New Kitchen in Indiana!

Kelli: The Sixth Sister

By: Joey

I recently ordered It Takes Two on DVD. This is a movie that came out in the nineties with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen when they were just kids. It is a gift for someone and by the brief description of the movie it would be a valid assumption that it is for a seven year old. However, this gift is not for a seven year old, it is for a twenty-five year old woman. It is her wedding present.

This is The Peacock Family Blog and like most families, we had individuals who were not members of our family but nonetheless a constant in our lives. The Tanner Family Kimmy Gibbler, The Winslow Family had Steve Urkel and The Peacock Family had Kelli Rasmussen, who lived down the street. Kelli, unlike Gibbler and Urkel, was not the annoying, intruding neighbor but rather a friend, a confidant and a fellow rabble-rouser. She has six years on me so growing up she was the twelve year old girl in overalls who hanged out with my older sisters and had a vast collection of Olsen Twin movies; – The You’re Invited To…, and The Adventures of… series, along with classics such as Double Double, Toil and Trouble. As a six year old I was addicted to these movies and Kelli was my dealer who lived down the street.

With the age gap and gender disparity I didn’t hang out with Kelli very much. Though I remember her being around a lot, like the time she was helping my sister Collette babysit me and my other siblings. Though Kelli will deny this and swear she does not recall anything related to this experience, while she and Collette were babysitting I was being a little hellion and as punishment Kelli decided to give me a swirly. I remember her holding my head above the toilet in our laundry room, a few inches above the water when my mom came home, which is when Kelli freed me from her grip. She left a powerful impact though – I recieved the realization then that she didn’t take any crap. Kelli was a family friend but we didn’t become good friends until I left for college.

We both moved down to Utah last summer. She was starting at LDS Business College in Salt Lake and I was attending BYU in Provo. My sister Becky and I helped her move in the night she came to Utah and I remember how nice it was to see someone I had known forever. There is something about those people that you grow up with. It’s like they knew you before you were famous. What I mean by that is whoever you now are, or whatever persona you are currently trying to project; those people that were with you in your childhood and adolescence have all this information about you that no one else does. They know the dynamics of your family, the wonderful craziness of your church congregation, the streets you used to drive down, the halls you used to roam and the stupid things you once did.
It was probably this shared information and a love for Café Rio that caused me and Kelli to begin to get to together frequently last Fall. I remember it was right when I was having a hard time adjusting to my new home away from home and leading a rather socially barren life that Kelli and I started hanging out together. We went to the good eateries around Provo (there are many), and took more than a few trips to the infamous Provo Deseret Industries, a jackpot for finding nifty knick-knacks like this gem that Kelli picked up…


It was great that at a time when I didn’t have very many friends at school yet, to be able to hang out with Kelli.

We both share a great knowledge of pop culture and if either of our schools offered a degree in such, we would have been able to test out of many of the classes required and we would both be graduating this summer with a bachelors degree in (America’s greatest export) Pop Culture with an emphasis in the 90’s.

But back to reality. Reality is that I have many friends at my school now and I feel rather “settled”. As I look back to last semester, at a time where it could’ve been more boring and gloomy, it wasn’t. I look back with fond memories of a Twilight party at Kelli’s on Halloween. (I don’t like Twilight, Kelli does; everyone is allowed to have their vices). I look back at wandering around all five floors of the BYU Library trying to find Kelli’s boyfriend with her. Reality is also that we are now moving towards exciting and new areas of our lives. Kelli is getting married next month and I am starting an internship in New York and a mission is closer and closer on the horizon for me.

Reality is not perfect but in a perfect world, Kelli would always be your neighbor. You would have a listening ear, some pumpkin crumble and a witty remark just down the street. And for the majority of my life I have lived in a perfect world where Kelli has been just down the street or the freeway. But change is good, and I can speak on behalf of myself and the rest of The Family of Peacocks when I say that I am very excited for Kelli’s new stage of her life, as she marries Addison and continues building her own family and her blossoming interior design career.

Kelli, if I drank Dr. Pepper I would raise my can to you. Thanks for the laughs and your friendship!

Family Christmas Letter

 Happy Holidays from the
Peacock Family!

Well, it has been an exciting year for us.
This is our first full year in Indiana and
although we miss our friends and family in
Oregon, we are enjoying our new
adventures!

