To: Aric and Jessica

To: Don and Amy!

Ready, Set, Go

Happy Birthday Alan

The bar has been set too high to try and compete, so I won't try and be clever but I did want to tell Alan that I love him and I think he's an awesome brother. Here are a few of my favorite memories:

*Building forts in the orange playroom and trying to conceal where the door was so Andrew and Amy couldn't come in and ruin them
*"Spending the night" in our forts
*Being chased by a baseball bat when I was babysitting for being too bossy
*Alan actually having the patience to lick a banana just to have the satisfaction of still having his when ours were gone. This also applied to any treat mom ever gave us, as well as christmas and halloween candy. The look on his face when he would pull his out and eat his candy in front of us after ours was gone......
*The look on Alan's face when Jill and I would see him while walking to seminary and Jill would yell in her loudest voice possible "Big Guy" and proceed to break in to a run and kiss him on the cheek when she reached him. As if a guy in high school need this.
*Getting to be in marching band and go on trips with Alan
*Jill & I taking a computer class our senior year with Alan and tormenting the teacher...and him. (Jill had a real knack for this)
*Taking Jeremy and Alan to get Big Gulps after I had my drivers license. This was quality time we spent together when you add up all the trips.
*The family motor home trip where Alan & I couldn't bear sleeping in the motor home anymore and so we went outside and slept on the ground.
*Reading our journals to each other
*Alan knew that someone was coming to decorate his room to ask him to a dance, so he put up picutres of the prophets all over his room, and set his scriptures and other church books everywhere. If it was Amy that asked him, it seemed the ruse worked!
*Driving into 7-11. Literally into. (Although I really have no room to talk)
*Going to visit him at BYU when I was pregnant with Braelyn.
*Writing on each others backs when we were little.
*Making me steal a pez dispenser and accompanying candy at the store where Uncle Bob (Gadberry) worked and then making me take the fall when mom asked me what I was holding under my shirt...
*Always making me laugh

I love you Alan. Happy Birthday

OBJECTION!

19? You gave me a 19? There is no way that I should rate a 19 and Amy rate a 2. That is highly unfair, and if I may say so Alan, I think you have made an error. I know that's hard for you to hear, but I think in this case you'll have to concede. I think it's only fair that you make the necessary corrections so that I don't go down in histroy at a 19. Still, pretty great post. I've been waiting to hear from you Alan, and you did not dissapoint!
I remember having to sit for hours while Dad put my brackets on. It took so long that there was no time to put wires in if we were going to make the train. Luck would have it that the next day was school pictures. In my sixth grade picture I have brackets with colored dots on them and no wires. Like I wasn't already geeky enough! But on the serious side, some of my favorite memories with Dad were when I would get to go into his school every month and then take the train home with him. A few times we had to hurry to make the train and so we would take the short cut through the "combat zone" (I think that's what it was called). I saw a few things that were a little scary but I always felt safe with Dad. However, if we had extra time he would sometimes stop and buy us an ice cream, which always made me feel special.

30

Happy Birthday sweetheart. I just wanted to wish the love of my life a very happy 30th birthday. It is amazing that I have spent almost 14 of those years near him. I love him and I am thrilled to be able to spend the rest of forever with him. We would love to have a birthday party for him on Saturday night if anyone would like to join us at Mom and Dad's. I love you Alan and thank you for working so hard for our family and making me happy.--Amy

Thinking about things

I was sitting down in front of the television when it came to me. Did I beep? Well now isn't that the quintessential question which has plagued us all. I remember driving down the road and all of a sudden, moments after the olfactory nerves registered the incident, Dad would begin the interrogation. Andrew- no, Angela- no, Alan- yes. That was it, nothing more to say. Now we all know. Was dad keeping a running registry? What was the point? Well, dad may not have been, but I was. Here are the totals.
Aaron - 28
Angela - 19
Alan - 47
Andrew - 49 (I had to let him beat me at something)
Amy - 2
Aric - 35
Alex - 26
Amber - 15
You may disagree, but this is correct with a p value of 0.001
I have missed some trips, so if there are any additions, let me know. We are all excited to see everyone at Christmas.
Oh yeah, if you go to the orthodontist to get your braces on, and you need to use the restroom, go before. The mean orthodontist may make you sit there until he's done bonding all of your brackets on, and he's a beginner, so it may take a while. At least that's what I did. HOLD STILL I'm trying to position this bracket.

