Groneman Family

Google+ works much better as a family (& friends) conversational tool than individual blogs do. From now on I'll send Buff stuff via email and I'll be posting what I would otherwise post here to my G+ "Family" circle. I'll still watch your blogs if you decide to keep your own, but this is my final blog post here. So....replace your "Groneman Family Blog" bookmarks with http://plus.google.com and add me to one of your circles if you want to track the nonsense I usually spew forth around here. See ya on the other side..... Signing off. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC_M6PzXS9g

Click here for info on cool utensils!

I just had to steal this picture from off Brett's blog so Buff can see. Our family on Lindy's blessing day in the Boren's back yard.

Erica and I are anxious to cheer on BYU. So, we're going to the scrimmage at the stadium tomorrow (10:15 AM). Anybody who wants to is welcome to meet us there. It's free. GO BLUE! GO WHITE!

Emmy did awesome in her first-ever dentist appt today. She got her teeth brushed, flossed, flouride brushed on, 2 x-rays, and let the dentist look in her mouth and count her teeth (20, if you wanted to know). She got to pick out a toothbrush, prize for being so good, and then she got a coupon for a free ice cream cone at Arctic Circle, which we used on the way home. It was great because Chad went in first, and they called us back about when they were ready to brush his teeth, so she got to see that and that the chair wasn't scary at all and got to feel the tickle of the bush on her finger first before they put it in her mouth. The hygienists were so cute with her. She sat/lied down on my lap in the chair while they did everything. Let me just say it went 100% better than I thought it would, and she never cried once! :) Oh, and if you were wondering, the dentist said her teeth look amazing and she's doing well. :)

This past Friday/Saturday we headed to the mountain again.  This time with Dastrups & Chad's family.  Dastrups stayed this time, Groneman's didn't...which caused all kinds of consternation with little Emmy.  After the hot dogs and smores she was expecting to go to the trailer go to to bed.  Nope...her parents had other ideas (they had to help in the morning with a project to put down sod in the park in front of their house).  When Emmy found out they were going home instead of staying the night she was not a happy camper!  Grown ups just don't realize that when you go to the mountain you're supposed to stay the night!  Jacob spent the night with the Dastrup grandparents and Brigham was working, but Christa, Benjamin, and Ty had a good time exploring, making squirrel houses, shooting bow and arrow, playing in the dirt.  They stayed the night.  We even tidied up a beach.  Yes, we have our own beach now at the mountain.  Sand to di...

Today little Lindy was blessed...it was a sweet and memorable event that I wish that the Nelsons and Buffy could have attended. But don't worry-I thought about you, and I ate enough to count for you too :) Kim will have to post some of the pictures we took of the event. It was fun to rub shoulders with Katies great family, they are some of the very best people I know. I kinda felt bad...it probably looked like we wanted to segregate ourselves from them while we ate, which was NOT the case. But there was a picnic table in the shade and I had on a brand new (questionably washable) shirt and so I needed to eat at a table where my shirt wouldn't catch it all (for us sloppy types). I thought I would go and mingle with the Borens when I was done eating, but then, when our kids decided it was time to head for our house, I needed to go with them...to let them in....and such. But I LOVE Katie's family! They are so gracious and kind about everything. I was able to make Lindy's bl...

Nelson update here.  I started a job at a nursing home last week.  I've been doing orientation which has had me working a bit more than I'd like.  Nursing homes, as you know, are understaffed. I'm the only nurse at all in the Alzheimer's and rehab unit which is a bit intimidating.  But, the nursing home happens to be directly across the street from where we live.  So, it works well with only being a 1 car family. Steve is enjoying being a dentist and getting quicker with his skills.  Lots of ward members have been to see him and beings that we live in a small town, we see his patients all over town.   The other dentist (who is being fired) leaves this week and starts up a practice 2 blocks away.  Steve is expected to miraculously change a very bitter and divided group of employees in that office into a great and friendly place.  If anybody can do it, steve can.  Kiera and Lydia are still cute.  They are the best of friends-- ...

