I am Thankful for...

...family that live in Atlanta!!

We spent the Thanksgiving weekend in Atlanta, GA with Todd and Diane and family (Evan's aunt and uncle). They have three boys (Dallin, Carson, and Logan) who were WONDERFUL to my kids the whole time we were there. Thank you! It was such a relaxing weekend and so fun to hang out with family. We ate yummy food, played lots of games and had lots of nerf gun wars...good times! Sam now asks me almost every day when we can go back to visit our cousins in Atlanta. I hope we can go soon too. :-)

PS- Our camera broke and so there won't be many blog posts or pictures for a while. Sorry. I used Todd and Diane's camera and took the above picture. 

Road Warriors

We were a family on the go for almost 3 whole weeks...The movers came on Friday September 2nd and we arrived in Birmingham on Wednesday, September 21st. We had such a fun time on our trip across the country. It was wonderful to spend all that "quality" time together, but even better to be able to stop and see so many family members and friends along the way.

We spent the first few days of our trip in...Seattle!! :-) Evan's parents recently moved back to Seattle from Missouri and it was great to spend some time with them. They were a HUGE help as we were finishing packing up our house and cleaning it once the movers were gone. The kids stayed with them and it was nice to know they were there and loving being with their Grandma and Grandpa. They have a GREAT yard with a fun swing and hammock and they had a blast.

To celebrate finally being *DONE* with everything (dissertation, packing, cleaning, etc.) we took a trip to the Space Needle. It was fun to see Seattle from so high up. Seattle really is one of the prettiest cities I have ever seen, especially when the sun shines!! :-)

 After our stay in Seattle we drove on to Spokane, WA to spend a few days with my Dad and Alane as well as my sister and her family. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins and I had a great time spending some time with my family. I love my sister, MaLeesa. She is such a good friend and source of strength to me. I will miss living close to her. I will also miss my Dad and Alane. My Dad is as steady as they come and Alane is wonderful, so easy going and patient and kind. I was able to see many of Alane's kids during this trip and it's alway good to see them and continue to get to know them better.

The kids with Grandma and Grandpa and all their cousins.  

One evening Evan had them all lined up on the back deck looking for deer and wild rabbits. I think they actually saw a few.

Lauren, Bella, and Aracelli...these little girls were all born within a few weeks of one another. So cute!! Bella is a sweet little girl. She can't hear, but she sure makes up for it in enthusiasm. She is so expressive and it's so fun to watch her communicate. It was also fun to see the other kids learn some sign language so they could interact with her.

After our trip to Spokane we drove to Utah and spent a day or so with my family in Logan and the Provo area. After that we drove on to...Cedar City, UT and spent a few days with Evan's sister, Shelley and her family. We thoroughly enjoyed that visit and took a trip up to Cedar Breaks National Monument. So pretty!! :-)

Next stop was the GRAND CANYON...

The Grand Canyon was breathtaking, absolutely spectacular. The kids however weren't so much into the scenery. They were more interested in climbing on all the rocks, stepping in puddles, or finding cool sticks. There aren't too many barriers at the Grand Canyon, not a lot between you and the bottom of the canyon. This is fine if you are a responsible adult, but when you're four and think all rocks are fun to climb on...not a good idea. Evan and I spent the majority of the time playing man on man defense, trying to keep our kids safe. We were a little nervous at times. Other than that, it was great. We definitely want to go back when our kids are older and might appreciate it more.

From there we drove on to...Phoenix, AZ to visit Evan's grandparents and his aunt and uncle. We spent a nice Sunday visiting with family and enjoying the HOT weather. We also loved the cactuses (cacti??). So cool!!

Do they look like they're hot?!? I've never felt such intense heat before in my life and I think it was only 99 degrees or something. 

Our family with Grandpa Thacker

From Phoenix things got a little crazy. We had some LONG driving days. I'll just mention that we left Phoenix Monday morning at about 5 am and arrived in Birmingham Wednesday afternoon around 4 pm. Yikes! We did spend a night with my cousin Nicole and her family in Tulsa, OK on the way. It was wonderful to see her. She's one of those people who I have always felt a special connection with, so it was fun to spend a few hours with her.

Wednesday was Evan's birthday and I felt so bad because we didn't do anything to celebrate other than eat dinner at Pizza Hut (his choice...sort of). I made him a birthday dinner a few weeks later after we were a bit more settled, but all in all a pretty lame birthday. Good thing he's such a good sport!

