Groneman Family

Buff just left to start her trek back to Cafilornia. [waving] By Buffie! [sniff][sniff]. I'm mad at Chad and Buff. Invite them to play settlers with us and Chad wins twice and Buff wins once. They don't give us old folk a chance. How rude. We went out to dinner last night at the Macaroni Grill with Buff, Brett, Katie, Marilyn, & me. Good food, good family. Chad & Erica were going to come but they had this tiny little doctor standing on their shoulder telling them they shouldn't leave the house.....so they didn't. After dinner I took Marilyn & Buff over to see the Groneman apartment at BYZoo. We scored some great home made candy so it was worth it. Brett suggested we go see the new batman movie (Dark Knight) at the dollar theater so we did: MOVIE REVIEW: The Dark Knight Let me preface this review with the fact that I go to movies to be entertained. To laugh, to be scared, to feel emotion...to be entertained. Remember I don't like Bambie. ...

Yeah, Dora Dowee afankgiving yeah mama baytee duwrap toyee... I asked Kiera to tell me about her Thanksgiving trip so I could blog it and that's what you get. Good thing she stopped right there though. She was already giving you guys too much information! The end of the slideshow is here in Loma Linda. Kiera and her daddy went on a walk and only made it a few houses up before Kiera found the puddle. Afterwards we put up Christmas light around our house (1st time ever in our marriage). Lydia was there to give her stamp of approval--one throw up meant it looked good, two or more throw-ups meant she wanted less milk. Man I practically got a sunburn putting up those lights. I bet those of you in Utah know what I'm going through when you put your lights up too.

Now that the Cougs got thoroughly trounced by the Utes, the stories are starting to come in. I've heard some stories from people at work who attended the game, and now I read this. (Amanda Dixon is a KSL radio personality.) If you take a few minutes to read through the comments, how many people ignore what she is saying in her post and carry on with the name calling and rude behaviour in their comments I'm just amazed. Hello?!? Didn't they understand what she was saying? Welcome to the new Utah. Happy Valley is no more. It's too bad that my kids didn't get to experience the area as it was when I was growing up. [shaking head] From all the stories I am hearing, they should do away with BYU vs. UTAH football games.

It was a good day. Got up early and went to work putting up all the trip (floor boards, door trim, ceiling trim) in the downstairs room. Just as I had a couple more pieces to do, Chad & Erica showed up! (Yea!) We played Settlers and it was the closest game of Settlers I've ever played. There were no villages on the board, only cities. Everyone had 9 points and I was going to turn over my last soldier card to win with largest army when Chad pulled out his victory point and won. Erica and Marilyn were also going to win that turn if they got the chance. I think Chad cheated. Buff walked in the door about 4:00 (yea!) and Grandma/Grandpa H showed up about 4:30. The ham was slow to cook so we were about to sit down to eat at 5:30 when Brett/Katie showed up. (Yea!) Buff is still the champion in some of the Wii balance games, but try as she may, she couldn't beat my records in Slalom skiing and Hula Hoop. Of course, by the end of the day I was miserable from gobbling, g...

Happy Thanksgiving DAY Everybody! I wish we were all together! But we will be celebrating this day with Chad and Erica, Breanna, and my mom and dad. I have so very much to be grateful for!! I have a sweet husband who shows me every day that he loves me! I have great kids who have found fabulous people to marry, which I can now claim as my own! I have beautiful and sweet Grandchildren, which bring me joy. I have a powerful testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I am SO VERY GRATEFUL to be a member of this, the Mormon church. It brings me so much peace, and joy, and love and a sense of well being into my life. I am grateful for my knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that knowledge of who I am, why I am on Earth, and where I will be going in the post Earth life if I live according to the gospel I love. I live in America, where in spite of it's problems, is still the best place on the planet to be living. The Lord has blessed us with riches that couldn't ha...

The Groneman Baby Guess scoring system is now finalized. That means Brett can make his guess. The only alteration from the original scoring system is that the days difference multiplier is now 5.0 instead of 0.5. This is to accommodate the induction date being set one week early. There is a slight modification on when entries must be submitted by, as well. Entries must be submitted before Nov. 30th . Must be 2 or older to put in an entry. The final scoring system: ((difference in days from date of actual birth) * 5.0 ) + ((difference in minutes from time of actual birth) * 0.03) + ((difference in ounces from actual birth weight) * 0.7) + ((difference in inches from actual height) * 0.2) + (if wrong gender then 5.0, otherwise 0) Note that all previous guesses are currently for after the Dec. 6th induction date. If you don't re-submit, we'll use your original.