Just to keep Buff in the loop, we were going to go to the mountain yesterday, but the monsoon rains are back again and people didn't think it would be worth it just to sit in the trailer and watch the rain.  Don't blame them.  So..we stayed home.  We did the Highlands splash pad thing instead.  For some reason, Jacob wasn't as thrilled with it as he used to be.  He played in the water a little, but then wanted to sit on the benches.  Ty had fun running up and down the river from one end to the other. He was also enthralled when one boy brought a monster truck and put in the river and let the current roll the truck down the way.  I think Benjamin needed a buddy to play in the water with..he looked kind of lonely the entire time we were there.  Emmy liked wading up and down but gramps had to kick water on her to get her wet (would I do that?!?)  After that we came home to Chinese Chicken Salad (from our recipe site ).  Jacob has lost his...

The "Wayback" machine has been started.  An until now unseen look into the past is available.....if you've added me to one of your circles in Google+.

Folks, I'm really considering abandoning this blog. Here's why: Not only can I print my family "circle" stream in Google+, but it prints the comments as well as the posts. One point for G+, minus for blogger I don't have to do an extra sign in and do captcha characters to post a comment on someone else's post I can post private information, like when I'm leaving on vacation and not worrying about the wrong people seeing it.  Only people in my family circle can see it. We can do video chats with Cambrie right from Google+ It's really easy to integrate my pictures BUT WAIT....THAT's NOT ALL!  When someone posts a comment on a picture it shows up in my G+ stream.  I don't have to subscribe to anything extra to see the comments. If you guys happened to move from your blogs to Google+ I (and anyone else in your circles) don't have to go to your individual blogs to see what you've posted.  It comes right into my G+ stream (and yours,...

Friday night we went to the Mtn with Chad's and Brett's family. We had a great time, roasting hotdogs, pigging out and of course there were the smores that we ate too much of. That was little Lindy's first trip to the Mtn property...next year she will be making her parents extremely nervous as she tries to navigate uneven rocky ground while her parents hover and hope for no falls. Emmy, who has been so excited to go to the mtn., was still so jazzed, way past her bedtime...that she kept popping up while Chad and Erica were trying to go to sleep, talking about it and how we could continue the fun in the morning. Cute little lady! I never saw such a cute and sticky little smore eater! Erica had the wipey ready to try to control the damages, so the pictures don't do it justice, but it was fun to watch. For those of you on Google+,  you've already seen the pictures.  Cool how it does that.  For those of you sticks in the mud not on G+ yet, HERE ARE THE PICTURES Brett ...

Ever since I was a baby my parents would take me camping multiple times each summer.  We always had a trailer and were always going and doing things in it.  We'd tent camp too from time to time, especially when we started going to Canyonlands, but it was usually in a trailer.  I still fondly remember waking up to the smell of bacon and coffee while sleeping in the trailer bunk.  When Marilyn and I got married, family members gave us a lot of camping gear for our wedding (some of which we still have).  We would just sleep out in the back of our pickup truck for a while, but finally bought an old used canvas tent at a yard sale.  When Christa was a little tyke, we could finally afford to buy a trailer of our own.   A used Prowler.  We went camping quite often.  It got sold when we moved to Virginia.  We spent time camping at the mountain property too.  When we got back from England, we bought Saundra's trailer and used it fo...

( Happy Anniversary )

Just talked to the guy that takes care of the water system at the mountain.  The water still isn't on at our place.  He says there's a guy working to fix a couple of bad leaks and he's not sure if the water will be on by this weekend.  FYI.

Let's do Sunday dinner this Sunday! Who is in? And then we will get organized.... Also, FYI: I just found out that there is a beach in Cedar Hills (or it my be No Pleasant Grove)! For real folks, and I think it is free! It's a pond with Fish, and I guess sand (cause kids were building sandcastles). And it is a whole heck of a lot closer than any other beaches I can think of. And we have life jackets... Anyway, we should check it out sometime.

I (and some of you) have been playing with Google+.  I've been thinking it could be a viable replacement for this blog.  Here's why: Circles.  You can create a "Groneman Family" circle (and a Dastrup/Kruger/Nelson/Boren/? circle) so you can selectivly share information.  Post in one place, share with whichever circles you select.  Only have something to share with this side of the family?  Easy.  Want to share something with both sides of the family?  Easy too.  Want to share something with family and friends?  Just as easy. Why is this a benefit?  I no longer have to go to Christa's blog, Chad's blog, etc, etc. to see what's going on and we don't have to beg for you to post on our blog.   You post once, share with whomever, and nobody ever needs to go to more than one place. (Your Google+ page). Pictures.  I can share my Picasa pictures and videas just as easy as I can share a "blog" post.  ...

