Christmas Day!

Festival of Lights!

We went to the annual Festival of Lights at the Washington DC Temple. It was cold and crowded, but we had a great time. The lights were amazing and the visitor center was beautiful as always! The trees that are decorated inside were so pretty. Paige kept pulling off the ornaments. I guess they were just to shiny to resist!

Some of these pictures didn't come out that great, but the temple and lights in the background were so pretty. John has such a love for this temple as he served his mission right here in DC. He remembers directing traffic and bringing investigators to the temple during this time of year. Unfortunately, he was never picked to be Joseph in the nativity. To bad John! We were laughing so hard as John was telling us how the missionaries would give the elder who was chosen to be Joseph a hard time because he had to put his arm around Mary, who was a sister missionary! Looks like the Missionaries in DC were getting a little crazy! :)

There is always such a neat feeling to be close to the temple!

Cousin Sleepover!

Don't these days seem so long ago? It's so fun that Jenny and Damon live so close that our kids can have fun memories like these. Zane and Liv came over for a night and the kids had so much fun. We put on Polar Express and said they could watch that until they fell asleep. We tried putting Paige to bed, but as you can see she would not have it! She wanted to be with her cousins so we made her a little spot and she was sweet as pie after that. They sure had a fun time!

In the morning I thought it was so cute because they all had a blanket they were snuggling with. Ellie calls her blanket B, Paige and Liv call there's Me Me. Zane made it clear that he just calls his a blanket. So we had B's, Me Me's, and blankets all over the place!

Family Pictures!

Well, I thought I would post a couple of these pictures. We had some pictures taken of our family. The main goal was to get a great one for the Christmas card. It was freezing! We had to take our coats off to take the picture, and then hurry and put them on again in between. I can't even tell you how many pictures we had taken and not one of them turned out. I actually love this picture of John and I, but thought it might be a little confusing if we sent out a picture of just the two of us! :)

Would it be to much to ask to have everyone look at the camera and smile! When I look at this picture it gives me a little dose of reality. Does the perfect picture even exist? Well, It was worth a try. Next time we attempt I'll try to schedule an appointment when it's at least above 20 degrees!

This is the happiest Ellie looked the entire afternoon! I think we were close to the line of child abuse. Oh, what I would do for a darling family picture!

Christmas is coming!

Christmas is coming and we have sure had fun getting ready. The tree and decorations are up! For Family Home Evening last week we made a gingerbread house! The girls had so much fun. More candy went in their mouths then on the house I'm afraid. We finally had to ban Paige from the table. Poor Paige! :)

I sure love this time of year! Tis the season to eat and be jolly! What more could we ask for!

Veterans Day!

Here we are at Arlington National Cemetery to celebrate Veterans Day! We attended the United States Coast Guard wreath laying ceremony to honor veterans past and present. It is always touching to be in the presence of so many great men that have fought for our country.

The Coast Guard is referred to as the "Keepers of the Sea." I am so proud that John is a part of such a wonderful organization that serves our country faithfully. What a wonderful time of year to honor so many that have given there lives and continue to give there lives for our freedom.

John and I love our country and are so proud to be Americans. Today it was so cold and cloudy. As I took a minute to look around at all the graves, in the stillness was a kind of reverence that I believe these fallen men and women deserve. It was a privilege to be in Arlington national Cemetery. Ellie loves to see her Dad in uniform. He looks so handsome!

Fall Leaves

We sure had a fun day exploring in Washington DC. We came across this beautiful place. The girls ran and played in the leaves! There was also a little playground. It was a bit chilly!

Dad and Paige! She is definantly a daddy's girl!

We were trying desperatly to get Paige to smile in this picture. We didn't get a smile, but we captured her classic pouty look. She looks beautiful anyway!

Sisters

Happy Halloween!

Halloween has come and gone! We sure had a lot of fun. I made my caramel apples and boy were they a hit! We all had fun carving pumpkins and roasting pumpkin seeds. The highlights for the girls were trick or treating and eating lots of candy, candy, candy!!!

Ellie loved being a 50's girl. She loved to twirl around in her poodle skirt. Mom even let her put on a little make-up for the occasion. She was in heaven!

Paige was our little lion! She can do the best roar and made sure to show everyone around her. It didn't take her long to learn how to say trick or treat! She couldn't believe when she said it people gave her candy.

Daddy's girls!

Paige's Pigtails!

I sure had a lot of fun playing with Paige's hair! I just let her have her toothbrush and she brushes away until I'm done. She really is growing into such a sweet little girl. Paige, you're to cute for words!!