Happy Pie Day everyone. Pie day always falls on the day before Thanksgiving. It's the day when pies and other delicious goodies are made in preparation for the Thanskgiving Day Pig Out. To celebrate, watch this short video ( then be sure to watch the bloopers available at the end of the video )

http://www.abovethehate.com/

Taking a test? Need some answers for your exam? Here are some . (It goes along with today's Calvin & Hobbes)

We have an update, and you may want to change your guess on the Groneman Baby. Erica has a little bit of some high blood pressure, and is partially showing symptoms for a problem associated with that. So, to be on the safe side, the doctors have moved up the induction date to December 6th . For those of you who are unfamiliar with OB/GYN terms, that means our little one will be here on December 6th, almost guaranteed. She may come before then, but not after. Erica's doing Non-Stress tests twice a week now until then. Why do they call them non-stress tests? I dunno. Our little one appears to be healthy, but the hospital needs to monitor her closely to make sure she's not in trouble while she's in the womb still. Soo.... Update your baby guesses if desired, and pray for a healthy birth & delivery.

Look over there! It's less than 30 days until the fat man comes!

Neither Christa or I got Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert tickets. Did anyone else get them? You can check by taking the confirmation # you were given when you signed up for tickets online, and go to the same location that you went to register, and enter that # and see if you got them or not. I think that perhaps that they are slow this year mailing them out because of the scalping that was done with tickets people got last year. But I don't know. Just a guess.

Kiera had a fun birthday. We celebrated it at Steve's parents house and it was immediately before the football game so it was a little overlooked but she still had fun. She got spoiled by her auntie buffalo who gave her 2 cinderella dolls, a talking elmo, Sleeping Beauty DVD, and a princess jacket wtih lights on it (that I had her take back since Kiera was afraid of it). Kiera got a tea set and some other girly toys which are fun to play with. More on the Nelson Blog.. check it out.

The parental units are officially connected via Google Talk Video. It was fun watching Kiera open presents on her birthday! It's a lot easier than the old MSN video chats. If you have a webcam, get yours set up HERE

Happy Birthday Little Kiera! Gramps and Grandma Love You!!!

Well, my capping ceremony was last night....and I got a hat. it was a very funny looking hat and a very short ceremony...only a half hour long. But I guess it's significant somehow. Everyone in my class said that I had the cutest niece (lydia came) and that I talk and look just like my sister (Cambrie was our guest speaker[thanks again cambrie]) oh and also..... HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEIRA!!! A big 2 year old!!!

If you've been watching the news at all you get an idea that the economy isn't doing to good. I didn't live through the depression but I've known and heard stories from a lot of people that did. I'll get to the point: Get out of debt. Any way, any sacrifice you have to do, do it and EVERY little bit helps. If you can save 20 bucks by cutting out one planned activity, do it. If that means no road trip, no road trip. If that means no new clothes, so be it. Don't take this economic crisis lightly...take it very, very seriously. Be on the lookout for good bargains on food storage items and get them. Investing in the essentials right now could save you a lot of money later when the value of money declines sharply. Last, start saving. Instead of going out to dinner, keep that money in the bank. Bottom line: Don't spend money on things other than necessities. The bad part of this is that if everyone did this, the crisis would just worsen. It's ...

I have bittersweet feelings today as it is my last day in the office working for EFY. It's been such a good job for me. I hope I've been a good employee to it. I believe in the purpose of the program and what it can do for the youth and young adults of the church. My friends Lindsay and Dicksy are having a farewell party for me today from 11:30-1:30. We invited whoever I know from the division to come and join us. It's a good time for me to be done because I have high blood pressure, and that's not good. So it is a blessing. My cute husband brought me some flowers on Monday, which have been brightening my office all week long. On to a new chapter and adventure in my life! Our little girl could come anytime and be full-term! :)

Well, as of this Friday, my new job is official. I've already moved into my new office on the top of Novell's tallest building. Here's a phone picture out the window of my office. Nice view. My old office had a window that overlooked the Provo City sewer treatment plant. :) I've already started doing some work in my new job responsibilities and there will be a bit of transition time but I am real excited about it.

