The Thorson Family

Bug Bites!

2011-08-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

The bugs in our backyard really LOVE to chew on Gabe and Henry. And both of them end up with huge welts! Poor kids!

Perhaps the bug bites are a result of this type of behavior......

Story Time

2011-08-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

We spent a lot of time at the library too! With fun stories and songs, crafts, and air conditioning!

Happy Birthday Gabe!

2011-08-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

Gabe turned 5 this year! Grandma and Grandpa Stokes made the 15 hour drive from Oregon to be here and celebrate with us! He really felt special when they came just for him! We started the day off with the traditional Donut breakfast! We followed that with a Spider-man birthday party in Grandma Brown's backyard. We had a Spider-man bounce house, pinata, spider cupcakes, and, of course, cake and ice cream.

Friends who came to celebrate with us:

Adellae, Kaia, Talmage, Lauren, Kylee, Addison, Reed, Lincoln, Wesley, and Rachel

Summer Feasting!

2011-08-27T13:51:00.001-07:00

Lorili, Sam, Grandpa (doesn't he look happy!) Emi, Bridger, Henry, McKenna

Emi and Henry

(notice Henry has plenty of food in HIS bowl, but he want what is in HER bowl....which is EXACTLY the same as what is in HIS bowl!)

Kendal, McKenna, Lorili, Sam, Bridger, Gabe, Emi, Katie, Henry

We probably spent as much time eating as we did swimming this summer! Every time we turned around we were planning a meal, fixing a meal, or eating a meal! With families visiting at Grandma's house, we spent a lot of our evenings enjoying dinner at Grandma's. Everyone pitched in and contributed, but Grandma's was the place to be if you were hungry! What's even better, is I think my kids ate more food and ate it quicker at Grandma's. For some reason, food is always better at Grandma's (even if their own mom really made it:)! For Father's Day Thor requested a Black Tie Mousse Cake. It was DELICIOUS! and not that hard to make...it just took all day:)

Staying cool in the Desert

2011-08-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

When the temperature is over 100 degrees, you have two options....stay inside in your air conditioned home, or go find water! With cousins coming to town all summer we had lots of chances to head for the pool. We had fun in Uncle Bob's pool, Friendship water park, and the kiddie pool in Grandma's backyard. Lorili and Gabe have both come such a very long way in their swimming skills. Lorili will swim in the deep end, and Gabe swims great, but he is convinced he can only swim where he can touch! Maybe next year!!!

Popsicles are also helpful in keeping cool....so long as you can eat it before it melts off the stick!

I'm back!

2011-08-10T11:56:00.000-07:00

Are you confused as to why after three months I finally have time to post? Well, it's pretty simple. Today was THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! Not just for Lorili, but GABE TOO! Need I say more? I'll have to recap the summer, but lets start with pics from this beautiful morning!!!

Yabba Dabba Doo

2011-05-08T18:53:00.001-07:00

My niece asked me to make her cake for her 12th birthday party. She asked for a three tier fondant covered cake, with zebra print and hot pink accents. It was a fun challenge! It was also nice to have her older sister come and help me out while I taught her a little bit about what I know. What you can't see in this picture, is the hot pink strawberry cake covered in hot pink icing hiding underneath all of that marshmallow fondant! Yummy!

Best Buds

2011-05-08T18:48:00.000-07:00

Climb every mountain...

2011-05-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

Mustang Marathon

2011-05-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

Every Tuesday and Thursday for the last four months, we have been walking laps around the playground at Lorili's school. Lorili and Gabe walk/run and Henry rides in the stroller. The goal was to go 106 laps, equaling 26.2 miles. All four of us met our goal together. The hardest part was making sure we all got up early enough to make it to school in time to get a mile done each day. The kids did great and it really got us all awake and going for the day.

Lorili's First Piano Recital

2011-04-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

Thank You Grandma for being such a great teacher!

Easter Fun

2011-04-26T11:51:00.001-07:00

The Best Easter Egg Hunt Ever! In the backyard with cousins and friends!

The kids colored Easter pictures for a local coloring contest. Gabe won an awesome Cars Basket!

He couldn't believe he won, he said it must have been because he colored the baby chick yellow like it was suppose to be!

"It's like tamatar without the 'ta'"

When the Easter Bunny comes to our house, he likes to hide the baskets. It is so fun watching the kids have one last hunt for their Easter Basket.

Giant Chocolate Cake Easter Egg

We made Bunny Buns!

Easter Egg Cupcakes

Happy Easter

2011-04-26T11:20:00.001-07:00

Thank you Grandma Victoria for the Easter outfits!

Check out all those red headed cousins!

General Conference

2011-04-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

For Valentines Day, Thor gave me a trip. A trip to Salt Lake City with my three sisters to go to General Conference. I was totally shocked, surprised and excited! He had arranged with my sisters to make sure they could all come and he set up the hotel. There was a lot of driving involved, but it is so easy when there aren't any kids! We shopped, ate a lot of yummy food, and enjoyed attending the afternoon session. I came home ready to take on the hard work of being a mom. It's amazing what a weekend can do!