Paul had a great year with work and Amy
has finished her 3rd semester of college
and is doing very well! She is pursuing a
degree in Human Services and is working
hard at it. Did I mention that she became
a GRANDMA this year! (More about that
later…)

Collette (24) was transferred to Seattle
this year as a Senior Technician for
Ralcorp and has enjoyed being back in the
Pacific NW and Laura (22) is in Portland,
works full time as a nanny taking care of a
special needs child and his little sister.
She is pursuing a nursing degree.

Becky (20) and Landon are enjoying being
first time parents in Lehi, UT.
Mona Lynn Cope was born on Oct. 29th
weighing in at 8 lbs 13 oz! Landon
graduated from BYU in April and Becky is
set to graduate from BYU in April 2011.

Erica (20) and Scott were married on
April 9th this year in the Portland OR
temple and are both students at BYU-I.
Scott has finished his first year and is
working Full Time too! Erica is set to
graduate in July 2011.

Joseph is doing very well in his first year at BYU having the time
of his life! He works at the BYU library part time. (Great place to
meet girls!)

Adrienne is a junior in HS. She helped her soccer team win their
sectional tournament for the first time in ten years! She has also
organized a Global Awareness Club at school and is currently
raising money for Pakistan flood victims.
If anybody wants to visit us in Indiana
there is a warm bed and tour guide
available!

 We enjoyed visiting family and friends
in Portland for Joey’s graduation and
Erica and Scott’s wedding. We also
enjoyed hosting Amy’s Mom and Rick,
Celeste, and the Mark and Adrienne
Beck family.

We are grateful to God for the many
blessings that we have received this
year. Merry Christmas!

With Love,
The Peacock’s

 Wishing you all the best in the New Year!

 Amy, Paul, Collette, Laura, Becky, Landon, Mona, Erica, Scott, Joey, and Adrienne

"I just feel like if I didn't get away I'd bust."- George Bailey

        

         

    I think I wanted to start living on my own once I turned 12.  I remember many a time thinking to myself, or even yelling (which is way more likely) "I can't wait to live on my own!"  Life is tough sometimes for kids who don't realize just how good they have it...

    I was so excited once I hit Rexburg to go to school and Mom, Collette, and Laura all drove away- leaving me on my own.  I stayed up till 3 am every night that first semester! I bought poptarts, hot pockets, and a variety of other grocery items deemed too expensive or downright disgusting for our family. Nobody stole my makeup, underwear, or CD's, and  I even had my very own cell phone! I spent weekends dancing around various apartments wearing tie-dye T-shirts and being way too loud with my freshman friends.   Life was everything I had wanted it to be for so long, and most of the time I was happy it had all turned out to be a dream come true.  But I did miss a few things.

       I missed Mom yelling at me from the front door to "Choose the right, and be honest". I missed curling up in a ball and crying like a lunatic sometimes and still having the people I live with love me afterwards.  I missed the music in our home so much.  There is no one quite as excited about my new songs as Dad and Mom are. I missed our Cherry Park homeward and all the friends we made there. I missed being mistaken for Becky, Joey's sense of humor, and going on runs while getting my butt kicked by Adge. I especially missed my big sisters and their willingness to listen and give advice. I admit that for this first little while on my own, I was scared and homesick. It's not so bad now that I've been on my own for a while, but I never realized just how much I would miss home.
 

     Well, the reason I bring this up is I feel the same bittersweet feelings  now that we're so close to Christmas.    I've been flooded with all these memories lately of us sitting around our old living room with the fire on, passing around Mom's favorite- popcorn with m&ms. I always loved this time of year best and it wasn't because there were too many presents under the tree to count, but because being a member of the Peacock family meant excitement and friendship and lots of traditions to look forward to!  Peacock lane, caroling parties, "Secret Santa" escapades, and of course, sledding and cutting down the Christmas tree on Mt Hood were things we looked forward to all year long!  And I miss these memories and so much more.

     So I ask all of us to truly cherish wherever we are this year- and whoever we're with. One of my professors put it this way- "the grass is always greener on the side you water"!  I know I don't want to have that kind of "anywhere but here" attitude ever again. We're in the making of more and more priceless memories- who knows, maybe Mona will be the first star in a new generation of Peacock Nativity plays!  I know Scott and I are really going to try hard to make this season as memorable as possible, and start our very own Winkler Family traditions!   I've realized throughout all of these big changes in our family these last couple years, that what really makes you happy is who you're with not where you are.
   

