Thanks for the memories ...

Thank you so much Shanda. This is a beautiful tribute! I know you put many hours into this movie. I guess now I'll have to stay married another 10 years to see what you do for the 50th!!!

Seriously, I feel so blessed to be your mom. Thank you, thank you, thank God for you and all my children ...

On this anniversary of our wedding day, I love you Glen Earl, and still, after 40 years, you are the wind beneath my wings. (Now, aren't you glad you didn't bolt?)

A tribute to my parents

This is Shanda, and as I am not yet invited to be a contributor, I have hijacked my mom's username (with her permission), to post.

I have put an identical post on my own blog, but since it is possible some of you don't read my blog, I wanted to post it here too.

To my wonderful and loving parents:

Happy 40th Anniversary! I really am proud of both of you. As I've gotten older, and especially since I've been married, I've really come to appreciate all of the work that goes maintaining a marriage - let alone a happy one!

Regardless of how you feel about yourselves as parents or even as people, I think you have been hugely successful. All nine of your children were born to you in the Covenant. Seven of your children are either serving now or have served LDS missions. Four children have been sealed in the temple. All of your grandchildren attend church regularly and all but one that are old enough to have been baptized have been, but that is one is on the way. We have stayed close to our musical roots by participating in choirs, bands, orchestras and sharing our talents at home and at church. Many times I wish you both were by my side when people compliment my singing so I could be sure the praise was going to the right people. Thank you for all of that.

I know you aren't perfect. You raised me, remember? I also know that you keep trying and I love and admire you for that. I hold you up as examples for my children because I would love it if any of them turned out like either one of you.

Thank you for everything. Thank you for the sacrifices, the many lessons taught, the work ethic you've shown and most of all thank you for sharing your testimonies. You both have accomplished something really great and you deserve to be commended, which is why I put this on the internet for the world to see.

So as an anniversary gift, I have put together this video tribute for you. It is a retrospective in pictures of the last 40 years.

I love you!!

Reunion Survey

Hi everybody,

Those of you who have filled out the reunion survey, please e-mail us at pinelli@aol.com so we know you have responded. If you have not yet filled out the survey, please complete it at the link below and check off your family's name. We want to know that everybody has received the information. Thank you!

Improved picture

Jeff here posting under Noelle's name. I hope you don't mind, but I've taken the bridesmaids picture and reduced the red-eye as much as I could. Here it is:

Where I've been for the past 41 years

Several week ago Teddie wondered in a blog why I didn't remember Elder Weenig. Well, I don't believe he and I have ever been in the same place at the same time. Since I don't expect people to remember my personal history, here is a VERY BRIEF version of my timeline.

I graduated from Trumansburg High School in 1967. I went to Utah State University, and met Glen Earl in October of 1967 when one of my roommates invited him and his roommate over one night. We made a family trip from New York to Utah for our marriage in August of 1968, stopping briefly in Nauvoo and in Yellowstone Park on our way to Richfield.

I married Glen Earl on August 31 of 1968 - yes, we are coming up on our 40th anniversary!

We lived in Logan until Glen Earl graduated in 1970.

We did live in the studio apartment of the Trumansburg house for 3 months during the summer of 1969, long enough to live through Woodstock and watch the first moon landing...

and get pregnant :)

Milaka was born in March of 1970 in Logan, and we moved to Richfield to grow grain.

Glen Earl joined the army in October of 1970, and I went back to school for a few months at USU. But I missed my sweetie so much that I moved Milaka and me to South Carolina where he was in Basic Training late in 1970. We did drive to New York for Christmas that year. Milaka was majorly traumatized by all these stranger aunts and uncles who wanted to hold her and play with her! Cortney was born in April of 1971 in Fort Benning , Georgia.

Glen Earl left for Vietnam in September of 1971 where he was a "grunt" for 6 months.

(He is so cute!)

I went back to USU. I had a stroller and a baby
backpack, and I pushed Milaka in the stroller and carried Cortney in the backpack up and down that hill every school day for 6 months! Winter in Logan!

