Cambrie comes to Utah! ***UPDATED FLIGHT INFO*** SUN APR 27 flight 82 from Ontario, 12:10 pm (an excuse to miss church!) FRI MAY 02 flight 797 leaves SLC 1:50 pm Christa, when Benjamin asks why Gramps doesn't come with Grandma to Albuquerque tell him that with work, kids from out of town visiting from time to time, a wedding when kids come in July, a strong desire to go camping, and a wife that refuses to camp/ride on Sunday, I only have so much time off to go around so it doesn't always include all the trips to go visit family that moved away for greener pastures.
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Argh! I'm glad to be alive! On the freeway in Orem....it's still dark. I'm going about 40 MPH in the Jeep when I see multiple spinning headlights & taillights in front of me. I step on the brake to try to slow down and I just start sliding. I saw an opening in the askew vehicles & lights, took my foot off the brake, and shot through. I thought I was gonna die! From there on in it was 20 MPH. I suppose it was good exercise for my heart. Saw about 5 more slideoffs along the way...both sides of the road. At the S turn in Provo there was an accident blocking northbound traffic. It was a total blizzard when I got up this morning. Is it Spring yet?........... CLICK HERE
Thank you everyone for your birthday greetings! I really did have a very nice weekend with my family, and future family. On Saturday, we had a Boren birthday party at my sister's house, where we celebrated everyone's birthday from January through April (we're getting big enough that it's easier to do birthday's in bulk). Then I had a great dinner with Mom and Dad (all y'all's parents... hope that's ok if I start claiming them too). And I just wanted to say thank you again for the gift - Brett and I went home and sorted through it all, and emergency kits really were an inspired idea. On Sunday we went to my parents' house, currently being taken care of by my sister, and had another birthday feast. So long as my birthday continues to be filled with good food, I'll be happy! Thanks again!
Blast! I wasn't the first one to wish Katie a Happy Birthday. However, I can tell you that B&K came over for dinner last night and we had a Double Frosting German chocolate cake (look how thick that frosting is in that picture!) . Brett & Katie played a few rounds of Khet......they each won a few. 111 days!
Again, Happy Birthday Katie! (Official happy birthday post is below). Erica and I missed Katie's birthday bash yesterday, and we feel bad about it. Erica wasn't feeling too good, and still isn't 100% this morning. We woke up this morning to two inches of snow! I had to go put up chairs at the church, and after 1/2 an hour of that, there was an additional inch! And it's still coming down. The weather people got it wrong. They said the Wasatch front valleys *might* get some snow on Monday. So much for us walking to church today. In other news, I've officially switched from Visa to American Express. They've got better rewards overall. It's true that some places don't take American Express, but I've got a visa debit card for that.
H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y K A T I E ! (Not that I haven't told you already) I get to be first this time! And guess who rocked March's contest? I'll let the results speak for themselves: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 13 Katie Boren 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 54.7320% 273 Kim Groneman 3 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 3 10.0491% 301 Brett Groneman 3 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 8.9374% 450 Cambrie Nelson 1 3 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 5.0535% 479 Chad Groneman 1 3 1 1 3 1 1 1 2 5 4.4320% 603 Erica Groneman 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 1 1 905 Breanna Groneman 1 2 1 1 2 4 1 1 3 3 1330 Christa Dastrup 1 1 1 1 1 10 1 1 2 5 I've decided different questions have different weight. Look at the difference...
'NUTHER MOVIE REVIEW: Martian Child - Different. Entertaining. Enjoyable to watch. It didn't have one of those esoteric endings that are so popular these days where you are left to decide what is real. The ending is great. Definitely in the "feel good" genre. My main disappointment in this movie is that it didn't do enough to develop the sub-plot of his woman friend. She just seemed to be in the background except for a few short scenes. You can guess her eventual role by watching the pictures as the credits are rolling by.
