot think of (nor do I think that they exist) anyone I would rather have my boys marry! AND, we are happy that they are both from Utah Valley, and we are in hopes that that will mean that they can put down roots here, forever, and we can have some grandkids to love on that are close! You all know how I made it a matter of Temple prayer, and fasting, and continuous prayers that Chad would be able to find his Eternal sweetheart an marry her this year. I knew it would happen, and I felt so blessed over that and the fact that both Cambrie and Christa's families were able to get into nice homes and good circumstances to endure the next 3-4 years of Dental school/reside...
Hey family, I actually have something to write about! I know I know....shocking. So on friday, I went to a YSA dance at the redlands stake center and there weren't that many people there, only about 30 in the cultural hall, but the DJ was really good and we had tons of fun. Some of the pictures are at the dance. Last night we had a home warming party at our new apt and it was a big hit. We had invited a whole bunch of people from our ward and didn't know how many were coming so from about 1:30 pm till 7:00pm when people started showing up, we were making all kinds of food. We made 2 cake sized pans of beef enchiladas and 2 cake sized pans of chicken enchiladas and we still had extra ingrediants to make at least one more pan of each kind. We made homemade salsa and guacamole, some refried beans and mexican rice and then we made a pan of brownies and some fudge. about 12 people came to our gathering and ate 2 full pans of enchiladas, half the salsa the brownies and the fudge. Peo...
I'm no longer "un-officially engaged". That's right. Your teasing and blunt hinting is old news. You all know the big news. No definite date yet, but it's looking like beginning to mid-July. *sigh* Long time. It actually works out great to do it then for when Katie's parents come home and Brigham's school stuff. I told Christa I'd put up pictures on here, but I realized I don't actually have many pictures. Mom and Dad have a few. These are a couple of pictures Pictures taken with my phone today. Better pictures coming, I'm sure.
The Dastrups had a fantastic Thanksgiving-- complete with a family football game in the morning. The feast was to die for, and Mom's rolls were a huge hit with Brigham's family and Benjamin, who ate 4 for dinner and almost nothing else. Brigham's dad said that they were some of the tastiest things he's ever eaten in his life. I thought I was going a little crazy to triple the batch, but I decided I'd freeze some for later. Wrong. They were all gone the day after Thanksgiving! The pumpkin pie fiasco turned out fine, and the first apple pies that I have ever made from scratch were delicious! Brigham made gourmet garlic herb mashed potatoes and fabulous yams. His sisters made homemade stuffing, and as you can tell, we had quite the feast. Maybe next year ya'll will come on down!
New Groneman Anagram Game!!! Click Here to make your own. We found some hidden truths behind our family names/things, but we know there are better ones out there. Let's see who can come up with the best Groneman anagrams and post them on the blog or in this comments section. Here's our Top 10, but the challenge is for the rest of you to come up with better ones. See if you can figure some of these out: 10. Garden Nomad 9. Mormon Mange 8. Loner Phase (school) 7. Something aberrant (Think nicknames: ie Cake, Buffalo, CAG) 6. Forsaken Line (don't forget about her!!!) 5. Burst Diaphragm (possible cause of death?) 4. Sociable Manner (still to this day) 3. Mongrel Makin' (ideal fit:) 2. Grandma Chosen (some may disagree) 1. Beware Males (our absolute favorite!!!) Answers will be posted depending on how many growls we here
Kiera's birthday and thanksgiving were both successful events for us. We spent both in Pheniox AZ with part of steve's family. We watched a SUNS game which was cool/different and stayed overnight in a hotel. Since I didn't want Kiera and Danthony sleeping in the same room (since he always wakes up at 5am, I put Kiera in the bathroom in a pack n play that barely fit if we wedged it in. It sure make getting to the toilot interesting though-- it required climbing through the tub. But Kiera slept through our bathroom usage. Thanksgiving dinner was good but differnt. Store bought rolls just are not the same. Oh well. Nelsons do a good job in the vegetable category though. Kiera mauled her first birthday cake (which was the store-bought kind with the lardy-frosting). There is a video and pictures posted-- feel free to view. The trouble came when she was finished and we realized that the water-heater was broke so Kiera had to take a very cold bath. Poor little birthday ...