Lamona might remember that time because it was while we shared our little apartment that she met and fell in love with Ralph!

Glen Earl came home in March of 1972 and we promptly moved to Colorado Springs where he was stationed at Fort Carson. Shanda was born there in December of 1972.

We moved to Arvada (suburb of Denver ) early in 1974. I think the Bateman family visited us there after Keturah was born (January of 1975) ...

and we took all of you out to eat at a Mexican restaurant with cliff divers and strolling musicians ... anyone remember?

It was in September of 1976 that we moved back to New York. We lived in the Lansing house for a while, then moved into the apartments in Ithaca "the projects" - Malauna was born there in April of 1977 - and we moved up to Aurora in 1978 - Conan was born there in 1980.

We left New York in 1981. We have lived in Utah ever since. Colle was born in Roy in June of 1982, Colter and Carson were both born in the same house in Layton, Colter in May 1988 and Carson in February 1993. We moved to our current home in Layton when Carson was 6 months old, and we have lived here in this house for 15 years. For us, that is a LONG TIME!

(Many thanks to Shanda - for searching her archive for ancient pictures - and to Malauna for walking me through this process of blogging with pictures)

hello again

I haven't posted here in a while, but not much has been happening around these parts. Of course I could just copy my posts on my own blog here, but then I would be hogging this blog, and that wouldn't be fair.

Our main focus these days is staring at Rachel waiting for her to take her first step. She still hasn't done it on her own, but every once in a while she looks like she wants to.

I have a poll on my blog for people to indicate if they think 1. If she will her first step before or after her 1st birthday (Sept 22), and 2. Exactly which week they think she will take her first step.

If you have not already done so, please feel free to jog on over to my blog to vote. Today is the last day to vote, but then again, I may extend voting for a few more days, just for the fun of it.

Bateman Family Reunion Survey

Please visit this website and complete the survey so that we can begin to make plans for an exciting, long overdue reunion! We're not sure whose turn it is for the next reunion, but Tony and I would like to volunteer and plan it.

Happy Birthday Monte!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday, dear Monte..........
Happy Birthday to you!
(and many more........)

We love you Monte!

In honor of Monte's birthday,

--how many has it been now?--I would like to exercise a big sister's prerogative and tell stories on--I mean, about--him. I remember his first (almost) complete sentence, the only one he felt compelled to speak, being the first boy after six girls: "By myself!" Can't imagine why he repeated it so often. Of course he didn't say it when we were waiting on him hand and foot. He enjoyed the attention too much. I remember him biting the thumbs off of all the mittens Mom knitted for him, no doubt a nervous reaction to having so many of us watching over him every minute of every day. And Suzanne, if you ever wonder why he talks so loud all the time, it's because we trained him to do it. A fellow has to be heard, you know, and being heard above the rest of us was quite a challenge. I admire his endurance and his determination to survive, and like, not lump it. My hat goes off to you Monte, the Survivor of Big Sisters. I hope you have a great day.

A "Sweet" memory of a Bateman Family dessert

Some of my dearest memories from my mission were Sunday or Monday evenings at the Bateman family home in Trumansburg. I remember one particular winter's evening my companion (I think it was Elder Lafoon) and I were invited (or maybe we invited ourselves) to come up for a visit after Sacrament Meeting. Whenever we visited, there was always food to eat, music to play or sing, and lots of laughter. No matter how cold it was outside, one of the things I remember most is the warmth and love that we felt there. We were welcomed as family and treated as special guests too. On this particular evening, after singing and prayers, we were given a special treat for desert: A fresh ball of snow in a bowl with home-made maple syrup poured over the snowball. We had never heard of such a thing before. I have since passed on to my children tales about this special treat and then enjoyed watching them trying to create their own "Snow Sundaes". Thanks for sharing your wonderful family with me, and making a couple of "Trunky" elders feel very loved and much less homesick.

PS Okay, I'll take the blame for teaching Monte "Rocky Racoon" but at least he didn't memorize Alice's Restaurant word for word.

