Groneman Family

Kiera still loves her 2 blankies. She also loves dressing up and especially loves "pretty yadie shoes" (dress up shoes). We took Kiera hiking in the foothills behind our house last week for a study break for Steve. She liked it. I think she is going to LOVE hiking in the woods someday.She was 100% potty trained before albaturkey and is now 100% un-potty trained again. I'm starting my last set of clinicals this week so I'm not going to start up potty training agin. Looks like we'll just have to continue spending $100 a month on diapers for a while. Lydia has been our little spit-fire lately. She is seeking revenge in grandma's behalf on her mommy. She loves unloading everything and getting into everything. Steve thinks she is just as opinionated as I am and thinks we are in for a difficult daughter. We'll see. I introduced the hose to her this week which she loved. I just finished our annual "NOW" (Nelson Organization for Women) convention. It is...

Our trip at the mountain this time was fun because we got to see little Emmy, which made up for some of the not very fun parts of the trip. When we got up there, to our trailer, the place had LOTS of mice droppings everywhere! Kim had done his best last fall to find all of the possible openings for mice to get in, and we had left probably 8 mouse traps. I had known there was a mouse problem in there, so I came armed with my clorox . So all of Friday (except maybe an hour) was spent pulling out dirty bedding, washing out drawers and cupboards, floors, sinks, shower, toilet, dishes etc. We were sitting there talking to Keith and Syd and enjoying some strawberry pie with them...and out from the stove top came a mouse! We had found 4 dead mice in the traps, and we had found 1 where it was obvious that a mouse had been stuck (glue trap) but had gotten away. There were several traps that were untouched....but we had a live mouse! Kim armed himself with a pair of gloves and went after ...

The other day, we had my mom and dad over for dinner. Afterward, we were sitting on the patio enjoying the evening with them...and we had a new experience! I could smell a very delicious smelling fresh baked bread. I had never smelled it before in our area unless I was making bread, and I wondered where on earth it could be coming from! I didn't have to wonder too long before Brett and Katie came out to join us with some fresh backed foccasia bread and balsamic vinegar! It was SOOOO tasty! EVERY bit as good as Macaroni grills bread. They brought us out a loaf, and even though I was not at all hungry because we had just eaten, I HAD to eat it! Katie is a darn good bread maker! I love the fringe benefits of our new neighbors! They are great!

Nursing is Utah's most hard to fill job right now....Computer Software Engineer is the next hardest job to fill SEE THE NEWS ARTICLE

We went to the mountain this weekend. Emmy brought Chad & Erica up too. It's nice and peaceful. One time I was sitting on the deck holding Emmy and Chad was sitting next to us. Everyone was enjoying the sound of the stream running and the birds singing and Emmy was just into it. Suddenly Erica came onto the deck from behind a tree and scared Emmy to death. I thought she was going to jump right out of my arms. I guess there is a downside to meditating to the sights and sounds of nature. :-)

Costco had a Disney DVD sale, and so we decided to take advantage and get a few. We got Wall*E and Bolt, which we'd never seen before. Wall*E was good. It's got some tree-hugger overtones to the whole movie, but it's not near as bad as Day after Tomorrow. It's an interesting movie, because there are large portions where there is no dialog. It's a really cute love story though. There were a few things that didn't make sense, but overall it's a good movie. Not as good as Monsters Inc., but a keeper anyway. This film is rated G, and I agree with that rating. Bolt caught us both off guard. Within the first five or ten minutes, I looked at Erica and said, "I guess we'll need to put on our seven-year-old mentalities to watch this movie." A few minutes later I said, "scratch that. Put on your five year old mentality." We were just about ready to turn it off, but we decided to just watch it, since we're planning on having a fiv...

