Tijuana, Mexico Temple

Robert and I used to drive down to Mexico to shop and have tacos and lobster all of the time back when we were dating and early in our marriage. Since then it's gotten more dangerous and we haven't gone because it made us nervous to take the kids. 
Well, a perfect opportunity presented itself to get us back to Mexico. They just built a temple in Tijuana, Mexico which is just across the border. Robert and I already had passports so we loaded up the kids and headed down. It took just over an hour from our house to the temple parking lot.

The kids couldn't believe how different life was just across the border. Tijuana is a very poor city. It's pretty dirty and houses are stacked almost on top of each other. It was good for the kids to see how other people live, and that you can be happy no matter where you live. We're spoiled Americans. :)

 The temple was just off of the freeway in the only nice neighborhood we could see.

The temple was so beautiful. The artwork, dark wood, cast iron, blue accent, and landscaping were unique and it is on my list of most beautiful temples.

 It was such a nice experience for our family. Who knows, maybe we just might go back to Mexico in the near future. 

Tea Party Pt.2

Linda is 11! Tea Party

Our sweet Linda turned 11yrs. old today! We love her. We celebrated yesterday with a tea party/brunch. She had so much fun with her cousins and friends.
Grandma & Grandpa Thompson stopped by that night to wish her happy birthday too.

Meeting Evylin

I took the kids to Palm Desert, CA last weekend to meet their newest cousin, Evylin Gray Suitor. They seriously loved her and couldn't believe how tiny she was. They loved holding her and watching her. I'm glad they can experience a newborn. On the way home they all said they missed her already. Welcome to the family, Evylin! You've got four babysitters ready to go. :) 

Jane's First Campaign

Jane is now in 4th grade and can run for student council offices. I was secretly hoping that she'd have no desire to run because it totally stresses me out for some reason. But, she was really excited about running to be 2nd Vice President. All of the 4th and 5th graders vote. She would assist the 5th grade president and vice president and be acting president next year until the new elections. 

The only thing they could do to campaign this year was to put up 3 signs around campus. After the signs were up a few days there was a vote to get the top two candidates in each category. Jane made the top 2 out of 11 kids running for her position! 

Today the top two candidates gave a speech in front of parents, teachers, and the 4th & 5th grade students. She really did a great job. She was very confident and I was so proud of her! After the vote the kids went back to their classes to vote. 

After lunch they gave the kids the results and.......
She did it!! Vice President Jane Thompson!
We're so excited for her. She'll do a great job.

Halloween 2015

Halloween was really nice this year. I took the kids to the elementary school carnival, we all went to the church Halloween party on Friday night, then Robert took them out trick-or-treating in Carlsbad on Halloween. It's hard to trick-or-treat in Oceanside because there are a  lot of hills and very few sidewalks. We have our Carlsbad area all set now for the coming year. We will have candy for months!

Here are the costumes this year.

Bruce is getting older. He didn't want to dress up as something too dressed up. We found this referee costume and he was all about it. Simple, but would still get him a lot of candy. Perfect.

 Jane has always refused to be any kind of princess or fairy. This year SHE came up with the idea of being Cinderella! Of course I jumped at the chance. She really does look like her. My beautiful girl. She loves animals, she works hard, she really is a princess!

 Claire has gotten in to the Harry Potter movies. This costume is just right for Claire, simple and comfortable. She had a wand as well and there have been a lot of spells cast in this house recently.

 Linda has always dreamed as dressing up as Belle, and let's face it, she IS Belle. She loves to read, find adventures, and she always sees the good in people.