The Hour Is Getting Late...

Here we are, still rockin' and still rollin'. We can't WAIT for the babies to finally get here, and Granny just told us to expect them in no later than three weeks. Thus, we've been going off the heezy to make sure everything is in order. In the spirit, then, of my rapid, sporadic blog posts, here is an update of the down-low, low-down of Thacker manor.

Nikki had her baby shower a couple weeks ago. I hear they had a great time, and I would like to thank everyone for the fantastic gifts. I, of course, went to see Terminator with Dad and Josh, but apparently fun was had by all the ladies. I like this picture more to show off my lovely wifes hot belly.
Now on to the nursery. What a trip. It was originally our office, so we lugged the desk and everything else into the other rooms in the house and slapped some paint down on the walls. We decided on a nice, neutral green - "asparagus" - as an accent wall, then just re-painted the other walls in a nice, shiny white. Nikki had a fantastic time trying to keep her belly off the wet paint. My parents then came down and we had a little party putting together the crib and dresser, which are both in cherry wood. That's when Nikki went crazy... clothes, diapers, wipes, flowers for Lily's hair, EVERYWHERE! The room is officially organized and ready to go.

Finally, the babies are doing great. They both weigh around four lbs and continue to grow and develop well. In our last ultrasound we only got pics of Lily, as Jack just wanted to show off his wiener and not his face (typical Thacker attribute). At our doctor's appointment yesterday, Dr. Burgett told us the babies were still breach and will most likely be born via C-section. Not the most exciting thought for Nikki, but you gotta roll with the punches. We're just grateful that she's healthy and the babies are coming along. She's in a lot of pain, as the babies are quite the movers in there. Contractions have already begun, as have birthing classes. Gross.

Children update and thoughts on Survivor...

The Thacks are happy to report that Jack and Lily are doing FANTASTIC. We just had another ultrasound, and while they are getting crowded in there, they are healthy and happy. The docs are saying Jack is about 2 lbs. 11 oz right now, while Lily is a close second at 2 lbs. 8 oz. Nikki has got a fantastic tummy that continues to grow like magic. She is currently fighting a cold, which adds to the uncomfort, but is still doing great. Here is a pic of Jack's face. I call mug shots like these "Jack the Reaper" pictures because they look positively scary. My mom says they look "cute". Hmmmm....

Also, we were elated to see ol' J.T. win Survivor. He deserved it, and totally handled the Jury questioning better than Stephen, who looked as awkward as a naked man in the middle of Times Square. Also, loved Tyson comparing himself to both Jesus and Joseph Smith. Brilliant. Final question: Do we think Coach's lie detector test was legit? Somethings are better left unknown...

Have a fantastic week.

LDS Biggest Loser Contestants

For all of you fans of the "Biggest Loser", this article was kind of interesting.

I knew the Polynesian cousins Felipe and Sione were LDS (easy to figure out from little hints like pictures of them with their wives in front of LDS temples), but I did not know about Blaine and Dane.

http://www.mormontimes.com/people_news/people_church/?id=7370

2009 so far...

Wow, what a beginning to 2009! I do need to get better at this blogging thing, and now that graduation has come and gone, I'm finding myself with a little more time on my hands (or a little less, depending on the day). Here's the latest news.
I finally freaking graduated from BYU, which was kind of a surreal experience. I never really imagined what life would be like post-college… Hmmm, not much different, just less homework. It of course has come with an added amount of pressure as I realize this is it… I no longer have the college crutch to lean on. I’m a big boy now, who has to do big boy things and hold down a big boy job (that is, until I become a rock star of course). I’m currently a supervisor at Nu Skin working in their South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand departments. The fun part about that is I work by the hours in THOSE countries. Yep, that means graveyards! My current shift is 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. It has been a bit of an adjustment for Nikki and I; she has to sleep alone at night, and I usually go to bed right when I get home in the morning. It actually works out ok, as I am waking up just as she’s getting home from work, so we get to spend the rest of the day and evening together. Still, it’s been an adjustment, but we’re counting it a blessing that I’ve been able to find a good job for a good, stable company. Can’t wait to see what it’s going to be like once the babies come…

Which leads us to the fun stuff, BABIES!!!! Jack and Lily are doing VERY well, better than our doctors have expected. Granny (my grandmother and our doctor) has told us that twins generally have certain problems during pregnancy, but Jack and Lily are doing great. They are growing at the same rate, progressing well, and mostly getting along. It was kind of funny during our last ultrasound, the doctor was looking at Lily’s head on the ultrasound screen, when all of a sudden we see this small foot come out from the corner of the screen and kick Lily in the head! Yep, Jack is already kicking his sister. At our last visit, our other doctor was listening to the babies heart beats with his little monitor thingy, and every time he would place the machine over a part of her belly, one of the kids would hit it! Just a big “whack” that you could hear. This happened at least five times as he tried to listen to their heart. It’s been fun to see they both kind of have their own personalities already – Jack is generally the crazier one, always moving and practicing karate; while Lily is more calm and cool, although she sits very high in Nikki’s tummy and sometimes likes to play pattycake with Nikki’s ribcage. It has been a blast to feel them move and grow; just tonight I had my hand on Nikki’s belly, when all of a sudden a little foot or hand hit mine – and held it there pressed up against mine for about ten seconds. A very cool moment for a very anxious almost-dad.

(The top pic is of Jack, the bottom two are of Lily)

Nikki is healthy – albeit uncomfortable – and I count that as a tremendous blessing. I thank Heavenly Father every day for the ways in which He has blessed our family and I pray that we may continue to qualify for those blessings as we do our best to serve Him.

