Thomas 5

Happy Birthday Luke!

2012-02-10T20:19:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Luke's birthday this week. I have to say I think it was a pretty great day. Luke and I were able to spend the day together. This is our first year without kids at home during the day. It can be pretty heavenly. After taking the kids to school we went and worked out at the gym. We grabbed some lunch and ran around town together. That evening we along with a few friends went out to eat. We sang to Luke and ate some yummy ice cream cake. It was awesome! We love Luke!

Party on the tramp

2012-02-10T19:50:00.000-08:00

Some good friends of ours are staying with us while they try and find a home. This was our first day together. Talk about a trampoline full. I should clarify only 6 of the 10 kids in this picture are living under one roof.

We are having a blast. :)

Good Times

2012-02-10T19:42:00.000-08:00

I love moments like this when the kids just enjoy being with each other. It makes my heart happy. :)

Deep Beauty

2012-01-24T11:05:00.000-08:00

Kar's photo-op

2012-01-12T17:20:00.000-08:00

Luke and I were at the kid's school the other day when we found this poster in the hall. We knew Karly had made her AR goal, but we didn't realize what a ham she can be. We both got a kick out of it. :)

Christmas 2011

2012-01-10T18:57:00.000-08:00

Sadly these are the only pictures I have to document our Christmas this year. I was feeling a little under the weather and just didn't think about it.

We did something new this year. Luke had to work Christmas so we decided to celebrate Christmas a few days early. I wasn't sure how it would go, but it ended up being great. It really felt like Christmas. The days following our Christmas it was kind of weird to see people out running around getting ready for Christmas when to us it was already over. I REALLY liked it. When Christmas actually came it was just a nice relaxing day. I found for myself it was able to concentrate on the true reason for the day, not just the gift aspect. I would highly recommend it. Who knows maybe we'll make it a tradition. :)

I actually did have one picture of Karly in the PJs and with the bed head, but she's of age where she might have killed me if I were to post it to the blog. :)

This is the kid's little snack pad they made for Santa.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-01T19:27:00.000-08:00

We had our traditional Christmas Eve at Kat's this year. We decided to do the Nativity. It was great!

We had a star.

An angel and one Shepard.

FOUR Wise Men

Mary and a VERY EMBARRASSED Joseph. (Spence had a hard time being married.) :)

And a tiger sheep/donkey.

We also made snowmen.

It was a blast!

School Parties

2012-01-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

The last day of school before Christmas Break the kids got to wear PJs to school. Despite Spencer's face they were all thrilled.

Unfortunately all three kids had their parties at the exact same time so Luke and I made the rounds. Noah's class had a breakfast bar. Talk about a spread.

Spence's class also had breakfast. There's just something fun about eating Breakfast at school in your PJs. :)

Karly's class had a cereal bar. The kids and the parents seemed to enjoy it.

What a great way to start Christmas Break.

2011-12-20T16:09:00.001-08:00

Santa

2011-12-19T16:12:00.000-08:00

Spence has recently become a little overly conscious of himself and what people think of him. It's a little sad for me. He's loosing his innocence and growing up. :( He did NOT want to talk or sit on Santa's lap this year.

Spence decided if he was going to have to talk to Santa he would go ahead and tell on his brother. He made sure Santa knew that Noah had made some bad choices this year.

Poor Noah was terrified.

When Santa asked Spence what he wanted for Christmas Spence responded by singing "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth". My friends who were with us sure got a kick out of Spence. One of my friends who happens to be Spence's librarian at school was shocked. She knows how easily Spence gets embarrassed now a days. What a goof ball.

I think Spencer's Santa days are just about over. :(

Noah's First Program

2011-12-11T18:20:00.001-08:00

Noah had his first program at school last week. It was completely adorable. I do have a video tape of the program, but for some reason I can't seem to get it to download. Bummer. Our little guy is growing up.

Jingle Bell Trail

2011-12-11T18:12:00.001-08:00

The kids and I once again participated in the Jingle Bell Trail this year. Spence and I did the 1 mile, while Kar ran the 5K with some friends.Good times.

Sister Gracie

2011-12-07T13:37:00.001-08:00

Luke's sister Gracie just returned from serving an 18 month mission for the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Tampa Florida. We got lucky and were able to see
her on a layover before she headed out west. We love Sister Gracie!!

Thanksgiving

2011-12-05T20:13:00.001-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving at Kat's house this year. Luke was on call on Thanksgiving, along with a few of my other girl friend's husbands. We had kind of planned to have it be a single moms with kids day. To our pleasant surprise NONE of our husbands were called in. It was awesome! All five families were airline people. The men talked a lot of shop, while us ladies just enjoyed having our families together. I think it was probably one of the BEST Thanksgivings our family has had,

Kat planned what she called a "turkey run" for the kids. Basically Kat stuck feathers to the back of Ned while the kids chased the poor dog around the yard trying to grab feathers. I'm not sure how much Ned loved it but the kids had a blast. :)

The adults played a little Bocce Ball ladies against men. The men BARELY won.

Luke and Zack had a little wrestling match. Ned tried to come brake it up. :)

By the end of the day we felt very blessed to have good friends and family near by.

Hiking

2011-12-05T19:45:00.001-08:00

2011-11-16T09:59:00.001-08:00

Kar wrote this at Activity Days the other night. I love that she has the same appreciation for Airtran and Southwest as Luke and I do. :)

Candy!!

