Our December ... so far

Our December was filled with choir practices and performances, parties, food (savory and sweet), shopping, wrapping, family time, and other time of this and that. Needless to say, I didn't have much free time to blog about it and now it is pretty much a blur. I do remember that it did snow ...

Quick picture before we took Riley to school.

So excited about the snow!!

And I have to mention that Victoria LOVES telling everyone "Merry Christmas." She tells me this before she goes down for nap and we when we put her to bed in the evenings. She also likes to tell the bell ringer at Walmart. The other day, the bell ringer was on her cell when we walked by and Victoria exclaimed "Merry Christmas!" Well, Victoria was very upset. With a huge frown on her face she told me "she no Merry Christmas me." It was pretty cute.

Then there was Riley's Christmas musical at church. They performed "The Camel Lot." In a nut shell, a little gir has a dream while preparing for her church musical that her car lot owning father owns a camel lot in Bethlehem and is informed by shepherds, camel buying patrons and a wiseman that the Messiah has been born. Anyway, part of Riley's costume was a ball cap. He was the teenage boy looking for his first car, er camel, with his dad. Well, the hat managed to make it's way into his performance. It was in his mouth for a while. It was in his hands while he was doing his motions. It was all over the place ... so I am told. I still haven't seen the video yet. I was busy in the sound booth with giving cues for the lighting, music and film crew. It was remeniscent of two Christmas' ago. He is a bit of a ham. All he needs is an audience. As soon as Carey's gets me some sort of fire wire card cable thingy, I will be able to start uploading video again.

Well, can I just say that I am sooo glad that I spent all last week cleaning the house, shopping and wrapping presents. Because this week we are doing a whole lot of nothing. Not by choice ... 3 of the 4 of us are sick. Urgh. So we have been spending these last few days on the couch, administering medicine, going to the doctor and watching lots of TV. Not my idea of a fun Christmas break. So, we are hoping and praying that we will all be well by Christmas Day. Not only so that we can enjoy the morning full of presents and fun, but also for the 1200 mile drive we will be making that night and the next day.

Merry Christmas!

Victoria Rings Silent Night

Victoria's music class performed again this year at the Saginaw Rec Center in their Christmas program. She did SOOO much better this year. Last year I ended up ringing the bell not long after the song started. I told her when her color was on the card and she did the rest.

And here is Riley giving Victoria her flower after her performance.

Our Happy Thanksgiving (for the most part)

Not sure if we have started a family tradition or not. Last year we went camping on Thanksgiving. This year we went camping on Thanksgiving.

This time we went to Tyler State Park in Tyler, Texas. So pretty. The trees were massive and the colors were amazing. There was a little lake (or a big pond) in the middle of the park, which we could see out the front of our tent. It was a bit cold, but not nearly as bad as last year. The trip had its ups and downs as with any camping trip for the Thompsons. We spent the first morning in Tyler at Walgreens getting medicine for my queezy stomach and at Academy getting new camping chairs. Poor Carey broke both chairs the night before ... oops.

Once it warmed up on Wednesday, we ventured into the woods to do some geocaching. Very cool. Carey had three that he had printed directions and clues for before we left. The kids were a bit whiny, but that is typical. They were worried about the dog of all things. She kept running ahead of us. They were afraid she would run off and not come back. We informed them that she might be a dog, but she isn't that stupid.



The rest of the trip was uneventful. Carey took the kids to the park and took Riley fishing. By the time you prepare a meal, eat a meal and cleanup after a meal ... well the time tends to get away from you. And the fact that the sun went down around 5:45. But, the kids were ready for bed around 7:00 both nights. That is definitely not typical.

We ate great as always. Carey does so well in the outdoor kitchen. He even did dishes after every meal while I just sat by the campfire. :)

We did collect some pine cones to bring home and decorate as Christmas Tree decorations. Not a very good idea. Victoria and I seemed to have a runny nose most of the camping trip. Then for about two days after, she would get all stuffed up and watery eyed every time we were in the car. Well, that is where the pine cones were ... still in the glove box. Oops. So, needless to say, the Thompson girls will not be camping in the piney woods without the assistance of allergy medication in the future.


But it was nice to be away just the four of us ... and the dog.