The Life and Times of the Thomson Family

Weisendanger Falls

2010-03-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

This picture is all for me. As I was really looking across my photos from my hike with Landon, I stumbled upon this one and fell in love with it. If I don't put it on the blog there is a very real chance that I will forget about this picture forever. Hopefully I will not forget about it if it's here to see. Since it's my blog, I figure I can indulge myself :)

Spring Break 2010

2010-03-29T22:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, Amy, pick yourself up off the floor....two in a matter of days...can you handle it?? :)

I am probably one of the worst parents. I hate school, seriously hate it! I hate having to wake my kids up, hate homework and can't stand a schedule :)

So, we filled up Spring Break as much as I could. I didn't have to work Monday or Tuesday but the rest of the time the kids were, unfortunately, on their own :(

The week started with a couple of birthday parties. Can you believe our little Allie turned 5? So shocking! What a beautiful little girl she is. We had her birthday party on Sunday.

Silly girl actually blew out her candles before anyone was paying attention and before we had sung Happy Birthday to her. This is a "re-do"

Birthday Girl! :)

Maddie needed a few gifts too

This little one didn't need her own gifts, she just needed to chew on Allies'

Tristyn watching the action

Little stinker, she just reached up and stole the camera from me. That's okay, I had my iPhone so I could still take pictures of her. She is such a funny little girl :)

Sometimes her daddy is just plan rude!

Although, it was pretty funny when she realized she had one on her nose and then ate it :)

Next up was Ella's birthday...she's 15 now!

A very rare moment where I got Maddie to smile...this is at Ella's party

Tuesday the kids and I went shopping at Maurices, then out to lunch at Canton Wok (A first for both Tristyn and Landon) then for a walk on the river.

Tristyn helped make this last year

It was such a beautiful day. We were so blessed for Spring Break. We had beautiful weather!

The other thing we did a couple of times was a fire in our fire pit. This is a summer favorite! It's great family time to just hang out and chat. The kids are always running all over, snacking, screaming and just having a great time!

Dan and I both enjoyed some cuddle time with Tristyn

Ky had some good cuddle time with Chloe :)

We had such a wonderful time. Despite the things I wrote about we also had extra kids spending almost every night and my kids going other places. We just had an excellent time. Bring on Summer Vacation!!

Wahkeena Falls to Multnomah Falls Trail

2010-03-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Landon & I went for a hike. It really is my most favorite thing to do. The terrible thing about me is I tend to not ease into anything. If I'm going for a hike or a bike ride, I'm going all out, regardless of what kind of shape I'm in. I have always wanted to hike Wahkeena Falls but it is crazy to even try and park there in the summer. So, I decided to hike there yesterday. I mean, of course we can handle 5.5 miles, forget the 2.5 mile hike I was thinking about :) So, this post will be alot of pictures!

This is the beginning of Wahkeena Falls

Here is Landon and I at the beginning of our hike. We have no clue what we are getting ourselves into :)

Landon taking a picture with his new phone

I love pictures of paths and a pretty cool heart shaped leaf that Landon found

Wahkeena Springs (I'm getting better at taking pics of Landon & I)

Landon holding up a tree, he's pretty strong.

More of Landon & I and Wahkeena Springs

Here is Landon and I at Fairy Falls. I've always wanted to see Fairy Falls, it's just such a pretty place. It's not huge but it sure is pretty. You round a corner and just catch sight of it, so beatiful.

A cool trail marker long the way...good thing it's there, lets us know we are on the right path.

This is the beautiful path between Wahkeena Springs and Multnomah Creek

Now we have made it to Multnomah Creek, the beginnings of Multnomah Falls

Ecola Falls, which is above Multnomah Falls on Multnomah Creek

Weisendanger Falls, which is in between Ecola and Multnomah Falls

Landon and I at the bottom of Weisendanger Falls

Multnomah Creek, almost to Multnomah Falls

Landon at the top of Multnomah Falls...only 1 1/2 miles to go dude..almost done! :)

Once we hit Multnomah Falls we had a .5 mile hike back to Wahkeena Falls, this was small "waterfall" along that path. I'm sure by summer it will be gone.

This was truly a great day. There were not alot of people out, although there were more then I expected. Landon and I have decided to hike every other Saturday and I'm pretty excited about it. I was glad we did this hike this time of year. It's great to hit the waterfalls early in the Spring because the runoff is so huge! It's nice to have one kid that loves it as much as I do. Even when it was really intense, he never complained, he just enjoyed the moment.

You can start this hike at Multnomah Falls and go the other way if you want. I personally am glad that we started at Wahkeena. I think that going down some of the spots around Fairy Falls and Wahkeena Falls would have been more difficult due to rocks and tree roots, the path going down Multnomah Falls is all paved which makes a little more easier.

A Bunch of Randomness!

2010-03-13T07:09:00.000-08:00

Seriously, I haven't posted since December 28th. Man! That's just crazy. It kinda seems odd to me to just post randomly once every three months but oh well, I'll post anyway. I know there are about 3 people interested :)

Unfortunately, I have lost my battery charger for my camera so I do not have any current pictures of anyone, besides what is on my iPhone. I went through my iPhone and picked some pictures from the last several weeks.

Allie had surgery last Thursday to take her tonsils out. She was such a little trooper. On Wednesday night, she had to give Kyleigh 100 kisses before we could go home :) Kyleigh spoke with all of her teachers and was able to take Thursday off to be with Allie. Allie loved that and Kyleigh stayed in bed with Allie to help her feel better. Allie is doing much better now, although it was so tough in the beginning. They even needed to take her back up to the hospital last Saturday in order to have an IV because she was so dehydrated.

Two Sundays ago was such an incredibly beautiful day that Dan and I could not fathom staying inside, so we literally dragged Kyleigh & shockingly, Landon, out for a hike. He normally loves to hike and is cooperative, however this time, required some dragging on our part. Ky's friends were more then willing to go, my kids were the problem. I intend to hike this year. I say that every year but then am usually held back by one thing or another. Not this year, I'm so tired of just sitting at home doing nothing. I will do what I love. I have already told Dan that for Mother's Day, I am buying hiking boots, I can't wait! I haven't had them since the fire, and I really missed them the few times I did hike last year.

Here are some pictures of that day:

Here is Ky with her BFFs (Best Friends Forever). Usually one, or all, of these girls are at our house every night and it is so much fun! I love having a house full of kids. In fact, last night was the first night in probably over 2 weeks that I only had two kids at the house, and they are two of my own, no extras. We seriously find so much joy in loving these kids. They bring loudness and happiness to our house, plus alot of really great conversations. These girls are smart and know how to think.

We are gearing up for Spring Break. Dan's sister and niece are coming to stay for a few days. They haven't seen the house since before the fire so we are excited to spend some time with them. That means...cleaning!!! Yep, my kids are spending this Saturday cleaning their rooms. I'm going to help though and I'm hoping it doesn't take too long. I thought today was going to be rainy, but the sun is out and beautiful.

LOL!! Kyleigh's puppy, Chloe is running around the house barking and Ky just said to Chloe "No one thinks you are cute when you do that". Hmmm, I think I have a new saying for when my kids are being punks! That's great.

Here is a picture of Dan & I from the last Saturday in February. Dan's uncle passed away and this is us before the funeral. It's a great picture of us, but notice what's in my hand??? Ugh!! Stupid phone! That thing is attached to me. I'm slowly trying to do better and when I am home I usually put it down. I need to live in the moment with the people I am with and love, not my phone.

How do you like this post? Just a bunch of randomness, which is pretty much how I live my life...fairly randomly :) I should rename the blog to The Random Life and Times of the Thomson Family.

Thanks for reading, see you in six weeks :)

McKenzie Laughs

2009-12-28T21:49:00.001-08:00

Here is McKenzie laughing. Ismael (Bethany's nephew is making her laugh)

Christmas Day

2009-12-28T21:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning started out extremely eventful. After the kids had opened their Santa present and their stockings, Landon went out to play. About 10 minutes after playing outside we hear the front door open and Landon's voice quivering "Dad!". Once I heard that voice, I knew that something was wrong. It turns out Landon had stepped on a rusty sewing needle, which resulted in a "quick" trip to the ER on Christmas morning.

Here is the needle sticking out of his shoe

The x-ray

Here is my poor boy hooked up to an IV. They had to give him antibiotics through an IV due to the fact that the needle went through his shoe. Apparently it's much worse to step on a needle through your shoe then barefoot due to the bacteria in your shoe.

Prior to the hospital incident, the kids opened their presents from Santa.

After we got home from the hospital my parents, sisters and their families came down for dinner. We had a nice time together. And, look who is sitting up

And, starting to crawl

Unfortunately, I was sick over Christmas and so was Dan. I realized while looking over my Christmas pictures that I don't have any of Allie and Maddie from Christmas Day. In fact, the day ended with Landon and I asleep on the floor. I guess the day was just too much for the both of us.

Christmas Eve

2009-12-28T19:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, another two months since I have posted. This is ridiculous! I am going to be flat out honest and say that I don't feel like posting now but I know if I don't get it done, I just won't. I'm trying to be happy and upbeat, but I don't feel it this week. I actually just wish this week would hurry up and be over with. I could go into all that, but I will save that for December 31st. For now, I need to blog about Christmas.

