Thanksgiving 08 (Cont.)

Here is our Image Gallery from Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving 08

Hopefully I can get the link to the football pictures, etc., on here okay. Thanks, everyone, for a great day!

http://picasaweb.google.com/JoleenStratman/Thanksgiving08

Halloween and Mom's Birthday at Drugan's

Kaitlyn & Joshua Trick or Treating on Halloween. Mom's Birthday Party at Drugan's on November 1 - Happy Birthday Mom!
Mom's Birthday

LA Times article

Jay found this article and I thought you all might like to see it: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2008/08/africa-us-milit.html

Jay, however, did you find this?

Kaitlyn & Josh at the Enchanted Forest

Pippi Longstockings (aka Kaitlyn) and the Famous Race Car Driver #99 (aka Joshua) went to the Enchanted Forest last Sunday!

Thank You

Today was my first day back at work since I returned from Uganda, and I had a lot of fun things waiting for me. I just wanted to tell everyone thank you for the packages and the cards (I'm sorry, I admit it, I opened all my birthday cards early...I couldn't help it. Except for one...since Staci wrote on there that I couldn't open it to the 29th, I followed instructions and haven't opened it yet). I am probably going to save most of the food that was sent and take it with me to Tanzania so I have 'normal' snacks to eat while I'm there.

I really appreciate the time and thought that you all put in to get the packages together...it really means a lot.

Oh, and Sara....we can't have shots (no hard alcohol on camp), but I plan to take advantage of all 3 beers we are allowed. You will have to do a shot in my honor. ;-)

Freedom Flight

Ken and I went with Barb to meet Willie when he returned home from the Freedom Flight from Washington, D.C. tonight. They got in around 11 pm; it was a long day but everything went well. He took pictures so hopefully we'll all get to see them eventually. It was pretty impressive seeing that huge plane and all the people there cheering for them when they arrived. The UW-L Screaming Eagles played them all off the plane. http://picasaweb.google.com/JoleenStratman/FreedomFlight

Bangor Homecoming 2008

Hi: Andrew was the Sophomore Representative for Bangor Homecoming along with Kayla Servais. Casey Davis was the Parade Marshall. Some of the pictures may be dark .... sorry! My first attempt at this.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ParrSKJA/BangorHomecoming2008#

Karol

There's only ONE October!!

There's only one thing left to do.....Win the WHOLE thing!!

Happy Wings Everyone!

Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Today is the day.

Happy Birthdays to all of you!

Big Happy Birthday to Makayla (can't wait to meet you, honey!) today and Uncle Steve and Uncle Wally tomorrow!

Eliana's birthday

Eliana was thrilled with her Dora cake as you can see. Jessica made and decorated it herself - a lot more work than I'd have done! (Isn't that what Linda's Bakery is for?) Pete, I hope your cake was as cute:-)

UW Eau Claire

Hi everyone! I'm moving into the dorms tomorrow at 8 am. I don't know how 2 people are going to fit in one room when I could fill the whole thing with just my closet! My address at Eau Claire will be..
436 Murray Hall
11 Garfield Ave
Eau Claire WI 54701

and yes.. that is the 4th floor.. with no elevator.. with a futon

My school email is crooks@uwec.edu.

A Miller Park Friday

Here are the pictures from our trip to Miller Park:
Miller Park Album
We saw the Brewers play the Pirates, and eventually beat them 10-4. This picture was taken from the Press Box where Bob Uecker and Jim Powell do their radio show. Yeah, I think I could handle their job! Also, is a video of Ryan Braun hitting an RBI double down the Left Field line. I happened to be taking the video at the right moment! Also also, is a picture of Andrew and I at the Mini Golf Course where we have our annual Mini Golf Tournament. I don't think you need to ask who won.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to Jessica and Dom!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to Kaye and Wally!!

Shhh, it's a secret

My most recent purchase. It's just like the commercial. Two Packer jerseys with Rodgers on the back for Will and Linley. Mark won't see them until Sept 8th.

Priceless.....

Upcoming Events Calendar

So, I had this idea after seeing the post below this one that we could put up a calendar so everyone could remember events (i.e. birthdays, anniversary's,game schedules, etc.) I gave everyone access to this Calendar to edit it, so you should be receiving an email inviting you to use the calendar. By clicking on the Google logo on the bottom right, will take you to the large version (In order to edit it).

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Kaye!

Where are you going to win money this weekend?

County Fair

We went to the fair today with Josh and Kaitlyn and have a few photos for you all. Eliana enjoyed the animals most of all I think. Happy summer! http://picasaweb.google.com/JoleenStratman/CountyFair

Trixie's birthday

Trixie gets angel food cake once a year and today was the day! She snarfs it down pretty quickly as you can imagine. Hope everyone's staying dry; it's fair week so I shouldn't be surprised that it's raining (and hot).

