A Tribute to Big Mama :-)

On January 18th, MaLeesa and John blessed Araceli. She wore a blessing dress my mom had made for one of my cousins over 20 years ago. The dress is a classic "JaNet" creation and Araceli looked SO CUTE in it. MaLeesa and I both commented that Big Mama must have been smiling in heaven the Sunday Araceli wore this dress. What a wonderful tribute to my mom...

Playing Catch-up

So, it's been eons since I've posted anything on our blog...sorry about that. I haven't even posted anything about our holidays. Well, I guess it's time to play a little catch-up. We spent a week in sunny Phoenix with Evan's grandparents while the whole northwest was being pummelled with snow and ice in December. We had a GREAT time visiting Grandma and Grandpa Thacker and all the other Thacker relatives in the Phoenix area. The average temperature was in the high 50's and low 60's and I think the locals thought it was cold, but we were in heaven. It rained a few times, but mostly the sun was shining and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Some of the highlights from this trip were: going on multiple walks around the lakes in Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood, visiting the Mesa temple at night to see the lights, seeing Grandma and Grandpa's old house in Phoenix, visiting Mark and Tammarie in Tucson, relaxing at Grandma and Grandpa's house, Grandma's delicious cooking, visiting "uncle Don" and Lawana in their home, listening to Lawana play the piano, seeing Edwena play with Sam, etc.. It was a great trip...

Because the weather was so bad in the northwest we decided to change our plans and skip returning to Seattle for a night and fly directly to Spokane to spend Christmas with my dad and MaLeesa & John and their family. We had a great visit with them too. There was a TON of snow in Spokane and so the kids (and John and Evan) enjoyed playing in it. Here are some pictures from our week in Spokane for Christmas.

Twinners...

Malachi and Sam holding their babies...

Boys will be boys...

Sam and Daddy Christmas morning...

I seriously can't get over how cute these two little girls are. They're going to be such cute friends when they get older. It's so fun that MaLeesa and I have baby girls a month apart.

Spokane got 5 FEET of snow in the month of December. It was seriously a winter wonderland. Speaking of wonders it's a miracle we were able to get in and out of Spokane with the weather. We had a few delays, but thankfully we were able to go and come without too much trouble. We had a great visit and everyone had lots of fun in the snow.

On Tuesday morning(December 30th) we flew to Portland for another week or so of vacation. We always have a great time visiting Evan's parents. Alan took this picture of Sam with his "Duckie Book" (Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey). This picture is a classic. Sam LOVES his books and we literally don't go anywhere without one of them. For the longest time his "Duckie Book" was his favorite. It still is, but now he's moved onto others...Where the Wild Things Are, Harry the Dirty Dog, Corduroy, and Curious George are a few of his new favorites.

Time sure flies when you're having fun...

Well, the time has flown by since I last posted anything on our blog. We've just been having too much fun, I guess...

Sam is busier than ever and demands about 90% of my attention. We've started "please training" at our house...insisting he say "please" when he asks for something he wants (which is way too often). It's working...most of the time. So now more often than not his demands are followed by a very sweet sounding "pweese" which always makes me smile. This is good because before the "please training" the demands and whines made me cringe and were a HUGE trial of my patience. Anyway, Sam is a happy little boy and all it takes is his cute little giggle/laugh to kill any impatience I might be feeling. This afternoon he and Lauren were giggling together, so I quickly grabbed the camera and actually caught a few seconds of their fun on camera.

I spent a few days in Vancouver with my sister. MaLeesa and I had so much fun just sitting around and talking while feeding our babies. I loved it and it made me wish we lived closer to one another. Gosh, that'd be so much fun! Oh well, maybe one day...probably not, but I can always hope. I should just be grateful we only live 3 hours away. Here's a picture of our babies together for the first time...

We also spent a few days in Portland with all of Evan's family. We were all there except for Brian of course who's on a mission in Atlanta, GA (we missed you, Brian!). Anyway, we had a fabulous visit with Scott, Whitney, Kenzie, and Katie Grace and with Shelley and Kimball. Some of the highlights were...going to the temple as a family, celebrating Kenzie and Kimball's birthday (a few weeks early) and a quick trip to the Portland Zoo. Sam had a great time playing with his cousins, Kenzie and Katie Grace. Again, I wish we lived closer to them and could see them more often.