The Nelsons are Gmail video-chat ready and I noticed that the Dastrups are as well. Better get with the program if you want to watch Kiera open her birthday presents live.

TURKEY TRIVIA Apparently I don't know mine very well...I got 10 right....but try to beat that anyway and post your score.

I thought we had a guess chart for the Dastrup baby...I guess not. So...put your guess in a comment to this entry. For the only written information I can find about the due date, check out this post .

The criteria and judging standards can be found HERE -------------------------------- Cambrie said... Kiera is offended that she is the only one in the family who doesn't meet the age criteria. Cambrie's guess: Dec 11th 2:25 AM, 6 lbs 8 oz, female. Red hair --------------------------------- Brett said... My guess is subject to change until the formula is no longer subject to change. -------------------------- Marilyn said... Dec 13, 4 am, 6 lbs 5 ounces! (She will want to come then so she can steal the show on your anniversary! ------------------------- Kim said... Dec 12, 11:00pm, 6lb-4oz, 19.5 inches, GIRL - I'm so excited! 24 August, 2008 13:26 ------------------------- Christa said... Dec. 10th, 3:52 pm, 6 lb. 7 oz., 19 inches, girl. You'd better not wrap her birthday presents in Christmas wrap! 24 August, 2008 21:24 ---------------------------- Erica said... I feel a little pressure filling this out, (as if I should know any...

Alright, so the picture of Lydia obviously isn't from my "earthquake" experience... it's just way cute and I couldn't help but put it up. I took it the other day when I went over to cambrie's/steve's house for dinner. I definately have a new respect for motherhood/homemaking. She had made some delicious buffalo wings (I know i know, how very canibalistic of me to eat them) for dinner all while taking care of 2 FUSSY fussbuckets. I don't know how all you mothers do it. But the other 2 pictures are me as a "earthquake victim". It was way fun. We got there and they gave us breakfast while we all took turns getting makeup on etc. I was a "lucky" vitim and just had head trauma. Others in my class had poles stiking out of their shoulders and wood shards sticking out of their neck, another had a compound fracture... it was all very realistic had it not been for the fact that all of us had come with our hair perfectly done and th...

For those of you who do not have children, this is a preview of what you have to look forward to: Last night I was going to go to bed at 11:30 but decided to wake up Lyida to feed her since she had not eaten in 6 hours and I didn't want to be woken up in an hour to feed her. I guess she wasn't that hungry because after I fed her and put her in her bed she spit up and woke herself up. After putting her to sleep twice more she spit up twice more and then she was awake as could be, smiling and ready to play. At 1:30 she was still just as happy and awake as could be so I decided to put her in her bed and let her cry herself to sleep so that we could get some sleep. She fell asleep after about 15 minutes of crying, however, she apparently woke up Kiera who came in to our room and wanted to sleep with us. Anybody who has ever tried it knows that it is impossible to sleep with a toddler so after about 30 minutes carried her back to her room. 3 minutes later she was tapping my sho...

Although it wasn't the most educational clinical day I've ever had, I got to spend the day with the wound care department of the hospital. Normally, us students are just there to observe in the wound care department. They normally have students just puppy dog someone around as they go change wound vacs, or do dressing changes, or whatever. And normally there's only one student there (if any), but yesterday there was an extra one besides me. So they happened to be doing a hyperbaric "dive" soon and asked if I wanted to join them. Being probably my only opportunity to go on a hyperbaric dive ever, I decided to go. When they found out I had an insulin pump, they said I couldn't go. Then I convinced them to let me go if I just left it off while I was in there. They said, "Sure!" So I did. This is the chamber I went in: I went in with a tech and one patient. They were very careful about what went in to the chamber. Electronics had to stay out,...

The dr appt went well today. My blood pressure is lower now and he's not too concerned (we had to go back in today because at my Tuesday appt--which I was late for--my blood pressure was high). I had a contraction while he was checking the baby's heartbeat, but I'm still not really able to tell (except when I'm walking around!). He said he's pretty sure her head is down, so that's good. I have a feeling this little one is going to come sooner than later, even though we did set the induction date for December 20th (not going to happen, I just know it). So, all is going well so far! :) Chad and I would like her to stay in the oven for at least another week (that would be nice, especially since my last day of work is next Friday, the 21st), but the doctor said if she came today, she'd probably come home with mommy from the hospital, so that's good to hear. There's no indication she'll be coming in the next week, but she's getting ready to come s...

