31years old

I turned 31 years old yesterday, the 25th. I am so grateful that the Lord has allowed me to live these past 31 years and for the countless blessings he has allowed me to have. Grandma and Grandpa Thompson watched the kids while Robert and I went out. The kids each gave me a gift, which they were very excited about.
I was born in Price, Utah by c-section. I came a month early, weighing in at 6lbs. 11oz.

Skunked

Robert rides his bike 2miles from our house to the Coaster each morning...VERY early in the morning. Our house is only a block up from a small river and the trail is along the riverbed. Each morning I wake up to an email detailing his adventures on his bike ride. I've never met anyone that has been sprayed by a skunk. Robert just may be the first. :)
Here are a couple of his adventures...

1/22 - It wasn't rainy when I left the house but it started to come down on the bike trail. I got pretty wet by the time I got to the train.
A skunk decided to sleep on the trail this morning. I was inches away from hitting it. It woke up and scurried down the hill.
My light was dim this morning. I'll have to come up with something else. As it warms up, I might run in to snakes on the bike path. (lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my)...

1/25 - Another skunk this morning. This time it was worse because the skunk started running away from me in the direction I was headed along the bike trail. I didn't know if I should pass the skunk or stop completely. I just held my breath and went by it.
I saw up ahead of me what appeared to be a raccoon. I had plenty of time so I rang my bell a lot and it made it gallop off the road...

Need a favor?

Robert's sister is getting married next month and I'm doing wedding favors to pitch in. Their colors are red and black. Here is the result. The girls and I had a fun time putting these together the other morning. Jane helped taking the kisses out of the boxes and when Linda got home she folded the little boxes and helped put the kisses and red foil in. We've done 50 so far. I found these big Hershey Kisses(about 3"tall) at Walgreens here and bought out the 50 they had. I need to go to another Walgreens to see if I can find the rest. I think they turned out nice. Now, 50 more to go and stickers that say "Laura & Zane" to apply underneath the bow.

18 months

Claire had her 18month check up today. She now goes to the same Dr. that her brother Bruce went to as a baby. Crazy. Here are the stats:

22lbs. (20th percentile)
33" tall (86th percentile)
48cm head (97th percentile)

Claire is soooo active and cuddly and fun. Her favorite activities now include climbing in and out of her high chair at will, jumping on the trampoline in the backyard, and chasing birds at the beach...she really loves birds. She can say a lot of words and now graces the nursery with her presence. What a great girl we have.

Pictured above is Robert and I trying to fatten her up with no-bake cookies. :)

Old School

I sent Bruce and Linda's former teachers in Virginia our new address. These were their responses. The note from Linda's teacher made me cry. It's hard to take your kids out of a great situation and in to the unknown. However, the kids are doing really well here and are happy and enjoy their new school and teachers.

"Hi Bruce!
We all miss you so much! We hope you are doing well at your new school and that you have found some new friends. Thanks for sending us your new address!
How do you like your new home?
The Might Ducks"
(Bruce's class named themselves the Mighty Ducks)

"Hi there California Family!
Thanks so much for writing and I am glad you made it there safely. I have discussed it with the class and we hope to be sending letters or drawings to Linda soon. It is quite funny...anytime we see the color pink or a heart, somebody mentions her. I am glad that she enjoyed the gifts. She was a gift to us! :) Take care and keep in touch.
Denise"
(each child in Linda's class had a symbol and Linda's was a pink heart)

Back to school!!!

E.G. Garrison - A School For the Visual and Performing Arts

Bruce and Linda are at their first day of school right now! Linda is at her first day of Kindergarten ever, and Bruce is having his first day of 1st grade...again. This was not the school that I originally thought I wanted based on test scores and things, in fact I hadn't even heard of it. However, I feel the Lord guided my path as I went to the district office many times and visited schools. When I met with the principal of this school I felt totally at peace and they had room for both of the kids. They incorporate acting, singing, dancing and music in to their learning which will be great for the kids.
My little Gators!! Turns out this school does not enforce a uniform so Bruce was happy about that. Linda is wearing a uniform and looks adorable.

