Nuge News

Rainy Day

2010-01-22T16:22:00.001-08:00

Hello from rainy, muddy California! It's been awhile since anyone has posted and since I haven't been outside in FIVE days because of this storm, I need something to do! Haha. The weather has been crazy! I'm loving the rain, but I guess a tornado even touched down in Ventura last night. That seems a little extreme to me!

Otherwise, things have been pretty mellow. Around the house, I have been getting a lot done. I painted the whole living room/dining room and finally just finished the bedroom as well. We got a new washer/dryer and built some cabinets around those. But there is still a LOT to do. So I'm not ready to show pictures or brag about our accomplishments until it's all done. I'm kind of thinking we need to hire Mika to help us finish things up!

With the photography biz, things are plugging along. I've had 2 jobs this month (actually PAID) and have a few more possibilities lined up for coming months. I'm also starting to enter my photos in some contests, just to see if I get any type of response. I figure if I can even double my tiny income from last year, I'll be on my way.

Paul has been working on a new show called "Teach" where Tony Danza (from Who's The Boss?) teaches English to high school students. He has been working a lot of long days to get the show off the ground. But he says it's actually a pretty good show. A lot more real moments than some of the others he's working on.

Gadoo is fat as ever. He still gets spurts of energy here and there, but mostly likes to be cuddling next to me as much as possible. And if I'm working on my computer? Forget about it. He wants to be the center of attention and will sit directly on the keyboard (or at least make it really difficult for me to get anything done.) Turd Ferguson is his other name.

Anyway, that's it for now. Would love to know how everyone else is doing (if you ever get the time!)

Another Baby in the Fam

2009-07-09T22:02:00.000-07:00

Cousin Amy & her husband Greg had their 3rd little baby boy today! Just wanted to share the good news. Here's the info:

Born: July 9th, 2009

Time: 6:43 AM

Weight: 7 Lbs 13 Oz

Don't know the name yet, but I know they were debating a couple - Easton, Sawyer, and (the boys voted for) Luke Skywalker. Hahaha! I'm sure they'll go with one of the other two.

Anyway, congrats to them! Can't wait to see the little bugger...

pics

2009-05-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

Just going through the pics from the weekend, these were two that caught my eye right away! Love 'em! More to come :)

MARKUS

2009-05-28T20:48:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend we all had - thanks to Markus graduating High School! I am a very proud momma, and I am certain Markus is glad to be out of High School. It was so fun to have all the brothers and sisters and Paul together for the special occasion. We missed Jessie and Luke but hope to see them later in the summer at the Family Reunion in Arnold Nebraska. It feels a little unsettling when my youngest child is old enough to go to college or start life after High School. When Markus was born I was certain I was going to be in a wheel chair by the time he graduated because 53 sounded so far away and so very old! :) I have changed my mind. Life starts at 50 so I am only three years past that!

Thank you all for making Markus' day special and celebrating with him. Food was yummy as usual and the talks and staying up all hours of night was definately worth it. I am the luckiest mom alive - you all are such great people. Thank you for loving each other and getting along. There are families out there that don't know what they are missing!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend - enjoy

Love and hugs.
MOM

Markus' Big Day

2009-03-05T17:48:00.000-08:00

So hard to believe but it is finally here. Markus is graduating High School! Where has the time gone? The Big Day is May 22, 2009. Graduation Ceremonies are going to be held at the Dixie Burns Arena @ 11:00am. It would be wonderful to see you all here celebrating with Markus - afterall 12 years is a long time to get someplace. Let us know if you are planning on coming so we know how many of you will need a place to stay.

Another exciting summer is just around the corner. Ron's family reunion is July 4th weekend and I will send out information to all of you so you will know what is planned. My sister Leena called me this week and was wondering what we were doing this summer. They have plans on coming out for three weeks this summer and hopefully they can attend the Family Reunion also. Wow, when you think your life is going to slow down a bit, that is not going to happen. But all this is going to be FUN!!

Happy Birthday to Jessie - big 30! Enjoy!! We love you.

Nugents Funniest Home Videos

2009-02-08T21:38:00.001-08:00

This was super bowl day and we were having a super ball! Always a hoot, this kid is...

America's Funniest Home Videos anyone?

Our Son Rocks!

2009-01-27T18:54:00.000-08:00

Alright, I'm just going to go ahead qualify my next few statements by saying I'm not usually one to brag--in print, anyway... usually, but you should all know that you are related to a GENIUS CHILD!!!

Luke got straight "A"s on his report card. I was happy about that. His teacher (who apparently thinks I have a mentality equal to that of her students and am somehow more impressed by my own son's report card for every extra exclamation point and hand-drawn smiley face she adds!!!! :) ) wrote a nice note on the front about how much she enjoys having Luke in her class.

However, this spectacular report card is not so spectacular as to inspire a blog post alone. Oh, no.

Attached to the aforementioned report card were his reading and mathematics standardized test scores. His reading score is simply outstanding. He tested at an 8th grade, 3 month reading level. (I know, right? I actually broke into applause when I saw it!) His target reading age should be late 7th grade to early 8th grade reading to continue to improve his skills.

And, yet, I'm not sure I would've felt compelled to sing my son's praises via the family blog had I not flipped the page to reveal his math score!

Are you ready for this? He tested at a senior in high school, 5 month math level! His target math study should be in Algebra.

Well! You can just imagine what I did when I saw that! I picked up the phone and made about nine phone calls to family and friends! (Like I said before, I don't usually do my bragging in print.) It was actually pretty funny, because Mika was on his phone calling people, too!

In hindsight, though, it's actually somewhat bittersweet. Luke's school doesn't have any accelerated programs, so Luke will have to sit in class practicing his times tables with everyone else. You know that has to be a real drag.

Mika and I talked about maybe sending him to a summer camp for video game design. We want to equate excellent academics with what he is passionate about. I can send him to an actual summer camp in cabins on the lake, and he would be grateful and enjoy himself. But I think if he gets to see his hard work pay off toward his own PERSONAL goals, it will snowball into a passion for academics. Who knows? Maybe he'll follow in Krista's footsteps with a math degree.

Well, thanks for letting me boast for a bit. We're really proud of him and wanted to give you all the chance to be as well.

I hope this finds you all well!

Jessie

Steed/Fields Reception

2009-01-12T14:38:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone. It's been awhile since anyone updated, so just thought I'd say hello. Krista, Jorel and I were lucky enough to attend our cousin Derrick's wedding this last weekend. He married an adorable girl named Ashley Steed. I had never met her before, but you can tell they are a great fit for each other. They were married in the Sacramento Temple, which I didn't even know existed. It is a newer temple built right where the Mormon Center used to be!! I know you all remember the Mormon Center - sight of many a family reunion. Anyway, we didn't have time to see the temple, but Derrick said it was so weird that the Mormon Center is gone.

Krista and I stayed right at the hotel where the reception was, so that was easy and convenient. The festivities started at 7pm and it was really good to see everyone. Jorel was cranky...or hyper? Seemed a little bi-polar. But then passed out WHILE people where dancing with him. Wore himself out. It was funny.

