New and Improved

I have promised a video for a long time. Here it finally is. Still, I am not quite done with all that I have envisioned for this house. We have been doing a lot of painting, but we are reaping the rewards. I didn't realize I would enjoy color so much! Enjoy!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

If you want to refresh your memory of what it looked like before we redecorated click HERE.

Big 3

And when it's Dylan's birthday we know it is also this cutties birthday as well...

My sweet little guy turned 3 on Sunday the 6th. He is talking more, and with that it seems he has also getting more frustrated (aka throwing tantrums.) But he is still that warm, cuddly man I have always loved. He continues to surprise me with his generosity and kindness towards other. Love you big man!

We got him these new cars called Automoblox, they were a big hit! He also picked out his own dump truck thanks to Gigi! And he of course loves his new remote control car (thank you Tutu) which Kamryn is also intrigued with. So to say the least, we have a lot of new toys that are keeping my little people a little more occupied that normal. That is a gift to me!

Big SEVEN

Friday this handsome fella turned 7

Instead of worrying about how old he is I am more worried about how old he makes me and how I only have a year left to prepare him for baptism!

We "kicked off" his 7th year right with a football themed party.

Dylan was very adament that this party be a Utah vs. BYU party. So everything was blue and red.

When our guests arrived they autographed a football of choice.

They then headed upstairs for Coach Connor's Football training Camp.

There was a lot of hiking, punting, throwing, jump n' jacking, and push upping.

Then they raced through a obstacle course...

Running down the line

Crawling through a tunnel with ball in hand...

Around the cones, high jump over your "opponent" and into the end zone.

Finish it off with Football game foods with a football cake and ice cream!

I am so proud of Dylan. He is brimming with enthusiasm for life. If I bragged about all of Dylan's talents we might be here too long.

Whey Are You Wearing Pajamas?

This is what Ashlyn chose to wear today...

Her pajama top, a skirt and some leggings. Better, but I did have to give her my regular reminder... "Now Ashlyn, you know that we don't wear pajamas to school. You can wear them at home but not when we leave home." Am I a mean mom? I mean who wouldn't want to live life in their pajamas, I sure do! But I do have to set some boundaries!

Without missing a beat she said "these aren't pajamas, this is a warm up suit." Props for that girl! I just laughed, she earned her right to wear her pajama top today!

For all of you who are still clueless... YOU MUST watch Despicable Me. As you can see we love it. I am hoping this memory will help me add a smile and a laugh when handling Ashlyn and her clothes.

Kamryn

I can't believe how fast time has flown with little Kamryn. She is now 9 months old and still a pure bag of sugar!

Here is a video from a few months back. She loved her bouncer, but we would often find her bouncer in a different place when we returned.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

She is now crawling and loves to practice her pikes...

Or just hang out on her side...

She also loves to be swung upside down, attention from anyone and to be tickled. She is like a magnet, everyone is drawn to her. I had her in primary today and the got swarmed when primary finished. In sacrament today Dylan didn't want to do anything else but play with her, which ended only in uncontrollable giggles. He always wants to hold her and be right next to her.

Christmas Crafts

I am sure you all know I couldn't go too long with out crafting. Isn't that such a silly word?

I was very behind on a few Christmas item and I finally finished them last week...

I have never found the right topper for our tree. I finally found an idea that I liked, but put it off. It was Dylan's comment this year about how we didn't have anything on the top of our tree that compelled me...

And in case you were wondering, it is not origami- thanks Ben!

I also made Kamryn's stocking, still deciding if I love it or not...
Growing up, my mom always made Christmas pillowcases for us. Such a simple tradition that I wanted to continue. These two are for Corbin and Kamryn.

My long to do list just got a little shorter with these off my mind!

The votes are in and the real count is...

On top: 7

On bottom: 5

I know, she would look ten pounds lighter if she shed some layers!