Jacob LOVES Oreo cookies. I bought some Oreo knock-offs for him, which he has enjoyed thoroughly. Today while sweeping the kitchen, there was a big fragment of cookie in the pile of dirt. Benjamin asked me a question, and I turned back around just in time to see the piece of cookie that had previously been in the dirt pile inches from Jacob's mouth. I shouted, "NOOOO!" which startled him sufficiently to keep the cookie from reaching its target. I put it back in the dirt pile and swept it all into the garbage-- under some existing trash in case Jacob decided to look for it. Well, I came back from putting the broom away only to find that piece of cookie once again inches from his mouth. Fortunately another shout once again disrupted it's trajectory, and that time it went down the disposal. Poor Jacob was left without a cookie. And while on the subject of Jacob, yesterday he ran away from home and moved in with our next door neighbors. To make a long story short...

The video of Lydia and Ty is just so darn cute I can't help but watch it over and over.

Emmy now has two little bottom teeth. If she'd open her mouth long enough for a picture, I'd post one, but her tongue is too busy getting used to how those little teeth feel.

LOVE STORY (Taylor Swift) meets VIVA LA VIDA (Coldplay) by Jon Schmidt video (a Mormon guy) has had over 1 million views on U tube...and is the second highest ranked music video there of all time. I really like it! Check it out: LOVE STORY (Taylor Swift) meets VIVA LA VIDA (Coldplay) http://www.jonschmidt.com/catalog/music_video.html

For those of you considering the Havasupai trip this summer, here's some info: For those of you with Google Earth, here's a file I put together with the key locations on it. Here's the tribe's website . Looks like we have to make reservations through them. Another website with info . The hike is about 10 miles through the desert. You can pay $85 for a helicopter if you're a sissy. There is a little village down there, but beings that there's no cars in the whole place, I'm doubting they have a walmart. It's a backpacking trip. Sleeping stuff. Food/stuff to make food (no fires allowed). Water bottles/filter. They let you clean up in the river with biodegradable soap. The hike is classified as moderately strenuous. By comparison, the Timp hike to the summit is 7.5 miles with a 4580' gain. This hike is 10 miles with about 2500' elevation difference. And an interesting factoid is that Supai, AZ is the only United States Post Office that stil...

There are two types of ATVs. "Sport" and "Utility". THESE are sport ATVs ...the kind people use to race around places like the sand dunes. That is generally the kind of ATV people ride when you hear of them getting killed or injured. Notice they look a lot different than our style of ATV.....the "Utility" type. That's not to say you can't get killed or injured on our kind....but it's a lot more rare and it's generally because it's someone playing around doing something they shouldn't. You can get killed/injured on a bicycle. For those of you who hear stories of people getting maimed on ATVs, please DO KEEP IN MIND that there are two distinct types of ATVs and two distinct types of ATV riders. I just had to post this when you are deciding to support the idea your mother proposed. It really would be a LOT of fun.

We have decided that since Brigham will be done with his residency and Steve will be in his third year (much easier than #2) , we would like to take all our kids/and kids "in love" (as Erica puts it) on a fun trip together....but we would like to see if it would be possible with the kids. So, here is the deal. There is a very old and very cool Bed and Breakfast in Marysvale http://www.oldpineinn.com/?gclid=CMv4zMCp2poCFRMUagodAHZK2g (where Kim took his sysops 2 years ago). We would pay for the lodging, the main meal for the day, and ATV's so we could all go riding together! Breakfast and snacks for the trail...we'd likely leave to your own preference. Now, the problem is, when? Brigham will be done in June, but they will be getting ready to move and moving then...and the summer is too hot, and stays too hot until fall, but then likely Brett and BJ, and probably Steve would be in school again. Is there any chance that Brigham could take like 4 -5 days off in May...

Here is a link to the pictures of the rest of our sunny atv trip. Weather was perfect...no rain, just sun and great temperatures. Wish you were all there to enjoy it with us. I had a cheap little digital camera..forgot out good one. The pictures don't do it justice.

Just when you thought the fun pictures from NM were done with.... We went "practice camping" in the backyard on friday night. It was a success and everyone had fun. The sprinklers came on, so it is a good thing I decided to put the umbrella on just as it was getting dark. We watched a movie in the tent and went to sleep. Kiera thought it was great...I guess we are ready for the real thing.