When it's snowing out, don't drive between two semis. I drove past this the other day, it has caused me to be a little more aware of the traffic around me.

Yes, there is a car in between those semis. -no chance. Drive safely.

Happy birthday Alan!!

Well, we were thinking of Alan and rummaging through some old photos. I don't think I've seen this one in quite a while. But a lot of things are beginning to make sense. Actually, I remember this day well. It was picture day at Patterson elementary, and Alan refused to leave the house without his "show and tell".
Alan's interests and repertoire expanded over the years. His conversations were frequently sprinkled with phrases such as "wood chips", "smoke rings", and "required hours of smoking". But most often we heard, "Get your hands off that." Alan actually looks good in this picture, considering the fact that he had not slept at all the night before smoking these ribs out behind the goat pen.
This represents the culmination of a lifelong dream, the perfect union of a boy and his beloved Scout motto, "Be preparing!" Yes, it is the standing rib roast, the magnus opus of the protein universe. You can't see it in this picture, but there is actually a merit badge that looks just like this on his sash. Hey Alan, thanks for the memories.

i'm in CALIFORNIA!

Clarification/Request

Clarification- The Napoleon voice Braelyn used was actually Kip, not Napoleon. It's a little more funny pictured that way!

Request- This is actually a request for Alex. For several different reasons, Alex has not received any e-mails from our family this week or last. I was hoping everyone would be willing to write him so that he would know how much we care about him and think about him. If you would e-mail him before next sunday night at alexpetersen@myldsmail.net he would get them all next Monday when he's allowed to check e-mail. Don't send anything with pictures, that's why he didn't get mine yesterday. When you get this let me know in a comment so I can call anyone who doesn't see it. Love you- Ang

Funny Kids

It is so awesome to hear from everyone. Aric and Amy- you guys made my night by posting. I was going to post a video of Coop doing his little part from the school program the other night, but can't find the cable to connect the camera to the computer. Organizational diffuculties abound here! We are all doing great and looking forward to see everyone that is coming for Christmas.

You all know how Caden has a habit of switching words in his sentences-like Yoda. Here's a few from last week:
(Coming in from the car) "Mom, can you hold the door for me? I'm full of hands."
(At the breakfast table trying to decide which of three cereals he wanted to try. One box was a kind he'd never had) "Mom, how good these are?" Point to the first box "How many sugars of grams this one has?" Repeats the same question for each box. "Twelve is more than ten, right" "Twelve is more than nine, right?" Pointing to the one with twelve "I'll take these."

Pretty cute. Another quick story about Braelyn. The other night Jody asked her to say the prayer at dinner. He'd barely finished the question before she was starting her prayer. Half the table didn't even have their arms folded. Jody stopped her and told here that when he asked her to pray he wanted her to say "Sure Dad, thanks for asking" then wait a second for everyone to be ready. She followed his instructions and all went well. As she was leaving the dinner table she looked at me and with Napoleon voice and attitude said "Thanks for dinner Mom" Then glancing over her shoulder she said, "Thanks for the prayer tips Dad" and casually made her way out of the kitchen. She cracks us up. Sweet, beautiful, and a sense of humor. Jody's scared out of his mind for teenage years!

Well, I could go on and on but I guess that's enough for now. I love all of you. Ang

Sunday night studying

Once again it is Sunday night and Alan is studying away. I am wondering if there will ever be a time when Alan isn't preparing for finals around his birthday and Christmas. This does seem to get quite old. I really wanted to post some pictures of our fun evening sledding in our back yard from this week but my computer is not recognizing my camera. Technical difficulties abound here. They all began after I down loaded itunes so we are blaming them all on Don and Amy. Thanks alot guys. It was almost worth it to hear that guy croon. I know who is buying that stuff. It is all of Aric and Jessica's townsfolk. Who else? It did snow about five inches this week and the kids have had so much fun playing in it. We have enjoyed a lot of hot chocolate and even had a couple of fires. I guess there are a couple of fun things to cold weather.