Those in attendance included all of the Fields family of course, Uncle Pat and the Johnsons (Sheila, Rex and Mark). Small for a Nuge gathering, but still fun. Especially since I hadn't seen the Johnsons in probably over 10 years. They look the same - Uncle Rex just has more gray hair and Mark is not a kid anymore. We all had fun dancing and being goofs. Then us "kids" went bowling afterward where we had more fun and laughs. So it was good to reunite with everyone and realize we are still the same old dorky bunch. The next morning Derrick and Ashley were kind enough to invite Krista, Jorel and I out to breakfast. So we crashed their honeymoon and got to spend a couple extra hours with them.

We definitely missed all of those who couldn't be there, but hope for another opportunity to get together with ALL the cousins someday. (I actually have a plan for this, but Krista and I have to do a little research first...)

1993 and 2009 (missing a few people, but added a couple too)

Anyway, hope all is well. I'm sure everyone is busy as can be.
Love,
Jaana

A Country Christmas with Mika, Jessie and Luke

2008-12-01T11:43:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Love, Jaana

The many faces of Jorel...

2008-12-01T11:06:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Love, Jaana

Are You Guys OK?

2008-11-17T09:43:00.000-08:00

Are you Californians okay out there? Mika says the fires aren't near you, and that you would call if you had to evacuate. Then he gave me a lecture about not freaking out every time I heard "Southern California" in the news because... Well, I think that's when I quit paying attention and just nodded my head while I thought about what he would look like with a ZZ Top style beard. Still, I'd love to actually hear from you.

My cell phone number is 417-529-7467 and our home number is 417-208-4218. Mika has to leave his phone at work from now on because he and his coworkers got in trouble, and he can only have work calls or other AT&T calls during the day. You can call my phone any time you need him. Please don't ever hesitate. Also, our stupid home phone will come up as "Withheld" or "Blocked" or "Private" when we call you because the idiot phone company has it set up that way and can't seem to fix it. (The lady I talked to about changing it tried to transfer me to another department three times but it kept ringing back to her desk. You would think one of the questions on the application for a telephone company would be: Do you know how to operate a telephone?)

By the way, Mika came in 2nd place at the annual Halloween costume party at my sister's place losing out to my parents. He was Jesus. When we walked in, I kid you not, the raging party fell almost completely quiet before letting out a collective "It's Jesus" gasp. It was just his hair down and a white sheet with a rope around the waist. (Ok, he wore clothes underneath, even though I insisted Jesus did not wear Gap Jeans and Adidas.) I dressed like myself and told everyone I was Satan. People kept pulling on my dreadlocks really hard because they thought it was a wig. Everyone kept asking if I was supposed to be "Predator" or an "Orc." I didn't even have any make-up or a costume on! My dad and step-mom were dressed up like Southern aristocrats that looked all beaten to hell and back. They were Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Mika's costume worked out really well for my brother Luke and me. Mika had to be the designated driver. We were secretly hoping we'd get pulled over so I could video tape Jesus executing a field sobriety test.

Little Luke decided he wanted to be Poseidon this year. We Googled images of him. Apparently, there are a few very famous statues of Poseidon... completely nude! We had a good laugh over that. He used a really awesome long, white wig, a white robe tied with a length of rope, and a white beard Mika fashioned out of a swatch of rabbit hair he had in his fly-tying kit. Then they built a triton out of a broom handle a piece of jigsawed wood. It turned out so much better than I expected! I'll post pictures as soon as my sister emails them to me.

Mika has just started a pretty big project over at my folks place. They hired him and my brother to completely remodel their living room. He'll be working every weekend and a couple of evenings a week for about a month. He's been on a "project" kick for a while now, so it works out. He just knocked down a wall between our dining room and the spare bedroom so we would have a bigger area for lounging. Then he built us a HUMONGOUS avairy for the pet room. I'm not kidding, this thing measures 8 feet long by 6 feet high by 2 feet deep and has three sections in it. There's room for all 12 birds and then some. Our breeding pair of cockatiels just laid another four eggs that will hatch mid-December.

Luke and Mika's cat ran out in the road and got hit by a car. It's dead now.

We have a new inside/outside dog named Zeke. He's a St. Ber-doodle. He actually just looks like an enormous Schnauzer. He's been fantastic so far. He's another rescue dog.

We are probably going to have to get rid of the goats. They jumped the fence again and Mika got a ticket from the city. He has to go to court on Thursday for "allowing 2 goats to roam at large." I'm taking the video camera for this!

Well, that's a not-so-quick update from the Missourians. I hope it finds you all well!

Jessie

K & J Halloween Costume

2008-11-05T00:01:00.001-08:00

Jorel has more pictures too, but this is the only one I had. I didn't get to spend actual Halloween with him, but Deni, her fam, and Grandma and Grandpa did, so I guess they have some other pics. I'll have to post them when I get them!

Costume Craziness

2008-11-01T14:57:00.000-07:00

So I think everyone should post their Halloween costumes here...

Jaana was the ultimate nerdy Disneyland tourist (notice the amazing Mickey Mouse fanny pack she found!) Paul was a very effeminate (gay) golfer. Jake was a greaser. He got totally into the character and just sold it! Doesn't he look awesome? Don't worry, the cigarette was borrowed!

Burbank Update

2008-10-23T10:41:00.001-07:00

A few of you were here not to long ago. It was a lot of fun - Disneyland, the Griffith Park Observatory, lots of food, movies, etc. But I sure did wish Mika's family were here too. You can't really call it an IFR without them. So now, I guess they will have to plan a special trip to come visit me. I bought an Annual Passport for Disneyland and I need to use it a LOT (because those things are not cheap) and I am relying on them to visit so I can plan another trip. I also have so many other places to take them that they'd enjoy. So they just really need to plan a trip out here. Look how much fun it can be:

You guys all got that? Mika, Jessie and Luke need to plan a trip to California? So that I can show them a good time?

Just wanted to make that clear. :)

Anyway, things here have been good. Jake didn't start his job yet (still processing his paperwork, background check, fingerprints, blood tests - its quite a process when you get a city or medical center job). But he should be working by early November. *Fingers crossed* He is learning his way around the bus system though, so that's an adventure. It gives him a little more independence. Except when he gets lost and I have to drive to Pacoima to pick him up. Haha. Not the best neighborhood. He's also enjoying his new apartment quite a bit. Just loves having his own space. It must feel good after living out of a suitcase for the last 6 months.

Paul is back working on season 4 of Gene Simmons Family Jewels and is enjoying it for the most part. He got a couple other job offers (from The Bachelorette and Dancing With The Stars) but feels bad leaving now after all the time he's put into this show. Plus its just so easy at this point, he's not quite ready to take on a new challenge. Once this season is over I'm sure he'll be on to something bigger and better. And hopefully closer to home. Today there was a fire in the canyons and it took him over 2 hours to get to work. What a nightmare. Its days like this that we get the itch to move somewhere quiet and remote. That kind of traffic is seriously such a deal-breaker!

I have been spending my days at home with Gadoo. I've been trying to stick to a routine so I don't just sit around all day. And the days are just flying by. It seems that the school photography job hasn't quite panned out. I got paid for the one day that I worked, but haven't been back since. So I'm still looking for other things. And HomeView still gives me a little bit of work. Next week we are doing our first Trade Show, so that should be interesting.

