So much to be Thankful for!

Our Thanksgiving with Clark & Rachel was very fun and very productive.Our Thanksgiving Feast was yummy with enough food for our whole family.

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There was some stiff Foosball competitions.MusicKnobs on the Kitchen Cabinets A new screen door...toted home on top of Clark's car.


And we even painted the stove and vent. It did look like this...

Now it looks like this! (Note the knobs on the cabinet!)

There was a fun dinner at Pita Jungle (We realized we had a fridge full of food but the stove was in pieces and no microwave...what else could we do!) and some last minute (30 minutes before closing) and unintentional shopping at Eddie Bauer ...great finds on the clearance racks.

It was a really great Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday Steph

We are happy you are joining the Tobler Family...

The Palmer Sibling & Mom Reunion

November 7-9, 2008

The original Palmer family with spouses.

The siblings ...

The whole focus of the gathering was to...

Visit, eat, visit, eat, visit and eat.

And we did our best to make sure nothing interferred with those activities.

But sticking to tradition we had to have a phyical fitness competition. Due to the age factor we had to make it a little less strenous...not chin-ups...just who could hang from the bar the longest.

Then we had the family history workshop...

The edible family history...decorating cookies to look our history.

It was really great to get together again.

Tag..you're it.

I was tagged by Janet (but I figured she meant another Jan) and then by Rachel. But this was kind of hard and painfully. I don't like to think about my strangeness and obessions, let alone put them in print...But for my sweet daughters-in-laws here it is...

8 things I'm obsessed with:
1- Jake getting married.
2 -My over-booked calendar
3 -My to-do list
4 -Trying to be more organized
5- Blogging
6- Taking pictures
7 -Making life fun
8 -Stretching my dollars

Words or Phrases I use:
1. Hi, how can I help you?
2. Indubitably !
3. well...
4. Love you
5. Okey Dokey
6. Bosch Kitchen Store, this is Jan, how can I help you?
7. Hmmm...
9 Ya think?
8.

8 TV shows I love to watch:
I don't have any...
But I love any Victorian period movies from BBC.


8 Things I did yesterday: (Wednesday)
1. Worked at the Bosch Store
2. Made 3 - half batches of dinner rolls
3. Fabric shopping
4. Blogged
5. Talked to all of my kids (except Jeff, talked to him the night before)
6. laundry
7. Counted my blessings
8. Washed dishes

8 Favorite Places where I like to Eat:
1. Anywhere
2. Anytime
3. Any place that isn't my own cooking.
4. Cafe Rio
5. Subway (fast food on trips)
6. Mongolian Grill
7. Olive Garden
8. Any place with atmosphere or new to me.

I tag Jera ...so she will have to start a blog.

Happy Birthday to Rachel

I love Rachel because...(a Tobler Birthday Tradition)
She loves Clark
She inspires our family to keep running and be more phyically fit! (She give the Tobler's some stiff (untouchable) competition.
She loves a bargin and will go Thriftstore/yardsale shopping with me.
She's fun to go hiking with.
She's just fun to be with.

We are so happy you have joined our family and we can claim you for a daugher!

Happy Birthday!

A day of counting blessings...

What a day...
8:30 am... Chad called, he's home sick with the flu, janet has it too but little violet is fine. Wish we were closer so I could take over chicken soup and take Violet...but I am glad he could call, I love cell phones with nation-wide calling, computer phones, emails and blogs that make our world smaller.

9:00 am...I found out that the old Cadillac's insurance had lasped... that along with expired plates and the fact that it gets about 8 mpg, has no air-conditioner and it runs like it has asthma makes it not very drive-able...The blessing we will have to get another new-to-us car really soon. (We've been thinking about it for five years)

9:50 am...Jake calls...he hit some black-ice leaving Edmonton and rolled his pick-up...it's probably totaled and only had liability insurance. The blessing... he wasn't hurt, no other cars were involved, and he was close enough to St. Albert to have Van den Bergs come and get him. (Thank you so much for taking care of him!!)

10:30 am...I have to run to work and teach a dinner roll class (another blessing...I had taken Karl to work so I could had the little car to run some errands that were out of the Cadillac's mileage range, which has been no further than I want to walk) The blessing...I had something to do to get my mind off my other "blessings."


1:45 pm..Kimberly calls and I return her call at 4:45...Her mother fell and broke her ankle and she will be unable to help when the baby is born...could I come earlier than planned and help...I'd love to...let me see how I can rearrange my calendar. The blessing...I'm needed and I get to spend an extra week with my grand-babies. ( I hope Kimberly's mom heals quickly.)

2:00 - I run errands in traffic congested parts of Vegas and I hope I found the fabric I need for a sewing job I'm committed to...The blessing...our only car didn't die or get run into. And I discovered a great little specialty fabric store.