Daughters of the American Revolution

We love going to the town parades on as many holidays as we can. Apparently they don't even come close to comparing with Utah parades, but they're still a lot of fun! A few years ago, we went to the Memorial Day parade, and saw the Daughters of the American Revolution float. Tony jokingly said to me, "you're family has been in the country long enough that you must be able to belong to DAR". Well, that's all I needed to get started on a research project that has taken me three years. I know that so many family members have completed our family history, but it is a constant gathering of information and putting it all in one place that is the challenge.

So anyway, I looked up names of family members on the LDS family history website, and I found that Samuel Allen(1756-1841)(our ancestor on Dad's side) seemed to have lived at a time that corresponded with the Revolutionary War. I then researched his name on the Daughters of the American Revolution website, and received confirmation that yes, he did fight in the Revolutionary War. Once I prove my ancestry, I will be eligible to join! Once I am proven eligible, the rest of you will only need to prove your relationship with me in order to join(if you are interested). I will keep you posted on what happens from here. At some point, I will share with you a part of Samuel Allen's story. It has been a fascinating research project!

I have posted a picture of his headstone located in Pulaki County, Kentucky.

Human Interest Article

This past week I was interviewed for a human interest article to be printed in the October program of the Steamboat Springs Orchestra and possibly in the local newspaper. The reporter gave me an advance copy of the article and I thought I would share it with you all.

Some of the details got condensed in the interest of brevity and the boy's ages are advanced to be accurate on the publication date. CMC refers to Colorado Mountain College.

We are fortunate to have Holly Fielding as second chair 1st violin in the Steamboat Springs Orchestra. Her musical resume is impressive: She has played with the Utah Symphony, Ballet West, Utah Opera, and for five years she was Concert Master and solo performer with the Mormon Youth Symphony. She also worked with the LA East Recording Studios, where she recorded background music for films. So how did all this talent come to Steamboat? Let’s start at the beginning.

Growing up on a farm in upstate New York, Holly was ninth of twelve children in a talented musical family. As the house was filled with the sound of eight siblings playing, singing and dancing, it was only natural for Holly to join the performance. She settled quickly on violin and was playing at the age of three. The family performed in full dress on stage, in competitions, nursing homes and even shopping malls, all under the tutelage of their very dedicated mother. Music was their life.

When Holly moved west and married, she found the life of a professional musician in the culture of Salt Lake City to be exciting and rewarding. With two symphonies, an opera and a ballet company, classical music flowed from every corner of the city. She was in her element.

But the unexpected death of her husband came as a blow. She suddenly found herself a widow at the age of 35, and this young woman from a large, cohesive family was abruptly without any family at all. Her solution was to take in foster children, and she fell in love with the very first two, Justin (then 5 ½ months) and Joey (2 years). It was immediately apparent that playing the Nutcracker Ballet every night did not mesh with instant parenthood. Thus began a new career of teaching music rather than playing professionally.

Over two years ago, Holly met John Fielding, also a widower with a high school age daughter, of Steamboat Springs. Before long, Holly and John were married and she moved here with the boys. Together the four of them (John’s daughter, Christie, now lives on her own) are creating their own rural paradise above the corner of Oak and Twelfth Streets. John is undertaking a major renovation of the house to render it a more suitable venue for their fledgling institute, Winter Gardens Conservatory. The garden and greenhouses are an amazing engineering feat of their own. Row upon row of various vegetables – even artichokes! – are terraced on the steep slope above Oak Street. Justin and Joey (now 6 and 8) especially enjoy their high Tarzan-style rope that swings out over a trampoline. An extensive family menagerie completes the picture.

In addition to playing violin in the SSO, Holly teaches weekly lessons and group classes to 15 violin students and a Music Appreciation course at CMC. She has many musical goals for the future. She looks forward to the day that CMC has a full-blown music program, with its own building. She hopes to get a Suzuki violin program going in Steamboat Springs and her big dream is to form a non-profit organization that would help fund music lessons for children who can’t afford them. She is absolutely committed to the value of music education for children, as was her own mother.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

I had some family slides that Tony took to school for me and had made into digital pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

Lonny's performance at Wise Guy's Comedy Club.

