Survived another Christmas!

We survived another Christmas! The kids and I came down with stomach flu on the night of the twenty third. Brenna and Justin were the only ones not puking. We spent the day of the 24th cleaning and napping all day. So on Christmas Eve we did not go through with our planned celebrations and just stayed home and read Luke 2 and went to bed. On Christmas day the kids got up feeling better and wanted to eat before looking at their presents because they had not been able to hold down much food until then. I keep waiting for Holly to call and say her kids were sick as well because she came for a visit on the 21st & 22nd. So the kids were all spoiled and Dad aged another year. We had a nice Christmas dinner with Brenna's family and friends at her sisters house. They greeted us with hand sanitizer and Lysol. We laughed and told them we were glad that they were serving ham. It's a long joke that I'm sure you would understand.

Paul

http://chocolatepigs-kmcaldwell.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html

check out r blog

please check out our blog and tell us what to do to make it cool

Chirstmas Candy

We were lucky enough to make christmas chocolat this year. The messy hands and all were okay because thats what makes it really fun. I know you all wish you were here to enjoy the candy too.

Holly

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Mom
Happy Birthday Keith
Holly

Countdown

This is also at the bottom of the page

hohohoho

Merry Chirstmas

Happy Thanksgiving

All,

It was good to see everybody the Caldwell's in New Mexico are fine and want to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving. We are doing fine kids are getting bigger it seems like we run all over the place to do anything and everything. I hope this blog finds everybody in good spirits and yes you to Jen sorry had to put that in.

Take care everybody
Brian, Kristi and Kids

Appearance

OK OK I guess I will finally make an appearance on the Family blog. I do read it all the time though. I just had never logged in to post anything. When I finally decided to I had to get a new password. Our boys are 12 now they are busy with school and have took a big notice to girls this year. Macy is 8, she is in dance and dances almost every night of the week. She has a performance at the Harlem Globetrotters in January in Phoenix. She performs all the time, if anyone wants to watch let us know. Brett is 7 and in first grade. He loves reading chapter books, and is the same old Brett. Kelsie is 4. She is the only one home with Min during the day. She misses her brothers and sister all day. I will write again soon. Well...... maybe. You all know me.

Disneyland

I know we went to Disneyland a few months ago; however, I thought this was a great photo to share and it's the first time I've been to the blog since we went to Disneyland. Next weekend we are taking the kids to an airshow just outside of Vegas and over Thanksgiving weekend I am going skydiving... if anyone has any tips or advice, Im all ears. Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving.
Love,
Mandy and the rest of the gang.

A very Mario Halloween

Luigi (Brevin), Princess Peach (Ashlyn), Wario (Mike), and Mario (Jace)

Happy Halloween!!! Collin didn't like this too much thats why he is crying. Hope everyone had fun

Our leafy backyard

This weekend with Cathes and Keiths kids it was fun to pretend to rake all the leaves in our back yard the kids had a blast and we took a ton of pictures here is just one to preview how much fun it was.

Holly

Music

I learned how to add music to blogs if any one is interested in this let me know and send some ideas about music we would like on our blog. I know that is has been quiet on the blog page lately. Things are great soon i'll have some pictures of the leaves in our yard this is a lot of leaves i'm talking about so some of the pictures turn out really cool. Hope everyone has a great halloween. Look for changes to the blog after halloween. I found some really cool back grounds.
Holly

COOL PARENTS

This is to let everyone know even if we are "old" we can still read large print and can still spell (for Jen as Cal said she did all the misspelling on the first announcement).
We want to thank everyone for a fantastic weekend and everyone seemed to get along and enjoy each other's company. That was a terrific 50th for us.
The picture is right where your Dad wanted it and the way he wanted it and looks great. Ken Jones really liked our castle and when Colleen told him it was the Salt Lake Temple he even liked it better.
Susan needs to know that Vashtia reads her frame of pictures with, "FIFTY YEARS TO GET HER" and I like her interpretation.
The announcements are working, we receive candy from someone everyday. Maybe I will put back on the weight I lost last winter.
Again "Thanks" to everyone
Mom

