Christmas Eve/Christmas

 This year we had Christmas Eve with my family at my Dad's house.  There were many festivities.  It started off with this very terrible shirt my dad wore for Christmas Eve.

We visited Mom and Iris and Sam for starters and sang them a Christmas song.

Isaac made a very appropriate snow angel.

Wes loved his Santa hat.  

 He even liked the strange Santa who seemed awfully similar to Uncle Dan.

Lucy kept her angel crown on all night.

All the kids got Star Wars pajamas.  Lots of little boy darth vaders.  The older boys were disappointed theirs didn't come with capes.  

Baby Jesus was played by two different real babies and one fake.  

Even Mom and Dad got star wars pajamas.  Dad came down with a fever and left Mom to do lots of work on her own.  He was sick Christmas day too, poor guy.  

Christmas morning was still filled with surprises and lots of smiles.

Wes was SO PUMPED about his small choo choo train set.  

Star Wars and Lizzy's Wedding

All of us went to see Star Wars together for family night, except Lucy and Isaac.  Lucy doesn't like how loud theaters are and Wes isn't ready for the force.  We all loved it!

 Then the girls got to be part of John's cousin Lizzy's wedding.  They were counting down to the big event and couldn't wait to wear their gold dresses.  The wedding was in Rexburg so it was very cold but we made the drive and had pretty good weather, besides it being super cold.  They got married in the temple and then they had a ring ceremony and reception in a beautiful dance studio.

The flower girls in their gold.

Esther and Auntie Esther and Lucy.

Everything was beautiful and went smoothly.  The girls stood quietly during the long ring ceremony and the food and speeches were great.  Then right before dessert Wesley vomited all over John's suit and the floor and himself.  Fortunately we had some extra clothes from our drive up but we had to leave shortly after that.  Wes threw up one more time outside and then fell asleep for the drive home.  This is how the Thompsons roll.  Any sort of trip or special occasion requires some sickness.  Yipes.   It was fun to be a part of Matt and Lizzy's wedding.  

Isaac

 Isaac is a great easy going kid.  He is growing like a week and is probably the tallest in his class despite being the youngest in his class.  He is starting to become a great reader and he loves learning Chinese too.  Breakfast is his favorite meal and probably his favorite foods too.  He loves star wars, legos, xbox, basketball, playing with friends, and playing games.  He is very patient with his two bossy older sisters and doesn't get too many chances to be a crazy boy.  He is also very patient with Wes who always wants to play with him and do exactly what he says and does.  Isaac hates having to do his hair and always begs for a "buzz" so there is no brushing required.  Sometimes I give in.  Sometimes he brushes.

I had to take this picture because I wanted to remember what his room looks like most of the week.  There is always a lego explosion on the floor and papers and treasures scattered all over along with clothes and animals.  Isaac loves to keep any special or non-special paper he comes across.  Some times I have to go through his room when he is at school to keep down the piles and restore order . Isaac wanted a desk like his sister so that's why he put the chair right in front of the bed table.  Also.. he likes to fall asleep with his light on thus making it very easy to capture pictures of the sleeping Isaac's room.  

Isaac played basketball for the first time this year.  

He loved it and is looking forward to many more seasons.  

Here is Isaac eating a giant bowl of cereal.  He usually eats two bowls so I surprised him one morning with a giant bowl and I thought I was hilarious..  He thought so too but he ended up eating almost the whole bowl!

We sure love this fun loving kid!

Thanksgiving!

The most exciting thing about our Thanksgiving this year was the first annual Hess Pie competition.  We had quite the variety with a gluten free and raw version as well (although those were not the top winners.:)  Esther helped me make a Raspberry Cream Cheese pie and Lucy helped make a Banana Cream pie.  Dan and Lige were rewarded for not making a pie by being the judges.  The competition was fierce but Esther came out on top with her pie and Lucy was close behind.  It was fun trying all the different pies.  I don't know why there are so many pie haters out there.  Look and this deliciousness.

Halloween!!!