In the Life of Lonny

Hey everyone! I know that I've become the family ghost and such, since a lot of you haven't seen or heard from me in several months. I would like to dispel the rumors of my death. I'm still alive and kicking...... and occasionally screaming. Okay not really.

So, I'm sure that many of you heard about my TV show that was supposed to happen. Well, it was fast tracked to the garbage can, due to creative differences between myself, the producer of the show, and the mayor of Provo. No worries here. Life is great!

Last night, I decided that since I'm told constantly that I should try to become a comedian, I thought I'd give it a shot. I performed in front of about 60-70 people with a 3 minute set and I had a blast. I received quite a few laughs from my bits. I'm definitely going to do this next month!

When I get the dvd of my performance, I will see if I can figure out how to post it on here so that you all can see it. Don't worry. I didn't become evil and start dirty comedy. I'm keeping it clean, so that anyone can see it. More to come.

Our family from another perspective....

Hi everybody,

NYSSMA(New York State School Music Association) had a summer conference in Albany from this past Sunday to Tuesday. Tony, Nicholas, Michael, and I all went up to be a part of it. Nicholas babysat Michael in the hotel room while Tony and I went to the conference sessions.

Okay, we also went swimming in the pool with the boys, playing video games at Jillian's(a restaurant with video games attached), and Nicholas and Michael also joined us for a few sessions. We had a really good time, and learned alot to prepare us for the coming school year.

After one of the nighttime concerts, there was a banquet for everyone. The boys went to bed, and Tony and I enjoyed some adult conversation(something we don't get too much during the summer!). I have mentioned before how much I enjoy talking about my family, and how many brothers and sisters, along with nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews I have(does anyone know the total count of grandchildren and great-grandchildren?) . It's always a great conversation starter! However, the conversation took a very interesting turn this time. One of the girls at the table told me how very lucky I am to have such a large family. She told me that she only has a brother and a sister. Her brother committed suicide not long ago, and her sister is addicted to crystal meth, so she feels that she really has no family. Her eyes filled up with tears as she spoke with me about how envious she was of my large family. It made me realize how grateful I need to be, and am, to be a part of my family. I love you all!

Samuel turned 11 on August 2nd

...and wanted to go to the Roy Aquatics Center for his birthday. So on Saturday morning I busted my buns getting together a picnic, shopping and cleaning the house. The project extended into the afternoon beyond 3:00 when Brett and Clarissa were due to arrive, along with Mary (my daughter-in law who has been up here in Santaquin visiting with her parents) and Brennan III. David had to work (he now has a job at Meineke) until four o'clock, so the plan was to pick him up at that point in time and head straight to the pool. But then the friends we invited--Jeremy, Jesse and Lindee (cousin to Jeremy and Jesse)--ended up needing a ride because their parents/aunt and uncle would be unable to bring them as previously planned. But that was okay because they live practically right on the way.
Brett and Clarissa, with Mary and Brennan III, arrived a little late, at 3:30. Still okay. We had a little time to visit and get ready to go. Because she feels too fat to wear one, Clare didn't bring a suit, so neither did Brett because if she wasn't going to swim, neither was he. However, after visiting for a little while, not wanting to feel left out, she decided that maybe she would like to swim after all, so she and Brett arranged to meet us in the parking lot of Big Five, from whence we would all proceed to the pool, with Brett in the lead, since I hadn't been to the place in awhile, had never driven there, and he has a GPS in his car.
Meanwhile, time is passing. Suddenly I realize, with panic, that it is approaching four o'clock and nothing of all the stuff I have assembled has been put in the car. So in a rush and with help it gets put in the car and we depart in our separate conveyances. Still not a problem. There is still plenty of daylight left and it is plenty hot. I picked up David, then Jeremy, Jesse and Lindee and we headed for the Big Five. As we entered the parking lot, our eyes peeled for the sight of Brett and Clare's light blue Toyota Camry, I heard a honking sound right behind me and wondered, with slight irritation, who didn't like my driving. We looked and looked everywhere but didn't see the Camry as we drove around and around. Finally, we stopped going around in circles and decided to check out the parking lot perpendicular to the one we were in. That was when one of us (I can't remember which one) turned his head and spotted out of the corner of his peeled eye the light blue Toyota Camry, right behind us. Brett's problem is he tailgates. If only he knew to honk "Mississippi hot dog", I would have known who it was honking at me and we would have saved a lot of time.
After getting ourselves in the right order, Brett's car first and my car second, we went to the pool, where we met up with Lance, only to discover as we approached the ticket counter that the place was going to close in 40 minutes. Bummer! When I called to check on the prices, I neglected to listen to the opening and closing times. Naturally I assumed that swimming in Utah is as convenient as swimming in Arizona, it being only a mere 20 degrees hotter there, and that the pool wouldn't close until 9:00. My mistake.
We brainstormed in the parking lot for what seemed like ages to Sam, and came up with a plan to go home and decide what to do for fun from there. We had the picnic, complete with birthday cake, in the back yard, which was fun (for me anyway) and decided to go goofy golfing. Unfortunately Jeremy, Jesse and Lindee had to get back to their parents/aunt and uncle, who were selling Kettle Korn at Roy Days, and couldn't go with us. So took them where they needed to go and met everyone else at Sparetime Family Fun center where we all golfed goofily, especially Brennan the third and me.
Afterward we said our goodbyes to Brett, Clarissa, Mary and Brennan the third, and Lance, David, Samuel and I went to the Dollar Theaters in Kaysville and watched "Ironman". So, in spite of the Roy Aquatics Center bombing out on us, Sam had a fun birthday after all. THE END