So Mark lost tooth number six two nights ago and the tooth fairy failed to come two nights in a row. Yesterday I cooked all afternoon for our ward Christmas dinner and completely trashed the kitchen. We sent the kids to bed and then I proceeded to clean the kitchen for almost two hours straight. In the morning I had to think of an excuse of why the tooth fairy did not come again so when we went down stairs for breakfast I was thinking on my toes and exclaimed, "who in the world cleaned up my kitchen? It must have been the tooth fairy. I guess she couldn't get your tooth because she was too busy cleaning my kitchen." Mark immediately took the bait and answered, "She is so small she must have had to use her wand." I asked, "How are we going to pay her for her services?" Bradley suggested we squeeze the money into the computer and send it to her that way over the internet. We do have quite the imagination at this house. I promise the tooth fairy will visit tonight and actually take the tooth and maybe even leave a little money.

Alan thinks he is king tonight. He actually made Mark rub his feet and then clean out between his toes. I was astounded and Mark would have done it happily if he hadn't seen the shocked look on my face. Now he is demanding me fetch him soda to help him jam more information into his brain about beta this and Alpha that and protease blah blah blah. I guess I will help him out. Good night all.--Amy

Entertainment

As you can see, Tallon is very capable of entertaining himself. Jessica and I thought it was so funny how content he was to sit there and watch TV while we were cleaning the other room. We usually have one of the doors closed to cover up the power button on the TV, but Tallon has discovered that pressing both of the volume buttons at the same time also turns the TV on. Who'd have thought?

As you can see he has also taken up an interest in decorating. He didn't want to hurt Jessica's feelings by telling her that he felt her tree decorations needed some work, so he just went ahead and made a few minor adjustments. He's a natural. He even tried recruiting some help from his friend Tessa. We had to search the house high and low to find all of the missing ornaments. He loves to open up cupboards or closets and deposit toys (or ornaments) for safekeeping.

Jessica and Tallon are in Canada right now while I am studying like crazy for finals. They come home on Thursday night, and I can't wait. Well me miss you all. I hope you enjoy your Sunday evening. -Aric

Arlon and Linda Petersen Family

Arlon and Linda Petersen Family

the best christmas music ever....??

For those of you who have Itunes and want a great laugh, look up Peter Kalasin in the music store at ITunes. He has a regular CD, but the Christmas CD is especially good. Don came upon this guy somehow, and even after several times of listening to it and showing other people, I still can't believe this guy is for real--we laugh every time. Our favorites are Silver Bells and Love Has Come. Let me know what you think.

Amy

William's Happy Faces

Omniture Christmas Party

This weekend Amy and I hung out with Aaron & Melissa & Co and had a great time seeing them. It's been snowing like crazy here lately so they couldn't have picked a better week to come skiing. Our only lament is that we couldn't join them on the slopes.

Amy and I also went to a Christmas Party. Amy looked great so I thought I'd post a picture or two. Omniture rented tuxes for the guys and wined (we didn't partake) and dined us up at the Grand America Hotel. It was fun to have a night on the town together. However, we were a little disappointed not to have won a company prize (X-Box 360 w/ 20 games, a 50 inch HD Plasma TV, or an all expense paid trip for two on an African Safari). Maybe next year. 

Amy (wow)

Amy's asleep right now so she doesn't know I'm posting this, but I didn't want anyone to get "T.O.'d that I haven't sent a full body shot." 

Other Pets

I forgot to mention the hamster, a pretty funny story too. Also there was the pigeon that got attached to Jody at our old house and he brought it here with him. He said it had to live in our garage so it wouldn't get lost in it's new surroundings. You can imagine what was covering everything in my garage after just a few days. We don't talk about it much or how it came to leave our family because it is still a sensitive subject for Jody. Seriously.