First off was our Christmas Eve service. Can I tell you how proud I am of these two? Dan has been signing quite regularly at church and this time, Matt (Pastor) wanted him to do a duet with Julie (Matt's wife). Only thing is Julie hasn't sung in public and Dan has never done a duet. These two worked so hard and it turned out beautiful. They sung Christmas Offering and it was amazing. Made us all stop and think about the true reason for Christmas.

Ky and I even had a small part in the service. I had to speak (thankfully Matt had it all scripted for me) and Ky got to light a candle. It really was such a nice service with so many people contributing. It was a great reminder that during this time of year, it's not about the gifts, the goodies made or getting everything done. It's about stopping and remembering about that baby that was born to save us all. I really enjoyed the service and the time spent with our awesome church family!

After church we headed over to my mom's house for Christmas Eve to open presents. We had so much fun.

Look what Kyleigh got!

Dan got one too, and I'm loving watching these two figure their guitars out. It's so much fun having music in the house, makes me want to play the piano again, we'll see.

Ms. McKenzie was not impressed by the guitars and went fast to sleep

Apparently this post is mostly about Dan and Ky, but these pics are just too darn cute not to share.

Christmas Eve was a very blessed evening. Christmas Day proved to be interesting, and there were moments where I had to look for the blessings.

Happy Birthday McKenzie!

2009-11-02T21:23:00.000-08:00

The kids made this special sign for her :)

Somebody turned 1 on Friday! There are a million things to say, a million feelings to write and so much to think about. I thought I might write about how I feel about this precious child, how the year of her life has affected me. I think at some point, it needs to be said but for today, I think I will just say

Happy Birthday McKenzie Brooke!

I love this photo of my sister. She's trying to keep herself composed after she opened the gift I got for McKenzie's birthday. It was a collage of all the little moments in Kenzie's first year and underneath the pictures it just simply says "miracle". The thing is, when you have a child who isn't supposed to live, nothing is little.

Amy even came by for a visit, which was awesome. She had the touch that night and McKenzie was content to just sleep the evening away. Maddie & Allie even got to open the presents since McKenzie was sleeping :)

I love you McKenzie, to the moon and back, and back to the moon again. I'm so thankful to be your aunt. At some point I will write more about what this year has been like, about how I can look back on the months before you were born and see how we were being prepared for you. You amaze me constantly. I don't know why I was chosen to have a very special nephew and a very special niece and then two more wonderful nieces. My life if filled to the fullest with you four. I love you!

Thank you!

2009-10-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

One year ago today, our home caught fire. It was one of the scariest nights of my life. Little did I know the road it would take our family down, the trials we would overcome but most of all we were shown love.

When I look back on that day, I am always amazed at the people who loved us. Don't get me wrong, I always knew my friends and family were amazing, but when you are literally down to nothing, including no home, no clothes and really no belongings, the people who say they love you, are put to the test to show it. The people who I am blessed to have around me did not disappoint. God has blessed me with people that are loving, humble, giving and encouraging. Despite busy schedules some of my best friends (and, you know who you are) allowed us to sleep in their home, did our laundry, drove miles to give our children clothes, spent days going through our smoke filled, damaged home and helped me throw everything away, categorized what we lost, brought us food, meals, called me from thousands of miles every day to check up on us, took my children to movies so I could do what needed to be done, gave us a long term place to live, sent us care packages and above all you lifted us up in prayer. We felt your love, even those that wanted to be with us, but couldn't, we felt you. I knew we were never alone.

I look back during that period of time, I was on auto pilot, I did what had to be done but I look back and I see how at times I was too exhausted to even pray, but God still answered my unasked prayers by the people who we share our lives with. I can barely repay any of the love you guys have shown, but I won't ever forget it and I am so very, very thankful and humbled.

Another thing that amazes me is that some friends of ours let us live in this wonderful little manufactured home during the 3 1/2 months we were out of ours. It was in the country and was surrounded by beautiful cherry trees. It was so quiet and peaceful. Truthfully, I hated it there. I just wanted to be home. It was smaller then our own home and I couldn't sleep. I was thankful for the place to live but I didn't practice being grateful. Yesterday my kids told me how being in that home was their best Christmas memories and that if they had a choice, they would live there. Wow! I need to learn from them. They truly turned that period of time into an adventure and they lived it to the fullest.

Thank you for loving us!!

We spent today making new memories in our remolded home with my nieces and family. Here are just some crazy pics from the day.

There is so much more to add to this story. Including the unexpected birth, 6 weeks early, of our miracle baby..but, that's for a day 5 days from now. I'll be back to expand the story.

First Days of School

2009-09-15T21:40:00.001-07:00

Okay, so here's the deal. I really want this blog for my family. I think it is so important because we don't have photo albums, scrapbook or do anything to preserve our memories. I have been telling myself that I have to do all of July and August to get caught up, but reality is that I'm just not getting it done..so, I'm going to move on. I hope that at some point I can go back and write about July & August, because I have some great photos and we did some super fun stuff, but by waiting I'm missing out on writing about what's going on right now.

Kyleigh is now a freshman. Wow! Time flies..so..fast! She is a beautiful young lady, both inside and out. Dan and I are so proud of the person she has become. It's interesting raising a teenager, especially one in high school, but overall we are loving it. She's enjoying school and doing a good job balancing everything she has to deal with. The first day of school was a little scary. She didn't want to get out of the car and at one point even told me she had super glued her butt to my carseat, but eventually she did get out :) I'm sure she loves me telling you this, but I want to remember it!

Here she is on the first day.

Landon started middle school. It was so hard to drop my baby boy off at that school. He did great though. The last two years have been very hard on Landon. Elementary school was starting to be a bad option for him, and if he had to go back there even for one more year, I don't know what we would have done. I have been praying and praying that 6th grade would be a turning point for him, and I believe it has been. He is proud of what he is accomplishing, he is enjoying his teachers and the flexibility middle school has to offer. It's tough, he's had about 1 1/2 hours of homework every night, but he's doing it. I realize it's only been about 2 weeks but he brought home his progress report today and he had an A+, A, B and one grade we won't mention but that will be brought up by tomorrow. :)

Tristyn started 2nd grade. She is doing so well. She is a fantastic student. Last year her teacher told me that if every student was a Tristyn, she would be thrilled :) Tristyn loves her friends, loves being chased by boys and loves everything to do with school. She is so busy now with dance, soccer and her social schedule - I almost need a separate calender just to keep up with her. but she loves it.

Here are Landon & Tristyn on their first day of school

4th of July!

2009-08-30T06:07:00.000-07:00

Somebody....Amy...reminded me that I haven't done our July pics yet and it's the end of August. I've been thinking about this alot so decided to start with our 4th of July and hopefully I can keep going every night this week with an update and get myself caught up. We'll see. Maybe if Amy keeps prodding me, I will succumb to the peer pressure and get it done :)

4th of July was awesome! Maddie & Allie had not been to a big fireworks show and normally we would go to Hood River, but I had heard a rumor and talked to more people and learned that Rufus has a decent show without the crazy crowds so we decided to give it a shot. We left around 4 and headed to Le Page park for a picnic. We had a total blast. It was the best decision. We played for several hours in the water and just had a great time.

Uncle Dan did his tradition of swinging the baby! He hadn't done this with McKenzie yet, and she's now big enough, so she went for a little ride.

Of course, Tristyn loves to pose, but she looks so darn cute! :)

They had a great little playground in the middle of the park. The kids loved it. Here's Landon helping Allie up.

Tristyn got to the top...and posed :)

Aunt Bethany saw how much fun it was and she couldn't resist it either :)

After a fun day at the park, we found our way to the Rufus Rock Quarry and waited for the firework show. Dan thought it would be fun for Tristyn to wait up on the suburban.

Dan relaxing on his bike.

Dan and his other biker chick.

Here is a random pic just to show that there were people here besides Tristyn. Man all the pics are of Tristyn.

McKenzie actually slept through the whole thing. I was amazed!

We have decided to do this every year because it's so low key. The show only lasted about 20 minutes, which is perfect for little ones. I was so happy someone told me about going there instead of Hood River. It was a great family night.

June: It's A Long One

2009-07-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

So, this could be a long one. I keep promising a few people that I will keep up on the blog only I just can't seem to find the time. I think it's so important for my family though, so I'm going to try and do better. The winter/spring was so hard on us that my goal for the summer is to have as much fun as possible and to play hard. We have been very, very busy. I'm going to do June at a glance and then will do July at a glance and then will hopefully be back on track.

Dan and I have been able to get a few rides in. I love being on the bike!

The first weekend we went to Bend, Oregon. It was our first family vacation in years, maybe ever. We had so much fun!! It was amazing to get away and to just play, play, play! I even got two hikes in. Everyone threw big fits (except Landon, he always loves to hike with me) but in the end, they thanked me for making them do it. The scenery was well worth it.
Dan and the kids enjoyed lots of pool time in Bend
Someone very special got a brand new smile!
Kyleigh graduated from 8th grade!! I officially have a high schooler...how did that happen???!! I can't tell you how proud we are of her. She is full of so much love, compassion and grace, with a little bit of teenage attitude thrown in :) I'm amazed by her. I know that the tough spots she has had to walk have turned her into this beautiful young woman, inside and out. What an absolute blessing she is.

