The circus came to our street!

I was watching a friends kids and they were all outside playing and decided to put on a circus! There was a little bit of everything and lots of fun! Tree climbing.

Bike riding.

Wheelbarrow races.

Hip hop dancing with jump ropes.

And lots of hula hooping! Such a fun afternoon at the circus. (Many events not pictured due to the fact that the adult to child ratio was 1:7)

A much needed laugh

Mac has been working on taking his clothes off in the morning. He does great with the pants but as you can see, his methods with the shirt are interesting to say the least. The other morning I came upstairs to find him running around laughing like this. He didn't want me to take it off. He even did a little dance with it on - laughing the whole time.

Mid-Thirties

McKay has officially entered his mid-thirties. He had a great birthday (I think.) At least the kids had a great time celebrating his birthday. We went running (totally his own idea, must be worried about his metabolism at 35) and did a little shopping (new electronic device, hat, and jeans were purchased - none of which I am allowed to purchase without his input :).) Afterward we went to Toppers Pizza, a family favorite. McKay with some of his gifts.

We decided to keep the theme of pizza and made some pizza cakes. The girls had a great time decorating them. We love McKay sooo much! He is an amazing husband and father.

Yuba City

We had a great (and fast) trip to Yuba City to see Todd's family. The drive up there was trying to say the least (let's just sum it up by saying Brad slept for 20 minutes of the over seven hour drive.) We burned some energy right away at swimming pool even though it was late. The kids jumped right in even though it has been a few months since we have been swimming.

Brad STILL awake. He did sleep pretty good that night. I don't think my blood pressure could have handled anything less.

The kids had a great time playing with their cousins and watching TJ get baptized. The little motorcycle was a huge hit.

Mac wasn't so sure but he thought it was pretty cool.

McKay and TJ sporting Todd's gear.

We drove home really late at night and Brad slept the whole way. Despite spending almost as much time in the car as we spent there it was a great trip!

Bubba Chi Chi

Carly came up with the nickname "Bubba Chi Chi" for Brad and it has stuck! I don't know where she came up with it, maybe the chubby cheeks? He loves wrestling with Mac as long as he is on the top if Mac rolls on top of him and stays for more than 10 seconds Brad starts screaming. The days are over when someone can take something from Brad and he will be ok with it. He lets you know now that he is not ok with that. He has one tooth and is walking behind his walker. He is so happy always and will smile at you as long as you don't try to take him from mom or dad.

We love ya Bubba Chi Chi!

Jolly Jumping

After a week of rain we were desperate for some energy burning/out-of-the-house activities so we went to Jolly Jumps with some friends. Mac thought it was the greatest thing in the world. He ask me all the time if we can go again. He loved going down the slide with me but eventually (thankfully) he did it on his own. He was tired and took a nice nap afterward.

Mother Goose Play

Carly did a great job in her Mother Goose Play! The kids get to request which part they would want the most and Carly requested the same rhyme Anna did when she was in Kindergarten (I think they must really like each other though often it seems they don't.) She did the rhyme "To Market, To Market." They also sang a couple of songs after the play. Way to go Cars! Mac wasn't super impressed by Mother Goose and had to eat treats through the whole thing to be quiet.

Carly and Iliana saying their part.

Love the girl getting caught with her finger up her nose! :)

WSU Game

On New Year's Eve we got to go to the WSU basketball game with my family. Our last hurrah before heading back to California. They are lots of fun and Waldo plays with the kids a lot. Mac was in heaven watching basketball and giving Waldo the rock.

Our wonderful babysitters. Brad sat with them through the whole game! Amazing!

All the kids got baby wildcats. I was happy for the kids but mourning inside that we would have MORE stuffed animals in our house. In a few months I will secretly throw them out and no one will even know. I guess I can't really say stuff like that now because Anna reads the blog. I am sure she is going to have a talk with me after this. :)

Brock taught me the gangsta way of making a "W."

Four Wheeler + Snow Storm = FUN

We had sooo much fun with the four wheeler after the snow storm. The kids loved going around the field in the tube. We even went up and down the street with the sleds.

You can't really tell from this picture but it is McKay on the sled. He and Ryan stayed out after the rest of us were too freezing to go on and took each other for rides.

Mac loved riding the 'motorcycle.' He didn't want to ride on the tube though. Also, he HATED wearing all those clothes! He felt so restricted in a coat, hat, gloves, etc. He's a California boy - I have a hard time ever getting him to wear a jacket.

Anna wanted to keep going and going and going and going...

Everyone kept laughing at my head scarf but it was all in the name of warmth!!

Mac and dad on the motorcycle.

Christmas!

Christmas day was great! Here are a few pics that captured the fun! New Christmas dresses from Grandma and Grandpa Thompsen.

Mac got a new Lightning McQueen car and a Thomas the Train - that is all he cared about.

Grandma and Grandma T (they had their nice quiet home transformed into a circus for over a week!)

Brad lovin' it all!

Checking out the first loot from Santa! The kids got roller skates from Santa and we went to my parent's church gym several times to practice. It was perfect because it is carpet! They both improved a lot!