The Boot has been found!

It is a Thornburg Family Christmas tradition for the kids to search for Santa's boot. Each year Jason hides it and the finder gets to open the first present on Christmas morning. The kids are getting good, it had been hid for less than 24 hours this year when................CARLI found it! We are thinking it might be time to get a smaller boot now that the kids are getting older!

This is the second time she has found it she is definitely going to keep it and open the first gift! Amber has found the boot 4 times and Nicholas once. Amber, the sweetest girl ever, has given it away 3 of the 4 times so that her brother and sister could open first. Now that's the Christmas spirit!

Holiday Fun

The holiday season is in full swing around here. The tree is up, the stockings are hung, and the kids are counting down the days until Christmas! We have already had several fun holiday events.....

If you haven't received your Christmas card yet, it is on the way. We had a photo shoot of the kids for the perfect photo. Some cute ones that didn't make the cut.......

after all that we went with one that we had from last summer!

Carli is in the school choir, their Christmas Concert was this past week. Again she stole the show! It pays to be the most petite (she prefers not to be called short or small) because you get to be in the front row!

Mariana had her annual Christmas Party on Saturday and even though the kids don't go to her house anymore, they love to go and visit. Mariana always out does herself and throws a wonderful party. Great food and lots of presents for the kids! They love to see the other children and of course see Santa, who always comes with gifts for everyone! It is hard to believe that this is the 11th time that Amber has sat on Santa's lap at Mariana's!

Our Stars!

Carli and Nick were the stars (to us anyway) of the show. They did 10 performances of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last week and enjoyed every minute of it! What kid doesn't love being on stage? We are very lucky to have a wonderful drama teacher at West Valley, Ms. Bailey, who takes our little stars and puts them on stage. On top of her cast of high school kids there were about a dozen "Little Oomps." There are also lots of wonderful high school kids in the show, Jamie (the "big Oomp" in the photos) took great care of the kids.

They have been practicing since October and last week they spend 2 school days, 2 evenings and all day Saturday at performances and hanging out back stage. They had to do all their school work in between shows, just like real stars. Grandma and Grandpa Goins were able to come and catch the final show with us. It was a long, but exciting week, and I am happy to say that we finally removed all the make-up!

Mustang football has finished another season.

Jason's team lost a playoff game last night to Glendora to finish there season. There had a very successful 9-2 season!

Twlight

We actually did it...stayed up until midnight to see Twlight. I don't remember the last time that I saw 2:00 AM but it was worth it! The movie was so good-- if you haven't seen it yet you need to. I already want to go again!

Amy, Inma, me, Shana, Sandy, Vanessa, and Eunice

Almost show time

Oompa Loopma Dupity Doo-- we got an invatation for you! Carli and Nick are in Charlie in the Chocolate Factory December 4,5, and 6. They would love to have you come and watch!

Champions..........

The Mustangs are Sunbelt League Champions after beating Hemet last night 21-14. It was a very exciting game, came down to the last 11 seconds. Next Friday night they will host the first round of the playoffs --come join us!

Thank you for ....

so many things, but today I am so thankful for good friends to spend an afternoon crafting with! We had so much fun and even had something to show for our afternoon (Jason was skeptical that there would actually be something)! See what we made.....

I am also thankful that we had fewer things on our calendar this week after a very fun filled, exciting week before, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't any action around here.

Nicholas received the Golder Folder Award at school. This is the award for being neat and organized. He is very meticulous, at school anyway. I am definitely thankful that he loves school and is such a great student!

After several months of indecision, Carli decided that she wanted short hair, short for her anyway. She had it cut into a very cute a-line bob, she had a picture of what she wanted and everything. It turned out very cute!

It isn't a trick....it is an 8-0 treat

Jason says the best treat of the night was the the Mustangs beating the defending league champions, we are 8-0! The kids might not agree, as they sit surrounded by candy and I think the Milk Duds are a close second. Either way everyone had a good time. Everyone got to wear their costume to school. Amber was an '80's girl, makes me feel old because it seems like I was dressing like that for real not too long ago. Carli was a devil, the sweetest devil ever. Nick was a pirate, and he likes to stay in character when dressed up, walking and talking like a Pirate.