Lorili and Lanie

2011-04-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

T-Ball

2011-04-12T10:07:00.001-07:00

Gabe started T-ball last month, and LOVES it! With practice twice a week and games twice a week, our evenings typically include T-ball. We have been having beautiful spring weather and enjoy the time we get to spend outside.

GO PADRES!

Happy Birthday Monkey Boy!

2011-03-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

Some of Henry's favorite things:

~His monkey blanket~

*Big Brother Gabe*

{Big Sister Lorili}

~Beans~

*Crayons*

{Playing Outside}

~Dancing~

*Eating*

{saying "vroom vroom" while playing with anything with wheels}

~kicking balls around, usually a soccer ball, but any ball will do~

*Climbing*

{Running away}

~"mama" and "da"~

*trains*

{and his new favorite........CAKE}

My big helper

Midnight at the Oasis

2011-03-06T15:31:00.000-08:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Lorili turns 8!

2011-02-25T14:42:00.000-08:00

Lorili FINALLY turned 8! She has been waiting for this ever since she turned 7. For the past year she has been saying, "I can't wait to turn 8 next year!" and "Guess what? Next year I'm going to be 8!" Then when January rolled around, she changed it to, "I'm turning 8 this year!" and "can you believe I'm turning 8 this year?" Well, on February 25th she finally turned 8, and on February 26 she was "finally" baptized. After a whole year of, "I can't wait until I'm 8 and get baptized," now all we hear is "I can't believe I got baptized this year!" We are thrilled that she was so excited to be baptized and are excited to help her grow in the gospel.

The birthday week was filled with all kinds of fun. Grandma V flew into town for the

celebrations and we had lots of cake decorating to do. We took cupcakes to Lorili's class and had a Doll party after school with 12 little girls on Lorili's birthday. Lorili's baptism was the next morning. The water heater for the font was not working and it was filling up with cold cold water! Thor took on the task of trying to heat water in the kitchen and adding it to the freezing water to help take the edge off. Despite all of his (and Pearson, Grandpa, and Shawn's) help the water was still pretty darn cold. However, both Lorili and Thor survived the cold and didn't loose any limbs. The baptism program was wonderful with Aunts and Uncles and cousins all playing a part. Bobby and Mariah sang a beautiful version of the song "Baptism" with Bobby's ukulele. Uncle Tyler and Aunt Juliann gave great talks. And Aunt Julie and Grandma Brown

kept everyone awake and entertained while Lorili got dried off. We were so grateful to all who came and showed Lorili their support for her in this huge step in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She has lots of good examples in her life to help her. We had a luncheon afterwards. Lorili picked hot dogs for the main dish, so we went with that. We made some chili and had potato salad and coleslaw to go with it and had a nice time eating and visiting with family.

Lorili's Favorite Brothers

Trying to warm up the water

The Baptism Cake

Cousins: Kaia, Lorili, Lauren

Cupcakes for School

McKenzie, Gabe, Lorili, Audrey, Yosselin, Michael

Friends at the party: Lauren, Kaia, Gracie, Isabell, Brielle, Charly, Isabell, Anoushka, Audrey, Giovanna, Haalie
Look-a-like doll cupcakes

Bling Bling!

2011-02-20T22:00:00.000-08:00

San Diego Temple

2011-02-19T21:53:00.000-08:00

We made the drive to San Diego with my parents so we could take turns in the temple. Grandma took some fun pictures of the kids when it was their turn to watch.

Soccer

2011-02-01T21:47:00.000-08:00

Both kids played soccer this year. Neither were very aggressive, but each one played their best and finished the season! It was a lot of fun to watch the games and I know the kids learned a lot and had fun.

Happy Birthday Thor!

2011-01-31T21:17:00.000-08:00

I was watching Martha Stewart the other day and she made a "Baked Alaska." It looked yummy and like a lot of fun to make. I needed to make a cake for Thor's birthday, and thought that would be fun to try! It has a brownie base, with three layers of ice cream (chocolate brownie, mint chocolate chip, dutch chocolate). I switched the normal toasted meringue coating and used cool whip instead for easy transportation. It was pretty tasty! Happy Birthday Thor!

Tucson Zoo

2010-12-29T21:27:00.000-08:00

We had a fun visit to the Tucson Zoo with Grandma, Uncle Nelson, Aunt Julie, Isabel, Pearson, Jack, Aunt Jeanna, Halie, Hanna, & Jeremiah. I know we have taken our kids to the zoo in the past, but for some reason my kids were very skittish when we first got there. We headed to the Tigers first, and when Isabel came running over announcing that the "Tigers were out" (meaning they were out in there cage) my kids interpreted that as meaning the tigers were out of their cages roaming around the zoo. I had to drag both of them to the tiger cage and convince them they could not get out! Gabe was really excited to see the alligators, because, well, he had one on his shirt. It was a bit tricky getting his shirt and the hiding alligator in the same shot, so unfortunatly, Gabe's head is missing. The alligator is there, down in the water, with only a big of his head showing.

