Christmas 2008

Wild Christmas at the Turners'. It was Trace's first here in the U.S., yet he seemed like quite a professional. He was not at all overwhelmed, in fact he was REALLY into the whole opening present thing. He was thrilled to get a ramps for his matchbox cars and of course all the characters from the movie "Cars" . I now spend my days quoting the movie, " The question on everyone's mind, where is McQueen"

Tian in love with her pocket princesses and Trace racing , racing, racing

Ty making sure he got the Lego set of his dreams

Trevor ring to figure out the model project and making sure his boots are the right size.

Somehow we missed TJ's pile of supplies for his mission: sandals, new scriptures, puzzles for the plane and his toiletry bag..

my project for the year - we tried to tackle making homemade candy canes. They turned out pretty good. The salt water taffy ...not so good

After a wild morning, we headed to Omaha. Tom's parents were crazy enough to welcome us. Tom's little brother and his 3 boys were there as well. The kids actually get along amazingly well and for having 5 under 5 it was pretty calm. I am sure Tom's dad may have a different opinion...
the cousins - Stacy ( George's wife) snuck in too.

TJ checking out the back pack on wheels

Tian and Trace about to be jumped on by their cousin Gavin. It looks like they are about to drop from exhaustion. It was a long good day.

Grandma Tessa spoiled us with a beautiful dinner, dessert ( complete with a pumpkin roll and cranberry pie) and of course, the perfect gifts :o)

Chrismas Project and TJ's photo shoot

Tj - the thinker
2008 for the Turners


Every year we have a live tree for Christmas and in the spring we plant it in our yard ( yes, there is on ein WI and many here in IA.) This year I had a wild idea to have a box built to hide the gorgeous black plastic pot the tree comes in...so the boys cut the wood and I have been madly carving - inspired by http://www.sticks.com/ - now my Christmas present in 1/4 of the way done!! ( minus the polyurethane)



Hope you enjoyed the Turner's own holiday - Christmas Adam

as you know Adam came before Eve...

Never invite us to a potluck...

oh horror of horrors we went to "Build a Bear" for the first time ( thanks Aunt Nicole :o) - it was awful - the kids loved it , but the indecision was unbearable ( no pun intended). Trace and Tian changed animals at least 50 times - each, then the lady wanted them to kiss the heart - that is when Trace backed into Tom and shook his head, held up his hand and then acted as though the lady was a serial killer

Tian as you can imagine did all of the talking - Trace was too busy wondering when he was going to get the piece of gum we promised him if he didn't cry. Tian requested a penguin for herself, and Spiderman and McQueen ( from the movie "Cars") for Trace

TJ and Lexie tagged along with us and decided - hey free gifts- why not?

Trevor and Grant finishing up the pioneering merit badge

Ty - yup MIT is definitely on the horizon for this kid....

oh...everyone should have to make gingerbread houses...I think Trevor may threatening to cut someone's hand... This reminds me a little too much of architecture school, but Tom would never let me use gingerbread

We may never be invited to someone's home again. Yes, we foolishly went to a friend's home for a potluck with all of our kids... We did okay ( all right - Tian and Trace touched everything they owned with their sweaty little hands, made very singing/talking Christmas toy run endlesly and ate at least 5 pounds of candy and nuts from every candy dish in the house, but other that it was all well and good- until it was time to leave . Picture this - me in my huge winter coat and high heels ( we had just come from church), Tom carrying the crock pot, I put on Tian's coat - can't find Trace. I locate Trace - Tian has now left. I realize we left Trace's coat in the car, I unzip and push him inside my coat, Tian barrels into the back of my legs and almost take me down as I fall into Tom who manages to hold onto the crock pot - still sporting the remants of spaghetti ...Now we have lost Ty - at this point I know our (ex)friends are MORE than ready for us to just get out of their house for good...after it was all said and done - everyone ended up in the car and I think we left most everything eaten, but unbroken ( I hope)!

We are still preparing to take TJ to the Missionary Training Center in Provo and continually cycling through the stages of loss - denial, anger, sadness, acceptance then back again. Keep us in your prayers that we don't all hit the same point in the cycle at the same time :o)

Chinese Bunk Beds

No ,don't call Child Protective Services - we only make them sleep here occasionally :o) Obviously, Tian and Trace are having too much fun pretending to nap in the linen closet - it was great fun until Ty came and shut the door...Tian can scream amazingly loud...

Last week I decided that TJ should learn to cut hair - his brothers and dad were willing ( yes - they are CRAZY!) guinea pigs - their hair is all SHORT, but they look good. TJ learned a valuable lesson - when cutting hair in a group- go first - revenge is ugly. He really did do a nice job- there is hope for TJ to become the beautician of Figi :o)

Oh ,and don't ask about Trace's hair - he begged to have "braids like Tian" so I figured a blackmail picture ( for his teen years) was in order!

