Conrad is 9 months.

It was an exciting month for this boy with Christmas and another trip to Utah. He is still very happy most of the time. He has lost all interest in baby toys. Toilet paper and cords (or I should say eating toilet paper and attempting to pull every plug out of the outlets) are his new favorite interests. He has also discovered the joy of pulling every book off of a perfectly arranged book shelf. He loved playing with all the Christmas wrappings and also loved getting pushed around in the little walker he was given. We love this boy!

The End of an Era.

After 36 years of driving a bus for UTA my Dad retired. Conrad and I didn’t want to miss the celebration so we flew out early Friday morning (January 4th) to join in the fun. Nora planned to take a ride on the final loop of his route (the stop was close to her house) and mentioned it to my mom. My mom put it on Facebook and almost all of my siblings ended up being there for his final trip. He was a little surprised to see 30 plus people as he pulled up to the stop. There were only a couple other passengers on the bus so we all fit. It was fun to reminisce with everyone of all of our experiences riding UTA buses when we were growing up. I really wish Seth, Charlie, Matthew, and Lucy could have experienced this with me. It was a lot of fun. 

 

My parents look way too young to be in their retirement years!

That evening we had a big party at Golden Coral with more friends and family. We shared all of our memories of Dad driving his bus. I explained how when I was in junior high I would often forget my bus pass. I quickly learned that all I had to do was tell the driver that I was “Chuck’s Daughter” and they always let me off with a smile. This didn’t help me remember my bus pass but it did show me what a superhero my dad was at UTA. I’m sure retirement will treat him well. Go Dad!

After the big party Conrad and I went back to Donna and Bevan’s home in Midway with plans of skiing the next day. My parents were kind enough to come to Donna’s home to tend the kids so we could ski. We met Nora at the entrance to Deer Valley and were on our way. I was nervous. I had not skied in over 10 years and wasn’t very good at it. Thankfully I’m in a bit better shape now and Donna was a phenomenal teacher. It was wonderful!! The sky was blue and the scenery was breathtaking. I am not used to seeing majestic winter scenes of trees covered in snow. It was also a blast being with my sisters and singing Les Mis songs on the ski lift. It was nice to see Bevan who joined us for a run and we also stopped for the best chili cheese fries I’ve ever had. We skied all over the mountain and by the time we were finished I could feel that I had used muscles I hadn’t used in years.

We said goodbye to Nora and raced back to Donna’s to relieve my parents. Donna and I took our little kids to see Tom and Kim’s new home. It was fun to see them, their cute kids, and their beautiful new home. All of their patience in this housing market sure did pay off. We grabbed a Papa Murphy's Pizza (a Utah visit favorite) for dinner and called it a night. I slept like a rock!

The next morning we were off early to Salt Lake to Mandy and Eddie’s Sacrament meeting. It was a perfect coincidence that I was in Utah the Sunday they decided to bless Ethan. He even wore the blessing outfit Seth’s mom made for my boys. It was fun to visit with their family and eat more delicious food. I love the picture of Mandy and Eddie surrounded by their kids, it’s truly a miracle!

Sunday evening was spent in West Jordan. Conrad and I made a quick stop at the Browns to say hi. We had just seen them in December for Charlie’s baptism but it was fun to visit again, we LOVE Cassie. Conrad and I went back to Nora’s for dinner (oh I still think of that delectable peanut sauce) games, and a little Downton Abbey to top it off. Ok, it was not a little Downton, it was two episodes because Nora had ALL of the season three episodes. I wish I would have watched more.  I went to bed WAY too late and Conrad woke up WAY too early but that’s part of the fun traveling west.

The next morning I made a little trip to see Holly and her kids. I love how the people I love live close to each other. We planned her trip East to visit me and we also planned the future wedding of Conrad and Josie. I returned to Nora’s house and she was kind enough to babysit the little babies while Donna, Bevan, and I went to se Les Mis. It’s incredible they were able to make such beautiful music to accompany such a wretched story.  After the movie (and an In-N-Out stop) I packed up my bags, said some goodbyes, and Donna dropped Conrad and I back off at the airport.  It was a quick weekend! We were blessed to be on a direct flight home and were back in Maryland in no time. Conrad was a little fussy on the plane but once he finally fell asleep he was out the rest of the trip.

What a perfect weekend.

CHRISTMAS 2012!

Our Christmas day was almost perfect (I’ll explain the almost later). We told the kids they couldn’t come out of their rooms before 6:30am. Charlie (who woke up Matthew) joined us in our bedroom right at 6:30 but Lucy was still out. We played a game waiting for her to wake-up and finally around 7 we just woke her up and headed to the Christmas tree!

We approached things a little different this year. After Christmas morning last year, Seth and I looked around and realized it was TOOO much. We decided to go with the three gift approach that I had heard about. Each of the kids got a stocking from Santa that was STUFFED and then three gifts from Seth and myself.  I think I just took the “filler” out of Christmas because when Charlie was going to bed that night he exclaimed, “that was the best Christmas ever!”. (when you add in very generous grandparent gifts and their homemade sibling gifts, there was enough)

The boys made gifts for each other. Charlie really sewed drawstring bags and put chocolate dipped pretzels inside for his siblings while Matthew made worm bookmarks out of felt for Lucy and Charlie. I was happy to see how excited they were to give those gifts.  I was excited to see the 1982 fisher price tea set Lucy received (I had the exact same one as a child). I LOVE ebay!!

