Contagious Laughter

Drew has always been very aware of his surroundings, and mostly conscious of what his older brother is doing. We've often joked that Drew has one eye on Nolan at all times...mostly out of fear of what may happen if he doesn't pay attention. Lately though, Drew is still concerned with what Nolan is doing - but now it's for his entertainment. We can see already that he adores his older brother, and loves to be around him...as long as it's at arm's length.

Tonight, as Drew was eating dinner, Nolan had starting dumping ice water from one cup to another... and hilarity ensued for Drew. Here is the result...my favorite is at about 1:50.

Angels and Airwaves & Weezer Concert

Deb, her sister Leanne, and I were able to go to the Angels and Airwaves and Weezer concert this week at the E Center. I am a fan of both bands and was really looking forward to it. Debbie and Leanne were more excited for AVA, but agreed to have an open mind with Weezer. I think they both walked away as Weezer fans. I was a little concerned about AVA because the reviews I had read were less than positive. We were pleasantly surprised that they put on a good show. Weezer, on the other hand, was awesome! They put on a very entertaining and fun show. The sign of a good band, in my opinion, is if they sound as good or better live, than they do on their album. Good music...good times.
Angels and Airwaves
Weezer Here is a little video clip of the concert...not the best quality, but you get the idea...

Mysteries of God, Life, and a 3 year old mind...

WARNING: Serious Post

So...now would be an appropriate time to acknowledge that my sister Amy and her husband Casey are the coolest people we know, and we love and adore them very much. It goes without saying how much Nolan worships his Aunt Mamay and Uncle Casey. They've always seemed to have the perfect happy marriage, and had everything in life they needed to be completely happy....Unfortunately, there has been a large void in their lives that has been very difficult for them, and hard for us to see...a baby.

We are so excited for them that this void in their lives has been filled. They welcomed "Babes" into the family this past weekend, and she is completely adorable and fits perfectly into their family. Until they decide on a name, she has been called "Babes"...(eventhough she will probably still be called "Babes" for the rest of her life) What a blessing for them...they deserve it! After 7+ years of trying, and going through the adoption process, it has been a long time coming. They are going to be the greatest parents that "Babes" could ever hope for.

On a personal note, and as an explanation for the title of this post...

"Babes" is about 6 months old, and 10 days older than Drew. A few months ago, around the time of Drew's birth, Nolan was sitting next to Amy at some family function. Out of nowhere, he turns to Amy and innocently asks, "Mamay, where's your baby girl?" We were all a little shocked to have heard this question, but not completely surprised as we have been praying that "Mamay and Casey would get a baby" for a long time now. We didn't put much thought into it, but later on, Nolan repeated the same question. Once again, we played it off that Nolan was just being sweet and inquisitive.

After the events of this weekend, the mystery of why Nolan would ask this question are not so mysterious anymore. Looking back, we now realize that this happened at about the same time "Babes" was born! Nolan clearly has more faith, and is more in tune with the Spirit than we could have ever imagined. Why did Amy and Casey have to wait so long for a baby? Would their prayers be answered? Did God hear our prayers? When would they have a baby? These mysteries were somehow not a mystery to the faithful mind of our 3 year old son.

God does answer prayers, He is listening, He knows what we need and when we need it. And...never underestimate the faith of a 3 year old. These are the lessons we have learned the past few days.

Congratulations Amy, Casey, and "Babes"! We love you.

Lightning McQueen's Sickness

We had learned a long time ago that Nolan is watching and listening, especially when we think he is not. Last week, we had all stayed at home because of sickness. Nolan was playing with some of his cars and decided to draw our attention to this...


At first glance, it appeared that Lightning McQueen had been involved in a bad case of road rage. Nolan quickly pointed out that our friend Lightning was sick, and was getting a blessing from the green and purple cars! He explained that because they had the "Priesthood", they could give him a blessing. We started to explain to him that cars could not have the Priesthood, but quickly realized that he already understood more than we had given him credit for. He then gave us a demonstration of how Lightning had been healed...



Later that same day...Nolan was caring for his Build-A-Bear, appropriately named "Jasper the Jazz Bear". Logically, Jasper is a newborn bear and needed caring for just like his little brother Drew. Jasper was carefully nursed, burped...then potty trained by Nolan. If only the transition was that easy. We (including Drew) are glad that he's practicing his parenting skills on a teddy bear.





Nolan is a funny and smart kid, and we've got our work cut out for us, but we sure love him.

Rise and Shout!

Many of you know that Nolan is a big BYU fan. We bought him a season ticket of his own this year, and he loves to go and watch the "Cougar players", the band, the cheerleaders, and sing along with the "Cougar song". When he gets into one of his crazy moods he will sing "Rise and Shout" loud and nonstop. In honor of the big victory this past weekend, we thought we would share a recent rendition of the fight song by Nolan.

"Catch Up" Post

So...we're starting to get behind on updating the life and times of the Thurstons, thus, we must resort to a summarized, "cliff notes" version of what's been happening. Here goes...

Ward Campout - BYU Game

We attended our Ward Campout and the first BYU football game a couple weekends ago. Boring pictures, but they depict what we spent most of our time doing. The only pics from the Ward Campout are from inside our tent...lying there. awake. not asleep. We "woke up" that morning and drove down the canyon to the BYU game. It was very hot, and very fun. No pics from the actual game, only from the moments of relief from the sun under the stadium. We also managed to fit in a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house before we headed to the game.

Nolan's 3rd Birthday Party

Nolan recently turned 3 years old and we gathered as a family to celebrate him. We can't believe that he's already three, while many others cannot believe that he's only three. He is a great kid, we love him very much, and are so lucky to have him in our family.

Wasatch 2008

Every year, over the past 30+ years, Ryan's family has been attending Wasatch State Park. It is a very fun tradition that includes, camping, cards, football, golf, crafts, and lot's of fun. It is one of my favorite events of the year. It is a very different experience now, than when I was little, but still very fun. As a family, Deb and I have started our own tradition of going up on Thursday, making a stop at the Dairy Keen in Midway, then heading up to the campground. We also love to take the kids to the pond to feed the ducks. Of course, a Wasatch trip would not be complete without a round of golf on the Mountain course on Saturday, some craft making for the girls, throwing the football around, playing some rook, and chasing after the kids. It is really a lot of fun. We already look forward to another trip next year.

Family Pictures

We recently got together with Ryan's sister Amy (lovingly referred to as "Aunt Maymay" by the nieces and nephews) to take some family pictures, in connection with Nolan's 3rd birthday. As you can see, she is very talented. She is starting a photography business...if you're interested in looking at more of her work, check it out at

http://amytwittyphotography.blogspot.com/

Thanks Maymay...You're the Best!