Merry Christmas!!

We started our Christmas off as usual...by waking up our kids!  They don't wake us up...we have to wake them up...isn't that the strangest thing?  We had a great Christmas morning.  We lit the tree, started the fire, read some scriptures, turned on some Christmas music and then...went crazy opening presents.  We had a relaxing morning (NOT) until we had to hurry and get ready to go to Grandpa's house for breakfast.  We traveled to Grandpa Dale's where Christie was also and had breakfast with everyone and exchanged gifts with them.  It was nice to be with my Dad, but the bad thing is, is that we have to rush from there to go to Steve's mom and dad's house so we can meet up with all of his brothers and sister.  It is crazy and it all gets to be not so fun.  We didn't stay there long either because we had to race home because Mom and Steve were coming down for dinner and I needed to start some things.  But once we were home, we could relax and it was nice.  We had the missionaries over for dinner also and you could tell that they were a little homesick.  After Mom and Steve left, the missionaries stayed and we played games and made Christmas treats and enjoyed the rest of our Christmas evening.  The best part of Christmas was the evening when we were able to come home, relax, get into our Christmas pajamas and enjoy our family.

Christmas Eve up at Grandma's

The Christmas Party up at Grandma Lois' was fun, the only sad part about the whole thing was that Grandma Thompson wasn't there.  She wouldn't come because she didn't want to come out in the cold and be around someone who might get her sick.  I guess I don't blame her.  She is 98 years old.  We did the usual thing up there and enjoyed Grandma's yummy food.  I love the ride home from Grandma's house when it is late and everything is quiet, everyone is excited for tomorrow, there is snow on the ground and it is just peaceful!  On the ride home, all of us just talk about what we are wishing for Christmas, what we hope our day will be like tomorrow, and other magical things about the Christmas season.  Merry Christmas to everyone...and to everyone a Good Night!

Roxy

 Roxy...The Greatest Beagle Ever!!!!  Even though she is doing things she isn't supposed too...we still love her and she still makes us laugh.

 

Soccer in Mesquite

Angie Barlow, Afton, McKenna Parkinson, and Brinley and I traveled down to Mesquite for the weekend for some soccer training and games. Something that I didn't really want to do because I have so much Christmas shopping and other things that I should be doing instead. The weekend was successful though and Angie and I had fun with the girls! The scrimmage games were really good...the first ones Brinleys played in since her hurt achilles tendon. She did a great job too. The team went roller skating, had picnics together, and played a lot of soccer!

Sam's Ninth Birthday!

Sam turned nine today! So sad that he is getting so old. He is the funnest little boy in the whole world and he makes our lives happy. You could say that all his sisters spoil him just a little.

Everyone had either school or work today except him and he was able to go over to Ben's house and play. He loves to go over there so it was a happy day for him. When we all got home, we met Grandma and Grandpa and went out to dinner to celebrate.

Here are 9 things that tell how awesome Sam is...

1. He is the hardest working boy I know. He comes home every day and has to work on homework and reading harder than anyone. He does complain some...but does it and tries hard too.

2. He does what you ask him to do and sometimes a little extra! Some mornings his bed is already made without me even asking him to do it. He just knows it needs to be done.

3. He has a great sense of humor. He makes me laugh and he laughs easily at other's jokes.

4. He is well liked by others. He has a lot of friends and he is a good friend to others also. In fact his teacher has told how kind he is.

5. He is very athletic.

6. He is a Cub Scout and has finished his first year.

7. Sam's room is consistently the cleanest out of all the kids in this family!

8. He is so handsome.

9. I am not his primary teacher anymore, but in sharing time he answers a lot of questions so I know that he is so smart and has a testimony. In fact he shares his testimony a lot in sacrament meeting :)

I love you Sam!

More Birthday Pictures...Happy Birthday Sam!

Grandma Thompson turns 98!

We all celebrated Grandma's birthday on Saturday. She turned 98 years old on Friday, November 26 and she looks so beautiful! She was born in 1912 in Liberty so she has lived up in the valley her whole life. She married my Grandpa Wells Thompson on January 21, 1931 in the Salt Lake Temple. She enjoys gardening and she always had the most beautiful garden every summer, she enjoys painting, quilting, making dolls, and having family close by. She is a very talented person and was always wanting to share her talents and was always encouraging me to learn and pick up on as many skills as I could. She is one of the most influential people in my life. I love her so much and I look up to her. Almost every memory I have as a little girl has her in it and what a happy childhood I had!

Thanksgiving Movie

Thanksgiving was nice this year. We didn't travel very far, we just had to go up to Steve's Mom and Dad's house. Greg and Paige were there, Ben and his family and so was Jennifer, plus us so his mom was very happy to have all of her kids there. It was a great dinner and it was good to spend time with everyone.

I am thankful for everything that I have...especially my family. You have to really think about things like that on this holiday you know! I am thankful for this long weekend and that I get to spend some time at home. I am thankful for my house and for Steve's job and for my job. Wow, I am really grateful that I got such a great job when there are so many people struggling for work right now and to think that this job almost landed in my lap. I am grateful for so many things...my friends and neighbors, the gospel, our health, but most of all....my family. I love my family so much and I am so grateful to be a mother to them. I would do anything for them and all I want for them is to be happy in life and I hope that I am raising them in a way that they will be able to grow up and live a happy life. That is a lot of responsibility you know! I am rambling! So...Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

After the Thanksgiving Feast and the visiting...we traveled down to the Syracuse Theatres to watch Tangled with the Larsen family and while we waited for the movie to start, we got a little bored and pulled out the camera...

Basketball Championships

Sam has entered a new frontier and is loving it...he is now playing competition basketball with his football coaches. During football season, his football coaches approached me and asked if Sam would be interested in playing basketball with them on a comp team. I told them that yes he would and that it would be something that he would love to do...almost as much as football. Coach Burke asked me if he was good and I said that I didn't really know because all he had ever played was jr. jazz. Then Coach Burke gave him that best compliment. He said that if he worked as hard as he did out on the football field in other sports, he probably was great or at least would be able to be coached. Well, Sam has worked hard on this basketball team and he has learned a lot from Coach Burke, he is a great coach. They took the championship and they will continue to play in more sessions throughout the winter season. I am excited to watch them, they have some really good players on the team!

Go Syracuse Thunder!

Sydnie's First Car Accident

Wow...Sydnie has gotten into her first car accident and she doesn't even have her real driver's licence yet! She was driving out of the parking lot of the church, leaving Night of Excellence and Steve was letting her drive. Steve had put a bottle of pepto on the dash board and has she pulled out and turned the corner, it went flying acrossed and she was fixated on it and just kept turning and turned right into a tree! Wrecked our Tahoe...6,000$ damage and it had to be towed away the next day. There was a big dent in the front of the hood and the bumper was all messed up and the radiator and I don't know what else. She felt awful. I felt bad for her and so did the policeman, she didn't give her a ticket and she was very nice to her. Things happen!