2011-11-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

We had a blast trick-or-treating this week. Luke had to work this year. Usually he's the one who takes the kids around, while I stay home and answer the door. This year I grabbed my friend Sui (who's husband was working as well) and took the kids trick-or-treating.

The kids decided to cash in their pumpkin buckets for pillow cases. They wanted plenty of room for their loot. It definitely worked. It feels like we have candy growing out of our ears. The poor kids are living in fear of the Great Pumpkin who has come and taken their candy (in exchange for a gift of course) the last few years. Karly has gone as far as hiding her candy so he can't find it. Funny girl doesn't she know the Great Pumpkin has his ways. :)

School Festivities

2011-11-01T18:47:00.000-07:00

We stayed pretty busy with school festivities last week. Not only was it the week before Halloween, but it was drug free week as well.

We turned Kar's hair slime green for crazy hair day. Noah got in on the action, but conservative Spence didn't want any part of it.

Spence had his class Fall party. They decorated cupcakes.

Noah's class went to the pumpkin patch that his teachers recreated at the school. They even had a hay maze.

The school had a Fall festival. The kids and I decorated a pumpkin for a silent auction. We were feeling pretty good with it until we saw some of the competition. WOW!! Some people have some serious pumpkin decorating skills. We made the vampire above. :) It ended up going for five dollars. :)

We also had a trick-or treat night at the school. The kids were able to try out their costumes and start up their candy stashes.

Kar was twister. Kar with her teacher. Her teacher hated that I took this picture. In true southern terminology she said she was a "hot mess". :)

Noah was a Power Ranger. I can't believe Power Rangers are still around. We had to go to three different stores to find the RED Power Ranger. All the stores were out. Luckily we were able to nab the last one at Halloween Town that ended up being on sale because the mask was damaged. I was happy and Noah had no idea. :) Noah's standing next to one of his teachers.

Below.....the kids with some of their neighborhood buds. I LOVE Captain America's pose. What a crack up!

What a week!

Kar's Quilt

2011-10-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

What we've been up to.

2011-10-16T16:53:00.000-07:00

As always life's been keeping us pretty busy. Here's a little bit of what we've been up to.

Karly was in a parade for the K-kids at school. That was a first for her. She had a blast!

We saw our first step team at the parade. Luke and I got a kick out of it. :) Out west we don't get a lot of step teams.

Noah's enjoying school. He still finds time to play hard at home.

Spence was declared an outlaw....... along with the rest of the first graders at his school. They put on an adorable 1st grade program.

Kar just finished her first quilt.....pictures to come. It turned out ADORABLE. :)

Luke and I attended our first of hopefully many Southwest Company parties. Aunt Kat took the kids while we got to experience what it feels like to be a Southwest employee. It felt pretty good. It was a great night!

That's about it. Life is good.

What am I going to do with myself?

2011-09-11T17:37:00.000-07:00

It's been pretty weird around here since Noah (our youngest) started school. Some how though my time has been filled between work, volunteering, church, and in Dec. school. Who knew life stayed just as busy when all your kids go to school.

Noah is really enjoying school. He's adjusted really well. He comes home pretty wiped out , but was definitely ready for school. I think he likes being a big kid.

Daytona Beach

2011-09-05T10:51:00.000-07:00

Noah's 4 !

2011-09-05T10:42:00.002-07:00

Almost 12 years......

2011-08-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

..and I love him more today then I the day we got married. :)

First day of school.

2011-08-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

Last minute trip

2011-08-28T16:29:00.000-07:00

We really weren't planning on taking a trip out west this Summer. When Luke switched airlines, his new airline didn't fly to Oregon or Utah. About a week before school started we found out with the merger with Southwest we would be able to fly out west. I was pretty bummed we weren't able to make it to Hayley's grave this year, so we decided to make a SUPER quick trip to Oregon. We were basically there for two days. It was a quick one, but well worth it. The kids got some cousin time in at a park for a couple hours and we were able to visit Hayley's grave. It was great!

D.C.

2011-08-04T17:47:00.001-07:00

Last week we took a trip to D.C. for our weekly family day trip. It was a blast! We all came home wiped out, but it was worth it.

Our pictures are kind of backwards, but oh well. After a full day in D.C. we stopped by the D.C. Temple. It was the perfect way to end the day. We walked through a new exhibit in the Visitor's Center and then walked around the Temple grounds. It was awesome.

The kids love to take pictures, so Karly insisted on getting a picture of Luke and I in front of the Temple. She posed us and everything.

The day went by far too quickly so we only had time to drive by the Capital Building. Hopefully next time we'll do a tour.

Kar was dieing to see the Supreme Court building. I guess she learned about the Supreme Court last year in school.

The kids in front of the Washington Monument.

There was the Extreme Makeover Van parked in front of the white house. The kids were wondering if the White House was getting a makeover.

We checked out the The Natural History Museum and the American History Museum. The kids loved them. Spence was especially excited to see C3PO.

The kids at Lincoln Memorial. We ended up walking all the way around the memorial. What a beautiful building with GORGEOUS views.

Lincoln Memorial
Karly chilling at the Lincoln Memorial.

The kids were stoked on the flight. They got first class for the very first time.

Our weekly trips have been a blast this Summer. I hope we can keep the tradition up next year.

Chattanooga

2011-07-17T16:46:00.001-07:00

This week our family took a day trip to Chattanooga Tennessee. We have been meaning to take the trip for years. It's only a two hour drive from Atlanta and very family friendly.

We hung out in down town Chattanooga for a while before the heat almost did us in. The south can be so muggy during the Summer.

We walked along the Tennessee River. It was lovely.

