Wendy is coming home...

Wendy is coming home after spending a wonderful week with Jacey, Thomas and sweet little Emma. Wendy checked in several times each day to make sure I was holding down the fort...or at least not letting the Indians (Paige, Parker and Tanner) run the show. Also, we received multiple pictures of Wendy holding Emma who always seem to be asleep. Jacey is making steady improvement and is trooper number one. Thomas had a little battle with pink eye several days ago and was quarantined from Emma and Jacey. Thanks to Grandpa Nelson, Thomas is on the mend and back in the family!

We (Paige, Parker and Tanner) made a mad dash through the house today making sure it was clean and tidy. Parker has pool duty each day. Today's temp is 94, so Parker took his first official swim. Paige is at a friends b-day party and missed out on the season opening swim. Tanner continues to get more hours at Harkins...we love the movie benefits of his job.

We go to the airport in an hour to pick up Wendy...yippy skippy. Home is not home without Momma!

Emma Home for the 1st Time

This is a grand day in the Thurston/Nelson families as little Emma Lyn Nelson came home today to be with her Mom and Dad. She was given a big green light by the Doctors and Nurses from the Timpanogos Regional Medical Center and promptly loaded into her brand new car seat, then whisked off to home for the very first time. Jacey & Thomas called us to break the news. It's hard to believe that just one week ago we were deeply concerned for Jacey's health having just fought for her life after enduring a most horrific ordeal. We are witnesses to the "tender mercies" of our Heavenly Father and his attending angels. The dark and lonely hours of last Monday and Tuesday have turned into bright and glorious days for all who were so close to this birth. Jacey doesn't remember any real part of the emergency, nor does she have any recollection of the 38 hours of sleep that followed the delivery. It is a marvelous thing to have her not really know what was happening. Nevertheless, we rejoice in the wonder and power of family and friends who called on the Heavens for intervention. The Lord loves his children and blesses them with his tender protective care. Faith proceeds the miracle...indeed we have witnessed it first hand.

Update

In case this is where people are coming for an update...Jacey is awake and breathing on her own today, although still very groggy...great news! Still not out of the woods, but doing much better today. Continued thoughts and prayers are needed. Thanks so much for all of the love and support for Jacey, Thomas and Baby Girl. Click here for a sweet video Thomas made of their beautiful baby girl.

She's Here!

After going into the hospital yesterday morning with some stomach and back pain Jacey was diagnosed with Preeclampsia. After some speed bumps, their sweet baby girl was delivered via C-section (about a month early) and weighed in at 5 lbs 7 oz and is precious (as you can see in the pictures). Baby and Mommy have both encountered complications due to the preeclampsia and medication Jacey was on. Any prayers on behalf of Thomas, Jacey and their little girl would be very much appreciated.

I love this one, can't tell if she's yawning or just opening her mouth, but it is so darling.

Proud Daddy, Thomas, and his precious (and so tiny in his arms) girl
Congratulations to the Nelson family on the arrival of their baby girl!

Exciting news!

Click here for exciting news about the Jake and Brittney Thurston family!

Shredded

Click on the picture to see what Porter spent his time doing today....

If you look closely there are tiny bits of shredded Kleenex stuck to his jammies.
Also, he's showing off his "standing all by myself" trick.

Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?

Actually, I know that with my two boys in the house the cookies are safe. The Dr. Pepper, however, is not.

Caught red-handed
Concentrating on removing the loot

Hiding it safely behind his back

Hopefully when he gets older his daddy will share, so he doesn't have to steal it from him anymore when he's not home.

Vote for Jake: The next Old Navy Supermodelquin

Ok right now you are probably thinking I am talking about Jake Thurston...don't worry I am not. Although he could totally win, I'm talking about little Jake Rizley, our friend's son. He needs lots of votes to win a boat-load of cash so hurry up and click on this link to vote for him ASAP.

ps. you can vote once a day, so make sure you go back and vote everyday. Thanks.

pps. I was promised a cut of his cash, which is the only reason I am plugging this for him

ppps. I won't really take money from an almost 3 year-old...I just really want him to win

Ragnar boys

2 Weekends ago Jake, along with Kody, Wendy, Parker and cousin Andrew (and 7 other teammates) ran in the Ragnar Relay del Sol. I'm thinking Jake is going to post a fun video and tell more about it, so I won't. But when Jake got home he was wearing his new Ragnar running shirt and Porter was in the same colors...I had to snap a few shots of my boys.

Jake is really happy to be done with the race! Porter is thinking about signing up for next year.
Thanks for the new teething toy dad!

Motivation

Porter loves to walk while holding our fingers and the furniture and hasn't really enjoyed spending much time on his tummy at all. So we just figured he might be one of those that just skips the crawling and goes straight to walking. But last weekend I realized it was just all about the right motivation.



All he wanted was a little miniature Hershey's chocolate bar with the wrapper on...harmless right?

Well then I noticed he was laying on the floor sucking on it for an unusually long time.

And I remembered that he has one snaggle tooth growing in on the bottom. The result...
He scraped his way right into it!
But, being the mean mommy I am I took it away.
Sorry Porter, when you get a little older you can finish the whole thing!

Cute....

....that's all.

Nasty Oreo Ghetto Fabulous

Here is a little video I put together of the last week or so of the Thurston family activities.

Twinner Jammies

I know, I know...two posts in one day! It's like I have nothing better to do with my time or something, but, while Porter was napping I happened to see this post and had to post some pics of our little guy in his baseball jammies that he is also sporting today. These two little guys are like 1st cousins once removed or second cousins or some sort of relation (Jake and Colette are cousins) and apparently have the same taste in apparel. Enjoy!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent with this little elf doing last minute prep before heading over to Grandma and Grandpa Thurston's house.

First job: Wake up Dad
Last Job: Look Cute (it's what he does best, I wanted him to feel a sense of accomplishment)
(Thanks to my woderful knitting friend, Peggy, for teaching me how to knit this cap)

Over at the Thurston's Wendy and Paige were looking festive...

...and sweet.
Kody, tenderly slicing our yummy tri-tip
(which we enjoyed along with cheesy potatoes and a fresh green salad)
Parker? (Possibly taste-testing the tri-tip)
ps. Don't zoom in on this picture
Porter and Grandma

Lindsay, Jake and I were also present for the evening but didn't make the cut for pictures. Tanner, unfortunately, was gone making "cash to burn" at Harkins (where they always fill your cup to the brim) for most of the evening. Earlier in the day, the boys/men and Lindsay got to see Avatar and then we enjoyed dinner and a great message shared by Wendy. We also all received DVD's from Kody and Wendy and some watched one of those Harry Potter movies. Porter and I went to bed with anxious anticipation of Santa's arrival.

Christmas Eve...Eve

Twas the night before Christmas Eve and all through the house...the Thurston's were preparing for caroling by clicking a mouse....
(this is the end of the rhyme, my creative juices can only flow so much)

(Thank you to lds.org and mapquest for address and location help.)

Before receiving homemade goodies...
After!
Before hearing our "caroling"...
After!

(ok, maybe just my caroling...and maybe Kody's too)

It was a fun night spreading a little Christmas cheer to neighbors and friends.