Pre-Christmas Fun

Here's a few pics of some things we've been up to lately. We can't wait for Christmas...

Here's our Christmas card/photo journal that we sent out this year.

Here's the kids with Santa at a church Christmas breakfast. Lily wouldn't go near the guy. I decided to be nice and not force her.

CJ asked for Legos and a big Star Wars walker.

Haley asked for an MP3 player. She's getting so big.



Haley's School Christmas Concert

Sweet Lily

Haley had a lot of fans: our family, Papa Val, Uncle Billy and his girlfriend Brittney, and cousins Mandy, James and baby Maggie.

She had a special part in a trio. She did awesome. So much confidence and poise. She sure does love to perform.

My bootleg version of Haley singing.

Getting our Christmas Tree

We found a good one up in the woods.

Both kids helped to chop it down. CJ especially loves to wield the saw.

CJ sledding. Don't worry, no harm done to him or the car. :-)

It was a snowy, fun time.

Lily stayed at home with babysitter Papa Val. They colored, had nutella sandwiches, built block towers and Papa even changed a super poopy diaper. Hooray for Papa!

It's autumn time, it's autumn time...

We've had a great time getting back into the swing of things, with Chris's shoulder healing nicely and the kids going back to school and soccer. Here's some pics of what we've been up to the last few months.

Halloween 2010

Tinkerbell, Luke Skywalker, and dead cheerleader


CJ's cute and Haley's gross pumpkin



Last year CJ had to wear rubber gloves to get the "guts" out of his pumpkin. But not this year. Yea, another big step for my little man. I think he had to do it because Lily was using her bare hands.



Lily was so tough and pulled that wagon all by herself.

The Taylors at the pumpkin patch

CJ is a scarecrow and Haley has a new boyfriend.

She's so cool, and funny.

CJ helping Lily through the corn maze.




Start of Fall Fun

She's never been scared of snakes, or bugs, or spiders, or worms, or anything gross.
We found this little guy in the backyard, and because I love Haley so much, I caught it so she could see it after school.

Lily loves her sandbox. I don't think that rice crispy treat stayed edible for long.

I promised the kids they could sleep out in the backyard once more, but i didn't anticipate how cold it would be at night, or that I would have to sleep out there with them. They loved it though.

Random backyard fun

Snake Charmer Haley

Soccer Fall 2010

CJ's first year (age 5) and Haley's 3rd year (age 8). They both love it!

CJ the soccer superstar

He really is amazing to watch when he plays. He has a natural ability and scores tons of goals, which is so fun at this age.

End of Summer Fun 2010

Rodeo Weekend 2010

I'll be the first to admit, I'm not the most dedicated blogger, and I've missed a lot of fun times over Winter, Spring and most of the Summer. Maybe I'll get to those on here, and maybe I won't. But, we had a great time last weekend at the fair and rodeo, so I wanted to share.

We didn't know how Lily would do at the parade, but as soon as that first fire truck came around the bend she was mesmerized. Plus, you can't beat all the candy that people kept throwing at her. And Chris and I actually knew some people in the parade this year...we're starting to feel like locals.

Haley's favorite: Rodeo Queens and Princesses.

Lily LOVED seeing all the animals. She would just laugh and laugh at them, especially when the steers would moo. And she really loved seeing this "llama llama".

CJ was tall enough this year to go on the "big kid" roller coaster. I was afraid he might get motion sickness, but he seemed to really enjoy it. They both put their hands in the air almost the entire ride.

The best part of the rodeo: front row seats, thanks to Daddy's work. Haley can never get enough of it.

Steer Wrestling PeeWee style

CJ did the PeeWee Rodeo this year, and won first place for Bull Riding. Notice the perfect form: one hand up the entire time! He even got a trophy. Best moment of his life.

Back to school, back to reality...

Haley has been planning on wearing "skinny jeans" the first day of school since the start of summer. She got her wish. I can't believe she's in 3rd grade already!

CJ was way more prepared than I thought he would be for his first day of kindergarten. On the way to school he told me he didn't want me to stay because he wanted to do it all by himself. What a relief!





Hard at work on his first assignment: play-doh.

Summer fun

Summer Fun

Yes, I am finally posting pictures from this summer. That should give me a hint at how crazy my life is. But, we have done some fun things and I wanted to share them.

Fish Lake Hike

We went on a family hike up to Fish Lake, way up past Salmon la Sac. Lily is on Chris's back in the picture. The kids were troopers, me...not so much. We saw a lot of beautiful wildflowers.

Bison Ranch

Haley, CJ and I went to a Bison Ranch and got to feed and pet the Bison. They're so huge, and a bit stinky!

Art Camp

Haley and CJ did an art camp at a local museum and had a lot of fun painting and making prints. We went by a few weeks later and they each had a piece displayed in an exhibit. They were very proud.

Seaside

We went to Seaside with the Taylor side of the family for the 4th of July. We all stayed in a big house by the beach and actually had good weather.

The fireworks were amazing! All the people around us on the beach were lighting off theirs so we couldn't even see the big show put on by the city. But man, we were IN the show.

Haley loved making 'smores. Yummy.

Lily's Birthday

Thompson Family Reunion

In August we went to Camano Island and had a BLAST! There was a lot of good food and the talent show and karaoke were legendary. We even took a row boat out onto the sound and almost lost our oar. Lots of memories were made.

Cute Haley and CJ. Boy, do they love their Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents!

Phil Ball

Grandpa Jeff's 80th Birthday Party was the birthplace of a new family tradition...Phil Ball. How many times can we bounce the giant ball off our heads in a row? As Haley would say, "It was Vilarious!"

Seahawks Game

It was just preseason, but it was still really fun. It was so nice to go out to a Chinese restaurant and the game with Kirk, Whitney and Bryan.

Rodeo

CJ didn't get to go last year because he was too little. He was so excited and had so much fun. He even got his hat signed by the cowboy who won the bull riding.

When Haley grows up she wants to be a Rodeo Queen. Look at what living in Ellensburg has done to us. :-)

Fair ride with cousin Jack and Aunt Stevie.

Miscellaneous Summer Pics

Haley, CJ and some friends invented a summer game called "Kid Dunk". You fill a garbage can with water, drop something to the bottom, climb in, and then dunk your whole body under to grab the thing at the bottom. They spent hours and hours doing it this summer. Who says you need lots of money to have fun? They were very creative.

We couldn't keep Lily away from the cherry tomatoes. She gobbled them up, even the green ones. Note all the seeds around her mouth.

Lily didn't slip or slide, she just sat.

Cute Lily Lou!