2008 A Fabulous Year!!!

JANUARY

We started the year off by attending the Rexburg Temple Open House. We wanted to take Hannah through before her baptism and we were able to get tickets the day before!! We were so excited. The kids loved it!! And now every time we drive by, Tanner says "I've been in there!"

January 5th, the Church welcomed it's newest member! Hannah was baptized and confirmed by her dad. It was a very special day. She's growing up so fast. Hannah was really nervous about having to be dunked!! Of course her dad reassured her by saying "I won't hold you for too long!"

Mike was nominated and voted in as the vice president of the Eastern Idaho Metal Trades Union. This has been an incredible experience for him. He's learned so much! Because of this position, Mike represents over 30 laborers and is also involved in the contract negotiations with the company. This job has actually helped him to settle in a little bit better out at the site.

And finally, in January my cousin Kristen moved in with us. She decided to go to school at the community college here in town. And the fun began! The kids thought that it was great to have someone else around besides their mom. Kristen will graduate in July with her Dental Assisting Degree. Shortly after that she'll be getting married to a great guy, Gabe. We love her and wish her the best!!

FEBRUARY

Valentine's Day!! Mike is always so good on this day!! He sent both of his girls flowers and he sent me a beautiful bouquet of my favorite flower (pink carnations) and Tanner got a new movie. Mike took me to dinner and that was great.

We rented a cabin in Island Park with Mike's family at the end of February. This cabin was so beautiful! There was so much room and it had beds for everyone, and the best thing was the hot tub. It was fun to sit in there and watch the snow fall and be warm!! And of course, the snowmachining was great!! The kids are getting big enough to understand what we're doing and they had a great time!!

This is Abbey all decked out in her stuff!!

This is Tanner with "the boys" Jareb, Jacob and Jaxson


MARCH

Easter came WAY early this year. And as always, the Easter Bunny found our house. The kids were excited to go to church in their new duds!!

Hannah stayed home very sick that day. She wasn't too happy!!

APRIL

This was a pretty quiet month. I wish I'd have had a picture to post of me shooting my pistol. I took a handgun class with Mike and became a concealed weapons permit carrier. I was terrified of even holding my gun. Now, I feel very comfortable with it. In fact, I've really enjoyed going shooting with Mike. It's a lot of fun (until I start shooting better than he does!!)

MAY

Hannah wrote her own book!! In her class, the kids were supposed to write a story and illustrate it. Hannah wrote about a princess. She did an excellent job writing the story and her pictures were great!! They bound the book and covered it with that shining covering. It looked like a real book!! We got to go to listen to her read her book to the rest of the class. Abbey and Tanner thought it was pretty cool to be in class with their sister!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!! It's the Packer's hat I always wanted!!

JUNE

Welcome summer and enter Aunt Tiffy to give us fun and sassy haircuts!! Hannah grew her hair long enough to donate 9 inches to Locks for Love. Tiff sent Hannah's hair in to be made into a wig for cancer patients. Hannah is such a sweet and thoughtful girl.
Before:

Someone will be very grateful for her thick beautiful hair.

After!!!

Abbey needed in on the action too!! Isn't she cute!!

Thanks Aunt Tiffy!!!


Time to get out the bikes!! The kids love being outside! Tanner and Abbey were pretty excited to get new bikes! Tanner still can't quite get the pedaling, but he has a dang cool bike! He also has an optimus prime helmet!! Pretty tough stuff.

Mike and Tanner went on their first Father and Sons outing. They borrowed Mike's step dad's camper and headed up to Beaver Dick park in Rexburg! There was still snow up there and it was melting and messy. They were worried that they were not going to be able to go. But they found a place that accomodated the ward and Mike and Tanner had a blast.

Tanner played frisbee football with the "big" boys in the ward. They were so great to Tanner. Now, at church, when they are passing the sacrament, Tanner waves and then he'll lean over to me and ask "what that guys name?" It's pretty cute.

Growing up so fast!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! Golf, golf and more golf!!

And the kids fixed him breakfast in bed!!

JULY

Welcome home Justin and Aimee!! I think that their arrival was one of the most anticipated parts of our year. Hannah was so excited to have her cousin Jessica move closer!! I, of course, was so excited to have my older brother back in town and I'm fortunate to have his wife be one of my very good friends. We had a luau celebration at my house for them!! Tiff did most of the leg work and she did a fabulous job!! We had a hoola hoop contest and of course the limbo!!

I think I have the cutest nieces and nephews around!!

Artwork by Hannah!

Look at this delicious food!!

The Thompson Family Reunion is an event that we look forward to all year!! This year Grandpa Thompson decided to have it at the Riot Zone, a family fun park. We had a blast playing miniature golf, taking on the inflatable toys and racing the go-carts. We had a wonderful time and look forward to many more reunions to come.

Mike really tried to make it fair!!

Just a few days after the reunion, I had a hysterectomy. It was a pretty major surgery. I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their help with the kids, the dinners, the encouraging phone calls. It was a long process to get well, but it's turned out to be a blessing.

AUGUST

I'm so glad that I have children to husk corn on the cob!! I hate doing that. Mike and the kids love eating corn on the cob during the summer.

