First day

Mateo is going to kindergarten today. He met his teacher, Mrs. Lyles, last week, and is very excited to be going. He will be in the exact same classroom where I went to kindergarten back in 1979. It is surprisingly the same. The one major change is that they now have a "SmartBoard"--a whiteboard that can interact with the computers (which are also new since I was there). I am pretty sure that I am more excited for him than he is.

Technically, first day was yesterday for me, but it was only interpersonal communication, so no big deal. Today I have taxation of partnerships, taxation of corporations, advanced financial reporting, and financial statement analysis. I might make it through.

Miriam is working hard. She picked up four shifts last week and has at least 30 hours this week. Because of my experience with sleeping during the day, I make sure the boys are out of the house for most of the time she is trying to sleep. We bought a new bed, so that should help! Because of our opposing schedules and all of the partying we have done since moving to Idaho, Miriam hasn't had much time to do scrapbooking or any of her many other interests, so hopefully, with the three hours Mateo is in class and Michael is in quiet time, she will be able to fit in those things that will help her keep her sanity as winter sets in. So far we have both been VERY happy here, but we were disappointed that Grandma Vanderpool's visit was so short. With a little luck (and a lot of shifts for Miriam) we will be able to visit Arizona sometime when the winter is a little more imposing.

We love and miss you all

MMMM Nielsen

Murphy's Law

This story must be told from the beginning, so let us start there. Wait, happy birthday Dad even though it's a little late, you were hiding out in Oregon. Okay, where was I, oh yes, the goths were at the gate. No, that was the introduction to why I like peppermint patties. About a year ago, we made a purchase. For some reason, we decided to buy a very large tent online. We actually set it up in the yard and had a fun time "camping" 100 feet from a flushing toilet. Needless to say, life has been a little hectic with scout camp, priest/teacher superactivity, the national orthodontic residents convention here in St. Louis put on by the residents in my program, saturday and Thursday evening at the dental office, mutual every Tuesday night, well you see I haven't had much time to spend with the family. So, when Amy asked, "do you have anything this weekend?" my first thought was oh no, I've forgotten something. However, I looked at my schedule, and I only had two patients on Friday, and both in the morning. "No, I don't have anything," I said. "Why don't we go camping?" Now, I place a question mark there because it is grammatically correct, but if you would have heard it, it sounded like "Unless you are having a myocardial infarction, we will be going camping this weekend!" Did I say I didn't have anything, what was I thinking. I finally agreed because I would like to eat next month. I realized I have an overnight activity coming up with the mutual at which I am cooking a dutch oven meal of stew, dumplings, and cobbler, and I have never done that before. Naturally, I can't cook this without some dutch ovens, so off to Cabela's I went on Thursday evening. By the way, a good trick to keep from spending too much money in there is to go just 15 minutes before closing. As much as I wanted the 22" 29 quart dutch oven, I could not justify it, so two 14" 12 qt. ovens would have to do.

Enter Murphy and his law. My 11:00 patient did not show up until 11:35, and by then, the instructor was elbow deep in a treatment planning session. He got to me at 11:58. Why don't we LQ#K$^@#$L^L%LJ #$PTP#$U#jto3i 3i4u35yo354Y#$%Y^3yt. This makes as much sense as what I would have written. Anyway, I finished at about 12:40 when I thought I would be done by 11:40. On another note, please recognize when a hint is given. I told her, next month, you are my only patient on the 21st. Would you like to move a week earlier or later? OH, that's my birthday she says. Well, would you like to move it then? No, I'll come in then. (She completely missed the first hint). Okay, I've got all day open, so would you like to come in at 9:00? No, I'll come in at 11:00 again. (missed hint #2).

