Happy Holidays!

Keaton came down for Christmas on Wednesday morning. It's great to have him here. Christmas Eve brought snow in the early evening. Although it didn't stick, it still brought a bit of the spirit of Christmas. We had cheesy potato soup for dinner and the grandparents came over. We then went to see the lights around town. We missed walking around the Temple grounds because of the rain. After seeing the lights we came home and read about the birth of Jesus in the Bible and watched a DVD about Christ.

One of our traditions is for the kids to open a gift on Christmas Eve. Of course it is p.j.'s. Last year on Christmas Mike remembered that he had forgotten to get me some, but this year I fixed that and bought my own:)


Noah's favorite gift this year was a Minnesota Viking football uniform. He wore it all day on Christmas and the next day. We finally had to tell him to take it off to be washed.....you know how some things get so dirty they might just grow legs and walk away!

Maddie got a bike, but her favorite gift is probably the Hanna Montana barbie that sings "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"......gosh I hope the batteries in that wear out soon!:)

The grandparents were able to come over in the morning after the kids called them by 6:00am. We opened gifts then Mike made a yummy Christmas breakfast. After that the grandparents left and our family stayed in pajamas much of the day. That evening we had a nice Christmas dinner. We all had a great Christmas spending time with each other!

The Forgotten Carols

Last night Mikenzie and I went to The Forgotten Carols. It was a mother-daughter date. We went together for the first time the year we moved to St. George which was 4 years ago. We had a great time and it helps to bring the Christmas Spirit. It was nice to slow down and have some one-on-one time and enjoy the music and the true meaning of Christmas. I have to give "thanks" to Jenny for introducing me to the carols many years ago. It was so long ago that I actually have a cassette tape of them. Funny thing, Kenzie was the only one in the house with a cassette tape player...until she threw out her broken stereo yesterday. Hopefully, Kenzie and I can keep the tradition of going every few years and soon have Maddie go with us.

Christmas Cookies!

One of our Christmas traditions is to make sugar cookies.
I don't mean to brag, but my kids think they
are the best ever! It's not actually my own recipe, but one from a dear family friend. Noah and Maddie helped me today. I even got Mike to help frost a few. Usually he just enjoys them when they are done. They are Keaton's favorite so I will have to set some aside for him. He'll be here on Tuesday. I've included the recipe in case anyone wants to try it. Have fun baking!

Butter Cookies
1 c. butter flavor shortening
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
4-5 T. milk
2 tsp. almond flavoring
4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder

Blend ingredients. Roll out and shape as desired. Bake @ 425 for 6 minutes. Don't overbake. They are a soft sugar cookie:) Yummy!

Happy "13" Gage!

Happy Birthday Gage! Gage turned 13 on the 12th. He went to lunch with Mom to Panda Express and then to Barnes and Noble to pick out a book. For dinner he went to Chuck-a-Rama with Dad. Grandparents came over for mint brownies and ice cream. Then he and Dad went to a movie, "The Day the Earth Stood Still". He had a great time and received a bike, game for the WII, basketball clothes, BYU sweatshirt, and a gift card. Wow, we have another teenager! We love you Gage!

SNOW

It snowed in St. George twice this week! Today was the best. It started about 4pm and is still snowing at 9pm. The kids had a ball. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of snow gear so we dug out some very old boots and wore sweatshirts. Maddie made snow angels and threw snowballs at anyone in her way. Gage ran off with friends and came back frozen. Noah and Mom made 2 beautiful and plump snowmen. We loved it and the kids are hoping for a snowday tomorrow so they won't have to go to school:)

Eagle Scout

We have an Eagle Scout in the family! Last weekend Keaton received his Eagle Scout Award. He was the first in both the Thompson and the Knudsen family. We had a small ceremony with only Keaton and his friend. Keaton had all his badges completed before he was 16. His Eagle project was providing bike racks at Dixie College. We are very proud of Keaton's accomplishment!

Soccer

Noah and Maddie played their last soccer games of the season on Saturday. Noah was on the "Bombers". He and his friends have been playing together for a couple of years now and it's exciting to see them progress in the sport. Their record was 6 and 3. Maddie was on the "Blueberries". Sadly they did not win any games, but had fun anyway. As with girls, you could always count on someone doing a somersault or cartwheel somewhere on the field. It was a lot of fun watching them play each Saturday. Now we will turn our focus onto basketball which Gage and Noah will be participating in. Also, Kenzie made the high school basketball team and is very excited about that!

Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

One of our traditions as a family is to carve pumpkins for FHE. The kids are getting better at it and they even "gut" the pumpkins on their own. I didn't even have to touch the slime myself. This year Maddie was a vampiress and Noah was a pirate. Gage even dressed up, but I didn't get a picture. Kenzie was happy to pass out candy (maybe that's because she had a cute "friend" to come over and "help"). Mike and I enjoyed taking Noah and his friends around the neighborhood, while Maddie went with her friends. On a funny note, Gage had a "late night" with friends and watched a scary movie. Remember Poltergeist? Well, it scared Gage and his friends so bad that one friend went home early and Gage has slept upstairs for 2 nights. Oh, to be a kid again:)

Keaton

Keaton is 18 and graduated from high school in the Spring. He wrestled throughout high school and this year placed 6th in State! He is living up North and working full time, hopefully making money and saving money. He recently completed requirements for his Eagle Scout and will have a Court of Honor in a few weeks. He loves four wheeling, fishing, paintballing, and mom's sugar cookies.

Mikenzie

Mikenzie is 15 and can hardly wait to turn the magical age of 16. After all, life will begin when she can drive and date:) She is in 10th grade and enjoying her first year of high school. She just completed her 2nd year of running cross country. Last year she took 1st place in the JV Region Meet. This year she has run varsity all season and her team qualified to go to State. It was a good experience for her and she had a great time at State! She loves friends, clothes, texting, food, and boys, although I'm not sure in that order.

Gage

Gage is 12, but will be 13 soon and can hardly wait to be a teenager. He is in 7th grade and is a super student. He loves scouts, mutual, basketball, hanging out with friends, and playing WII or any other video games. He recently mowed lawns over the summer and bought his own laptop computer. A few weeks ago he participated in his first triathlon and did really well, placing 3rd in his division and took 8th place overall which included men and women.

Noah

Noah is 8 and was baptized this year. He is in 3rd grade and loves it. Recess is one of his favorite subjects:) He is full of energy and never sits still. He loves all sports and is currently playing soccer, has signed up for basketball, and is also in wrestling. If there were more days of the week, he would want to sign up for another sport. He has enjoyed scouts the last several months and may be the only one that loves "hand shakes" more than his dad.

Madison

Madison is 6. Her hair is actually shorter now. On her 6th birthday she cut it and donated it to "Locks for Love". She loves playing with friends, dressing up, and started soccer this Fall. She loves first grade and her daddy. He can't leave the house without her hugging him and running out to the car to wave good-bye. Her favorite song is Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star which both her mom and dad have to sing to her every night at bedtime.

So.......this is blogging?

So........this is blogging? I've seen a few and lately had a couple of friends start one. I've enjoyed reading about their families and I don't scrapbook. I take pictures, but there is no organization to them so I thought I might try this and see how it works. If anything, my children will enjoy it. I'm pretty computer illiterate so this may be a challenge, but I'm up for it. Wish me luck!

As for the name, The Thompson "Scoop", our family loves ice cream. Almost every night at our home you can count on someone having a bowl of ice cream or a "hand shake" as Mike calls it. It is probably our most important food group. If you ever need a treat come on over!:)