Tina

I know it's been awhile since we've posted, mostly for lack of anything really interesting to say. The only news is the recent addition to our family, the goldfish Tina. We brought home about 12 goldfish from Dad's office halloween party. I keep a small goldfish bowl and some food in a cupboard for just such occasions. For some reason Jody took a real interest in them, even researching them on the internet to know how best to care for them. The week following the party it wasn't unusual to hear "Noooo!" from the other room, and we all quickly learned it meant another fish had not made it. Well, one single survivor was left and Jody declared that it had lived long enough to give it a name- Tina. The other day I was waiting for Jody out in the car and after awhile I came in to find him. He looked so distraught and said "Angela, we have a problem". It seems the fish had gone down the drain while he was changing the water. Jody could see it but didn't know what to do. I actually had to stick my hand down the disposal (gross) and scoop it out (even grosser). Well, Tina survived. She now has a new small aquarium with fake plants and everything. Why Tina you ask? Every time Jody feeds the fish he says "Tina, eat the food. Eat the food!!!". It hasn't got old yet. We laugh everytime he says it. I guess a fish is better than the two dogs, two birds, or the pot belly pig Jody has brought home throughout the years! We love all of you and miss everyone that's away.

Saturday night fun

Hello all. We had a nice Thanksgiving even though we couldn't be there. Alan started cooking at 6:30am and I started at 7am and we both finished about 4:30. We enjoyed the process but enjoyed the food even more. Alan's smoked turkey turned out fabulouso and the fried one was good too. It was a little different smoking in 34 degree weather but he did just fine. We had a great time at the Simister's home with 6 or 7 couples all of them ortho residents and about 12 kids. It was a lot of fun, food and noise, alot like home. We missed you all and hope you had a fun and thankful time. I tried to take some pictures of our day but they all ended up fuzzy. I guess I can't hold a baby and take pictures at the same time. Mark and Bradley are off to a little party at our neighbors with silly pajamas and crazy hair so I had them pose for some pictures. These are hot off the presses. I took them about five minutes ago. Happy blogging to all!--Amy

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to say hi and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. William just had his own Thanksgiving feast--his first time eating rice cereal. He did pretty well and I think he liked it alot!

Hope you all have a fun day. Love you!
Amy B.

Dad Blogged!

Dad blogged- well actually he commented. I was pretty excited. It's pretty fun if you let yourself get into it Dad. I know you check the page but it would be awesome to hear from you too. I love you! Angela

New beenie and mittens

The cold weather rolled in on us all of a sudden so Amy went out and bought William some new mittens and a beenie. 

The Beenie comes off!

 

Smoking a Turkey?

Okay dad, I thought this might get to you easier if I posted on the family site. Most poultry is smoked with sweet light woods. I suggest apple or peach. Look at the following websites for more specific information. If you have any questions, call me.
http://bbq.about.com/od/turkey/a/aa112297a_2.htm
http://bbq.about.com/cs/turkey/a/aa110103a.htm
http://bbq.about.com/od/brinerecipes/r/bl71122a.htm
I am going to add some brown sugar and honey or maybe molasses for a sweeter flavor. However, that is at your discretion when you brine. Remember to get lump charcoal. I might have left some there. You can get a large bag at Safeway. As for the wood, there is a place down by Wallace theaters that sells wood chunks. Too bad you got rid of those peach trees.

On another note, yesterday I saw the patient in which I placed the implant. Everything is looking great, and we loaded it. It looks like I will get to place a few more in the next couple months.

Tallon won't smile

Everytime its picture time, Tallon freezes and WILL NOT SMILE! Don't judge him, he really is a happy boy! I've realized that he loves to take the easy way out. At 14 months, crawling is still his number one means of transportation. He has a general term for a group of people or object. every adult male is Daddy (the old men in the grocery store love this one), every little girl is "Ha-yee" (hadley), all food is a "nana"(banana), and "dane-du"(thank you) means please, thank-you, give it to me NOW and your welcome. He got his first buzz-cut the other day and I thought he would never forgive me, but he seems to have forgotten.
We are really liking it in the city. I never have to drive anywhere because everything is within walking distance. We do wish we could see Andrew and Jessica more though, and we are going to be so sad when they leave next year. Aric is doing very well with his first year. He has had a few "I want to quit school" moments, but they are short lived.
Anyways, we miss you all very much and we love to see and hear from everybody. This was such a great idea!-Jessica