Paul and I also just enrolled in a photography workshop together. We had our first class last night and it was good. It's a little long, but we get assignments every week and it definitely gives us a focus for the week and a reason to practice taking pictures. So I'm really excited about it. I hope to find more classes like that out there, but they can be a little pricey, so we'll see. This week we have to take portraits, so I think Jake will be modeling for me quite a bit since Gadoo is just about useless.

I guess that's all for us. Hope everyone else is great! Have a good night and a pleasant tomorrow. -PB & J & J & G

3 Cheers for Jaakko!

2008-10-01T17:04:00.001-07:00

So I think pretty much everyone knows by now, but I just wanted to write a little blurb about how proud I am of our very own Jake Nuge. He has recently not only acquired a new job at a very prestigious company - UCLA Medical Group - but he has also saved up enough money and made enough friends that he was able to put a hefty down payment on a nice apartment here in Burbank with 2 roommates! He will be working as a clerk in the giant medical offices and living with a couple friends named Graham and Jason. He will have to take a shuttle/bus into work, but not having a car will save him some major dough - especially with the way gas prices are now. So that sort of paid off in the long run, I guess!

When he came to stay with us just 5 months ago, I really did not foresee this type of thing happening. Obviously, since the plan was for him to just stay a few weeks. But we kept him busy all summer and as things started slowing down, he made that big decision for himself to just take a chance. And so far it seems to be paying off! I am just tickled (as Jessie would say) that he is taking a stand for his life. And I know since he is taking these first steps, we will all support him in his venture and help him fill in the blanks wherever he needs. So congratulations to my big, little bro. May he continue his journey into adulthood with faith, a little luck and some major fun!

Love,
Jaana

P.S. The picture is from the day of his job interview - sweet, huh?

Adding to the Family

2008-09-28T06:28:00.000-07:00

The day before we left to drive to Utah, our mating pair of cockateils, Victory and Triumph, laid two eggs. While we were gone, they laid three more. Last night Mika and I were calculating the possible hatch date. We figured it could be anywhere from today through Tuesday-ish. Well, this morning I woke up to Mika five inches from my face screaming in his loudest possible stage-whisper, "THEY'RE HATCHING RIGHT NOW!!!" Normally, it takes me about 45 minutes to open my eyes all the way and actually start forming sentences after I wake up. NOT TODAY!

As I write this, one baby has for sure completely hatched. Victory is still sitting on all of them to keep them warm, so we don't know how many have actually come out yet. The proud new father--Mika, not Triumph-- is pacing through the house reading The Cockateil Handbook, preparing food, calling anyone who's awake, and asking me a million questions he knows I can't answer. I've never seen him so nervous!!! Uh-oh! He just got the camera!

He'll probably have called all of you long before you ever get a chance to read this post, but he'll "play it cool" when he talks to you. So, I just wanted to make sure you got an accurate representation of this wonderful moment in our home. I'm sure we'll be posting pictures soon.

We miss you guys!

Jessie

Picture 064

2008-09-17T21:36:00.001-07:00

My favorite group picture is definitely picture 064. First of all, I don't feel like I'm playing "Who's Not Finnish?" (see picture 084) Also, in picture 064, it looks like Paul and Jake are smitten in love and Jorel can't quite figure it out. Laughed till I almost cried...

Jessie

As promised...

2008-09-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

Here are the pics from the reunion. Enjoy!

http://paulpeltekian.com/fotoalbum/ifr2008/

Love, Jaana

Favorite Pic from the IFR!

2008-09-14T22:46:00.000-07:00

Uh, Krista - you may want to enter this into some Cute Baby Photo contests or something! More pics coming soon...
Love, PB & J

Dave and Janel Christofferson

2008-09-05T20:03:00.001-07:00

Hey guys -

I'm sure you all saw our cousins' blogs, but thought I'd mention it here to. Dave and Janel just had their 5th beautiful baby! Here's the info:

Born: September 3rd 2008

Time: 6:00 PM

Weight: 9 Lbs 1 Oz

Length: 21 3/4 Inches

Name: Linkin Gary Christofferson

And photo of course (see more pics on Amy's Blog - they are sooo cute!):

Mom is getting technical!

2008-09-02T20:27:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to let you know that I have started my own blog - I suppose it will grow on me as I go. So if you want to check it out the address is riittanugent.blogspot.com. Stay patient - my life is not all that exciting but I think I will recognize more and more things to amaze over as I get going. See you on the blog!!

MOM

If the Shoe Fits...

2008-09-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

From One Olympic Junkie to Another

2008-08-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

I must say I have not gotten my beauty sleep in days! I have been watching Olympics since my grandparents bought their first television, which was, I think when I was ten years old. That is forty-two years of Olympics every other year so that would make it 21 years of watching the stuff. I only see three medals so far for Finland in these Olympic Games, but Finnish people excel more in the winter sports like hockey and ski jumping etc. It is so fun to "feel" the spirit of these athletes and recognize how many hours of HARD work they have done to get where they are. My little five # weights seem a bit lighter now and my exercise routine in the mornings has gotten new wind! I will never be an Olympian but I sure have gotten inspired by the honorable performances of all the athletes, not only the Americans but those from countries I didn't even know existed, or know how to pronounce. I will miss the Olympics once they are done, but it gives us London to look forward to in another four years. And don’t forget the winter Olympics in two years and watch the Finns win a few!
My father was a great athlete. He was a gymnast for the Finnish team. I used to have a couple of pictures of him in his gymnast uniform and if I can find them I will scan and post those. I believe that our heritage has given us something special to be proud of - my father a gymnast, my mother a writer, my grandfather an artist, my aunt a painter… Some days I wonder where all that talent went to, but as I look at you, kids, I realize you have it all and more. You all have great talents of art, music, athletics, inspiration and heart. And the latter is what matters the most in the scheme of things. Every athletic or artistic performance will not amount to much unless you have shared your heart and soul with it. The passion to do what we love is what makes our lives meaningful.
On the wall next to the front door I have a saying “If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart”. I look at it every day as I leave the house. Unfortunately it gets forgotten at times when I have to do things I don’t like doing, but usually I get through my days with a good attitude and grateful heart because I don’t have to look very far to see how fortunate and blessed I am. As I come home through the same door, I glance at the little saying and smile thinking “I made it through another day. Thanks for the reminder!”
So the Olympics are going to be over in a few days but the memories and the inspiration will be on my mind for a long time. I am not a world class athlete and I will never be in the Olympics but I can be the best at whatever I am doing in the moment.

Our Whole Family

2008-08-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! It's Jessie in Missouri. Things are going great here. The summer heat is not as intense as it was a couple of weeks ago, so Mika is happier at work. Luke is gearing up to go back to school on Wednesday. And I'm loving my new job more than either of my other two radio jobs. We now have eight birds, two dogs, two goats, one little tiger, one iguana, and one guinea pig. (And we're currently searching for a partridge and a pear tree to round out the clan.) We were also recently fostering two other dogs, a black Lab and a black, nine-month-old Great Dane. The Lab went back with its owner for now, and we placed the Great Dane after just a couple of days. I take care of the inside animals while Mika feeds the goats and dogs. Luke feeds the little tiger (with the help of one gentle reminder and one death stare). While the humidity literally puts a damper on things--100% humidity at 105 degrees feels like walking through Mother Nature's Suana--life is still grand in the Midwest.