Winter ball...........

Carli is playing winter ball this year, so even though it seems as though softball just ended we are at it again. They played their second game on Saturday and won. They are getting really good, even with all the rule changes that come along when they move up an age group. We have been so lucky to play with the same great coaches and group of girls for several years now.

Carli likes to play 2nd and shortstop. They can steel bases for the first time so they have had a lot of fun practing to slide, she was very excited to steel home!

7-0 BABY!

That's right, the Mustangs are 7-0! The beat Perris HS on Friday, thier homecoming game! Lake Elisnore this Friday! Here is the story:

http://www.hsgametime.com/inlandsoutherncalifornia/

Check out the rankings, first in the Sunbelt league and tenth overall in the Inland Empire!

Acacia Cougars Volleyball

Amber is on the volleyball team at her school. Volleyball is the love of her life (we are so happy that it isn't boys...yet). Her team hasn't won a lot, but they have improved a ton!

We love a bye week!

The Mustangs are 5-0 and had a bye this week. We took off to the beach for the weekend to enjoy the cool weather and relax! It is so nice to have a week of right in the middle of the season! The season has been great, we have never been 5-0 before and league play starts this week, GO MUSTANGS!

Monkey Girl!

Carli's favorite animal is a monkey, she has them all over her room and we are afraid that they are starting to rub off on her! The tree in our front yard is huge, taller than our 2-story house and she can climb all the way to the top! It gives me a heart attack, I just envison us in the ER with broken bones!

114 Pins!

Bowling? Is that even a sport? We don't know but Nick has been asking for over a year to be on a bowling team and we finally gave in. He loves it and his team is doing very well. His team is 2 of his friends from school.
Here they are: Nick, Noah, and Ian.




It has been nothing that we expected, they actually have coaches and everything! The bowlers earn patches for different things and Nick received one for breaking 100! He knocked down 114 pins! What on earth are we going to do with the patch?

The Mustangs are off and running!

We love football season! Last night was the first football game of the season, the Mustangs were victorious over Firebaugh High School out of Longbeach 57-8.

If you would like to follow the team this seasons, here is the link:

http://www.hsgametime.com/inlandsoutherncalifornia/school.html?propertyId=3&schoolId=3187

There is also a schedule, we would love for you to join us at a game!

Nick turns 7!

Today is Nick's 7th birthday!

We had out traditional sombrero birthday picture yesterday.

He is very excited about his new bike, first thing this morning he went to the biggest hill in our neighborhood so that he could ride down it!

First Day of School

Back to reality.......today was the first day of school! Amber started 7th grade, Carli 4th, and Nick 2nd. They were all looking forward to returning to school, Mom and Dad on the other hand, were not!

35 Years

August 8-10 in Pahrump was the family reunion and my mom and dad and Aunt Patti and Uncle Ron celebrated their 35th Wedding anniversary. Aunt Wilma and Uncle Larry celebrated their 40th! That's 180 years of marital bliss! We had a great time, it was wonderful to see so many people that we don't see often enough!

The Goins Family Trophy was the guest of honor!

This link will take you to photos of the reunion:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mandjthorn/FamilyReunion/photo#s5233759984450418978

This link will take you to photos of the Anniversary Party:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mandjthorn/35YearsAndCounting/photo#s5233821991415826354

Day at the Beach

We had a great day at the beach and broke in the new boogie board. Amber and Nick are really getting good! We are still working on Carli, she is not sure that it is a sport that she wants to take up.

Golfing with the Goins

The Gene Goins Memorial Golf Tournament was a success again! Amber, Carli, and Nick all came home with HUGE trophies! Amber also won the putting contest and Carli made her first ever par!

Fun with the cousins!

Nick and Micky love to catch the waves!

Definitely Thornburgs, bellin' up to the bar! (don't worry that is sparkling cider).


We had a great time with Katie and McKayla in Pismo!