Family Reunion Pictures (And July 4th)

Here are the pictures from the Family Reunion that took place on July 6, 2008.



http://picasaweb.google.com/ParrSKJA/FamilyReunion

And here are the Pictures from the 4th of July:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ParrSKJA/July4th2008

Tutorial: How to Upload many Photos at Once (Best Practices)

Well, I am assuming many of you will be wanting to upload Photos as Amanda has on her blog. But instead of taking up all sorts of room on the right side of the blog with the little Slideshow window, I have decided this is how we will post Photo Albums. First off, just for signing up for your Google account you are entitled to use their Picasa Web Albums for free. This is a service where you can upload your Photos into albums, and display them on the internet. Amanda has done this already, and can attest to how simple it is to use.....right Amanda?!?!?

1) You need to have the pictures on your computer before we do anything. Once you do, go to www.google.com. Yes, Google is more then just a search engine. Much more in fact, and one day Google will run the entire world, but that is another topic that will not be covered in this Tutorial. Notice the links that are on the top of the page. Click on the link "More" with the arrow next to it. Then on the drop-down menu click on the Photos link. This will take you to the Picasa Web Album page. Log into this site using your Google account, Username and Password.

2) Now, most if not all will have a blank page with no pictures on them. Well let's get some on there! See the "Upload" button on the right hand side right above your username? Click it. Then click the Create a New Album link if you wish to create a new Photo Album, or click on an already existing album if you would like to upload more pictures to that album. After that, you should be able to follow the directions on the site in order to upload your pictures. Make sure you check the box to make your album a Public album, otherwise we will not be able to view them!

3) Now after your album is created, this is where you need to put this in a blog post for everyone to see. (This is eliminating the little slideshows on the right Navigation bar as seen on Amanda's site. We are doing this to save space on the page!) So, now back at www.thestratmans.com create a new blog post by clicking on "New Post" on the top right, and this should bring you to the text editor. Title your post, and maybe write a little something to describe the Photos you are about to share with us. Then, after that is done, go back to your Picasa Web Albums. Click on your Public Gallery; As seen here with Amanda's Albums:

Then, click on the Album you wish to share with the rest of the 'fam'. Once that album is displayed, go up to the URL and copy that URL. Now go back to thestratmans.com and the post you were working on and paste that URL into the blog post. This will create a "link" in your post so everyone can just click on it, and it will take them right to your Album!

Well, this all sounds easy enough to me, but I realize it may sound confusing to some. So please do not hesitate to leave a comment on the site, or just to email me directly and we can try and troubleshoot whatever happens to be going on! Sorry for the length!

P.S. Does anyone know who is bringing the Mashed Potatoes to Thanksgiving? Seriously, we better figure this out.

Tutorial: How to Leave a Comment on a Post

So, I figured I would post a little tutorial on how to leave comments to blog posts. I see that there have been a few comments left already but I have a feeling that there might be some family / friends (more so family) that might not understand how to leave a comment. And since I do not want a whole mess of emails asking me how to leave them, I thought I could put a post here for all to see!

Here goes. When you read a post there will be a "X Comments" link towards the bottom of that post. See picture:Notice the round, red circle covering the "Comments" link. This is where you click if you would like to leave a comment!

After clicking on that link, you will be brought to a page with all (or none) of the comments on it, as well as a place to post your comments. See picture (This is on the right side of the page, underneath where you would type your comment:Now, you need to identify yourself somehow if you wish to post your comment. If you have a google / gmail account; Fantastic! Google owns blogger.com and has "synced" all Blogger and Google accounts. Google will likely rule the world one day. So just log into Blogger.com using your Google / Gmail account name and password and click "Publish your Comment".

The Open ID is for people who have a Wordpress and other blog related sites usernames and passwords. The Open ID also accepts anyone who has an AIM account. I am guessing that anyone who has one of these accounts does not need to read this post in order to leave a comment, so I will stop discussing this one.

Now the Name/URL will be the one most commonly used, that is why this paragraph is in BOLD.....to catch your attention! If you do not have or want one of the aforementioned accounts, simply use the Name / URL button to post a comment. It's the third one down, and the one that has a red circle around it in the picture up there. See it? Good. Now after you type in your comment in the text box directly above click the Name / URL button and enter your name. First name and Last name, or just First name, maybe a nickname? Be creative, but not crazy. Just a name so Amanda can know who is leaving her a comment! Then, simply click the "Publish your Comment" link and your comment will be posted!

As far as the Annonymous button goes; dont even think about clicking that one. That would be like crossing the streams with the Ghostbuster's Power Packs. Don't do it.

If anyone does run into anymore problems with the site, then you may email me: jparr021@gmail.com

Bad news from Black River Falls

I just called mom to wish her a Happy Birthday. She spoke with Kris already this morning. She said that Pete's place of employment, The Palms, burned to the ground last night. So Pete is obviously without a job. And mom also wanted me to mention that her computer is not working, so if you email her to ask her about what's going on, she won't be able to read it.

So it's not such a Happy Birthday for Kris.

Good news from Iowa

Tomorrow (Friday) morning at 11 AM, we will be the proud owners of only one house! Yeah!

Happy Birthday Mom and Kris!

Hope you both have a wonderful day!

Mark, Staci, Em, Kathrine, Will and Linley (and Amber!)

Hi all

I'm trying this out to see if it works. I have an infestation of Japanese beetles on all my flowers and vegetables and hope I can get their picture on here. Nasty creatures; I've been dusting with Sevin in hopes that will work - any ideas out there? Joleen