Whats funny about these pictures is that I have a bag of fruit snacks in my hand. She's not smiling for nothing!

I thought I would add this picture of Paige so you could get a true glipse of her personality! She is truely one of a kind and 100% opposite then her sister Ellie. As Ellie is asking for a napkin to wipe off the one crumb she has on her hand, she glances over at Paige and announces, "Paige is crazy!"

Story Time!

Dad caught us all piled in Ellie's bed reading . Ellie and Paige love to read stories. Paige will show an interest for a few minutes, but mostly just likes to turn the pages. Ellie loves to read, but prefers stories with pictures in them. If Ellie is a good girl she knows we will read her a couple stories before bed!

Silly Sisters!

First Paige came around the corner with underwear on her head! Then here comes Ellie being just as silly. They sure have fun playing together. It's so fun to hear their giggles when they think they are so funny!

Fishing!

Today we went fishing at Burk Lake Park! Ellie had so much fun. Paige was a nightmare, but what can you expect when you take a one year old fishing. She was into everything. Especially Dads tackle box. Those shiny hooks and slimy worms were irresistible. Paige kept wanting a turn holding the pole, but Ellie was sure that Paige would drop it in the water. She was probably right.

I think Ellie loved reeling it in more then anything. I don't think she left it in the water long enough for the fish to bite, even if they wanted. :) She told us that the fish must be dead. Needless to say we didn't have much luck! Here is John sporting Ellie's Barbie fishing pole. Yes, he does have a pole of his own, but spent most of his time helping Ellie. John is really excited about his new little hobby. If he wants to get serious he just might have to leave mom and the girls at home! He sure loved watching how excited Ellie was to go on her first fishing trip. That was worth all the chaos!

Here is darling Paige. She would not keep that hat on. It was sure fun for her to look out at the water and see all the geese swimming around. One of the geese got a little to close for comfort and started flapping it's wings. I'm sure this was in protest that she was not sharing her PB&J. She cried for a minute and then was off to the next adventure. Thanks for taking us fishing Dad!!

Cherry Blossoms!

What a beautiful day we had in Washington DC! This time of year is the famous Cherry Blossom Festival. People come from all over to see these beautiful trees in full bloom. We were told they only last a few precious weeks. To see these beautiful pink flowers against the sparkling Potomac was a beautiful sight. John was able to take some really neat pictures so that we could share our day with you! We had so much fun riding out bikes along the waters edge. The girls love being in their trailer. They have their water, blankies, snacks and they're all set. Every person we passed couldn't believe how cute and snug they looked in there. Everyone kept saying, "I wish I was in there!" We also had a chance to finally go see the Jefferson memorial! Here is Ellie posing on the steps. It was so beautiful and another chance to see some more of our nations history. We are so grateful for this opportunity to live so close to so many wonderful things. Daddy and his girls!

The Thompson Family

Ellie Elizabeth

Ellie is also our little Angel! We cannot believe how fast she is growing up. What a beautiful young lady she is turning out to be. Ellie loves to be with her family. She loves her little sister Paige, and is learning to have a lot of patience. She always gives her little sister a hug and says, "oh, I love her." I think it is fun for her to always have a little friend around. She is also a little mommy. Telling Paige what she can and can't do. If she puts something in her mouth, Ellie sounds the alarm! She is my big helper.

Ellie was a ballerina for Halloween and would wear that outfit everyday if she could. She loves anything pink or princess. She loves to play dress up and changes her outfits to fit her moods which is several times a day! :)

Ellie is now in Primary and enjoying every minute of it. She loves to sing the songs and learn new things. She just gave the prayer for the first time in font of everybody and did such a great job. We love you Ellie!!

Paige Jaclyn

We thought it would be fun to show some pictures of the girls over this past year. Here is our darling Paige! We can't believe how much she has grown up over this past year. What a beautiful little girl!

Paige is very silly and loves to be the center of attention. She thinks she is much older then the one year she has to her credit. She tries to play with Ellie's doll house and tea set. She wants to color and cut things just like her big sister. She also loves to play dress up. She puts on necklaces and will leave them on all day. Ellie and her have a lot of fun together. I treasure their sweet giggles as they run around.

Paige loves her Da-ye(Daddy). Whenever she is sick and not feeling good it is her Dad she wants to comfort her. John works nights and sleeps in the morning. Paige knows he is in the bedroom and will go lean on the door and keep saying Da-ye.

She is always so happy. What a beautiful little spirit she has been blessed with. We love you Paige!