I could really use you guys about now.

I love the fact that we Batemans are musical. If I had you guys around right now, I would just give you the music, we'd have a couple of run-throughs, and we would bring down the house. Right now I am trying to put together a family musical number for Sacrament Meeting for my sister-in-law who is leaving next week on a mission to the Buenos Aires Norte mission in Argentina. I will say no more than I wish you were here.

from a Bateman "Wanna-be" - Bob Weenig

General Moroni checking in here (for Faline & others who have no idea who I am - my role at pageant '71 & '72 was that military leader who made a flag from his clothes) I hope King Mosiah (or was it King Benjamin) gets to read this too. Some of my fondest memories of my mission were the spiritual feasts I was fortunate to experience each summer at Hill Cumorah as we gathered in small study groups at that sacred place and at the grove. I've since been back there once recently on a youth temple trip and was amazed at how much the place has changed. I was particularly excited to hear the story of the "Hincley Window" in the Palmyra Temple and to view the Sacred Grove from within His Holy House. There I was able to gaze through this window and recall pleasant summer days in the finger lakes region of upstate NY.

Thanx for the invite to join the blog. I'm not much of a blogger myself, but have started up a family website with similar goals for our extended family: www.weenig.com
My son, Andy & his family is presently in Malad, Idaho enroute to their home in Jackson Hole, WY. I told him to ask about a family of 12 who live there, while at Church today. Unfortunately, I don't know Ralph's last name, but since Malad is a small town, maybe he can find someone who knows them by nosing around a little.

Since I'm just a guest at this blog, I won't take up too much space this post, I'll just say Howdy from Chippewa, PA and let you all know that I'm very glad to make contact with the Bateman Family once again after all these years.

PS You may already know this, but Earl and Lois Richards have both passed away. I got to spend some time with them when they were sealed in the SLC temple and also about 15 years later, I was invited to speak at the Missionary farewell for one of their "daughters" son's when he left from a Cache Valley ward. I'll try and get their names and addresses and include them in a later blog. PPSS Of interest to some, one of my nieces sons is named Brigham too. CYA

It's decided then...