We also hit Chickamauga an old Civil War cite. I have to admit I was a little shocked that the kids enjoyed it as much as they did. We spent hours looking at memorials and learning about the history of the south. We also visited a second battlefield called Lookout Mountain. Talk about gorgeous views and so interesting. This country's past is fascinating. It's hard not to see the Lord's hand in our Country's establishment. I had no idea there was so much strategy to war and what I believe to be divine inspiration. It was pretty neat and more importantly the kids had a ball. :)

This was one of my favorite pictures I took all day. This is Luke helping Noah blow out a wish weed. Noah just laughed and laughed when Luke blew. Cute moment.

The boys just had to check out the cannons.

Kar and Noah dressed in military garb.

This tower is actually a monument. We climbed all 100 and some stairs to the top.

The view from the top was gorgeous.
There were hundreds of monuments at Chickamauga. They were placed as memorials for military units that lost either all of their unit or most of their unit in battle in that exact area. I was impressed with the records that were kept.

On our way home the kids were THRILLED to see the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile pass by. They actually woke me up from a nap to get a picture. Noah is still laughing about the hot dog car.

It was a great day. One I think we'll always remember. This Summer has been a blast. I hate to see it end.

Swim Lessons

2011-07-16T18:05:00.000-07:00

The kids just finished swim lessons. It's kind of sad to have them be done. Not only does that mean school is about to start, but they absolutely LOVED going.

Spence learned how to back float and jump off the diving board.

Kalry learned how to do 4 different strokes. Her favorites were the Breast Stoke and the Back Stroke.

I can't say Noah became more confident in the water. He already had plenty of confidence (probably too much) , but he did learn how to be more careful while he's in water. :)

The kids can't wait for next year.

Wednesday Family Day

2011-07-07T05:12:00.000-07:00

This week we hit Six Flags with friends of ours. We had a lot of firsts. It was the first time the kids had ever been to an amusement park. I loved their reactions when we arrived. It was priceless.

Six flags also has a water park in it. It was the kids first time at a water park and definitely not their last.

The kids all rode their first roller coaster. Karly was tall enough to go on just about all the rides. The only one she was denied on was the Superman ride. We once again were reminded of the little dare devil Kar is. She was up for ANYTHING. Spence took a more thoughtful approach. It took him a while to warm up. Noah would had gone on anything he could have. The poor little guy is a little short for his age, so his buddy who is his age was able to go on rides Noah wasn't able to. The biggest disappointment for Noah was that he wasn't able to go on the bumper cars. :( He cried the entire time while he watched the other kids cruse around. Sad....we're hoping Noah hits a growth spurt this year and next year he won't have any problems. :)

4th of July

2011-07-07T04:54:00.000-07:00

We had a fun filled 4th of July. We woke up bright and early to attend a local parade with friends.

Karly and Le'.

The parade crew.

In the evening we got together with friends and did some sparklers or "Twizzlers" as Spence called them and made smores. Good times.

Day Camp

2011-07-07T04:39:00.000-07:00

I got the opportunity to spend a week with these crazy little guys at Cub Scout Day Camp. Karly got to be a part of her own girl's troop. They called themselves the Galactic Girl's after the outer space camp theme. Spence and Noah went to the tot lot for the week. Noah LOVED it. Spence liked it every other day. The boys and Karly got to go fishing, and do tons of crafts. Karly was excited she also got to shoot BB's . She was proud to report she even kissed a fish. She was told kissing a fish gave you good luck. Noah after hearing the story made sure when he caught a fish he did the same thing. Silly kids. I wish I could have sneaked away to get a few shots (pictures) of the kid's fun. :) I stayed pretty busy though with Troop Five. I had a hard time sneaking away. It was a good gear up for what our future is going to hold with two boys. Spencer will be attending next year as a bear/tiger??? I'm still learning all the ranks. :) I think we have many fun scout years to look forward to.

The traveling sleeper

2011-06-27T18:09:00.000-07:00

You would think by now I would be used to not finding Noah in his bed. The other night I got a little panicked after I didn't find him in his bed , OR his closet, OR UNDER his bed (his alternate sleeping locations). I ended up finding him in his sister's bedroom on the top bunk with his big bro. Spence was not exactly pleased about it, but Noah sure slept well that night. :)

Wednesdays

2011-06-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

Our family has designated Wednesdays as our family days. We generally spend most of the Summer in Oregon, but due to responsibilities we aren't able to make it to the Northwest this Summer. Instead we have decided to take family day trips once a week. Last week we took a day trip to New York. The kids and I had never been. My brother Matt lives in NYC so he acted as our guide/person photographer for the day. We had a ball!! We moved as quickly as we could to hit everything in one day. The kids crashed on the airplane ride home.

Summer fun.

2011-06-10T18:09:00.000-07:00

Although the kids have started to complain of "being bored", I have a hard time thinking they truly are. I heard a quote this week that I LOVED. "Only boring kids get bored" In my opinion our kids are anything but boring. They keep me pretty entertained and I'm definitely using that line on our kids.

No, our three year old does not wear diapers any longer. That's why Noah's getting such a kick out of wearing one. Spencer stuck one on him so he could play a baby in a play they put on for me. It was called "The baby that wouldn't stop crying". Noah performed his role perfectly . :) :)

Swim time.

Kar found a frog in the pool the other day.

The kids and I went berry picking. Spence was in blue berry heaven. That kid is a blue berry LOVER.

The kids in the strawberry patch. I had a hard time keeping up with them.

We downed all our berries within a couple days. There's nothing like fresh berries.