THREE WEEKS!!!! That's 21 days for those of you who get confused as to whether there's seven or eight days a week. Cambrie, we're excited to see pictures & video of Kiera's first. Yesterday Erica and I went to her 94 year old Grandma's house for Thanksgiving. It was really good. We brought homemade cranberry sauce, which was really good. Everyone liked it. It's much better than the canned stuff, for all of us Gronemans, who have never liked it. We had a really good turkey & ham too. We hope you all had a marvelous Thanksgiving too.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING FAMILY!!! Well, Devin and Crystal are officially married today, the tempurature has finally gotten into the season (70 on Monday, 20 today) and even though we have no snow, the temps at least make it feel like the holidays are here. We were going to have a pretty small Thanksgiving "crowd". 3 of us to be precise. But I was talking to Ann today, and found out that they only have their 2 youngest for their feast tomorrow, and then at the luncheon today, we found out that Kathy is only going to have their 3 youngest, so we decided to bring our feast and converge upon my parents and eat together. So there will be 15 instead of 3! So we ARE going over the river and thru the woods (only the river is called Forest Creek, and the woods, would have to be those trees we pass between by the creek...but hey, we ARE going to Grandmothers house, so we qualify, right? We thought that if we take it there, we will be assured of her being there. She hasn't been to ou...
Cambrie said as long as I have time to breathe by taking a break from studying, I can use that time to write in the blog:) Besides the fact that Buff sees Kiera more than I probably do, the only news I can report on is D'Anthony's parents want the missionaries over to their house. They've been curious about the gospel ever since a few weeks back when we talked about the actual date of the 2nd coming: Dec 21, 2012 according to the Aztecs. He has the aztec calendar tattood on his arm. I asked him why he didn't just buy a watch and save money:) I'm trying to remember what else always happens Dec 21 to help me remember that glorious day...
Hey, I just also have to tell ya. .. Kim wanted to go ATV riding again this last week be c ause the weather is still so nice ( although that is supposed to change drastically about tom o rrow or Tues), so Friday after he got off work, we took off immediately and went up AF canyon, above Tibble Fork on a short little ri d e. We only rode about 90 minutes tops, but in that 90 minutes, we saw 7 moose! 2 of them were b ig bulls, one of which had a huge rack! And they were not far away. The Biggest bull was only about 50 feet in front of us o n the road. We decided to give him right of way. You kno w , just to be courteous! We di d n't think to take a camera, so sorry, you get no pictures of the event, but it was a fun little ride! I thin k though, we really are done riding A TV's for this year. We have friends that ride in the winter too, but I have trouble staying warm at 72 degrees, I don't t h ink I will try winter riding. (One parting thought: There must be alot of m ...
I'm here to tell everyone that Christa's "sleep bible" that she recommended to me about baby's sleeping habits is true. When I tell people that Kiera goes to bed at 6pm and sleeps for 13 hours everyone scoffs and says "oh, you are so lucky. My baby would never do that-- she goes to bed at 10 and wakes up at 6" Everyone attributes Kiera's beautiful sleeping habbits to "luck". Well, when I got Danthony the nurses in the hospital told me he went to bed at 9-10 and his mom told me the same and that he "takes naps about 3x a week". Well, I'm here to let you know that after a week and a half of having him he was on the same sleep schedule as Kiera: bedtime 6pm, naps at 9am and 1pm. The only difference in Danthony is that he wakes up at 5am and I have to give him a bottle to get him to go back to sleep. The "sleep bible" is true. I put him in his bed and bedtime and walk away and he goes to sleep. Hallejulah. B...
HEY FAMILY!! I have something to blog about! I wish all of my daughters could have been here today for Erica's Bridal shower! It was fun! I got to meet her family...and friends. It really is so weird...her parents live so close, we could totally just go their house on our walks every morning. When I get on the street that goes past the High School, I take the 2nd street that turns left, and they are about maybe 10 houses down from that turn. It is a very nice home. I was surprized to see a Grand piano and Harp in what is my equivalent Living Room/must be their music room. Reminded me of Brighams family's Living room...it also has become their music room for all of the talented people in that family. Turns out Erica's mom plays the harp. Erica plays the piano! (Can I just say, that I am very happy that my kids thus far have married people who can play the piano, since I was so LOUSY at getting my kids to?) :) :) Anyway, Erica has a great family. They made me feel very com...
Ha ha ha very funny cambrie.... As fun as living in a van down by the river may sound, I made the hard choice and moved into an apartment with 2 of the girls from my ward. It's a 2 bed/2 bath place and we love it. One of my roommates had a whole bunch of furniture already and a whole bunch of decor so our place looks more like a home than a dorm. It's really nice! Once we get everything in it's right place, I'll take pictures and put them up on the blog. But it's a really nice place. And it's convieniently located next to the freeway and across the street from walmart. I really like it. As for what's going on in my life, not much. Pretty much, just work. I really don't like it but I'm in the process of finding a 2 week course to be a home health aide so I can make $15/hour and have better working conditions. We'll see what happens. Anyways, that's about it! Ciao family!
