Happy Birthday Tornado!

We officially no longer have a baby in the house! Tornado turned 2 on Saturday and excitedly went around telling everyone "birthday, birthday, birthday!" We decided to open presents first thing in the morning.

And this is a toy that Tornado monopolizes every week at nursery... and he has loved it, played with it, run with it, and sometimes slept with it ever since:

We decided to keep things low key, and headed out as a family to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and games. The pizza was, uh, OK, but hey, the kids had a blast!

Later that night our church had a Halloween party. Now, the kids may or may not wear these costumes on Halloween! We actually pulled these out of the closet right before it started.

All in all, a fun day for our newest toddler. And if you can't read his shirt... it says "I get my muscles from my DAD." Love that!

Quick Note

Hi all! Taxes will be done and turned in tomorrow, wahoo! Then I can get to the 2 weeks of laundry and crazy house before my mom comes on Thursday. Just a quick note to say that today was an exciting day at church. It had been announced that our ward (congregation) would be splitting today, and our service was filled with people all the way back onto the stage. Seriously, standing room only. Anyway, we are now part of the new ward and Thunder is a counselor in the Bishopric! The Bishopric (the Bishop plus two counselors and some clerks) is responsible for the ward and organizes everyone into service callings with inspiration from the Lord. There will be some busy days ahead, but we are very excited. And Tornado turned 2 yesterday! I'll post pics of that tomorrow.

Yes, we are still alive!

We just have quarterly taxes coming up soon, so I've been on the computer tons lately, just not doing fun stuff like keeping this updated! Sunshine just finished up a fun clinic for 3-4 year olds called Itty Bitty Football.

They have several different stations that they rotate through.

Hmmm, a little bored, or hungry maybe?

They ended most of the 6 sessions with a game of flag football. Go go go!

And, the end of one thing, the start of another. Our ward is splitting this Sunday, and so we don't know if our Primary Presidency will still remain intact after the transition. I've had a wonderful time getting to know and work with these outstanding ladies. Last night we went out for our Last Hurrah at bowling (yes, I used my old bowling name from highschool!) I will miss you ladies if things change!

For your consideration (Prop. 8)

We have several family and friends who live in California. Here are some thought's from my friend Amber (who lives in Southern Cali):

"Earlier this month judges in Conneticut overturned the state law (just as the judges in California did) to legalized gay marriage. This is not just an issue in California. We voted years ago to keep traditional marriage as the only marriage recognized in the state of California, 4 judges overturned our vote…and we need to fight back. That is what this Proposition is about. This is happening everywhere and the leaders of the church and others have warned that the outcome of California’s vote will affect the way the other states vote. So PLEASE…even if you don’t live in California, put this on your blog or email this on. The internet knows no state line. You know contacts in California that I don’t…and so do your friends. Please pass this on as it could eventually have an effect on everyone! Please do this. If not for your own children and the effect it could have on them some day...for mine! THANK YOU!"

Some thoughts on Proposition 8:

It affects children: If gay marriage remains legal, public schools will put it on equal footing with traditional marriage. Children will likely receive “age appropriate” information about sexual relations within heterosexual and homosexual marriages. This has already happened in Massachusetts.

It affects churches: The court’s decision will inevitably lead to conflicts with religious liberty and free speech rights. Society will become more and more hostile to traditional beliefs about marriage and family. Over time, greater acceptance of nontraditional marriage will be demanded of all people. This could impact the ability of any religion to teach and practice its beliefs. Including adoption agencies.

Equal rights: In California, the law provides for marriage-related benefits to be given to civil unions and domestic partnerships. Proposition 8 does not diminish these benefits.

See also: www.preservingmarriage.org

Happy Birthday Sunshine!

About a week ago we handed out these invitations:

Today Sunshine woke up just bursting with excitement for his 4th birthday! Cloudburst was the first to wish him a happy birthday. After our regular morning routine, we were back home making sure everything was ready for friends to come over. After all, this was going to be Super Hero Training Camp!

Thunder soon came home with a big surprise, and I do mean BIG!

No, we didn't buy this huge thing! But we did have it for the day, and the kids didn't waste one minute. Soon friends started arriving, and the first order of business was to make their very own super hero capes and masks.