Spence checking out the ducks after he finally decided to stop chasing them. :)

Gotta love picnics at the park.

We met up with some of Kar's school friends and went on a hike. Can you tell Spence was not loving the girl power?! :) :)

I don't know about our kids but our Summer is keeping me pretty busy.

SUMMER!!

2011-06-10T17:51:00.000-07:00

Our neighborhood is the best! Since we've lived here the neighborhood has had a "Welcome Summer" party on the last day of school. It's blast for everyone.

Last day of School

2011-06-10T17:21:00.001-07:00

This school year went by FAR too quickly. Spencer looks thrilled I know. He refuses to smile with his teeth now a days. I'm hoping he grows out of it. I think he likes to play it cool. :)

The last walk of the school year. The kids and Luke (or I) walk to school everyday.

Spence with one of his Teachers. (Ms Maria, the teacher's assistant) He loved her. She has a great sense of humor.

Spence and his class.

Kar and Ms, Flanagan. LOVED her!

Kar with her crazy class.

Spence and Ms, Martin.

It's been a great year.

What we've been up to.

2011-06-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

We've stayed pretty busy around here as of late. The kids got out of school (post to come), we've had some guests, I started working part time and try to continue to be in school, Luke continues to fly (He was thrilled last month when the merge with Southwest was made official.), Kar participated in her school's wax museum (she played Sacajawea). Lots of good times. Life is great!!

Sacajawea (a.k.a Kar)

We had friends of ours we met through Luke's work come stay with us for a couple days. We are so excited they are moving to the Atlanta area this month!!! YEA!!!

Kar at our mommy daughter date. She's so much fun! We shopped for Summer clothes, listened to music, had lunch together, and gabbed a lot. It's so fun to have a daughter. :)

My Dad came in town. We were able to attend the Atlanta Temple together with my sister Kat. It was pretty awesome! It was mine and Kat's first time attending it after it's renovations. The Atlanta Temple has been closed for the the last 18 months. We've had to drive to Birmingham Alabama to attend the temple. It's wonderful to have a local temple again.

Thinking about our girl today.

2011-05-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

Today I received an email from a friend of a friend who lost her infant a little over a week ago. Her pain brings back memories. Talk about HARD days. It's not something I would ever want to relive, but what beautiful experiences came from it. Love you Hayley girl.

Luke's Camera

2011-05-09T18:47:00.000-07:00

I just found these gems on Luke's phone. They are from a birthday party last Fall. I thought they were adorable.

This picture Luke was very proud to have. He had a lay over in South Bend IN. Sport fans might know what this is a picture of. A sweatshirt in the back might give it away. This is a tradition at Notre Dame. The players walk from the chapel to the stadium right before they play a game. Luke said the campus was beautiful.

Silly Rabbit

2011-04-25T20:23:00.000-07:00

The kids learned years ago that the Easter Bunny was a jumper. They always look forward to finding their baskets up high.

Easter with family

2011-04-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

Easter evening we had dinner and egg hunt with some of our Georgia family. It's so nice to have family near by.

13 little guys + water balloons + Darth Vadar = A REALLY GOOD TIME

2011-04-25T19:32:00.000-07:00

Spence has been planning his party for about a year now. He made sure to let us know what friends he wanted to come (and at different times told each of them they were invited to his party). He chose the theme months ago. He's been pretty stoked about having a birthday party. We decided not to let him down this year. I think I can firmly say I don't think I'll ever be able to pull off one like this again. :)

It's nice to have friends in high places. :)

2011-04-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

Some good friends of ours live in a fabulous neighborhood with tons of family friendly activities. They are nice enough to invite us to most of them. This year we attended their neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. The kids had a blast! Thanks Jene & Megan! You all are the best!

Window view

2011-04-25T18:58:00.001-07:00

This was my window view the other night. It reminds me of how lucky our kids are to have the Dad they do. He's pretty awesome!!

Noah running to first base. :)

Surprise Party

2011-03-28T19:24:00.001-07:00

Kar begged for a birthday party this year. We hadn't thrown her a friend party for a couple years. To be honest I was a little burnt out . It can be so stressful to throw your kids parties. I wondered if it was worth all the effort. It's not like our kids need the gifts. I had to remind myself that it's not about the presents or the stress of it all.... it's about the memories the kids will create. Sooooo...... after going back and forth we decided to surprise Kar this year.

Her friends were so cute about hiding all over the house so they could pop out when she walked in the door. Karly seemed surprised. She said she had no idea. :)

We had a cake/prize walk.

The girls and Spence played Mummy.

I found this idea online under "easy girl party games" to do tin foil makeovers. Not all the girls got into it, but Karly definitely did. Can you see her wings behind her?

We played "spin the bottle" to open gifts. No, it wasn't the traditional "spin the bottle". Everyone grabs their gifts and sits in a circle. Then you spin the bottle to see which present to open. I loved this one. Present opening has always seemed a little chaotic during past parties. This cut back on the craziness. It was great.

I hope it was a memorable day for Kar. It was fun to be a part of. I can't believe our baby is growing up so fast.

What a day.