Yesterday wasn't the greatest of days for the Dastrups, but it wasn't the worst either. First of all, just as I was arriving home from an OB appointment, smoke/steam started billowing out from under the hood of our van (aka the Time Bomb, for obvious reasons). I'm no mechanic, but after to talking to one on the phone, it sounds like it's probably a radiator problem. We've got our fingers crossed because we have set a limit as to what we think is wise to put into that old monster to repair it. We'll probably know later on today whether the Time Bomb will continue to tick or not. I'm currently counting down the minutes until I can take Benjamin to preschool so I can get a nap because I was in the hospital until 2:30 am with contractions coming every 2 1/2 minutes. They gave me a shot of terbutaline (sp?), which calmed them for a bit, but then they came back again. They let me go, though, because the fetal fibronectin test came back negative. That means that d...

Well, if you are a facebook user, you already have seen the picture of me with the President of Equador. Well, he's the past President. He was President while Cambrie was there. Very smart and charismatic man. Before the conference began I was just sitting chatting with him at a table, not knowing who he was...then he was introduced as the keynote speaker. I had no clue I was talking with an ex head of state . Anyway, he stayed for the 3 day conference and we had a chance to talk more since I was sitting next to him. What a unique and interesting experience.

Cambrie may be the only one to really appreciate this post, but I'm posting it anyway. It's nice to start seeing a light-bulb in the middle of the tunnel-of-school. After going to college for almost 11 semesters, I'm getting fairly close to getting my. . . two year degree. Yep. Two years. Associates. Oh well. I'm glad that I'm well into the program I want to be in now and going where I want to go. I've still got 4-6 years of school to go after I "graduate" this upcoming April. Next semester is my last semester of the RN program at UVSC. I'll get my RN and get to start working as such, and make notably more money than I do now, which will be nice for paying for school and, you know, paying for stuff -- all while getting more work experience along with school experience. Then, depending on who accepts me and other factors, I'll be trying to go to either UVSC or BYUI (online) for their BSN program for 2 more years. I talked to one perso...

So I noticed that gmail now has video chat available. So for you computer inclined people, does that mean that we who have the logitec webcams can use them for gmail video chat?

Christa just tried to post this, but for some reason, it got "eaten". So I have their blessing to let you all know that Christa spent the night last night with pre-term labor in the hospital. She was having contractions 2 to 3 minutes apart. They gave her some drugs to get it stopped, and this morning she was able to come home. She is resting now. Brigham's folks are going down this weekend ...for a visit/and if necessary to help out. I am available (they know) if they need someone for longer. Hopefully, that won't be necessary. I am sure all of you will join me in prayer that she will not have anymore abnormally early contractions. We want this baby in January...for many reasons...most of all for the well being of that little guy!

Yesterday wasn't the greatest of days for the Dastrups, but it wasn't the worst either. First of all, just as I was arriving home from an OB appointment, smoke/steam started billowing out from under the hood of our van (aka the Time Bomb, for obvious reasons). I'm no mechanic, but after to talking to one on the phone, it sounds like it's probably a radiator problem. We've got our fingers crossed because we have set a limit as to what we think is wise to put into that old monster to repair it. We'll probably know later on today whether the Time Bomb will continue to tick or not. I'm currently counting down the minutes until I can take Benjamin to preschool so I can get a nap because I was in the hospital until 2:30 am with contractions coming every 2 1/2 minutes. They gave me a shot of terbutaline (sp?), which calmed them for a bit, but then they came back again. They let me go, though, because the fetal fibronectin test came back negative. That means that d...

I found this article about an ancient temple interesting. I think they're on to something, even if they're wrong about a thing or two.

