Thurber Times

I have asked Nicole to be our blog updater.
Look at this adorable family newsletter she put together Saturday while she was babysitting for Ryan and I. We went for a quick Valentine lunch date.

Nicole wrote the text, and Elise drew the pictures. Hope you're able to read it. Ryan and I LOVED it and had a giggle over the newsworthy stories.

MIRACLE!! A new post!

I know, it's been over a year since my last post! Facebook has taken the place of the blog, but I realize it's not accessible, or friendly for many. So here I am, back on the blog, and I can see that I need to make many upgrades and improvements to the page.

We just returned from Boise, ID last evening. We spent a great week there with Ryan's family. Unfortunately, three of the days we were there Ryan had to be away for business. The girls and I spent a lot of time at Aunt Tina's using her fun swimming pool. Erika and Elise became much more brave with swimming away from the steps. Elise even swam without the swim vest, from one side of the pool to the next. She was very proud of herself for having the courage to do it!

Nicole and I were able to participate in the "See Jane Run" race on Saturday. I ran the 5K - very leasurely, and Nicole did the 1 mile kid run in 9 minutes. It was her very first race and she loved it! Although, she was dissapointed that she didn't get a champaign flute. They were only for the adults. I gave her mine so she can proudly display it on her shelf in her room with her medal.

There was one major thing lacking from this trip to Idaho. The Dares. They no longer live in Nampa, and we were really noticing the void. Erika kept asking to see Baby Alice, and Elise frequently asked why Eleanor had to move to CO. It's weird to be in Boise and not have my sister nearby.

Now on to the rest of Summer! Nicole will be finishing her Scuba certification on July 2. Ryan and I will be working on our Advance Open Water certs on July 2-3, all in Monterey. We are so fortunate to live so close to one of the most beautiful places in CA. I love Monterey!

Eating with Chop Sticks

The day I returned from Japan, all of the girls came home hungry for noodles! They must have sensed that I just came from the land of Ramen and Soba noodles.

Here are some photos of the girls enjoying some Top Ramen - which tastes NOTHING like the fresh Ramen and Soba in Japan. It sure was cute to watch them enjoy eating with chops sticks.

Erika was first to try it and she was quite successful!

And since it is tough to get Kristian in photos these days, I added one of him eating a cupcake (of course it would be some kind of dessert).

Yard Work

Finally! A New Post!!!

We have embarking on the yard, and the girls are the most excited. Notice from the photos that Kristian is nowhere to be found. This is why he is tasked as the dish doer.

Also notice the fine attire all the girls are wearing.

These photos are in our backyard, which we have the huge goal of getting finished this year. We are also working on the front yard, which is not as difficult, but still takes TIME.

Christmas Activities

During our visit for the holidays, the kids enjoyed the annual Kiwanis pizza party.
The girls loved the clown name Sparkles.
As Eleanor told me, "she was dressed from head to toe!"

Here is Nicole with her balloon animal made by Sparkles.

Eleanor with her doggy with a leash. It lasted until the next day - which is impressive.

Elise with her balloon thing-a-ma-jig.

Erika happy to be a part of it all with her balloon too.

Kristian and his friend Joel scarfing down the pizza. I was told they woofed down a whole large pizza on their own.

OH NO!!

Looks like all of the photos from the Holidays are lost.
My SD card will not read. The only photos that I have are the ones posted previously. I am SO sad. My in-laws may have captured a few, but not as many as I had taken.
It feels like a whole Holiday of time lost forever.

To say it plainly and honestly, Christmas 2009 sucked.

The Girls

Here are some pictures of the girls having fun playing tea party.

Alice didn't want to have pretend food, so I took her to the kitchen for some real snacks.

Sorry Jacci, she was fussing a bit - notice the red eyes :-(

But then she was real happy later to be in her seat! She loves to go places!

Merry Christmas!!

Hello Dear Friends and Family!
Merry Christmas to you all!

For several months my home computer has not allowed me to post pictures on any website - this blog or facebook. This, no doubt, is due to Microsoft Vista acting crazy.

Now that we are on Christmas vacation in Idaho, I will attempt to download some photos to share with you all. I know my Mom is anxious for pictures.

More to come......
Jessica

Halloween

Happy Fall!

In early October we took the kids to Half Moon Bay to enjoy some pumpkin farm festivities. We went to Arundel Farms where there was a huge maze made out of Hay walls, some live action sword fighting, and some play time for the little ones.

Nicole and I were Champions of the maze! Luckily we had some help finding our way, or else we might still be there!

Sword fighting action!

Looking bored while watching the sword fighters.

Nicole, Elise and Kristian - Erika wanted to run around.