This evening Lydia and Kiera were fighting over princesses in the other room (nothing new).  Kiera decided to take out her frustrations on Lyida's head by hitting her over the head.  We ran to the rescue as we heard this happening only to find blood dripping down Lydia's face and a large bloody area on top.  (of course, head wounds always bleed tons compared to everywhere else on your body).  Lydia was pretty darn traumatized and I was pretty upset with Kiera.  About 10 minutes later I had just sat at the piano to try to calm down (and not do something rash to Kiera) when I heard Lydia screaming/crying from the garage.  I went running because it was a very hurt cry.  Lydia had been trying to open the garage door.  the button for the door is about 6 inches away from the door itself.  She climbed up on the back of a riding toy to reach the button and held onto the track of the garage door.  As the door had gone up the wheels had gone over ...

Planning on moving or visiting Macomb, IL anytime soon? You'll be sure to want to enjoy the activities the town has to offer ...

In case you care, they finally poured our concrete for our front walk today. The rest of the grass still isn't in, but slowly but surely our front yard is getting done.

Don't you just hate overfilled ink jet cartridges that explode all over your hands when you open them?  Yea...me too.

Love, mom

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=16313991&cat=235 http://provo.craigslist.org/msg/2486779428.html Steve & Cambrie finally used their credit at the Piano Gallery and got two pianos.  I'm trying to sell this unit for them.  My question is on their web site they say "Free Shipping"!  Why did you guys haul yours in pieces in the back of your car?!?

The CUTEST KIDS ON EARTH were at the carnival.  CLICK HERE . for the pictures.  Here are some samples for my darling little Buffalo to look at:

Neither your mother nor I can post comments on your blog.  I suspect something is amiss there.  :-(  Some cute things to post comments about if we could.

Here are the best ones which I've uploaded to Picasa:  https://picasaweb.google.com/kgroneman/201107ReservationRidge#slideshow/5627143465068193922

Well, the Parental/grandparental units have returned. Good times were had! Amoungst other activities, these are some of what we enjoyed. -WAY too much food/junk food -ATV riding, although it was severely inhibitied this year by rain, and a gazillion downed trees. I never saw so many downed trees in my life-as you will see by Kim's pictures just a few of the downed trees. -a new sport was enjoyed up there: Tree tipping. Yup. Kinda related to tractor tipping, only with trees. You find a dead Aspen and push on it until it tips over. FEEL THE POWER! Especially when it cracks and timber's. Just doing our bit to clear the forest canopy for alive stuff to grow! -We took 3.5 mile walks on the same road that the cougar/bear had been on within 24 hours as evidenced by fresh tracks on freshly rained roads and their droppings which were fresh. But I wasn't too worried about the bears attacking cause I have my own bear to protect me :) -we played LOTS of games -I worked on my computer, ...

Jul 5, 2011

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Just a picture of a couple of pretty cute girls to share.

Happy Birthday Brigham  CLICK HERE

I'm sure the minute details of my life are not that interesting to most of you folk.  But they probably are to at least mom (maybe buff?) so I'll write them.  We've been crazily moving in over the past 2 days.   Our bathroom is now finished.  the kitchen is finished other than the lack of fridge.  The landlord is absolutely fabulous.  He spent 8 hours here yesterday and today working his tail off.  He HAD a fridge (more than $1000 new) but mis-measured and it doesn't fit.  So now is is getting us a new one.  But we are borrowing a mini-fridge from a ward member so we are surviving.    They are completely gutting our soggy basement and doing it again which will be fabulous.  Landlord also tore out a ton of huge bushes and our sidewalk with the intention of stopping the flooding in our basement.  The house is great.  The one thing I wish I had is more cupboard space.  I'll have to put foods/equipment (...

Throw in your ideas, even if they don't agree with mine.  As Brigham said, it's the media that makes up our minds for us anyway.  I can be persuaded. I've been less than impressed with her because of the pure political blustering she constantly does, but this article on KSL brings it into focus: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?sid=16146886&nid=1013 The race is still early, but I'm leaning towards Mitt Romney for now though he seems like a tried and true, quintessential politician that holds to standard political ways. On the other hand, Ron Paul's views would impress me if he was a little MORE quintessential politician instead of sounding like a kook sometimes.  One of his views that just throws me for a loop is his insistence we legalize marijuana.  Marilyn, you said you heard he was pro abortion but his web site indicates he is definitely opposite of that. Even with some of the things I don't like about him, I could get behind him if he ended up being ...