Movie Review: Howard's End Never judge a book by it's cover -- you may find yourself surprised. Likewise, should you ever run across a movie title of "Howard's End," and judge it to be an epic tale of a man "Howard" who is faced with the impending "end" of whatever subject your imagination supplies, and finds himself in jeopardy and car-chasing, gun-fighting, heart-stopping, explosive action to thwart imminent doom and peril -- you would be wrong. But don't tell the movie user-rating systems that. The recently reviewed "No Reservations" received 6.3/10 ratings and seemed to be generally accepted as not the greatest movie, but still enjoyable. Howard's End on the other hand is simply neither, and at a 7.3/10, will be your mind's Demerol ® , your wallet's BIC ® lighter, and 140 minutes of life you could have spent counting fruit flies on rotting food instead of counting seconds in your rotting mind. In all fairness,...
MOVIE REVIEW: No Reservations - Worth watching (no, not just because it stars Katheryn Zeta Jones....but it helped.) Marilyn's allergies were getting to her or this movie had her crying in parts, laughing in others. Very predictable movie, but pretty decent overall. (Single girl has job, gets custody of child, life is turned upside down, boy is hired to help at job, girl is angry & hates boy, fall in love, kid gets real family, happily ever after.....) Chick Flick.
Dear Benjamin, Thank you very much for the birthday picture of dinosaurs and fruit you sent me. It was the best gift I received on my birthday. My birthday was a very busy day so I'm late saying "thank you" will you forgive me? I sent you some things I got at my work. I love the picture of dinosaurs. The Brontosaurus is my favorite. It's starting to be springtime here in Utah. Soon we will have leaves on our trees and I can go ride my ATV and go camping. I wish you were here to go camping with me. Well, I guess I'll see you later! Love - Gramps Groneman
I bought the game of Khet ( LINK ) for a prize at BrainShare and it looked so intriguing that I bought one for myself. Marilyn and I played it last night. The first game Marilyn wasn't doing so good so I let her win. HOWEVER, in our second game that I was trying to win, she just plain beat up on me and killed my pharaoh with a laser beam about 15 minutes into the game. Dang.. .I HATE it when that happens! Cool game. Each person (2 players) has a laser on their end of the board. You have different pieces that can move/act in different ways with various configurations of mirrors. Your goal is to bounce your laser beam around so it hits your opponent's pharaoh. Sounds easy. It's not. With two of you moving mirrors around, blocking, and strategizing, it's quite intense. If anyone (local) wants to borrow it, feel free.
Movie Review: Enchanted The real world and the animated world collide. I liked this movie a lot though it had some problems. I always hate a character in a sci-fi or scary movie that has overwhelming evidence before them that something is not normal yet they act like they really don't get it. I mean, comon folks....the girl sings and has everyone in the park singing and dancing and they guy acts like it's something just slightly out of the ordinary....or she has pigeons and cockroaches and rats cleaning the apartment and he does nothing besides shoo them out then acts like everything is normal. I don't care if it is fantasy, he's supposed to be "normal" and normal people just don't act like that. The first 5 minutes of the movie I wanted to gag it was so sickening sweet, but that fits into the rest of the movie and, hello! This is Disney. Like I said though, I really liked it. There were a lot of funny moments, my favorite is when the animals jus...
A few weeks ago, Erica and I watched a documentary on Teens and Religion called Soul Searching. It was very interesting. They surveyed teens across the U.S., of all sorts of religious backgrounds. The survey "revealed" things that prophets have been telling us for as long as I can remember. The people who did the survey / documentary were apparently very impressed with LDS youth, and wanted the director of mormon youth programs to know about it. So, it somehow made its way to the director of EFY (Erica's boss). Interesting.
I'm going to be an L.V.N!!!!! All sing praises and rejoice!!! I got into my program that I've been trying to get into, which is a miracle...and here's the story: So there is an entrance test to get into the program that is basically like a slightly advanced ACT test (english, reading, science, and math). I went and bought the book and was studying for it all week beforehand and whereas I felt comfortable with the reading and english sections, I didn't feel quite as secure in the math and science sections. I was scheduled to work the night before the test and since the test was from 8am-1pm, I asked a co-worker to work for me and she agreed, saying she needed the hours anyways. Unfortunatly I didn't get it in writing and she didn't show up to work that night and they called me into work just as I was settling down to study some more and go to bed. Needless to say, I was kindof upset and very worried about working all night and then going to take the test ...