A good friend hosted a pajama breakfast at her home Christmas morning so after we finished opening presents we bundled up and went out the door. The feast was grand and It felt good to gather with others on Christmas. When it was time to go the kids were just a little bit quicker than we were to get to the elevators. When we got to the elevators Charlie exclaimed that Lucy had gotten in one of the elevators and the doors had shut (this was a 20 story building). My heart sank and Seth and I immediately started riding the elevator to different levels looking for her. After a LONG 15-20 minutes a very kind person from the seventh floor brought her back to the lobby. We were happy to see her and go on our merry way.

The rest of the day was spent playing games and reading books! The little push wagon from Ikea that Conrad received for Christmas was a huge family favorite. ALL of the kids were constantly fighting over it. Each of the boys got a snake from Grandma and Grandpa Thacker. They both love them but especially Charlie. I didn’t realize he had it draped across him in every picture I took! 

During the week between Christmas and New Years Seth and I went on a date to see a jazz performance at the DC Temple visitors center. They have a holiday performance every night in December; I wish we could have gone to more. I love being so close to a temple.

 

I’m so thankful for the birth of Jesus Christ and his perfect life.

Christmas Eve 2012!

We thought of starting a new tradition this year of going to see a movie Christmas Eve morning. We almost never take our kids to see movies in the theater so they were really excited. The most family friendly movie playing was “Rocket Ralph.”

The show was actually pretty cute and the kids all enjoyed it. Conrad enjoyed climbing up and down the stairs in the theater. It was nice to see some real snow fall down in the afternoon to make it all feel even more Christmasy. That evening we decided to have breakfast for dinner since Seth and I didn’t feel like making a huge fancy spread. The kids were in heaven with fried eggs, bacon, clementines, chocolate milk, and orange juice. After dinner we attempted our first nativity reenactment as a family. It lasted a total of five minutes but all things considering, it was good enough.

 

(the top left picture is my favorite- Mary is holding baby Jesus upside down, the sheep is wandering away, and the wise man is really stoic)

The kids opened their Christmas stockings from Great-Grandma Thacker and we watched the classic “Muppet Christmas Carol.” The kids were excited to rush up to bed and they were all down before 8!

Botanical Gardens and Capital Christmas Tree.

We enjoyed some DC Christmas sightseeing this year. We were unimpressed with the National Christmas Tree last year but we heard better things about the Capital tree so we gave that a try this year. They brought it in from Colorado and it was enormous and beautiful. It was an Engelmann Spruce that stood 73 feet tall and was 74 years old! Many of the ornaments were made by Colorado school children.

The picture on in the bottom middle is the view of the Washington Monument from the Capital.

We actually started out the day at the botanical gardens which are across the street from the capital building. We had heard they had a train display but didn’t know what to expect. We got there shortly after it opened but there was already a line out the door. We quickly got in line and our excitement grew when we heard this is a train display they plan out for a year and spend over a month putting together. It did not disappoint. It was a fairy theme and they used nature materials to put it all together. I could have spent a whole day in the train room looking at all the creations.

Outside of the massive train room, the botanical gardens had an impressive display of poinsettias.  They also had the largest, live indoor Christmas tree on display. After the sightseeing we had a picnic outside by the pond in front of the capital. It was another warm winter day in DC. 

December Festivities.

We had a Christmas advent box that had  an activity every day in the month of December for us to do. Mostly they were simple like, “watch Frosty the Snowman." The kids LOVED it, unless we forgot to put the slip of paper in the box. One of the memorable things we did was  decorating sugar cookies with our dear Ann Arbor friends The Rasmussens. I have no pictures but it was fun to have our families together gain after a couple of years. 

We also went to see a light display at Seneca State Park. This was nice because it’s a drive through experience and you don’t have to leave the warm comfort of you car. The kids loved it and afterwards we went to the mall for an ice-cream treat. After the treat we walked by Santa Clause and there was NO LINE so I though, “why not?” Our kids have never been fans of the jolly guy in person (Thacker gene) so I wasn’t sure what to expect. They all sat on his lap and in the end we got a picture!

Conrad is 8 months! 12-10-12

This boy is growing fast! He loves to stand unassisted now and flap his arms. He is sleeping solidly through the night and LOVES to eat baby food.

Charlie’s Baptism

On Saturday, December 1st Charlie was baptized and confirmed by his Dad into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  It was a wonderful baptism and we felt very blessed to see so many people we love come and support Charlie!

Grandma and Grandpa Thacker, Lucinda and the Brown family flew all the way from Utah to be with us.

The Whole Gang!

Grandpa Thacker gave a talk on baptism and Uncle Mike talked about the Holy Ghost. He used a mouse trap in his talk and the analogy is still being talked about.

TL Charlie and his primary teachers Brother Kuttler and Orme  TM-Charlie and babysitter Trishy, Sister Franks and piano teacher Katie Mckeown TR-Primary Prez Carolyn Colton

BL-Chris & Eme Martin and Thacker gang  BM-Charlie and Sellers kids BR- Cute Seth and Conrad

 

 

After the baptism we walked over to the DC Visitors center to see the Christmas lights and temple.

We are all so proud of Charlie and his choice to be baptized and follow Jesus Christ.