family reunion 2008

Hi everyone
Thanks to Holly I am back on the blogger list and able to post. Here is the web site so you can check out the location for the family reunion on the weekend of July 19th, 2008. It is http://www.vallecitolakechamber.com/ From there can look under accomodations and a list of place to stay is listed. We are looking to book at the Five Branches Camper Park because it looks like it has something for everyone. Tent, RV (that would be mom and dads hot rig), and cabins with a variety of levels. Discuss among yourselves your own needs and book it accordingly, sooner is always better than later. Last time I checked you could hold a place for pretty cheap. So DO IT now. Our plan is to go to Mesa Verde on Friday the rest of the time is up for grabs. I suggest if you want to do the train coming up a few days earlier, or staying on a few days later so you don't have to deal with the weekend crowd, once again book it early, because it fills up.
Love ya all and it was great to see everyone
Valerie

Sedona

Hey I had an awesome weekend and thought i would share some of the pictures. I know that some of you already have the same pictures maybe better ones. But through the rain and mom and dad almost being stolen (j/k) and realizing that we all have a hard time being serious for pictures it was fun. these pictures are just some funny ones that made me laugh.

Thanks for a wonderful 50th Anniversary Get together. Thank you to everyone that arranged the weekend. We know it took a lot of effort and we appreciate you. We can not wait until the weekend of July 19th - when everyone can get together. My kids are already excited. They asked, "Are you sure we get to go". We said we did not know because it was such a nice weekend for Keith and I alone. When we told them we were kidding, and yes they are going; they were very excited. Thanks again for wonderful memories!!!!

Keith and Marie

New Item

If you look to the right of the page at the top there is a link that says jess. This is Jessicas blog page it has some cute pictures of her kid on it. If you have a blog page and would like us to link to it let me know Thanks

Holly

frogstomper9762@frontiernet.net

50th announcements

Jen ordered the announcements for mom and dad. We made a list with mom and dads help and ask that you please let us know the address of your in-laws. You can either bring them to sedona or let me know i am trying to print the other addresses on labels. Also bring about 20 stamps aka a book of stamps so that val doesn't have to foot the bill on all the stamps you may have left overs but hey you can always use stamps later for a bill. Also if you know address of any of your cousins that would be great. Surprisingly mom doesn't have address to a lot of the cousins just phone numbers. Any way i looked on line and the weather isn't supposed to be too hot only in the mid 80's that made me excited!! Thanks for your help
Holly
my email is frogstomper9762@frontiernet.net

Names for Temple

On the 21st please check with Brenna or myself for names for the session as we have a few names that need to be done. Thanks. Since we are doing a jeep ride just before the picture in Sedona I think we should be in casual clothes for the picture. So Mike send us a photo of you and Tina dressed casually and we will get it put together. Or you can wait and we will send you the photo and you can find a pose that fits. I have made reservations for diner on Friday at the same Marie Calendars that we ate at for the 40th anniversary. Let us know your flight plans and we can arrange car pools or an impromtu lunch.

School Project

Vashtia has a school project. It is for computers for education. She has to turn in 10 addresses. The company sends you a packet to buy magazines. You can just throw the packet away when it comes in the mail (like junk mail). The school already gets its money from the packet Vashtia fills out. Thanks for helping her out. Remember you do not need to do anything, but throw the junk mail away.

Trip to Disneyland

We and by we I mean Tina, Mandy, Mike B., Brevin, Jace, Ashlynn, and I spent last week at Disneyland. Besides the grandkids first trip to Disneyland, it was their first trip to the beach. Jace really enjoyed all the characters like Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and Woody. And the electric light parade was very cool for Jace. If you would like to see a video of Jace dancing with the parade, send me an email and I'll send it to you. Brevin learned to like roller coasters and and scary rides like Tower of Terror. Ashlynn liked any ride that mom went on with her, which was normally Pirates of the Caribbean. And we all learned that if you want to get on Finding Nemo, you get on early entrance tickets and show up a half hour before they open the gates. We only had to wait in line 10 minutes that way. Of course it took 10 minutes walking through the maze that they call the line to get to where you wait 10 minutes. By the time we got off the ride, the line was 2 hours long. And at the beach, we all learned that waves can knock you over, which can be very fun. We also learned that if you take off your shirt for even 1/2 hour, you end up very pink the next day. At least that is what happens when you don't spend the summer in your swimming suit.

