A Bunch of Randomness!

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 :)

Being An Aunt!

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!

A Blog Ignored!

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!

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!

A Quote

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

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!

Daddy & His Little Girl

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!

Looking Out The Window

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.

A Play Day

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!

Family Camping Trip '05

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.

Heaven's Newest Inhabitant

This is how I see her now. Holding James. It's how I cope, how I handle this deep sadness that seems to be taking over at times.


This is my great-grandma. Her name is Loleta Amanda Zumwalt. Kyleigh is named after her..Kyleigh Amanda. She is the amazing matriarch of our family, she was a mom, grandma, great-grandma, great-great grandma, aunt, sister and dear friend, but to me, she is Mammalee. My precious grandma. She was an amazing soul.


I had not allowed myself to even deal with her death until yesterday and at the funeral it hit, and it hit hard. And then I went to her home, and she wasn't there.


The day was too much to take in, but at the same time, so beautiful. So many people were there to honor her. She had such a servant heart and was willing to help out in any way she could. I believe she served her church by playing the piano every week for about 48 years. Can you believe that...48 years (or maybe it's 43). So many times I find myself not wanting to help once. Maybe I'm tired, maybe I've had a hard week..who knows what the reasoning is, but I'll think of some logical excuse, but she served faithfully for 48 years. She just quit about a year or so ago.


I am thankful for the family that I have, the amazing support we were all able to give each other and the stories that were told.


Mammalee, thank you for the letters, the endless hours at the piano, the stories, the hugs, knowing that when I walked into the room I was deeply wanted and deeply loved, the life lessons and the many, many memories. You will be missed, more than you could ever imagine.