Eye Need Glasses!

2010-12-26T21:22:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

2010-12-26T19:26:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas! Lorili was so excited to get her first American Girl doll, and Gabe has had fun with his Buzz and Woody buddies. Henry loves his learning train and pushes it all around the house. Lorili and I now have matching aprons to do all the cooking, while Thor's in charge of making sure we always have fresh OJ in the fridge with the help of his new juicer. A yummy crepe breakfast at Uncle Bob's house and a yummy dinner with our friends family kept our bellies full and happy! We also wore ourselves out playing the Kinect, we all get a workout from that!
We hope you had a Merry Christmas too!

Orangy Orange

2010-12-26T19:09:00.000-08:00

December 23rd
Citrus grows like crazy here in Yuma. We found a landowner who lets you come pick your own oranges. The kids went crazy and picked bags and bags of oranges. These will go perfect with the citrus juicer Thor got for Christmas, nothing like fresh OJ!

Christmas Campout

2010-12-25T14:46:00.000-08:00

December 8, 2010
The best time of year to camp out in the desert is the wintertime! Cold, but not freezing is the way we like it! We spent the evening with lots of family {Grandma & Grandpa, Aunt Kendal and family, Aunt Cheryl, Dallin and family, Dean and family, and Jeff and his girls}. We cooked tin foil dinners, roasted marshmallows and layered them on graham crackers with a variety of chocolate bars (KitKat was my favorite), drank gallons of hot chocolate, sang Christmas songs around the fire, and blew up some fireworks! Many of the families left for the night, but a few of us that are really tough, camped out. The kids loved it, Henry wasn't such a fan. We survived the night and had tasty breakfast burritos. The best part of breakfast was that the men did the cooking! Come to think of it, they cooked dinner too! I think we need to camp out more often!!!
After lots of dirt and lots of fun we packed up and headed home. We can't wait to do it again!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-12-25T14:06:00.000-08:00

We drove up to my sisters house for Thanksgiving this year and had so much fun! The weather took a dramatic turn and we were actually cold! It's fun to be "cold" sometimes. We spent the first day in Vegas going to the temple and then checking out some dental chairs at a supplier. The kids had fun trying them out!
Thanksgiving was a feast as always! We had two turkeys and a ham! Thor fried a turkey and boy was it good! Juicy...not greasy! The best part was firing the fryer up again the next night to make turkey chimichangas! Yum Yum! Then we fried twinkies, snickers, pumpkin cheesecake, and oreos! In case you were worried that our twinkies would taste like turkey...well, no need to worry, they didn't! Breaking out the turkey fryer is definitely a once a year activity, or perhaps once every other year!Other than eating, here are a few things we did:

Balloon Festival

2010-11-22T18:43:00.000-08:00

We woke up at 5:30am Saturday morning, got dressed and headed over to the donut shop. We picked up a couple dozen of the yummiest donuts and went to the West Wetlands River Park. We met up with cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles and set up camp. Camp chairs, blankets, donuts, hot cocoa, milk, juice and fruit was all we needed. We sat back and relaxed while we watched dozens of hot air balloons fill with air and take off. It was such a beautiful morning, with everyone shedding their sweaters by the end. It is so fun to be up close and personal at this event. The balloon closest to us was even giving the kids mini rides. Lorili wouldn't get close enough for us to throw her in, but Gabe did. He was fine until the guy pulled the torch and Gabe dropped to the ground. After a minute he would get the courage to stand again just in time for the man to pull the torch again and send Gabe flying to the ground.
This has become one of our newest and most favorite traditions! We can't wait for next year!

Desert Fun

2010-11-14T19:14:00.000-08:00

We went for an unplanned adventure in the desert to find the perfect spot for our upcoming family bonfire and campout in the desert. After a nice bumpy drive we found the perfect place. Despite the lack of toys and electricity, it took no time at all for the cousins to find something to do. They scouted out the worn cracks in the hills, lined up all the rocks, and threw stones at a tin can. We will be returning in 3 weeks to this spot for a fun night of food, stories, and laughter. So to all you family members out there, come join us! It will be so much fun!!!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

We painted pumpkins, colored pumpkins, cut-out pumpkins and we carved a pumpkin, but this is the only picture we managed to get this year. When we carved the pumpkin, Gabe went and hid in his room because he didn't like the smell!

Meet Bob the Blob from Monsters vs. Aliens, Gabe's pick. He wouldn't let us paint a huge eye on his face because then he would have 3 eyes and Bob only has one. So he marched around with one eye closed and one eye open, so smart!

Every year Lorili's school has a Halloween Parade where all the kids dress up and march around the school grounds for all to see. The kids have lots of fun. This year Lorili wanted to be a Pink Witch.Here is our cute little teddy bear. This is a hand-me-down from Gabe when we were in Iowa. WAY to warm for our 90degree weather!!! He wore it indoors for a few minutes and that was enough. But he sure was cute!

We had fun at the local Pumpkin Patch. Trunk-r-Treat!!!