I just got done reading Krista's post on single-motherhood on her blog. It nearly brought me to tears. As all of you know, I was a single mother from the time Luke was born. I was physically eighteen years old when I got pregnant, but I had the maturity level of a young adolescent. That led to a long series of selfish and often times hurtful decisions. I didn't mature into "something like an adult" until I was almost 24 years old. Motherhood finally kicked in. At that point, I took a couple of years doing some serious, full-throttle introspection. It paid off. A lovely boy moved in down the hall and, as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire would say, "my world got flipped, turned upside down."

You see, in all those years of making thousands of wrong decisions, I had managed to squeeze in one very, very good one. I was not going to introduce my son to a revolving door of men. Mika entered our lives at the ass-end of my two-year quest to... well, for lack of a better phrase, get a grip. So when the time came for me to tell Luke that his new fishing buddy was now my boyfriend, I panicked. There was almost a sense of betrayal creeping up my spine. It had always been just Luke and me. I quickly started to regret that one great decision. But Mika took me by the arm, marched me into my living room, and supported me while I launched a potential chaos nuke into my son's finally-stable world. And it could've easily gone that way had Mika not quickly followed up with his verbal understanding of his limited place in our lives at that time. It was a genius point to make in an effort to sooth the heart of a six-year-old boy, and I found myself astonished at and slightly jealous of Mika's insight into parenting. He didn't have to wait for fatherhood to kick in. It seemed to already be there. And here's the bitter-sweet icing on the top: Mika gave up his opportunity to ever have biological children of his own to be with us.

Three and a half years later I find myself re-reading this post and thinking, "Oh, Mylanta, I won the husband lottery." On August 24, 2007, Mika legally adopted Luke and gave Luke his last name. (The accidental alliteration of the name "Luke Nugent" would be serendipitous should he someday decide on a career in radio...) The anniversary of the adoption is this Sunday. I hope you all will take a moment and think of your brother through my eyes. He is a real-life superhero. He is the kind of man we want to walk into Krista's and Jorel's lives some day.

Also, take a moment and congratulate yourselves on contributing to the molding of the aforementioned superhero. You have all had a hand in our happiness. I hope this post will help you all understand just how grateful I am to you not only for giving me Mika, but for your acceptance of me as Mika's wife and for that of Luke as a grandson, as a nephew, and now as a cousin. No one could've possibly pre-designed a picture so perfect. I love you all very, very much.

I'm sorry for the long post. My emotions were able to overcome me with a late-night sneak-attack. Damn them! Well, at least it wasn't my other personality surfacing this time. That's always embarrassing...

Anyhoo, I love you guys!

Jessie

Updates...

2008-08-14T08:58:00.001-07:00

Well, we are about the 1 month mark until the family reunion! I know everyone has been busy and there has not been a whole lot of additional planning happening, but I thought I would touch base and let everyone know it is still a go. We are going to try and stick to the original itinerary, but if there's something else anyone is dying to do - we can throw it out there and see where it fits in. I think either way, we'll have a packed schedule and it will be like a real vacation! I hope everyone is ready to rock!

As for an update on the CA gang, we are doing well. Everyone is happy and healthy and tolerating the noise of remodeling our bathrooms. We completely finished the guest bathroom yesterday and it looks AMAZING!! I'm in love with it. Paul and I were like "We should sleep in here, its so nice!" Now we need to finish the master bath, and honestly - even though we have made it this far - its hard to get motivated to start another project. Its a lot of hard work. But I know it will be worth it when its all done. We figured since we are going to be here awhile (with the housing market the way it it) we might as well really make this place our own and enjoy it!

Business has slowed down over the past couple of weeks, but we are still finding things to keep us busy. It probably came at a pretty good time, so we can take a step back and analyze where we want to go from here. We are re-vamping the website and taking time to do things that should have been done awhile back, when we just didn't have the time! Jake is taking the opportunity to learn more about editing and website animation and even a little online marketing.

But it sure does get nerve-wracking. Of course, I automatically start to panic and ask Paul if I need to start looking for a new job (the LAST thing I want to do). But he has reassured me that this is part of running your own business. You have the highs and the lows. I can't run off and find a new job every time things slow down a little! So now we are focusing more on sales and getting some new customers to carry us through to the end of the year. We have set some high goals for next year so we will see how it goes!

That's it for us. Hope everyone else is doing well.
- PB & J (and J)

Nine Months!

2008-07-26T12:13:00.001-07:00

Holy Crap, can you believe it? Nine months old this last Wednesday - the 23rd. He's crawling now and more independent than ever. It's weird to think that in only 3 more months he's going to be a year old and probably walking... This is how he likes to get around the kitchen - he crawls on the carpet:

So I've been trying to get this post up for a while.... He's now 9 1/2 months old and still silly as ever! He usually scoots around faster than this, but I thought this one was super funny because he had his hat on half naked, it was almost dark out and he was just so cute. He also has a little rug burn on his foot because he's found it faster to only drag one foot and let the other do all the work - he's so funny! He's also getting so chunky and it's wonderful. Can't wait to see you all soon!!!

-Pita and OJ for backwards

Invitations

2008-07-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

Hey Family! I was supposed to make invitations for everyone to join us at our family reunion. That has not happened. So I thought I'd post a reminder here. The dates have been officially changed to September 10th - 14th. We are still working with the same itinerary, just a week later than discussed. Hopefully that works out OK for everyone. Its sort of short notice at this point, but I think that we can make it work. I'll keep you guys posted of any new Nuge News here. Other than that I just really look forward to it! As Mika would say, "Happy Hunting!"

We will all be here soon!

Growing up SO fast!

2008-07-09T20:43:00.000-07:00

Check this out, this is too crazy! I tried to get him dancing the other night when mom and i flipped on So You Think You Can Dance and he started grooving along with the first song that was playing - but as soon as i got the camera out he, of course, stopped. But it was so darn cute. I'll have to try to catch him busting a move! He's still being a happy kid for the most part and eating like crazy and growing up too fast but he's so much fun. He sat himself up today by himself and is starting to rock on his hands and knees getting ready to crawl! Can't wait to see all of you again!

Oh, and he's climbing in his crib

He really likes his winnie the pooh from uncle pentiiMika will appreciate the swollen eyes in this one... haha

Best Blue-Eyed Baby Boy

2008-07-02T18:31:00.001-07:00

So I told Krista there were so many pictures of Jorel from their last trip, that I would have to make him his own website. Haven't quite gotten around to that yet, but here are a few shots to give you all (and myself) a good reason to smile today.

Relaxing Weekend

2008-06-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

This is a great way to spend a weekend - work in the yard, get dehydrated, have leg cramps, feel sore muscles for days after and enjoy the 112 degree weather!! That just about sums up my first days off work in 19 days. And I did have fun! I was able to haul away debris and dirt and rocks that were scattered around by our earlier plumbing problem when the main water pipe to our house had sprung a leak. All the digging and laying the new pipe left a mess and finally this past weekend I was able to get it mostly cleaned up. Krista, Markus and Jorel came out to help but they know their limits in the heat. On the other hand their mother is clearly in the dark about stopping when the heat got to be too much. :)

I had been couped up in a seminar room for days and had a great need to get outside away from the flourescent lights. No matter what I was doing and how hard I was working in the yard, I was still having a good and relaxing time. And it is always fun to see the results of your handy work!