2011-03-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

It's been an interesting day. Noah hadn't been himself the last couple days. He had a slight fever and then woke up with a rash yesterday morning. I took him into the the doctors and the poor guy has Strep. It's been about 24 hours that he's been on an antibiotic and I think he's feeling better. We've gone through a couple outfit changes today and two baths. The first happen when he got a hold of the syrup and poured and drank about a quarter of the bottle. We took his stickies to the sink to wash off. I went to get some new close for him and I heard a funny sound. I walk back to the bathroom to find him standing on the counter peeing into the sink. Crazy kid. It took just about everything in me to not burst out in laughter. After all he was so proud of himself. I decided to forget the sink and put the sticky guy in the bath. After a good cleaning of him AND the sink we had lunch. While cleaning up Noah ran up to me with the foulest smell on him. For the life in me I couldn't figure out what he got into in such a short amount of time. Well, the boys have been telling me for over a week they made mud pies with poo in them. Not owning a dog I had no idea where they would even get poo from. I thought they were just being silly. When I asked Noah what he got into he said his mud pies. :) :) The boys weren't kidding they really made poo pies. They've been on our back porch for a good week now.
I think Noah's feeling better. :)

No more camera

2011-03-06T19:07:00.000-08:00

This was one of the last pictures taken by our camera. Can you guess how it broke? :)

Baby Shower

2011-03-06T18:43:00.000-08:00

We had a baby shower for a friend of mine this weekend. It was a lot of fun.

What a Mom will do.

2011-03-06T18:40:00.000-08:00

It's funny what you will do as a mom to keep your kids safe and happy. :)

A Day at the Park

2011-03-06T18:26:00.000-08:00

Kindergarten Program

2011-03-06T18:21:00.000-08:00

Spencer had his first Kindergarten program in February. He did a great job!

Valentines

2011-03-06T18:15:00.000-08:00

Noah does a playschool with a few friends. We rotate homes. It's been a lot of fun. These were a couple pictures we took from our Valentine party.

Luke's 34!

2011-03-06T18:09:00.000-08:00

Rockin party

2011-03-06T18:04:00.000-08:00

Karly was invited to friend's birthday party where they all became a rock star for a night. I think these pictures say it all. :)

Busy sleeper

2011-03-06T17:37:00.000-08:00

Our little guy sure likes to keep himself busy at bedtime.

Dress-up

2011-03-06T17:35:00.000-08:00

Princess Ball

2011-03-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

Kar and Luke had a daddy daughter date to her school's Princess Ball. They had a "ball" (hahaha) together. :)

Kat's birthday

2011-02-20T10:38:00.000-08:00

My brother Joe came in town from out west over Kat's birthday. We had a little family dinner/ birthday party for Kat.

The kids helped me make Kat a strawberry yogurt cake. Not being a baker I thought it turned out pretty good. :)

The Roses

Kat and the boys.

I think Kat and I invaded Joe's personal space. :)

Look who we spent New Years with. :)

2011-02-20T10:23:00.000-08:00

We were lucky enough to get the Thomas' from up North to come spend New Years with us.
As always we had a great time with them.

A White Christmas

2011-01-25T17:08:00.000-08:00

Living in the south you generally don't see a lot of snow. Saying that you can imagine how shocked we were to wake up to SNOW on Christmas. What a wonderful Christmas gift. It wasn't a ton, but it was enough to make you excited. :)

I'm afraid I didn't take the best pictures this Christmas. I thought I would post what I had as memorabilia.

The kids enjoyed the snow and yes Karly is wearing Capri's in the snow. To be honest I didn't even notice until after the fact. I guess I was caught up in the excitement of it all. :)

Spence doing his best to make a snow angel.

Christmas Eve 2010

2011-01-25T16:42:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas Eve this year at the Rose's with our in-laws the Pulsiphers. At least that's what I call them. We are related to them through marriage. This was our second year spending Christmas Eve together.

Our Christmas Eve's so far have consisted of crafts for the little ones, yummy deserts, and a spiritual thought. This year we decided to add a white elephant gift exchange. Talk about hilarious. My favorite gift would have to have been the "butt pop". Which I hear was brought with me in mind. Unfortunately, I wasn't the lucky one who got to keep it. I did get a Snuggly however. I LOVE IT!

Noah sporting one of the white elephant gifts.

Gabe trying out his SUPER straw.

It was a memorable Christmas Eve.

Christmas Program

2011-01-25T16:30:00.000-08:00

Karly and the brave girl that she is sang a solo at our Ward Christmas party. She did a beautiful job and only had five days to learn the song. I wish I had her courage.

Our good friend Megan also sang a solo. Talk about a voice. We've been close friends for several years now and I had no idea. What kind of friend am I?!

I couldn't get my flash to work right so the picture's a little blurry.

Missy's trip

2011-01-17T14:11:00.000-08:00

One of my longest, dearest friends, Missy came and visited us in December. She made the long trip from out West. We have known each other almost our entire lives. We were best friends almost instantly. I think I was 8 years old and we just clicked. Most of my memories as a child involve Missy some way or another.
Our kids fell in love with her while she was out. We think it needs to become an annual tradition now.

We had the BEST time. We took a golf cart ride through a nearby town. We park hopped, grabbed dinner, and just cruised through miles of golf cart trails. It got a little chilly in the winter weather, but we came prepared with plenty of blankets to snuggle with. It was a blast!

We also ran a local 5K together. It was organized by one of the public schools as a fun raiser. They do it every year. It's called the Jingle Bell Trail. Karly finished first in her age group and Missy placed second.

Kar ran with a few of her friends.

Kat (my sister) joined us. Kat had this great idea that we could all dress-up as Christmas elves. Karly and Missy thought it was a great idea. The lame person that I am had to be talked into it.

Kar with her girlies.

