Merry Christmas!

Hey Every one!
We want to wish each and everyone of you in this great family of ours a very Merry, and "Sunny" Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Love you all!
Skip & Sandy

Merry Christmas to All,

This our first attempt at posting on the "Family Blog". We are now in snowy New England on our way to North Conway. Going to see everyone in the family that lives in NE plus Lisa & Piet.
Stayed with Pete last night, had a nice dinner. Now at Mike's where I had my blood tested (back to normal after the pacemaker replacement) and had a nice dinner. Going to Kevin's tonight then to Condo on Sat. Plan is to return to FL on Jan 3rd. Hope to go to Colebrook & or Maidstone after we leave No. Conway. Hope to see Erin at the condo & at Mike's on Christmas.

Had a mishap the Fri. before we left FL, got rear-ended which totaled our van, nobody hurt but, now we have to buy another car when we get back.

Will do this again only the next time, Mom will write it.

Mom & Dad Perro

Holiday Eating Tips

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.
2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!
3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy . Eat the volcano. Repeat.
4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.
5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?
6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.
7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.
8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?
9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.
10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.
Remember this motto to live by: "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!" Have a great holiday season!

Our Family

Adam is in school for flying helicopters now and flying alot,

Dani is doing great in school and is off to Montana for a few days before coming home for Christmas

And I am spending the week travelling around the wonderful Mid West. Lucky enough to be spending a night at the Dorf's tonight.

Love ya Adam and Dani, and Hi to all

Pete

Riddle

If I wanted to be a professional field goal kicker, what type of notice should I put up?

Answer: A Goal post

Megan's Graduation - Dec 8

We do things backwards at our house! Even though Megan finished classes in August, passed her Boards in October, and started working as an R.N. in November - her graduation ceremony was yesterday, December 8. (The Nursing School only has two commencements a year, in May and December.) We all went to cheer her on, then out for a celebratory dinner. Congrats, Megan!

Snow Day!

Hey All,

Charlie and I, both being teachers, had (we're sure) the same reaction as all students in the area when learning that school was called off....yippeee! It's all good until June when we have to make up the day....

So, we had a little fun outside....hope you're enjoying the holiday season!

Maria and Charlie

Hello Everyone
We are having a beautiful snowy day here in Maine. We are expecting about 8-12 inches of the beautiful white stuff. It's our first significant snowfall of the year. Today is December the 3rd and it's a special day for another reason.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHANNON
WE LOVE YOU, DAD & STEF

Shannon's Graduating!

Just to give you all another little update, May seems so far away right now but with the end of this semester approaching very quickly. It will be here soon. I will be marching in the 2:30 pm ceremony, with NSFA (College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture). I am very excited and have been looking into where I am going after this. It's a little nerve wracking but I have decided to take a year off before continuing with graduate school. I need a little more time to figure stuff out and take my GREs before I am really ready for that. I am currently looking at a handful of entry research positions in the Boston area that I could potentially start at in May. Children's Hospital has some openings for Reaseach Assistants - one is even available in their Neurosurgery unit (which would be SWEET! - my focus here is in Neuroscience). Who knows... I am hopeful but trying not to be too much so at this point. I may even be in for another summer of camp depending on whether I have something set before applications are due. So my future is begining to pan out and I think I am liking it...

Hey all, we had a great Thanksgiving at Mike & SteFFFFF's (at least I did). Friday night Mike, SteFFFFF, Derik, Janelle, Kayla, and I played laser tag. It was very cool. Saturday we went down to the boat for some mission then walked around the Old Port for the day. I had forgotten how much I like it down there. As soon as I win the lottery I will buy a brownstone...

Love you all, Erin & Julian

By the way, I finally got that full time job I have been trying to get for 8 months!!!

Just saying hi!

Well there isn't anything going on with me that is all that interesting, but I just wanted to drop in and say hi! I have an exciting week coming up for the sorority so that should be fun :o) Anddd I leave for Montana in 3 weeks to pick up Aaron! I'm excited... so is he, he can't wait to see everyone! Have a good one guys
Love you!*

Hang'n out with Daddy. .. . .

Hey everyone... Just practicing with blogg,,,,,, Here is Ricky and Taelor hanging out while Mom is working....
Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving.... We all did.... Love to all...
Mike and Stef

Hey all, I'm going to Mike & Steph's tomorrow for turkey day (although they didn't mention anything about cooking dinner in a trash can), I'll let you know if it was any good (ha ha). Also sending an appropriately blurry pic of Mark and me at the Jimmy Buffet concert. He surprised me with tickets, very cool. We had a blast. Way to go Red Sox!!!!! And Katie, I'm sending a pic of the old homestead on 10/16/07. The mountain looked beautiful. See ya. Erin

Kayla and I are spending thanksgiving this year at our Nana and Grandpa's house in Berwick, visiting Dad while we are actually in the area. Nana is letting me cook the turkey this year although she was definately a little skeptical when I explaind it to her. I am really excited about cooking turkey in a trash can for thanksgiving... sounds strange I know. But its not really a new concept, it essentially makes a clean trash can into an oven using charcoal. We do it at camp (Girl Scout Camp) and some friends and I get together every year over Christmas break and do a scaled down version of Chicken in a Wastebasket. It's fun and I'm STOAKED!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hi everyone! The Elmendorfs want to give thanks for having a big, loud, fun, caring and quirky family. We hope you'll all be sharing the holiday with somebody you care about. We're planning to spend ours with the only other Elmendorfs we know - Piet's brother Ted, sister-in-law Sarah, and nephews Alex and Ian, as well as Piet's folks, Bob and Sally. Let us know what you are all doing - we want to hear from you.

hey there girlfriend, I made it!!

Megan, RN

Hello all! I just wanted to give you a quick update on my recent leaps into adulthood (they don't happen often, so I'm enjoying my moment)!!!! I am a new nurse...woohoo...and so excited to get started with my career. I just started on a women's specialty unit where I recover new mothers and babies (aka...dream job)!!! I am ecstatic about the opportunity I've been given here, and couldn't wait to share with all of you! XOXO

Patriots Fans in Cincinnati

In case you haven't heard about it, we recently had a fun family weekend in Cincinnati, when some random Patriots fans (!!) showed up to tailgate with us and take in the Bengals-Patriots game, televised nationally on Monday Night Football! Unfortunately, our Bengals took a beating, and good-natured barbs were exchanged, but we still all had a good time.

Go Buckeyes!!

I would just like to take this time to not only welcome you to The Loon Tribune, created by my idea stealing sister Katie, but to congratulate The Ohio State University Buckeyes on their undefeated football season. It is truly remarkable that a football team can win all their games without video assistance. A certain NFL team (asterisk) I know of would not know how that feels. Maybe someday. So everyone feel free to post a little something, whether it be words, pictures, or video and GO BUCKS!

We are finally doing it!!

Welcome to the family blog! The Elmendorfs were sitting here tonight and decided it was time to put action to our words. We've been thinking for a while that it would be fun to have a family blog - a place where we can all share family news and see what's going on in each others' lives. If you want to participate, just send Katie your email address and she can invite you to be an author on the blog - you can post your own entries! Her email address is kselmendorf@hotmail.com. Hope to hear from you soon!