So 2 nights ago, I actually did something social... the first time in about 5 months that I have besides going to church and break the fast. It was only for an hour or so but It was very fun. So me and my roommates and a guyfriend that had come over were all out boiling in our apt. hot tub when someone mentioned how fun it would be to have the hot tub filled with bubbles... well we all got that evil gleam in our eyes and went and some liquid soap and put it in. It took awhile but eventually the hot tub was filled with bubbles and we proceeded to have a whole lot of fun. Oh and just to let you all know, for school tomorrow, I get to be a earthquake victim/patient. We were instructed today during class that we were to all show up at one of our clinical sites in grubby street clothes and that we are going to be assigned symptoms etc and have fake blood on us like we were in a earthquake. The hospital staff is then going to proceed in how they would take care of us in a emergency situatio...

To help with your conversion to Digital TV, watch this video ( you'll like it...really you will ) Oh...and you need to watch this ward talent show rendition of synchronized swimming Oh...and I want to share my point of view too: Be good .

Another Point of View With everyone else up on soap boxes, I was starting to feel a little left out, so I thought I'd get up on one, too. It's just a slightly different one. Let me start by saying I support what the First Presidency has said 100%. I also realize that I don't live in a state that has been affected by protesters and therefore don't understand exactly how it is for those of you who do. All I know is that I feel strongly that the minute we starting calling those who are picketing for their rights names and painting them out to be horrible people doing a terrible thing, that we have stooped to below their level. We know the truth and how we should conduct ourselves. They are not so fortunate. And the truth is that if I didn't know via the First Presidency that gender is an eternal thing and about the importance of bringing children into the world, I would say, "Why not let gay people enjoy the same rights that we do? That seems fair." Brigham ...

Oh, no! Here comes mom on the soapbox again! Someone sent this to me, and I think it is a good reminder for times such as we live in. "Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life..'"This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow...

I'd just email this info out, but seeing as it involves most people that read this blog, I'll just post it on here instead. Yes, it even potentially involves you Dastrups if you want. Details below. The issue: Chad, Cambrie, Steve, Breanna, and I are all on the same AT&T family plan -- we get better prices the more people we have on a plan -- and we all get to enjoy my 15% discount for being a UVSC student. They only allow 5 people on a shared family plan at one time, which means we're at the max. Erica's phone is no more (or is soon to be no more) and she would like to join the family plan, with Chad naturally. Katie's Verizon contract ends at the beginning of January, and it would be cheaper for her to go to AT&T than to stay with Verizon, so she'd like to join the shared family plan too. That means we're going to have to split the shared plan into two shared plans. For those of you who have been involved in the discussion on this in the pas...

So today was stake conference and I got to go to church with the nelsons. It was a very distracting meeting for me having 2 cute neices to hold and play with. Afterwards, I went over to the nelsons and had a tasty shnoodle dinner with them. Lydia is all bundled up because it was 60* outside today....very chilly california weather. It's been a very good day so far. But right now there is some prop 8 protesters that decided to come to the temple right next to our church....it was kind of dumb of them thought because they went at 4pm after all the meetings were already out....and it's not like the redlands temple is right in the middle of the city like the LA or SLC temples....so their not really protesting to anyone.....just the surrouning palm trees and orange groves. Not very smart of them. I'm really glad I didn't have to work today because I guess once a year, the "Bikers" come and bring lots of things for the kids like toys and batteries, clothes, et...

Interesting. Breanna and I were discussing this very subject this last week. Today in Relief Society class, we were discussing the last days. Our teacher had a bunch of the signs of the last days scattered on the board, and she asked us to organize them according to if it is something that has already happened, is happening now, or is yet to happen. There were a couple of women in the group that wanted to put "the moon turned to blood" and "the sun darkened"in the has happened already column. Several of us said naw ! But one outspoken sister said that according to President Hinckley it has already happened...that right after 9/11 he spoke and said that it had been fulfilled. So of course I came home and looked up his first talk at general conference right after 9/11 to see for myself. So here it is: The era in which we live is the fulness of times spoken of in the scriptures, when God has brought together all of the elements of previous dispensations. ...

7 random things eh? 1 When I was about 3, I was hit with a swing in the nose and it nearly came off, according to what I was told. They stitched it back on. 2 In college, your dad and I were in a social dance class together and we were doing the swing. Keep in mind, my hair was past my waist...well, he was pulling me through his legs, except his balance shifted as I went under, stepping on my hair. When I stood up a great glob of my hair now went down to my knees...yes it pulled right out. THAT was a headache for the rest of the day! Never did that move again. 3 I got married on my first date, and then married for real the same guy 5 years later. 4 I was missing 9 teeth...just never were there. 5 I got A's in High School and B's in college (along with some A's) 6 I was traumatized for an entire year in Kindergarten because our classroom was the only one that didn't have a miniature playhouse in it with cupboards dishes etc. Never quite got over it. 7 I was a real tom...