I love girlfriends.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-27T17:13:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to Maryland this year for Thanksgiving. Luke's brother's family live in the BEAUTIFUL state. It truly is a beautiful state. We had such a great time. We were lucky enough to go Christmas tree hunting with them. Which ended up being a total kick. My sister in-law has great taste in trees. She happened to choose one of what I think was the largest tree in the farm. Of course we didn't realize how huge it was until we had cut it down. It was quite the process to move the bad boy. It took at least an hour just to tie the tree to the roof of their car. Then it took an additional hour to move the tree into the house. We sure got plenty of laughs out of the whole experience. It was a riot. I don't think the Thomas' will ever have a Christmas tree quite like they had this year. :)

Check out that FAT boy. I love our sister in-law's expression in this picture.

I love this picture of the men checking out the true enormity of the tree. I think their faces say it all. :)

The gang decorating.

Luke's sister Tessha was brave enough to make the drive with us to Maryland from Georgia. It was a blast having her with us.

Two of a kind. :)

It was a great vacation. We love family. :)

Little buddies

2010-12-27T17:09:00.000-08:00

I have to admit it can be a little unsettling when you go to check on your kids only to not find one in their bed. It sure is sweet though to find them in another. :)

Halloween

2010-12-27T16:50:00.000-08:00

Obviously I'm still catching up. We had a fun Halloween this year. It was action packed. Between the three kids we had 3 school parties, a trunk or treat at church , and a school trick-or-treat. It kept us pretty busy. The kids had plenty of opportunities to wear out their costumes.

Church trunk-or-treat.

The fam carving pumpkins.

School trick-or-treat

Spence's school party

Our Singer

2010-12-26T19:12:00.000-08:00

Noah's 3!

2010-12-26T19:02:00.000-08:00

Noah turned three a few months back . We kept it simple and had family (the Roses) over. We ate a yummy family dinner, opened presents, and ate cake. Now that's my kind of party.

Noah with his cousin Austin, and uncle Rick.

The boys playing a little Star Wars with Uncle Rick.

The birthday boy with Aunt Kat.

First Day of School

2010-12-26T18:55:00.000-08:00

Karly's first day of third grade.

Spencer's first day of Kindergarten.

Noah feeling like a big kid. He still has a couple years before he's old enough to go full time. He does attend a play school with a few of his friends from church twice a week. He loves it!

Hangen' with friends

2010-12-26T18:50:00.000-08:00

We have some good friends who have children almost exactly the same ages as ours. The kids love it when they come over because everybody has a playmate.

The girls taken some chill time.

Catching up

2010-12-26T18:34:00.000-08:00

My brother Mike and his wife Angela made a trip to the south this Summer for Austin's (my nephew's) Priesthood ordination. Regardless of Spencer's face above we had a great time. The kids enjoyed getting to know one of their newest cousins Cooper. He's just as cute as his name. Noah enjoyed being the big boy.

What we did this Summer.

2010-11-10T18:43:00.000-08:00

It's taken me far too long to finish our posts from this Summer. So....I've decided to just bang it out in one LONG post. I'm going to skip the small details and give the "cliff notes" of our Summer in the Northwest. I do want to say though, that we had a TOTAL BLAST!! We made tons of great memories and LOVED our quality time we were able to get with our loved ones who live way too far away.
So....this is what we did this Summer:

-(starting with the picture above) Attended and shocking enjoyed an ENTIRE Portland Beavers Baseball game.

-Ate lots of really good food.

-Played the traditional Haroldsen Family kickball game. Spence even slid into first base. It was awesome.

-Played at lots of parks

-Had some serious dance parties playing "Dance Revolution".

-Did some wicked roller skating at a flee infested probably 100 year old roller rink. Despite the harsh conditions it was a TOTAL BLAST.

-Kar and cousin Gracie experienced their first pedicures together.

-Lots of family feet rides thanks to Aunt Kat and her legs of steel.

-Had some good old fashioned sand time with cousins at one the coolest parks I have ever been to.

-Got into lots of three year old mischief.

-Spent a day at the Oregon Coast.

-Had Father's Day with Grandpa.

-LOVED and thoroughly enjoyed the extreme beauty of the Northwest. If only it could be that green without the 10 months of rain. :)

I think the Summer of 2010 is going to be remembered by our family for a long time. Good times. :)

Some of my favorites

2010-10-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting around to posting the last of the Thomas Family Reunion pictures. It was about three months ago and it was a total BLAST!!! The kids continue to talk about the fun times they had with Grandma and Grandpa Thomas, their cousins, and all their fabulous Aunts and Uncles.
Kristi, Luke's sister takes wonderful pictures. All the pictures from this post are actually her's AND some of my favorites. So...thank you Kristi for the pictures. :)

One on one time

2010-09-26T05:49:00.000-07:00

Our last night of the Thomas Reunion Luke and I were able to get a little one on one time thanks to Luke's Mom who took the kids. It was so nice. We took Will's kayaks out into the bay. It was so relaxing and QUIET. It was nice to talk to one another with out any interruptions. The bay was GORGEOUS. We also did a little kayak racing. Luke won of course, but in my defense not by much. :) I always have a good time with Luke.

A first

2010-09-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

Our family had our first camping expereince while we were in the Northwest. It was soooo much better then I thought it would be. Of course we didn't really have to do any of the planning or camp set up. Luke's brother Will did everything. He brought and set up the tent, brought sleeping bags with an air mattress for the kids and I . All we did was basically show up. I personally think it's the best way to camp. Will would make an excellent professional camping planner. :) In addition the kids slept hard all night which was my biggest concern.
We owe Will a HUGE "thank you" for a very successful and painless camp out. Thank you Will. We will always remember our first camping trip.