And the call is.....

I have been called to serve a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the... (are you ready for this?) ... Fiji Suva mission. I will be learning and teaching the people in French. Best of all I get to wear a skirt ( probably dark pants most of the time) and sandals!!!!
Here is a link to wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji

I will leave Jan 7 for Utah where I will learn French etc at the Missionary Training Center. I don't have a date yet, but probably after 6 weeks I will head to Fiji - there the local Mission President will decide where ( which island or area) I will go to for several months at a time.
TJ

October Already...

Tian ready to try out for Nebraska football and Trace ready to be the tackling dummy

Trace discovered he could pick his own raspberries at will
A family game of "Don't Break the Ice" ask us which kids got hit the most times with the little hammer and who had to have a time out -hint: first name starts with "T," he is not from China, and his name ends with "evor"
Our pond

We're not sure where she learned to dance like this....

Ty taking his girls for a ride - the one in the center is Emma, our neighbor

See Ty you are on the Blog!!
Trev trying to break his personal best
Trev so patient letting Tian "help" ( If he's smart he'd start sub contracting )

Our dear friends the Gordes - on their visit to IA
Hey - Where's Cheech?Our 3 Scouts
Tian and Trace practing for Cross Country

Tian practicing to be Shawn Johnson on our future pation with the new firepit!!!
Trace trying to give Tom a noogie
3 Buck Ridge - This lot's still for sale....

Had to share a picture of the lots. We are going about the sales thing on our own after much struggling with our realtor. So, we have started a web site: 3BuckRidge.com
Right now it only has a map, but will be being added to shortly, but the more hits we get the better for the search engines - so please check it out often :o) We are trying our hand at advertising..we will be featured in theaters in West Des Moines - keep you fingers crossed for us. You have to admit - the view is gorgeous...

Tom's opus:He was inspired by Stonhenge to make a firepit. I will try to get an ariel shot this week. It really is pretty neat. The kids have fun trying to jump over them, balance on the board ( as seen in the photo.) TJ did try to walk across the firepit. Yes - there was a fire blazing. So much for good judgement.

Family news.. Well no moves or babies on the horizon . We are hoping for a CALM year. TJ is anxiously awaiting his mission call. He should be hearing anytime about where he will be spending the next 2 years. He is hoping for someplace REALLY REALLY gross and physically difficult, I think ...California is nice. I am excited for him, but I am not ready for him to go. He is busy working at Costco and at a horse farm . He is also going to school fulltime - so please ask him about his speech class (especially his first speech)

Trevor is BUSY with Cross Country - he has had an excellent season despite being sick and injured. He has managed to place in all of his meets- no small feat considering his high school is the home of the state champ for the last 2 years!

Ty is having fun with piano, Tae Kwon Do and Webelos scouts. He just tested for orange belt - he will find the result on Thursday...

Tian is busy memorizing nursery rhymes and learning how to write. She is trying to decide weather or not she left handed...her dad is working hard to keep her converted to the left side:o) Trace is busy keeping up with Tian and being a boy. We have a hard time keeping him in the house and he is really starting to talk.

Tianisms:

"Mommy we need a new baby from Chin-ee... a plastic one." This week, I am in total agreement.

We went to dowtown Des Moines to see the Farmer's Market. The street swere full of people and Tian asked if we were in Chin-ee. I was surprised she would rememebr the crowded streets being like China. Then we visited a booth with two VERY cute Vietnamese girls seeling veges and Tain looks at them and says," You have black hair like me. Do you speak Chinese?"

We had Chinese for dinner (again) and Tom asked her if she liked dinner. She looks at him in a perfect deadpan and says, " I'm Chinese." I wish someone had told him sooner...

Fractured Nursery rhymes:

Little Miss muffet

Sat on her muffet

Eating her crumbs that way

When along came a spider

and sat down by her

and she ran away

While reciting "Baa Baa Back sheep" - she kept forgetting the line , " Yes Sir , yes sir, 3 bags full." I would remind her and she would reply, " I don't do that part." I forgot (again) that she is the Empress.

Trace-isms:

When asked his name: "I am Iron Man" or "Spiderman" which includes web slinging action. We hope he is never lost. ..Don't worry when he tells you his name is Spiderman, Tian makes sure to remind us ,"I am NOT the green Goblin!" It is sad they have never seen the movies..

When asked how he got more M&M's (again) - he shrugs his shoulders and replies in a high voice,"Idon'tknow," as she shovels the rest in so fast the come out his nose - what a waste of chocolate!!!

Trace's favorite songs:

Twinkle Twinkle little star - goes like this Twnkle Twinkle mmm mmm are rrrrrrryou are , however he can sing "Iron Man" by Ozzy Osbourne with great clarity including guitar riffs

TJ- ism

TJ just walked in the door from work and Tom asked if he has classes tomorrow. TJ replies, " I already have a lot of homework." I had never thought of that strategy - once you feel you have enough homework you just quit attending class...

