Conversation started June 1, 2011
2:40pm
Hello Tanners!
Pleased to meet you! My name is Jordan, and I'm an intern at Vice Magazine. I've been following your Tumblr for some time now, and I strongly believe that the snapshots of modern Middle America that you provide are not just an interesting profile, they're an essential service. Would you be interested in doing an interview for the Vice website? Our politics may be a bit more liberal than you're used to, but rest assured we treat every story with fairness, regardless of political stripe.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Jordan Darville.
June 4, 2011
9:31pm
Mr. Darville
We are so glad you enjoy our family blog! Rob and I took a look at your Vice, we thought it was interesting. We would love to do an interview with you. Just let us know when.
Bless You
Love Allison
June 10, 2011
12:27pm
Hello again Tanners!
Thank you so much for accepting! Would you be free this weekend for a FacebookChat, or iChat, or any other sort of online messaging with me?
Looking forward to talking!
Jordan Darville
June 11, 2011
8:12pm
Mr. Darville
We will be free tomorrow (sunday) to Facebook Chat! Would you like to chat maybe at around 9:00 pm?
Love Allison
June 12, 2011
12:11am
Perfect! See you then! Look forward to speaking with you!
June 12, 2011
8:59pm
hello Tanners!
8:59pm
Hey Jordan!
9:00pm
how was your day? did you go to church??
9:00pm
Our day was great! We did go to church.
We just finished supper. Rob is signed into the computer in the basement this is Allison.
9:01pm
hi allison
thanks again for talking with me
9:01pm
Sure!
9:02pm
let's get into some basics first: when and why did you start your tumblr?
9:03pm
We started the blog last summer. We were taking so many photos and creating so many memories so we decided to share them online!
9:06pm
do you have a large family outside of your children or group of friends that you send them to? how do you feel about letting the entire world see your Personal Memories?
9:07pm
We do have a fairly large family! I have sisters and brothers living all over the country. Creating the blog has made it easier for them to see what trouble we are getting into day to day.
We started it for close friends and family, but the attention that we get from the online community is great! We are role models!
I do worry about predators taking our kids or masturbating to photos of them
9:10pm
role models, huh? that's a pretty high bar you've set for yourself! do you think that your family has a strong enough moral fibre to be an example for the world? and have you ever had an online run-in with a creep of some kind?
9:13pm
We do! Our daily activities make us happy and we hope that by sharing our happiness with the world our happiness will make others happy, because happiness is really what is important. Being happy!
Are blog is family friendly and a better influence than daytime TV! We did get a few nudes of the one pervert who had a crush on Allison!
9:14pm
Did you report him to the police? I hear they have an internet division now
9:15pm
We searched Google for a cyber police site but we had no luck
Rob also aggressively emailed him back.
He stopped after that.
9:16pm
uh oh! do you know what he said?
9:16pm
What did you say Rob?
I told him he was a creep and to stop showing himself to online strangers!
who knows where the photos could end up the internet is a big place!
and he was not very impressive! but I now know what ASL means!
9:19pm
i'm glad that did the trick!
how many kids do you have? i've lost track!
9:21pm
Well theirs Hope are daughter she is 9 years old
Grayson
the youngest at 2
Billy is in collage and is 20
Jenn is 5
and Chad our teen/ trouble maker who is 17
and Sami is 11
Wow, how time flies!
9:24pm
wow that's so many!
do you have any favourites?
9:24pm
Yes, Hope
Hope is the future!
9:25pm
why is that? usually it's the youngest that the parents like best
9:26pm
Our youngest is a handful!
Hope makes us smile.
Hope makes us happy.
Hope can really do anything she sets her mind to.
9:27pm
which kid would you say you've had the hardest time with, at any point
9:28pm
Chad! because hes at that age where he acting out!
hes-
We found marijuana in his room...
9:29pm
oh no!
9:29pm
And hes starting to wear tight jeans
I hope he will grow out of the phase
9:30pm
on your youtube channel, some of his videos strike me as very melancholic
9:30pm
Some of the videos are from when Chad was sick.
That was a sad time for us.
But he is better now.
We often have trouble using the Imovie application.
9:32pm
what was he sick with?
9:32pm
Diabetes
9:32pm
too many sweets, huh?
9:33pm
to feed his depression
Of course.
A lot of nerd ropes.
9:34pm
i lost two teeth because of those as a young boy! if michelle obama wants to do some good she should try banning those!
9:35pm
I doubt she will get anything done.
9:36pm
i have to admit, sometimes when i look at your photos, i can sense a sort of fear and despondency in them.
am i just projecting that??
9:36pm
No we have many fears.
Fear for our children's future.
and gods will
We are dependent on family values
9:38pm
god's will? you fear him even though you think you're leading moral lives?
9:40pm
20:20 Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning."
9:41pm
do you think that you're being tested now, or are you just afraid that it's coming?
9:43pm
We are being tested. Throughout life everyone is tested.
The world is a dangerous place. Just the other day at the grocery store a woman fell on a freezer full lamb, and was fine and she prayed.
9:44pm
in what ways do you feel tested?
9:47pm
We are tested by decisions to do good things. The action and the moment leads. What is not will decide. Even so if you know for sure what the children will do then so be it.
9:49pm
what's a difficult decision that you've had to make recently that made you think "this is another one of those pesky tests!"
9:51pm
Linda our neighbor came over the other night and brought her tuna salad, none of the Tanners like tuna but God tested us, we had to suck it up and tell a little white lie
we acted like we loved it!