For some reason this wouldn't post yesterday...so I am trying again today. (My life seems to be like that!) I have been craving a new recipe that Brett and Katie served us a while back: Chicken Tikka Masala. It is an indian dish that is just wonderful! So today was the day. I pulled it up on the family blog (thanks, Brett)...and copied and pasted it into Open Office and printed it from there. So as I am assembling it today, I was concerned right off the bat...it didn't look like it did when they made it for us...and it didn't taste right either. I went over and over the recipe to see if I had missed something...nope, it was all the way it read. Well, about 5 minutes before it was time to serve it and my family was hungry, I looked at the recipe on the computer and for some reason unbeknowst to me, the printer had omitted about 1/3 the recipe. Or maybe I screwed up...it had shown a second page when I did the print preview, but it was only another picture...no words, so I jus...

#1  today I was playing pretend with Lyida.  I was the kid and she was the mom putting me to bed.  Like she does I said "mom, I need a drink of water!!"  She looked around and then came and leaned over and gave me a kiss and I was laying on the bed.  She after the kiss she left a big ol' spit wad on my lips.  Lucky for me: a drink.  I was was laughing to hard to be grossed out.  #2.  Nursery in our new ward is very...different.  There are 5 kids and the 2 nursery leaders who are about 80 years old.  They have been in the nursery for 17 years.  The funny thing about the way they run the nursery is that they color the pictures FOR the kids.  They have all of the coloring pictures pre colored, cut, and today even laminated with the kids names on them.  I guess that is magnifying your calling : )

5 minutes after Steve purchased or hotel rooms for 3 days, our landlord called and said that we could stay at the house.    Of course, the hotel is non-refundable. So we've started moving in.  the problem is that they are still remodeling.  So, we can't put anything in the basement, kitchen, or bathroom (at all).  And anything we put in the living room will be promptly covered in dust.  So we have 1 room piled literally to the ceiling with boxes, and we've attempted to set up our bedrooms.  But we've pretty much completed everything we can do until construction is done which may not be for another week.  Since we have a hotel (that we don't need) we were at least excited to have a fridge there.  but once we checked in they informed us that our room didn't have one (they ran out).  So, it's out to the grocery store or resturant for every single meal.  What a pain!  I just want to have a house/kitchen/bathroom again!

Provo and Loma Linda have been dropped from the NASDAQ. Welcome Macomb, Sandy, and Lehi (closest thing to Saratoga Springs)

Thought you may enjoy THIS

SouthWest Cheap Flights TODAY ONLY you can get a flight for $40 on SouthWest.

#1-- After our 3 hour drive to St. Louis, we saw our hotel and I pointed out that it was called "Holiday Inn" so that Kiera could read it off of the building when she saw it.  Lydia pointed out "it's called Holiday Inn because we get to GO IN!!"  (..and get out of the car!). #2-- we went to Denny's for dinner the other night.  Their is a nicely illistrated kids menu with pictures of all of the hot dogs, grilled cheese, etc..  Kiera promptly picked out her Mac and Cheese.  but Lydia insisted on having "Mean Soup" (which is what she calls all soups since reading the children's book Mean Soup.  She insisted that that is what she wanted.  I thought she'd probably end up eating my omlet, or Kiera's mac and cheese, but I let her get it (the waitress was looking doubious about it too, pointing out that it is entre-sized).  But, Lydia surprised us all and wanted nothing to do with anyone else's food.  She devoured her Mean Soup.  She kno...

http://goo.gl/maps/ESdQ   is a meteor crater very close to where we camp at Reservation Ridge.  From the road, it's a 1.64 mile hike up a canyon going from 7574 feet to 9928 feet (pretty steep) (Google Earth is cool)  There is no trail.  I wanna do it.  It can't be any worse than hiking to Timp Cave.  Does anyone want to challenge your old man/your dashing groom in this hike sometime this summer?  If you have Google Earth installed and are interested, I can email you a file that lets you see the entire hike with a movable elevation indicator.  I love living in Utah.  People in Ill.....er....NYC eat your heart out.