October

2010-11-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

Henry really loves his big brother. He will sit and just watch his big brother. I'm pretty sure Henry started crawling because he was watching Gabe drive cars around in circles. Sometimes Henry will sit and look at Gabe and say "humph" and then wait for a reply. It really is so cute! Let's hope Gabe teaches him all of his "good" tricks and not the bad ones:)
Henry pulls himself up to just about anything! He especially likes to push and walk behind things. This diaper box works great as a walker.
Gabe is a really heavy sleeper, and he moves around a lot too. One night we heard a thud and this is how we found him. They had left the stuffed animal tub out from under the bed and he managed to fall right into it. So funny!The TV seems to be on less and less these days with Lorili in school and life too busy to sit around and watch a show or two. One afternoon Henry was just not content with anything, so I popped in Baby Einstein and managed to entertain all three kids at once.

October Swimming

2010-10-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

Our neighbors have a Spool, a mini pool with jets! They've been inviting us over for a swim and it's never worked out. So last week we finally took them up on their offer and had a great time in the pool. Can you believe we are swimming outside in October! One of the many things to enjoy in the desert!

The Mormon Battalion Historic Site San Diego Calif.

2010-09-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

We made a day trip to beautiful San Diego and visited the Mormon Battalion Historic Site. It was a great experience. The Battalion marched through Yuma on their way to San Diego and we have a monument here, but we just haven't really taught our kids anything about it. This historic site really did a great job teaching the kids about the Battalion. We sat in the woods of Iowa and the desert of New Mexico. Then headed outside to pan for gold, pump some water, fire bricks and do the laundry. The kids got to dress up in some of the things the Battalion members wore. Aren't the cute!!!

He Crawls

2010-09-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

Henry has been working on this for the last month. He started crawling on the 1st of this month, making him 5 1/2 months old. That is a record for our family. He also loves to sit up and eat rice cereal at meal times.

Mud Puddle

2010-09-11T20:59:00.000-07:00

We haven't landscaped our backyard just yet. But the kids manage to find things to do anyways. Daddy helped them with this latest project. So much fun!

Bookworms!

2010-09-10T21:29:00.000-07:00

My kids have finally caught my illness...they love to read! Or in Gabe's case, look at the pictures and "read in his head" as he tells me! Lorili has been reading Tinkerbell Adventure books while Gabe has fallen IN LOVE with Mo Willem's Elephant and Piggie Books. They are cute books with very few words in them. Gabe will sit and look at them for hours! It cracks me up when I hear him giggling! I even caught him showing the pictures to Henry and telling him all about it! I'm excited for my Kindle to arrive! Anna and Gary were so thoughtful to get that for me. Now I can have a book with me wherever I go! I CANNOT wait!!!

Piano Lessons

2010-09-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

Lorili has started taking piano lessons from her Grandma! She was so excited and is doing well. The hardest part is making time for practicing everyday. My mom tried to teach me piano when I was younger, but I put up such a fight she gave up. I've shared that with Lorili to try and help her be more dedicated than I was. She told my mom the other day that she is going to learn how to play piano so that she can teach me! Love it!

Buzz Buzz Buzz

2010-09-07T20:39:00.000-07:00

I was in the kitchen cleaning up when then Lorili and Gabe came in screaming/yelling "Henry's bald! Henry's bald!" I followed them back to the bathroom and sure enough, this is what I found! Thank goodness hair grows back!

Grandpa and Anna come for a visit

2010-09-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

Grandpa and Anna made the long drive from Washington to come visit us in HOT HOT Yuma. We are so glad they came and had such a great time! Thor and Grandpa went Dove hunting a couple mornings. Anna and I spent a morning at the Spa. We ate lots of yummy food and did lots of shopping. The kids love the attention they get from their grandparents and are always so sad when they have to leave. We hope they come back soon!

Sitting Up

2010-08-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

Henry has been sitting up on his own. He enjoys the new view. Gabe enjoys taking pictures of his little brother. He took the first two.

Back to School

2010-08-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

Lorili is now in second grade. We are so happy that she gets to go back to Alice Byrne. This is the first time she has been at a school for more than one grade. She was a bit nervous on that first day, but once she got to school and saw familiar faces she settled right in. She is excited to be in Mrs. Hazen's class and to already have friends. We look forward to watching her learn and grow this year!

Yum Yum

2010-08-03T20:10:00.000-07:00

Henry loves to eat. We've added rice cereal to his diet and an occasional bread stick.

Sea World

2010-08-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

Jeanna, Halie, Jeremiah, and Hanna came to Yuma for the week. We spent a day at Sea World in San Diego. It was our kids first trip there and they had a wonderful time. With San Diego less than 3 hours away, that is a trip we will make more often. The kids LOVED Sea World. Some of their favorite parts were the Dolphin show, Shamu's show and touching the sting rays and sea stars. By the end of the day all the kids were worn out. Henry had a great time too. He was so good to just go along and enjoy the show. It also just happened to be my Birthday as well...what a great birthday!