Grace (Luke's sister) joined us for the night. Check out cute little Preston under Grace's arm fast asleep. What a cutie.

Spencer after a night in the tent.

All the brave campers.

Olympic Game Farm

2010-09-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

One afternoon of the Thomas reunion was spent at this fun Olympic Game Reserve. We all piled into several cars and drove along side all kinds of animals from buffalo, bears, rhinos, tigers, elk, yaks, zebras, etc. One of the favorites was the buffalo. They would come right up to the car and you could feed them bread. If you let them the would stick the big head in car. It was a lot of fun and it wasn't just the kids that were amused by all the animals.

Olympic National Park

2010-09-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

The whole Thomas clan spent a morning at Olympic National Park. It was a blast. The park lies about 6,000 ft above sea level at the very top of the most gorgeous mountains. I don't think the kids had ever been that high up before. It was breathtaking.

It was hard to believe the mountain still had snow in the third week of June. We of course had to take advantage of it. Uncle Hiani broke out a pool toy so the kids could get the full snow experience. Their expressions were priceless. :)

Cool man Preston checking out the snow.

The cousins

Some of the Thomas siblings

We couldn't believe the wild life . The deer/elk had no fear. It was incredible to see them so close up yet in the wild .
It was a blast.

Goecaching

2010-09-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

The kids and Luke recently got into Geocaching. Those of you who aren't familiar with Geocaching, it's basically a little treasure hunt using GPS. They can be found all over the country. We had done a couple in Georgia, but were happy to find there was a hunt not too far from the bunkers at Fort Worden Park. Grandma Thomas, Uncle James, Uncle Marc, and Jace joined us. Usually the prizes are just small insignificant things like stickers, spare change, sometimes even just a note from the last hunter. Spencer was pleased to have found a bandage because he had just fallen and needed one. Karly found a Oregon key chain which she still is hanging onto. I think we left some old Spanish money Marc had hanging around in his wallet from a trip he took.
This is a picture of the kids with Grandma Thomas on their walk back after the hunt.

Family Photo Shoot

2010-09-15T07:34:00.000-07:00

Luke's sister Kristi (who is an incredible photographer) saw these bunker doors and thought they would make a great back drop for an impromptu photo shoot.

Fort Worden

2010-09-15T07:10:00.000-07:00

We had a great time checking out an old military bunker at Fort Worden State Park. I just kept thinking "If walls could talk". The location was gorgeous. It ran right along the ocean shore. The kids had a good time climbing the walls and checking out the bunkers below.

Hanging out

2010-09-15T06:52:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a cute picture of the boys hanging out watching some TV. This is what the little guys would do while the adults were playing games. Good times. :)

Thomas birthday party

2010-08-22T16:18:00.000-07:00

Our cute nephew/cousin Preston (whom I failed to get any b-day pictures of) had his 2nd birthday while we were at the reunion. Due to multiple (around 10) Thomas Summer b-days, Preston's Mom Jenni had the great idea of making Preston's party a joint party. It was a lot of fun. :)

Suguturagas

2010-08-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

The kids had such a great time with all the Thomas cousins at the reunion. It was a blast getting to know all the different little personalities of the cousins. They are growing up far too quickly. Here's a few pictures with the Sugies.

Discovery Bay

2010-08-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

I think it's going to take several posts to cover the Thomas Family Reunion. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with our blogging lately. I am so behind. Once again I'm going to try to move forward. I've decided to post pictures in the order that we took them.
The picture above is not at Discovery Bay, but at another beach in Washington that I can't remember the name of. I just LOVED this picture.

Kar with a sea creature at Discovery Bay.
Noah and a star fish.

Kar with a HUGE star fish. We could not believe all the sea creatures that were just hanging around in the bay shore line. It was so fun to explore.

Faces we love

2010-08-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

Kar got a hold of the camera during the reunion. I loved the pictures she took.
Above is Ms. Marly. She is not only a total knock out but a charmer. Love her!!

Sitani and Spence became little buds at the reunion. They were pretty much inseparable. We had such a good time with him.

We're so grateful Grandpa Thomas' health improved as much as it has this year. The kids loved playing with Grandpa and his rehabilitation balloons.

Aunt Tesha
Uncle Will

Beautiful Aunt Jenni

Baby Anabelle's Blessing

2010-08-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

We were able to be a part of our niece's/cousin's baby blessing while we were in Washington along with almost all of Luke's family. (9 out of the 10 kids) It was such a sweet experience to share with family we don't get to see often enough.
Kar is very proud to be the oldest Thomas Granddaughter. She loved that she got a picture taken with the youngest Thomas Granddaughter. :)

Portland Zoo

2010-08-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

Here's more pictures from our trip out west. Our kids love the Portland Zoo. Other then the 50 degree weather in June our trip to the zoo with our cousins was a lot of fun. :)

Gav and Landon climbing the lion.

Kar hanging out with the bear cubs..

Beautiful Sarah with Aja.

Noah LOVED the swimming Polar Bear. Check out that bear doing the back stroke.