      I called Mom today and she told me how sad it was that only her and Dad were there to pick out the Christmas tree this year. (Don't know where Adge was- ya slacker...)  I told her about some holiday traditions Scott and I wanted to start, and we talked for a little while about the Christmas season.  I've been thinking about our conversation ever since, and I guess I just wanted to reassure her that even though it can't always be the same, all of our past traditions and memories will be with me, and the rest of the family forever.  That's the point of all this "Christmas cheer" garbage.  Even if our traditions have to change a little, we'll remember them always and what the main point of it all was: family.

Love you all and can't wait to see the fam bam!- Your star (for real I was Mary like four times for the Nativity Plays) - Erica

Pickle: A True Peacock Family Tale

While visiting my cousins in upstate New York one morning, enjoying the luxury of Reese’s Puffs, which for better or worse was not a commodity at my house. I was skimming over their daily newspaper. I was surprised at the headline on the front page. Birds found nesting at Lowe’s ran the leading headline. This didn’t sound like a lead story. This sounded like something that should be found in the Home and Life section. And even there not on the front page, but tucked away into a small empty lot, on the sixth page of section C. As I looked into the rest of the scrawny newspaper, I realized there were no theft, no murders and no government scandal! What else was there to report on in the town of Elmira? Yet there was however a family of birds that created a home in the rafters of Lowes, the home improvement store. I was wrong! This was a valid lead story.

I very much enjoyed biking all over the neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon – nicknaming hills and turning bushes into forts. My parents, five sisters and I lived in a very nice pocket of town. But it was encounters like with the Elmira newspaper that gave me the duh-realization that many children do not grow up fifteen minutes from the heart of a downtown city like Portland, Oregon. And the higher crime rate associated with urban living is not a part of their everyday life.

We locked our doors every night and were careful not to leave anything in our cars that would be appealing to strangers perusing our neighborhood at night. But these things were normal to me as they are to millions of other people living in “the city”. When I was seven, Sister Yeaman’s family van was stolen and driven through the front wing of the high school. The van then erupted into flames. When I was eight my oldest sister Collette, a freshman in high school, went out to the car one morning to find a man sitting in the front seat of our family van, fiddling with the ignition and some wires. I can still remember the loud shriek I heard from my bedroom that morning as my sister ran from our driveway to the inside of our house, yelling “Dad! Someone’s in our car!!” My father ran outside, only to find that the man had already ditched any business he had with our teal Chevy Astro van. And I can still remember the sight of my father driving across the elementary school field in our family van (we shared a fence with the school) searching for the perpetrator.

Growing up I learned that there were necessary precautions one needs to take to protect themselves and their property. Because of this, it probably did not seem odd to me when after dinner one evening, (I was about seven), my mother announced that our family was taking a new safety precaution. This new precaution – which she derived from a parenting book – was essentially “a family word”. This word would enable us kids to know if it was really our mom or dad knocking at the door. Or if someone had to pick us up from school because of an emergency, we could ask for the “secret” word, to make sure they were really sent by my parents and not just someone who we knew but that was also trying to kidnap us. The family word was, Pickle.



My family had no weird fascination with pickles. We had them in tuna sandwiches and on hamburgers but besides that pickles had no prominent place in our lives. That would change.

There were many ideas that were presented that were supposed to beneficiate us as a family but were never implemented. Pickle the family word however, was. It took hold like a strictly enforced policy dealing with national security. (In fact, Pickle was innovative homeland security on my mother’s part).

Scenes like this soon became common:

My mother upon returning home, knocks at the door.

“Who is it?” I ask.

“Mom".

I open the door.

“Why didn’t you ask for the word?!”

“Sorry I forgot”

“Well honey you’ve got to be more careful!”

Or this:

Knock at the door.

“Who is it?”

“Mom and Dad! – Pickle!!”

That six letter word, a green vegetable, a mutated cucumber, suddenly became a prerequisite for opening my front door. This new precautionary policy had taken hold. Like most policies however, public perception of the policy began to change from the time that it was first introduced.