It's been fun to watch the process of our family working out our differences. This was not my intention, but ultimately it became a consensus building exercise. Many individuals with strong opinions finding common ground and building stronger bonds in the process. That common ground is "Family Unity," and if we are not inclusive, then we are by definition being exclusive. Excluding people whether they be spouses or nieces or nephews or whomever is contradictory to the concept of family unity. So I appreciate all of your input into this conversation and what it contributed to the meeting of the minds. I was able to come from a position of feeling like it just needed to be siblings, to where I could see much wisdom in including spouses, to the final point of realization that we are all family members and anyone in our family (including adopted ones like Rob Weenig, etc.) who wants to be included should be.

I'm proud of my family members. I feel like we just achieved a major milestone. So if you have children or spouses or whomever who have expressed a desire to be a part of this blog adventure, please email me their email addresses, and I will send them an invitation to be an author on our family blog. I love you all--you are dear to my heart. Thanks for who you are and what you contribute to our family.

Love,
Monte

Oops! I forgot something!

Okay, I know I'm talking way too much on this! After I say this, I'll try to lay off for at least a day! Anyway, I just wanted to say that I wanted to try to compile ALL the family pictures onto one CD. SO! If everybody could send me old family pictures, really old family pictures or current family pictures, I would really appreciate it. They can be sent on CD, hard copy or however you want to send them. If you send them to me and need them back, please specify and I WILL GET THEM BACK TO YOU!! After I get them done, I will send everyone a copy (It could take a little while before it's done). The sooner you get them to me the better and I would really appreciate it. Thanks a bunch and I love you lots!

More Memories of my Family (I've only just begun!)

Here's a little tidbit on my family...

Mike and I write down cute/funny things that our kids say in a journal.

Brigham (pictured) was talking sweetly about how we should be nice to people because it's what Jesus wants. Then out of the blue, in a mean voice said "But I'm gonna be mean to Charlie!" (Brigham and Charlie have a love/hate relationship)

One morning I made some oatmeal for breakfast. I gave Charlie and Brigham some (they're the only ones who like it), and they both ate it pretty quickly. I was just getting some for myself when they were finishing. Brigham kept saying "I'm full, I'm full" and groaning. He saw me sitting down to eat mine--he immediately brightened, sat on my lap and excaimed, "I want some!"














Here's some of my memories of Lamona...

I remember her and Ralph and kids coming to visit us in New York. They were fun visits--Ralph made pizza and homemade root beer.

We went to visit Lamona and Ralph in Idaho on a few occasions and enjoyed time with them. I even went to school with Venessa once!

I remember seeing pictures of their family and being amazed that she sewed the dresses for the girls AND the suits for the boys!

We visited them for Christmas a couple of times. She always made us stockings (with our names on them) and lots of goodies inside!

Whenever I visit her, there's lots of good food to eat!

She came and visited me at Ricks college a couple of times--we had some nice visits and I always enjoyed showing off my family to my friends!

Recently, I have had many good talks with Lamona over the phone. She is very sweet and wants to do good.

When Mom and Dad were on their mission, she was always willing to help me if I needed it.

When I was engaged, she made my wedding dress--there was limited money and yet she made it exactly how I wanted it and it was beautiful.

She made my wedding cake, the rolls and pretty much everything! Tears come to my eyes when I think of how much she did for Mike and I for our wedding. She gave of her time and talents very unselfishly.

When I think of Lamona, I think of hard-work and perserverance! She is dedicated to her family and would do anything for her brothers and sisters if we needed her!

In honor of Lamona's good cooking, I found a yummy breadstick recipe! Here it is:

1 cup warm water

3 TBSP soft butter

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3 cups flour

2 TBSP sugar

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 1/4 tsp. yeast

Mix together and knead 3-5 min. Let rise 1 hour. Roll out and cut into strips (about 6 in. long). Twist 2 strips to form breadsticks. Place on cookie sheet and let rise an additional 30-40 min. Bake at 350 for 15-20 min. Take out of oven and brush with topping.

Topping:

3 TBSP melted butter

3TBSP parmesan cheese

mix together. Put on breadsticks eat and enjoy! I love you!!

I'm feeling wishy washy....