Count the Layers

I am STILL anxiously awaiting the moment Ashlyn grows out of her "issues" with clothes. We are still plagued!!!!

This is a picture of Ashlyn in most normal attire:

Her newest trend is to wear LOTS of layers. It must be cold here!

Here is the game: 1. To guess how many layers she has on top, and 2. how many layers she has on the bottom. Cast your vote in your comment! I will reveal the answer in a few days.
I had to bribe her to wear real clothes, she actually looks adorable, even with a pajama shirt.
The bride was a photo shoot. Maybe I should sign up for toddlers and tiaras!

Kamryn's Social Calendar

As you can see Kamryn has two, very adorable boyfriends. And yes, she doesn't mind that they both come to visit on the same evening, she did a great job of showing equal attention to both of these little dappers!

It was just so fun to watch these little people interact and enjoy each other!

Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas AT HOME for the first year of our married lives! It was nice not to pack all our gifts and change time zones. But we did miss our family dearly!

We got a big Christmas surprise...

Yes, snow! In North Carolina, and a lot of it. I don't think NC has had a white Christmas since 1947 and not this much in at least the last 10 years! Of course this meant no church and a few extra days at home! What a great gift! We used it to watch Joy to the World, The Testaments, and Finding Faith in Christ.

Of course we immediately went out to play in it...
Dad got his exercise...
Dylan spent every moment he could in it...
We (the mom's and dad's) built two snow forts for a big cul-de-sac snow ball fight. Boy was it fun, but my arm is sore!
But it was worth it.

I was reminded (by my welts) of how accurate and hard Dylan throws. Too bad he wasn't on my team!

We enjoyed making our own Thompson Traditions:

• celebrated Joseph Smith's Birthday on the 23rd
• shopped for our family gift exchange
• bought an ornament that symbolized the year
• bake and deliver goodies as we caroled
• read the Christmas story
• enjoyed watching movies and playing games as a family Christmas Eve
• We made reindeer milk and food to leave out Christmas Eve
• Our elf, Ferby, was with us all of December to make sure we were nice. He went home with Santa
• We enjoyed doing a service ring and run 12 days of Christmas for someone (can't say who)
• Big Breakfast Christmas Dinner, German pancakes and all- just thinking about it makes me salivate!

Fun Memories:

• Ashlyn loved Caroling, she practically begged us to go before it was even close to Christmas. She could have gone all night long if we hadn't said "enough." Dylan disliked caroling to the same degree as Ashlyn loved it.
• Dylan picked Ashlyn's name for the family gift exchange. That was the last person in the world he WANTED to give to, but it was good for him!
• Ashlyn almost didn't make the "nice" list
• Corbin, Ashlyn and I did so many puzzles- we love dollar store puzzles of our favorite characters
• Ashlyn was desperate to see the reindeer, she wanted to pet them. She didn't so much care about seeing Santa.

The most argued over gifts in our house:

• bakugons
• key car
• back pack

Yes, this was Corbin's gift, and he loves it! Ashlyn tries to sneak it away from him. We are also using the cold winter weather as a reason to stay in and potty train. Good luck to all of us!

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas filled with the Spirit of our Savior and the love of his sacrifice. We hope that this will continue throughout the coming year. Happy New Year!

We love our driveway

I know, such a silly thing to be grateful for.
But if you had only seen our last driveway you would understand. It was a deathtrap. We never enjoyed riding our bikes so much!
Now the kids spend hours riding their bikes down the slow incline into the garage.
I think it might be wise for us to pad the back wall of the garage!
Corbin learned to pedal, he also learned to have no fear. He gives me a small heart attack when he rides down too fast. After seeing him smile about that we quickly got him a helmet! Luckily, they had a Disney Cars helmet. Never have I been so grateful for characters plastered on things for my kids to wear (pet peeve.)
As you can tell, these pictures were taken weeks ago.