Thursday was Lauren's birthday and I couldn't let that one slip through the cracks. We stayed with my cousin and her family for a few days after we arrived in Birmingham. They are great and I'm so so excited to be living near them. Bonnie (my cousin) has always been someone I admire and look up to. It's been fun to see her kids and my kids interact with one another. Anyway, we had Lauren's birthday party at their house. I think Lauren had a good time. She was pretty tired, so it was a little hard to gauge how much fun she was having. ;-)

Lauren, 3 years old!!!

Lauren and Sam with their "new cousins". :-) 

We are settling into life in Birmingham and I'll try and post more about that soon!! 

Yipppeeeee!!!!

For the past 4 years, Evan has worked at this building....

and sat at this desk....

not anymore because he's finally DONE with his dissertation!!

Introducing, Dr. Evan Lloyd Thacker...

Evan with members of his dissertation committee, Susan Heckbert and Bruce Psaty.

We are so happy and proud of him...way to go, Evan!!!

I love you!!! :-) 

It's About Time!

Well, it's time I played a little catch up with our blog. Here's our biggest news to share...We are moving to Birmingham, AL in just three short weeks! 

I'm dying because at this point I've only packed about 5 boxes and each night after the kids go to bed I intend to pack more, but I'm always too exhausted to do anything but go to bed. Evan has been working 80 hour weeks the past 4 weeks in a huge last push to get his dissertation done (his defense date is August 30th). He finally got all three of his papers done last week, so things have been a bit more normal lately. Now all he needs to do is some final revisions and formatting. Phew!!

Evan's job will be a post-doc position at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and he'll be working on the REGARDS study (Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke), so his research will be focused on why more people in the south have strokes (it's known as the stroke belt) and why more blacks have strokes. Anyway, he's excited for the new job. I'm just excited he'll be done and for a decent paycheck. This position is a post-doc, but will pay way better than most post-doc positions and since we'll be living in Alabama we should be able to afford to live...finally! ;-) Can't wait to not be stressed about that anymore.

I am sad to be leaving Seattle. I have loved living here. I am sad to be leaving our great ward and the friends we've made here. You know...the kind of friends who you love being around and make you a better person and are more like family than friends. Friends who you can drop your kids off with at the last minute because something suddenly comes up and you do the same for them in a pinch.  Anyway, I'm excited for the move to B-ham, but sad to be leaving Seattle.

Because it's been so long since my last post I thought I'd just put up some pictures and movies of our kids and lives the past few months.

Tulips

In April, we went up to see the tulips during the Skagit Valley tulip festival with some friends. The day was cloudy and chilly, but we still had a great time and my friend Jenny took some great pictures of the kids. 

Music Lessons

These movies were taken sometime in March, I think...

You can see they get their mad dancing skills from their mother! :-)

General Conference April 2011

Memorial Day 2011

Kids being kids...

 Kids playing on the pier down by the Seattle Aquarium

 Lauren helping me clean the bathtub

Just Lauren being cute...

 Last week when Evan was working all sorts of crazy hours we went down to his office and had dinner with him. Evan works on the 13th floor of a building downtown and has an amazing view of Lake Washington and the Space Needle. The kids thought that was great and all, but what they really love best of all about visiting Daddy at work is the dry erase board. Sam was particularly proud of the family picture he drew. I thought it was pretty great too!  

The kids have been playing really well together lately. It sure does make my life easier when it happens. In this picture they are reading a book together in their little tent. So cute.

SAM

Sam has been so sweet lately...he's always eager to give me a hug and I admit he gives the best hugs ever!! Last night he said to me as I was tucking him in bed, "I love you mom. You're my best mom because you do so many nice things for us!" I got a little teary eyed and gave him another kiss on the cheek. Man, it's moments like those that are my "mommy paychecks".

Sam and I have been working really hard on helping him learn to say, "Okay, Mom..." when I tell him no. He's getting better, but this is a hard lesson to learn especially when you are four! M&M's are helping...thanks for the tip, Scott and Whit!

He has been really into coloring and painting lately and I have about 10+ new pictures a day hanging on my fridge which I love. He has also learned how to read and spell simple words. He does better with spelling and the other day, he wrote my grocery list for me: melk, bred, apls. I was impressed.

He has also learned how to ride a bike with training wheels and has taken to it like a fish to water. This is his friend Joel's bike, but I can already see that I'm going to have to get him a new bike as soon as we get to Birmingham.

LAUREN

I'm happy to report that Lauren's tantrums have become much less frequent. They only happen now about once every week or two. Phew!! My friend Heather once gave me some great advice, she just reminded me that everthing your child does is a stage and sometimes you just have to wait it out. She was so right on this one.