Mrs. Kirkman - Linda's Kindergarten teacher

Mrs. Leupold - Bruce's 1st grade teacher (I didn't have time to get a pic of her and Bruce.)

New Beginnings

The Home:
Tomorrow(Tuesday) we move in to our new home and real life will begin. I can't sleep so I got up to browse the Internet. I feel very anxious about moving in to our home tomorrow. It's like our official start out here and it feels like the first day of school or something. Things have happened very fast. We are very ready to have our own place and the kids can't wait to see inside the house and to have a backyard and to be able to run and jump and play without having to worry about neighbors living underneath us. Grandpa took the big van, which is full of our things and the trailer which is full as well, down to the new house tonight. He put the trailer in the garage and the van is in the driveway. The kids and I will head down in the morning and do as much as we can in the day. Grandpa and Robert will do the heavier things in the evening.

The Job:
Robert started his new job today and thinks things will go well. He was very pleasently surprised when he was taken to his big corner office with two big windows overlooking Orange County. This is a huge step up from the small cubical with no way of seeing outside in DC. He drove to work today and made great time. He works 6:30am - 3:30pm and has every other Friday off. Nice!

The School:
Well, when I went and saw Bruce and Linda's assigned school the other day I did not have a good feeling about it. So, today I went down to the Oceanside School District offices and filed a transfer to get the kids moved to a different school. Long story short...I should know in 2days if the transfer will be possible. I listed two schools that we really like, so hopefully that will help with the odds. The schools will be a little longer of a drive for me, but I won't let my kids go on the school bus anyway...and like I told Robert, the kids are my full-time job. If I have to drive a little for them to be in a better situation, it's no problem with me. That's what I get paid the big bucks for. :)

The Ward:
We went to our new ward on Sunday and we are very happy with it. There is a decent size primary and the kids enjoyed their classes. Jane went to Sunbeams with no problem. Robert and I recognized some people from when we lived in Oside long ago. Now we just wait for callings. Claire starts Nursery next week and we're excited about that. The ward is a good mix of people and I think we'll be happy there.
So, there's a little update for you.

New Year Family Update!

Robert - Looking forward to starting his new job in the Santa Ana, CA Small Business Administration this Monday. He is excited to be back in SoCal. Robert has worked so hard in his career and as a husband and father. We really appreciate all he does for us.

KaDee - I am ready to go to our new ward this Sunday and move in to our new house next Tuesday and to get life officially started here in southern California. I'm so grateful for both of our families that have let us live with them for the past few weeks. It has made this transition so easy on us and our kids.

Bruce - He is excited to start his new church class and his new 1st grade class at school. He is such a confident kid and is not nervous at all about all of the many changes coming his way. He still has endless amounts of energy. He loves playing at the beach...along with the other kids.

Linda - I told her today that not many kids get to go to Preschool for half a year and then Kindergarten half a year. She is excited, but I think she will be a little nervous when the day comes. She is starting to read and is just a great girl. She will start the CTR 5 class at church this Sunday. All schools in Oceanside have uniforms so I've been trying to get her excited about the idea. She loves a good outfit. :)

Jane - She asks me nearly everyday if we can go to our new house and play in the backyard. I think it's safe to say I won't see much of Jane once we move in. She LOVES to be outside. She is graduating from Nursery class at church and will now be in Sunbeams. All the kids have been able to do some gymnastics classes with their Aunt Sue-Sue and Jane especially loves it.

Claire - She is doing really well. All of these changes haven't seemed to phase her. She is saying so many words now and is very bright. She is always very busy and you're lucky if you ever see her sitting still for more than 30 seconds. Claire gets to go to nursery class starting in 2 weeks.

This year will definitely be interesting and full of new people, experiences, joys, and challenges. Through all of these many changes we are grateful for the constant in our lives...our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We know he will be with us and that he guides our path in life. We're also very grateful to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We love all of you and are better people because of having you in our lives.