Two in the Forties

Keith and Marie are proud to announce - two forty year olds in the family. We are still young at heart!!!! School is back in session: Carra is now in High School, Hanna is at the Junior High, Vashtia is in 4th grade at the Intermediate, and Timothy is in First Grade. Marynda is looking forward to Kindergarten next year. We are excited to see everyone in September.

Back Update

We went to the Dr. this week for Kirsten's Burn. It has been almost one year since the burn and things are looking great. I thought that i would let everyone know that she no longer needs to wear her "vest" and that she never ever has to go to the Dr in phoenix again. This is great news for her and she was really excited. We also learned that it will still continue to look better and better over the next year and as she grows they think that it will stretch and look a little better but we will always be able to tell that it was burned. The doctor was positive and said it doesn't think that she will ever need any more work done on her back

Officially 100 in Idaho Falls

Officially, as in NOAA not a radio or TV station, it reached a 100 degrees in Idaho Falls on July 23. It was the all time record high. Of course the Weather channel (weather.com) says it was 103 and that it reached 100 in 1966. So maybe global warming is just in the government and not the TV stations who think it has been hot for a long time. Or maybe the government is trying to cover up how hot it has been since it is a Soviet weather changing satellite that is screwing up the climate (courtesy of an EX-IF weatherman).

How about a free TV

So we have a 20 Sony TV that we don't need anymore, anyone want it? We bought it about 4 years ago for the kids to use for video games. When we moved to Prescott Valley our house was smaller so we didn't have room for it. We loaned it to the business and the kids used it for videos while whenever I went to work. Now the business bought a new bigger TV, and we still don't have room for it. My kids think they should have it in their room, and get upset at me and Craig's roaring laughter whenever they bring it up. I thought it would be good for Samantha, but she would have to come to Arizona to pick it up. It's great for video games! Just give me a call if you want it.

Cathe

I was perusing my email and came across an article about the Hill Cumorah Pageant. I was happy to see David Morgan was working on it and had shaved his beard for the new media appearances. Here is the link to the article.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/NEWS01/707130363/1002/NEWS

Update on news down here. Dad, Keith, Tim, Aaron, Lehi, Rubon, Brett, Justin and myself went to a Diamond Backs game on the 13th and Aaron caught two free t-shirts that they were throwing out into the crowd. Diamond Backs won. We were up early the next morning and had the baptism services for Bethany and Macy. I have been very busy with the normal things is life. My wife and kids are completely submersed into the seventh book and will probably finish it this week. I took Justin to a midnight launch party at Deseret Book and he won some treats in a trivia game and I won a door prize. Then we stayed up until 2AM reading together. Keep in touch.

where is the baptism

paul the baptism is this weekend i was wondering if you could put out the address so we can map it and now how to get there thanks

Mandy and Mike Visit

Mandy, Mike, Brevin, Jace, and Ashlynn were here last week to visit. After a family golf tournament, we spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday camping in the west slope of the Tetons. Had a great time. Got up early and went and washed the ballons in Driggs, but generally ate and played. Cooked marshmallows and hotdogs over the fire, played in Teton creek, and hiked up to a small waterfall.

After the kids left Wednesday, Tina's dad and I went fishing down in the valley on the Teton river. I probably caught 30 fish in about 1 hour. Most of them were whitefish, but the whitefish were taking dry flies on the surface, jumping out of the water, and just acting more like brook trout or rainbows (both of which I caught). They must like the warmer water. It was warm enough that I was wading wet up to my waist. Not something you do often in Idaho.

