Merry Christmas!

To start, here is a fun song by the kids with a great ending- I promise it's worth it!

Click here to hear it

We have been having a wonderful time with family and friends. Thunder's brother, wife and 2 kids arrived on Saturday and we had a great time talking and hanging out.

We also got a massive snowstorm and had to take advantage!
On Sunday, Thunder's parents drove in as well. We had a great time being together. It was so fun for our kids to play with their only cousins. Cloudburst and Sunshine had fun getting their baby cousin to laugh- what a cuddly, cute baby!
We celebrated Christmas early with Thunder's brother, since they had to fly out before Christmas Day.

On Tuesday, Thunder's brother left and my sister flew in from Texas. Since I am about half way along in my pregnancy, I can't do some of the fun games with the kids we used to do. Thank goodness Aunt J came to visit!


On Christmas Eve, we attended a Christmas Eve service at a Presbyterian church. Then we came home and read the Nativity story from the Bible. The kids kept begging Thunder to be the donkey. Why? "Because it has to be a boy, and Papa is the Wise Man." So, being the nice Dad he is, Thunder was the donkey...

...and, then Papa was the donkey too.
We ate a wonderful Christmas dinner today with Randall and Michelle (with a smoked turkey- you've gotta try that!) We feel so blessed to be surrounded by family and friends and wish you all a very

Christmas Festivities

We've been busy getting ready for family to come for Christmas. Today Thunder's brother and family arrived and it's been great! Now that our kids are getting older, we've seen an increase in fun activities we get to do and watch.

On Tuesday, Cloudburst had her first dance recital. She just began taking dance a few months ago, and she has fun with it. She doesn't always remember the right steps, but she has a good time!

On Wednesday, Cloudburst had a kindergarten Christmas program.

We worked many days to get ready for her to sing a solo! She sang "Santa Clause is Comin' to Town." Thunder got it on our video recorder, and I'm still figuring out how to get that onto our computer... but she did GREAT! No joke, she got the loudest applause, and that's not just the mom in me talking. :-) We were so proud of her.
All the kindergartners were so cute and did several really fun songs together. Cloudburst is in the upper right corner.

Cloudburst had a good friend in Springville and we were sad when we moved away... but now they go to the same school!

Happy Birthday Thunder!

I am now married to a 31 year old! Yes, yes, he robbed the cradle to marry his hot, young trophy wife who is still in her late 20's (and who happens to be getting fatter by the day, oh well). We love Thunder and thought you might want to know 31 things about him:

We ambushed his car at work

31. He keeps his car scrupulously clean (wish I did that)
30. He faithfully goes to the gym pretty much every day
29. He loves to eat Cheezits
28. He loves to watch football- go Cougs and USC!
27. He is the First Counselor in our ward Bishopric
26. He loves to sing around the house
25. He knows more people in our neighborhood than I do!

Thunder got this from work- absolutely delicious!

24. He likes to go snowboarding
23. He loves being a Dad
22. He can be very stubborn!
21. He did his first triathalon this year
20. He works harder than anyone I know (except maybe his Dad)
19. He is very well-spoken

The kids carefully used their allowance to get Daddy's birthday gift- gotta love the Dollar Store!

18. He loves to wrestle around with the kids
17. He is fiercely loyal to his family
16. He loves to play practical jokes on people
15. He has got the longest toes!
14. He is great at giving back rubs
13. He likes to make caramel popcorn and chocolate/caramel treats

The kids "helpfully" unwrapped the presents before they gave them to Thunder

12. His favorite thing to do is relax with the fam
11. He coached JV football last year, and really misses it
10. He owns a scooter and took a bad spill on it this summer
9. He loves to have his feet tickled and rubbed
8. He loves to give nose kisses to the kids
7. He tries to figure out his presents before his birthday or Christmas

Blowing out all those candles- might need the kids' help here too!

6. He puts his dishes in the dishwasher every time he eats
5. He likes to fish here in rivers and also deep-sea in Cali
4. He is very thoughtful for birthdays and anniversaries
3. He secretly loves being married to a nerd
2. He would do anything for anybody
1. His family adores him!

Happy Birthday, we love you!

Cali part deux

On Tuesday last week, we took the kids to see
and they totally loved it! We adults (Thunder, myself, Nana and Papa) also thought it was pretty good for a kids movie. I'm pretty sure they didn't really understand what was going on (it's kind of like The Truman Show but with a dog) but it had fun music and moved pretty fast. And I didn't catch any fart jokes, horray!

On Wednesday the Riverside Convention Center was hosting a free program called Stories with Santa. When we got there, they also had several crafts for kids to do and the entire outside of the room was lined with beautifully decorated Christmas trees.
We all had a great time together! Thunder's mom is always so great at finding fun activities like this to do with the kids.
We found some candy Legos in San Diego and the kids loved building and eating towers! Thanks for the tip Michelle!
So I am a nerd and did not get any actual pictures on Thanksgiving Day- the whole reason for our trip! We had a wonderful meal and a wonderful time. Thanks again Nana and Papa!