Cousins- Life's Built-In Best Friends!

Here are some of our favorite times with cousins from summer and fall 2013:

Fourth of July

Mason got to come home from the hospital on Independence Day!

Crazy kids excited about their fireworks!

Meeting and holding new cousin, Mason!

Camping in Santa Cruz

Dance Performance with Reagan

Sleepover and movies with Zomo!

Bridge Bible- 10 year Anniversary!

Preschool with our cousin!

Pumpkin fun at the ranch!

Happy Halloween!

10 years!

Last July, Justin and I celebrated 10 years of marriage! A lot has happened since that extremely HOT wedding day in 2003. As a way to document the first 10 years and to preserve the memories for when we are old and gray, I made this video. The password is: love.

Justin from Kim Thompson on Vimeo.

We've experienced so many blessings, and also some heartache. We bought our first home, got our first puppy (who is now an old dog with gray fur and arthritis :( ), been blessed with two healthy, intelligent, loving little girls, and lost two babies before we got to meet them. I'm thankful that through it all, good and bad, Justin and I have grown closer and learned to love eachother more with each journey we've been on! I'm thankful that God led me to such a wonderful husband!

Our 10th Anniversary Northern California Adventure

Swimming - Summer 2013

If there was one word I could use to sum up last summer, it would definitely be "swimming". Both girls did A LOT of swimming!

This was Aubrey's first year on the Shafter Stingrays swim team, and we had a wonderful experience! When the season started in April, Aubrey couldn't even make it all the way across the pool without panicking and holding on to the wall. They actually moved her down to Bubblers for a week until a very patient Coach Cam got into the water with her and helped build her confidence. For the first few weeks, she did many of her practice laps with the kick board, but eventually she built up her strength. Back stroke was always her strongest stroke and though she nearly sunk in her first freestyle race, she rocked her first back stroke race and got her first ribbon for 8th place! That ribbon inspired her to work harder and swim faster! Along the way, she earned many more ribbons and medals. She proudly ended the season with a first place medal for backstroke and a Rookie of the Year trophy! More than the awards, it was a great summer of bonding with our dear friends the LaGores and of Aubrey learning to believe in herself!

^^Aubrey's first EVER backstroke race where she won her 8th place ribbon

Her first ribbon!! 8th place in backstroke

Swim team buddies- Charleigh and Aubrey

Proud Stingray daddy and his girls

First medal- third place at the meet hosted by the Stingrays

A familiar sight to all swim team families

Swimmer take your mark...

^^This was a mid season freestyle race! Go Aubs!!

A strong freestyle by the end of the season!

At Aubrey's last race of the season, cousin Zoe made signs to cheer her on. This is the race where she won her first place medal.

Coach Cam, Coach Heidi and Coach Zach with Aubrey at a morning practice (she looks tired)

Juliet also did a lot of swimming last summer- in the little pool at swim team practice, at Papa Cc's house, and at swim lessons. She had a wonderful swim instructor named Mr. Ricky who had a special little bond with Juliet! She quickly learned new skills and moved up to Sharkies where she is trying to learn side breaths. She can make it across the pool as long as she can roll over and take a breath.
Sometimes her bravery can be frightening, but we sure are proud of this little fish. We are hoping she can join the Stingrays next summer.

Moving up from Star Fishies to Sea Horsies....she kept moving up to Sharkies!

A happy girl in the baby pool at swim team.

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Peter Pan Play

Last year Aubrey got interested in theatre. First, she went and watched her friend Charleigh in a junior theatre performance of Snow White last summer, then she had a small speaking part in the first grade Christmas play. She loved both experiences and couldn't wait to be part of a junior theatre production. She auditioned for Peter Pan early in the year and was cast as a "Little Child" who got to dress up as Tinkerbelle at the end. Her cousin Preston was also a little child (a pirate at the end), and her cousin Reagan was a fairy. The little children were in the very first scene and the very last scene. They were pretty darn cute if I do say so myself!



 

Helping Emma tell the audience the house rules. ;)

The storyteller is beginning to tell the story of Peter Pan.

Aubrey saying her line: "Oh, she loves flowers!"

The story continues... Aubrey's cousin, Preston, is in the green PJs.

Reagan is the orange fairy...second over from the trees.

At the end, the little children are asleep in bed dreaming they are the characters in Peter Pan.

They get up as the storyteller sings "Never, Neverland"



Emma (the sweetest little actress and helper) coached Aubrey on her curtsey.

 The play was a great experience! Tech week was long and exhausting, but well worth the sense of gratification that Aubrey, and the whole cast, felt after completing three awesome performances. Aubrey had two lines that the little children did as a group and one solo line. Junior theatre was a great experience for us! We look forward to doing more plays in the future!

This is a terrible video of Aubrey's first scene. If you listen really carefully you can hear her say her solo line. :)

Pre-Pinterest Project: Backpack Rack/Organizer

Over a year ago, I saw this idea pop up on Facebook from someone's Pinterest. It was one of the reasons I got a Pinterest...and ironically, it is still the favorite idea I have seen on there. I really need to figure out how to use that site so it is less overwhelming and more inspiring.

Anyways, I knew I HAD to have a backpack organizer similar to this one, but it took me a while to sketch out exactly what I wanted. Between both of the girls' backpacks, jackets, folders and weekly agendas, I was overwhelmed by the mess. I needed something to contain it all. We have an angled wall in one of our halls right across from our garage door, so that was the perfect location (even though we haven't used the garage in at least a year).

Justin finished this project over spring break and it was actually one of those projects that was surprisingly not complicated. We decided on the dimensions and he painted the wall with chalkboard paint.

We got flat trim for the edges, so he prepainted them with glossy white, cut them to size and screwed them into the studs so they could beat weight. We then bought the file organizers at Target and used them to measure so we could put the slats in nice and close.

 Justin put the slats in, the hooks on, and the clips up top (we just took the magnet out of them and screwed them on).

This backpack organizer has seriously been life changing when it comes to organizing school stuff and my mess in general, and it is pretty cute! Thank you, Justin for your hard work!