I'll add some pictures when I get them off of my camera, but I do have some pictures from Mandy's last visit that I'll add. Mandy and Ashlynn climbed Angel's Landing both of the two weekends before coming to Idaho. So you Caldwells that didn't do it at the family reunion a couple of weeks ago, but hurry up and do it before it starts to cool off :)

WHAT IS GOING ON OUT THERE

You know what it has been too quiet with this blog so I decide to put something on. The Caldwells in New Mexico are doing fine it has been hot for us but some nights it has not cooled off (I just thought I would throw that in for the ones in the valley)
Things are busy but going really well At work we just closed out our fiscal for the city so today I have been buying medications just dropped about 5,000 dollars in medications I tell ya it is crazy what they charged for the medications.
Well got to go

Loner

Dress for Photo

How to we want to dress for this photo? I am wanting to be middle of the rode as I think it will be too hot for suits and dresses. Yet that would look nice. Wearing matching shirts and blue jeans would look nice, but maybe too casual for the event. Slacks and shirts with collars would be nice yet cool enough to wear in 100+ temperatures. I think we all need to sound off on this so we can get a consensus and have a nice photo. Plus I want to see if everyone is able to post as a few have yet to write a post.

Hotel Info for Reunion

Hey everyone,

So I have spent some time looking at hotels and cabins in the Sedona area. I figured a cabin would be quaint but most are “rustic” and won’t accommodate all of us. We had the idea that it would be nice to all stay at the same place. So I went to hotels. Please remember that this is Sedona and it is still HOT in Phoenix in September so we are not out of the tourist season, and this is a weekend. Now for the good news: There is a Hampton Inn that has the 10 rooms available. For those of you familiar with Sedona it is fairly close to the “downtown.” When you come into Sedona off of I-17 (which we all will be doing from Phoenix), you go through Oak Creek Village and into Sedona. You come to a T in the road (89-A) and to the right is Oak Creek Canyon, but the Hampton Inn is 2 lights to the left. It is a very nice hotel. The cost is $149 a night, but I think I can negotiate a group rate. This is why I need to know TODAY if this works for you. The hotel is calling me back tomorrow and I need an idea of the number of rooms. $149 is for one or two beds in the rooms so if someone wanted to double up they could, and I would need to know that. In order to get a group rate I will need to guarantee a number of rooms. Now $149 a night anywhere close to Sedona was an excellent rate in itself, plus this is a really nice hotel, and close to down town and the jeep tours. Call me.
Cathe

Reunion Info

The party is scheduled for the week of September 21 and 22nd.
Arrive any time you can, and plug into the events around the time you arrive, but here is a rough draft of the itinerary
Temple Session in Mesa on the 21st at 4:30. I can make this latter if needed The temple is crowded on Friday's but usually not until 5pm I will still recommend being at the temple by 4:00. I know this means some of you would have to take off Friday to be to this, but what a treat for mom and dad if we could all make it.
Afterwards we will go out to dinner together. I have not made a reservation yet, but will do so as it gets closer.
Then we head out for Sedona, where on Saturday morning at 8:00 I have reserved a jeep tour. They have several different tours. They have reserved the tour for 3 hours, but we can go for less. The have the red rock tour, mogolion rim tour, Indian ruin tour, etc. We can combine two different tours. The cost is $60 for 2 hours or $99 for 3 hours (per person). Let me know of your preference, tour wise and cost wise and we will try to be accommodating. If you want to get exotic you can do a jeep tour and helicopter ride for $199 that sounds fun. After our tour we will do lunch and have a family picture. The rest of the afternoon is free, to visit, shop, walk around, go up oak creek canyon and play in the water (this sounds fun), whatever we choose. Cathe will be emailing or blogging you with the information on our lodging accommodations.
Cathe's chuch is at 2:00 in Prescott, if you want to go there for church. My church in Mesa is at 11:30, or we can find one in Sedona. Sunday is just for relaxing and visiting.
Hope you all are making plans to be there

Feed back is fine, try to make it positive
Thanks
Valeire

answer for Brian

Brian, just look down at all the old posting, and scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will get the answers to the family reunion. I know you were late signing on so you missed it. I would love to know what is happening in September, and Craig asked me the other day what the count was and where we are going next year. We are just doing projects all summer so we can are having to look forward to NEXT summer vacation. Just ask my kids, they had to move 10 tons of rock this week. Next week they get to finish painting the fence.

