We give thanks for trips to California!

Greetings from (semi) sunny Cali! We are still enjoying time here with Thunder's family. Just a few hours ago we all ate an incredible turkey dinner and enjoyed eachother's company. Even though Tornado decided not to wear pants to dinner. Oh well. We actually arrived last Friday. Thunder and I had a company meeting with our partners in San Diego. We stayed at the
and it was so fun! We walked all around downtown San Diego, in the Gaslamp district. We ate at an authentic Spanish restaurant called Cafe Sevilla. The food was pretty good, but we had no idea how to order it! There were a series of "tapas," or appetizers, of various sizes and only a few main courses. We learned that our table was to order a several appetizers and one or two main dishes and we would all share. It was fun to try everyone’s food. After dinner we walked to a theatre and saw the new James Bond flick. The next day we got massages and walked around more, mostly window shopping.

We met up in the afternoon at the Whisky Girl Bar and Grill to watch the BYU football game. That was a rough one to watch! We turned in pretty early- we are truly "old" married folk who enjoy our kid-less sleep! On Sunday morning we drove back up to Mo Val where it was simply joyous to see the kids again. Nothing like a day or two away to make you love them more, right?

On Monday we headed over to Thunder’s favorite park- Knott’s Berry Farm! The kids loved Snoopy Town…

and Cloudburst kept begging us to take her on the big rides. She was actually tall enough to ride several and had a ball. Thunder swears she was more fearless than he was on the first rollercoaster ride they went on.

Thunder and his dad managed to get on the Supreme Scream but the new exciting Xcelerator ride got shut down for repairs…when they were 2 minutes from riding it!

Since I am preggers, I stayed to the kiddie rides. Yes, very exciting. But I swear, Snoopy’s Bus Ride made me nauseous!

We finished off the day with Thunder winning a prize in a shoot-around contest. We had a great time! More later…..~

Thursday's Heroes

BYU and University of Utah had the big rivalry game today. We were able to catch the game here in San Diego (more on that in another post!) but first I wanted to share what a wonderful time we had on Thursday.

A week or so ago, Thunder and our friend Dave B. had a flash of inspiration. They were thinking about our sick Bishop and something he said. When the Bishop heard that he would have a cancer treatment on Friday November 21, he said was "well I have to be well enough to watch the BYU-Utah game on Saturday!" So Thunder called up the BYU Football office and asked around to see if there was any way we could get our Bishop in to meet the players or coaches. They asked Thunder to email some more information, and then happily informed Bishop Edwards that he had been invited to be this past Thursday's Hero! This is the Bishop and his family.

After we all arrived, we started off with a tour of the coaches' offices and watched a highlight film of the 2007 football season. It was neat to see all the pictures on the wall. Many of the offices have their walls made completely out of white-board so that they can put notes up everywhere.

Then we got to walk through the player's locker room.

We then walked over to the indoor practice field where the team was practicing. After a few minutes, a whistle blew and the whole team walked over to Bishop Edwards and enveloped him in thunderous applause. Several players welcomed him, and talked to him. They gave him a signed shirt and other items, and asked him to sign the flag that they bring out before every football game. It was a very emotional moment for us and many of the players and coaches.

Here is Thunder chatting up Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall.
Here is the Bishop with the quarterback Max Hall and defensive end Jan Jorgensen.
This is Dave B. with Max Hall, wide receiver Austin Collie and Thunder.

Here is Thunder, Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall, Bishop Edwards and Rob H. (our ward Bishopric with the Coach). It was really a wonderful and touching day, and we really appreciated BYU for letting us all come and celebrate the strength of a truly wonderful man!

How observant are you?

I promise... you'll watch it twice!

Prayer

This has been a hard week for us. Our congregation leader, Bishop Kelly Edwards, is currently in the hospital. Scans have shown several tumors on his brain. His primary physicians remain very optimistic that with surgery and medication Bishop Edwards will be able to pull through this. We have been invited join in fast and prayer this Wednesday the 12th for him and his family. In addition, we've been asked that at 8:00am on Wednesday we each have a special prayer for Bishop Edwards wherever we are.

His doctors are determining the best course of treatment right now. Many of you reading this don't know our Bishop, but would you mind keeping him in your prayers?

Grandma Time...and Other News

We've been having a ball with Grandma in town. Mostly, I've been reminded that the Lord does look out for me and my family. This trip was planned several months ago, before we knew about our ward splitting and Thunder being called into the Bishopric. He has had meetings past 10 PM many nights this week and last week, so it has been sanity-saving to have my mom here! Here is Grandmas doing push-ups with Sunshine and Tornado after a trip to the gym.

We've mostly kept our normal schedule because I've been so tired.

Yeah, tired.
And sick.
And cranky.
Repulsed by odors.
Not sleeping normally.
Sore from achy joints.
Uh, did I mention that my favorite spaghetti sauce is PREGO?!?!?
Yes, we will have another little crazy addition running around sometime late spring, probably in May. We just heard the heartbeat today! Yes, yes, yes we will have four kids and yes, we are most likely going to go crazy. But we are very excited for our family! Cloudburst said she wants a girl, because "there are already too many boys in this family." Sunshine jumped off the couch with a loud growl and said he wants a boy- go figure! I had pretty severe hip and pelvic pain with my last pregnancy, so I am trying to do a lot more exercise this time around, we'll see if it helps.

Body Worlds

On Saturday we headed up to Salt Lake and visited the Body Worlds exhibit. This is a traveling exhibit that showcases real human bodies in amazing ways. The bodies are posed in acrobatic poses and certain muscle groups are highlighted. On one body they had removed everything except the blood vessels and bones. They had sections that focused on different organ groups and excerpts from poems on the wall. It was amazing to view and the kids were fascinated by it. Although after a while of my explanations, Cloudburst said nicely, "Mom let's not do any more talking. Let's just look." For the old scientist in me, it was wonderful!

Here are the kids climbing the wall outside the Leonardo Museum where it was held. Thanks Grandma!

Halloween!

We got a fun mask for Thunder to wear... but the kids had a little fun first!

Then it was showtime. Thunder got all dressed up and sat very still on the porch. We had spooky music playing and lots of kids weren't so sure if he was real or not. So to test this, kids threw candy at him, hit him with sticks and yelled at him. And I thought he was supposed to scare them! He did get in a few good scares. And he has big plans for next year...

And last but not least... the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf! The kids had a great time trick-or-treating, although they did get tired by the end. Good thing Grandma was here and pushed the stroller! After we got home, we headed over to a friend's house for some food and fun. Fun night!

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!!