Jarom the river sound interesting I think Drew might be interested I know he talked to Dan Bird about going if we got in this year. However you can count me out since I don't think they let big fat pregnant women go.

Ben just let me know how much and when to send it and I will send you a check. However since this little family reunion falls around my due date do I get a refund if I cant go or do I just send someone in my place? Take Care.

Jarom The river sounds great but we do not think that we can afford to do both. We are already wondering if we can afford the trip to Colorado. Maybe next year.

So long as we all keep in mind that the trip would be in addition to the trip you're all going to take to Colorado for the family reunion we're planning. Speaking of which, we're fast approaching the deposit time where we need some money from each of you. It's looking like about $200 per family for the cabin, but it depends on how many kids you have, etc. I think the $200 is total price, but we have to have like half of that here by mid-February, I think. We'll be calling everyone in the next few weeks. Whatever the cost is, I guarantee that it is a pittance compared to the amount of activities and fun that are going to be available included in the price. It will be awesome. Just come to relax and read a book, or you can do all the hiking, biking, canoeing, horse-riding, basketball, rock-climbing, roller-skating, mini-golfing, swimming, and of course eating that you want to do.

The river is fun, but I doubt we'll be going again this year, it's a lot longer trip for us than most the rest of you. If you get a chance to go, you really should.

I talked with Dave Parmenter this morning and he asked that I pass along the following:

The time for putting in permits to raft the Main or Middle Fork of the Salmon River is fast approaching. Last year several of us went down the MF when Ruth drew a permit and the trip was great fun and very memorable. At the time we had discussed doing an all-family trip with Dave and some of his kids this year. He wants to know if we are still interested. The Main Salmon is easier to draw a permit for, timing is fairly flexible and could be great fun in late spring for a broad range of ages. The MF is not easy to draw for and you pretty much have to go on the date your permit assigns and smaller kids wouldn't be a good idea. The object of this blog is to get a discussion going amongst the family as to what, when, where, and - most importantly - who wants to go. If we can resolve a few dates and numbers in the next couple of weeks, we can plan with Dave on making a trip. I think this would be a ton of fun for the adult and semi-adult members of the family. I am willing to coordinate things if enough of you respond to make it worthwhile. Please call or email me if you would like to go and some suggested dates. My email is jwhitehead@pedersen-law.com and I can be reached by phone at (208)734-2552 or 737-9635. after we know how many are interested, we can put together some numbers in terms of how much, per person, and how long we'll be on the river. For comparison, last year we spent 5 days, 4 on the river, flew in to the drop off (small planes - really fun), had great meals and snacks - all for $250 per person. The bulk of the charge was the "airfare", the rest covered the food. The same trip through a professional outfitter costs between $1500 and $2500 per person. also, if we vote on the Main (or don't draw the MF) there is no airfare involved in the price. Let me know asap if you're interested.

- Jarom

Well, here we go again. Bryce is back in the hospital. He got the same cold that jackson and conner have. All of the blood work that they have done has come back negative, so the doctor says it is just a virus. He cannot breathe well on his own. They have him on oxygen and they say it will be a couple of days until his lungs clear up. We did get some good news this week. A professor at Utah State responded very positively to the resume that I sent him and wants me to come to USU. I still have to be accepted to the graduate school so nothing is official yet but it looks like there is a good chance we will be going to Logan for the next two years. That's all for now, Chris

Looks like no one could answer my question so I called Joey. He is leaving on the 26th and speaking at church on the 23rd of Feb. He said all he really needs now is socks and money!!! We are doing great. Hope to see all of you who go to Joey"s thing.

Does anyone know the date of our big weekend in Feb. So we can start planning when to be there?

Yes, Lisa, for people with a speech impediment it is often helpful to laugh at them, it really helps them realize they have a problem. Kidding of course. Wish we could have gone to Joey's endowment. This is a weird work week. One day off in the middle really messes with your head. I thought today was Monday.

Christmas came and went as usual around here. We played Santa for some people in our Ward who are unemployed. It was fun and memorable and we involved the kids so they really enjoyed it. It reminded me of the time when someone left a house full of goodies for us when we came home from church in Alaska. Our Ward fast offerings are barely cutting it, and usually we have a pretty good surplus. There are many unemployed and underemployed families. There are some bright spots as a few are starting to find jobs. Several of the guys I know who were laid off last year have now found work, and they are very happy. I hope the economy picks up steam (slowly) and things get a little better. I'm glad the boom is over and hope it taught some people a lesson in humility, but the Ken Lay's of the world haven't paid as dearly as Joe Employee has.

Wishing you all a wonderful and happy new year. Our new years eve included going to bed at 10 o'clock. I was beat.

Wow Lisa that is cool. Sounds like a great oportunity.
It is really exciting for us to have that many in our family able to go to the temple. We wish we could have been there.It sounds like it was a fun weekend with the family.

We had a portion of the family gather for Joeys Temple endowments. It was very cool to sit with mom in the session and realize that we now have 11 out of 12 children able to go to the temple. Pretty cool. I know Dad's proud of Joey right now. We had the annual Christmas play with mom and the grandkids that were close. It was fun. Polly, in answer to your question I am working two and a half days a week in Ogden near Dan's work at Valley View Elementary School. I am the Speech-Language Pathologist for the school of about 750 kids. It is kind of scary to have that much responsibility but I think I will be able to handle it. My case load is only about 40 kids give or take a few referrals and kids moving in and out of the district. A little girl came in last week, she is in the first grade and asked "arwe you da new speech teacherw?" I had to laugh and ask her what her name was and if she was on my list...She was. When school starts again in January I will be working there and then finishing an externship and a few other things on campus but otherwise I am all but done! Cool huh?!! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a terrific new year.