Tristyn had her dance recital which is always so much fun. Her teacher is amazing and Tristyn loves dance! I even stole a few moments away with my favorite boy! I love taking little walks with him. He doesn't complain like his sisters and we have some great talks :)

I would say the best part of June was celebrating Father's Day with this little cutie. 10 months ago we didn't think we would see Father's Day but God has done miraculous things in her life and I think we will see many more to come!

This summer has been interesting so far. This is the first year that it has killed me daily to leave and go to work. I'm sad every day that I leave. I think alot of it has to do with the fire. We are all different then we were. It's a good different, we have grown and changed. We are so much closer now. All I want to do is spend all my time with them. It's a new "normal" but a good one. We have so much to be thankful for and with the addition of McKenze the blessings are multiplying with each grin and giggle.

So, hopefully the end of next week I will put July up. We've had some wonderful things going on this month too! I can't wait to share.

If you made it through all of this, I'm very impressed :)

Mother's Day

2009-06-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I said I was going to blog again and then I have turned into a total flake. I'm obviously very far behind and we've had a lot going on. This was us on Mother's Day. Dan told me to pick what I wanted to do and they would all do it - WITHOUT COMPLAINING! So, of course I picked hiking and it turned out to be the absolute perfect day.

This is Latourell Falls. It's up the Old Highway in the Gortge. It's the perfect hike because it's so easy and no one can complain or whine about it. It's paved and there is a wonderful picnic area at the end of it.

This is a cool little bridge that you stand on as you are looking at the falls.

Here is Dan & I at the picnic area.
We also went to Bridal Veil Falls. I hadn't been there since before Dan and I were married and the path had been destroyed. They have it all restored now and it is a beautiful hike.

It really was such great day and I'm so thankful that the weather held and we were able to have fun together.

Happy Birthday Tristyn!!

2009-05-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! You are a constant joy. I never know what you are going to say or do next. I adore you!! Thank you for bringing so much life and love to our family. I can't wait to see what the future holds for you.

Happy Birthday Baby Boy

2009-05-15T00:15:00.000-07:00

Today is James' 6th birthday. It's shocking to really think about it. 6 years! As Allie & Maddie get bigger I miss him more and more. I can imagine family get togethers with a rough and tumble boy amidst all the girls.

McKenzie's Surgery

2009-05-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

McKenzie had surgery on Thursday. She had a g-tube inserted in her tummy and reconstruction surgery on her eye. Consequently, she was unable to see for a couple of days. I went and saw her at the hospital on Friday night and then brought her and Bethany home on Saturday. We had to ask the nurse to put these things on her arms because she's so smart and was trying to rip off the eye patch, she even figured out how to get out of these arms things. She's a little escape artist. Her little toes. So sweet!

Sucking her thumb as we were getting ready to leave the hospital.

Her first smile in three days. I'm so glad I caught it, her mommy was thrilled to finally see her smiling.

Sisters

2009-04-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

I was looking through Kyleigh's camera when I ran across this little photo shoot with Tristyn. I love this! I love seeing the girls doing something fun together and their creativity. Neither is that scared of a camera and they obviously had fun with this!

Being An Aunt!

2009-04-29T09:34:00.000-07:00

Now that Maddie & Allie are getting older, I've noticed one vital thing. They think I'm pretty cool! I L-O-V-E that!! I love being an aunt more then I ever dreamed or imagined, and I love spending time with these girls! Looking back, I know that my aunts were amazing (still think they are!) and when I was with them, my day started and stopped with them, they could do no wrong...so, I'm thinking that I am now THAT aunt! When I walk in the room, especially Allie, stops whatever she is doing and comes running. Not trying to brag, it's just a realization to me recently that I make a difference to them. They aren't my kids, so Allie actually listens to me! LOL! I am so blessed, beyond blessed to have these girls in my life.

Here's Allie, she's four now. She's such a serious little girl who takes everything so literally. You have to be careful what you tell her, because she believes everything you say!

Here's Maddie. She's almost three! She is full of spunk and joy. You can't help but smile when she walks in the room.

Beautiful McKenzie. She can't tell me how wonderful I am yet, but she does smile at me a lot!!

Well, that was a conceited post. Oh well, I'm going to post it anyway, it's my blog, so I can!! LOL!

I'm Back....I Hope!

2009-04-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

For months now I have been thinking that I wanted to get our family blog up and running again. We have had so much crazy stuff happen in the last six months and I really wish I had it documented. I don't, so I will just start from now. I have no clue if anyone is still around, but I've had a few ask if I would start again. If nothing else it will be good for our family.

Thanks for stopping in, and I plan on being back, often :)

Heather

Happy Birthday Landon

2009-04-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

I can't believe our boy is now 11 years old and will be starting middle school in the fall. It's just so crazy how fast they grow. He's so much fun to be around and there is no better sound then his belly laugh.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRISTYN

2008-05-21T07:18:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRISTYN!!!!!!!!!

I am in shock today that my baby girl is now 6! Where did time go!

Do you notice a trend in the family? Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays. We have 4 just in our home in April, May & June and probably about 10 others in the immediate family in the spring as well. By the end of June we are so sick of birthday cake we can barely stand it :)

Happy Birthday James!

2008-05-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Little Man! I can't believe that you are 5 today - a Whole Hand! That's a big deal here you know. I miss you. Every day I miss you.

I've decided not to dwell on that today. Today I will think of the day you were born. The day I had the honor of watching you come into this world. That was an amazing day little one. You came so fast your poor mommy had no clue what was going on. You looked like Grandpa Lew with that ring of white hair around your head. I adored you from the second I laid eyes on you.

Kyleigh told me yesterday that you would have the best birthday up in Heaven today. I know you will!

I love you!!!!

Aunt Heather

Looks Whose Riding Her Bike!

2008-05-03T17:08:00.000-07:00

Tristyn decided this week that it was time for her training wheels to come off.

So, after a few lessons from her brother

She went for it....one foot down, Go a little further...
And, we've got it!

Look at that smile, she's so proud of herself! And, so are we!

She's riding fairly well now. I am so surprised at how fast she was able to do it!

Landon's Birthday!

2008-04-21T07:18:00.000-07:00

It's Landon's Birthday...and, he's 10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not sure how that happened!

He started off as this:

and, now he looks like this:

LOL! Actually, here he is..blue, spiked hair and all.

My Two Boys!

2008-04-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

Here are the boys! They went for a ride last week. Landon is so adorable all decked out in his motorcycle gear!

The bike is so awesome! Dan and I went for a ride today. It's the first time I have been on the new bike. I loved it as much as I remembered it from 10 years ago! The only thing about the bike, is it makes me want to sleep. It's so relaxing to me....something tells me it wouldn't be good to go to sleep though :)

SURPRISE!

2008-04-06T19:33:00.000-07:00

Last year I had a surprise party for my mom with her daycare families. It was such a huge hit that I decided to do it again. I didn't take very many pictures but we had an amazing time. My mom loves this! I am going to make it a yearly tradition, but I am sure that she will figure it out next time. She was totally surprised this year.

I do not have any pictures of mom...can you believe that??? Bad. Bad. Heather! It was an absolutely blessing when Megan showed up for a few minutes. This girl was in my wedding when she was two! Yes, you do the math, she is now 17! When my mom first started taking care of Megan, at age 1, I begged my mom to get rid of her..she cried all the time! I cannot tell you how thankful I am that my mom did not listen to a stupid teen. Megan is a blessing. We don't see her often, but has left a lasting impression on Kyleigh and Kyleigh has a deep love for her. Megan used to come spend the night with Kyleigh when Kyleigh was a toddler. I truly love this girl!

Megan and Kyleigh

Now, here's Katherine. Isn't she adorable! My mom took care of Katherine's older brothers, ages 20 & 15 from the time they were newborns and when their family was blessed with a girl...so was ours. Kyleigh & Katherine are exactly a year apart. I can't tell you how wonderful it is that most of the families she has taken care of all the siblings and has had them all since the day their mom's went back to work from maternity leave. When you run your daycare like that, then it's more a family then a daycare. I've known most of these kids longer then I have known my own and I love all of them. Most of the kids even keep coming to my mom's daycare into their early teens because they aren't ready to leave and love it there :)

Tristyn & Shayley

Here was one of the cakes. These candles cracked us up! They melted so fast that we didn't even have time to sing to her...and, then I accidently blew them out!

There were other families at the party as well and I'm sad I didn't take more pictures. We missed those of you that were not able to come and were so thankful for the ones that did. This will definately become a yearly tradition!

Wedding Pictures

2008-03-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

I still havent' been posting like I said I would..sorry! I didn't ask Amy if I could do this..and, she can tell me to take these down if she wants! But, here are a few pictures from the wedding. We go to see the photographers pictures yesterday and they are AMAZING! But, here are some shots from my mom's camera.