Kiera is officially in to pricesses (specifically Cinderella). Buff gave her a princess doll which she calls her "pesess". She also enjoys dressing up-- but only in shoes. Shoes are what makes a person beautiful in Kiera's world. She likes her sunday shoes and her red shoes. Kiera has little Elmo doll that she put a "necklace" on. The funny thing about the necklace however is the fact that it makes elmo look very gangster/gothic since it is black leather and has silver star studs (much like a spiky dog colar or something). It is a bracelet we inherited from someone and Kiera has decided that Elmo is going to wear it as a necklace perminantly. Gothic elmo. Kiera discovered her shadow the other day. Yep, you guessed it-- she was afraid of it and wanted me to make it go away. I was cruising the internet at 3am last night and discovered something that I thought was quite interesting. I believe I blogged about the fact that the doctors that wrote up my hypere...

Ok Punkin', here goes....7 random facts about me. 1 - I wore glasses all my life until I had lasik a few years ago 2 - I married my high school sweetheart who wrote me off while I was on my mission 3 - I can' say or I have to kill you...and I have to kill whoever tells, so be afraid Cambrie 4 - I got a college degree (associate) *after* I had 4 kids 4a - I was a B student in High School, a straight A student in college 5 - I spent my summers as a kid working on my aunt's farm in Idaho because I had three older sisters and my dad thought I should experience living with boys 6 - I have a soft spot in my heart for mentally disabled folk, especially kids 7 - I remember a ceremony at the local elementary school to retire the flag with 48 stars and replace it with one that had 50 stars in 1959 Tag - You're it. Now YOU have to blog 7 random facts about you.

Don't stretch to warm up..just warm up to warm up Read all about it .

I had an ultrasound today to check the amniotic fluid level (since I ran out with both of my other boys), and fortunately everything looks good! Hooray!! It was fun to see our baby again. We even saw that he has some hair! I've never seen that on an ultrasound before. Right now he is breech, but he still has plenty of time to flip around. He's measuring a little ahead in his size-- his measurements placed his due date around Jan. 21st. It's still not enough to change the offical due date, but it's interesting anyway.

I've been working in the Novell Technical Services group since I started. I've been running the Novell Forums for years. I've been running their support/training/consulting web site as well as manage a team of web developers the last couple of years. I've always worked *with* the Novell marketing department and now they want me to be an official marketing dweeb and manage all Novell communities (forums, facebook, myspace, blogs, wikis, etc. etc.). I accepted. I take the forums/SysOps with me but leave behind the rest of what I have been doing so I can concentrate on this. We'll see how it goes. As long as it pays the bills, right?

YEAAAAAAAY! According to KSL TV news http://www.ksl.com/?nid=157&sid=4654359 California's Propostion 8 passed, by 52% for votes cast. The absentee ballots have not all been counted, but it looks like gays aren't going to ruin our religious freedom anytime really soon. What a relief!

While some tallying is still going on in some places, yesterday's elections are over as far as I'm concerned. I wish to briefly point out the inconsistency of having the Electoral College. Obama has 65% of the Electoral College votes. Yet he only got 53% of the popular vote. That's still enough for him to win, but I think it's obvious that not every vote is equal to one vote. Some votes count more than others, depending on where you live. I have a great deal more commentary on this issue, however, I wish to comment on a different issue. Proposition 8 in California has passed, or at least there should be nothing that prevents it from passing now. There may be a re-count or something, but the current statistics have it passing by 4.4%. That's a pretty slim margin, but still enough that it's near impossible to overturn that, when 96.4% of the precincts have reported. It's passed. California's official results site is now just showing raw text, but e...

Sometimes it helps to have friends from all around the world. When I do genealogy searches I search on "Groneman" or, knowing my ancestors changed it when they came from Denmark, search on "Gronemann". I know the origin is from Germany but I have no genealogy that goes back that far. I was talking to one of my German friends today who said that Groneman sounds very German but all he knows is people in Germany named "Grohnemann" Cool...I never knew the name likely had an H in it once upon a time. A new piece of the puzzle to work with and a new spelling to search on. Too bad Christensen is such a common name...that side of me is a lot harder to do any research on. Oh..and I just have to put this recipe on the blog because he said that if I like Sauerbraten with Spaetzel, I would LOVE this recipe and this recipe .