 Isaac counted down the whole week before Halloween because he was so excited for trick or treating.  It was weird to not have the kids in school and so they ended up only wearing their costumes once.  Except for Isaac.. he often finds reasons to dress up as Vader.

Esther was a greek goddess this year.  She loves to read these Goddess Girls books and thus decided on her costume.

Darth Isaac

Lucy was Raven Queen from Ever After High--a book and cartoon that she loves.  She was mostly excited to wear makeup and put purple hair chalk in hair.  She claimed she washed her hair the next day but she went to church with pretty purple hair.  

Wes was Nemo just like Isaac was when he was 2.  It is just an adorable costume.  Everybody loved it when we went trick or treating. Wes really loved the trick or treating.  He refused to sit in the stroller.  

Love these Halloween punks.  

Seriously..   this Nemo was the cutest.

The candy piles were big this year.  I guess that happens as they get older and have more trick or treating stamina.  Wes lasted a 1/2 a block and then he was ready to eat his bucket full.  

Dan and Lauren get married!!

 Dan and Lauren got married in the Bountiful Temple.  It was beautiful and I'm pretty sure I've never seen Dan look so happy.  It was a great day.  Nobody barfed.  Everybody was healthy.  I'm pretty sure my Mom and Sam were there.  It was an amazing day.  The bonus was we got to enjoy it all--no work required-no getting a barn ready for a reception on a cold winter evening (like my sister's).  We like to tease her but it really was nice to relax and enjoy the day with the bride and groom.

Love this picture.

Lucy really likes her baby cousin Adelaide.

All the Hess grandkids.  

My kiddos.  So happy for lots of pics.

There was a nice dinner instead of a reception and Esther was really pumped about being at such a fancy dinner.  She couldn't believe they were going to refill our lemonade all night and that they brought us three different plates.   

Lucy caught the "tossed" bouquet.  She was beyond thrilled about it.  She put the flowers in her room in a vase and plans to keep them forever.  

We are so excited to have Lauren become part of our family!!

Ayala's Pumpkin Party

 Every year our friends have us over for a pumpkin carving party and dinner.  We always have a great time and the kids love getting their pumpkins ready for Halloween.  This year was a little warm and we carved early enough in the month that we had to throw our rotting pumpkins out well before Halloween.  But we still have the memories and the pictures.

Isaac was quite determined to carve his own pumpkin this year and he did a pretty good job.  He carved Wesley's too, in fact.   

Lucy planned to carve tons of L's all over her pumpkin but settled on just one cursive one, thankfully.   

Esther traced a cool cat picture onto her pumpkin and then we both carved it carefully out.  

Wesley was not much help with the carving of pumpkins.  

The whole crew with their jack-o-lanterns.  

Wes and his pumpkin from Isaac.  The facial expressions are a bit similar.  :)

Wesley is 2!!

 Wesley turned 2.  I can hardly believe it.  He is such a fun happy busy kid.  If there are two things Wesley loves it is dogs and keys.  He will carry keys around and try to stick them into every door knob in our house.  He especially loves car keys with the buttons but rarely gets to play with those.  Wes loves dogs.  He will just start walking after any dog he sees.  So we decided to have a dog cake and family party for him.  We followed it up with a trip to the pet store to LOOK at pets, not buy pets.  Wesley is our most outgoing friendly kid.  He will sit on anyone's lap or wave to anyone.   He is starting to talk more and more and is often like a parrot mimicking everything we say.  Wesley thinks that burps and toots are HILARIOUS.  He likes to fake a burp just so he can say "Cue me."  He is finally liking books more and his favorites are Dear Zoo, Goodnight Moon, and a train board book.  Wesley is a bundle of joy and we are so happy to have him in our family.  He keeps us laughing.

Wesley likes to pretend to be a dog sometimes so here he is very appropriately licking his dog cake. 

Wes really loves Da Da

Wes at the pet store.

Wesley will say Ma Ma to lots of people, especially his siblings and then they pick him up and give him the love and comfort he needs.

Just love this kid and his big chubby head.

I think its to irritate me but Wes loves to sit in the fridge and try to close the door.

Wes is a pretty good dancer too.