Cathe

Family Reunion

All,
Does anybody know what is going on with the family Reunion. My summer is getting slammed real bad I need to make plans. Just let me know. Mandy welcome to the Blog I just noticed your names on the board.
Brian

carra is promoted

Carra is going to be a freshman in high school. Hanna is going to jr.high Vash will be in 4th grade tim in 1st & thats that

Family Reunion

OK, it is 3 weeks past the 1st now. So where is the family reunion?

And by the way, congratulations Brian. You don't need to apologize, I just didn't know (but was guessing correct) what the comment was for. If you were in our ward, you wouldn't have any vacation to go to the family reunion because you would be using it for funerals :) So you may want to convince the family to have the reunion is Santa Fe or something :)

Baptism of Macy and Bethany

Aaron has a contract on his house to sell it and he has made a deposit on a house in our stake. That will make Macy and Bethany's baptism on the same day, July 14th. I have checked with my Bishop and he says it would be fine for us to do them at our wards service, 9:30 AM since we are the ward that is scheduled first for the day. It will save some travel for those who come. Ye'all are invited and then to our house afterward to have some eats and play time with the cousins. Too bad it is the same day as Jen's 40th birthday party (which by the way will start on Friday the 13th). So come on down for a visit the night before and we can put you into an air conditioned room for the night and let the kids go wild.

They Rest of the Story

All,



Mike I do want to apologize for not making contact with you yet. I have for the most part touch based with just about everybody all I lack is the top three of the family and maybe the bottom one. It has been a huge adjustment for everybody in our family. Here is the whole story on Tuesday night they called and ask for Kristi and Myself to meet with the Stake President. So for 24 hours everything was going through our heads on what it could be. But both of us knew what it was and we just didn't want to face it. We were told Wednesday night that they were going to split the ward Sunday and we are calling you as Bishop of the Star Heights Ward and you need councilors by then and don't tell anybody. So we went with it and needless to say there were many sleepless nights leading up to Sunday. Come Sunday, which was mothers day, the stake presidency walks in right after sacrament meeting and the buzz started right then. They released the bishop of the Star Heights Ward then announced the boundary changes, had all those people that were in the boundary changes stand up and called our old Bishop as they Bishop of the new ward. They then had the rest of us stand up and then they did the Bishop thing in the Star Heights Ward. People were afraid that I was going to pass out on the way up to the stand. It was a mind numbing experience something that we won't forget for a long time. It is still a mind numbing experience. Things have not slowed down hopefully this week it will slow down a bit but time will tell.



I am trying my best to touch base with everybody I am slowly doing that If you feel the need to talk call Kristi at the house and she can give you my work phone number.



Thanks to everybody and yes I can still say that I will box the ears your ears to all my sisters and still tell my brothers to go jump in a lake or off a cliff or whatever I feel like.





No really it is still me folks just things have gone really crazy.





Love you all



Brian

BISHOP BRIAN

Mike,
To answer your question Brian was made Bishop on Sunday. They have not announced that publicly yet, in fact Brian went into hiding as soon as the family found out. Do not bother teasing him. He is not responding to his full mail box from me!! I guess he needs to hear JJ's words again.

We only tease those we love!!

We know he will be a great Bishop!

And Now, ... The Rest of the Story

So what is the story. The grapevine doesn't grow outside of Arizona (or may Utah).

Just thought I would sent out a little hint for Brian.

TALK SLOWWWW........

If you don't they will never know what calling you are asking them for.
Love You!!

Mom stiches

Her Stiches are out already and she is doing good. She had them removed yesterday. I told mom to go blog what happened and i hadn't checked I guess i need to go show mom how to blog But i really think she likes it when people call her. Holly

What's going on

OK, you Arizona monkeys, what do you here on Mom's condition? Don't you know it is your job to keep the rest of us (un-)informed?