This is awesome! I do not think that pictures of us four have been taken in over 15 years! Here is Carey, Holly, Amy & I. Amy & I have been friends since we were 5 and we met Carey and Holly in 6th grade. Holly & Carey are cousins. We see each other as much as we can, but this day was a true treat for us.

Here is Amy with a REAL Pepsi..not a diet! I had to snap a picture of this..my two friends together :)

Here I am with my walking partner, Bill. Not the best picture, but you can see how we were dressed.

It was a great day. Timberline Lodge was amazing! I threw several fits about having the wedding there...I mean, it's February, there is snow...it's cold! But, Amy & Matt were right on...it was AWESOME!

Amy's Wedding

2008-02-27T08:39:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's really been like 2 months since I've posted and Amy has asked when I'm going to start up again. I told her maybe around her wedding, and since she got married on Saturday, I thought I should start blogging again :)

For those of you that don't know Amy, she has been one of my very best friends since we were 5! Yes....27 years! Matt & Amy got married at Timberline Lodge on Saturday and I was a bridesmaid. I have to admit to being slightly nervous about the whole thing. Amy & I have always been close, and will always be close, but we don't get to spend a lot of one on one time together and she has a lot of great friends that I am not close too. Truthfully, I did selfishly think that I may be the odd one out for the weekend, and I was okay with that, but a little nervous. Let me tell you, I was welcomed with opened arms, and feel like her friends are now my friends.

I was able to ride up the mountain with her parents on Friday afternoon and that was great fun! Her parents helped raise me and shape who I am. Some of my best childhood memories are of camping, boating, fishing, laughing with Amy's family and since having a family of my own, I haven't spent a lot of time with them. The ride up the mountain was a true blessing. We laughed, talked about old times and had a great ride.

The wedding itself was beautiful. Amy looked amazing in her red and white gown. All of us bridesmaids wore red, along with the two flower girls. The guys were in red too. I wish I had pictures to share, but that will have to come later. Amy & Matt gave Amy's daughter a family medallion during the service and told Emma how much she was loved and included in the marriage.

After the service was a fun reception with a great dinner, alot of laughs and dancing. Tristyn had been waiting for this day for months. She had the perfect outfit picked out and had so much fun. I was so proud of her, she even danced for about two hours. The reception included time to hang out with Holly and her cousin, my long-time friend, Carey and her husband Terry.

That's a recap for you. It was the perfect weekend.

I will try to do better with keeping up the family blog. I have been so awful lately.

3 Years....

2007-12-31T10:28:00.000-08:00

Is it possible that James has been gone for three years? How does life go by so quickly? Today is a hard day. Last year I did okay but for some reason today isn't as easy.

It's hard to believe that it's been three years since I have run my fingers through that blonde unruly hair, gazed into those penetrating deep blue eyes or heard that notorious grunt that meant "leave me a lone".

He would start school this coming fall. He has two beautiful little sisters that he would be running and playing with..if things had turned out differently. Don't get me wrong. I accept the plan for James' life. I understand that he brought a deeper understanding of life and love to many people...but, I'd rather have James back.

January is just hard. Mamalee died last January too and now my Grandpa Lew is in ICU. He is doing very well and will come home tomorrow...but, still...makes me a little wary. My faith is a little lacking at the moment I guess.

Sorry I haven't posted pictures of Christmas yet. My computers are having HUGE issues. I will post a happy post as soon as I can.

Polar Express

2007-12-06T20:00:00.000-08:00

We went on the Polar Express yesterday. We had a ton of fun. I'm headed to bed but wanted to quickly upload a few of my favorite pictures.

Here's Kyleigh..asking her an iPod :)

Landon, asking for a Nintendo DS

and, Tristyn, asking for Polly Pockets. Here is Kyleigh and Landon with their bells. Santa handed out bells to all the children, just like he does in the movie.

We had a really good time. The train ride was about 2 hours long. I would say the only drawback to the whole thing was it was in the evening. The scenery where this train goes is amazing and I would have loved to see it. The people on the train don't keep the kids entertained the whole time so they got a little bored. But, overall, it was great. Our conductor was a kick and they even brought us hot chocolate and cookies. Plus we sang Christmas Carols and had the Polar Express book read to us.

A Blog Ignored!

2007-11-30T13:46:00.000-08:00

Hey! Did you think we had fallen off the planet?? Things have been a little stressful and ALOT crazy in the Thomson household! First off..when I went to Germany I borrowed my bosses memory card for my camera. Well, about mid-October, I finally gave it back to him and since my memory card went missing while I was away...my camera is without a card so I can't take any pictures. I have one on order and it should be here around Monday.

Kyleigh is in the community play Christmas Carol which is consuming all of her time. She has been at practice every evening from around 5:30 to about 10:00 or 11:00 every night. She is exhausted, but tonight is opening night and we are excited to go and watch her.

Landon is doing great. He has started boy scouts and really enjoys it. He was supposed to be in the Starlight Parade this year but he got a bad cold so I pulled him out of it. I let him bundle up long enough to go watch and then get right home with some hot cocoa.

Tristyn is Tristyn :) She's doing great. She is loving school and enjoying all of her new friends. She can write her letters and numbers and is starting to read and spell. I am so proud of her, she has come a long way from those first few weeks of school.

Thanksgiving was great. We all went up to my parents' house and then over to my grandparents' for desert. It was a nice day of family, food and games!

Dan and I are great. Busy, busy, busy! We are looking forward to a nice family weekend.

Landon has his Christmas program Monday night and then on Wednesday we are headed to the Polar Express! I'm hoping my memory card will be here so I can post lots of pictures next week.

Happy Birthday!

2007-11-15T10:55:00.000-08:00

Okay, so not only is it Steve Irwin Day..it's also....Steve Adkison day! Happy Birthday Dad! Oh...and, it's also my Aunt Mary's birthday..and, my Grandma Barbara's birthday was a couple days ago! Lots of November birthday in our family. Happy Birthday everyone!

Crikey!

2007-11-14T19:44:00.000-08:00

It's Steve Irwin Day (11-15-07)!! Don your khakis and have a whopper of a great day!

Someone emailed me the following story a few weeks ago and I loved it. I am not trying to start a debate whether animals go to heaven, etc. I just thought it painted a beautiful picture and one that I could clearly see happening.

Rainbow bridge is a place if both peace and anticipation as departed pets await their beloved owners. There are plenty of things to keep them contented while they wait: trees you can't get stuck in, endless meadows, splashing streams, thickets to hide in for pounce attack games.

But one day the residents noticed some rather.....unusual newcomers arrive. The koalas and the kangaroos slipped in rather quietly, but then came the bearded dragon, the skinks and the goannas. The influx of snakes startled an entire family of cats up a tree. Pythons, cobras, tiger snakes, brown snakes and even fierce snakes. There was so many at one point it seemed as if the ground was alive. A burly wombat shouldered his way through the crowd and plopped down in a shady spot, barely missing a jack russell terrier who yapped indignantly as he abandoned his position.

And then the crocodiles showed up.

Finally a Great Dane managed to get up enough nerve to approach one of the reptilian giants. "Um......excuse me," he said hesitantly. "But, why are you all here?" The croc dropped her jaw and laughed. "Same as you mate," she said "Waitin' for someone who loved us." The dogs, cats, gerbils and other "typical pets" looked at each other in confusion, then at the plethora of weird, ugly and downright deadly creatures assembled. Who on Earth could possibly love some of those faces?

"I see him!" shouted a green mamba from his vantage point in one of the trees. A cacophony of squeaks, hisses, bellows and roars erupted as the mob surged forward towards a lone human being walking across the field towards the bridge.

The other animals managed to catch a glimpse of him before he was overwhelmed by the crowd. "CRIKEY!" he shouted joyously right before he was bowled over by the wombat. "Well I'll be," said a Persian as she tidied up her fur. "It's that Aussie my human liked to watch on TV. Had to be the craziest human on the whole planet." "Oh, please," remarked the echidna as he hurried by. "Is it really that crazy to love something God made?" "No its not," they heard a voice say from the crowd. "You see, I, too, was with him, at his side as he caught the crocs, the snakes and the spiders and spoke of the importance they had in life. For you see, I am his mate, his dog Sui.

To you ordinary animals he may seem crazy, but to me he is simply known as "Best Friend"

And with that comment, as the animals looked on with surprise, she ran barking, clearing a path to him, and jumped in his arms, licking his face as he cried, "Sui my mate, my friend. How I missed you so."

And with that they all crossed the Rainbow Bridge together......

Rome...Finally!

2007-11-08T18:46:00.000-08:00

I have been completely unmotivated to get my Rome pictures up, but here are a few.

This, of course, is the Colosseum. It was amazing. We did a tour of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. On this day, Holly & I started our day at our hotel (of course - LOL!) and headed straight for the Colosseum. It took us 10 hours of walking Rome to get back to our hotel.