Most of you have already heard about this, so this is more for Buff's benifit, but you can read it too : ) Me n' the girls arrived in Illinois after our long flights.  Grandma had said goodbye to us in tears (silly grandma, we're not moving to the North Pole!).  And when the girls saw their daddy and ran to him screaming "daddy!!!!"  Steve cried too.  People cry when they say goodbye to K & L, others when they say hello, and I feel like crying on the  plane ride with them! (j/k).  The girls were very excited about the fireflies as we drove.  It DID look quite magical.  We arrived in Macomb at 10:30pm with 2 sleeping ladies.  We slept at a ward member's house (we are not allowed to sleep in our new home until the 28th).  Their house smelled like 1872 (much like all of the houses in Macomb).  We went to church in the morning. The people were VERY different from what I'm used to.  Very poor, backwards, rotting tee...

Yer mom and I have been planning to vacation over the 4th as a just the two of us get away. It's been a while since we've been up to Reservation Ridge, and after discussions with the Thomas familiy, we've picked a course of action and have decided it's time for us to take our vacation there on the Ridge.  I'm taking vacation from July 1st through 9th (yer mom's birthday) and taking our trailer up to Reservation Ridge.  Not where we usually camp but right HERE where you see that little faint road going down into the trees.  One stipulation we have with Saundra/Randy is that no kids/grandkids until July 6th or later.  After that come on up!   We can sit and zap flies, burn hotdogs & marshmallows, pick flowers, and ride ATVs. We'll be leaving our trailer up there for a while and splitting weekends between there and the mountain (where we dunno when we'll have a road and water).   I've got a LOT of work to do to get the t...

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of the Father's in my family a Happy Father's Day! I know that Kim is not my Father but I greatly appreciate him in my life. He is always telling me how much he loves me, which is nice. He is a great provider, great GRAMPS to my grand children, great to keep our things up and running (our microwave no longer sounds like a brake that needs greasing this morning), and I just enjoy our time together. He is my sweetheart, my best friend and the love of my life! And as for my sons and sons in law...what a great group of men! I am still SO GRATEFUL to Heavenly Father for blessing me and my grandchildren with such great dads. In a world that is such a mess, and there is so much evil and temptations out there to drag us down, my g-kids need EVERY advantage they can get especially loving and wise parents to raise them in the gospel and show them in example of how to live their lives righteously so that their children will know how to li...

A sad day around the grandparents' house today. I was going to take Cambrie with me on an ATV trip but instead she took the girls and flew to Illinois. Interesting how I want to say "flew back" to Illinois. I wonder if that is a leftover from pioneer days when traveling East was "going back" to somewhere. Anyway....I've certainly enjoyed having Cambrie & her girls around. I never smile and laugh as much as when there are little ones around. I felt bad I didn't get to see you guys off at the airport, but I had already commited to Ken for the ATV trip. When I got home Marilyn was upset and crying because she misses you and thinking of you so far away made her sad. Maybe one day you'll be reasonably close. We can dream. Every time I see a Disney princess now I think of your girls.  However, in the meantime I can't wait to hear about, and see your adventures in Illinois.  I hope you post the minutia of your lives back there so we can fee...

I was talking with Marilyn & Cambrie yesterday about our planned 2012 Alaska Cruise. When you figure it will cost each family about $3000 and take 9 days of having to take off work and get baby sitters, I'm thinking there may be preferable alternatives. So we got talking about the alternatives. The one that Cambrie liked the best was a trip to Moab. Not the Canyonlands trips of the past, but to Moab itself. Canyoneering, River running, Jet boat on the river, hiking, nice dinners in restaurants, etc. But she says she'd still like to do Alaska too. Another option we discussed was Yellowstone/Jackson. Ya see, I'll spend $3000 one way or the other. If we do the Alaska cruise, I'll spend it just on Marilyn and I. If we do something else, I may be able to spend some of it on you guys. What think ye?

Went with Cambrie and girls to the mountain today. Here are more pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/kgroneman/201106Mountain#

Yup. It is this Sunday is Father's day...and ya'll are invited over to dinner. I realize that with Katie's parents just returning they will not be coming....but please let me know if you will be able to attend for the rest of you all and then we will organize!

Two years old  Two A.M.  We had a middle of the night visitor.  It has been a LONG time since we had a two year old climb in bed between us in the middle of the night.  It happened last night.  Yea, it woke us both up...but it made us both smile.  It was a crisis though when Marilyn laid on Lydia's blankie.