These next pictures remind me of a country song: "I been watchin; you dad ain't that cool, I'm your buckaroo I wanna be like you; eat all my food, and grow as tall as you are!!"

Wherever Mike is, Tanner usually is too!

Hallelujah!! Back to school time!! Abbey misses the deadline for kindergarten this year, so she's going one more year to preschool. She goes to the developmental preschool through the district and loves it. Her teachers are awesome!! I have felt so blessed to have her in that particular class.

Hannah was off to 3rd grade this year!! I could hardly believe it. She was very excited because this year she finally had some of her friends in her class. She also got the teacher she wanted! Life is good.

We tried Tanner in preschool, but it was a battle each day to get him ready. He would cry and be so upset! I asked him one day why he didn't want to go, he said "too much people mom!"

Mike and I celebrated our 12th anniversary this year. I love him so much. We've grown so much together. We've been through some really tough times and some really great times. We've been blessed with three beautiful children. I hope that there are many more years that we can grow together. I love you babe.

SEPTEMBER

Happy Labor Day!! We got out of town and went to visit Mike's brother and family in Boise. His sister-in-law got us this hotel suite that was more square footage than our house for $49 per night. This hotel had the greatest pool and the kids got to experience room service for the first time. We had a ball. I was still recovering from my surgery, so Mike was the trooper!!

Happy 4th Birthday Tanner!!

And grandpa thought that his "some assembly required" days were over! Ha!!

OCTOBER

Happy 5th Birthday Abbey!!

So excited about her barbie scooter!!

Mike and I had the opportunity to go to Las Vegas for a Union Convention. This was such a cool experience. Mike was in meetings for the first three days, so I slept in, shaved my legs, watched a movie in bed!! Pretty much enjoyed the heck out of myself. This picture is at the Bellagio and we are with the Union President and his wife. She and I had a great time shopping!!

Big bucks, no whammies!! Yeah right!!

We went to the Body Exihibit, STOMP, a true Vegas variety show (topless and all!!), to the top of the Paris, to the Shark Reef and I can't remember everything else!! What a trip.


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! The chef, the witch and, without a doubt, spiderman.

NOVEMBER

I love this time of year. It is a time of grateful reflection for me. This Thanksgiving, my heart was so full. I felt so blessed and so grateful for so many things. I'll keep it short, but I am grateful to have a family of my own. I am grateful to be a mother (most of the time). I am learning to enjoy each stage we go through. I am grateful to be married to such a hardworking, caring man. Mike takes good care of me and I am grateful for him.

I am also very grateful for my parents and my siblings. It's a pretty rare occasion these days that a marriage lasts longer than 10 years. Thanks mom and dad for loving each other. It seems like a crazy thing to be thankful for, but I appreciate that you've worked together, grown together and come out still in love with each other.

And my brothers and sisters, well, I am amazed at the lives you live. Each of you are so very successful at what you do. You all inspire me in your own way and you bless not only my life, but the lives of my kids and I can't thank you enough for that.

DECEMBER

Isn't this the cutest mouse you've ever seen? Abbey is taking ballet this year and had the opportunity to perform in the Nutcracker. She was so cute and knew her part really well. She got out on that stage and did such a cute job. She loves dance. Thank you Aunt Tiffy for the special attention to her make-up. You made her feel so special. And Aunt Jen, thank you for the photo shoot. Abbey said, "Sheesh! Aunt Jen taked a lot of pictures!!"

Such concentration!!

Our service project was such a meaningful and special experience for me. I was so grateful for the NICU nurses and staff who took such good care of my Abbey while she was in there. The NICU doesn't usually house 11 pound babies, so Abbey was a special treat for them. I feel so grateful for the abilities of those who hold lives in their hands every day. It may just be work to them, but it is a blessing to me.

Our family would like this to be a yearly tradition. Hannah was so upset at me for not explaining what we were doing to her earlier. This year, she plans on making her very own blanket to donate.

HAPPY 9th BIRTHDAY to Hannah!!!

Cute sweater from Grandma and Grandpa T

Hannah ask me if she could go to lunch with her great grandparents for her birthday. I was so touched and surprised that this would even be something that she'd like to do. So we made arrangements to eat with each set of grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa Lowder showed all the kids their holiday gadgets at the house and then took them in the "COOL" truck to Applebees. We had a great time. We weren't able to get with Grandma and Grandpa Thompson because of the weather. But, she's still looking forward to that.

HO! HO! HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Tanner got the race track of his dreams!!

Some assembly required!! It was about a 12-pack job!!

Once Mike got this track all built, he put it on a piece of plywood. It takes up the whole piece of plywood!! The only place we can keep it is in the garage. So we bundle up and go out to race!

Abbey got a digital camera from Santa. Once the batteries were put in, it only took about 10 minutes for her to fill up the memory card!! She takes after her aunties!!

Hannah got accessories for her Nintendo DS that she got for her birthday. She also got Monopoly and Scrabble.

Santa left a Wii for our family this year. We've never spent so much time in our basement!! This Wii has turned us into hermits. The kids were so excited! Tanner reached both arms up to the sky and yelled 'Thank you Santa!!!" So funny.

Well, that's the Storer family in 2008 in a nutshell. What a year!