I would like to propose the idea of spending Thanksgiving this year in California. There are 6 people in Utah, 5 in California (including a new baby), and 4 in NM. So why not California? We have plenty of friends close friends who would be vacating their houses so we could use one as extra sleeping quarters. We could also go visit some So Cal sights if people wanted to. Thoughts????
Kiera had a great Easter. Yesterday we took her to my in-law's ward's hunt and this morning the Easter Bunny visited our house. Each time we had to show her the eggs, and convince her to put them in the basket. She enjoyed dumping them out and putting them back in. Then I showed her treats inside (lucky charms) and she was anxious to open them and eat the treats. We also took her to a water fountain they have in the sidewalk of an outdoor mall around here. The water shoots up randomly from holes in the sidewalk and kiera had a blast playing in it. She got squirted in the face quite a few times and was very surprised, but never got upset. She is a water baby-- that's for sure. Other news around here: I've been eating!!! I can eat small amounts of things. I've been told I can eat whatever I feel like eating. so far: smoothie, quesadilla, pizza crust, crackers watermelon, and ice cream. I can only eat little bits cause my stomach is still having a hard time ...
FYI-- I went to our cannery today and they did say that the church wouldn't be buying white wheat until the prices stabilize (so they are selling one bag per family per week until their supply is gone), but that the Church actually grows its own red wheat, so that is still for sale. So there is no need to panic at this point. Red might not taste as good, but it will still fill you up when you are hungry. It's good to get your storage as soon as you can, but you don't need to feel like you are condemned to a death of starvation if you can't get it all right now.
Erica and Christa, check my comments on wheat buckets. One other thing I would add: Wheat takes up less space in bags stacked together than buckets stacked, but really as pricey as wheat is going to get, and since you don't have basements (cooler) to store them in, I would get buckets. I would like to have a 20 year supply of wheat because the price of wheat is NEVER going to go down again. It will only continue to skyrocket. One other thought, girls : Do you remember the room setup in Virginia? We had a 4 bedroom house, and 5 children. We put 2 children in each room so that we could have a food storage room. We put Breanna when she was born in the family room, next to our bedroom. We had food storage with a family of 7 in a 4 bedroom house. I hear people in our ward say that they just don't want to get any more storage because they have run out of places to put it. But they can't eat their beautiful rooms. In Cambrie's kitchen she has done a smart thing. S...
I am happy to announce that Kiera learned a new word: Yes. And I'm very happy to announce that she has not yet learned the word "no" which is the favorite of all of her friends her age. I took kiera to the ward easter egg hunt yesterday. I knew that she wasn't old enough to know what was going on so I didn't plan to have her participate. But when all the kids were given the "go" and started running around all excited, I sent kiera running after them. It was so cute I wished I had my camera. She ran after them all shrieking with delight because everyone else seemed excited. It was fun to watch her.
Don't know if anyone is still reading comments on Chad's blog, so I will put here, that Lindon Cannery did have white wheat today, and they said that the church has decided not to buy anymore because it has gotten too expensive. Doesn't really make sense to me. Just raise the price some and continue to sell it.... But I did get 100 lbs for$27.00. Way better than Macey's for $72.00. And I went and bought more for $20 at Lehi roller mills for 50 lbs. They had it in. But all of the source I have asked say it is expected to go up lots again sometime this week. Chad and Erica, I wanted to get some in pails at Lehi, when they get that in. It is better protected against weevil and moisture. They have my name on their list over there and will call me when it is available. Having me on their list locks the price, so do you want me to pick some up for you? You would need to take it soon, as my areas are quite full! Hope your happily food storage shopping everyone! :)
I have to post... I can't take the unbecoming ute on my screen anymore. Erica and I are concerned about food storage, and we've been looking at using any money from the IRS on food storage. Prices on many foundation foods are going up. Many places in Utah that used to sell wheat no longer do - they're keeping it. For example, the Church used to sell wheat, but now they buy it and keep it all. Mom said that she noticed in Maceys that the price of Wheat is significantly more than the same amount of flour. A new fungus recently started attacking wheat in Africa and the Middle East . Some people fear that it will come over here soon, although government officials in several countries are discounting that it will affect them. Wheat prices have doubled recently, and we've heard rumors that they'll double again within two weeks. With our economy likely headed into a recession, if you can get your food storage stock up, that would probably be good.