Winter Is Here

Our first snowfall came...
... a week ago. I know winter came to y'all a while back, but it just came to Raleigh. We had a long and amazing fall. Then all of a sudden it snowed. I know this is no big deal to all my Northeastern and Western friends, but it NEVER snows this early here. So it was pretty exciting, AND, it stuck! We couldn't resist and had a snowball fight and made a snowman. Sadly, it has only gotten colder since the snowfall. I don't know if my blood has thinned or if this warm weather has made me tender, but it sure has been darn cold!!! I find myself wearing multiple layers and dusting off my thermals.

Connor happened to be putting up our Christmas lights up just as the snow started to fall.

I went on a few runs this week, the whole time the advantages to a gym membership where looking quite enticing- something I rarely consider. But dang, it has been cold. Bundling up the kids took a good 1/2 hour and then it took another 1/2 hour for me to defrost my bottom and my bottom lip! I will try to remember this feeling when the humidity returns in the summer!

State Fair

This post is long past due. Connor and I have been making a priority to go on dates with our children. It was my turn to go out with Dylan. The State Fair was up and running. So we decided to go.

I would have to admit that the only reason I wanted to go was because EVERYONE in the city of Raleigh goes EVERY year and they count down the days till it comes again. On the other hand, it has NO appeal for me whatsoever. However, I have a deep ingrained desire to never be left out of anything fun, so I talked myself into taking Dylan for just an hour or two.

Dylan on the kiddy roller coaster...

The giant trampoline...

This kid loves Cotton Candy...

I DO NOT!!!

Memorable Moments:

1. I tried to lighten my load by only brining my credit card, which they DO NOT TAKE!!! Only out of prayer were we able to find some friends to borrow money from.

2. Feeling my heart speed race at just the sight of how many people there were- the line to park, the line to buy a ticket, the line to get on a ride, so many people you can barely walk straight. I do not like crowds, nope not at all. I am not a patient person. All of you who know my recent accidents know that they all stem from this weakness!

3. The smells- sweet and greasy foods everywhere!

But I was honored to be on a date with this cute man, who made the unbearable, bearable!

This doesn't mean you will be seeing me there next year though!

Thanksgiving

I know most of you are way past Thanksgiving. Sadly, I am just getting around to documenting mine.

We had a great Holiday. This is the first time we have never traveled and we loved it! We enjoyed getting many home projects done- which I hope to post about soon.

The week started out with planning and executing Ashlyn's preschool Thanksgiving party...
We made crayon turkeys (ours seems to have a permanent role in daily coloring activities) and "thankful for/fours"...
Ashlyn's friend Ella had her dad come in and helped us sing some very adorable kids thanksgiving songs. He was amazing...

I hosted a baby celebration party for my friend Rachel- who should be having her baby any second! Sadly, no pictures.

I got to run a 5k turkey trot Thanksgiving morning. I took women's 3rd place and got a hefty gift card to a local triathlon store. I am excited to go shopping!

Connor, Dylan and I played in the ward Turkey Bowl this year. It has been a long time since we were able to take part in this tradition. There was also a little soccer on the side...
The kids played nicely on the sidelines...
Connor was a great QB! (As you can see we are in our shorts and t-shirts.)The kids Thanksgiving table. Dylan ate almost the whole platter of 7 layer jell-o himself!
Our amazing hosts, Julie (sorry Julie, only picture I had, you still look great) and Patrick. Patrick made a MEAN turkey! We truly are grateful for such wonderful friends.
We were lucky enough to have the Sisters eat with us, what great company!
I am truly Thankful for so many things, but here are my top three...

1. My Family, I have been blessed with the most amazing husband, parents, siblings and children.

2. The Full and Everlasting gospel that brings joy and meaning into my life. I have felt this much more strongly as Connor and I devote all our spare time to our callings. It has opened my eyes to a greater cause.

3. The health of my family and I. Working at the hospital makes me more aware of this blessing.

May our days be brimming with Thanksgiving through the holiday season and throughout 2011!