Thompson Family

A couple days before Christmas we went to "River of Lights" at the Botanical Gardens in Albuquerque.  It was amazing, the whole park was filled with huge light displays everywhere. It was cold so we didn't stay too long, but we saw it all!

Christmas Eve: Santa CAME!

We started out Christmas in Santa Fe style with blue corn pancakes, and Scott put red and green chilis on his eggs.

Diggin' in!

Santa brought Ella: Barbie dvds, hello kitty nail polish manicure set, horse & stable, duck, zebra and elephant stuffed animals, sweaters, leggings, pajamas, barbie games and candy.

Ella Loves:

* anything horses, barbie & hello kitty

* loves girlie stuff like make up, nail polish, hair accessories, and jewelry

* loves getting new clothes/shoes like her mommy

* STILL has top 3 teeth missing and wondering when they will make their grand appearance (might have daddy do some x-rays to see)

* growing up really fast, within the past 2 months went

 from 6x to 7/8 clothing

* reading better and better everyday

* loves to play with her dollhouse quietly in her room, by herself

* LOVES animals, and keeps asking when we can get a real pet

 (I guess Yoshi our russian tortoise is losing its pet value)

* likes pizza, mac & cheese w/ hot dogs, noodle soup, strawberries and nothing with green veggies

* loves riding the bus to/from school with her friend Rees

* STILL a beautiful girl and we love her!

 

The biggest thing Cole wanted this year was super hero costumes, but especially Superman, Ironman, Batman and Spiderman (his favorite).  He wore these all day long and kept changing into different costumes. He is all set for Halloween next year (and the next, hopefully)!! Santa also brought him: spiderman and batman cartoon dvds, a bug catcher, binoculars, pajamas, spiderman games and candy.

Cole Loves:

* superheroes are a big hit at the moment, his favorite being spiderman

* loves dressing up in his costumes

* loves to wrestle daddy and Brocky (who hates it)

* loves spaghetti & meatballs, pizza, fruit, and loves veggies

* likes going to preschool where he gets to play with new friends

* he also grew within the past couple months from 4T to 5/6

* he is so picky on what he wears, has one outfit he wears every other day (so I can wash it the off day) and boy is it a battle for him wear anything else!

* very picky about his socks and shoes as well, only one type he likes

* LOVES CANDY (specifically suckers)

* loves sports still and balls, more in in the summertime though

* STILL a good boy and we love him!

 

Brocky spent most of the time playing with the bubble wrapping and tissue paper.  Santa brougt him: a giant colorful lion stuffed animal, toy basketball, football and soccerball, and the turtle toy pictured below. He loves it, you push the top handle down and it scoots.

Brock Loves:

* to play with toys

* climb on couches, stairs, chairs, table tops

* loves to play hide and seek around corners/ doorways

* climbs up the stairs very well, not so much down

* has about 12 teeth at the moment, had 4-5 come in all at once the last two weeks

* loves mac & cheese, raviolis, yogurt, mandarin oranges, pears, and most soft veggies (he'll eat most anything I put in front of him as long as it's soft)

* loves to grin and do a cheese face (as pictured above)

* still sucks his thumb only when putting him down to sleep

* wearing 12-18 month clothing

* is starting to become very possessive of anything he has, and will screech and squeel if you take it from him with his death grip

* STILL the sweetest boy, and we love him!

 

 

And then it's over... I always feel sad when it's over and all is left is paper everywhere and cleanup to take care of.  My kids were really blessed this year.  They also recieved tons of presents from Nana & Papa Neilson, Grandma & Grandpa Thompson, and Kiley & Ryan & kids.  They love all those games and toys, thank you so very much for your thoughtfulness!

We had a wonderful turkey for Christmas dinner just us, and it was so nice to spend time together as a family.  We also were able to skype with extended family before bedtime and my kids thoroughly enjoyed that as well.  Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas, more on that with the next post, but we were so lucky to have my mom (nana) come to visit us the week before Christmas! We hadn't seen her for so long!

One night we took the kids to the mall.

To ride the carousel there, and.....

 

See anything different in the pictures below?

 

Ella got her ears peirced. She's been wanting this only for a couple months now, but wanted to wait until Nana came to visit. So, the first night she was in town we went!

 

 

Yes, we "saw" Santa in the mall, but didn't get pictures taken with him (since we already did at our ward party).  But we took a family pictures in the trees next to Santa.