H A P P Y B I R T D A Y Daddy! Wow dad, you're old! Lets see its your 23rd anniversery to your 29th birthday? Watch out everybody! Anyways, I hope you have a wonderful day. I love you! and for everyone else..... HAPPY ST. PATTY's DAY!!! Watch out for those leprecans...they are tricky little devils... they already got me once today... and it's only 2:44 AM!!! So you all just watch out
Check out what we made! Okay, Dad may have been able to do this in an hour with his eyes closed, but for two untrained carpenters, we are pretty proud of ourselves. We built a sandbox! I really wanted one for the boys, but the kind they sell are tiny. I wanted one big enough for Benjamin and his joy school friends to be able to play in. So Brigham said he'd make one for me! He got the instructions on the internet, and with a lot of improvising (in order to keep it from costing an arm and a leg to buy all the recommended tools and wood), and an afternoon of hard work, we now have a sandbox! Pretty cool, huh? What a great husband I have to spend his one day off in the week making me a sandbox!
Today at church we had a musical number where a woman singing with more than a fair share of vibratto. Benjamin turned to me and asked, "Mom, do you think this is beautiful?" I wasn't aware that he was listening to the music, so I asked what he was talking about. He said, "This singing. Do you think it is beautiful?" I asked, "Do you think it is?" He wrinkled up his nose and said very emphatically, "No!" It's good to see that my son can already distinguish good music from that which is... um... not as good.
Three Squeezes. Many years ago, Marilyn and I were sitting and listening to our seminary graduation speeches at a church in Orem. One of the speakers, an older gentleman, was telling how he and his wife had a silent signal for "I love you" which could be used anytime, anywhere as a private signal between the two of them. It was three squeezes by your hand. We've been using it ever since. It's great. I can tell her I love her anytime I want without anyone else hearing.
Kim and I had a great time eating dinner and having fun playing games with Chad and Erica at their house on Tues. We ate STEAK! And Erica makes a NUMMY smootie. Probably 90% frozen fruit. No ice. TASTY! It was alot of fun. They have a couple of games that we like that I haven't seen anywhere else. They are fun, and really different. One of them was "Beans" and the other, we can't remember, so they will have to tell ya'll. Kim wants me to gloat about his winning the beans game... Chad and Erica's place is nicely done. Very cute and comfortable and welcoming. We loved our evening with them! Thanks GUYS!
Cambrie update: Yes, my tube clogged yesterday but thankfully it wasn't a huge deal to get it fixed this time. AND...the doctor gave me the wire so that I can manually de-clog it at home. I was VERY surprised that she did that becauses nurses are never allowed to to do anything like that even in the hospital. Only GI doctors do it. But, I've not it. Also, next friday the doctor will put in a tube that is almost twice as big in diameter so hopefully it will stop clogging. Yes, Kiera has been very sick. Took her to the doctor today. Ear infections on top of the nasty viral bug she's got. This too shall pass. I'm surviving life ok now. I have buff over twice a week to help out for a few hours. Buff is wonderful to play with Kiera and help me with cleaning. I send kiera to play at a friend's house twice a week, and then I randomly invite people to come over for play days. I manage life alright under those circumstances (as long as kiera is healthy and my tub...