I even had time to go shopping and spend some of that hard earned money. Jorel got a few new outfits - I ran into a couple of great sales at Jymboree and Osh-Kosh. It's a grandma thing! I intend to have a few more of these fun weekends this summer. Next time I will invite everyone to join me - this time for ice tea on the backyard swing enjoying the warm summer nights and the full moon! Can't beat the southern Utah summer evenings anywhere!

Everyone stay well and take care of your weekend needs - whatever they may be!

Love and hugs,

MOM

Jorel Pic Update!

2008-06-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

Since we visited Jaana, Paul, and Jake those few weeks ago and you got ALL those pics, I hadn't posted any in a while, plus I lost my camera's battery charger somewhere... so its dead, but I've been using mom's for now until I can order another one. Anyway, He's going to be 8 months tomorrow, can you believe it? Weird. He broke his first tooth through on Friday the 13th and the other one is SO close, I wish it would just get through. He rolls all over the place and tries to pull himself up on everything but can't sit himself up quite yet or sit really steady, but he does pretty good. Oh, and don't take anything away that he wants or he'll scream pretty loud. But he's doing great and you would all get a big kick out of his latest faces. Gotta love him! Love you all!

Just being a Cutie

Decided to sleep on his side today

Helping with yard work

- Krista and Jorel

Weekend at Bernie's

2008-06-01T10:16:00.001-07:00

Actually, it was just a weekend (+ some) at Jaana and Paul's place. But weekend at Bernie's sounded funny. Krista, Jorel and Markus came for what they thought would be 4 days and turned into a week and a half of adventure and delight. What can I say, I'm an amazing host! (I'm trying to convince Mika and Jessi to come visit me too!)

Anyway, there were some good times. There were some great times. There were some funny times. There were some gassy times. A good time to be had by all.

A quick recap on the goodness:

- Delicious food at Bob's Big Boy
- Bonfire at a cold and windy Huntington Beach
- Shopping at the new, fabulous Americana
- Taking Jorel to the LA Zoo (well it was more for Krista, since Jorel really couldn't see anything from his stoller)
- Getting our thrill on at Six Flags Magic Mountain
- Playing tennis at the High School (with our own rules)
- Jake and Markus camping with Paul and I - while Krista house-sat and walked a dog for one of our friends. (Sorry Krista! We missed you though!)

It has been awful quiet since everyone left. Its driving me and Jake a little crazy! But I'm so glad that everyone could be here and I'm truly grateful to have a flexible enough schedule that I could take some time to do these fun things. It was like a summer break for me too. If you guys had especially fun highlights, make sure to post 'em. Honestly, Jorel was my highlight. I can't express what a sweet, delicious baby he is. The rest of you are cool too, but come on! That kid is to die for. :)

Anyway, if anyone wants to view a LOT of pictures, please visit: www.paulpeltekian.com/fotoalbum/summerbreak08

Love to all!
Jaana

Dave & Allyson Nuge

2008-05-27T09:05:00.001-07:00

Hey guys -

In case you haven't heard, thought I'd let you guys know that our cousin Dave and his wife Allyson just had their second baby - a little girl. Here's the info:

Born: May 26th 2008

Time: 12:34 AM

Weight: 7.5 Lbs

Length: 20 Inches

Name: Edyn Eliza Jean Nugent

And photo of course:

Weekly Favorites

2008-05-26T11:58:00.001-07:00

So it's been a while since I've uploaded some Jorel pics - I think it's about 7 weeks worth! But we're doing pretty good, although I do believe his teeth are coming through, poor kid! He used to eat about triple the recomended serving sizes, but is now eating quite a bit less - not that he's underfed or anything! He's also been getting a little more fussy from time to time, so it wouldn't be a suprise if he cut some teeth soon. Grandma got him a jumper and he absolutely loves it - the only problem is that now when you're holding him, all he wants to do is jump! He turned 7 months only about 3 days ago and I still can't believe it. We are anxiously awaiting a trip to Aunt Jaana's and Uncle Paul's house, to visit them and Uncle Jake, coming up soon... I think we can leave Thursday - if thats okay with you guys! Miss all you folks...

- Pita and Little El

Just being a huge goofball (this one is from the begining of April)

Drooling all over the place
Watch out kitty!
Just the cutest!
Playing with mom

After swimmingHe does NOT like to be taken out of the water!In his little velour suit... kind of
In his jumperoo that he LOVES!

Mika

2008-05-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

The Missouri Nugents!

2008-05-19T19:19:00.000-07:00

Hey, Family! This is the Nuge clan in MO. We haven't posted here before because we just got the internet at our house. We went 7 1/2 months without internet at home. We still don't have any television, and we are going to keep it that way for a while at least. It's amazing how much we get done when we can't pick up the remote for entertainment! We're going to try and post a video in a few minutes, so you'll probably see one of those boxes with an "x" in it below our post. It might take us a few tries.

We're staying pretty busy these days. For instance, tomorrow night Luke has a baseball game, Mika has to skip that for Boy Scouts (he's the Weblos leader!), and Jessie has to go to her sister's high school graduation. Whew! We're having to enlist our friend Chad to take Luke to his game. Luke only has a day and a half left of third grade. He's pretty excited for summertime. This will be the first year he hasn't had to go to summer school to save on daycare. (Doesn't he have the meanest mom? hee-hee...) We finished a big landscaping project this weekend. Both of our lawn mowers are broken down, so we had to borrow Jessie's dad's push mower to cut the front lawn and part of the back. We don't have it in us to do the entire yard that way. We planted gladiolas, lillies, dahlias, and strawberries in our front flowerbed. We planted caladiums in our other flowerbed and lined it with landscape lighting. And Mika had to have his very own hydrangea bush right in the middle of the two! (He's probably named it, too.) We also planted a new oak tree out front by the road to replace the other one the last owners murdered. We're like real live grown ups!

The dogs and goats are doing pretty well. We had to line our picket fence with an electric fence along the top because Esmerelda and Isadora learned to jump it. It's over 4 feet high! Then, Trio started digging under the fence and helping the goats escape. Most of the time all four of them would just go to a pond behind our neighbor's field, but more than once the police/neighbors/animal control have had to call Mika to come get them off of someone's porch. Yeah, animal control has us on speed dial and we don't even live inside the city limits. Fortunately, the neighbors seem to like them... for now. Mika ran another strand of electric fencing along the bottom of the picket fence so Trio won't dig. Trio had some social retardation from being in a shelter for so long, so he now grazes with the goats. He has some identity issues. Sorella is a good dog. She jumps the fence every morning to walk Luke to the bus and then comes home and jumps back into the back yard again. Jokomo, our parakeet, still hates us with a passion so fierce we're almost afraid to feed him/her. It looks like Flashlight found his match! With the onset of spring came the onset of field mice... in our cabinets! Mika actually found a family of them in a BRAND NEW bag of rice! We were mad. Rice is expensive here. Anyhow, Luke and Mika are trying to talk Jessie into getting a cat. She's terrified of those little monsters. (They are, after all, miniature tigers.) Fortunately for the boys, her hatred for rodents trumps her fear of felines. We may have a cat in the next few weeks. It will be living outside. Way outside.