Ok..sorry about that, the picture link now works http://picasaweb.google.com/kgroneman/Marysvale #

No rain overnight. Just as we got on the ATVs...I mean the minute we got on the ATVs it started sprinkling. Not too bad, just light rain. We had about an 80 mile round trip ride today to the top of Monroe Mountain. As we rode, the rain would get a little more intense. When we got to the top and turned around (because the road was still snowbound) it really started raining. We stopped under some pine trees to eat our lunch and it started raining harder still. As we drove back down the mountain and into town it was a downpour. Good thing we had some rain gear. We got back to Pam's house and parked and went inside...and it stopped raining...the sun came out for the rest of the afternoon. So I wanna know....which one of you put the curse on us?!? (I enjoyed it...it was a lot of fun.). I didn't take many pictures because I didn't want the camera getting wet. are a few of them from day 1 . And now a word from your mother dearest: Can I just say WETTTTTTTT! And cold!...

This is the first time I have ever used a laptop. We brought this along because I don't ATV ride on Sunday, so with this laptop and my flash drive with PAF on it, I am set up to do genealogy for as long as I want to! Which make for a happy camper. Raindrops are falling on the roof (soon to be on my head). 3 days ago, we had a perfect forecast for the weekend. Yesterday, they said there would be a 30% chance of showers...yesterday they changed it to a 70%, and the rain started just after we got in the Jeep in Cedar Hills, and it rained most of the way down here yesterday. And it is around 50 degrees, with rain forecast all weekend long. Had I known we were going to have a soggy weekend, I would have delayed this trip. Bummer. If it rains too much, we may have to give it up. We don't have wipers installed on our goggles, and the roads will get too muddy. So we shall see what happens. One thing is sure: We won't have to worry about dusty roads!!!

I saw this picture on the Nelson blog and thought it really deserves to be posted over here. I love it.

You wandering Groneman family people need to find your way home...Even the National news know where it is at! (But I sure hope that nobody else takes these articles too seriously!) Check it out: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=649&sid=6529115

I would just like to publicly thank my amazing husband for the last eight years. While they haven't always been easy, it's been wonderful to share them with my best friend at my side. I love you, Brigham! Happy anniversary!

Our new neighbors invited us to go with them yesterday afternoon on a picnic up AF canyon. We accepted. We threw some wood in the Jeep, gathered picnic stuff, made a quick stop at Walmart for some dogs & buns (Brett bought) then headed up the canyon (with our yearly pass anyone is welcome to borrow anytime). Just after the turnoff to Tibble Fork, we found a nice picnic spot with a table and firepit in among large trees at the bottom of some cliffs. Brett/Katie had made Strawberry/Mango/Rubarb pie...it certainly was delicious. None of us came away hungry, that's for certain. A good time was had by all and we all smelled like smoke afterwards. Thanks Katie/Brett! ...oh, the picnic spot was 10 minutes away from our house...we timed it.

So Brett is currently sitting in his nursing orientation for the hospital - lucky guy! While he starts his new job, I'm pleased to announce that I've been hired as well (and in this economy we're both very happy to have jobs). I got called yesterday and was given a job at Fort Herriman Middle School (it's west off of Bangerter, about a 35 minute drive from Cedar Hills). I'll be teaching 8th grade science (a little bit of physics, geology, ecology, etc.) and 9th grade earth systems (I'm actually not really sure what that is yet...) I'm technically trained to teach 7th grade and biology, but that's not what most people need right now. They're letting me work towards getting certified to teach 8th grade and earth systems over about 3 years, while teaching it, so it's not really too much of a problem. I'm nervous, but they seem to have a lot of teams put into place to help teachers support each other, which I'll be taking advantage of. I had ...