Trevia Fountain
Dinner the night of our 10 hour walk. Yes, we ate at McDonalds. We were so exhausted and homesick that McDonalds was a welcome site!
Here I am back at our hotel. For some odd reason I decide to pose with my dear friend, Pepsi. After 10 hours of walking in a foreign country, you do strange things. I was pretty desperate for this Pepsi, I paid 6 Euro for this..which equals about $8.
Here was dinner the first night. We were pretty traumatized and just went to a small market. A great dinner of rolls, Funky Chips, nasty jelly, chocolate and mineral water (that we thought was regular water..that was a surprise)
Here is one of my favorite statues from the Vatican Museum. You don't see many statues of a mother and child so I fell in love with this one.

While I was in Rome, I did not particularly like it or understand it. Now, I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to go there and would gladly go again. Being in Rome was initially hard, it was the first time that Holly & I were truly on our own. We had been away from our kids for a week and deeply missed them. Despite the emotional issues we faced in Rome, we learned a lot of history, spent hours roaming the city and never once got lost. We saw paintings by Leonardo De Vinci, sculptures by Michael Angelo, the Sistine Chapel, Pantheon, the list goes on and on. It truly was amazing!

Michael W Smith - In Concert - I'm Up

2007-11-04T13:21:00.001-08:00

Okay..here is an oldie but a goodie..and, possibly one of my FAVORITES! I am a die-hard MWS fan and this brings back a million memories. For those of you who think I have ditched my MWS years..I have not!

It's Over!

2007-10-29T15:55:00.000-07:00

Soccer that is! Tristyn is a fantastic soccer player and has so much fun. Every year our fall schedule is wrapped around soccer. Last year both Landon and Tristyn played. This year Landon decided to sit the year out.

We were lucky and Tristyn had the same coach this year that she had last year. She really loves the kids and teaches them how to play the game well. The girls went undefeated!

Random

2007-10-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy month and we are finally on the tail end of it. Now that I have been home for about 3 weeks I have had a lot of time to reflect and think of my trip. I did not think that I would ever consider myself the traveling type but now that I have experienced it, I love it. I hope to go again in the near (within 2 years) future.

It was a blessing to experience the things I experienced and to see how other cultures live. I learned that there is a lot out there to see and do and I am not content to just "be" here anymore.

Here I am in Rome (you can see one of me in Luxemberg at a castle in the top right corner):

It was also an eyeopener to me to watch a military family in action. I don't think any of us here realize what the men and women (and their families) in our armed forces do everyday to make sure we have our freedom. Tim came home the day before we left and we had 24 fun filled hours with him, including being able to watch their family re-unite.

I finally made it home on 9/28 after being delayed 22 hours. I came home to both of Dan's brothers staying at our home for their vacation. We had a great time. Brian stayed a week and Paul stayed for two weeks. Kelley, their sister was able to come and stay one night and we had a great time. The weeks were full of bowling, eating out, movies, shooting guns, shopping and a ton of fun.

Saturday we were able to go to the zoo with just our family. What an amazing trip that was! We had such a great time! The weather was perfect. Probably the last great weekend of the year and we had a perfect day.

I promise to upload more pictures of my trip soon. I have been so busy trying to get back into life.

Winnie The Pooh

2007-10-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows that I love Winnie the Pooh..and, apparently, even if I am slow, I am like him - LOL! What a great quiz! :)
Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

A Quote

2007-10-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

I read this quote here and just had to share it.

"The child must know that he is a miracle,
that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him."

~Pablo Casals

I don't even have to comment, the quote says it all.

Rome

2007-10-07T22:08:00.000-07:00

I know I promised pictures of Rome..and, it will happen, but we have switched out our computers and not everything has been put on the new one yet..including, my pictures of Rome. So, as soon as I can....I will upload them and show you a few.

In the meantime, we have been crazy busy over here. Dan's brother's have been here for a visit and we have had a great time. Brian went home today and Paul goes home on Thursday. It's been a real blessing for these guys to get together. Their sister Kelley came for a visit on Wednesday and we had all of them together which was awesome. We got some great pictures of that too..I'll post those soon too!

Mom's Overture by Anita Renfroe

2007-10-04T09:01:00.001-07:00

Okay, this is way too good!!!! Have a good laugh!

Germany

2007-09-30T05:36:00.000-07:00

We're home! It was a whirlwind two weeks and I have 600 photos to go through to figure out which ones are the best to post here. It was a great trip, we had so much fun over there. I'm going try to go in order of our trip and right now I am only going to post the first few days.

Here is a castle called Vianden. It's emmense!!!!!!!!!!!! Isn't it beautiful? It's so bizarre how you drive around the countryside in Germany looking for these huge castles, you can be so close to them and they are hidden so well. Unexpectedly, you turn a corner and bam..there it is!

Ian and I are getting ready to tour Berg Eltz. I enjoyed the times that Ian wanted on my back. This was the first castle that we were able to take a tour of and go inside. This castle is still owned by the original family and the family still lives in part of it. Can you even imagine that? I think this castle is my favorite. It looks like a fairy tale.

Here is a portion of a cute little town called Bernkastel-Kues. I loved this town. It was surrounded by vineyards and a lot of the houses had grape vines growing over their front doors. I can not tell you how tempted I was to just wander over to someones house and pull off a cluster of grapes. The town had this beautiful scent to it and we believe that it actually smells like freshly made grape juice. During our visit there a German band marched through town. This was definately my favorite town.

Notice the grapes! Looks tempting huh?

Here are some castle ruins above the town. It's called Castle Landshut. There is actually a restaurant inside this castle.

The view of the town Bernkastle from the castle.

I was going to go in order of our trip but this happened on the last night and I thought I would share. Yes, we met one of the Vergori's "little" friends. You can't really tell, but this one is 3 inches. There was a lot of screaming happening that night. Oh, and yes..that is a Tim Vergori hand. He came home the last day of our trip and we go to experience the homecoming. But, that's for another post! :)

My next post will be Rome! Stay tuned.

Finally...A Post

2007-09-23T02:49:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's been a whirlwind of activity over here and today we have decided to have a down day.

The trip has been great. We arrived in Germany the morning of the 14th. The trip was surprisingly uneventful. I don't know what I was expecting - at least to be questioned by customs or something, but that didn't even happen. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to get into the country.

The first day was just a matter of trying to stay awake. I fell asleep at 6 pm at the dinner table. Thankfully, Reese had not put dinner on yet. At that point I had been awake for 30 hours and it was time for bed. The first several days were difficult to get used to the time change as we are 9 hours ahead over here but I have gotten used to it and am finally sleeping well.

We have had a blast and have seen so many sights. We have gone to several castles, including whole castles and castle ruins. We have been to so many little German communities. The Germans (around here anyway) have beautiful homes with flowers decorating the outside of their homes and yards. It is so pretty here. They live in the middle of rolling green hillside, some of the country seems straight out of a fairy tale. Yesterday I rode a ski lift straight up the mountain next to a castle.

Holly & I left for Rome on Wednesday. Talk about culture shock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There were times that I really hated Rome. But, now that I am done with it, I am thankful to have had the opportunity to be there. I learned and experienced ALOT! We even got "hit on" by several different Italian guys. I don't think they have any boundaries there..sometimes it was a little scary, but I get a good laugh thinking about it now :)

When we arrived on Wednesday we were very overwhelmed. But, we were able to find our hotel, drop off our stuff and then we saw the town on a double decker bus. That was really neat and helped us get our barrings. Thursday we walked for 10 hours. We saw so many things, including the Colosseum, Pantheon, Roman Forum, Palentine Hill, Trevia Fountain and Spanish Steps. We saw sculptures by Michael Angelo and paintings by Leonardo De Vinci. Friday we mastered the metro and headed for the Vatican. We went through the Vatican Museum and saw the Sistine Chapel and then headed over to St. Peter's Cathedral and even saw where Pope John Paul is buried. I am not a history buff so a lot of Rome was confusing to me. We had two different tour guides for the Colosseum and the Roman Forum so that was helpful. I am determined when I get home to read up on some of the things that I saw so that my trip to Rome is more meaningful.

I am so thankful to be back in Germany. When in Rome I was homesick and missing Oregon but here I feel "at home". I am having a blast with the Vergori's and being with them is being with family.

That's my trip in a nutshell so far. Sorry I don't have any pictures to show you. That will have to wait for when I get home. You can go here for some pictures though.

And, for those of you wondering about Reese's "little friends"...no, thankfully, I have not seen any!!!!

Tristyn Goes To School

2007-09-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

Tristyn started school on Thursday. My baby is in kindergarten. Can someone tell me how that happened?

Here she is walking up the hill to her school. It was a very emotional day for both of us. She thought she was excited until the teacher blew her whistle for the kids to line up. Then she realized that I would soon be leaving and that was it for her. There were a lot of tears and I had to really hold it in check so I didn't bawl along with her. It doesn't help to know that I leave on Thursday and can't make sure she is okay every day.

This was the last picture I got before the tears fell. I knew in this instant that things were not going to go well. But, she does love her teacher and her class..she just doesn't love leaving her mommy!

How We Spent Our Evening

2007-09-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

Tristyn's new thing is to lay down under Dan's desk. Whenever she gets tired, she goes there for a little quiet time. When Dan & I were gone for the weekend she went there and slept. For some reason it seems to be her safe place. She spent a lot of time there this evening. I think this week is going to wear the poor girl out.

