Church Christmas Party

Today was our ward's "Elfish Christmas Party". The kids could dress up in whatever holiday costume they wanted to wear. Everyone got to make an "elf house" and Santa came! They served waffles with ice cream and strawberries and whipping cream for breakfast! The kids were so excited to go to the party! John had decided that he was going to wear his Rudolph nose and had me make him some antlers. Of course the morning of, he decided that he did not want to wear the costume or even go. Hence the frown in most of the pictures. Finally about 20 minutes before the party ended, he found his smile. Alison went as a Sugar Plum Fairy. She had so much fun making her house and saying hello to Santa! She loved singing Jingle Bells really loud so that Santa could hear us and come to the party. After breakfast, the icing had set and so the kids tried to "blow" their house down. We had an enjoyable time together and spent the rest of the day inside, it was to cold to go out!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Trimming the tree!

On the First Day of Christmas

my mom and dad gave to me, my own advent calender! This way we can open a present every day and mom can actually put presents under the tree all month long! It has been the best thing for the kids! They love coming down to the table every morning to open their window and see what new toy they get. John has a Lego advent, and Alison has a My Little Pony advent (and her two black eyes, poor thing).

John gets ready for school so fast now! I may have to do this all year!

Thanksgiving

The People were great!

Playing attack to work off dinner! Thanks Uncle Jason!

Jake Bowling's 1st Birthday!

We had so much fun at Grandpa and Grandma Thompson's house. We loved visiting with all of the family. We loved eating all of the food. We loved playing attack. We loved playing in the flooded back yard. We loved the sunshine. We love all of you and are so thankful for you.

Legoland

Legos are the most popular toy this year for John, and Alison loves to build with legos as well. So we decided to take the kids to Legoland while we were in California for Thanksgiving. It is nothing like Disneyland, but the kids still had fun. We had a great time together as a family and got to enjoy some of the beautiful Southern California weather. (If you click on the picture, it will blow it up for you to see better)

John had a lot of fun seeing all of the things that were made out of Legos. We went inside the factory and watched how legos are made and then into the store that had legos of every shape, size and color! He got to drive his own car and boat, and ride roller coasters with Mark. We saw where they make the Lego displays. John wished that room was his room!

Alison had fun riding a few of the rides as well. She was an excellent driver! She rode with Mark in the bumper boats. That was a sight to see! There was the four boats before Alison, then a massive pile up behind Alison! She would not let Mark touch the wheel. It was all hers, and she very verbally let him and all within ear shot know that. Luckily for all involved, everyone was letting their child be the driver as well. So no one was upset that they took forever to drive a 3 minute water course!

Here is a sampling of things you can make out of Legos. A firetruck, big rig, Thomas, Santa and sleigh, animals, a car, and people! Wow! There was even a Christmas Tree as tall as a building made out of Legos. I thought I took a picture of it, but I guess not. We all had fun and are looking forward to Christmas to see if there will be any Legos under the tree!

Graceful?

Our Alison is not the most graceful little girl, but we love her so! She was walking to the sink to wash her hands after dinner and her foot tripped over the pedal on the trash can. She fell right into the corner of the cupboard. A lump immediately appeared on her forehead. We iced her down and 30 minutes later she was up playing chase with John. Three days later the color appeared! We left for California the next day. Everywhere we go people look at her and make various faces. She forgets what she looks like. So when people ask her what happened, she looks at them with a "what are you talking about" face. After about three days of people asking her what happened she started to move her bangs out of the way to show the lump as her answer. No words, just move the hair and they should understand. She cracks me up. So then either Mark or myself have to explain what happened.

A Magical Night!

When your husband travels, you get good at finding out which restaurants have kids night. I took the kids to the local Mexican restaurant for dinner where they were having a magician come and perform for free! We had a really enjoyable time. The magician came right to our table for a private show! The kids were so amazed! He pulled 3 different scarfs out of John's shirt sleeve, poked his finger through John's sleeve, pulled money from behind their ears and did some card tricks. We had fun watching him perform at other tables as well. I don't know if the kids can decide which was better, the magician or the little umbrellas in their drinks?