We had so much fun while she was here and literally shopped for 2 days straight for Christmas and Scott's birthday presents. We took her downtown for a night out and fine dining on the plaza and to see the Christmas lights.  We had so much fun, and the week went too fast! Can't wait to see her again in 5 weeks (when we move to Idaho). Then we'll live so close, yay!

Scott's 34th Birthday was on the 19th, and this year was lucky to have Nana in town too! Scott picked out this devine 

Chocolate Truffle Mousse Cake from Sam's Club

 (if you have not tried it, you are seriously missing out!!)  

We all helped him blow out the candles!

The kids and I got him a stylin' leather jacket, shirt & jeans.

Nana got him some Burberry cologne and a grey zip up sweater.

~Sporting his new presents~

We dropped off the kids with a friend and went downtown to the plaza to celebrate.

 Scott picked our favorite restaurant: La Casa Sena.  They have this baby grand piano and live vocalists who sing numbers from Broadway musicals. They are honestly SO talented.

We mentioned it was his birthday, so they came over to sing to him before we left.  Scott said that's the best he's ever heard someone sing to him on his bday.  In the picture they look a little "hokey" but they really were amazing. It's been different singers each time we've come.

My mom and I with the pianist in the background. They turn the lights down low and put a spotlight on the singer when they perform.

Then we took a SHORT stroll around the plaza

(since it was 19 degrees that night)

I stole a kiss from my love, happy birthday babe!

I am proud to say that none of my kids cried when seeing Santa this year at our ward Christmas dinner/party.  Although, it did take Ella 10 minutes before she'd even go into the room where he was, and there was NO WAY she was going to sit on his lap!  But I finally convinced her she actually had to talk to Santa to tell him what she wanted, or else she wouldn't get anything! 

It always amazes me things my kids think of when they tell Santa what they want. My kids have already mailed Santa their letters with pictures explaining what they wanted.  

Ella tells him she wants a Barbie train.... does it even exist?

Cole, on the other hand was excited to see him and knew exactly what he was going to ask for.  A spiderman costume with gloves and boots, just like the real one on the movies.  He actually thinks when he'll put on the suit, he'll have super powers just like spiderman on the movie...

Guess he's in for a little disappointment.

Brock didn't cry, he actually didn't know what to think of Santa. 

He was really loud and funny.

Brock took the candy cane just fine!

 

I love this about our ward. They put on a Christmas program every year with lovely musical numbers, and then end it with the kids dressing up and acting out the nativity story with narration. 

 All the girls are angels and all the boys are shepherds

(with exception of the selected Mary, Joseph and 3 wisemen).

Ella is standing above next to the only little boy

who also wanted to be an angel.

Cole was the best shepherd there.... sat there so still and perfect.

Great ending to the night.

 

Ella's class was in her school Christmas performance "Jingle All The Way." They sang three fun songs they learned in music class.  Sitting next to her is her friend Rees who shares her love of horses.

It was really fun to see her perform the songs she's been singing at home for a few weeks now.  We were sitting like 10 feet from her, but I couldn't get her to look at me for a picture.  I have about 10 of them with the side of her singing.... this is the best one I could get!

Here is Ella with her teacher Mrs. Daniels

Great job Ella! Glad we came to see you!

On Sunday after we got home from church it

started snowing.... and snowing.... and snowing!

It did not stop for FIVE hours, so we got around 9 inches I'd say.

Ella and Cole had so much fun playing in it.

We had this big snowball fight between

 Scott and Ella & I (girls vs. boys).

Girls won (of course!)

Cole tried to eat it

Ella was literally throwing a snowball at me while taking pictures of her

Uncle Charlie, who lives in China currently, was in the states for business and flew to come see us for the weekend. It was so nice to visit and catch up!  We picked him up from the airport and went to get some much needed American food at Mimi's Cafe.  Then we took him to the zoo in Albuquerque.

The kids had a blas as always and it was perfect weather of 71 degrees there.

 We saw all the animals we didn't see last time.

There are all these peacocks just freely roaming around the zoo, and the kids always have a blast chasing them and trying to pet them!

 

Brock has this new trick of doing "cheese" smiles,

if you say to him "Brocky, CHEESE!"  He will give you one of these! 

 We LOVE it.

 

Then we went home to Santa Fe, and picked up the sitters for a night out on the Plaza.  This is my absolute favorite part of Santa Fe. Going on date night out at the plaza with all the shops, galleries, restaurants and more. I love the lights this time of year, so festive!

Thanks Charlie for making the trip to come visit!