Landon spent the evening doing homework..a lot of homework. He had to: read for 30 minutes, do 100 math problems and write the names of every student in his class 3 times. He probably worked for about 2 hours. I think he's going to have a great year and his teacher is wonderful, but the homework might kill us :)

He was rewarded with about 30 minutes of the Crocodile Hunter and then off to bed.

Leaving For School

2007-09-04T21:08:00.000-07:00

Here they are. Before they headed off to school. Kyleigh is going into 7th, Landon into 4th and Tristyn is off to kindergarten. I think this is going to be a great year for all of them. Tristyn only went to school for about 45 minutes today - just long enough to fall in love with it and never want to leave.

I just have one question...where did the summer go???

One Year Anniversary

2007-09-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

For some reason my post below did not include my comments. But, today is the one year anniversary of the death of Steve Irwin. Hard to believe it's been one year. Anyway, I thought I would post the video below because you will get a good laugh. I think most people have seen this..but, it's worth watching again!

Our thoughts and prayers are with Terry, Bindi, Bob and the Australia Zoo family today.

STEVE IRWIN Meets ROSS the Intern

2007-09-04T10:08:00.001-07:00

Fish Guts And Good Friends

2007-08-26T21:31:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Kyleigh and I went to stay at my friend Heather's house. I watched her son Andrew when he was three until he was five and then they moved away. Andrew & Kyleigh were Jr. Zookeepers at the zoo on Saturday morning so we had to get up at 5:30 to have the kids to the zoo by 7:00. We don't get to see each other very often but when we do we just pick up where we left off and have an awesome time! Most of the pictures of Andrew look like this:

Before class:

After class: You can't see it but they have fish guts all over them. When we asked Andrew how he got fish guts on himself he only had one word to say "Kyleigh". Kyleigh's answer "I thought Andrew would want to eat fish, so I tried feeding him". You can't tell they've been together since they were three :) More like siblings - LOL!

We had so much fun with them..and, can't wait to get together again! We miss you guys!

Getting Ready for School

2007-08-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

BEFORE........

AFTER.......

I can see my kids' faces again!

Can you believe it!!??!! How did the summer go by so fast??? I am not at all ready for school to start. Tristyn will be starting kindergarten this year. How did that happen??!!??

Daddy & His Little Girl

2007-08-22T09:18:00.000-07:00

I love this picture. Tristyn adores her daddy and, the feeling is mutual. These are two of the most intense people I know...they feel their emotions with their whole heart and soul. There is no middle ground with either of them. It can be intense around our house, but what a blessing they both are!

Landon's Swimming Lessons

2007-08-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

Landon's favorite sport in the summer is swimming. One of my mom's friends has teaches private swimming lessons. Landon has taken lessons since he was 4 and he begs every year for lessons. He just finished his two weeks.

Here's Tristyn watching Landon's last lesson.
Landon doing one of his "moves".

Landon and Jeanine. Can you tell she enjoys him? She is a total blast and he loves every second of swimming with her.

This wetsuit was a pain to get off. It was too funny!

Camp Jonah

2007-08-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

Back in June Kyleigh went to a music and drama camp in Washington. This was her 2nd year and she just loves it. It's a day camp and they go Monday-Friday and then on Friday the parents all come up and the kids put on their play and have a big BBQ. Unfortunaly, my camera was not working well that night and none of the pictures of Kyleigh during the play turned out. Every year Kyleigh learns more about the Lord, meets new fun people and has an awesome time.

Here she is after the play:

Look at the view from Camp Jonah's backyard.
I love this picture. Landon was running from the camera all night and decided to hide behind Julie. Julie is too smart for that. She lifted her fingers to me: 1...2...3 and she jumped away right when I snapped the picture. Gotcha Landon!

Sneaky little guy. Not the best picture but it's the best expression on his face! He wasn't expecting Julie to jump away :) ha!

MasterCard

2007-08-08T13:28:00.001-07:00

I loved this commercial and laughed out loud when I saw it. This is what want for my kids - "being with people who understand you...priceless". There's nothing better then a good friend who understands you!

Our Newest Addition

2007-08-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

Introducing...Thumper...finally! He's been in our family since the end of June and I have never written about him. Kyleigh's been on me for a month to tell you about him. She got him when he was only 2 weeks old and has been taking wonderful care of him. He loves to be held and cuddled and he even licks your face like a little kitty. He's a total blast and we are thankful for this little addition to our family.

A Contest

2007-07-31T19:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. If you have a blog, click on Heather's site to enter an awesome contest. If you are picked, she will either design a blog header for your site..or, paint a painting for you of whatever you choose.

Good Luck!

I Did The Unforgiveable...

2007-07-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

I took the kids camping without the camera. A few minutes out of town Holly asks "You remembered the camera..right?". Aaahh, the moment of knowing you forgot something so important. Oh well, at that point, it's too late.

We had an awesome time. Holly & I try and take the kids camping every year. Every year we get people who say "You two, are going alone, with the kids...no men?". As if we can't handle it on our own! LOL! We did it..and, had fun!

We build fires, cook over open flames, make smores, built a dam in the river, climbed over rocks, survived bumps, bruises, sunburns and Tristyn learning that it's not okay to throw sand in the air, especially when the wind is blowing and you are in the line of fire. And, the most impressive thing we did was we were able to put Holly's brand new tent back into the bag it came in!

A great weekend with the kids...just no pictures to show you :(

Happy Birthday Kevin!!!!!

2007-07-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a ton of fun! It was Kevin's birthday party. We had a blast at his house. I don't have any pictures of him..I've got to be careful about taking pictures of him - he has too many to blackmail me with! :)

He set up a slip-n-slide in the backyard and let the kids go for it!

Kyleigh chillin in the hammock!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN!

Thanks for the friend you are...I don't know what I'd do without you!

Up The Mountain

2007-07-05T22:37:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday my friend Holly and I decided to load the kids up and head for the zoo. When we go there it was so packed out that they were putting people into shuttle buses to get up there. We decided that despite the drive, it just wasn't worth it.

So, we decided to head home over the mountain

Our Destination: Mt. Hood We are going to take the kids camping this summer so we stopped at every campsite along the way. It ended up taking us 5 hours to get home. We found lots of AWESOME campsites though and had a blast.
Tristyn looking adorable..she loves the camera.
The silly boys.

The view from Trillium Lake. Isn't that amazing? I am so blessed to live where we do..with this right in our backyard.

The mountain close up.

Kyleigh just hanging around.

And after a long day nothing is better then a quick nap in the car.

Happy Fourth of July

2007-07-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

Okay..so, I am a day late.

We spent the evening at my friend (boss) Kevin's house. I didn't have my camera for the first half of the evening but Dan ran and got it for me after the BBQ.

We had an AWESOME time! Kevin put on a great BBQ, had Kyleigh's favorite tunes playing in the background and a sprinkler for the kids to play in.

Here they are lounging in the hammack.

Here is how Ken spent the majority of his evening..talking to his honey on the phone..I hear she's the most beautiful woman in the world...his cell phone says so!! LOL!!!

The girls cuddling and watching the fireworks

Watching the show...there's Kevin. It's the only one I got of him. I have to be careful..he has great blackmail to use against me so I'm going to be very kind!

Dan thinking he is the Statute of Liberty.

We had such a great evening. It's not often that Dan has a holiday off. In fact in the last six months he has worked Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Easter and most every other holiday so last night was a blessing.

Thanks for a great evening Kevin!!!!!

Yard Sale

2007-06-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

My friend, Holly, and I had a yard sale this weekend (we are trying to get money together for something very special). I wish I would have had my camera there because Tristyn was running around with a sticker on her back.

I guess Landon has really had enough. I let it stay on there all day because it was just too funny. Nobody offered to take her! :)

At the end of the day, I'd have to say that Tristyn looks EXACTLY how I feel!

It was definately an overwhelming weekend and the week looks to be just as overwhelming so no rest for me :(

Random

2007-06-18T21:36:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm....I came home from work the other day and look what was

hanging in my kitchen. Do you think my family is trying to tell me something??!!? :)

P.S. Sorry I haven't posted much lately..I just haven't been in the mood :( I'll get back at it soon.

A Few Steps

2007-06-07T07:15:00.001-07:00

Hey..look - Madi is walking! Sorry, I know this would be better if I edited the video down..but, I don't know how :)

Happy Birthday Bethany & Katie!

2007-06-06T07:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay...so, I missed posting these two! I'm the worst sister on the planet. All these birthdays at once are taking their toll! LOL! They were 27 on Sunday..can you believe that...27!!???!! How did that happen! (Sorry, not the best picture, but the only one I have of both of them together).

We celebrated Madi, Bethany & Katie's birthdays last night and had a lot of fun. Including a video of Madi learning to walk. I'll have to upload that later for you all to see...too cute!

Happy Birthday Madi!!!

2007-06-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

Happy 1st Birthday Madelynn Cori Faith!

June 4, 2006 - She's a little bruised from her entry into this world.

May 23, 2007. It's amazing how much they grow. I don't know if you can read her shirt but it says: "Does this diaper make my butt look big?". Too Cute!! Madi is a total joy. She is starting to walk all over the place and her little personality is shining through. I love being an aunt!!!

