Thomson Reunion Thursday Night

Every year Nate's Mom's family has a Thomson reunion at Moose Haven-in the mountans past Lava. We get together and camp from Thursday-Saturday. This year the theme was Memories and everyone had fun talking about some of the fun memories from past years.
We didn't get to the property until about 10:30 Thursday night. We had to set up our brand new tent in the dark. Thankfully, Nate's dad and brothers helped while I tried to calm a very tired and overwhelmed Allie down.

After we got everything set up, we were ready for bed. Allie's never had a sleeping bag before, so Kayla gave her one in celebration of her 1/2 birthday. She loved it, but still wasn't quite sure about the sleeping arrangements.
Kayla on the other hand was thrilled. She had been talking about going camping all week.
Right as we were falling asleep Allie lost it. She just started crying and was terrified. We put her in our bed where she slept just fine. Nate snapped this picture. Allie was hot and sweaty while I was freezing and burying my cold nose in the blankets. I guess it's true-she really is Nate's daughter.

Thomson Reunion Friday

The cabin. It is nice to have a place to get inside out of the sun. I'm amazed that it stays as cool as it does during the hot, hot days. It will no doubt be even better when it gets fully insulated. I love that we can cook out of the sun, and the kids can play on a nice wood floor and not the dirt. It is also nice to have such a large gathering place for us to all eat and spend time together.
This year we decided instead of staying in the cabin like we've done the last several years, we'd use our tent again. We got it out and set it up beforehand and decided there was no way we were all going to fit, even without our stuff. After searching online we found this tent at Target. It wasn't too expensive and the review looked good. I was really excited to find a tent with a screen. It was wonderful. We had plenty of room inside, and the screen worked great for shade without being with the bugs. We could take our shoes on and off sitting on the chair before going inside the tent. The coolers were in the shade, and the kids could play there without actually being inside the tent. It was great, and we only had to call three target and drive to three targets before finding one in stock.

Say cheese Morgan, Kayla, and Allie.

Jessica and BJ took the kids for a ride around the pond/swamp. Morgan, Kayla, Connor, Jordyn, and Spencer all had fun! I guess just a week before the water wasn't overgrown with grass. Next year the reunion will be a few weeks earlier which should make the water better, and the temperatures not so hot.
Nate hoisted Allie onto his shoulders and the first thing she did was grab his hat.
Allie and Mark had fun watching the men playing a game.

Thomson Reunion Friday cont.

The men had lots of fun playing this game where you throw sticks to knock over blocks of wood. It was great because lots of people could play...
Even Allie had fun throwing the sticks. Of course the only thing she ever hit was Travis-twice. Sorry Travis.
The girls had lots of fun playing in the sand, especially when Aunt Jessica joined them.
Allie really liked the pretty yellow flowers.
Water Fight!!! Kayla is armed and dangerous.
This is Nate showing Allie how to shoot Mommy-to be honest the water just felt good.

Allie and Cameron wanted to play with the playdough so Terra and I joined in too.
Silly Allie. Daddy told her to smile and this is what we got. She was so tired that in the small amount of time it took to roast a marshmallow she was out.
YUM!!! Kayla hadn't had smores in a very long time; she loved them. She also liked sneaking the chocolate when nobody was looking...
4 out of 5 brothers-Nicholas, Nathan, Chuck, and Travis

Thomson Reunion Saturday

While Nate and I were cleaning up our gear and tent, Allie decided she wanted to color. She wasn't sure she wanted to be in the cabin without us; so we set up a table and chair for her-obviously she then decided to use it her own way.
Chuck's 4-wheeler was available for rides. Kayla went with anybody who would take her anytime, but Allie refused to go except with Daddy. After her first ride, she realized what she'd been missing. I think she would have gone with anybody at that point.

Grandpa's got his two little girls-Cameron and Allison. These two are going to be good friends being only 6 weeks apart. They are finally starting to play together. It is really cute to watch.
I got my turn on the 4-wheeler too. Kayla was impressed when I drove it back. Of course, now the girls and Daddy want one. Kayla doesn't see why we can't go get one today while Nate is much more practical in realizing it would be awfully tough to haul with no truck.
Chuck also brought his rifle, and we all got to take a turn shooting. Nate was discouraged he didn't do nearly as good as the last time he shot at clay pigeons, but I was just happy to walk away with only a sore shoulder and not a giant bruise.
Emily was such a good babysitter. She always had a least one little kid with her. She would make sure they were covered in sunscreen and bugspray, entertain them, and keep them safe. From all the moms-Thank you Emily!!!
We all had a really nice time. Thank you Linda and Bill for organizing everything. We appreciate all your hard work. It was so nice to see everybody again, and especially to see how well everybody got along. Of course it was also a nice extra bonus to have Nicholas home from his mission and Terra fly home to surprise everybody.

Welcome Home Nicholas!

Last night we went to the Salt Lake Airport to see Elder Nicholas Home on his way home from a very successful mission. We got to spend about a half an hour with him before he headed back through security to catch the last leg of his journey to Pocatello.
Waiting for Nicholas to come down the escalator.