Identity Theft Protection

Mike sent out this information a while back and I am posting it again with a personal note. I had a phone call two years ago from Child Protective Services asking me why my minor daughter was employed full time. I at first laughed and thought it was funny ( I knew my kids were at school). I can be slow at times. Bethany had had her identity stolen. Criminals use this since at the time you could not pull credit reports for a minor child. I first called the police department and told them what I had known at that time. I was told that I had to know if her social security was being used for employment only, identity theft, or credit fraud and that they would not move on it until I knew what the full situation was. The Social Security Administration told us that they did not care if someone was paying into the system illegally, just if someone was getting paid illegally. I had to jump through legal hoops and join groups emailing legislators to get laws passed in order to get this information. I also was fortunate enough to do computer work for a law firm that deals specifically in credit law and was able to get directions on how to proceed several times in the last two years. You may now write the credit beareaus and ask them to lock your child's credit until they are 18 years old. All of our kids credit reports are now locked. Today we finally were able to call the police with an address
and phone number of the company where Bethany's social security number is being used. So without further rambling here again is the email Mike sent us because it needs to be retold and we need to monitor our kids identifying information.

An Attorney's Advice :

Read this and make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it someday. Maybe we should all take some of his advice!

A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his company:

- The next time you order checks have only your initials (instead of first name) and last name put on them.

- If someone takes your check book they will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name but your bank will know how you sign your checks.

When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the "For" line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it.

- Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box use that instead of your home address. Never have your SS# printed on your checks (DUH!) you can add it if it is necessary. But if you have it printed, anyone can get it.

- Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine, do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel.

- Keep the photocopy in a safe place. I also carry a photocopy of my passport when I travel either here or abroad.

- We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards, etc.

Unfortunately I, an attorney, have firsthand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month. Within a week, the thieve(s) ordered an expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record information online, and more.

But here's some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know:

We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them easily.

- File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where it was stolen, this proves to credit providers you were diligent, and is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

But here's what is perhaps most important: (I never even thought to do this).

Call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name.

The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit.

By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done.

There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away this weekend. (someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them in their tracks.

The numbers are:

Equifax: 1-800 -525-6285 Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742 Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289

Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

We pass along jokes on the Internet; we pass along just about everything. Pass this information along. It could really help someone you care about

Paul

MOM

Talked to Mom this morning as they were leaving for Flagstaff. In my limited knowledge of Dermatology. She is having a Basal cell cancer removed from her nose. This is not a invasive cancer. In fact Mom told me Mike had one removed last winter. Is that true Mike?? Basal cells if lest untreated can be disfiguring, they spread in the skin only- outward . So They need to be removed quickly. best case scenario- she will have a few stitches. Worst case she will have to have some plastic surgery. I told her she needs to get rid of that Walker nose anyway! She will be fine- topical anaesthesia only. From her description they are using the latest technique which is called MOHS. they take tiny slices and flash freeze it and send it to the path right then. When the report comes back- ALL CLEAR. they begin to pull the skin together. Hope this is not to much info for anyone-Isn't modern medicine the best. Anyway thought all of you would like to take a deep breath this morning - she will be fine. Remember your faith and that is the opposite of being fearful!
LOVE YA!

Smart Sister

And just to let you know how smart your sister is, I was reading a blurb from Business Week titled,The 25 Best Affordable Suburbs in the US, and what was there but

Mukilteo, Wash.

with an average house price of $358,000. So I don't know what passes for affordable these days but they did say that with an average house price of less than $200,000, you can pretty much bet on no decent jobs. Welcome to Idaho Falls. The violent crime index is 49, the cost of living is 141 (ouch, double ouch), and the Secondary Test Score index was 104.

So sorry to Orem, you lost out to Kaysville; and Rancho Mirage or whaterever, you lost out to Sandia Heights. And Phoenix, you ain't got nothing, so you can't win.

All,

I just just spent two days in Rudioso NM It is were Billy the Kid did all his stuff. I had some meetings with the state EMS folks. It was nice if you want a real good place to do the family Reunion that would be the place to go because it is up in Hills above White Sands close to Roswell so you are in the middle of the big explosion and the space crash.