Walking The Path Of Life

2007-06-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

For some reason, I love this picture. And I especially love it in black and white. It has a wonderful feel to it. It reminds me of walking the path of life. We have such a small path and we each have our own path. If we go off the path in any way, we hit a lot of trees, debris and junk. But if we allow the Lord to walk with us on our path and show us the way, we get to where we need to be. This picture has a lot of symbolism to me and is one that I think I will blow up and frame.

Tamanawas Falls

2007-06-03T19:19:00.001-07:00

Well for some reason I couldn't get the other post to do the picture of the falls so....

HERE IT IS!!!!!

Isn't it beautiful? I am so thankful that I live in an area surrounded by waterfalls. If I had the time to go hiking every weekend I could see a different one. It just amazes me!

Hiking Tamanawa Falls

2007-06-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

Friday and Saturday was girls night. Kyleigh & I went over to our friends' Madi & Julie and spent the night. We had a great evening filled with games, movies and best of all great laughs!

Saturday we went hiking..on what was supposed to be an easy 4 mile hike and turned into a fairly difficult 5 mile hike. But, it was well worth it! At least, Julie & I think so..the girls may not agree. Hiking is one of the many passions that Julie & I share so hopefully this summer you'll get to see lots of great hiking pictures.

Here is a washed out bridge.

Kyleigh playing in the spray from the falls.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLEIGH

2007-05-26T08:21:00.001-07:00

It's Kyleigh's 12th birthday. Wow! Time goes so incredibly fast.

She has grown into such a beautiful young woman who is thoughtful and kind to those around her. I am proud of who she is.

She was going to try to stay up until 3:35 a.m. - her official birthday time, she's not up yet, so we'll have to see if she made it or not :)

We are almost to the end of our birthday chaos. Our family has at least 15 birthdays in April, May & June...Bethany, Katie and Madi are all next week and then we will be almost done! It's worse then Christmas around here :)

The iPod Shuffle

2007-05-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

I had about 45 min this morning before leaving for Tristyn's Last Day of Preschool BBQ and thought I'd do the iPod Shuffle. Here were the first 10 songs.

1. How to Say Goodbye Michael W. Smith
2. The Runaround Taylor Hicks
3. Matchless Aaron Shust
4. Always There Taylor Hicks
5. Red High Heals Kellie Picker
6. The River Garth Brooks
7. Dream Myself Awake Taylor Hicks
8. Wasted Whiskey Rodney Atkins
9. Shotgun Rider Tim McGraw
10. My Savior, My God Aaron Shust

Personally, my favorite version of My Savior, My God is David and the Studdmuffins but not many people have had the privilege of hearing them! LOL! :)

Michael W. Smith-How To Say Goodbye

2007-05-24T09:56:00.001-07:00

Michael is my favorite singer of all time and this almost made me cry. Kyleigh will be 12 on Saturday..this song seems all to real. Time goes so fast!

American Idol

2007-05-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I wasn't going to do this but I'M BORED!

So, who is watching American Idol tonight??? My vote is on Blake. This years Idol has not been my favorite, in fact, it's been pretty boring, but I still watch it. Even though my favorite singer of all time..Michael W. Smith is voting for Jordin, I've still got to go for Blake. Not that Jordin isn't worthy and great, I'm just not really into girl singers, I don't know why but they bother me.

Tonight's show will be interesting but I've got to say that the highlight of the evening will be......TAYLOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (see # 45 of 100 Things About Heather).

That's enough of my rant....SOUL PATROL!!!!!!!!!!

(Hmmm, I think I'll turn on my iPod and listen to him right now..Kyleigh's going to be mad at me for this post..she can't stand Taylor - LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Need A Good Laugh

2007-05-22T16:01:00.001-07:00

Here is Madi laughing on Mother's Day..she sure thinks Landon is funny!

Tristyn Is A Whole Hand (5 Yrs. Old)

2007-05-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well, it has happened. Our baby is 5 years old today. How did that happen? Where did the time go? I wish my scanner was working so I could show you how adorable she was with her chubby baby cheeks! She has passed all of her preschool milestones, has been registered for kindergarten and has preschool graduation next week.

And, this shirt definately says it all: "Drama is my middle name!"

Off To The Races

2007-05-19T14:53:00.000-07:00

Our town is growing and our newest addition is Petco. Today was the grand

opening which included hamster races.

Oreo had to run in two different races...and,
SHE WON THE GRAND PRIZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A $10 gift certificate. Way to go Oreo :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES

2007-05-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

Well, my scanner is not working so I don't have a picture to show of James. But, today (15th) is his 4th birthday. It's absolutely incredible that it has been 4 years since our angel boy was born.

I will never forget that day. I had the privilege of being in the room when he was born..barely. That stinker waited for me. He was born almost the instant I walked in the room.

Kyleigh is doing a speech about James today in her English class. I'm so proud of her for honoring James in this way.

Can you just imagine the birthday party he's getting in heaven??? What a special boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES CHRISTOPHER!

Looking Out The Window

2007-05-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

I realize this is not your traditional picture but I am trying to be more creative in my pictures and not just people staring at my camera saying "Cheese". Here are my nieces, Allie (2) and Madi (11 mon) looking out Great-Grandma & Grandpa's window down at Kyleigh, Landon & Tristyn. I just thought it was adorable.

Flowers

2007-05-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of flowers in our background. I thought these turned out really pretty.

This cute little guy turns colors when I need to water..isn't he adorable???

A Fun Night

2007-05-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

Tonight was family night. We had a great time. When I came home from work Dan had the picnic table all ready for dinner. He bought these cute dishes.

Tristyn was too pooped to party. She spent the day at her best friends house and it did her in.

Special Friends

2007-05-07T20:19:00.000-07:00

We have amazing friends that live in Germany. We have been friends for at least 15 years, if not more. Our friendship goes way beyond the "friend" category and into family. We see them about once a year and have walked alot of roads in our lives, together. We got married together (21 days apart), had babies together, grew up in our marriages together (Reese & I were both 17), and I am thankful that our friendship has turned into something amazing.

We get to see them about once a year (but stay in constant contact due to wonderful email) and when they are home, our family feels complete again. Here are some pictures from their recent "surprise" visit. They showed up on our doorstep at 7:30 a.m. with a chai in hand. I was in heaven!

Ian & Kyleigh
Sean & Landon
Kyleigh & Ian again. I don't think this night could have gone any better.

Kyleigh & Landon were showered with loves and hugs all night.
Zach & Ian

Ian, Kyleigh, Tristyn & Kristine.

The Big Boys...Dan & Tim.

My main reason for this post is to tell you that Tim is in the Air Force and being deployed tomorrow. Please pray for safety for him and wisdom and patience for Reese as she will be home with all the kids for 5 months. We love you guys! You guys are such a blessing and our thoughts are with you always!

A Moment of Peace

2007-05-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

Landon and Tristyn love to fight!!! There are moments where I can barely stand it. Saturday was one of "those days". I really believed there would not be a moment of peace. And then..this. The simple act of blowing bubbles together put their moods in different perspectives and allowed them to be friends for the rest of the day.

I am really enjoying playing with the different modes on my camera.

A Birthday At The Zoo

2007-04-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Landon's 9th birthday and we had an awesome day! For his birthday he picked for me to take him and his best friend, Trey, to the zoo. They are great little buddies..really, more like brothers, and we had a great day.

Here are some highlights:

At the fish tanks

Eating elephant ears

Exploring a waterfall

And the day would not be complete without boys being boys!

Did I mention it was POURING! I don't think we can get a break. That's three times to the zoo in thirty days and each time we got a drenching. Oh well..what is more fun then a day at the zoo with two little boys who have a blast in the rain.

We had such an a great day. Besides getting lost in Portland..and, needing Uncle Bob's help to find my way, it was a perfect day. I don't get a lot of chances to hang out with Landon alone and I enjoyed every second. He's turning into such the little man..I can't believe he's 9!!!!

I love you Landon!

Spring Break

2007-04-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

Dan & I decided to take the kids to the zoo for Spring Break. On Tuesday we all loaded into the van and headed to Portland with hopes of a great day...nope, it rained. A little rain we can handle, but an absolute downpour is a little tough. Inspite of it, we had fun. I decided since Tuesday didn't turn out that my mom & I would take the kids down on Saturday. Well, it rained more Saturday then it did on Tuesday. Here is Landon's essay about spring break (typos and all!).

My spering break started at the zoo, twice! But dont think it was that fun because when we left, our shoes had puddles of water inside of it! It was raining and raining, I couldn't hear myself think the rain was making so much noise.

After we went to the zoo we ate dinner at Sharries resterate it was good.

These pictures just about sums up our two attempts at the zoo.

On a side note...Landon's birthday is Saturday! He will be nine! I'm going to try and get a post going this weekend in honor of him.

Madi

2007-04-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

I have been having a lot of fun with my new camera. I especially enjoy taking pictures of little Madi Faith. She's so much fun! I loved this expression and changed it to several different styles.

Isn't that face just adorable???