...because I agree with all the points that have been made. If family togetherness via healing is what we're after, I don't think it's going to be accomplished by a vote. Restoration of relationships usually happen between two people at a time, and who knows which two people will make that connection on this site and when? And who knows which blog or which comment will encourage someone else to do the same? Maybe it doesn't have to happen in any certain order, and it can certainly be accomplished by a posted comment as well as by a blog. The important thing is to communicate. Speaking of nieces and nephews, what about Lonnie? Has he been invited to blog with us? It's a given he needs to be connected with us, since he isn't able to be represented by Gayla.

To be included in the Bateman family

I believe all people who are either a direct descendant or related by marriage to a direct descendant ought to be included in this blog thing. It only makes sense to me that as individual family members are healing from the pain of exclusion, there would be a desire to include rather than continue to exclude. It is probably no surprise to any of us that there are people in the "next generation," i.e. children of siblings, who have been excluded and have felt that pain of exclusion. To use Teddie's train metaphor, they weren't invited on the train, they were born or adopted on the train - no choices for them. We love each of them. Let's include them.

If Teddie wants to include Rob Weenig (who is a total stranger to me btw), I say OK. That would certainly open the door to include Glen Earl and all other spouses. I do believe Glen Earl is very much a member of the family and ought to be included. He lived with the family more than 5 years in both Trumansburg and Lansing and in very close proximity in Aurora. He has been in the family longer than Rachelle and almost as long as Noelle. Many times he milked the cow, worked in the beet field, helped Dad prepare and harvest the garden, and other chores. He shared Mom's love of horses, and rode the horse and cared for it. He participated in the Pageant with the family. After Mom and Dad came home from their mission in Costa Rica, Mom was terrified about spending the winter in a cold and drafty house. Twice he did what a son would do and traveled back from Utah to help Dad finish their log home and get insulation and dry wall in so they could live there more comfortably in the winter. In fact, in Mom's view, he helped them so much that she gave to him her prized Knabe grand piano. He also helped them move from New York to Utah and even drove the big truck. So, though he wasn't "born" a Bateman, he has earned his place in the family. Let's include ALL the spouses.

My Thoughts in a Nutshell (on a blog post anyway)

I would like to restate some of my thoughts that I expressed earlier--just maybe in a new light. I know that I'm already out-voted, so what I say may have no bearing at all whatsoever. BUT, at least I can say what I want to say and you can take it for what it's worth. As I said before (maybe you're tired of hearing about it), I believe that the purpose of this blog is for family members to share their life experiences and develop close loving relationships with one another (at least that's what it says). If blog posts can be limited to the siblings (and Dad of course), then perhaps that can be a means of promoting family closeness and unity. Lowly outsiders (just kidding!!), I mean spouses, nieces, nephews or anyone that wants to, can post comments, and be a part of the blogs in that way. I love spouses, nieces, nephews and everyone that is an integral part of our family, and in no way do I mean to exclude or diminish their importance. I love all of you (even if you don't agree with me). These are my thoughts (in a nutshell)!!

The posting hurdle cont...

I really have enjoyed reading the thoughts and memories about you all. I love all of the pictures. I love that my girls can read about their aunts, uncles and cousins and hopefully get to know all of you better. It's hard with such a large & spread out family to really know all of you. This is a good way of doing this. I love the blog idea. I just really would like to add things about Brennan's family too. Brennan reads everyones postings and comments and enjoys them. He just doesnt take the time to post. (maybe it's a guy thing, I don't know) It seems to be the mom thing to do, to put up pictures and tell about what is going on. I won't add anything to the memories about growing up but I would like to add, just like you do about your families now. I think that all siblings should be represented and if that is the case, I'm the one for the job. I do have a love for you and want what is best for the family.
Love, Tammy

What does BLOG mean?

Dear Family,
Does BLOG stand for a phrase in internet jargon? If it doesn't, it's an unly name for a beautiful idea.

For your information, I still have love in my heart for Georgie. In spite of our sometimes stormy relationship, there was never any douby that we loved each other. I'm sure when we see each other on the other side of the veil, we'll be just as excited as ever to see each other and I'm sure that with the experiences we've each had we will get along fine.