Those are some crazy looking birds. :)

6 years

2010-08-06T13:04:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe it's already been six years sense we lost our Hayley. Her body was delivered June 14th 2004 the day after we found out we had lost her. (I was 38 weeks pregnant) We call it her birthday. We try to make it to Portland to visit her grave every year on her birthday. All though there isn't a day that goes by I don't think of her I've found it far too easy to forget the priceless experiences and lessons we learned from her passing. I hope by our family visiting her grave it can act as a reminder of her short yet precious mission here on earth. She allowed me personally to feel a closeness to our Heavenly Father that I'll never be able to deny. I grew in gratitude for our Savior. Our family and extended family were unified in a way we never had before. I felt a rejuvenated love and appreciation for my husband. These are just a few of the many blessings we received from Hayley's life. We love her and miss her, but know we will see her again. I'm so grateful that families are forever.

June 13th 2010

Where to start....

2010-08-04T15:36:00.001-07:00

Okay,....it's taken me a couple weeks to talk myself into blogging again. After being gone almost all Summer, playing catch-up, and getting ready for school to start next week, I've had a hard time making the time. Not that I don't have plenty to post about. I have over 1,000 pictures I took from our trip out West. So,...... I decided I'm going to take baby steps.

One of our highlights out West was the Thomas Family reunion which took place in Washington close the town of Forks. All you Twilight fans are probably well aware of Forks. I have to say, I was a little disappointed. The town is not nearly as beautiful as I thought it was in the movie. In fact come to find out that the movie wasn't even filmed in Forks. I could see why. It's a tiny little town with not much to it. I do think the town is enjoying all the tourism though. It's got to be a major boost to their economy. They had Twilight shops at every block. I was shocked to see how many tourist came through. Cars would line up one right after another to take pictures in front of the high school and city sign. I was also surprised to see the drastic age differences of the Twilight fans, young and old alike. Who would have guessed a book series about teenage vampires could be enjoyed by all ages. To be honest, I often find myself feeling a little embarrassed to have succumbed to the Twilight phenomenon. What can I say though,... I guess I'm a sucker for a vampire/human love story. :)

I do have to say I think I have the sweetest husband. I'm still surprised he actually allowed me to talk him into posing for this picture. Just call him "Dr. Collins". :)

martha kristi

2010-07-24T18:17:00.001-07:00

We recently returned from a very LONG vacation in the Northwest. What was supposed to be a three week vacation turned into a six week vacation. We were having just way too much fun!! I have yet to post any of our vacation pictures, but I just had to post these. One of the highlights of our trip was the Thomas Family reunion which took place in Washington state at one of the most beautiful bays. We had the BEST time!! I have TONS of pictures to post. Which I will get done hopefully soon. Anyways, again I just had to post these family pictures Luke's sister Kristi so generously took for us. I love her eye and vision for pictures. What it must be like to have her skills. We love you Kristi!! Thank you for these priceless pictures!!!

Welcome Summer

2010-06-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe the school year is already over. It's fun to see what a year can bring.
For Kar it brought not only a new home, but a new school, new friends. I have to say I think she has handled all the changes like a champ. It's been a good year for her.

One of the bonuses of our new home was that Kar was in walking distance to her school. It's been fun to do our daily walks. Here's a few pictures from our last walk of the school year.

After the last day of school the neighborhood got together for an annual "Welcome Summer" party. It was a blast! We love our neighbors!!

Welcome Summer!!

Kar's Award Ceremony

2010-06-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

Kar had an award ceremony last week. She got an award for being on the "A" honor role, one for Citizenship, and an award for being the "Best Writer". It looks like Kar's ready for the 3rd grade.

Kar with her friends Makenzie and Shara.

Spencer's last day

2010-05-29T16:56:00.000-07:00

Spencer had his last day of school last week. It was a happy but sad day for me. Happy that Spencer is ready to move on in his life but sad that he is growing up WAY too fast. We also LOVED his preschool and are really going to miss his teachers. They were the BEST!!

Brothers

2010-05-29T16:33:00.001-07:00

I think Noah's going to miss his partner in crime come Fall. :)

Onto Kindergarten

2010-05-21T18:26:00.000-07:00

Spencer's preschool graduation was the CUTEST thing ever!! Each of the graduates wore cap and gowns. It was DARLING!!

Check out the ADORABLE cupcakes!!

The kids performed several songs. This one was my favorite.

We 're going to miss Spencer's school. We really couldn't have asked for a better pre-k for our little man. The teachers really love the kids. It was just a very loving atmosphere, very Christ centered. We LOVED it!! I only wish we could bring Spencer's teachers with us to Kindergarten. :)

Potty training

2010-05-12T17:26:00.000-07:00

Our family is almost out of diapers!!!! Noah is doing awesome during the day. We just need to work on nap times and bed times. :) We're so excited!! Okay, I'm sooooo excited!!!!

Oatmeal in Bed

2010-05-11T07:28:00.001-07:00

Mother's Day goes by far too quickly. Luke was stuck out of town until after church, but the kids stepped right up. Kar and Spence brought me breakfast in bed...completely on their own. Kar made her specialty, microwave oatmeal. While Spence made me a card. I couldn't hear a peep as they prepared everything. Noah slept through all the excitement. The kids thought of everything. Their Dad must have trained them well. It was a beautiful day. I'm so lucky to be a Mom.

Bed buddies

2010-05-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

I think these two are having a good time sharing a room. Although they start off in separate beds this is how I find them most nights. (Some how a wheelbarrow made it too the other night.)

Love this kid!

2010-04-29T18:26:00.000-07:00

Noah and I add a funny conversation today. Noah has found his nose as of late. I've been trying different techniques to distract him from picking. Tonight after a long day I decided to try and find humor in it. Our conversation went something like this.

Me: So Noah.... what are you digging for?

Noah: (without any hesitation) Dog bones in my nose. Mom I digging for dog bones in my nose.

He's silly. :)