We blessed Lauren on Sunday, November 30th in our Shoreline ward. It was a wonderful day and Evan gave Lauren a beautiful blessing. Here are some (incomplete) notes from Lauren's blessing:

"Lauren, we bless you that you will come to know your Heavenly Father and your Savior Jesus Christ through your family and other people who you will interact with in this life. We bless you that you will be able to fully express your happy spirit in our family. We bless you that you will always feel the love of your parents, siblings, and other family members. We bless you that as you grow you will develop faith in Christ; that you will learn to repent of your sins; that you will be baptized and promise always to follow Christ; and that you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. We bless you that you will receive temple ordinances and marry in the temple. Your middle name, JaNet, is the name of your [maternal] grandmother. We bless you that you will come to know your grandmother JaNet through the stories shared by family members. We bless you that you will possess some of her wonderful qualities, such as the desire and ability to bring joy and peace to other people's lives."

It was an emotional day for our family. I felt close to my mom and knew she was with us for this special occasion. Gosh, I miss her so much lately...especially at this holiday time of year. Here's a picture of Lauren in her blessing dress and a few more family shots from the day.

(Araceli was sleeping when we took this picture)

(I love this picture of Lauren and Araceli...they're so cute! )

Thacker Family Happenings

Well, a lot has happened in our family over the past few weeks. I've made a list (no particular order) and posted some pictures to show you...

1. Lauren smiles now!

2. Sam still continues to make us smile with all the new words he is saying. He is saying two word sentences now, sometimes even a three word sentence. Here's some typical things Sam says...

"want nummy..."

"monkey nummy pweese" (our cookie jar is a monkey :-)

"make nummy..." (he says this while getting out the blender so I can make him a smoothie)

"I pooopy..." (he says this as he's pooping in his diaper)

"watch doggies...watch duckies..."( watch 101 Dalmations or Make Way for Ducklings)

"go walk..."

"walk Josh's house..." (his friend that now lives down the street from us)

"more kack-or pweese" (more crackers please)

"want hulp" (he wants help)

"mommy's toy" (he says this as he plays with the mouse for the computer)

"not hot" (he won't eat anything that's even remotely warm)

"geek dressed" (get dressed)..."geek kack-or" (get cracker)

"new house"

3. That brings me to the next item on our list...We moved! Our new address is: 511 B N 178th Court Shoreline, WA 98133...I love our new apartment, mostly because there are no dangerous stairs from the car to the house and getting the kids in and out of the house is a piece of cake now. We have an itty bitty yard for Sam to play in that lately he likes to find "wocks" (rocks) in. We also have friends from our ward that live right down the street. It's great!

3. Halloween...Sam was a doggie for Halloween (of course!). He loved wearing his doggie costume and looked cuter than ever in it. We went trick-or-treating to two houses. I think he thought it was pretty cool to ring peoples doorbell and then they give you a nummy all while wearing your doggie costume.

Araceli Maila Ibarra

I have a new niece! My sister had a baby girl on October 18th. She weighed 5 lbs. and 10 oz. She's a cute little Ibarra baby. I'm so excited for our little girls to grow up together and be friends. They'll be a little less than 4 weeks apart.

Here's a great picture of my nephews with their new little sister. Goodness...I love them! :-)

Happy Grandpa!

This Saturday, October 25th is my dad's birthday. Last Sunday we took pictures of the kids and got Sam on video saying, "Happy Grandpa!"...His way of saying, "Happy Birthday Grandpa!"

Family

What would we do without our families?!? I'm not sure what Evan and I would have done without Jill (Evan's mom) this past year. She has come to our rescue on numerous occasions. She stayed with Sam the whole week I was in the hospital. She and Sam came to visit us every day. She has been a HUGE blessing and we are very grateful for her help! She's coming back this afternoon and is going to stay for another week...We are blessed to have Grandma Thacker so close! :-)

My dad took three days off of work to come and help us out. It was so great to have him here. I think we both missed my mom and could feel her close. He drove home yesterday afternoon and I cried buckets when he left. Sam loved having Grandpa around. All day long I'd hear Sam calling, "Gampa!"..."Gampa!" I'm so thankful for my dad. He is so generous and kind to our family.