Okay, back to the humans. We're planning on going camping soon. Poor, poor Mika has only been fishing a few times this year. Our weather has been insane. It's tornado season, so we have to be really careful. We just had two towns practically wiped off the map the Saturday before last. There's a lot of mourning going on right now. Mika and his coworkers are having to rebuild a few of their billboards. One of the tower transmitters at Jessie's work got hit by the tornado and is still spread all over a field. The Director of Homeland Security came here to check out the damage. FEMA is helping the people who lost their homes. Jessie's mom drove right behind the tornado and saw some of the worst destruction she's ever seen. Boats were in trees, concrete slabs were left bare where houses used to be, and cars were thrown across fields. It's truly one of the saddest things to happen here in the last five years. (Five years ago, our town and another town were all-but-destroyed by tornadoes.) Mika has yet to figure out why we live here!

Well, we don't want to shoot our family news wad all at once, so we'll just get to the video...

That was our semi-psychotic goats. We're not sure if they were playing or doing some bizarre goat-hierarchy ritual. Cute, though, eh?

We'll be back to post another video of Mika here in a bit. (Mika has to get himself ready for the camera first.)

WE LOVE YOU ALL!

Today's Fun

2008-05-17T20:09:00.001-07:00

Jorel was teaching me how to swim today... it was great!

- Krista

(more pics are coming soon) :)

Yo, yo, yo!

2008-05-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

Nobody has blogged on here in awhile, so I thought I'd just write everyone to say hello. No real new updates, since I have talked to you all on the phone. Things are going well and staying very busy. It is a challenge for Paul and I to talk about anything other than work, especially since now that our focus is on the same thing. And of course, we always drag poor Jake into our conversations! I think he makes it a goal of his to see how long he can go at dinner without having to hear about it!

But we are having some fun times too. I think Paul enjoys having a younger brother around, so to speak. He loves finding new and creative (a.k.a. annoying) ways to wake Jake up in the mornings. And they seem to have fun hanging out and sharing a similar (gay) sense of humor. I have fun with Jake too. Considering that we sit RIGHT next to each other ALL DAY LONG and we still get along really well - its a good thing. We've had a couple tiffs, but write it off as "brother-sister stuff". We all gotta get it out of our system sometime. He keeps me sane too because he is just such a big help and gets me to laugh and relax when I'm really wrapped up in things. We also try to get out of the house in the evenings so we don't get cabin fever. Typically a good tennis game will burn off some of that pent-up energy. So overall, it has been a great thing for all of us that he can be here.

Hope everyone else is doing well. Krista, I am missing the Cutest Baby Of the Week Photo, so get on that! :) All of us here in Burbank are REALLY looking forward to seeing everyone over the summer. No matter when or where, its going to be great. Talk to you guys soon.

Love, Jaana

Side-by-Side

2008-04-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

Here they are side-by-side for a better comparison - WOW!

Pretty close, I would say!
-Krista

Jake Look-a-like 2

2008-04-23T20:14:00.000-07:00

So I was still in search of a Jake Picture and came across this while mom was cleaning out one of our closets for her new Staging class. It was in a collage frame that Jaana had made a long time ago titled "Families are Forever" - there are some good ones in here! But anywho, here's a pretty close one of Jake as Jorel

It came from this awesome picture:

haha

~Krista

Jake Look-A-Like

2008-04-14T23:15:00.000-07:00

I don't know if anyone noticed this, but Paul actually pointed out to me how much Jorel looks like Jake! He is totally right. I get glimpses of all the Nugents when I look at Jorel from different angles. And as he gets older, he changes all the time. But this picture looks so similar to Jake in some of our family videos! I couldn't find a picture of Jake like this, but I think you will all agree with me that the facial expressions alone are reminiscent of his uncle!! Cute! Love, Jaana

IFR Update!

2008-04-13T22:04:00.001-07:00

First, just let me say I had an awesome time in Utah over the past few days. Thank you, family! One of the highlights as usual was staying up late, talking nonsense on the couch. Your owl has such a large wingspan! But the whole trip really was great. Can't wait to get together again.

For the remainder of the family that lives far away, we finalized some details for the Immediate Family Reunion!! We actually have DATES set. Here is a rough itinerary:

Wednesday 9/3/08
Activities

(Traveling Day)
Bowling
Fire-Pit
Games

Thursday 9/4/08
Activities

Bryce Canyon
Golf Course

Friday 9/5/08
Activities

Sand Hollow
4-Wheeling
Fishing
Boating (Maybe)

Saturday 9/6/08
Activities

Free Day
(Traveling Day)

I will send out the itinerary over email as well - one that includes a menu - so you guys have all the details that are available as of now. We kind of decided we would split up the cost of the meals and I think it will be VERY VERY reasonable.

So there you have it. Pencil it in. September 3rd is right after labor day so some of you may even be able to take a longer weekend to visit us in California beforehand (hint, hint) or do whatever you want! Can't wait!

Love, Jaana

Another Week?!

2008-04-06T16:13:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe another week has already gone by! That is crazy! Jorel is rolling over and laughing all the time now. He eats two servings of solids a day and is starting to consistently sleep all night! It is amazing. I even wake up before he does sometimes. He is so anxiously anticipating the arrival of his Aunt Jaana to come and visit! We can't wait!

-Krista and Jorel

Photoshop: Professional Alignment

2008-04-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

Upon my many photoshop excavations I have discovered several ways to make my life, plagued with perfectionism, a little easier. The following tip I'm about to share with you I came across by complete accident.

I catch myself from time to time with a project I can't entirely finish, not because I'm missing something or stumped, but because I cannot decide where everything in my canvas should go, especially when it's made from scratch with no hints or contrast markers to help me determine where to put the text or graphic in which corner and so forth.

One day, I believe around the time of my infamous Bowlfest creation, I had the rulers enabled on my feeble Photoshop 5.5 (yes, five point five but hey it was free). I was dragging a layer when suddenly there was a blue line across my screen. These blue lines have proven to be my most useful tool, you may know them as Guides.

To enable Guides first you must enable Rulers.

Then click on the horizontal or vertical Ruler bar and drag one or numerous Guides into play.

You can hold ALT and left-click a Guide to switch it between straight and upright. If you have an active layer, you'll notice the Guide will snap to it on its corners or its center. This makes lining up multiple graphics and strings of text much easier. If you would rather have it exclusively for a judgment call, you can disable snapping via View in the upper toolbar. A guide annoying you? No problem. Press CTRL + ; to hide them or click and drag one back into the Ruler bar to get rid of it. I enjoy the simplicity of the guides but advanced users would probably feel more comfortable using the grid (CTRL + ').

No more guessing! I can finally rest easy knowing my pictures are mathematically balanced.

Jorel's Song

2008-04-02T20:57:00.000-07:00

Jorel is so funny discovering all the sounds that he can make, this is one of his latest, i think that he is singing...

-Krista and Jorel

Oh Jorel...