I remember Christa recommended Angles & Demons when the Davinci Code was popular and I always meant to read it. Now that the movie has come out I decided to finally read the book. I'm only half way through it but I have to comment. No matter how good the writer is and no matter how exciting the plot is, if there is a glaring oversight/mistake in the book it kind of takes some of the punch out of it. This book has such a mistake...and it's a big one since it's the entire premise of the book so far. Someone stole a wireless camera from a stair well inside Vatican city. They moved it and are showing the (I'll leave what it's showing to your imagination if you haven't read the book). Hello!!!! It's a wireless video camera transmitting pictures to the Swiss Guard. That means it's the only thing in Vatican city transmitting on that frequency. That means they could triangulate on it and find it within 10 minutes. Do they think of that? No. With all the high...

which of course you are welcome to recieve or toss out. I know I have mentioned it to some of you, but I would feel like I was hoarding a treasure from people I love if I didn't say this to all of you! Years ago, when I got an MP3 for the first time, I started downloading conference off the churches website and listening to it as I was doing brainless work/ working in the yard/waiting at Drs offices/exercising. I knew it would help me to grow spiritually, and it has proved to be a great benefit to me! I have since figured out that you can also load BYU Ed week talks, BYU Women's conf talks, and the like....so that has furthered the blessing! I am kinda a slow learner I have decided. I always watch conference. Sometimes I even take notes...but you miss a lot while you are writing down the last thing that you thought was profound. Anyway, my friends would mention something they thought was profound from whomever's talk the next week, and I frankly didn't remember it....

Click on this picture for a slideshow of a few pictures of the Chad/Erica/Emmy clan and some of our new patio for those of you outside Utah so you can see what a NICE back yard we have. I had fun with Emmy yesterday. She and I played for a couple of hours while her parents went to the temple.

who says you can't have fun in a backyard filled with rocks? Having fun with cousins. There is a lot of fun to be had around here. Twas a windy day at the park today and Lydia and Ty were not so fond of the wind so it was a quick trip Happy Birthday MOO.

Man, I hate to push down that cute picture of Emmy, but I have a minute, so I thought I'd post something. We are loving having the Nelsons here in the Q! We definitely need to be neighbors in the future! The kiddos are really cute together, and I am amazed at how much Benjamin enjoys playing with Kiera and Lydia both. Kiera will give Jacob random hugs from time to time, which is darling-- until he pulls her hair. Ty has really made HUGE progress with his sleeping since we started sleep training at the beginning of the month. He now only gets up once or twice a night and has FINALLY mastered falling asleep on his own for naps as well. He doesn't even cry very long anymore! HOORAY!!! I'm feeling like I might survive this child after all! We celebrated Moo's 5 1/2th birthday today with a "cake" made of a Rice Krispie treat frosted with chocolate syrup and a match for a candle. It was a great party. Too bad you missed it! The boys finish school on Tuesday...

FYI our patio out by the swing is now finished. AND, as a bonus highlight of this post, you MUST watch this video ...and check out some of this kid's other videos on YouTube. What an amazing talent.

Per popular demand of all the moms I have, I make a posting. Only because I don't want to deal with the current tornado in the living room/bedroom/bathroom/hallway/closet/cupboard... Katie and I moved. We're hanging out with the parents in the basement apartment. If you need directions, ask. We officially check out of Wymount Saturday, but we had to move earlier because Katie and I work. I worked today, and I'm working tomorrow. So right now, we're living out of boxes. We're probably 50% unpacked. We're having difficulties trying to figure out where we're going to put everything, but it'll probably come together. I got into the UVRMC RN Residency program. They told me a couple of days ago. This is a HUGE relief for me. I really don't know what I would have done for a job without getting in. Nursing home?? Ug! Explanation of what it is: In order to work for Intermountain Healthcare as a newly graduated RN, you have to go through their RN residency pro...

So, I happen to know that Brett has information that would be fun to see on the blog, and for others to know what is happening in your life....face book knows, why not the family?. (No, folks, they are not pregnant!....sorry, Ty.)

We've been hangin' out here a couple of days now. Nothing monumental to say. I will say this though: having 2 women around makes life easier while taking care of children since one can entertain while the other gets something productive done (running, cooking, dealing with a crisis). It would be VERY nice to live very close to a sibling/friend to be able to do this on a regular basis. We tried to go get pictures taken at the mall today of Ty which ended up not working, but they still had fun on the play area at the mall. No other monumental trips. Benjamin and Kiera are having a ton of fun together and Lydia enjoys watching them and laughs at their playing. Kiera likes to randomly give Jacob hugs which is cute and today he decided to give her the not-so-gentle hugs that he gives his mom which was way cute. I got pictures but I have no camera cord so you'll have to wait. Ty is sleeping much better. Slept 7 hours straight last night; only cried for 4 mins before his...