Lauren is so funny...she has two volume levels, quiet and LOUD! Her voice is so cute and she says some of the funniest stuff. The other night she had woken up in the middle of the night and had come upstairs to our room. I was too tired to take her back down stairs, so I made her a bed beside ours. She fell asleep, but later woke up and wanted me to cover her up. Well, I was half asleep and went to get out of bed and kind of stepped on her at which point she very LOUDLY told me, "Mom! You don't step on kids!". I had to laugh. My favorite word she says is, "nugga bar" (translation: granola bar).

She also is very aware that she is becoming a "big geerl" and she frequently reminds me that she is growing and is a "big geerl" now. She wants to wear underwear, but I've conveniently put that off until she turns three (September 22nd) and until after our move to Birmingham. Now she just reminds me daily that we're going to buy underwear when it's her "birf-day".

I love my kids!! :-)



Terrible Twos?

Lauren is a funny girl. She is very quiet and reserved, sometimes goofy and silly, but then also at times very loud (especially her screams) and not afraid to let her opinion be known. If she doesn't like it, she'll let you know! She can throw a fit like none other that I have seen before. Seriously. For example, the other day I decided to wash her blankies. I knew this could potentially cause a tantrum, so when she wasn't looking I snuck her blankies downstairs and threw them in the washer. Well, all was well until about five minutes into the wash cycle and she realized her blankies were missing. Oh my. She started screaming and crying and ran downstairs crying, "No! No! Don't wash my blankies!" She screamed and cried for the rest of the wash cycle. She'd stand up to try and open the lid to the washer, and then when she couldn't open it she'd throw herself down on the floor in defeat. For the first five or ten minutes I found it mildly entertaining (see above picture that I took with my phone), but then it just got a bit rediculous. She didn't stop until the wash cycle was finished and I moved the blankies to the dryer and she realized they were wet. She settled down long enough for me to tell her she could have them back when they were finished drying. I guess she felt okay with that because the fit finally ended. Thank goodness! Anyway, these sorts of tantrums occur at the rate of three or four a week and some days are worse than others. When we're home I just let her throw her fit in her room, but things get more difficult when we're say at the grocery store or when we're trying to get her dressed for church and she does NOT want to wear a dress. I'm hoping that these tantrums are a phase and she'll eventually grow out of it. In the meantime, we'll just keep plugging along. :-)

Cute Hair

I realize by posting this picture I'm putting myself completely out there, but it's such a cute story that I have to preserve the moment somehow. This morning as I was getting ready for church, Lauren walked in and saw me with all my curlers in my hair and exclaimed over and over again, "Mommy, you hair so cute! You hair so cute!" I had to laugh. She's so funny. I sure do love my little girl!! :-)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Saturday (March 5th) was my mom's birthday. I don't know why, but I always miss her so much around her birthday. She was an amazing woman--positive, thoughtful, dedicated to her faith and family, and truly at times a force of nature! ;-) She never let the health problems she had slow her down. I've enjoyed taking time to remember my mom this week for her birthday!

I love this picture of my mom standing at the entrance to the Public Garden in Boston (notice the horse pooping in the background). I had spent the summer of 2001 in Boston (the year before I actually moved there) and she came to visit in August and then drove back to Indiana with me. She was still relatively healthy at the time and we made the best of it! We had such fun going around Boston and spent a day in New York City (mind you this was a month before 9/11). We rode the Staton Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty and have pictures of the twin towers still in the NYC skyline. We also went and saw Les Miserables on Broadway. It was amazing and one of our happiest memories together. Saturday night (her birthday) I watched/listened to Les Mis and loved every minute and found myself singing the songs all day Sunday and wishing I had a voice like Cozette! ;-) Such happy memories!!

I found this note my mom sent me for my birthday a few months before she died. She often sent me money for a pedicure because she knew how much I love getting pedicures. This is classic "JaNet" and I love that I somehow found this and still have it to remember her. I had thought about going to get a pedicure on Satuday (her actual birthday), but decided to instead clean my house in her honor (she ALWAYS had a clean house).

I also put this picture together on Saturday. I've been wanting to make something like this ever since Lauren was born. It's just a little something to remind Lauren of who she was named after...Lauren JaNet Thacker.

I think the most overwhelming feeling I have felt this week was gratitude for the Savior and the blessings of the temple. I am grateful to know that I will see my mom again, not only see her but give her a big hug again someday. I can hardly wait!! Until then, I'll do my best to live in a way that would please her and my Savior.