So many Santa's!

Before 2015 gets too far along, I better post about Santa Claus. 

This past holiday season we were able to meet many different Santa's. Some were good and others great. We did tell our boys, which we have before, that lots of father's out there dress up as Santa to help Mr. Claus. There are so many shopping malls, parties and school appearances that the Big Guy can't make them all. So, he's hired dads to help. 
Now, these dad's have flown to the North pole for a special training on how to be the best Santa. These dad's have seen his work shop, elves and reindeer. It's a pretty important job that must be taken seriously. Scott is one of those great dad's that help fill in for Santa during his busy season. 

Preston was so cute when he would first notice Santa. He would yell "Ho Ho!!" and usually run to him. Brigham liked sitting on Santa's lap but Nathan was always hesitant and would go last. Just in case. The older boys would sit on his lap and pose for a picture because they love their mom. (I've heard she's pretty cool...)

Here are a few Santa's we met this wonderful Holiday Season. 

 In the grocery store....

In School...

At the Ward Christmas breakfast...

In RC Willey...

There were others...But I think you get the point. My boys are darling and still believe in Santa! 

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!

New Year's Eve and a Very Happy Birthday to Scott

Scott had New Years Eve (his birthday) off from work ... Thank Goodness!! We had a FUN day filled with lots of different activities and tons of games!! The night before, I wrote different activities our family would do together randomly throughout the day. Those ideas were then stuck inside balloons and a time written on the balloon that told us when it would need to be opened. It started with a delicious breakfast.  

Here is a list of the things I planned for the day:

• breakfast
• mock tails (I made three different ones of these)
• write our resolutions on the chalkboard
• draw and color pictures
• decorated cupcakes
• "ring in the new year" with ring pops
• open gifts (Happy Birthday SCOTT!!!)
• go to the zoo (it ended up being too cold to do this!)
• Poppers
• make mini pizza's for lunch
• sparklers
• Fireworks
• special games
• jacuzzi time

 Here is the list we came up with of games to play. We went through most of them...and it was a ton of fun!!
Below we are "ringing in the new year" with our ring pops!

CHEERS!! Here's one of the mock tails I made. Yum! I went to Pinterest and found a few I thought were not only easy to make but that my boys would enjoy. I bought plastic wine glasses for the boys to use. We also took turns making a toast. SO fun!

I found some cute pages for the little boys to color. And for the older boys, they completed a 2014 remembrance page. It was fun to see the kids write their year in review. (again, from Pinterest!)

One of the "special games" was the flour and the dime. Messy fun!  All the boys wanted to retrieve the dime and once they did they regretted it immediately. They say flour mixed with a bit of spit tastes like glue! 

Happiest of birthday's to this guy! 38 years old. Scott is such a great guy. We're lucky to have him in our family.

And, of course, was the annual fireworks celebration at the Towers'/Monson's home. Over 2,015 fireworks were set off. Awesome!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESTON!!!!

Oh my goodness, my baby turned ONE years old!! While we were in Santa Barbara we celebrated Preston's 1st birthday. I made a small cake for him and cupcakes for everyone else. While we were singing, Preston was looking at us, like we were crazy! We FaceTime-d Scott, Will and Jackson (because they were in Salt Lake at the time).
Preston was fascinated with the cake! Once he grabbed at it, there was no going back. He dug those cute petite fingers into the moist cake and fisted it into his mouth. He started gnawing on the plate after the cake was gone. He was so cute!

He would suck it off his fingers and make cute little noises while doing that.  It was a great day! We also FaceTime-d Grandma and Grandpa so they could watch little Preston chow on his birthday cake.

           HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESTON!!!

Water Party!!

 There are 3 September and 1 October birthday's at our house so we've already started the planning of so many parties.
Gavin is not one of the birthday's that are coming up, but he asked if he could have a pool party with a few friends before school started. Well, we don't have a pool so what about a water party?!
He invited 5 friends and 3 were able to come over. They wore their swimming suits and brought water guns. They played in the sprinklers and hose, ran around like crazy kids, ate out of the garden and chased each other around.

 

 The drank Capri Sun's and ate Popsicles and ended on the tramp.

Will helped supervise while I was inside nursing. He was a big help and the boys had a lot of fun with him. He is such a great oldest brother!
The party was a success and everyone had a fun time! Thanks Gavin for the great idea!!

SEVEN BOYS!!!

 On Sunday night we had several friends and family members over to share the wonderful news. I baked a cake and some cupcakes. Inside was either pink or blue frosting...

Of course inside was blue frosting in the cake and cupcakes! 7 boys! WOWZA! In lieu of this information we have decided to start a Thompson missionary fund. If you would like to donate please send payment to:

I'm just kidding!!

Super Bowl Par-Tay!!!

 We held our annual Super Bowl party at our house today. What a fun day! What a great game! I do wish that last pass was caught though...Anyways, we made a ton of yummy foods I wanted to share with you!
I made chocolate dipped strawberries and then used white icing to make laces like little footballs. Cute and yummy! (Please excuse Mr. Booger Boy here, he and Gavin are sickies!)

 I made boneless Buffalo wings and 2 delicious dipping sauces! The trick to the breading is keeping one hand in "dry" and the other in "wet" ingredients. Makes it so much easier to manage.

 These went fast, too fast. I had to hurry and defrost more chicken to make another batch. They were a huge hit! I made homemade Ranch dressing to dip them into and I also made homemade BBQ hot sauce. Very easy and yummy recipe!

 Another item the boys wanted were bacon wrapped shrimp. While at church the shrimp marinated and it truly made all the difference! They were yummy!

Sliders and 7-layer dip were also made and eaten, but I forgot to snap some shots of that. I also was so into the game I forgot to take some shots of all of us watching it.
The commercials were good, not great. I LOVED the Ferris Bueller commercial, the Hunger Games and Avenger's movie clip, the Doritos's with that grandma and baby. AND of course my favorite part was the halftime show featuring MADONNA!! My fav! It was a great, entertaining show. But, the lip-syncing about killed me. (I guess if you're not singing with a band it would be hard to really sing at that venue?) Loved the oldies, but her new song. Hmm...A 52 year old cheer leader, with Nicky Minja?
Still, Madonna rocks. I'd love to see her again on person!