So Lisa What is your new job, where are you working?

This is a blanket congrats to everyone for all of their great news!!!! What a wonderful family we have - and so technically minded as well. Others should be so lucky! Lestie was mostly correct with my contact information for anyone that is interested. My home phone is 208-737-9635, not 36. I always enjoy getting phone calls (and placing them as my phone bill will attest to). Merry Christmas everyone. - Jarom.

I would like to know if anyone would like to get together to buy mom a nice gift, it may be a little late for Christmas but I ws thinking it would be nice to do something really great for Mother's Day- her birthday? By the way congrats Angie and Drew! That is wonderful.
My only announcement is that I am still looking for a nice job for my hubby, something that wouldn't require as many Sundays. Just keep your ears to the ground, for some reason this seems like the best way to find something. Anyway, if you do not receve a Christmas card from us, I am about two months behind ( I think it was the bed rest!) so look forward to a valentine! Merry Christmas to all, and If any brave souls want to spend the holiday in Polson you are all welcome!

What is Jarom's phone number? Does anyone know it? I am trying to put this Christmas party together for Saturday and I need to give him his assignments. Ben, it was really nice to talk to you. It is sad to think it is so difficult to keep in touch as a family. There is just too many of us! But oh, what fun when we do get together! I love my new job! I have been there a whole two days and it keeps getting better and better, now that the scary part of being new has worn off a bit. Congratulations to Angela! Anyone else have any other announcements to make? Polly, thanks for the Christmas card. I sure love all of you and appreciate what great people you are and how nice it is to know that we all care about each other and support each other, even if there are too many of us...

Ben if you sent to my Netzero account we stopped checking it because it got so much spam!
We are staying here for the holidays again. We are hoping to see everyone in Feb. for Joey's farewell.
We wanted to thank those of you who sent us presents. We can't wait to get Christmas over with. I hope Andy at least gets Christmas day off. But we will see. I have failed at sending out my Christmas cards. But maybe I will get out some e-mail cards. We hope you all have a great holiday!
Congrats to Angela and Drew. I will gather all the stuff that I have to give you. That is so exciting.

Yes this time of year is quite crazy when you add finals to it. I had two yesterday and I have a really awful one left for tomorow night. In between I have YW and a Christmas party and all the other stuff that goes with it. It is getting a little bit crazy in our house this year. Come Thursday I am going to be running to get everything done by Christmas.
Drew and I got some interesting news yesterday. I was not going to tell anyone for awhile but since Missy knows and she is terrible with secretes, I better tell. We finally figured out where babies come from and we are going to have another in August! Anyway we are pretty excited for us. Our spoiled children will have to learn how to share and everything. Hope you all have a great holiday. I sent all of you something if i am not going to see you in the next few days so let me know if you don't get it.

Lisa, I am jealous. Today I filed my intent to graduate papers for this Spring. It felt really weird, having actually satisfied all of the requirements, except this last class I'm starting in January. It's like in the back of my mind I just know they're going to come up with something that I forgot at the last minute and make me continue another semester. Everyone's had that nightmare. Most of all, congratulations on finishing. I don't know how many times I have almost quit. In the back of my mind I knew I wouldn't, but it just seems so inconvenient. Kissing up to professors that, at this point, I feel like I could tell them a few things about the real world. I think I really am getting too old for this stuff. So, I especially admire people who take a long break from school and then go back. It's just that much harder to take.

I hope you get a great job, or whatever you're intentions are. I'm still employed, but if I do lose my job, my hope is that I'll be more employable with an advanced degree. That's the theory, anyway.

When you're in school, Christmas really sneaks up on you, too. You just finish a final, and after you finish, you are euphoric for only a brief time, then you realize how many things you've got to get done before Christmas. It's crazy. Hopefully, never again. I also realize how much work I have let slide trying to finish my school projects, and now I have to catch up. What fun.

Julie and Chris, I am so glad to hear that your little baby is doing better. I just finished my last final of my Masters program!!! But I have not been checking the blog very well and since no one ever calls I have not talked to anyone either. Ben, your sister in laws baby is really cute. I am glad that all worked out so well. Polly and Andy, it would be fun to see you at Christmas. Your pictures are cute! All is well here. I enjoyed seeing Angela, Julie, Lestie and their new babies with Mom during Thanksgiving. I just can't believe how time flies when your busy. I trying to get all my Christmas letters out. You may get them email...I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying Christmas as hectic as it can be.

Polly I sent you a reply indicating I put the pictures up, but it bounced saying you exceeded your mail quota. I can give you a new free webmail account if you want, it's really easy.

Anyway, the pictures are at andynpolly.meteorbike.com. They are cute.

Well I sent Ben the pictures that I took of the kids to send in a christmas card to family and friends. I hope I get it done. We are staying home for the holidays because Andy has to work. Everyone in his dept. took off so Andy is stuck holding down the fort. I was glad to here Little Bryce is doing better it is really sad to have a sick baby. I hope everyone has a great christmas I will send you a e-mail card as well. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!