Things are well as you can see I do check all my stuff. This Saturday I plan to go waste some paint I am still waiting for you Paul!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HA HA HA HA HA

Everybody have a good weekend I will be in Las Vegas for a conference the first part of next week I will check the blog, mike if Paul does not want that book I will take it

The Shape Shifter

Sam's Club had The Shape Shifter by Tony Hillerman on sale at a price I couldn't pass up. But I've finished it and it is just taking up space. If anyone is interested in reading it let me know and I'll put it in the mail.

Mike-
It sounds like a fish story to me. I at least had MULTIPLE pictures and have carbon copies just in case (i even have negatives if needed). How big were they? Steelheading Rocks! Sign me up for next March!
Nate

Two months to the day!!

I am writing in blue because it takes two months for our family to log into a blog. We are not overly tech savvy are we. On the other hand I have yet to finish painting my house and I have lived their for several years. Next stop is to work on the back yard as well. On the brighter side we made it. Congratulations to Cathe and Craig on their new adventure into entrepreneurship. Also Congrats to Mike on a good fishing trip. My many thanks to Holly on her technical expertise that enabled half of us to get logged into this blog. Hope fully we can check on it more often than Brian, Jen and Susan check their email. Maybe you should just give this address to your kids and then they could just check it for you;) <-- notice the sign, if you don't know what it is ask your kids.

Here we are preparing for a hot summer and our garden is blossoming and not yet ready to pick. Hopefully it will ripen before it gets cooked by the sun. I work during the day and spend most evenings at the church for meetings. My wife is busy with whatever the kids have going on (ie., sports, chorus, plays, trips to the zoo, etc.) Valerie feels abandoned since Holly moved to Snowflake and I left Tempe for Queen Creek. But Aaron was right Queen Creek is a better place to raise a family because their are still tractors driving down the roads and fields of grain between housing developments.

My link of the week is to a web sight that tells you how to build a potato gun. They are a lot of fun to use at reunions and to make loud noises that quiet the neighbors barking dogs.
http://www.spudzooka.net/
Enjoy it, if you have questions call me as they are a nice weekend project.

I am here

Family,

Well I finally made to this blog it took about 4 phone calls to figure out that we had this BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. And once again the last to know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Oh well life is to short to be upset over things. I will never forget the night that I removed a body from a terrible accident during the Christmas holidays As I pulled out the body I looked at her face and saw the most peaceful look she I had ever seen I will never forget that moment as long as I live. I realized then, that the most important thing in this world was FAMILY. As I sit here writing this there are very raw emotions going on I thought I had them all beat but I guess not!!! There are many more experiences that are kept in my head that nobody should have to ever see or hear I am very grateful to be off the streets and sitting behind a desk. Jen thanks for the Happy B-day on this blog I am glad to have seen it. Just remember family there is a freeway that runs through Albuquerque and it goes both ways. For all the football fans BYU plays in Albuquerque this year the date is September 29 at 6:30PM.

That is all for now emotions are too high to write anymore. Remember life is to short so enjoy the most precious things that you have kids, grand kids, and spouse.

See ya sometime.

So today is a big day for us. After a torcherous loan process DeRienzo and Williams is closing on an office building, which we will be remodeling for the next 3 months. (For those who live close know is the time to block my calls from your phone.) Cathe

We just got back from two weeks of steelhead fishing near Challis. Eat your heart out Nate! Actually, Tina went for two weeks, I went for one, came home and worked three 12 hour days and went back for four more days. I actually caught two this year (of course, Tina's dad caught 12, but he didn't catch any until I got there and showed him where to fish :). And two in one week is twice what I have ever caught in one year!

I didn't take any pictures, but Tina's parents did. So I'll post some, as soon as I get a copy. So if anyone wants to spend some time fishing with just a chance of catching a big, strong fish in beautiful surroundings, we plan on going again in October and of course, next March. Think about the 20th of the month.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN

IN CALDWELL FASHION I AM A DAY (OR TWO) LATE AND A DOLLAR SHORT. I HOPE YOU HAD A FANTASTIC 41! GOT TO GO I AM TRAINING FOR MY 40TH - I MEAN TRIATHLON!
LOVE YA !
JEN

Hey Thanks to everyone for coming to the baptism We had fun here is a picture of all the kids dying easter eggs.