It's hard to beat barbecue'd hamburgers.  That's what we had yesterday.  Num Num.  A great summertime meal, though we didn't have the fresh tomatos or corn.  We DID have fresh radishes from Emmy's garden however! (in the salad) The three girls played in the playhouse, on the swing, on the trampoline.  It's interesting that the girls are enjoying the top part of the playhouse more than they ever have before.   Earlier this year, the kids would play, but not together.  They just kind of tolerated each other.   Now they are *starting* to play together.  At least what one does, the others want to do so it's a flock thing.  It won't be long until they are heading off together arm in arm to get away from the adults and play.  The mesh fence along the back is doing it's job.  We don't have to worry as much about the little ones falling in the stream.  It started out being a cool morning, but by afternoon the t...

The Yahtzee champion of the Universe has been determined.  Friday night it was a duel to the death between Benjamin and Gramps.  Benjamin took an early lead winning three games in a row when Gramps couldn't get the dice to cooperate.  I still think the dice have some loyalty to Benjamin. >:-|  Anyway, Gramps started making a comeback and one game before the last was within striking distance. Alas, it was not to be when Benjamin rolled a Yahtzee with all sixes in the last game of the series.  Gramps' hope for the comeback of all comebacks was dashed.  Benjamin won the title of Yahtzee Champion of the Universe.  All is not lost though.  Gramps will continue to train for the rematch when Yahtzee Champion of the Cosmos will be played later this year.   You just wait Benjamin....you just wait!

Here's some purdy dern cute photos, if you ask me, as requested by Grandma.

Here's some info so you know a ballpark of what it will cost to do the Alaska cruise.  I checked on the Royal Caribbean site (my favorite cruise line) http://www.royalcaribbean.com   and for the absolute cheapest room on the cheapest dates it's $599 per person.  (May 11th..there are other dates available) Keep in mind they will charge for two people whether there is only one or two.  Silly to advertise that way, I know.  So that's $1,200 plus tax per couple for the cruise. We would need to fly to Vancouver BC on the 11th and fly home from Anchorage on the 18th.  On travelocity.com the cheapest flights I can find that work for those days are $718/person.  That makes the cheapest possible total of about $2,640 per couple.  That's no shore excursions, no souvenirs, no cabin upgrades so you have a window.   My guess is we'll be spending close to $3,000/couple minimum.

A lot has happened since the Nelsons' arrival.  A lot of playing in the playhouse, trampoline, and swinging in the back yard.  I put a mesh fence along the back to keep little tykes from falling in the stream which is running pretty high right now.  It's working fairly well except Ty keeps trying his best to find a way around it.  Saturday we went to the Dastrup abode and went to WHEELER HISTORIC FARM with everyone but Chad (sick) and Brigham (working) and Buff (mission).  I thought the best part was when the little ones were looking out the window of the tree house and grandma would jump up from under the tree house and scare them.  It was hilarious.  Ty got to sit on a John Deer and he was in heaven.  We saw turkeys and rabbits and a little tiny goat with a little tiny horn.  Sunday the family came over for dinner..we had pizza... Chad was still sick so that arm of the family didn't make it.  Brigham was still working and Buff was sti...

I'm making Chinese Chicken Salad (Krueger version) for dinner tonight. Anyone who would like to join us is welcome. Just let me know. We'll have FHE after. (We'll plan on eating around 5-ish.) Oh, and if you come, feel free to bring a kite, since it is a blustery day. :)

Chad and I like to try out new restaurants, especially little local "mom and pop" shops. The other day we noticed Sean's Smokehouse BBQ near the Walmart here in Saratoga Springs, so we decided to check it out for dinner tonight. If we were to describe it in one word: "Hits the spot." Very yummy and well priced (especially for a BBQ place). The total for all three of us (Emmy had a corn dog and fries) was $20.62. Chad ordered the pork sandwich and sweet potato fries. They have a whole bunch of homemade sauces to pour on top. He tried a really hot one and loved it (sorry, we can't remember the name of it). I had the Buffalo Ranch wings---YUM! I had BBQ Beans on the side--another YUM. I haven't had beans like them. One of the owners (Sean) was out greeting all the guests going from table to table, and he gave us some noodle salad to try (good, but not what we were in the mood for). He said they make everything from scratch. No canned beans at all. The BBQ ...