Stanford

2010-07-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

The kids and I flew to San Jose for a few days. We met up with Grandma and Grandpa Stokes. We had a lot of fun together. It was nice to escape the summer heat of Arizona and cool off in Northern California. The heated swimming pool was such a treat!

Happy Independence Day

2010-07-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

July 4

Sunday night, we celebrated Independence Day by watching fireworks on the t.v. We popped some popcorn and grabbed a bag of m&m's. And yes, we realize that bumbo is pink, it's a loaner. One less baby thing to buy and store:)

Cousins

2010-07-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

June 25

Here is Lorili, Henry and Gabe with their cute cousin Marissa

Ahhh...

2010-07-14T17:08:00.001-07:00

June 18

Henry's first time in the pool was pretty enjoyable. He was pretty content in his little floater.

Scorpion Fun

2010-07-14T17:04:00.000-07:00

June 17

The dental supply company treated the local dentists and their staff and family to a local baseball game. It was a really fun night. The misters and fans kept us cool in the nasty heat.

Uncle Bob's Cabin

2010-07-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

June 11

Talmage, Lorili, Lauren, Gabe, Kaia, Adellae

We had a beautiful weekend at my brother's cabin in Julian, California. We went up Friday after work and joined Dean, Dallin and Juliann and their families. That made 8 adults and 9 kids, Lorili being the oldest (7years), and Anden the youngest (2 months). The weather was nice and cool, some might call it cold, but it was a nice reprieve from the dessert heat! We ate, played games, ate, had a treasure hunt, made some crafts, played more games, ate more food, went to church, and ate some yummy apple pie!

School's out for Summer!

2010-07-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

June 4
Lorili had a great year in First grade. She loved her teacher, Mrs. Valenzuela, and made lots of friends. We were very happy with the school, the teachers, and all the staff. Alice Byrne has a great family environment and our entire family was able to involved. Before Henry came along, Gabe and I would stay in the mornings and grade homework. I would grade and Gabe would play in the courtyard. At the end of the year the entire school had a pool party. It was fun to see Lorili having a great time with her friends.

Mrs. Valenzuela, Lorili, Bianca

Bianca, Lorili, Rori, Yosselin

Gabe on the slip-n-slide at our friends end of the school year party
He went on that slide over and over again! He LOVED it!

Yosselin, Rori, Lorili, Sophia, Xavier

So much fun!

2010-07-14T16:12:00.001-07:00

May 26

Lorili LOVES her new little brother. Now she is requesting a sister.....she also thinks we need to have enough kids to fill all the seats in the car....

Happy 4th Birthday Gabe!

2010-07-14T15:55:00.001-07:00

May 21

Donuts for breakfast...yummmm!

We had a fun party at Grandma's house in the kiddie pool! The kids had fun with water balloons and water squirters. Gabe's cousins, Kaia, Talmage, Lauren and Kylee, came to help us celebrate.

Gabe wanted a football party...with Lightning, and Thomas, and Woody, AND Buzz! He could not pick just one, he wanted them all together!

We love this kid. He is always saying funny things and is pretty witty. He's a thinker too. Just the other day we had a funny conversation. We've moved a lot in the last two years so moving has become a normal thing for this kid. We've been in our new home for a couple months now and he keeps asking when we are moving again! I've told him we are not moving for a long time. So he says, "am I going to live here until I die?" "No!" I told him. "You are going to graduate from High School, go on a mission, go to college, get married and live with your own family." He thought on that for a minute before responding, "I don't want to kiss on the lips. That's gross. Do you like to kiss daddy on the lips?" I told him "yes," and then he asked..."what does it feel like?" At this point I am trying to hide my smile and not laugh. I told him it feels kinda squishy. And his reply? "Oh." When he is in high school kissing all the girls like his daddy did I will have to remind him of this conversation. Let's hope he thinks kissing is gross for a long time!

Really?

2010-05-20T22:23:00.000-07:00

On our way to pick Lorili up from school I thought we would stop by Sam's Club to pick up a few needed items. On our way there, Gabe fell asleep in the car. Naps aren't a normal part of our routine, but when it happens he normally will wake up when I need him too. Not so today! So I put a blanket in the nice over-sized carts and set him in it. He stayed asleep the entire time, and Henry too! It was the most peaceful shopping I've done with two kids ever!

Blackberry Picking

2010-05-20T22:20:00.000-07:00

Gabe, Adellae, and Henry

Rolling Over at 2 months

2010-05-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

San Diego Temple gets a facelift

2010-05-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

We traveled to nearby San Diego for doctors appointments and made a stop at the temple on our way home. The San Diego is such a beautiful temple. I remember going to the open house as a little girl and then going inside for the first time to go to a wedding with Thor when we were just engaged. Two of my sisters were married there and lots of friends. They are cleaning it up and have scaffolding around half of it. It truly was a sight to see. We love to walk the grounds with the kids. I think their favorite part is looking at, smelling, and sometimes picking the beautiful flowers and plants.