So, with 2 women on duty there, I am thinking somebody ought to give us an update on the happenings there. How is little Ty doing with his sleeping? Any improvements? How is it to have 5 little kids in the same house? Brigham happy he is working long shifts at the hospital? Have you had a chance to go do something fun with your little kiddos? News is good.....

We got some new neighbors yesterday. A young, cute couple. No kids yet. They are our closest neighbors. I actually helped them move yesterday from Provo. Chad was available and he helped a lot too. They sure had a lot of stuff for the short time they've been married! I hope they feel welcome in the neighborhood .

About a month ago I got in a car accident in the grocery store parking lot. But I was not driving my car at the time. So I had one of those huge and bulky shopping carts with the little red car in the front (which makes grocery shopping with a toddler about 50% easier). I had just wheeled the beast out to my car. The first thing I have to do before unloading groceries is to put Kiera in the car so she can't run away through the parking lot. So, that it what I did. I plopped her on her car seat with the intention of doing up the seatbelt later, shut the door, and started pushing the cart around to the back of my car when all of the sudden Kiera was screaming histerically and obviously in pain. I ran to pull her off of the seat belt that was burning her and turned around to see the beast of stroller had rolled into the car that was sitting next to me (just as they were getting in their car) It dented there car and they took down my insurance info. What a pain. Today in NM I ...

This is interesting. A Geocaching travel bug I started here in Provo went close to Cambrie's house and now it's close to Christa's house. See the map .

"Mother of the Year" Your mom won the national Mother of the year award!!! You can WATCH THE NEWS RELEASE HERE

Plans are set. Our trailer is already down there. We're spending memorial day weekend ATV riding in Marysvale . I can rent a couple of extra ATVs from our friends that live there. Who is "in"? We'll be leaving Friday afternoon 22nd, coming back Monday afternoon. You are welcome to come stay for all or part. It's about a 2-1/2 hour drive so you can come down for a day but if Emmy is involved, we'll make sleeping arrangements for her. You won't be sorry. It's very pretty mountain scenery and there is usually some snow still on the higher trails this time of year. Old mines, waterfalls, old cabins, trails and streams. Pines and aspens. It's my kind of country and there is no better way to enjoy it than the open air sitting on the back of an ATV. People come from all over the country to ride the Paiute Trail.

To all of my little daughters, who are "in the trenches" of raising children: I just want you to know that while your little ones are small and pretty much incapable of showing their appreciation to you for all that you do, it doesn't go un- noticed nor un appreciated! I thank the good Lord each day for my great kids and kids in law that are doing such a great job of raising their children. More importantly, I know that Heavenly Father notices and appreciates the sometimes HARD work you do to be a mother...especially when all the kiddo's get sick at once! (Hope that isn't the case in Albuquerque while Cambrie is there with her munchkins). Anyway, I am not telling you anything that you didn't already know... but I wanted to say thanks for your love and diligence and dedication to being the best mother you know how to be! I love and respect you for it! About the picture: THIS is why you plant perennials in your yard! After being gone for 5 weeks when not...

CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR A SLIDESHOW

http://groneman-family.blogspot.com/2009/04/mothers-day.html - Anyone?

Just got back from a great trip...nice to see my sweetheart again. I think I saw the tops of some giraffe heads sticking up out of the grass in our front yard. Guess I had better get the machete out and go see if I can cut it down.

Kiera and Lydia have new runny noses and slight coughs as of yesterday. I just have a feeling deep in my bones that it is a deadly case of swine flu so I'm thinking of going to my local trauma center ER on a busy saturday night to have them check it out. I'm sure that the government won't mind paying for it (since we are on medi-caid). I'm just sad we have to take this swine flu to the Dastups when we go in 2 days.