I VOTED , and it only took me about 2 minutes in line...so here's to thank all of those people who went out early to vote and stood in lines for 2 hours before today, so that I would not have to!! Three cheers for them!

I just went for a walk to get some fresh air. It was raining when I started. It quickly turned into sleet, but I kept going. By the time I got back, it was full-on snowing! Big flakes and all! Do you know what that means? It means that Baby Groneman is going to be here soon. I'd like to see her on the 30th of this month. By the way, what's the deal for Thanksgiving this year? What should Erica and I plan to bring? We should find out soon, so we can ramp up and practice making whatever it is at least once before the real deal.

This past weekend Laura and Carrol Barlow came and stayed with us which Laura went to auditions in LA. She is a clothing designer. Pictures to come later. Today I went to see the dentist for the first time in 5 years. I was sure that I'd have 10 fillings or so (especially since I literally did not brush my teeth for MONTHS while I was pregnant with Kiera and was vomiting on them constantly). However, the dentist said I was cavity free. Personally, I think he was under-diagnosing me since I'm a medi-caid patient. Oh well-- I guess they would have fixed anything major though. As of next year Steve will be my dentist from now on.

The park south of us usually has a few edible mushrooms in the springtime. However, Saturday when Marilyn and I were walking there, a plethora of these mushrooms had sprung up from slight rain and warm weather...more at once than we had ever seen before. Anyway...we filled our pockets and have lots of mushrooms to eat! The curious side effect of these types of mushrooms is that if you drink alcohol within 3 days of eating these, you get violently ill. Dang.

Yesterday we took advantage of the nice warm weather. Katie, Brett, and I took the ATVs up AF canyon and rode them over the back trails to Cascade Springs. Click HERE for the pictures.

Yea, yea....Cambrie. Sure.. just go show us all up like that. Commoner. Brigham's score is right up there too! 1 Cambrie Nelson 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 100.0000% 54 Brigham Dastrup 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 47.5734% 152 Kim Groneman 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 23.1274% 173 Chad Groneman 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 19.1826% 663 Brett Groneman 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 3 707 Christa Dastrup 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 8 1 1082 Erica Groneman 1 1 1 2 1 2 6 1 1 1 + 193 more entries below the 90% cut-off point. I'm assuming Marilyn, Katie, Buff, Steve are one of those 193 because I KNOW they wouldn't leave us high and dry. Comon...I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU to click on THIS LINK and enter November's contest.

A very happy Halloween was had here in Albuquerque. Jacob discovered that he could gnaw through boxes and wrappers to get the goods inside, and after that he would NOT leave his treat bag alone! His class worked all week practicing wearing costumes and trick-or-treating, and although you may laugh, it was a good thing! He HATED the ward trunk-or-treat that we had at the beginning of the week (and actually gagged himself and threw up in the middle of the parking lot to get out of it-- it's a memory that I'm trying to repress) but actually did great trick-or-treating Halloween night! Benjamin was an awesome Spiderman once again, and this year he was brave enough to wear the mask! He designed and carved his own pumpkin which we lovingly call "the chainsaw massacre." One last comment-- I cannot BELIEVE the haul of candy that my kids got in an hour of trick-or-treating! Back in my day (when we had to trick-or-treat going uphill both ways jumping from fence post to fe...

I'd like to congratulation myself on being FIRST at brainbashers. Yes yes, I am the mostest commonestest.

For those of you who are fasting, could I remind you to pray for the God fearing and worshipping people of America, and especially California, to get out to vote. Buffy says that there is sure a big push in California against Proposition 8 (the gay marriage thing). I am sure you have heard about the church has for it, for which they are getting lots of static. This take a petition to church headquarters to try to get the brethren to drop the churches stance for Prop 8 is a joke! Obviously, they don't realize that our Prophet actually talks to God, and that Pres Monson isn't going to bow to public pressure, even if 99% of the public was for gay marriage! Anyway, if prayers were ever warranted to try preserve America as a good place to live, it is NOW! I think we really need to unite and give this prayer our hearts!