{Thanksgiving}

 We started out our Thanksgiving festivities by having "Thanksgiving Lunch" with Ella at her school. So fun to see her during the day and meet some of her friends in her class.

My brother Scot flew in Thursday morning and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving Feast! I didn't mind doing it all, you get to eat exactly what you want! And our first turkey turned out delicious.

We wanted to get some of those pounds off we just added, and take a hike in the Santa Fe mountains.

But it got cold really fast as the sun went down, so we ended up walking for 5 minutes and return to the ski lodge to play in the snow.

I was amazed at how much snow there was!
We should've bundled up a little more.

 

 

On Friday we went up to Rowe to cut down a christmas tree and cut down some trees to get wood for our fireplace.  That night we got a babysitter and took Scot down to the Plaza for fine dining. I'm mad I forgot my camera, but they lit up all the trees in the center of the plaza and had a live band down there and everything. It was so fun.

Then on Saturday we took him to see Albuquerque.  We started out at the Aquarium and then ended at the Botanical Gardens.

 

My kids started getting tired of having their picture taken...

It was the nicest weather that day, and so beautiful!

They had lights up everywhere for the "River of Lights" they do in the winter. We gotta go back when it's dark, it'll look amazing. 

 

Then we took Scot out to eat and then to the Albuquerque Temple, since he really wanted to see it.

You can't really see Mary, Joseph or baby Jesus below since the flash was so bright, but it is a beautiful sculpture.

 

 

So, what do you do when you have a

1yr old around the house?

Put the Christmas tree on top of the mantle!!



 

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving.... We sure did! :)

1960 miles in 77 hrs

So, a couple of weekends ago we took a last minute road trip to Idaho for a family funeral.  It was a crazy trip, more driving than not, but we did so much!

 

We spent the 1st night in Moab, UT. Never been there before,
but there are ginormous beautiful red rock mountians...

Saw "Hole in the Rock"

(see how big the hole is, see those people standing up there?)

 

Then we made it to Jerome, ID for the

funeral services on Friday.

Went out to dinner with Scott's family.

Drove 2 hrs to Meridian, ID to stay the night.

Woke up the next day for 9am family pictures 

(for xmas cards)

 

Looked through 7 rental homes

 

Had lunch with Scott's family

Above are all the Thompson cousins... having fun!

 

Had dinner with one of my besties from Ricks College,

Jessica Wilkinson (expecting baby #4)

who lives in Burley, ID. Love her!

So ironic that she is moving to Tampa just 2 months before we move to Meridian! Not fair.

She has 3 girls and another girl on the way! yay!

 

Drove to West Haven, UT to stay Saturday night with my sister Steph (sad no pics)

and got to visit with my brother from Provo

Then....

Drove home ALL DAY Sunday

 

What an exhausting trip, but so worth it!!!!

Soccer

In the beginning of October, Ella started her 1st year of soccer. It was great exercise and she learned some good coordination skills. By the end of the season she starting figuring out what the rules of the game were and so forth. I tried working with her, but parks with grass are hard to come by here in Santa Fe. She said she liked practices but hated games since she had to run the entire time.

It's funny, Ella is SO competitive when playing games one on one. So, we thought she'd really get into soccer... but not so much.

(Notice the ball is not near her at all in any of the pictures)

She put in great effort though. We enjoyed watching and supporting her every Saturday morning 

(until it got cold and the wind picked up)!

She actually kicked the ball a few times each game, 

and we were so proud!

Oh, and BIG NEWS: Ella got bangs!

She had been asking for bangs for a couple months, and I didn't want to do it because of all the extra time it would take to actually do her hair... but Ella and I went to the salon together to get our hair cut, and I gave in. She absolutely loves them.
Scott says she can't get them cut again until she can do them herself, since he has the job of getting her ready for school at 6:30am 3 days a week! :)

What a beauty, we love you Ella booty!

Halloween Night

On Halloween day there was a halloween party at the spa/gym I go to. They set up a treasure chase with games and trick-or-treating along the course. 

It was short and sweet!!

 

 

Then when Scott got home from work he took the kids out trick-or-treating.  He took Brock along for fun. Scott was a skittle bag for his costume since someone at work made shirts for everyone to wear.

 

 

Our neighbor decorated their door so much, I had to take a pic of their first door they knocked on.

 

 Ella: Flower Child Hippie

 

Cole: Bumble Bee, the Transformer

 



Brock: a racoon

 



The LOOT: very happy kids!

They only lasted about 90 minutes and then came home since their buckets were full.  They love to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters that come to our door, and it almost became a fight over who could get to the door first.  Happy Halloween!

Ward Trunk-or-Treat

We (me, in the primary presidency) were in charge of the Trunk-or-Treat. We had a great turnout. There was chili and cornbread, and hot cocoa with donuts. Then we had all the primary kids parade around the gym so we could see their costumes.  Ella decided to be a flower child hippy (perfect for Santa Fe) and Cole was Bumble Bee, the Transformer.

Brock was the cutest racoon

The YM did a haunted hollow in the primary room for the kids and then we all went outside for the Trunk-or-Treat.

Fun night! 

Chaparral School Carnival

 Ella's school put on this AMAZING Halloween Carnival. I didn't expect all the work the PTA put into it. There were tons of booths set up in the gym, and along the hallways and tons of classrooms.

Ella: a cowgirl

Cole: Bumble Bee, the Transformer

 

 The kids enjoyed the jump house...

the duck pool, the bean bag toss...

 the fishing pond, and cake walk. 

Ella actually won the cake walk on the first round! She picked her favorite store bought sugar cookies with thick frosting.

 

 

Ella and Cole also went into the haunted house, which they were timid to try, but it didn't last long, so they survived!

 

What a fun event!

(Brock not pictured much because he was asleep the ENTIRE time in the stroller)