Holly- look I made it!
Remember no news is good news!

Our family is very excited to be computer literate and now blog everyone else. This is a big week for the family - Hanna's Birthday on Friday. The big #12. Saturday is Tianne's baptism. Easter Sunday - Monday is Marynda's Birthday ( Big #4). Hope everyone has a great week and a very Happy Easter - We love you all and our proud to be in this family!!!

Here is the latest. I am sending all of you an email and posting this information on the blog. I have been unable to secure a place to camp on the fourth of July weekend, so this is what I purpose. Its a compromise and if you think of something that will work better I am open for suggestions. I can honestly say that I went about this all wrong, so I am going to give out some ideas in hopes that whoever is in charge another time will not make the same mistakes. First of all I tried to take all of your schedules, make a matrix and work around everyone the best I could. This was stupid and impossible, because we are all very busy people and their is a lot of us. Always keep in mind that June is out, some kids are not yet out of school and August is out because some kids start school the first week in August. So that will always leave July. (First lesson learned). My proposal is to hold the family reunion next year on July 17, 18, and 19, 2008. So there is the weekend, now you plan around that, if you have conflicts then choose what you are willing to sacrifice, and try to plan around this date (Weddings included). Now I have attached 4 places that are of interest to me that I found in my search for a fun family reunion Here are there web pages, check them out and vote for your favorite, by May 1st. I will call and book for next year now Here they are
1.http://www.vallecitolakechamber.com/ close to Durango and Verde Mesa. could include a trip to the Verde Mesa Indian ruins, river runs, a ride on the train if we decide to (it costs more than Disney land so I don't know if it is worth it. Mountain biking, hiking, and outdoor water activities
2.http://www.mormonlakelodge.com/ trip on jeeps, a hike in the lava tubs near Flagstaff, water activities at Mormon lake and other outdoor activities
3.The third one doesn't have a web page, but it is the La Sal Mountain Guest Ranch. We went there several years ago, with jeeps nearby in Moab or Monticello, water rafting trips, mountain biking etc. It has cabins to rent with breakfast everyday on tables outside the ranch house, by the play ground it was fun
4. http://www.gtlc.com/reserv.aspx In particular Colier Bay area which offers, cabins, RV or tent cabins. A Location near the Teetons, which could include a trip into Yellowstone, and all the outdoor adventures in that area. (mIke would be the expert here)
If you think about it this will still be during mom and dads 50 year, but I think we still need to have a party on their anniversary. I am open for suggestions but here is an idea. Lets get together the weekend of September 20, and 21. I know kids are in school so make it siblings only and their spouse. I know this means some of you would have to fly in, but 50 years is worth it isn't it. We could do a number of fun things together, (once again I am open for suggestions) something like Staying at a cheap resort in Phoenix, going to dinner, sitting around visiting, and eating orange slices, maybe an event, like the balloon festival in Albuquerque if its on that week end, or the BYU football game, preferable close to a temple for a temple session together. Maybe a helicopter ride( dad would like that). Lets just spend the weekend together. And most importantly a family picture (parents, siblings) that will be put in an announcement of their 50th.wedding anniversary. Not an invitation to a party but an announcement to all their friends and family. In the announcement it have a family tree. Listing each child, with spouse, children, grandchildren, showing our parents heritage. The invitation will be done before out little party and the envelopes addressed all we will need to do is stuff the picture in and mail them out. Give us some feed back
Aaron and Val

After 3 tries and 3 phone calls I finally got on. This is going to be fun. Stay tuned for family reunion update

On in Seattle

Okay so I got on. I think I created my own blog in trying to do so! New learning experience.

So this is not as easy as I thought it would be, but I made it on! Cathe

Welcome to the Chocolate Pig

I chose this name because I love pigs and my Wife loves Chocolate. We hope that you will be able to have some time to communicate with Family Members and leave a photo for us about your special occasions. I will also be working with Val to use this site to get reunion information out as well.

Paul