Here he comes! I definitely see some family resemblance between these brothers. Apparently when you live on an island for two years you get quite the tan. Nate is usually about as tan as anybody where he spends all day everyday in the sun.
Welcome Home Elder Hulse! We're glad you're back-even if the girls were acting scared.

Not Enough Paper

The other morning we had a bit of mischief at our house. Apparently Allie found a crayon and started drawing on the walls in the girls' room. Kayla decided it looked like fun. Behind the door she drew this cute picture of our family. It is a good thing we have Mr. Clean Magic Eraser...

Swimming in the Backyard

This morning the girls were having a hard time cleaning, and I told them if they cleaned fast enough we would fill the pool before going grocery shopping. Suddenly Kayla turned into a cleaning machine. In no time their room was livable again, lunch was served, and we were off to Walmart. The girls were very well behaved as we filled two shopping carts-okay one mostly held girls. By the time we got home the water had warmed up just enough and the girls were ready. We got the girls changed and smeared sunscreen all over them. (Kayla has learned that it is required and doesn't fight me anymore, and Allie keeps wanting more and more rubbed all over.)
Allie giggled at her suit, but Kayla was so excited to see her swimsuit again. She wanted to make sure Daddy got a good picture of her decked out before she went outside.
I'm not sure why Nate filled both pools, but the girls had fun bouncing between them. Kayla decided the little pool was lots warmer-cuz it was in the shade.
I believe Allie had just gone under the water before this picture was taken. Allie was soaked from head to toe almost immediately, and only the ends of Kayla's hair ever got wet.
Catch Kayla!
Bathing Beauties. The girls climbed in and out of the pool a hundred times. Nate helped them lay out their towels, and as their waitress I brought ice water.

What a model!
Cheese!!!
Did you know Kayla could walk on water?
Time to let the water out! You can't believe how hard it was to get both girls to stop playing long enough to look at the camera at the same time.

Happy Father's Day!

I hope all the father's out there had a great day on Sunday. The girl's have been anxiously awaiting Daddy's special day. We'd already bought him a few things before he got himself a saw last week, and since I got them all for killer deals we let him keep everything.
The girls and I got up early to make Daddy a special breakfast (We don't do breakfast in bed though cuz it's boring to eat in there all alone). After everything was ready and the girls had the table set just right it was time to jump on Daddy-I mean wake him up.
Kayla was so anxious for him to open his presents and to try the muffins and eggs. She kept telling him which to do but wouldn't let him do either.
Happy Daddy's Day! (Notice he's wearing his Father's Day shirt from last year.)
Look at that happy girl!
What a cheese! On a side note-I was worried Allie was going to spill her juice because she kept setting it right at the edge of the table. I pointed to the table above her plate and asked her to put it there-meaning away from the edge. She stretched to put her cup exactly where I had pointed. It was too far and she spilled the whole thing. Apparently next time I need to pay more attention when I point.
Look at the cute pictures the girls colored for Daddy. Kayla actually did hers twice because Allie helped just as she finished and it was almost the end of the world.
Yeah Daddy! Open the presents NOW!

We had a nice day relaxing and spending time as a family. Allie went to all of nursery by herself, and Kayla did a wonderful job singing to Dad during Sacrament Meeting. Nate had requested Lasagna for dinner, but when I went to make it, he told me to wait until I was feeling better (my stomach has been bothering me). Instead he made hot dogs for him and the girls. Oh yummy.
We got to talk to both Grandpa's and even had family home evening. I love Sundays when we can just enjoy good company.

Happy Father's Day! We look forward to getting to see the grandpa's in the next week or so. The girls can't wait to show you what we've been working on...

So Grown Up

Today Makayla decided she was ready to take a big step. She was ready to be like Mommy. She was ready to get her ears pierced. It is something she's asked about for at least a year, but she was never comfortable with the idea. We simply told her when she was ready we would take her. Look at Kayla. She's a mixture of extreme excitement and fear of the unknown. We let Kayla pick out the earrings-with a little encouragement from Mom.
Got to make sure the ears are sanitized before poking them.

We requested to have them pierce both ears at once. I didn't want her to have to anticipate the second ear. I've known too many people that almost couldn't go through with the second ear once they knew the pain from the first. Kayla was being so brave, but you can tell she's really worried.
I don't think she enjoyed the actual process. Only a few small tears escaped Kayla's eyes, but she was shocked over how long the pain lasted and how sharp it was. A hour or two later she told us, "It hurt clear to my noggin." Up until the actual piercing Allie was wanting to have hers pierced too. We were a little hesitant, but figured if she really wanted to why not. After Kayla's ears were pierced, she's the one who broke down. Needless to say, I think we'll wait until she really wants to have hers done.
Makayla says this is her look at my new pierced ears face. These are the cute little earrings Kayla picked out-actually she picked the same thing in multi-color. They were great, but seeing as she has to wear them for six weeks, I thought neutral would be better.

We had a ton of errands to do today including trying to deal with our dining room set which is a whole story for another time. Kayla was so proud of her new jewels, she told all the cashiers and sales people we saw today that she'd just had them done.