I'm so glad that Harriet was willing and eager to fill the great void in my life. She has been a great support to me and she has great love for all of my family. She especially loves children and when given the opportunity she becomes one with them. She is very service oriented and goes to great lenghts to help others in need.

We are very proud of all of you and are so glad to see this effort to draw closer together. We've been a disfunctional family in many ways in the past but now that we are all grownups we can overcome the past. We love you all.

Sincerely, Dad

I have a blog!

Noelle suggests that I announce my new family blog on this blog. I admit I'm not very good at describing life at our house, but you are all welcome to share my poor attempts and please leave comments. The address is hollyfielding.blogspot.com .

Even More Memories of Our Family (this could take awhile!)

Okay, I'm going to spice things up a bit. Noelle, I admit it, this is pretty fun. Here's a picture of our family--don't we look lovely? My kids are growing up too fast!!










This is our lil' lab named Stormy--his full name is Stormtrooper Harper. He's pretty cute and fun. He's three months old and knows the essential tricks such as sit, lay down, shake and play dead. We are wondering if our fingers, toes, pants and shoes will stay in tact however, because he sure has some sharp teeth!!








This is our maintenance free weed-eater and tree trimmer. Her name is Buttercup (a.k.a. Princess Buttercup). Isn't she cute?







Okay, now I am going to share more memories....

Teddie

When I was 5 or 6, she sent me an outfit for my birthday (I think) that I really liked.

Her favorite color is pink (at least I think it still is), which inspired me to want to buy a pink dress when we went to an outlet store while we were visiting her in Arizona.

She protected me from a bad situation when I was little and spoke up for me when I couldn't speak for myself.

I have always admired her ability to teach her own children so thoroughly.

When I was on the verge of marrying Rich, she came up with a plan to do something about it so that I didn't make a terrible mistake.

When I lived with her in Arizona, it was a peaceful place for me to get my thoughts together and decide what I wanted to do with my life.

One time during Sacrament metting when we were singing, something made us start laughing ( I don't even remember what we were laughing at). We kept laughing uncontrollably, unable to sing the hymn.

She is very honest and sincere. She has inherited Mom's quick wit and tongue--I mean that in a very good way!

She has an amazing gift for writing and capturing the essence of our family and of human nature.

She knows and remembers a lot of stories about our family that I love to hear.

She is a lot of fun to be around and talk to.

One time at church after Relief Society, I went to sit down on a chair to comfort one of my children (while holding another one). Some of the men came in to fold up chairs and put them away. Well I didn't know that our bishop was putting away the very chair that I was going to sit on, and he didn't know that I was planning on sitting there. So, you guessed it! I sat right down on the floor (in my dress!), with my children sprawled all over me! I was stunned, disoriented, embarrassed, etc. The bishop felt terrible and he kindly helped me up. I went over to the piano where Teddie was--she hadn't seen the incident, but when I told her about it, we both laughed hysterically.

She is very strong and has overcome some very difficult ( and probably to most people insurmountable) situations.

Fun with Rachel

Here are some videos we took last night playing with Rachel in the pool of some friends. Rachel loves the water.





Here are Jeff and Rachel on the swing.

American Idol Update

Not to just focus on one of my children to give an update, but Alex has decided to audition in Kansas City, MO for American Idol now that he knows the drill and has a little more time to prepare for the audition. Auditions are this Friday, August 8th, so again, keep him in your prayers. If it doesn't work this time, we'll know for sure it wasn't meant to be through this method.

Like I said, I didn't want to just focus on one of my children, so I'll just let you know that Jessica has a burgeoning photography business and she's really quite good at the photography AND Photoshopping out imperfections and inserting certain effects and enhancements. I can't promise she'll give a family discount, but if you are in the market for family photos I highly recommend her to you. Her number is 801-787-4364.

And JJ is putting his superior computer skills to use doing web design for a clothing design company. You can see his latest creation here I don't know if he's freelancing on web design, but it might just be worth contacting him if you're in the market for a family web page, or some other web business venture. So how's everyone elses kids doing. No point waiting until you're ready to put out your Christmas newsletter, right?