Just real quick

2010-05-09T22:24:00.000-07:00

Baby Blessing

2010-05-03T21:50:00.000-07:00

No Brown Family gathering is complete without Chili Pepper! Man we just love those burritos, tacos & salsa! No one makes it like Chili Pepper!!! We had all the kids sit at a table, while the adults sat at a table nearby. See those crazy people in the back...not family, but longtime family friends who happened to be there at the same time. She was my coach in High School, and he was my babysitter when I was little. What a small town Yuma can sometimes be!
We spent the evening in the cool of the church building. Food and games are all that are needed to keep us entertained.Poor Henry, this is one of a few pictures we managed to take on his blessing day. Thor gave him a beautiful blessing. Grandpa Brown, Grandpa Stokes, Uncle Bob, Uncle Nelson, Uncle Tyler, Uncle Trevor, Steve Garner, Shawn Garner, cousin Dean, and cousin Dallin were all there to participate. What a blessing it is to have so many loving, priesthood holders in our family.

Spring Fling

2010-04-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

We all had a blast at the schools Spring Fling. It was fun to watch Lorili run around with her little friends. This is Mia.

Wow!

2010-04-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the billboards for Thor's office. It's so exciting to see his name up there in lights!!!

Cousins Visit

2010-04-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

Tyler's family came down for a triathalkon and we got to spend some time with the kids.

Artist

2010-04-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

Lorili's favorite subject at school is art. She looks forward to school each Monday because that is the day they have Art. This picture doesn't do her artwork justice, but we love this! Among other things, Lorili wants to be an artist when she grows up.
Title: Cake
Medium: Chalk

Happy Easter

2010-04-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

We joined our cousins for a great Easter Egg hunt. Both kids had their baskets overflowing with eggs! It was the first Easter we've had with perfect weather! No more rainy, windy, Iowa or Oregon Easters for us!

New Home

2010-03-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

What the kids LOVE about the house...the closets with shelves.

In the living room, 3 weeks before Henry arrives!

My favorite room.

As if having a baby wasn't enough to keep us busy, we closed on our first home on March 29th. We plan to move in on April 12th. Our condo property manager found new tenants willing to move in on the 15th so we were able to get out of our year lease, What a blessing that was! Its a brand new home in a beautiful neighborhood out in the foothills of Yuma. It puts Thor minutes from work, and the kids about 12 minutes from school. It's a bit of a commute for school, but we love our new home and get to see Dad for a few more minutes each morning and even sometimes at lunch. The backyard is dirt for now, but we have big plans!

A Visit from the Petersons

2010-03-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

Our Friends, the Petersons, came through Yuma on a trip to San Diego. We met the Petersons at Dental School in Iowa. It has been almost 2 years since we have seen each other. It was fun to catch up and swap post-school stories and experiences.

The first two weeks...

2010-03-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

3/22/10-5days
6lbs 11oz

3/31/10-2 weeks
8lbs 9oz

O'Henry Brown Thorson

2010-03-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

Just kidding about the O' but thought it appropriate since he was born on St. Patty's Day!

It started out like every other Wednesday, clean the house, run some errands, take the kids to the park, have my OB check-up, go into labor...

Another quick and somewhat painless (love those epidurals) delivery.

Welcome Henry!

6lbs 9oz
19 3/4 inches
11:09pm
3-17-10

At the Hospital

2010-03-17T09:04:00.000-07:00

Where's Gabe?

2010-03-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

Gabe loves to play the computer. I found him like this the other day. I have two screens, so he is under the blanket with the other screen watching episodes of Curious George.

Takin' out the trash!

2010-02-26T08:56:00.000-08:00

Lorili is 7!

2010-02-25T08:41:00.000-08:00

Lorili is now 7! Can you believe it? She sure has grown. It has been fun to see her mature and change. She is a great helper around the house and is a great sister to Gabe. He really looks up to her and thinks the world of her. I know she is going to be a great helper when our new little one finally arrives. She gets excited about anything pink, fast food play places, Grandmas, cousins, and friends.
Lorili celebrated her birthday at school with cupcakes and milk boxes. Grandma Victoria made a surprise visit for the Birthday Girl. Grandma made the cake and outfitted Lorili for the summer. We had a fun birthday dinner at Carl's Jr. (Lorili's choice...they have a pretty big play place) and a fun party at a local gym where the kids ran wild and had a very good time!
We love you Lorili

Julia, Yosselin, Lorili, Bianca, Breanna

Hank Days

2010-02-20T20:45:00.000-08:00

Hank Days is a local celebration for the man who settled the Foothills of Yuma. We had yummy tri-tip and the kids took a stroll on some horses. I was SHOCKED when Lorili and Gabe both wanted to take a ride, they are typically chicken when it comes to stuff like this. Our cousins Charly and Adellae enjoyed the ride too!

Gold Mine

2010-02-19T14:32:00.000-08:00

One of Thor's patients manages a gold mine near Yuma. Last Friday, he took Thor and the kids out there for a tour. The kids had a blast!!! They got to climb on some huge trucks and they even got to see them do a blast. The kids came home with rocks speckled with gold.