See basically the only times that my mother would knock on the door was when her hands were full or when she was extremely preoccupied. So scenes like this became very common,

Knock at the door,

Knock again.

“Pickle! It’s Mom! Hurry open the door! Pickle!”

Suddenly the meaning of pickle had changed. Yes it still meant that the person at the door was family (hopefully unarmed, but family nonetheless) but the word pickle acquired an added and more important meaning: whoever was at the door needed you to come quick. They were most-likely stressed out because they were in a hurry - probably trying to juggle two milk cartons, a veggie platter, three grocery bags and a diet coke, and they were using all the effort they could to make a poke at the doorbell, so you had better hurry.

“Pickle” became the call of urgency, which probably explains my mom’s use of it at a public event that my sister Collette recently recounted to me. My mom was trying to get Collette’s attention and Collette was ignoring her.

“Collette!” My mom whispered.

“Collette,”

“Collette, Pickle!”

Collette turned towards her, probably intrigued and slightly embarrassed as to why she felt the need to use “Pickle” in such a public setting.

“Pull up your shirt, I can see your cleavage”, my mom whispered to my sister.

Yes, Pickle had found its place in our family.

Somewhere between grade school and my entrance into middle school, Pickle had disappeared. I mean we still used pickles at meals occasionally, but its force as an urgency-indicator and safety precaution had withered.

Someday, I secretly hope that confidential information will need to be passed to me by one of my family members. And it would be such a high-stakes occurrence that I would have to verify my identity. In such a moment I would say one word. “Pickle”. It would leave no question to my identity.

Winter in the Northwest.... (ahaha... remember that horrible song?!?)

Well... it felt like time for an update. I love all the pictures and everything that you guys have put up! And I soooo can't wait for the holidays!! lol

Things here in Ogden are good... well, great really. Work is going very well, still a few long hours and a bit stressful at times, but I find that I really quite enjoy it for the most part, which makes it fun. I seem to be doing pretty well and my coworkers are (for the most part) very fun to work with. We have a few special items/new lines coming out soon, including a line of Disney cookies, Nestle Butterfinger cookies and Hershey cookies (my favorite). It was a trip having the Disney ladies over (a group of four women who are managing that project for Disney) and hearing them have serious discussions about whether the fairies celebrated Easter in their world. LOL... really really.

Church is good (of course, lol). My ward is really quite tight knit and we are always getting together to do something fun, so that's been really great. I am still FHE co-chair and trying to plan activities that at least 95% of people will enjoy. ;) We just had our talent show last week and well, lets just say it was real. lol... and quite funny mostly.

I am keeping busy with all this and trying to decide what to do with my future, so to speak. :) Anyways, I also went back to visit Joey in Portland (albiet a couple months ago) and thought you might like to see pics from that and some other random shots lately. Oh, and be sure to check out the little video of David, Matt, me and Joe! :) GOOD times.

Can't wait to see you all SOON! Loves.

Joey Lately (does anybody get the chelsea lately reference?)

Celebrating the DDHS boy's soccer win...they won 1-0 with a "Nick Anderson goal"! And I got it all on tape...sort of...the battery died right as the ball hit the net. We went out and celebrated (see picture below).

Say what you may, but Red Robin's Wise Guy Burger is the best thing since McDonald's came out with their McGriddle's...I'm serious! It is delicious!! And the best part about it is that it's only $5.99, so it may as well be called the Economy Burger. And it of course comes with their AMAZING bottomless fries. If you can't tell what's on it there's: Sesame-Seed Bun, Marinara Sauce, MOZZERELLA STICKS (the best part, hence the all caps), Pepperoni, Hamburger, Banana Peppers (surprisingly good), Tomatoes and Bun. I loved it!

Everybody Loves A Lion!

"A scout is thrifty." I took a lion costume from Annette that was missing the head, called Nick up and borrowed his mullett wig; and created the costume that was the next morning's water-cooler topic!

This picture was taken at the Harvest Dance on Tuesday. It was at the Happy Valley Pavillion where I was the DJ. It was lots of fun. The crowd went wild for the surprise hits: Dancing Queen by A*TEENS and Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus. I also got to play some 90's throwbacks: Larger than Life and You Drive Me Crazy, respectively.