FYI-- I talked to Cambrie briefly this morning . She was on her way into the hospital with another clogged tube. I guess that Kiera is very sick too, with a fever of 103 degrees for the last couple of days. Poor thing hasn't been able to sleep for the last couple of nights. I guess that she has an appointment tomorrow. Cambrie was at the hospital when Brigham was finally able to call her after his 30+ hour shift, and she couldn't talk, but in case Steve has the chance to read this-- from the limited facts Brigham has, he would take her to the emergency room. Although we are overall doing better than the Nelsons, the Dastrups have been hit by the plague this week. Brigham got it the day before yesterday and spent all day in bed or over the john. Then yesterday he had to go in and work a 30 hour shift although he was weak and still unwell. I spent all yesterday evening cleaning and trying to disinfect the house. But it was futile. I woke up with it in the wee hours of t...
An every-day life event in the life of Cambrie Nelson: (since I have nothing exciting to blog about). TAKING A SHOWER. For most people, this is an every-day-not-too-difficult experience, but for me it can become a challenge. First of all, we'll assume that I have the energy to take the shower on the particular day. Then, I have to hope that there is an adult near by who can cover my IV site on my arm for me with suran wrap and tape(since it can't get wet). You might say, "why doesn't steve just do it?" well, because by the time my IV fluids are done running in the morning, steve is long gone. I have considered knocking on my nextdoor neighbor's door to ask them to cover it for me, but since my neighbors on both sides are nocturnal, that doesn't work either. Once I have succeeded in getting my IV covered I may then shower. This is not an easy task itself as I am attached to my feeding tube still and the bag must remain outside the shower. I'm t...
BRAINBASHERS COMMON ANSWERS: February Neener Neener. Who's your daddy!?!.... 149 Kim Groneman 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 6 1 8.5947% 1178 Brett Groneman 1 1 5 2 3 3 4 1 1 1 1196 Chad Groneman 1 1 2 16 1 1 1 1 1 4 1728 Christa Dastrup 1 1 1 2 2 10 2 1 5 4 1838 Cambrie Nelson 1 1 6 6 3 3 1 1 5 4 2215 Steve Nelson 1 1 1 18 1 3 15 2 1 1 Enter the March common answer contest HERE . Marilyn, you used to have a sense of fun. Where did you lose that?........... And Buff/Brigham/Katie/Erica, what happened to you guys?
I am back! And I am GLAD to be back! BOY, I AM GLAD I DON'T LIVE IN NYC!!! Those people have no idea how much they miss by living there. Yes, they have lots of entertainment to go and do, but coming home to a high rise everyday on a dirty subway with crazy people, and everything that goes with that...you couldn't pay me enough to live there! But I did enjoy my trip. The first day was very stressful. Saturday on the way home from Cambries, my cold symptoms were pretty much gone. That was the last day of my antibiotics, and by the time I got home, I decided they had done the job, so I could go ahead and go to NYC. But Sunday on the plane symptoms began to return...but I was on the plane, and I had nowhere else to go than to Malesa's. But I did NOT want to take an bug of any kind into the Brintons home with their new baby, so I was very concerned. I had a kind of scarf I could wear over my face at the Brintons, but I knew that it wasn't a guarantee that I wouldn...
It must be the beginning of spring. A big bug did a splat on my windshield right in front of my nose yesterday on my way home from work. It got up to 63 degrees here today. Yup. Spring is on the way.....until I went to the airport to pick up yer mother. It was about 58 when I left. By the time I got to the airport it was snowing hard. Mom's home. I'm glad. I hope she can stay for a while, but if Punkin' needs her, that's a more worthy cause.
I had another tube-clogging episode yesterday. Thank goodness it didn't happen on a saturday again. I was FINALLY able to see the stomach doctor (who only works weekdays). He fixed my tube and wrote me a prescription for stuff I can use to de-clog it myself if it happens again. I made a point while he was working on fixing my tube to really connect with him. I thanked him profusely for putting the tube in for me and told him how much it helps my life. I asked alot of questions and made him really connect with me and like me. It paid off too because he told me that if there is a problem with my tube he will come into the hospital on the weekends and fix it for me. I asked "what if you are not the Dr on call?" and he went and got the other doctor from another room and said to him "this is Cambrie Nelson. If she calls with a problem with her tube on the weekend, please come in and fix it for her" and he agreed. (Normally stomach doctors only come in on ...