Celebrating Again!

and who are we celebrating this time...none another than Captain Joel Thorson, who successfully defended his Master's thesis (Simultaneous Range and Velocity Processing and SNR Analysis in the AFIT Random Noise Radar) on Wednesday! Yes, he is super smart and we are all super proud. The late nights and weekend trips to the lab are over. Smooth sailing until graduation day on March 22 and a move to Ashburn, VA 4 days later. It has been a fast 18 months with many ups and downs. Joel has worked so hard and we are so excited to celebrate this accomplishment with him. In fact tonight we have a sitter and are going out with friends to truly celebrate! We can't believe it has been 18 months. I still say "we just moved from Hawaii" when in reality that isn't true anymore. Won't be as exciting to say "we just moved from Ohio". But it will be exciting to say my husband just earned his Master's Degree!!! Joel you are amazing and are still my hero.

Speaking of Gowing Up...

Anna lost her 1st tooth yesterday! She has been so jealous of Asher for a year (who has lost 6 now). But talk about drama...you have never heard anyone scream like she did. Not because of the Joel pulling the tooth out but because she didn't like the blood afterwards. You might be able to see her red cheeks in the picture. However, I think the visit from the tooth fairy might have made it all better :).

Happy Birthday Ladybug!

Happy Birthday to Josie!
Since we call her ladybug, I had to go with a ladybug theme for her birthday. We just had a small gathering with my parents and a neighbor. The kids wore ladybug hats and I enjoyed the challenge of making Josie a ladybug cake.

Josie had no qualms about getting her hands dirty! She couldn't eat the cake fast enough.

And this is what she looked like when she was done. Maybe the red icing wasn't such a smart idea? She had to have a bath before she opened presents!

We can't believe she is 1 now. The kids loved helping me prepare for her celebration and made her day special. I couldn't help but be a little sad. Maybe it is knowing that this is our last child and all of a sudden, she has changed from a baby to a 1 year old. I still want that little bundle sleeping on my shoulder. I can see why the babies of the family always get spoiled now. We just want them to stay babies forever since we are unwilling to let that feeling go. All of a sudden I truly feel older as this next stage of life creeps up on us. Asher is up to my shoulders now (no joke, yes, at 7 he is this tall!) and I see the tween years on the horizon. I am anxious to be done with diapers and the 3 year old temper tantrums, but can't they just stay babies forever?

We love you sweet Josie, our ladybug. Happy Birthday!

My Band

Cheers

New Year's Eve was a number of different things for this Thorson family. Not only was it a celebration of the year that passed and a New Year to come, but we also had "2nd Christmas" with my parents visiting from WV. 2nd Christmas included all the foods we were too sick to enjoy fully at Christmas time including monkey bread, a huge ham dinner...

...and chocolate fondue for dessert. The kids certainly enjoyed all the festivities...more presents, games, chocolate, sparkling juice ("kid's wine"). I think we may have set the bar too high for next New Year's Eve!

They made it till midnight...barely. Anna was trying to fall asleep at 11:45 and we tortured her to keep her awake. Well, she had made it that far! This is the look on her face as we watched the ball job. I just know she is saying "This is what I stayed up for?!".

It was a wonderful time with Grammie (who stayed up with us) and Poppy (who didn't make it till midnight!)

Josie did not make it till midnight so I included a picture of her enjoying one of her Christmas presents, a baby and walker from Grandma and Grandpa Thorson. She knows this is her baby and fights Jesse off of it. She rocks it, kisses it, and pats it (AMAZING!). And now she has started walking with her stroller. Look out world! I can't believe she will be 1 in less than 2 weeks.

Happy New Year Everyone! We have been so blessed this past year and look forward to all God has in store for us in 2012. We have many changes up ahead as Joel will be graduating and we will be moving yet again in a few short months. I am so glad we are in the the palm of His hand and pray you find comfort and direction there as well in the coming year.

The Progression of the Flu

It all began at a Gingerbread House making party.

It was a fun-filled evening of kid chaos: candy, icing, graham crackers, and stickiness galore. The kids had a blast and loved their houses. Anna was the perfectionist (wonder where she gets that from).

Jesse ate all the candy off of his when our backs where turned. All that is left of his by the end of the night was a pile of graham crackers.

And that night we left for Wisconsin to spend Christmas with Joel's parents and Aunt. We drove through the night and were miserably tired the next day, taking turns napping while the tired kids ran a muck. We got a few texts from friends that had been at the same party saying that their whole families had gotten sick with some kind of flu bug. I shrugged it off in my haze of sleepiness. Then it hit on our 2nd day in Wisconsin. Joel, Anna, Josie, and I were all sick, immobile, that day.