Kite Flying - Chinese style

A few days ago Trevor, Tian, Trace and T.J. and I were flying our Chinese kites. Tian did a very good job so did we. The kites were very long and sort of hard to control. I think that they were at least 8 to 16 feet long. In the picture, is me flying my kite in lazy style (NOT!) but it was a little windy I think.

When we were in China we didn't see this type of kite, but Grandma Paula and Grandpa Jon brought them home to us from their trip.

While we were there we saw people playing with hacky sacks and doing Tai Chi in the parks.

Ty

Pictures....

Now for the picture deluge...

Tian and Trace having fun with a cell phone they stole from their brother...

Tom bravely taking both out on the canoe - Ty is swimming
Tian swinging
I don't even know what Ty is doing here...I think the water is coming out his ears...

Tian,Ty and Trace feeding the goats at the zoo in Omaha

Tom - could this be a bad American commercial?-

eating a King King burger big enough for2 or 3 people

Ty tested for high Yellow belt - he passed.

Grant Germaine is one of the judges and assists Ty in breaking a board
Trace making sure he isn't missing anything

Could a birthday end any better - Ariel doll, Ariel sheets.... The babies attacking my in Tom's parents' pool

Riding the Gorillas at the Omaha zoo Trace wondering what strange American custom this is

Tian hamming it up over her new Ariel bathing suit - which she wore for a week straight with cowboy boots...

Empress Tian - regal as only she can be :o)
We had cake at the pool - where else would one have a mermaid party? We made a castle cake and I let (okay, she made me) Tian decide how and help decorate it

Ummm...did I mention she doesn't really have ... the manners of an Empress...I am ashamed to say her little brother is much, much much worse. We are thinking of feeding with his chair in the middle of a wading pool

It was a fun weekend- we canoed here at home, got some weeding done, I cleaned off my desk ( an Oympic feat) and actually enjoyed some nice, barely humid, weather. TJ had to work most of Saturday and Trev was up at camp Mitigwa working on service hours required for the Order of he Arrow. odd, it was such a peaceful day ( you connect the dots :o)

We cooked over an open fire Sunday night, we even made non-burned popcorn and dreamed of our someday deck and patio. We avoided any trip to the ER for over a week- does life get any better ?!?

I know it has been FOREVER

No pics today...maybe tomorrow

Quick update -
Trace survived palate surgery and his liquid diet ( 5 weeks!!!!) and another trip to the ER. The very morning we saw the surgeon and got the all clear to eat regular food, we went to the science museum to celebrate - Trace found some pills on the floor and ate them! HE is fine, didn't enjoy the charcoal too much, but he is fine.

The kids won't start school until September 2 ( I am hoping to get the house organized ( ha ha) .

We have had fun visiting Tom's family in Omaha - especially King Kong Burger ( I will post pictures) , my parents survived a whirlwind visit with us for my birthday:o) My mom had the nerve to say our house was a little chaotic! Can you believe it? At that point we had 2 dogs, 10 cats ( 5 of which were kittens), 5 kids and Trace was still on a liquid diet and VERY 2! Tian fell in love with her Grandpa Jon and did all of her best tricks :o) I don't think the poor man had 10 seconds to himself while they were here and I am sure his ear is killing him from all the talking ( and singing.)

Here are the latest Tianisms:

We are at a restaurant and she is sitting so close to me I can barely breathe. I ask her to move over becasue I can't eat - she looks up with those big black eyes and says, " Well then, don't eat." Too bad I can't think the world revolves around me ....

WHile visiting Grampy and Grandma Tessa Tian proudly claimed the title "Bossy Boots." ( I wonder why) At home yesterday she proudly proclaimed, " I am a Bossy Boots, Grandma Tessa told me so." If only we all were as comfortable in our own skin... she had no qualms about telling the ER nurse that the blood presure cuff was too tight on Trace's are or that the charcoal drink looked "Very nasty, he can't drink that."

Her FIRST joke - and it was actually funny! Ty got a black eye ( I am sure there will be an entire page about it ) He and Trevor were fighting over a wooden sword and guess what. Anyway, Ty walked around the first day telling everyone to look at his black eye and that Trevor gave it to him. Tian doesn't quite get what the big deal is ( after all, her eyes are always black!) She looks at Ty and in a tone only a little sister can use points to her eye and says, " Look at my black eye. I got it in Chin-ee" She repeats this while laughing hysterically every chance she gets.

TJ decides to try to tease Tian the other morning. He looks at her and says," Tian you're adopted." She replies " Yes, so be gentle with me." Where does that even come from?!

A word of warning the boys will be posting as part of school each week - so beware of lost limb pictures, tales of horror and woe - they should be signing them.... luckily here at home I can check them.

Tara