Sick Boy

2010-02-19T14:13:00.000-08:00

Gabe started running a fever a few Saturdays ago. I was at lunch with my Mom and Sister when I noticed. He was quite whiny and not a lot of fun to have around. So when Lorili dumped her bowl of soup on her lap I called it quits. Despite the fact that I hadn't taken one bit of lunch, I packed up the kids and we came home. I started Gabe on Tylenol and Motrin to keep the fever down. It helped a little, but not enough. Thor stayed home from church with Gabe, and by 6pm that evening he was lethargic, wouldn't eat anything, and only drank small amounts of apple juice. Thor took his temperature, and this is that the ear thermometer read:
Thor grabbed Gabe and left for the hospital. They took chest x-rays, swabbed his throat, drew blood, and had him pee in a cup...the one thing that made him perk up!
After all the testing we were told he had Strep Throat and they were concerned with his sugar levels in his blood and urine. So we went home with an antibiotic Rx and directions to follow-up with our pediatrician concerning his sugar levels. We have have both Type I and Type II diabetes in our family history so this was a real concern. A couple days later Gabe had a fasting blood draw, and then another couple days later we finally got the good news that he does not have diabetes! What a relief! It took the poor kid an entire week for him to recover. But he has and functioning at full 3 year old boy capacity.

Profile Photos

2010-01-01T21:15:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T10:40:00.000-08:00

We joined lots of family at Grandma and Grandpa Browns house for yummy a taquito dinner followed by the Nativity presentation by the grandkids. Afterward, we ate cookies and hot cocoa before it was off to bed! The kids loved having matching pj's. We failed to take many pictures Christmas morning, but beleive me when I say the kids had a great Christmas. We moved old toys to storage to make room for the new. Santa delivered this year and brought Lorili playdoh and Gabe a Lightning Geotrak. Now if only he would have brought me that house I want...

Christmas Celebrations

2009-12-15T10:21:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the many ways we celebrated the Christmas Season. We kept busy with school programs and parties, work parties, family parties, and much much more!

Bonfire in the desert

We met with lots of cousins somewhere in the desert for a bonfire. We ate foil dinners, smores, and hot cocoa. The kids had fun wondering around the desert and playing in the dirt. I love the desert in the winter. The weather was perfect and the food delicious! We have to do it again before it gets too hot down here!

Christmas Program at Alice Byrne

Lorili did a great job singing in her Christmas program!!

Christmas Sunday Outfits...thanks Grandma & Grandpa Stokes

Christmas Sugar Cookies

We gathered at Grandma Brown's house to decorate yummy cookies and visit. This is something my mom always did for us growing up. There were plenty of kids in the house back then so we didn't have to invite others. But with only two kids we invited all the cousins in town over for some fun at Grandmas.

A Visit with Santa

Lorili asked for Playdoh, and Gabe asked for a Lightning Toy.

Colorado River Crossing Balloon Festival

2009-11-21T10:03:00.000-08:00

We woke up early Saturday morning and headed out to the park. With donuts and milk in tow. We met up with Mom and Dad (who supplied muffins and hot cocoa), Juliann and Adellae, and Linsey and her two girls. We set up chairs and blankets and watched the balloons go up. It was a lot of fun. We got to be right up close as they filled the balloons and waved goodbye as they took off. It was a chilly morning, but so much fun!!! The kids are dying to go on a balloon ride, but I'm pretty sure they would get bored pretty fast. We will have to sponsor a balloon when they are older.

It's about time...

2009-11-09T15:03:00.000-08:00

I guess it's about time I posted our exciting news...we are expecting!
Another little boy will be joining our family in March, (March 28th if he arrives on time).
We are so stuck on names. Any ideas?

Yuma Art Festival

2009-11-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of fun at the Yuma Art Festival downtown. They had lots of fun crafts for the kids. We came home loaded with masks, hats, treasure boxes, puppets, and art work.

A Visit from Grandpa and Grandma Thorson

2009-11-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

Grandpa and Grandma Anna took a break from their life of leisure on their sailboat down in Mexico to come and visit us on their way to Florida and Washington. We had fun spending time with them and hearing of their adventures down south. Maybe one day we can join them for a nice vacation!!!

1st Grade Awards

2009-11-01T09:53:00.000-08:00

Lorili earned two awards at school. The first was for making great progress in reading, and the second was called "PRO-People Respecting Others." The teacher said that she is always helping others and is kind to everyone. I am so thankful to have a daughter that is kind to everyone and makes everyone feel special. Keep it up Lorili!!!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween this year.
We went to the Harvest fetival for some fun games and a hay ride with the Farar's and Umphress'.
We joined Lorili and her school for their annual Halloween Parade around the school grounds, followed by a super fun class party. The school is family friendly and let Gabe tag along in the parade and join Lorili's class for the party. Here she is with Shelby and Brianna.
On Halloween we went to a ward trunk-r-treat for chili and hot dogs. Gabe and Lorili filled their buckets before we headed home. We got 3 trick-r-treaters at our house, which was sad for the kids. They love to hand out candy. Its really bad for Thor and I because we HAD to eat all the leftover candy:)
Lorili was Rossetta, Tinker Bell's friend. Red hair and all!!!

