TJ at the MTC

okay- I am finally composed enough to add the pictures of TJ at the MTC. It was a bittersweet day. Until then, I never really understood what bittersweet was - it was geat to see TJ so ready and on the brink of such an exciting adventure, but so sad to see that first chapter of our life together coming to a close. I still can't believe that 19 years have passed so quickly.....
We are told to take our last pictures and TJ is sent in one door and we can't go with him...we are all worried this is the good bye moment. Not yet - just the scary first real step. I am relieved he was kind enough to look back at us and at least seem a litle worried. Unlike the first day of Primary or kidnegarten when I was dismissed me without even a backward glance. TJ receiving instructions as he checks in one of the hardest things I have ever done....

I hoped it would be clearer... it is in French :o) we were wondering if he will get one in other languages if he travels to other islands.

Tom and I headed back to Salt Lake after we dropped TJ off. The program was very short: a song, a brief talk by the mission president and his wife and then the goodbye. We were told to think of a band aid - in other words fast and quick is better. TJ headed for the door marked missionaries - we through the "family " door and parking lot. It is easy to se that they are used to doing this - we were in and out of the MTC in 15 minutes. Tom and I decided to head back to Salt Lake so we wouldn't be tempted to break into the MTC to take him back :o) We went back to tour the Salt LAke on a non foggy day. The mountains in the distance reminds us of Colorado and our life there when TJ was a baby. A good day to reflect - we start to get sappy so we head back to temple square for some more organized cry sessions :o)


The full size replica of the Christus in the vistor's center in Salt Lake - it was phenomonal...

We had dinner at the Lyon House and head back to the hotel to catch our lonely flight back home...

Pilgrimage to Utah

So we finally made it to Utah for the first time! WE have had a fun filled couple days touring all things Utah : BYU, Deseret Book, Emergency Essentials, Missionary Mall, Temple Square, tabernacle and Tom's favorite: the Great Salt Lake and Tj's request ( although not very Utah) Body World. IT is the display that has been touring with real human cadavers - it was VERY interesting.

WE bring TJ to the MTC tomorrow and I am hoping time will creep VERY slowly - I am not ready for him to go. I am excited for him to start this new chapter in his life and looking forward to his transformation into an independant adult, but I sure wish I could turn back time...I miss the little boy who used to skip everywhere he went and called himself "Super TJ the One" I promised I wouldn't get all sappy so back to the sightseeing...

Monday TJ started the day harassing his dad - which included hiding a muffin wrapper in his eggs ( which Tom ate) and pulling out his chair. All this before 8 am....Tom lowered his standards and brought us to BYU. Fortunately for him it was the first day of classes so there was no visitor parking to be found... We were able to do some shopping and see the mountains.

Today, Tuesday, we stayed in Salt Lake and started the day touring Temple Sqaure in a snow storm. We were able to seee the tabernacle that held General Conference up until 8 years ago. It is a phenomonal building without even factoring in the fact that it was built over 100 years ago. The building has perfect acoustics that we saw demonstarted with a pin drop and speaking without a microphone, all of which could be heard clearly from the "cheap seats" in the back. The organ, that made the Mormom Tabernacle Choir famous, was as amazing as I had imagined. We then headed to the visitor center and saw a few videos that described the construction of the temple. Truely a phenomonal feat - how do people even imagine that such feats could reasonably be accomplished.... The temple, although at first glance from the street seemed less impressive ,was even more amazing that the pics when viewed up close. Phenomonal stone carving, perfectly fit stones. Can you imagine this was done with no modern equipment... truely awe inspiring. We finshed up the formal tour in the gallery with some amazing paintings and the beautiful replica of the Christus - an amazing sculpture.
We then made it to the chapel and TOm was in a hurry to make it to the new conference center. Unbeknowst to me, the best example of a green roof in the US. The center is an engineering marvel with HUGE cantilevered balconies, a VERY impressive pipe organ and keep in mind this 21, 000 seat center was built in 3 years!! I would love to take a class on the enginnering involved...Tom was just in awe that was completed by 3 construction firms working togetehr in 3 years. I think TJ wished we would just quit asking questions:o) The painting throughout were amazing - the prints I have seen do not do them justice. The roof, which TOm could go out on has full size growing trees to represent the mountains and another area with native grasses , reflecting ponds, and amphitheater, waterfall etc etc Wow...

WE then braved the snow in our compact rental car and headed out Antelope Island State Park to see the Salt Lake - TJ got a pic of a buffalo and I'll post pictures when we get home . IT was sad not to be able to see much due to the snow, but still fun to see the visitors center. I had no idea that sand here was round granules and the amount of dissolved minerals in the water was impressive.

TJ was happy to leave and we headed to the university exhibit of Body World - it was amazing. Needless to say, I am deteremined to get into better shape. I have heard mixed reviews about the display, but my review is it was AMAZING and the murmurs I heard from people were awe and amazement at the human body . Better yet ,we found something else that makes TJ squeamish- you will have to ask him which section :o) And for all who are wondering Tom made it through without a single dry heave or even having to take a break :o) The display here was VERY educational and very tastefully done.

We rounded out the day with a trip to Mormonabilia - a souveniour shop of all things Mormon - nothing too great, but it was fun.
I will post pics sson - keep us in your prayers tomorrow -

Mom forgot about our fabulous meal Monday night. I felt like buddy the elf when the delivery guy dropped it off at our hotel room. You should have seen this pizza it was ginormouse. Thak goodness dad only ordered one large pizza. We've barely made a dent in it.

-Elder Turner

Our First Trip to Utah

Our first glimpse of teh temple at night. TJ took a quick shot from the car. Honestly from the street the temple looked much smaller than we expected. The next day we walked temple square and saw the difference a little change in perspective can make

The next morning in the snow....
the marina on the Salt Lake

the huge cantilevered balconies in the conference center. Truely an engineering marvel...

the conference center still with its displays up for Christmas

We ordered a pizza for dinner - Tom figured a large might be enough. ( thank goodness he only ordered one!) It is the biggest pizza I ever saw

It snowed most everyday we were there. TJ and I in the snow on temple square.

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