2008-03-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

So I didn't take a whole lot of pictures this week, been keeping myself quite busy, so it was actually easy to choose a favorite! Can you believe it?
He's been coming to practice with me quite a bit lately because Grandma has to work a lot! He does a pretty good job and the girls love him, probably because he's already a flirt. I definately have my hands full!

It was funny the other day because I was feeding Jorel his rice cereal and he had it EVERYWHERE so when Grandma came home, she laughed because when she feeds him, he actually stays clean. I guess there's something to be said there about experience, and I don't have much of it. I'm sure she gets a kick out of everything that I'm doing wrong and probably fears for poor Jorel's little life!

-Krista

A Tiny Baboon? Really?

2008-03-26T05:55:00.000-07:00

So I had the weirdest dream last night and I wanted to write about it before I forgot. I guess the whole thing occurred during on of my snoozing sessions with the alarm.

We were all on some sort of family vacation. Driving through the middle of nowhere late at night. I was in a van of some sort and I know someone was with me, but I don't know who. The road conditions were really bad and I was driving really bad. Cars were rushing around us, I was cutting people off. It was a wild ride. Then I remembered I got new glasses and thought those would help, but when I put them on they were so dirty that everything was a blur. Not sure why I didn't clean them, but I didn't have to wear them long before we pulled over at a grubby gas station.

I went in to use the bathroom and the stall I chose was extrememly small for some reason. I was trying to put the toilet seat cover on but I could barely move! I was getting so annoyed that I grabbed all my stuff and went to find another stall. Inside the bathroom was 2 other doors to a men's and women's restroom. So I pushed those open and it lead to a super fancy lounge. As I turned a corner, there was a HUGE master bedroom of sorts. Grandma Ina was in there talking on the phone and curling her hair (She had a lot more hair then I've ever seen her with). Jake was lying in a bed and waved to me as though he had been expecting to see me. I waved back and decided since Grandma was blocking the bathroom, I'd have to keep looking for another one.

So I kept walking through this place and it was like a resort. It just went on and on. I guess we were all staying at this mystery mansion attached to the grubby gas station. As I kept walking, a little tiny baboon ran past me. It scared me at first so I started walking faster until I reached an entertainment room. Markus and Krista were in there watching movies. And I don't know if Jake moved really quickly or if there were two of him, but he was lying in a bed in there too.

I was standing next to the bed, looking at the doorway and this tiny baboon came back. He had the porportions of a grown monkey but was about the size of a kitten. He started playing games with me where he would poke his head around the corner and bounce into the room. I would scare him and he would jump and run away. We did this like 4 times before he bounced up on the bed. I told Jake to look out for the baboon, thinking it might startle him to see it in the bed, but the monkey ran right up to his face and just cuddled under his chin. Jake got a goofy smile on his face...

and then my alarm went off (again). I remembered the dream while I was showering and I started cracking up. So there ya go - the mind of Jaana at work again.

XOXOXO

Weekly Favorites

2008-03-24T18:05:00.000-07:00

Last week was hard to choose because it was eventful! So here ya go....
St. Patty's Day Classic face!
Just chillin - starting to sit up some
First bites of rice cereal
Easter!

An Eventful Day!

2008-03-22T16:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I quit my job! I gave 2 weeks notice, quite sooner than I expected. But it had to be done, so I can start learning about my new job. It was so crazy. Seemed to go well. My direct supervisor, James seemed really happy for me and a little sad to see me go. Shane was smiling a little TOO much when I told him, so I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. A couple people gave me a hard time, but most could see it coming.

After all that fun in the office, I went and got my hair cut! At first, I did not like it. My stylist is usually really good but she styled it kinda weird! All flipped out - really early 90's looking. It had me in a bit of a panic. I mean, I was LAUGHING when I looked in the mirror. I looked ridiculous. So I went home and played with it a little bit. And its ok. I actually wanted it a little shorter. Here it is:

The real shocker is how it looked when I woke up this morning!

It's been awhile since I've had a crazy hair picture, so I was pretty pleased with this one.

Anyway, hope you guys all have a great weekend. We are going to a Clippers game tonight. I got a whole bunch of free tickets from work and sadly we can't even use them all because we have no friends. Awwww... no, it was just last minute so everybody is busy.

Miss you guys. I am planning a trip in April. 100% sure. It just depends on Mom's work schedule which week I'll be coming. TTYL

Love, Jaana

Weekly Faves

2008-03-16T21:32:00.000-07:00

So I guess I'm behind a couple of weeks, so I'll catch you up! :) He's now laughs when you tickle him and has figured out a pacifier, just last Thursday. He's also super close to rolling over. He held his own bottle on the way to Denver too, even pushed my hand away - so independent, and a little turd. He is doing so great!

-pita and oj for backwards

Spring Break

2008-03-16T09:34:00.001-07:00

So I have been having a great time with Markus here. I felt so honored that he chose LA for his Spring Break destination! :) Plus, when family visits, it always gives me a good excuse to step back and plan some fun amidst all the madness.

On Thursday afternoon, we went to Disneyland for a few hours. Luckily we picked a day that was cool and un-crowded, so that was lots of fun. The longest line was for the new Finding Nemo Voyage. They just changed the old submarine ride to a Finding Nemo theme. It was fun, since I haven't been on the ride in about 10 years. Its been closed for ages. Also got to hit up Splash Mountain - another ride that has been closed every time I go. We ate too much junk food as usual and tried to make it exciting (like when we were little) by running to the rides. I think it just made us more tired, but we tried!

On Friday, I had to work a normal, busy work day so I let Markus sleep in and then dragged him to a few places with me before going shopping to get him a new skateboard. Then we met up with Paul, Sona and Lara for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and watched No Country For Old Men back at the condo. That was intense!! Besides the 5 minutes that I fell asleep, I was holding my breath for like 3/4 of the movie. Creepy.

Saturday, it took us awhile to decide what we wanted to do but we ended up going to Dave and Buster's for lunch and arcade games. The lunch was greasy and delicious and the games were fun. We finally remembered to bring all of our old playing cards and found out that we have 12,000 tickets that we can use towards prizes! We couldn't find any prizes that we liked, so we'll just keep saving them until we can get a Blu-Ray Player (although you need about 180,000 tickets for that - so it might be awhile.) On our way back from D&B, it started HAILING. Out of nowhere. I mean, we haven't seen hail here in ages. I honestly can't remember the last time. So that was really random and interesting. Especially considering that it has been in the 80's this whole last week. California weather is always so weird!

Markus heads home today. :( And back to the normal schedule on Monday. But it was great having him here and I hope I can entertain the rest of you very soon!!!

-Jaana

Wake Up Call

2008-03-03T21:42:00.000-08:00

Gadoo has been such a turd the last couple of mornings! He seems to know that the alarm clock is about to go off, so about 15 minutes before we need to get up, he starts doing his crazy act! He will jump up on the headboard of our bed, then jump down, then jump off the bed and bang against the sliding mirrors. He will run up and down the hallway and jump back on the bed, usually with a toy. He will wrestle around with the toy for awhile, then jump back down on the floor. He will scratch his plastic nails against the wall and make a screeching noise.