Tomorrow EARLY- I leave. Christa will be on her own for 1 week until Cambrie arrives. Ty is doing SO much better in the sleep dept...still lots of room for improvement, but for the last 2 nights CK has only needed to get up with him two times, and he has taken a 3 plus hour nap for the last 2 days in a row. Thanks for your fasting and prayers folks and thanks to whats-his-bucket for writing the Sleep Bible book that CK and Cambrie and Erica love (right, Erica?). We are glad he is saving this generation of mothers from the bone wearying tiredness I felt for the most of the first 10 years after having children, because they didn't sleep as they should have. WHAT CUSHY LIVES YOU ALL LEAD WITH EPIDERALS AND SLEEP BIBLES TO SAVE YOU (Erica excluded with the epideral). Having said all that, CK and Brigham are currently going on a walk cause they can't stand to hear the baby scream. The first night, it was about 2 1/2 hours, last night about 25 minutes, and tonight, is yet to be deter...

Kiera wore her pink dress from grandma again at church. She loves to wear it and she loves all the attention she gets from everyone in it "what is this 2-year-old prom?" Me n' the girls are going to Albuturkey this weekend. We'll be there for 10 days making messes in the dastrup household. Hopefully steve can have a little bit more effective studying with us gone. I'm training for a half marathon for anybody who didn't know. running by myself is B-O-R-I-N-G. All my runner friends are pregnant right now so there is nobody to run with.

Brett posted this on Facebook, I'm just reposting it here: " Brett Groneman Just left the hospital on his bike, got hit by a car of high-school girls, flipped over the car, landed in the road, bent up his bike, scraped up his arms, knee, and hand, tore his shorts, broke his watch face glass, messed up the phone, tore off his permanantly chained on diabetes bracelet, got handed a "witness" piece of paper from the nice pizza delivery driver, got handed insurance papers from the car driver... "

From Benjamin's glasses, etc. Pretty good-looking, eh? We sure think so! So we survived day one of sleep training! Once he finally fell asleep, he slept for 5 hours-- a new record for him! He also fell back asleep by himself after a feeding-- another first. So the agony is worth it, I guess. Hopefully he won't cry for a full two hours tonight! Wish us luck!

This guy is amazing! Some podunk Methodist church somewhere has had him singing for them for years and nobody has "discovered" him until now. He should go on American Idol and blow the competition away, past and present. Watch the video clear through to the end to get the full effect of his fantastic singing ability. Absolutely amazing. WATCH IT NOW .

Here is a picture of my little birthday cake. Kiera was insisting that I have a birthday cake but it was just me 'n the girls waiting for steve to come home so we could rush off to dizzyland. So, I assembled this beautiful cake, sang to myself, and then let Kiera blow out the candles. The girls were both very excited about it.

78 Steven Nelson 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 23.5855% 102 Christa Dastrup 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 18.3273% 188 Chad Groneman 1 2 1 1 2 5 1 1 1 1 9.0167% 853 Brett Groneman 1 1 1 2 4 2 1 1 7 3 986 Kim Groneman 1 1 1 2 4 2 4 1 1 3 1487 Breanna Groneman 1 1 1 3 3 2 4 1 10 1 1789 Cambrie Nelson 2 1 2 2 3 2 1 1 9 3 May's contest: http://www.brainbashers.com/common.asp

I am monopolizing the computer tonight to avoid Ty's crying. This is the first big day of sleep training, and he is currently on his way to crying himself to sleep, for the first time. I can't hear him in here with the distance between us, or I would be highly tempted to go in there and rescue him. Brigham is essentially in the same room with him, trying to sleep, after his 34 hour shift at the Hospital finished this afternoon. Oh, FLASH NEWS RELEASE: He is no longer asleep, he just came in the computer room. I think it will be a very long night, especially for the parental units, as this will be the first night Ty has EVER gone to sleep on his own...and he is one very determined little boy! And he is determined to have someone get him to sleep. Today for his nap, we had to get him to sleep a total of 4 times for 1 nap. He wakens very easily, and he doesn't seem to know how to go back to sleep without help. Benjamin is off to his new school's open house, with ...

THESE PICTURES are of Marilyn's yard & flowers so she can see how things are going.