Soon, we had our own Legion of Superheros:

After everyone was properly outifitted, the "training" commenced on the giant obstacle course.



Soon, everyone was ready for some Superhero refreshment-- cake! (Yes, I made it, if you are wondering)
Sunshine got some great presents, but most of all, loved playing with his friends. Saying his prayers tonight, Sunshine said "thank you for such a happy birthday." We were glad he had such a great day, he deserves it!

The 5K Race

My friend Noel and I have been running over the summer, and we found a great race to run this past Saturday. Yes, the race for nerds, the PiMi (aka 3.14 miles)

Uh, yeah, that's snow in the picture! The race was up Provo Canyon and we were right in the middle of the first snow of the season.

There were about 100 people who raced that day, this is us at the start. The course went up Provo Canyon about 1.5 miles, then back again to the same place to finish. It was slightly uphill to start, then slightly downhill to finish... perfect!

Here's my big finish! I finished in 30:51. Not as good as my time last year, but hey, I didn't feel like throwing up at the end either! It was a nice run.

After the race, they had food and water for us, and some prizes. Noel won a free bucket of balls to a local golf course. All in all, a fun morning. And even better when we all went out to dinner to celebrate that night!

And this pic... this is what we woke up to this morning. It is just October 12, right? Ahhh!

The Newest Family Dancer

Tonight we were watching a music TV station, and the kids totally rocked out. And guess who started it? Tornado! He has just been starting to dance, jump and run a lot more. And today, he figured out how to open doors...

The Ugly Dumpling

We usually have Family Night on Mondays. The kids truly treasure this time alone with Mom and Dad. Of course, they always fight over Dad when we sing the "Sunbeam" song because he can throw them up higher in the air than I can.... and they love taking turns leading "Do As I'm Doing." Even Tornado takes a turn.
Well, after reading a friend's blog with some great kid-friendly recipes, we made Ugly Dumplings. While they were in the oven we read 1 Samuel 16:7 and the story of the Ugly Duckling. They were so sad for that poor "duckling."

But they sure didn't mind eating the Ugly Dumplings! They were very good.

Ugly Dumplings
1 medium apple, or pear
1 package of extra large refrigerated biscuits
2 T sugar
¼ t ground cinnamon
2 T butter or margarine
1 T butter or margarine, melted

Peel and chop fruit.

Separate biscuits, on a lightly floured surface, pat or roll each biscuit into a 4 inch circle. Place about 1 T fruit in the middle of each biscuit.

Stir together sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over fruit. Dot each with some butter.

Shape into bundles and seal by moistening and pinching the edges. Place in a greased muffin pan. Brush with melted butter. Bake at 375 for 11-13 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 10.

Triathlon!!!

Today was Thunder's big race! Too bad we woke up to rainy, cold weather and a flat tire on Thunder's bike. Hmmm. Despite that, he and Randall made it in plenty of time to start.

This is everyone lined up before the swim began. Thunder and Randall started towards the middle of the pack.

Here is Thunder on the swim. Too bad his back was to me in all the shots I took!

After the swim was done, he quickly donned his shoes, shirt and helmet and was off to the biking portion. They had almost canceled this part due to heavy rain, so they had to be careful on all the corners. Thunder is in the blue helmet.

And we can't forget the trusty spectators! I must say, the kids were pretty good considering the pouring rain and cold wind. Tornado's feet were practically frozen, but he still kept chasing Sunshine through the rain puddles!

And the big finish! The run was last, and includes lots of hills. He came in at a time of 1 hour 42 minutes. I couldn't believe he was smiling after all that! Great job, we were proud!!

The Race

Thunder and I are both in Training Mode. We both have races coming up, although his is a lot harder than mine!
Thunder is doing a triathlon with a swim, bike ride and run. Yikes. He's been going on a lot of bike rides and runs, and was swimming several mornings a week for the last few months. Sometimes it makes me tired just thinking about what he's doing. He's been working really hard!
My race is a regular 5K race- for nerds! Yes, I am running a race the distance of Pi! It is up Provo Canyon, so hopefully it's not too hilly. I haven't been training on hills at all. Sheesh, I can barely run that far. But I will finish! Anyone around, here join in!