School Photos

I know......I know.......It has been too long since I posted last.

Here! Enjoy the new school photos of the girls!

Fun in the AZ Sun

Cool Uncle Joey with the girls. They all had some much fun in the pool!


Elise steals shoes, anyones shoes. They don't even have to match and she will put them on and walk all over the place. The other day when we were in the mall she was really mad that we had to enter a store instead of cruising the mall - cause she was walking. I was able to distract her with the shoes on display. She was very excited!

Erika is also known for taking soda cups - when she knows that it is soda. She knew that I had diet coke, and once I was in the pool, she grabbed my cup and took off.

I love that the cup is almost as big as she is!

Grandpa loved playing in the pool with the kids! Erika loved the waterfall and let Grandpa take her around the pool. NO ONE else was allowed to.

Elise hasn't quite got the hang of being in the water. But she loved to hang around the baja step and stay cool in the hot sun.

Nicole is our swimmer. She is a fish. We had a lot of fun with Nevika in the pool. He is a really good doggie with the kids. I remember when he was younger he would growl when the kids approached him. He is over that. I never hear him growel, only groan to be pet and loved more.

Lizard Play

We have many little lizards that live in our yard. The girls really like to watch them scury along when we walk near them on our front steps of the house.

One of the lizards was chillin out on the wall, and Elise wanted to get a closer peak. The longer she looked at it, the more brave she became with wanting to touch it. She touched it, and it ran away down the wall into the yard. Elise followed it, and began pestering the poor thing. After about 10 minutes of poking, proding and chasing the poor guy he was able to find refege under a patch of crab grass. I am not sure if the lizard is still alive. At one point Elise was trying to pick it up with a stick by spearing it - EWWW!!

As you can see, Erika was around for it as well. She touched it a few times, but was much more gentle.

Happy Birthday Erika!

Sunday Erika turned two....my baby is getting to be a big girl!


She has begun sitting on the potty, and has had success - thanks to big sister Nicole. It is great the Nicole and Elise encourage her and most of all HELP ME!

Nicole and Elise coached Erika all day on opening presents and the excitement of it. Erika was moderately interested. That all changed when the bubble machine made it's way out of the wrapping. The opening of presents was pretty much over.

Sitting with Mom opening the musical card. Those cards are pricy, but my girls LOVE them. They play with them enough over time that they finally make their way to the garbage when they break (or Ryan is sick of hearing the same tune over and over again).

Both sisters helping Erika along.

Notice how fixated Erika is on getting that bubble machine!

This is Erika trying to be the boss with putting the bubbles in the machine. It was a fiasco.

This is how Erika says "Cookie" - a talent that was taught to her from our friend Margaret Payne.

She did a great job blowing out the candles! She actually did it herself!

Vacation and Fourth of July

Sorry! No photos with this posting. I am in Idaho and away from my home computer where my photos are stored. For those of you who are connect with me on Facebook, you can see the photos from this trip under "Summer Vacation"

We had a great time in Utah, Montana and Idaho!

Thank you to Granny and Uncle T.J. and Aunt Jacqie for hosting all of us in Montana!

Thank you Jennifer and Heidi for hosting us in Utah!

We left San Jose early on June 26th for SLC. I drove with the three girls. It took us 14 hours to get there - many stops, and lots of construction on I-80

We left SLC on June 29th for Montana with Jennifer and her two sons, Connor and Damian

Joe W. dropped Kristian off at EFY at BYU Provo the same day.

We spent two great days with our Granny and Uncle T.J. and Aunt Jaqie.

We drove back to SLC on July 2 and Ryan flew in from San Jose and met us there - Yeah!

We spent the 3rd just chillin and visiting. We saw our good friends - The Peay Family - who we have not seen in several years.

We picked Kristian up from EFY on July 4th

Drove to Boise. Spent the evening with Jacci and Matt. Great food and a lot of fun!

Drove back to CA on July 6th with Jacci and her two girls, Eleanor and Alice.
We spent 10 days together in San Jose. I think it just about killed Matt to have his three girls gone for so long. THANKS MATT for letting them visit us in CA!!

Now we are in Boise - again. We attended Ryan's high school class reunion this evening. It was a good time. I actually knew a few people there, and we have reconnected with a few friends we had lost touch with.

We will be back in CA by Saturday. I promise....I will post photos next weekend.

Love you all!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of you Daddy's out there!

Here is a photo of my adorable Dad the the newest Grandbaby - Alice.

What can I say.....I get the goofiness from my DAD!! HAHAHAHA!!!

And to my Husband........You are awesome to make the yummy brisket dinner for us!

We love you and everything you do for us!