Gabe was a scary ghost who went around yelling "BOO" at everyone and anyone.

Reunion - Wedding - Baby Blessing

2009-10-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

We had our Brown Family Reunion this last weekend in Phoenix. My brother, Jared, was getting married, so we centered our reunion around this happy event. We all had rooms at the same hotel and had so much fun running back and forth in between rooms and swapping kids back and forth. We spent Friday night at the rehersal and dinner. Saturday morning was spent at the park getting dirty and then the rest of the day was devoted to the wedding.
Lorili carried Dee's train, and I was a bridesmaid and made the wedding cake. We are so happy that we got to be a part of this wedding. We love Dee and couldn't be happier for Jared. And to finish off the weekend, my brother Tyler blessed their newest addition, Emily Elizabeth. What a great weekend!

2009-10-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

Lorili LOVED running around with her "big girl" cousins, and they were so good to let her tag along.

7 of the people are the bride are her family, 1 is a foreign exchange student from Sweden, the rest are Browns, whether they want to admit it or not!

2009-10-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

Typically, we have reunion shirts....the yellow hats and sharpie markers made a great substitute this year. The KIDS loved them. Gabe colored every surface of his hat, Thor accented his with black...Go Hawks! Lorili did a little bit of everything.
A friendly game of football with Uncles, nephews, one Aunt, and one who usually plays football with a soccer ball.

2009-10-20T19:20:00.000-07:00

Can you see Lorili?

Check out the bystanders. I guess that's what you get when you get married at Leisure World.

Waiting for the bride and groomthose are my four brothers, one foster brother, and my three sisters.

2009-10-20T19:15:00.000-07:00

The Happy Couple

My handsome boy

Please don't fall in...those bars are not child proof.

Welcome Dee! Do any of us look alike?

2009-10-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

My cake.

Awe, they were so nice about it. I think that's a good sign!

General Conference

2009-10-04T07:50:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Adellae joined us for General Conference this weekend. The kids had fun coloring and snacking with their cousin.

Monkeys on the Wall

2009-09-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

Mustang of the Month

2009-09-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

Lorili was picked to be Mustang of the Month in her class. She was very excited. They invite the parents for lunch and have a small awards ceremony. We are proud of you Lorili and all your hard work:)

Singin' in the Rain

2009-09-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

We don't get a lot of rain here in Yuma. But today we did. The nice thing about Yuma rain, is it's warm! So when it started pouring I told the kids to go outside and play in it. They looked at me like I was crazy, but I was eventually able to convince them. They had a great time and got soaked through.

Gabe's First Day of Preschool

2009-09-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

Gabe has been asking to go to Preschool for the last year. When Lorili started Kindergarten last year he was sure it was time to start Preschool. Now that Lorili is at school ALL DAY, and there are no other little Thorsons running around to play with, we thought it would be a good time to start him in preschool. He goes from 8-12 twice a week. I will be going to work at my Dad's office during those times to keep busy too. He's had two days so far and asks to go everyday.

Check out his awesome shirt! A great find by our friend Gretchen.

Welcome Emily!

2009-08-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

My brother Tyler and his wife Elizabeth had their baby girl Emily on Friday. I told Thor the news and he said, "lets go visit!" So Saturday morning we grabbed some Chile Pepper (a local favorite) and headed up to Phoenix. The kids were mesmerized by the baby. Lorili just wanted to hold and hold that baby. It was so cute, Gabe was interested, but he often looked like he wanted to see what would happen if he poked her nose, or whacked her head etc. So we had to keep a good buffer on him. After the hospital, we headed to their home to play with the cousins. We headed home after dinner and the kids passed out in the car. It was such a fun little trip. I'm so glad we live so close to my family now. We've been able to see and do so much with them already in the short time we've been here. I look forward to many more opportunities!

Extended Stay

2009-08-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

We moved to Yuma without having a home to move into. So my kind parents let us stay with them for a couple weeks until we found a place to rent. The kids had so much fun and it was great to have Grandma around to help with the kids so Thor and I could go home hunting. While we were there Grandma and Grandpa showed the kids how to eat a coconut. The kids tasted the milk and tried to eat the fresh coconut, but they were not fans, but I was really impressed that they tried them in the first place.

1st day of 1st Grade

2009-08-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

Lorili started first grade today. She was very excited!!! Morning came a little too soon for her, school starts at 7:45am and Lorili typically sleeps until 8am or later. So this will be an adjustment, for her and for the rest of us:)

Girls Weekend

2009-08-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

My brother Jared is getting married in October. His fiance Dee has asked us sisters to be her bridesmaids. So in her honor we threw her a bridal shower party. We all met in Phoenix for the weekend and brought our daughters along and Grandma came too. We stayed all together in a big suite at a hotel. We ate, we swam, we stayed up late, we shopped for bridesmaid dresses and shoes, and had all kinds of fun! I really do love my sisters and it was to be together and to have all the little girlies along too. We had so much fun that I hardly got my camera out, so the pictures are few and far between.