Clean Whitey Tighties

The camera was not the only thing that flashed...

Eye am going to miss you.

You may have heard that my sister Cheech is Moving. It is going to be very hard to SEE her go.

I can't take it anymore!!!

Tired of Kade getting all the attention, Maddison finally hits her limit and acts out.

Ending things on a High Note!

The Thompsons camping trip was a success ... sort of.

The family talent show ended abruptly when Kade performed the trumpet routine he learned from his uncle Matt (clark). Whoa!!!

The kid in the background was not impressed.

By Uncle Bret

Kade Has a Bad Day. (by Uncle Bret)

Celine Dion Concert in November?

Nope!

No Celine Dion Concert in November!

Celine got sick and it was post-poned until February!

After waiting for over a year, with tickets in hand, we ended up having to wait an extra 3 months for the big night. To top it off . . . Drumroll please . . . it was re-scheduled for a Sunday night! Double Bummer! But we didn't hesitate for a second about going. It was awesome!

Jenny and I were so lucky to have Grandma Z and my Aunt Leslie come with us. The second we walked in the door, I turned around and there was Sister Carolyn Chambers (a cute sister in our ward, and one of Jenny's primary leaders) with her daughter in line buying a Celine Dion shirt. We both laughed about it being Sunday and how funny it was to see each other there. We said good-bye and told them to enjoy their night.

We started our search for a fun place to take a picture but we didn't have much luck. We decided to take our chances with the Celine Dion Poster Man . We were nervous about taking a picture in front of this table full of Celine posters because we thought the man would be upset. But as you can see, he enjoyed jumping into the picture himself.


After grabbing some of Jenny favorite food in the world, MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP ICE CREAM, we headed in to find our seats. Little did we know, we were in for another surprise. Sister Chambers and her daughter were sitting right behind us! What are the chances our seats would be right together?!? It was fun to sit by them!

It was so fun to watch Jenny's eyeballs about pop out of her head when she saw how close we were to the stage. This was Jenny's first concert and I think she loved every second of it!

The only thing that could have made it better would have been if Katy would have been with us. Hopefully next time she'll be able to join the big girls! :)

Thank you Mom and Leslie for making the night so fun. Les, I'm so glad you joined us at the last minute. You need to join us more often for our girls' nights out. Movie night . . .?

The concert was great, Celine was great, the company was great. . . I would definitely do it again. Even if it was on Sunday!

(Here is an awful video of one of my favorite songs)

Happy Valentines Day!

Just a little Valentine Message

from our One-and-Only. . .

Shhnnaw :)

Lights at Temple Square!

Last night Katy was in charge of our family night, and she surprised us with a trip to see the lights on Temple Square! She made a plan with Dad and off we went. It was really cold and snowing just a little bit. But we had so much fun walking around looking at all the lights, reflection pond, nativities and most of all the temple.

We couldn't keep Katy out of the snow and water. We warned her many times that she would be cold if she got wet. And before we knew it, she had her gloves off in her pockets and wet pants up to her calves. She got a little chilly!

We even got to peek inside both the old tabernacle and the new conference center. We were amazed at the difference in size! We had never been inside the Conference Center, so we were amazed with how big and beautiful it is. We asked our guide lots of questions like . . . How many people can be seated in here? How long did it take to build? Is the Tabernacle Choir preparing for a Christmas Concert soon? Tyler had lots of questions too. He stumped our guide with the question . . . "How many feet high and wide is this building?" LOL! We love our Tyler!



We topped off the night with some hot chocolate chips cookies and ice cream back at home. We are so happy that we were able to go to Salt Lake to see the lights this year. In years past, things have been a little crazy when we've attempted to see the lights. It was fun to be together with our family . . . to think about Christmas and spend a night together. I'm sure this will be something we will never forget!

Birthday Countdown!

Today is one of my nephew's birthdays. And I've been thinking about him like crazy lately. Last week I realized that his birthday was coming and that's when the mental countdown began. This last weekend I spent a lot of time in bed with my leg up and every once in awhile I'd think, "Just a few more days until Kade's birthday!"

Now I know that a countdown is normal for me to do with my own kids' and their birthdays, but I don't usually consciously count down days for my nieces and nephews. But for some reason this cute Kade (as you can see from the great picture above)has been on my mind.

I've thought several times this morning about when we can call Kade to sing "Happy Birthday" so that our time zones would match up okay. But by the time we woke up this morning, Kade was already at school.

And then it hit me. While I was doing the dishes this morning I realized why Kade has been on my mind. He's turning eight! and that's not just like any other birthday. Eight is a big one for Kade because he's going to be baptized in a couple weeks.

I don't know why we have different thoughts about loved ones at different times like we do, but for some reason I could feel that this was an extra special one for Kade. I'm so happy for him.

Kade, we love you. We are so proud of you for choosing to be baptized. Grandma and Grandpa Clark told us that they get to come see you for your baptism, and we think that is great. You will have so much fun having them there with you. They love you so much.

We hope you have an extra fun birthday today in that yummy, Florida sun. We want you to know that we love you and we're thinking about you.

Happy Birthday Kade!

The Magic of Time

This post is dedicated to my dear Jenny for encouraging me daily to keep blogging.

It's 8:30am. Tyler just took off on his bike for school, Katy is still curled up in bed and Shawn is in a continuous morning giggle with Bret in my bed. Jenny quietly, and very sneaky-like, closes the door to my room so I can sneek out the front door. We're headed to the Orthodontist for a new retainer that was lost in the waves at Laguna Beach.

As the front door closes behind us, Jenny says, "Mom, you forgot your shoes!" I'm holding them along with my sweatshirt because I had to get out quick before Shawn would see ( the unbelievable love of a 2-year-old for his mom. . . ).

We climb in the frost covered car. Jenny's sitting next to me and she grins as she comments that she's got seat warmers under her bum. She has recently come to think that she is old enough to sit in the front seat with me. I reluctantly don't refuse because I secretly love having her by my side. I start up the car and then finish getting ready with my shoes and sweatshirt.

That's when I turn to Jenny and plead, "Come on! Just stay home with me . . . let's do home school. Then we can play every day." She smiles like she always does when I say this and playing along says, "That would be fun, Mom".

At this moment, my heart swells with love for my Jenny. And I see how the magic of time has changed Jenny to not only being my little buddy but also my friend.

When I reflect on my life and how quickly time goes by, I see how important it is to "find joy in the journey—now" (President Monson). My kids are growing up so fast that it almost breaks my heart. Each moment counts for so much.

As we pulled into the school parking lot, I was sad as I watched Jenny gather her things and flip her backpack onto her back. I really could have gone for a sluff day. But it makes me smile to see that I found joy in something so simple. And I pray that these moments will come again and again.

I love you Jen! :)