Waterfalls

2007-04-15T22:20:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to post about all the happenings we have had the last few weeks but I find myself being so overwhelmed with how far behind I am that I don't post at all. So, I've decided to not post much about spring break...because our two trips to the zoo ended up in total downpours. So, I will post my highlight of spring break.

Those that know me, know that I love to hike...and, love to hike waterfalls. I feel so very blessed to live where we live. I do not believe there is anything more beautiful then a waterfall in the woods. My family would disagree, but I dragged them here on one of our trips home from the zoo. Well, they didn't have much choice...I was driving!

Despite some random guy's behind...and, the chocolate stain on Landon's shirt.

I love this photo. My kids, and a waterfall, how great is that! :)

I just liked this bridge. It's the trail leading up to the falls. My kids were not willing to hike,
so I enjoyed the look from below. Next time, I'll grab a few friends and hike it. There are so many amazing places to go when you travel up our old highway. I hope to have a lot more pictures this summer of this area!

Another Sorry

2007-04-12T22:23:00.000-07:00

I'm really sorry. I was going to do quite a bit of posting tonight but for some reason every time I upload my pictures the computer freezes. I am frustrated and tired so I will come back this weekend and try again. Thanks for checking in on us. I have a lot to update and will do that as soon as I can!

Kyleigh Got a Cell Phone!

2007-04-12T22:17:00.000-07:00

A lot of things have happened in the last couple of weeks that we have been without the internet. Here is one of the highlights...Kyleigh got her own cell phone. We finally caved in. I swore we wouldn't do it but....we did! And, actually it was a good choice. We got rid of our home phone and we each have our own cells. Kyleigh is thrilled..can you tell? Hmmm..I wonder who is on the other end of this call?? Madi? Shayley? Cheyanne? Whoever it is, she is enjoying this!

Oops!

2007-04-12T14:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry! I didn't make a post last night. We've been without the computer for a couple of weeks so the kids were little computer piggies! I am going to make a real effort to get a post done after I get everyone to bed tonight!

Finally!

2007-04-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

We are finally up and running. I will do a post tonight! We have lots of pics to share.

Another Glitch

2007-03-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

So, our computer is up and running..but, we have decided to cancel our home phone service and we are strictly using our cell phones. Well, they have already disconnected everything, which includes our internet. I am going to be frantically searching for a new internet provider, but until I find one, our blog will remain quiet. I hope to be back on soon. We went to the zoo on Tuesday and took some good pics with our new camera. I'll try and share them soon! Thanks for checking in.

A Few Days

2007-03-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, it may be a few days before I am able to post. We are having issues with our computer at home. Hopefully they will be resolved shortly and I can get back to posting once in awhile. Thanks so much for stopping in, and please check back!

I'm So Excited

2007-03-23T06:59:00.000-07:00

Dan & I decided that the one splurge with our income taxes would be a new digital camera. The one I have (and am very thankful for as it was given to me by a good friend) is just too old. I miss every shot due to the delay from when I push my finger down to when it actually takes the picture. It drives me crazy! Well, my new camera will be here today. Our pastors have a version of this camera and they love it...so, we went with the same type they have. Here's my new baby, I can't wait to use it today. Hopefully, you will see more, and better, pictures of the Thomson activities :)

Not Quite Ready

2007-03-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

Tristyn loves to be one of the big girls. Every time Kyleigh has her friends over, Tristyn is thrilled. She adores each and every one of Kyleigh's friends and just wants to be one of them. Most of the time they are tolerant of her. The other night she played and played with them, and then it was time to watch a movie. Poor Tristyn...she didn't make it. I don't even think the movie had started when I looked over and this is what I saw:

She's just not quite ready to be a big girl yet.

Blogging Frustrations!

2007-03-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am a little frustrated. When I did my last post I made sure the pictures were in the right spot, the text looked good next to the pictures and then I publish it and it looks horrid! Sorry it looks like I don't care. I hate it when it does that to me!

A Play Day

2007-03-20T21:25:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday was actually a beautiful day in our area and our family took advantage of it. We had an awesome day. Because of Dan's schedule it's not often that we just get to play. Here are some pics.

We decided to go up to the kids' elementary school and play around so we played some basketball....

Played some baseball....Of course, we had Kyleigh's twin Madi with us. It wouldn't be a great family day without her!

Rode our scooters.

Here are some more random shots.

The school we went to also happened to be my elementary school. Here Landon & Tristyn are sitting on my favorite monkey bars. I remember vividly playing on this for our entire recess. It's funny how small it seems now when I stand next to it.

Here's Tristyn with Dan's best friend Ken. We are lucky to be surrounded by great friends who adore our kids. Uncle Ken is Tristyn's punching bag whenever he's with us. She's lucky he puts up with so much.

We don't call Tristyn our drama princess for nothing. She's upset about something and refuses to look at the camera. Kyleigh's doing her best to make her feel better but she was pretty upset.

You can't tell but Dan is riding Landon's scooter down the hill. As we were leaving he just couldn't resist one good ride. Hey, who says you have to grow up...looks like fun to me!

It's Allie's Birthday!

2007-03-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

Allie's First Picture!!!

Our little St. Patrick's Day baby! What a total blessing she was...and what

an amazing little girl she is turning out to be! Allie came into our lives in the midst

of total sadness and boy did she lift our spirits immediately, and still does.

A total bundle of joy and energy.

This is how you see her now. There are no real great pictures of Allie because she refuses to sit still long enough to get her picture taken. She is on the move and constantly curious about everything around her.

Not to mention, she has everybody wrapped around her little finger. How can you say no to this adorable face????

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLISON GRACE JAYMES!

Heather

2007-03-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

I did this over at Just a Thought and thought it would be fun to add it over here.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Writing Contest

2007-03-08T21:31:00.000-08:00

We are members of the Australia Zoo online club which includes a quarterly magazine from Australia Zoo. It came in the mail today and there was an advertisement that if you send them a letter in 25 words or less you could win a trip there. The kids immediately dropped what they were doing and wrote three letters. After they wrote the letters I noticed that the contest is only open to Australians..which, obviously we aren't. Although, the kids did ask why we can't move there so we could win. Here is what they each said:

Landon:

I want to have a trip to Australia Zoo because

I think zoos are awesome. I want to see what Steve's life was like

Trisytn:

I love Steve Irwin. I want to go to Australia Zoo and

see the animals. I want to see kangaroos. I want to meet Bindi.

Kyleigh:

I would want to go because it would be fun and I think

it would be a good, fun experience.

I thought the kids deserved some recognition somewhere! They are bummed they can't enter the contest, but I am proud of them for trying.

Family Camping Trip '05

2007-02-16T14:01:00.000-08:00

Landon was checking out our blog and noticed that I have been lazy about posting lately. We are having some great time just the two of us and he said he'd like to do a post. So, we looked through our pictures and he wanted to share our camping trip.

We have not camped since the summer of '05. Last year I was too lazy and wanted a restful weekend in a hotel. Overall it was fun, but nothing compared to our camping trips. So, for '07, it's camping here we come :)

Landon's favorite things about camping are: hiking, the wildlife, sitting around the campfire and roasting marshmallows.

Our favorite place to go is called Eagle Creek. It's only about 45 minutes from home and up in the mountains. It's also our favorite hiking spot. When we first started hiking there (before children) it seemed to be a spot that not many people knew about..now, it seems the whole world goes there. It is incredibly beautiful with a lot of waterfalls to look at and many trails to explore.
Last time we went, on our way up the windy road leading to the camp a baby bear jumped in front of our car. It was a beautiful bear but also a little frightening because I would assume that mama bear was not far behind. We did hear that mama and baby were also roaming around in the vicinity of the campground but we didn't see them again.

Pacific Northwest

2007-02-05T14:57:00.000-08:00

This is too good..and, oh so true! I bolded my favorites!

You know you're from the Pacific Northwest When... (According To Jeff Foxworthy):

1. You know the state flower (Mildew).
2. You feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash.
3. Use the statement "sun break" and know what it means
4. You know more than 10 ways to order coffee.
5. You know more people who own boats rather than air conditioners.
6. You feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant.
7. You stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" Signal.
8. You consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it is not a real mountain.
9. You can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Veneto's.
10. You know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon.
11. You know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Oregon, Yakima and Willamette.
12. You consider swimming an indoor sport
13. You can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food.
14. In winter, you go to work in the dark and come home in the dark- while only working eight-hour days.
15. You never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho.
16. You are not fazed by "Today's forecast: showers followed by rain," and "Tomorrow's forecast: rain followed by showers."
17. You have no concept of humidity without precipitation.
18. You know that Boring is a town in Oregon and not just a state of mind.
19. You can point to at least two volcanoes, even if you cannot see through the cloud cover.
20. You notice, "The mountain is out" when it is a pretty day and you can actually see it.
21. You put on your shorts when the temperature gets above 50, but still wear your hiking boots and parka
22. You switch to your sandals when it gets about 60, but keep the socks on.
23. You have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain.
24. You think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists.
25. You buy new sunglasses every year, because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time.
26. You measure distance in hours.
27. You often switch from "heat" to "a/c" in the same day.
28. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat.
29. You know all the important seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Raining (Spring), Road Construction (Summer), Deer &Elk season (Fall).