Usually by this time, I am on the verge of laughter, but Paul gets pretty ticked!! He has actually started keeping a spray bottle on his nightstand and just waving it in Gadoo's direction gets him to calm down. He doesn't even have to spray. Gadoo just knows when he sees that, he better relax.

Then that darn cat sleeps all day while we go work our butts off to give him a nice place to live. What a jerk!

You know I still love him though. He's so cute and fat when he wants to snuggle!

Weekly Favorites

2008-02-28T10:18:00.000-08:00

Jaana suggested to put up some weekly favorite pictures of Jorel... which is pretty hard because they are all my favorites! So far in 2008, these ones would be my weekly favorites: as you would notice there has only been almost 9 weeks of 2008, and there are more than 9 pics... but you'll just have to deal with it :) They aren't in any particular order either, but anywho.

From: us two

Mom's working world

2008-02-20T21:41:00.000-08:00

Have you ever...worked 130 hours in a 9-day period? I have done that twice now and I must say it is enough to make you want to retire EARLY! Unless you die before that! I have done this crazy schedule in the hopes of getting some time off to visit all my kids. The problem seems to be getting the time off. My work place is like a trap - if I go in I cannot get out! However, maybe it is a good thing to have a job so I can pay for all those vacations I will take when I get the time off. Right!? I still have fun from time to time at work with my coworkers. Today Ms. Jean came to my office to tell me something and accidently bumped into an extra chair that had my beautiful black coat laying on it. She jumped because she thought it was a big black cat. I told her that I keep it on a leash so it will not get away or bite her. Ms. Sherry heard us laughing and joined us and our conversation went from cats to goats, specifically Mika's. We decided all goats should have a broomstick stuck on their horns so they could not get through holes in the fences, or doorways at work. Needless to say we all were laughing till we cried and finally Ms. Jean said we all should have goat convertibles. I was wondering what those were. She informed me that of course they were broomsticks to fly on. Well, you had to be there! I think we all have worked too hard and too long and brains have gotten a bit soft! Advise to my children: go get a goat and keep your big black cat on a leash! I love you all!

Crazy Bird

2008-02-20T14:16:00.000-08:00

So... our bird IS officially insane. Recently, Killer aka Flashlight has decided to do some home repairs... or should I say dissassembles. He apparently doesn't like the food that we give him because he pushes the tray out of the holder. He also has been wiping his beak on the stick that he stands on and. But the mother of all this renovation is.... are you ready? He has decided to eat the rungs off of his ladder! Well, he's only done one but who knows where this is going to go. Mom said "does he have a difficency of wood?" Which was rather funny. What a crazy bird! Okay, enough of the bird. Jorel is getting cuter and cuter everyday. He is starting to get his laugh down and likes to hold things in his hands. He doesn't quite understand them yet so he gets a little frustrated when they don't work, but he's starting to get it. We enjoyed a nice day outside the other day and I took him to a high school basketball game last friday and he really seemed to enjoy it... I wish there was more places I could take him to get him socialized, but when it gets warmer out, he can come to the softball games :). Anywho. Hope everyone is doing great! Love you all!

-Krista and Jorel

Mom's French Silk Pie

2008-02-15T08:02:00.000-08:00

I am going to post this recipe, since it is the best pie in the world:

YOU WILL NEED:
3 egg whites beaten stiff
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
11 graham crackers (crumbled)
1 cup chopped pecans

Fold eggs, sugar, baking powder and pecans into graham cracker crumbs. Bake @ 325 for 20 minutes.

FILLING:
1/2 cup margarine (or butter)
3/4 cup sugar
1 square chocolate
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter and sugar, blend in melted chocolate, and add vanilla. Add eggs one at a time and beat at medium speed for 5 minutes after each additional egg. Turn into baked pie shell. Chill 2 hours and top with whipped cream and grated chocolate.

DEEEEEE-LICIOUS!

Thanks Markus!

2008-02-12T08:31:00.001-08:00

So I will start. Last night, I was talking to Markus and he mentioned that we are going to need to start having Immediate Family Reunions since we just don't get to see each other very much. Even when we do get together, it always seems like someone or other is missing. I thought these "IFRs" are actually a brilliant idea. (IFR is short for Immediate Family Reunion - if you didn't get that.) I think that if we plan in advance to have some sort of family vacation every couple years, it will give us something to look forward to and a definite way to spend some time together - ALL OF US! I don't think we should have to wait for a Wedding or a 90th Birthday to have an excuse to get together. Just wanted to see what you guys thought.

I know money is tight in certain circumstances, so it’s not like we are going to plan a trip to Hawaii or anything (yet). But I’ve been doing some research and to make our first IFR as cost effective as possible, I came up with 2 options. If anyone else has ideas - PLEASE throw them out there. These can be up for discussion.

Option #1 - The Lake Havasu Family Vacation - we can rent a house in Lake Havasu, AZ and just play on the lake for a few days. The home rentals are not that expensive, the lake is huge and the area is beautiful. Most of the rental homes have a pool, they do fishing trips, boat tours, and you can rent any water toy that you want. Plus we would be going somewhere new and exciting.

Option #2 - The Southern Utah Family Vacation - this would be the same idea except we would stay in Southern Utah. They have Sand Hollow and Zion Nat'l Park, so we would definitely find things to do. But there will be certain restrictions - Mom & Ron won't be allowed to WORK, and we have to plan some actual activities! No just hanging around the house. It is supposed to be a vacation.

Let's talk dates. Does everyone think they could do something later this year? Or do we need to plan more in advance? I was looking at either late September or early October. The weather is still warm, but it's off season. I just wasn't sure if it would conflict with the kids' school so that's one thing to think about.

I also looked into flights for the Missouri people. Either way, you guys would fly into Las Vegas and hitch a ride the rest of the way to Havasu or Utah. You can fly from Kansas City to Las Vegas for about $200/person, round-trip. To fly from Springfield will be about $400/person. I don't know if that's worth it to save on drive time, but that's up to you guys. And of course these prices are dependent on what time of year we have this shin-dig.

Also, just to give you guys an idea of the rental homes in Havasu, most of the places that have a pool and grill and sleep 6-10 people are about $135 a night. Again, this is dependent on the time of year that we go. But if we stay 4-5 nights (I was thinking a long weekend) and split that between all of us, the cost would be about $85/person for a whole 5 days - not counting Jorel or Luke. They are free. You can't get that rate at a hotel! Keep in mind that if we rent the house, we will have to bring our own food, but since we'll have a fridge and everything we can buy at the grocery store and have cook-outs at the house to save some money.

I may have gotten ahead of myself, because I am REALLY excited about this. So I hope it is something that we can work out. I guess the info we need to discuss is:

a. What dates will work for you & your family?
b. Do we want to try & do this in 2008 or plan for 2009?
c. Which vacation destination to you prefer?
d. What can we afford?
e. How long do we want to stay?

So let's talk about it and get this thing rolling!
Love you guys - Jaana

Let's Start Here!

2008-02-12T07:14:00.000-08:00

Hello Family! I thought I would create this blog for all of us to keep in touch. Anyone can post at anytime, so we can see what everyone has been up to. Have a funny story? Post it. Have an idea for a get-together? Post it. Want to just share some thoughts? Post it. Have a good recipe (Mom)? Post it. I think you are getting the idea here.