I thought of a way of getting buff to participate in the Blog: I'll just start a bunch of questionable rumors about her, and she'll have to blog in order to defend herself. So, here it goes: *Ahem* So, I hear that buff moved into a van down by the river since she was fired from her job. The only things she has in this van is a mattress and her clothes. Also, I hear buff is thinking of going to forget school and play guitar on corners for a living. Isn't that true buff?
A social worker from the county came to visit Danthony yesterday. She told me that his next court day is some time next week (unknown day). She said basically the judge has to determine if his injuries were accidental (as his parents claim) or abuse. She was explaining to me that this is a very differnt court case because there are only 2 possible options for him: 1. Judge determines it was an accident-- his parents can come and pick him up that very day and take him home. 2. Judge determines that it was abuse-- Danthony goes up for adoption and his parents never see him again. Um, those 2 choices seem a bit extreme to me. Especially because there is no evidence in the case other than a broken femer bone and the word of Danthony's mom and grandma. The social worker told his that if he goes up for adoption we would be first choice for adoptive parents if we wanted him. We don't want to adopt him though. There is a huge list of familes who want babies.
Are You Honest? This is a test that only has one question, but it's a very important one. By giving an honest answer, you will discover where you stand morally. The test features an unlikely, completely fictional situation in which you will have to make a decision. Remember that your answer needs to be honest, yet spontaneous. THE SITUATION: You are in Florida , Miami to be specific. There is chaos all around you caused by a hurricane with severe flooding. This is a flood of biblical proportions. You are a photojournalist working for a major newspaper, and you're caught in the middle of this epic disaster. The situation is nearly hopeless. You're trying to shoot career-making photos. There are houses and people swirling around you, some disappearing under the water. Nature is unleashing all of its destructive furor. THE TEST: Suddenly you see a woman in the water. She is fighting for her life, trying not to be taken down with the debris. You move closer. Someho...
I had my first road kill on my way home from Cedar City (doing counselor interviews) on Tuesday night. I hit a deer, going more than 80 miles an hour! I have pictures, but I think I'll spare you. Luckily no person was injured. I was driving with Lindsay Wilson, my co-worker, and all of a sudden it was there. We smacked into it and kept driving (I was driving a department van, thank goodness!). I really did feel divine protection--it could have been so much worse! I told Lindsay, "I just killed a deer!" And she said, "The deer sacrificed itself for us, because it would have either been the deer or us to go." Luckily we were able to drive home still, and got home only about 10 minutes later than we would have otherwise.
After a 2 hour drive to Orange California and 2 hours in the waiting room, it took about 3 minutes for the doctor to saw off Danthony's cast.... good riddance!! It smelled bad!!! First thing we did when we got home was put him in the tub. So far he's not very happy about having it off though. I think he's not used to be able to bend and move and it's making him either sore or insecure. He is quite unhappy. Kiera is finally on the road to recovery (but not there yet). There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
F a ll in t he m o unt a ins is w o n d er f ul. I went for an ATV ride yesterday. I started at Tibble Fork and rode around the back dirt roads to Cascade Springs. It was great. Weather was wonderful (probably in the 50's for most of my ride) and all the aspen leaves that had fallen on the trail made the ride look very fallish and they smelled very fallish. There's something about the smell of newly felled fall leaves. When I got to Cascade Springs, I had the place to myself which was kind of strange. The regular road had a winter gate across it so no cars could come. On the way back, just down from the road that goes to Forest Lake, I took a little side road that leads up to where there once was a small mining town in the late 1800s. There was one little meadow with a sign saying that there was a Diphtheria outbreak in the town and 11 children were buried there and later a couple more children and a couple of miners were added later. There were no grave markers, on...
Poor little Kiera is sick sick sick. Vomiting, not eating, and high fever. The people we got it from said it was a 1-vomit 24-hour bug, but it's much worse than that for little Kiera (she must be related to me!) We've been watching alot of Baby Signing Time around here lately and poor Danthony is getting very little attention. There was one funny thing though. Took Kiera and Danthony to the ducky ponds in their stroller yesterday to get them out of the house. Kiera's oral intake for the day yesterday was about 3 oz of formula, but when I started feeding the ducks some bagel she got really upset and grabbed the bagel from my hands and started shoving it in her mouth like she hadn't eaten in days. I took it from her and broke of pieces to give to Kiera (as the ducks stood at my feet looking very jealous). Kiera ate 2 tiny bits and was then done. Danthony only had a mild case of whatever this is for just a half day. I wonder if it was the flu shot he got last week ...