5:00 pm...I need to run and pick up Karl from work...no dinner ready... the blessing... fresh dinner rolls left over from the class...I will feed him those on our way home and by the time he gets home he will be full and not notice there isn't any dinner.

6:00 pm...talked to Clark...canceled our fun trip to Arizona on Friday (to go car shopping, get finances in order and figure out how to get Jake home and change my Christmas airline ticket). The blessing...Clark found his wedding ring in buried in 6 inches of sand with the help of a good friend and a borrowed metal detector (watch for that story on his blog).

7:21 pm ...another phone call and by this time phone calls are making me paranoid....It's Kyle...he makes me happy...what a blessing.

Bedtime... What a blessing...

I hope tomorrow I don't have to count so many blessings.

The past year

The slide show I put together for the Sibling Reunion.

I Voted!

Guess who came to Visit...

And it wasn't Dave...it's Stephanie! And we had a great time! Do you get the idea that Steph is Jake's new friend!

Of course we went on a grueling hike...we had to test Steph's stamina.

She passed!

Then we had to test her baking skills

She passed! Of course with all this good eating Jake had to get some extra exercise.

Instead of treating the little goblins, we watched Jake play lacrosse for UNLV.

(only college would put a game on Halloween night.)
Saturday Karl spent the morning perfecting his Chili for the ward Chili competition. He used Amy's Black and White Chili with a bit more "heat". It was so good...but he didn't win.

Watch out Tobler brothers...there's new competition at Christmas for the best dancers.

Another busy Saturday

Karl was in charge of the High Priest Dutch Oven Dinner tonight.
So he started cooking first thing this morning. One of his contributions...Baked Beans We still cook outside on the patio even though the weather has cooled down to the 80°s, especially if it is something odoriferous. ( In the summer we cook outside to avoid heating up the house.) Then we did a really yummy pork which has all these ingredients in it...yes we cheated and cooked it in the crockpot all day instead of a dutch oven.

He was also in charge of the entertainment. That was easy...the band will play for food.

Guess Who!

New addition to our family

Happy Halloween!

The end of another wonderful weekend

With Jakob home and speaking in church today the weekend was filled with relatives and fun.
Clark & Rachel arrived Friday night. Followed by Nick, Tallie and Abe late Friday night. Saturday was a busy day, but Clark, Rachel, Karl & I manage to run up the mountain to see the last of the fall colors.
Visiting over ice cream Saturday night.

This is Jake writhing around on the floor trying to scratch is itching sun-burned back. He exposed his lilly-white back to the Vegas sunshine while he was digging sprinkle trenches for a ward member. Saturday night he was suffering the consequences. Sunday at 7:00 am Jakob reported his mission to the High council, 9:00 am about 35 relatives from Boulder city and Washington UT came for breakfast and to hear Jake speak in church at 11:00 am.


Abraham, a little nick clone

A few lingered after church

Day 4 - Jake, post-mission

Karl won't let us post the Day 4 pictures of Jake...but suffice to say...he would look good on a calendar. Results working hard before his missionary day would begin.

Anyway, we left Jake to his own devices and went to the Bluegrass Festival in Logandale and hung out with Clare (Karl's brother) and Kaye (SIL). We invited Jake to go with us but he declined. A another good sign he's well adjusted.We had a good time even if the weather was cold (58°) and windy and I about froze!
(Another picture that really shouldn't be posted!)

I think Jake had a good time without us. He has an old mission companion ( Elder Duke) that lives here in Vegas. He seem to be re-introducing Jake to the world.

Day 3 - Post Mission

A lot of father & son bonding going on. I think they were checking out Jake's new cell phone.

Day 2 - Post Mission

Yep, I think Jake's adjusting to the post mission life just fine... Aviator glasses & a bulky Canadian sweater? Of course he shed the sweater in about 5 minutes...34° in Edmonton...90° Las Vegas.

Elder Jake is Home!!!

Well...we've come to the end of a Tobler Family era...for the last 13 years we either had a missionary out or had one getting ready to go. Now the last Tobler son has returned with honor.

Elder Jake seems a little taller, a little more mature and looks alittle older but he is still Jake with his crazy sense of humor.

Jake just checking out his room and all his old memories.

I think he will adjust to post-mission life just fine... It took him about 10 minutes!

Suffering from a lack of Focus?

Karl has every other Friday off. And this past Friday was his Friday off. Perfect timing to get things done and in order before Jake get home...

So we ran up to Mt. Charleston to enjoy the beautiful fall colors and hike...

Do you think Jake will notice that his room looks like a storage unit, that that his closet is full of food storage and that his bed isn't made?