9:52pm
do you sometimes think that god is testing you through your kids?
9:53pm
Yes all the time through dos and donts!
He is an I often believe that the devil is testing us through Chad.
9:54pm
what are the dos and donts?
and does chad just not fit into your image of the tanner family?
9:55pm
We are working on Chad. We have faith that he will turn out pure.
We are considering sending him to a wilderness camp.
Its about morals do the right things, not the bad or the unmoral, a guide to living.
9:58pm
but when a test does come around, how can you be sure that you're doing the right thing? sometimes the line between a "do" and a "don't" can be quite blurry
9:59pm
you have to have hope in your heart and confidence
10:00pm
is that enough for god though? what if you fail the test?
10:02pm
Man makes mistakes sometimes you have to ask for forgiveness we teach prayer
to the kids
10:05pm
moving on, your blog celebrates everyday occurrences and events that most people can identify with. why do you focus so much on the mundane?
10:07pm
The pictures we post online are the most exciting to us. There are not mundane to us, there are exciting parts of our day. There are thousands of other pictures that we snap that aren't important enough to put on the blog.
Oops I meant to say "They" not "There".
10:09pm
really? can you think of a picture that you thought was too dull to put up?
10:10pm
Leaves in a pool.
http://bgtracy123.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/100_1508.jpg
10:11pm
i remember seeing one of a mousepad in the pool, was that more exciting just because it wasn't supposed to be there?
10:12pm
Yes Greyson threw it in the pool! it was funny to see the Tanners floating!
10:14pm
would you say then that stranger things happen to you than most people that you know?
10:15pm
Probably not we just put everything online!
We have friends that also have blogs that post really strange pictures.
10:16pm
strange in what way?
10:17pm
Rob recently showed me a blog of people that hike nude.
In the woods.
10:18pm
yuck!
some people have no shame
10:19pm
i know in the public eye
10:19pm
has modern american life changed much since you started posting your photos?
10:20pm
Well it has only been a year so not much. But the other afternoon I saw a man raking rocks in the park and talking on the cell phone.
The reblogs make us a stronger couple
10:22pm
how do you feel in general about the state of your country?
10:24pm
It is hard to say. We believe that as long as we are doing well the country must be doing well.
10:25pm
so you think that your family is the perfect yardstick for america to measure itself with?
10:27pm
We try to be happy and keep our faith
But we must be doing something good!
from what we see online everyone is doing great
10:29pm
do you get most of your information online now?
10:30pm
Yes we love cnn.com and the newyorker.com
and everyone except Greyson has a cell phone
10:32pm
how do you feel about such a big change from when you were young? are you ever worried about the reliability of the information?
10:34pm
The changes are awfully exciting! We are not too worried about finding the truth online.
the computer data on the family computer is backed up but sometimes it hard to remember where we stored it
10:36pm
have you ever read something and immediately thought "that doesn't sound right"
10:37pm
for the longest time i thought lol was a smily face
we-
10:39pm
on one of your postings you seem to aiming towards creating a Tanner brand. Are looking for any sort of monetary gain from your blog?
10:40pm
I make homemade jam.
We should sell that!
10:42pm
or would you prefer for people to identify your photos as examples of a typical wholesome american family
10:44pm
We don't really know what people think of our photos.
We try to show the untypical in the typical through our snapshots on the Tanner blog
10:48pm
ok i want to change things up and talk about your personal life a little bit, is that ok?
10:48pm
Yes!
10:49pm
can you tell me a bit about your marriage?
10:50pm
We are high school sweethearts
10:51pm
was he your first boyfriend?
10:51pm
Yes!
He asked me out and I fainted!
She was my frist girlfriend I knew she was the one!
10:53pm
where were you?
10:53pm
I frist saw her walk down the cool hallway in high school
she was wearing a madonna t shirt
and pink shoes
10:55pm
what are some things that your significant other does that annoys you?>
10:56pm
Rob licks my cheetos fingers.
Allison loves online shopping a little to much but i still love her
10:58pm
what sacrifices have you had to make in order to start a family?
10:59pm
Hope is allergic to nuts so we can't have nuts in the house.
11:00pm
what about your own dreams and aspirations? have you had to put any of those on hold?
11:02pm
The best thing you can really be is a good parent.
the Tanner family is my dream, Ive always wanted to provide for my family and now we do.
11:02pm
you've both just wanted to be parents, huh?
11:03pm
yea!
we are in love and have amazing children
11:04pm
you've never wondered if there's more to life than what you have?
11:05pm
Of course you wonder but you have to make the best out of what you have.
We thank you so much for your Vice questions Mr. Darville but we must go to bed.
11:06pm
thank you!
i'm all out of them anyway
11:06pm
It was lovely talking to you!
11:07pm
i will let you know if the article goes on the website
and you as well
11:07pm
Great! we hope to see it!
Bless You
Love Allison
11:08pm
bless you as well
11:08pm
Thank you Jordan. -Rob Tanner
11:09pm
thank you Rob
Hi tanners!
2:00pm
here is the link to our interview on the Vice Website:http://www.viceland.com/blogs/en/2011/06/29/god-bless-tanner-america/
GOD BLESS TANNER AMERICA - Viceland Today
2:00pm
hope you enjoy it
June 30, 2011
11:59am
Mr. Darvill
We love it! Thank you again. We tried visiting again but the link stopped working. We are not sure if we broke it.
Love Allison
July 1, 2011
8:07am
Hi Tanners! My editors took it down but hopefully it'll be put back up soon. I will keep you posted