Chad and Grandpa Haslem came over to watch the BYU football game last night (Good game....TCU was always within striking distance, but BYU kept the lead). Chad got a phone call before halftime...it was Erica so off he went to the living room. He said he had to leave just after halftime so he could go talk to Erica on the phone and read scriptures together. That boy's in love. Grandpa H was telling me Grandma got loose and went knocking on doors a couple of blocks away trying to find her baby. He told me he thinks it may be getting close to time to fast for her release from the world. He told me she was getting very frustrating to take care of.
Update on Dastrups: First, our backyard is finally landscaped. It looks like a first-rate prison yard now. They extended the patio and then filled the rest in with gray rock. I'm grateful for the patio and the fact that the dirt won't blow everywhere anymore, but it's pretty depressing to look at. At least the weeds provided some color. Yesterday one of Cambrie's kiddos called us for the second time in a week. The first time it happened, I could hear Cambrie talking in the background and one of the kids making noise. I shouted to Cambrie for several minutes, but got no response, so I finally hung up. Yesterday I didn't answer, and there was a very long voicemail of background noises. Looks like Kiera's trying to get in touch with her favorite cousins! Yesterday we also tried hiking again. We hiked to the top of one of the old volcanos close to our house, and this time we had the brilliant idea of putting Jacob in the jogging stroller for the hike-- tha...
I realized that really I only have 30 (or so) shopping days until Christmas for my out of state kids, as I will send it home with you when you come for the wedding. So I was just taking a gander over the Wish list, and It is time some folks update theirs (CHAD) because in view of the fact that you will be living in a townhouse, I doubt you will want a ping-pong table in your Living room. And more Ideas would be helpful for some of ya. I know I don't want to be the one to pick out something "fashionable" for my girls. My tastes and yours are rarely the same... Yes, I hear the elves are very busy already, so you better be wishing where they may find it!
I just noticed on the calendar - Are we having turkey and pie in celebration of Kiera's birthday this year? I dunno if it will work out for her to have a birthday pie. Maybe she'll need to develop a passion for chips and salsa or corned beef or something to keep it unique. Other than golden death or strained carrots, does Kiera have any favorites yet? BTW, If you're one of the many fans out there who can't get enough Erica & Chad exclusives, there's a new album in Picasa with the pictures Dad took for our engagement. The ones in the leaves are really fun, and need to be viewed in series. I think those ones will be great for the wedding video / slide show.
So there I was in the heart of Los Angeles at a dumpy little clinic. I sat in the waiting room with Danthony surrounded by about 40 very low class hispanic people and ZERO white people wondering if I had accidently ended up in Mexico instead of Los Angeles. The Mexican girl sitting next to me had about 10 piercings in various locations on her face and whenever Danthony dropped the toy he was playing with and it rolled under her chair she just glared at me. The clinic sat literally 10 feet from a train track so every 10 minutes or so a train went by the entire building shook. At first I thought it was an earthquake but all the employees kept working as normal. It took me an hour and 50 minutes to get to the clinic in traffic with a baby who had missed his morning nap. We sat in the office for 2 hours only to learn that the court-mandated visit to this clinic had been completely pointless. I left the clinic exasperated and not very excited about my upcoming drive home in traffic...
So Dad took some engagement pictures the other day. I need to post those on Picasa. They're pretty good. There are a few of them that Erica and I really like. But last week we realized that they're mostly horizontal, and we need ours to be vertical. It wouldn't work to crop them vertical, so we asked our wedding photographer about engagement pictures while we were in talking with her last week. It wasn't too expensive, so we decided to have her take some. They're pretty good, too. There's some that Erica and I really like. I got the CD today and I'm uploading them to Picasa as I write this. I still need to bring Dad's pictures in to work so I can upload them (Erica's internet connection, while better than mine, is still not very good for doing large data transfers). I haven't filtered them yet, and Erica's embarrassed by some of them, so take a gander at them while you can! Click the link on the side for Chad's pictures.....
So, I guess that when Kathy heard that there was going to be 3 days when the kids come for Chad and Erica's wedding that Devin and Crystal would need to be somewhere else so we could have the space for our gang in the apt., she pulled a Kathy, called the housing people, and took it to the top honcho of the dept and pled for mercy...and he gave them an opening that they can get into in 1 week, so they won't be in our basement after all. Just as well. We have spent the last week cleaning it up, and reclaiming our space. It will be nice to actually be able to have it stay clean and be able to use it.