Ode to the Truck Owners

We had a killer storm this last week. Like, Wyoming-snow-blowing-sideways storm. It SUCKED. Royally. In any case, Nikki and I had a bunch of stuff to do, so we were out braving the elements until later into the evening. We made it in one piece, and were just heading up to our house, which happens to be up the mountain a little ways. We were cruising along, going kind of slow to not slide, and we noticed a couple cars on our hill stuck. The road's were just too slick and they couldn't make it to the top. "Too bad," I thought as I drove past them. Well... needless to say, we didn't make it much farther than them before our tires started spinning. Our little two-wheel drive machine just wasn't feeling it anymore. No matter how hard we tried, we weren't going to make it up that hill. Cars behind us got into the same situation, and pretty soon we had a pretty good assortment of cars, vans, even small trucks and SUVs all in various positions along the road. Me and some other guys got out and started trying to push cars, but it was pretty much impossible on the slick roads.

That's about when the calvary showed up. One guy who was going to the store with his family in a big old Expedition stopped and was helping where he could. Then two big old Dodge Rams came around the corner. It was two of our neighbors, who both said they knew the roads were bad so they decided to come out and help where they could. Both had chains, which they used to hook to the stuck cars. They then proceed to pull the cars up the hill. When they finished with one, they'd go back and hook up to another. They ended up pulling us right up to our front driveway. It was an incredible act of service. It was freezing outside, I'm sure these guys wanted to be home with their families, but they put all that on hold to go and help out their neighbors. They must have been there all night, towing people up that mountain. It's just comforting to know there's some goodness in the world, that with all the crap going on there's still honestly decent people who care about others. Those men from our ward were truly an inspiration to me. They taught me a lot about the example of Christ, they taught me that I'm never too busy, too tired, or too "whatever" to stop and help someone. Thanks to all of them.

And Merry Christmas to you!

The Morning Light

OK, I cannot hold it within me any longer. My heart bubbleth over. My ears scream in sweet sweet accolade. My mind has officially been blown. Yes, of course I'm talking about everytime I hear Nikki laugh, but I also speak of perhaps the best thing to come out of the emo scene in forever: The Morning Light (Cue Holy Grail music).

The youngsters from Pittsburgh were found by Nikki and I as we attended the Rocket Summer concert in Salt Lake last summer with my bro. Josh and his (ahem) lady friend Brianna. At first I was like, "oh great, another emo act. You can't hide behind those tight jeans and flannel shirts forever!" But it only took maybe another song for the aforementioned blowing of the mind to take place. Harisson Wargo, who wins Name of the Year, and Bobby Garver trade off vocals and complement each other perfectly. The music changes from outright rock to soulful ballads oftentimes in the middle of the song, without ever losing it's focus on an infectuos, intelligent pop rock that comes off as very refreshing with all the wierd disco rock Fall Out Boys currently in the top 40. Plus, they have maybe one of the best young bass players on the market. At the concert, this guy sat in for the next two bands to play after his own. It's like listening to Copeland, but... better. Like listening to Fall Out Boy, but... better. Like eating pizza, drinking a Dewskie, and watching the Avs with Nikki, but... ok, let's not go that far.

But seriously folks, these guys rock. If you haven't checked them out yet, you are severely depriving yourselves of life as you never knew it. The have 2 cds out, "The Love EP" which, although it has only six tracks, has completely stolen my musical heart. The second is their self-titled full-album debut just released this year. Both are must haves. One day, Dwight Shrute may just approach you and ask, "Do you listen to the Morning Light?" When you answer "no", the reply will be short and stinging: "Then you are an idiot."

Awwww... what precious little angels

Check them out at www.myspace.com/themorninglight.

I'm usually not a big myspace fan, but they've actually got a pretty cool page.

Playing Catch-Up

When you're Thacktastic, life can get a little crazy. So it is with Nikki and I. So, true to form, here is a quick catch-up of what we've been up to the last couple months.

One weekend we got to hang out with Layton and Haylie, our niece and nephew. And the fun times did roll. This was us at the BYU hockey game. It was one of my proudest moments, as Layton TOTALLY got into the game. He couldn't peel his eyes away from the ice the whole time... My real tear-jerker moment was when he turned and looked at me and said, "Uncle Matt, I LOVE this game." My eyes are getting misty just thinking about it. Not a visit to his house goes by that he doesn't want to play hockey on the hardwood floors... him being BYU and me being the "black" team (BYU's opponent that night).

Later it was off to Thacker manor... which I guess can get kind of cold at night since the kids insisted on toasting their butts by our space heater. I think Layton wanted privacy or something because he's looking at us like we're part of the paparazzi.








Their favorite place in our entire house is the TV Room where they get to sleep on the blowup bed and have a "theatre" (a term they made up meaning they turn all the lights off and watch a movie with drinks and popcorn). We take all requests for movies, but it usually boils down to Alvin and the Chipmunks, Over the Hedge, and Garfield's Holiday. And yes, this is my National Geographic shot of Layton eating popcorn. He is not spewing it out, come on people!




And, what would Uncle Matt and Aunt Nikki's house be without some jumping around and other activities they can't do at home? That's us, undermining parental authority, one kid at a time.









The next night we hit up the Utah Grizzlies game with everybody. And I mean EVERYBODY. Family members, best friends, first dates (for Katie), everything. Here's me, Nikki, Penguins jersey, and Derek. Yeah, he's the one with the huge head.