Update on the Poll

Just so everyone knows, appetizers/finger foods is winning in the poll with 5 votes. Copy-cat recipes are a close second with 3 votes. Vote now for your pick!

Oh How Lovely Was the Morning...

thought little note from Carrie's last letter was fun. Her letter's are so full of missionary stuff It's nice to know the Carrie we all know and love is still in there somewhere, plus I'd never thought about this before....
-C.J.
P.S. The depiction of an "early spring morning" in the Joseph Smith video is such a lie. Everything is muddy and gross, and there are no leaves on the trees. There is a little bit of sunshine, which is nice, but it is not the lush, beautiful paradise they depict in the first vision. Ok, bye!
Love,
Carrie

Our Favorite Things

I had a bit of extra time on my hands and a friend of mine showed me this site where I could create my own video montage of pictures. So, I uploaded a bunch of pictures and made this video. It's only 3 minutes (no download required), click on this link and see why we love Abby so much!
http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=387cf496fddaf66409a1c

Abby gives it 2 big toes up.

It's FINALLY done!

So, tonight, one week from when we began this project, we finished! We're pretty happy with the way it turned out, and excited that we did it ourselves! (with some help and guidance from Paul) We even put in and hooked up the toilet. That job, I think, was the most disgusting one, but nothing a little bleach couldn't fix. We'll let you know when (or if) we begin our next project!

Pregnancy Countdown!

I found this really fun little pregnancy ticker. I programmed it for Randi so everyone can see how close she is! I'll put one for me on the Saunders Blog. Not that anyone really cares, I just thought it was cool!

Cook-Off

Okay, I have a problem with the cook-off theme ideas, especially the copy-cat one. How are we supposed to judge it? Unless you bring in the item that you are copying, so that there can be a taste comparison, and you can see how close the person got to the original. I don't think it will work! If you don't do that, it's not a copy-cat contest, it's just a regular cook-off. Also, I have no copy-cat recipes that I would like to try, and finding them is kind of hard! Please, can we re-think this one?

Thanks Paul!

First, Danny and I want to thank Paul for taking the time to help us with our tiling project. Danny is now well-versed in the art of tiling, and we're already talking about our next project. The kids' bathroom is not done, yet, so I don't have any pictures, but as soon as it's done, I'll get them to you. We are working on grouting today, and soon we'll get the toilet back in. I'm anxious to get it finished so Anna will stop waking us up in the middle of the night to use our bathroom!

Tiling

Paul took a day off work yesterday and went to help Danny and Melinda tile their bathroom. We need an update and pictures from Melinda!

Get your own blog here!

One thing I like that the Van's do. YES, I'm totally copying their blog. I want ours to be like theirs. They post so frequently and seem to have a good time with it. We're sticks in the mud, ya'll! So I thought if each family had their own blog to post to, we could post just the important stuff on the main blog and link to each of the others. I created one for me and John to show you how easy it is!
Missy and John's Blog
If anyone is interested I can help you out. This way we can be more specific in our posts without worrying about posting tons of stuff on the main blog. Hope everyone's having a great week!

Look!

We have doors!

...and brick!

...and cabinets!

A new way to write

Well I guess it's time to actually buckle down and post something to the family online updates and pictures board. I really don't have a whole lot to write, except that I hope this email thing really works. I wrote on Van's blog earlier and Missy told me I had to write here, too, but really I was just gloating about how cool German is, and I think Danny and Kenny might get a little annoyed if I tried that here. School is still going well. I've told most of you this before, but we're allowed to bring guests into the cadaver lab, so if any of you want to see a real human brain or heart or stomach now's your chance. I know what you're thinking, it's just not the same as a field trip to Wallmart. What can I say? I just can't compete, but what I have I freely offer. In my defence, one person did take me up on the offer to see the brain already. It's good times. Oh, I also share a bone box with 4 other people, so if you don't want to come to school I can bring a skeleton to you (well, 2/3 of a skeleton really; we only get one arm and one leg). I think we're missing the last joint of the pinky finger, too, but I don't remember. That's about all I have that's new. Oh, it's not. I lied. I have one last piece of medical advice to offer. If you put your hands on your hips you feel the two knobs on either side. If you ever have cancer and have those removed, DON'T WALK A MARATHON. I helped with the Cowtown Marathon over the weekend giving physical therapy to people who had run, and a guy came in and his lower back was killing him. I started to stretch the muscle, and it was realllly tight, but it just sort of went on forever. There was no real boarder between his back and his glutes. Well it turns out he had bone cancer and had his iliac crest removed (the bone you feel). His doctor told him he couldn't run anymore, so he decided to walk the marathon to stay in shape. Walk. Jog. Stay healthy. Excercise. Don't try to walk 26 miles in 4 hours. Believe it or not, it does stress your back more than running a mile. Actually, the real moral of the story is that if your doctor tells you not to do something, don't think you're outsmarting him by doing something similar that he didn't explicitly tell you not to do. If you don't want to listen, you don't have to, but don't think that because he didn't tell you you couldn't do it's okay.... Sorry, didn't mean to get preachy. This guy came in holding his back and with a hurt foot because he started to walk funny to take pressure off his back, and he left still holding his back after 40 minutes of physical therapy/manipulation. Crazy. Anyway, I think I've rambled long enough. I hope everyone is doing well and that this helps them to realize that blogging fun doesn't just have to wait until you actually have something to say. With that, Tschau meine Familie.
-C.J.

Texas and Kenny's First Niece!

Texas sent me an email with her new niece and I thought she was cute and definitely post-worthy. :) Her name is Savannah Grace VanOrden and she weighed 8lbs 12oz. They were afraid she was going to have problems with her kidneys and that surgery would be needed, but it looks like she is healthy and it won't be necessary. I'm sure this will the first of many nieces (and more nephews) for Texas and Kenny!

Important Dates Coming Up!

I wanted to make sure everyone knew about a few imporant dates coming up in the next month or two!

Randi's Baby Shower - Saturday, March 4, 3:00-5:00pm, The Van Drimmelen Home

March Birthdays:
(see birthdays recently added to the side bar)
Julie – March 11, 1985
Kenny – March 23, 1983
Brian – March 28, 1977
Papaw – March 28, 1920

General Conference - Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2. Check back for a poll on what the cook-off theme should be!

April Birthdays:
Jared – April 8, 1956
Abraham – April 11, 1983
Carrie – April 14, 1982

Missy's Baby Shower - Saturday, April 22, 1:00-3:00pm, The Spitzer Home (invite to come late March/early April)

Check back for updates and make sure you mark your calendars for all of these important dates!

Mandie and Brian's house has walls!