Holiday Happenings

The holidays have come and gone and we are still trying to get back into the routine of things. I so miss the days of sleeping in! We had a great Christmas. We were able to share it with lots of family on both sides! We made trips to Louisiana and Missouri this year. Sadly, I didn't get as many pictures as I should have....I was too busy enjoying the company! Here is a sampling though......

Christmas morning - Doesn't she look so cute in her Christmas jammies and jewelry? She absolutley loves this crown Grandma Pam gave her. One of her favorite gifts and it came free with the doll! I also need to take a picture and post it of her daily outfits which include not only the crown but a cute ballerina tutu Grandma Mac gave her. She wears them both everywhere she goes!

The Thompsons -minus Laura's family- on Christmas Day at Grandma Rosies

One night we went to Aunt Angie's for a yummy dinner of Fajitas and games. The boys played video games while the girls made jewelry. Erin loved stringing her own bracelet.

Aunt Angie and Aunt Wanda are pros at this and had lots of things for us to choose from so we could make some jewelry for ourselves. Emma made some pretty bacelets and a pair of earrings to match one Aunt Wanda gave her for Christmas.

My sis-in-law Kimberly & I in Missouri.

We finally got to meet baby Tyler who isn't so much of a baby anymore but Erin sure liked to treat him that way!

Grandma Mac enjoying her wassail with Seth on a cold Missouri night!

Sandy & Amber making goodies for us to snack on while we played games. Notice the posed pics. That's when you realize you haven't taken any pictures and go around and tell everyone to smile the last night you are there.

Emma with her Uncle Bruce and showing off her new camera she got for Christmas. We were so glad he was able to come this year. The kids especially loved camping out in the living room telling stories.

Cousin Joseph with the kiddos! They are all getting so big and played so well together.

We had so much fun visiting with Grandma Smith.

One last picture together....can't wait for our next visit!

It was then back to Louisiana for a couple more days with my family. We attempted a little shopping on the boardwalk with the kids.

I just love Annabeth's pigtails!!

Me with all of my sisters and most of the kids after dinner on the River front one night.

Ice Skating

Saturday we kicked off the holiday season by hitting the ice. We went skating with Emily's family and Aunt Amber. It was a lot of fun although my ankles are still sore as well as Ryan's back from all that bending over to help Erin. We are getting old!

Erin loved being on the ice...especially with her daddy!

Look! No hands! We were really impressed with how well she did for only being 2!

Emma with Aunt Amber....Emma loved ice skating and got pretty dang good at it by the time we left. She could finally circle the rink with no falls and some speed!

Seth is great on the ice as well but wished he had the rink all to himself.

Taking a break!

Erin loves her aunt Emily!

Erin amazed by the zamboni !

Afterwards, we stuck around the mall and enjoyed a warm Cinnabon. Erin was determined to eat it all by herself which is a little tricky with a plastic spoon. Notice the icing in her hair....

Emma enjoying having daddy & mommy all day!

Seth and Amber enjoying their treat

All pooped out!

Dazzler

This is Emma all gussied up for her "Dazzler" jazz class's Christmas party. We were in such a rush to get her out the door and this was the only picture I got. She was so excited....I think more so about her new dress though.

Trimming the Tree

Erin loves the glow of the lights!

The kids hanging their ornaments as we watched Polar Express

Erin so proud of her two year old self! Notice all of her ornaments weighing down the bottom branches...

Thanksgiving Fun

So this was my first year to actually "host" Thanksgiving dinner. My parents, Laura & Brent, & Amber came for the occassion. Everything turned out super yummy! We ate till we were stuffed and headed to the park to burn off some energy before heading over to Laura's where we had desserts galore! I wasn't so great at getting pictures of everyone else but here were a few I did get of my family.

Diva's for a Day

Emma's gal pal Tara had a Diva party to celebrate her birthday. The girls had so much fun putting on make-up, getting their hair done and dressing up. The best part was strutting their stuff down the red carpet for the fashion show!

She looked a little too grown up for my taste but this was right up her alley! She was such a poser!

Erin didn't want to be left out! She and Maleah kept right up with the big girls! They were so cute!

Halloween Fun

I'm a little late on this one but I had a good excuse. I haven't had my camera all week! The kids had a fun halloween though. Grandma Pam came to help them celebrate. She got them from school and suprised them with lots of fun treats! We got all decked out and headed over to the outlet mall to meet up with some friends and trick-or-treat. So their pumpkins were full by 5:30! Grandma took them out trick-or-treating around the neighborhood too so we had quite the stash of candy and grandma got quite the workout! One of the highlights of the night is a house down the street that sets up their telescope each halloween night and gives their guests quite a treat.....a view of the moon - craters and all! Emma especially enjoyed this as she had been studying the sun & moon that very week.

I was very suprised this year that the kids wanted to actually dress up "halloweeny". So I had two cute little witches and one handsome vampire.

seems that witches were quite popular this year...... Emma & Erin with Tara & Maleah

Erin trick-or-treating with grandma and lugging around her "diaper bag" as she called it while doing everything to avoid having her picture taken.

The next day we went and played putt-putt with grandma, Laura & Annabeth. The big boys went to the "real" golf course. It was a beautiful day! Notice how much Erin just loves posin' for pictures. She was not happy anytime we tried to get a picture this weekend.

The girls with one of the elephants