The Thorell Family

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Puerto Rico!

Matt and I are leaving in a couple of days for Puerto Rico. Sounds fun, right? Well, we're pretty excited but sad it's only for 3 days! Matt is interviewing for Dental School on Monday. I've had mixed feelings about moving so far away for 4 years, but as it becomes closer to reality, I'm getting pretty excited! I really want my children to experience all that they can, as early as they can. What a great opportunity for all of us to step out of our comfort zones and experience a new culture! We are very lucky to have a couple of friends ( Sheldon and Stacey Moon and Gabe Smith) down there already who have been gracious enough to show us around. I've also come to realize that if we move, we literally can only take suitcases with us. We've lived in two homes since we've been married, and in the process have accumulated a whole lot of CRAP! I just keep thinking that maybe a miminalist lifestyle is what we need! Luckily, we'd be right outside of San Juan with all the conveniences of home, so a lot of things can be replaced when we move, but it'll still be wierd leaving most of what we have behind in storage. Now I'm just rambling! As I walk around the house, I just keep thinking, CAN I live without it, or not? I think I'll surprise myself!

This is a beautiful pic I found on line of the rain forrest in Puerto Rico. I'll post pics (not as cool, but with us in them) whenwe come home next week!

While I was posting this, Beckett came over to the computer like this. Seriously! Why must he eat all the markers? You can't tell in the pictures how green his face really was. I guess this is a lesson of why I rarely blog when my children are awake. Not much good happens to unsupervised children!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Conversation with London

On Saturday afternoon, we were headed to our nephew's 3rd birthday party in Riverton. We were trying to listen to the afternoon session of conference in the car, but London kept interrupting us. Matt asked her to listen for words she knew.
Just then she yelled, "he said Holy Ghost!"
Matt: That's right!
London: Daddy, what does the Holy Ghost look like?
Matt: Well, sort of like Heavenly Father.
London: Is he as big as you?
Matt: Yep!
London: Well I think he's really a bird! (She's singing a song in primary that compares the holy ghost to a dove)
Matt: Well, he can be everywhere, just like a bird.
London: Could he even be in our house?
Me: Of course he can. We want him to be everywhere that we are, London
London: Really! He can come to our house? I've always wanted a pet!

Soccer and Conference...

I know, it's quite a catchy title... Saturday morning, London had her first soccer game of the second half of the season. (they played 4 games in the fall and now have 4 games in April.) Well, it was FREEZING cold on Saturday morning, and it doesn't help that London has been in a bad mood for weeks now. She kept crying when she was on the field because the other team was taking the ball away. The one time she went out on the field to actually make an effort at playing, a HUGE kid on the other team pummeled her to the ground. It made for a very long hour! The first game in the fall was similar, and the rest were great, so hopefully the next 3 are better!

London looked like this most of the game!

Beckett is a soccer super fan!

London at half-time. Probably the only smile of the game!

This morning, we met at my mom's for her semi-annual Conference get together. We had a great breakfast and got to watch most of the morning session; great considering how many kids were there! Luckily, the older girls helped by keeping the younger kids in the other room to watch a show. I always love Conference! I love the speakers, watching it in my sweats, and spending time with my family. We always have the funnest time!

Beckett LOVES his cousin, Baby Reesey. He kisses her every chance he gets!

Grandpa Payne with the kids

Wii finally got one!

Matt and I have been wanting a Wii for a very long time. After stalking the electronics dept. at Walmart for what seems like months, with no luck, we broke down and succombed to Ebay. We've had the funnest time! I'm partial to tennis, and Matt loves the golf. We also had to get Dance Dance Revolution! We're not good at all, but I'm sure it's hilarious watching us attempt even the Beginner level. Someday maybe we'll be awesome! We've loved having family and friends over to hang out and play. The best was watching my Grandparents bowling. They used to love to bowl, and can't do it anymore. The kids love to play baseball- London likes to pitch and we give Beckett the TV remote and tell him that he's playing baseball, too. I love that it's so family friendly!

We had Sabrina and Jared (and 2 kids) over on Friday night, and Dan and Natalie (and 2 kids) over on Saturday night. We had such a fun weekend with you guys! Thanks!

Grandma Payne bowling!

Grandpa Payne, Beckett, and York playing Baseball

Matt and Dan playing Tennis

A way blury picture of Matt, Jared, and Beck playing something, who know's what?

Monday, March 31, 2008

IKEA and My Black-Eyed Pea!

So, on Friday morning, Matt suggested we go to IKEA later that day, beings we'd be in Sandy for a wedding anyways. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. We packed up the kids and headed south. When we got there, the kiddie playground was full, so we decided to go eat. LOVE those Swedish Meatball with mac and cheese! Right after we ate, our pager went off, letting us know that London could go to the playland. About 40 minutes into her hour long stay, Matt and I were looking around downstairs and we heard a piercing scream. I'd know that scream anywhere! Luckily we were close and got to London soon. She was HYSTERICAL! I ran and grabbed her and then looked at her face. Not good. She had a huge goose egg right next to her left eye, and it was getting bigger. My immediate reaction was "who did this to my kid?" It's amazing how defensive you get about your kids. London then told me that she was walking up the stairs to go watch the movie and just fell into a step- face first. I calmed down a bit knowing that no one had hurt her, but was so sad that she was hurting. Someone from IKEA management came to talk to us about the "incident" and give us an ice pack (I think they were just finding out if we were the lawsuit type). It's been 3 days, and she's not complaining much, but she has a heck of a shiner. Poor kid!

a side view-

London really wanted an action picture of her dancing on the blog. She obviously has her mother's rhythym- not so good!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

"Pretty" School Fieldtrip

Some of my North Salt Lake friends and I have been doing a Joy School/Preschool (which London has always called "Pretty School") for our kids since the fall, and since February was space month, we decided to take the kids to the Clark Planetarium (at the Gateway) to see the exhibits and see a cute movie called, "The Cardboard Rocket Ship." We ate lunch at the fountains, chased kids up and down the stairs, and I attempted to shield my children from the freezing winds mixed with fountain mist. (Note: again I was hoping for great weather, so my kids were dressed in capris, shorts, sandals, etc. Brilliant, I know, but at least I grabbed some hoodies for all of us on the way out the door.) The kids LOVED the Planetarium! There are so many cute things to see and explore there. During the movie, London kept grabbing my hand and saying, "Mommy, we're moving; we're really moving!" So cute! Thanks for the fun day, girls!