Friday was better except Asher spiked a fever and we took him and Jesse to urgent care. Both had ear infections and Asher had some sort form of croup, brushed off by the doc that the ear infection antibiotics would take care of whatever it was. Christmas Eve looked promising until my Mother-in-law woke with the flu and Asher still had a fever. Joel and I still weren't eating. Jesse was running circles around us all. Lots of Christmas traditions get thrown out the window when you are sick. We had cookies and food stacked to the ceiling but no one could eat anything! We actually had soup for Christmas Eve dinner, much to my Father-in-law's disappointment.

Now Christmas day really looked better. Most perked up that Santa found us in Wisconsin and squeals came from everywhere as the kids searched for their stockings. That Santa is one sneaky guy.

Asher still had a fever (and a haircut! Can you tell my mother-in-law got a hold of him?)

Jesse as the most expressive to watch as he opened presents. Then something started to happen and his joy got less and less. He opened Cars 2 and then crawled into Joel's lap, and threw up. The flu wasn't on his list Santa! He was asleep before we finished opening presents.

Josie was just a joy to watch in her excitement of everything. She mainly loved the maze that presents provided.

and the tree ornaments where in danger every time we turned our backs.

The day after Christmas, we found ourselves in the ER for 6 hours with Asher, diagnosed with a bad case of pneumonia. It was a crazy experience in there and we can now see why the make TV shows based on this environment...a few of ours during this trip: a grandpa kicked by a cow, a woman with a chicken bone stuck in her throat befriending everyone, drooling while she talked and no one could understand her, a mother yelling in anger as she walked out about how they were going to here from her attorney, and a helicopter landing outside the ER doors. Poor Asher was miserable through and I wish I could get my hands on that urgent care doctor!

We extended our trip one day after all this hoping for some actual normal time with the grandparents and woke that day to find my father-in-law with the flu. We felt so bad! Joel's aunt also left that day and I am wondering if she is the one who got away without it catching up to her?

It was a Christmas to remember. It was hard to watch a lot of things get pushed aside...all those traditions you are looking forward to. But we realized the best part was that we were together as a family. Those moments are always treasured whether they were what you expected or not. The kids loved all their gifts and we still made Jesus a birthday cake (all though it wasn't eaten much), and we reflected in the best gift of all: Jesus Christ.

Tales Of December

Next week we head out to WI for Christmas. The kids have been busy preparing their Santa lists, making cookies, and we have been busy shopping and running from pageants to parties. It has been a truly fun month and we realize how blessed we are as we reflect on the real reason for the season every night on our advent calendar. However we talk about Santa a lot too and are sad to realize this might be the last year we get away with Santa for Asher. Why do they have to grow up?

Chick Fil A has become a family favorite restaurant and even more so in December when Santa comes to town. Not only do we get to see Santa, but the Santa cow too!

Josie wasn't so sure about Santa. We thought this was hilarious since she seems to love everybody. How could you not like this man, doesn't he look real!?! I made that same comment to a lady next to me and glanced down to see Anna looking up at me wide eyed...and the lady says "Because he is real!". Nice save. Duh, you wouldn't know I had 4 kids.

Chick Fil A took their pictures, printed them out to turn into ornaments, and had the kids decorate them. So this is the picture on Josie's 1st Christmas ornament..haha!!

She warmed up after awhile...long enough to get a picture with her siblings.

So I had to add a picture of her beautiful smiling face after that.

A picture of our whole family at our Church's Christmas program. Shoes are missing since we had to drag them out of the bounce house for this picture.

We also made a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo to see their amazing display of Christmas lights. We got their a little before dark to see some animals and enjoy our packed dinner. This peacock is about to get Josie's dinner and she is oblivious. It was a pretty funny encounter.

The lights were amazing, complete with Santa and live reindeer.

Jesse's school did a Holiday program where every kid got to say a line and perform to a song with their class. This was the 1st time we have ever dragged the whole family out for Jesse. He is normally being brought to Anna's and Asher's performances and swim meets. He was so excited to be the star! He got to dress up like a train conductor and perform to the song "Hot Chocolate" from the Polar Express. His line was "We run the polar express!" and he did great! He now insists on wearing this outfit every single day!

Here is is with his buddy Olivia. He tells me he "loves" her and that she is his best friend. Below is his performance.



We hope each one of you is also enjoying a beautiful December rejoicing in the true joy Jesus brought to each one of you lives. Happy Birthday Jesus!