Dreaming of Arizona

Just thought I would say hello to all of you in beautiful sunny Arizona. We are freezing our tails off here in the worst weather ever in Missouri. How could this place ever be Zion with the horrible summers and horrible winters. I hear there is good weather for about three weeks in the fall and three weeks in the spring. That is so wrong. It is a balmy 20 degrees outside and all I can think of is how I would much rather be in 117 degrees in Arizona. I realized we are seriously unprepared when it comes to winter clothes, and I thought I had bought too much. I hope we acclimate quickly to the cold so we can survive this winter. I don't remember Utah feeling this cold. Maybe it is the combination of the wind and the humidity or maybe it is having to take four kids out with me that makes it so much worse. The most pleasant thought is that it is just beginning and is only going to get colder. I love it!
We had such a great time with Mom and Dad here. It was wonderful to have them come and visit. The kids are already asking when they are coming back. We welcome any and all visitors but advise you to plan well to hit those six weeks of great weather. Mom and Dad completely lucked out. They must have taken all the warmth back to Arizona because as soon as they left it got very cold. I apologize for the non-humorous nature of this post but we can't all be as funny as Alan. I am off to a parent-teacher conference and then to go buy more warm clothes. Hopefully Goodwill will have the goods.---Amy

Installment Two

As I sit down and put pen to paper, I stop, I need to type or there is no way you will ever read this. I thought of so many funny things to say, but I posted this already, so I couldn't include them. It was fun to have Mom and Dad here this week. Dad tried to get me to quit school and go into day trading. That would be a bad idea unless I could get someone to give me some money to trade with. Hmmm who could I ask. I wanted to share some of my other memories of growing up. I remember breaking my arm, Angela's rabbit being torn through a 1.5" x 1.5" hole, a flooded basement that cost me my savings, doing a 180 on the freeway offramp, hitting the gas and not the brake, Andrew throwing my super cliffhanger's racetrack against the wall, Andrew pulling out the antenna on my remote control car, running into Aaron's wheelhouse pillow swing and being slammed against the wall- and wanting to do it again, shoveling manure, moving the woodpile 4, no 5, no 6, like 25 times, weeding the flowers dad just planted, the 8-ball flying slow motion into the television, eating beets, throwing them up, rounding the corner and seeing dad picking up piano keys off the road, trying to flavor my broccolli soup with peppermint extract, wearing 4 pairs of underwear and 3 pairs of levis for when dad got home, that's about it. Enjoy your week.

Grandma and Grandpa visit

Here we are in Missouri with these four little munchkins. Mark is somewhat toothless; Bradley is all over the place, Ellie (Elie-nor) loves to be read to; Little Luke is so loving. We're having a good time playing games, going to the Science Museum, eating....ahhhh.

Grandparenting is a blast. It is, of course, fun to visit with parents of these munchkins as well.

One more Halloween group...

Here they are!

I had to have costumes ready very early this year. Our first costume party was October 11th. (By the time the 31st came I was Halloween-ed out.) The kids all had a great time and have way too much candy!

We are slow - but we are here!

Screaming and Blogging are just not a happy mix! I only sit at the computer as long as I have to - but I am ready to do my part. I haven't been on since Saturday (I think) and I can't believe all of the posts!

I'll see if this actually works and then maybe I'll try to get our Halloween kids on.

Here goes...

Melis

Tallon the Great!!

I knew Jessica would never post a picture of herself...so i did. It's just such a beautiful picture of here and Tallon looks rather ravishing in both.

Birthday Boys, etc..

Caden & Crew both had their birthdays last month. The one with all of the kids is their first day of school. Obviously I don't know basics of photography-none of them could keep their eyes open! The picture of Cannon was too cute- shirt, face & hair all ORANGE!

Braelyn

Here's another one from the summer. Isn't she beautiful? 

Cannon

I just remembered this cutest picture we had of Cannon from this summer, and I thought you all would like it. What a cute little red-head! 

Bath Time!!!!