I get home, and Amy is working feverishly to get everything ready to go. We packed, picked up the kids from school and stopped for gas. It's a good thing we needed gas because in the five minutes it took to pump the gas, Mayor Glenn Welsch's remark comes true in reverse. You know what they say about Missouri, if you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes. Only we liked the weather. The skies turned black, and released rain- not Arizona rain. We headed back home for a tarp. Traffic was a mess, and we ended up arriving at the campsite at about 4:30. We set up the tent, got soaked in the process, and unloaded the rest of the equipment. The tailgate of a pickup is excellent at catching rain. The bed of the pickup was very wet, and consequently, everything in contact with the bed was wet. All of the sleeping bags and a couple of the pillows were soaked in enough places to be annoying. We debated our sanity, then questioned our judgement. (Here it is important to note that I was not the one who suggested going camping, so I'm not in trouble) Amy left with the kids to go back to town to see if she could buy a canopy/gazebo. I stayed and started the dutch oven cooking. About an hour later, Amy gets back and I open the truck door. She tells me there's a Super WalMart about 20 minutes away and I see a box labeled Red Gazebo Top. I look around, "where are the poles?" "Aren't they in the box?" Realization hits her. Well, it doesn't matter because the rain is letting up. I finished the stew around 9:40. Kids are not as good as adults are when it comes to ignoring hunger pangs. The stew was delicious as were the dumplings. The cobbler was golden brown, and Amy had made whipped cream, so that was great. Then that dang Murphy shows up again. Did you know that the rain fly on tents is not actually water proof? It is water resistant. On our HUGE tent, the rain fly has spots where it collects water until there is enough weight to force a drop of water through. It rained all night, dripping on us every 30 seconds or so. They should make air mattresses out of more durable material. Amy enjoyed a little more comfort than me because for some reason, my laying on that mattress increased her body to ground distance. I blew it up again when she got up to feed Darren. It seemed to leak faster the second time. Well, the next morning, we woke up and actually had a decent day. We had breakfast, cleaned up camp, then went on a tour of one of the caves in the area. It was fun for the kids for the first two minutes of the hour and a half tour. Mark and Bradley actually liked all of it, but Eleanor and Luke were ready to go almost immediately, and they couldn't see my mean face telling them to be quiet because it's dark in there. We got home okay, and overall had a great time. Mark wrote an essay for the principal and wrote about how it poured on us, we ate late, and it was harsh. See if I ever take him camping again. We hope all is well. We look forward to moving back in just 16 weeks.

I about fell out of my chair I laughed so hard!!

My sister sent this out on our family site and I thought I would die laughing. It hits a little to close to home. I am just glad that my kids are not the only "joys" to have in the grocery store. Moms this is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Follow the link to the ebay auction site and read the commentary.
Jennifer

http://cgi.ebay.com/LOT-OF-POKEMON-CARDS-THAT-MY-KIDS-TRIED-TO-SNEAK-BY-ME_W0QQitemZ130144061675QQihZ003QQcategoryZ60238QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Matt and Mindy,

You are missed! Jared is going through fishing withdrawls!

I just realized I don't have your emails or real address or phone number. Mindy, I can't get you and Jeryl together for scrapbooking if I can't get a hold of you! She's way excited to see you again. Email me (if you can) at jdbrimhall@excite.com.

Anyway, not much going on in the Brimhall family. All three kids in school, and mom sitting around the house all day. And when I say around the house, I mean AROUND the house. As in as big as a... Steven is going to be as big as his brother was when JJ was born.

Love to all,
Dawn

I caught the biggest fish. I caught the ONLY fish worth keeping.

We give BlueGrass a whole new meaning

As the truck's gate was finally rolled down, a dust storm was just rolling in, so our departure from sunny Arizona was--to Mom's joy--delayed for a couple of hours. After the shedding of many tears, we mounted up and pulled out of town. The governor on the U-haul kept me below 70, which is good because the truck speed on all major highways in Arizona, Utah, and Idaho is 65! After very little sleep in Flagstaff, we made a long haul to Lehi where we spent a lovely evening visiting with Andrew, Shannon, Jonathan, and Keri. Arising at the crack of ten, we were on the road for the longest time to travel between Salt Lake and Boise in history...EVER...including Lewis and Clark! There was construction at at least four separate locations, two grass fires, and one major car accident. Also, there were two potty breaks and one lunch break. 9 hours later, we pulled up to our new home and began to unpack.

It has been a lot of fun so far as we have begun to get involved in a new ward (callings are probably coming this week). It is still a little strange to sing the hymns in English again. The Nielsen clan is at least as crazy as we remember them; so far there has only been one offense taken and no serious injuries. All four of us have had strep throat in the last week, so things have been a little lethargic. Just before we all got sick, we spent four days in the mountains near Crouch (almost two hours north of Boise). I fished every day, even trying my hand at fly fishing which, with a lot of pracitce, I could be very good at. Since I had to get an out of state license, it cost me $80.00, so to make the expense worth it, I am sure I will be getting a lot of practice! When I get my camera back, I will regail you with more fish tales.

Miriam took a part time job as a Psych Tech at a mental health hospital. In the words of my social worker sister, she basically babysits crazy people. Working two shifts a week, she should make more than enough to get us back to Arizona in a year. Because she will be working nights, the boys will hardly know she is gone. Such a blessing.

We are looking forward to a visit from Mom and Rieko this weekend. I will try to keep you posted of any other major occurances

MMMMNielsen