So, I am wondering what will work best for the family to get together this weekend...Sunday would be my preferrance, but Sat works too. Can everyone come this Sunday for an afternoon of fun, cousins and food? If not, does Sat work? Waiting on feedback, and then we will organize food. Thanks ya'll! Let the party begin!

My guess is you've heard of the Nelson's woes. Today the truck picks up their stuff and they will drive half way to Utah. Tomorrow (Friday) they will arrive at the parental units' house sometime before 3pm. PARTY! Except for Stevo who has the unenviable task of now trying to find a place to store their stuff and/or find a new place to rent since the lady in their new ward they were going to rent from was a total lie mouth who's word isn't worth 2 cents. [grrrrr!] Come over on Sunday and hear from the Nelson's themselves about how this lady is costing them around $2000 because the internet at the place she was moving to isn't fast enough so she is going back on her word and not letting them move in. [grrrrr!]  I hope she feels REAL guilty whenever she gets mail in her mailbox for them since they've already had their mail forwarded there.  Yea, the scriptures say we should forgive.   I'm not that religious.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_giv...

Time for everyone to go in and update their entries on the gift wish list over there

Today I attended an awards ceremony for Steve's dental school class. There were quite a few awards given out for all sorts of different achievements (academics, skills, service, etc.). Steve got an award from the California Maxiofacial Surgery something-or-other which included $250 which is always good. Basically, that translates to the fact that he is great at pulling teeth. But as I sat through the long and boring ceremony and listened to the awards for hundreds of hours of this or that or perfect GPAs I thought to myself that Steve did something far greater with his time than all of his classmates: He was present as a husband and father in our home. He didn't spend every waking hour studying or trying to make a more impressive resume. He ate dinner with us every night, was there for bedtime prayers, stories, and singing. He doesn't get something to hang on his wall, $, cheering from classmates, or to shake hands with someone important for this; but I want to recognize ...

Chad and I watched Stand and Deliver yesterday. It's a movie about Garfield High School (in East LA) in the early '80s and a phenomenal math teacher who significantly turned things around for the math students there. We both liked this movie. I definitely recommend it (available for instant streaming on Netflix). It's based on a true story. I liked this movie a lot, mostly because it brought back many, many memories of my mission. There were MANY scenes from an area I served in for 6 months (Garfield High was in that area). Latino kids growing up in LA still have many of the challenges that were depicted in the movie. And still, even when the odds are against them and the "powers that be" don't believe they can achieve anything in life, some of them manage to rise above it and prove them wrong. The challenges and prejudices I witnessed nearly 10 years ago were even more than what they were in the early 80's (time of the movie). My heart reaches out to the...

I loved returning from our little get-away and finding some great stuff on the blog. I wish you would also post your best stuff on our blog too, for our family history. Kim prints everything off on our blog, but it doesn't pick up your blogs posts...which when there is a big event like graduations, new jobs, terrific accomplishments and really fun stuff...it is tragic not to have it included! Also, for whatever reason...maybe as a tender mercy for all of you who hoped it would be that way...the blog is not letting me comment on your posts. Kim doesn't seem to know how to fix it. ..so just know, I do try. I am just locked out...it takes me on an endless cycle of signing in and typing in the security name weirdness and then back to sign in...so. I give up!

The day before we went to Scofield I spent up at the Mountain doing a few repairs. I have to let Benjamin know, however, that the squirrel house needs a new roof so he had better make plans to go with me up there to fix it.

Another extended weekend at our friend's cabin up near Scofield. We went ATV riding a bit but got stopped by snow from going to the high country. It was still pretty to be out riding and seeing the trees and snow, etc. The weather was great the first two days we were there (Friday and Saturday). Sunday it started snowing and Monday morning there was snow on the ground and it snowed on and off. We ate a LOT (no kidding) of great food, played a lot of games, and just relaxed and shot the breeze with our good friends the Kirks. It was really enjoyable and was needed to recharge the batteries.

Sorry to Sister Buff who can't see the pictures.  For your benefit:  The pictures are of Kiera at the beach.  She danced in the waves while singing at the top of her lungs for a good 40 minutes like she was the princess of the sea.  It was so darn cute to watch her in her own universe.  Lydia on the other hand decided to be scared of the waves and also the seagulls (reversed rolls?)