Miss Presley.....

Presley turned 3 last month.  I have to say that 2 gets a bad rep.  It's 3 that I've never enjoyed.  However.  Because Presley is my last baby, and we currently spend 9 hours a day of "just us", it's not that bad.  I kind of enjoy her.  We have our moments.  But it's fun to have a toddler (can I still call her that?) without toting a new baby along for our adventures.
For her birthday, I bought her some boots.  She loves shoes, boots, and anything sparkly that can cover her feet.  She wears them with everything.  And wears them all the time.  I manage to get them off her feet before she gets into bed.  Sometimes.

At age 3 Presley also loves Dora the Explorer.  We've been on many adventures with Dora.  Because I forgot to make her a birthday cake (she's the fifth child. don't judge me) I found the perfect little Dora cake Presley size just for her.  And she loved it.  So much that she didn't share with us.

Presley's hair is constantly growing so it appears that she has bangs, even though I've never cut them.  Those little wisps are constantly getting in her way so she swipes them out of her eyes a lot.  Causing this food on the forehead phenomenon. 

After bathing the beauty to rid her of the purple glow, she discovered the presents.  And she had no hesitation in opening them. 

Barbies and princesses.  What more could a girl ask for.  We dress and undress barbie countless times in a day.  She does prefer them to be nude.  She likes to line all of her barbies up in a straight line.  Can you say OCD?  Also at this current age she loves dresses.  Twirly ones.  Pink ones.  Sparkly ones.  She always says "Mom, I want to wear my pretty dress".  Sometimes she lets me choose.  Sometimes she chooses herself.  When she's dressed she likes to twirl in front of the oven where she can see her reflection and say "I'm so cute!"  What we lack in talent we make up for in confidence.  Oh.  And she wears the boots.  Can't forget the boots.

She is also a dancer.  Loves anything music.  When Ethan practices his xylophone she can be found nearby dancing to the song.

She's also gotten very creative lately.  Making toys into something she prefers.  Like the marble works.  Never used a marble once.  But this week the pieces are parts of a flute, tuba, or trombone.  And she walks around the house "playing" her instruments.

Her favorite TV show in all the world is The Fresh Beat Band.  Probably contributing to her love of anything music.  She says hilarious things constantly.  Like last week when she didn't want Shawn to buckle her into her car seat she yelled, "Leave me alone!  This is my life!"  Hilarious coming from such a small person.  She is very friendly and wants to "go talk to her".  Meaning, that girl over there wherever that girl might be located.  Last week we took Jackson lunch and she "wanted to go talk to her" across the table.  The girl with the sparkly earrings and shiny shirt.  She has an eye for fashion and figured the girl would want to talk with her also.  We all adore this Presley girl.  And she knows it.  And we are all okay with that.

Thomas Family Reunion....

My entire family met this summer in Duck Creek Utah where we rented a cabin large enough to accommodate the clan for a few days.  We rode four wheelers, talked, hiked, talked, ate, talked, roasted marshmallows, talked, played just dance on the wii (hilarious!), and talked some more.  There was also a lot more eating involved then I let on. 
Before the reunion we decided that we needed an update to our family photo collection.  We all planned to wear white shirts and denim bottoms.  This was trickier than it sounds.  Utah in July is dry dry dry.  And we were staying on dirt.  Dirt and white aren't pretty together.  Most of the kids were half naked up until the first photo was actually snapped.
Lucky for us, the backyard of the cabin we were renting proved to be the perfect backdrop for a photo. 
This is the entire Thomas Family. 

Back row L to R: Brian, Lyndsey, Ben, Jena, Matt, Shawn, Jayne, Charlie, Katelyn, Cory
Middle:  Mom holding Emmerson, Dad holding Lily (red flower in hair) and Presley, Kennedy
Front:  Max, Jackson, Landon, Ethan

Aren't we a beautiful group?  I love love love this picture.  However.  Notice how Presley's mouth is open in a strange way?  Nobody else noticed it either.  Until she threw up all over my dad.

My dad caught most of it on his arm while the rest stayed on Presley her self.  I love how Me, Shawn, and Matt are noticing something is amiss with my daughter, but everybody else is keeping their picture pose.  Hilarious.  Then.  Once everyone realized what went down a little bit of chaos ensued.  Everyone making sure they weren't hit with remnants of Presley's lunch.

I love that picture.  I think it just totally defines the moment.  Poor little Presley.  I'm a totally insensitive Mother.  I had a back-up white dress for her in her suitcase.  Three minutes after she puked I had her changed and back in another set of pictures.  The show must go on, right?!
For some reason as I was looking through these pictures, my absolute favorites were the ones that weren't staged.  The "behind the scenes" if you will.  Maybe because my family is perfect in my eyes.  Just the way we are.  Imperfect. 

Just a shot of us girls.

Katelyn, Jena, Mom, Me, Lyndsey.
And now ALL  the girls in the family.

Then the men.

Dad, Charlie, Ben, Matt, Shawn, Brian, Cory.
ALL the boys in the family.

A shot of my handsome brothers.

I've wanted a shot of my little family for a long time.  One with Shawn actually in the picture instead of behind the lens.  My wish came true.

I even got one of just my five babies.

And Shawn convinced me to get a few of just us.

And.  I really wanted a picture of just my parents.  Because my Mom hates pictures and it's a rare occasion for her to be a willing participant.  Peer pressure caved her this time.  I'm so glad.

This trip meant so much to me this year.  It's not very often that we gather as an entire family in one location.  I truly appreciate each of my siblings as individuals.  I enjoy spending time with them.  My parents raised a great group of people who have gone and accomplished a lot in a short time period.  When it was time to say goodbye, I have to admit that I cried the entire way down the mountain.  I wasn't ready for this reunion to be over.  Distance makes frequent get-togethers difficult.  When they do happen, it seems that time goes just a little too quickly for me. 

Yellowstone National Park....

We were mis-informed when it came to the actual distance Yellowstone was from the lodge in Driggs.  We were under the impression it was only 1 1/2 hours to get to Old Faithful.  After 2 1/2 hours we realized we had been mis-informed.  After 3 1/2 hours we finally reached our destination.  I had been to Yellowstone once for a college biology class, but had never seen Old Faithful.  The kids had never been near Yellowstone.  Once we actually reached the geyser we had to wait about 30 minutes for it to erupt.  While we waited we were graced with the presence of a buffalo.  10 yards from where we were standing.

Then the anticipation ended as we watched the geyser do it's natural thing.

Of course photos afterward.

And a photo to prove we were actually where we say we were.

After Old Faithful we enjoyed ice cream at the shop nearby.  Then we headed off to explore some hot pots and other natural phenomena in the area.

Some of which the kids found to be "stinky".  Sulphur isn't pleasant on the nostrils.

The boys ran off some energy.

And took a pit stop in nature.

We enjoyed our time.  However.  We wish we would've been able to stay longer.  It started to get dark after only a few sites being taken in.  It was a lot of driving for such a short visit.  Next time we'll be more prepared. 

Jackson Hole Wyoming......

While still staying at the lodge, we decided to take a day trip to Yellowstone National Forest.  On the way, we were lucky enough to drive through Jackson Hole.  The kids had only been once a few years ago, so we took advantage and stopped for an hour.
Since we only had an hour, we headed over to the center of town with the "antlers".

The kids found little chipmunk holes all around the square and tried really hard to catch one.  No such luck.  But they put in good solid effort.

Me and my oldest boy.

All five of my lovelies.

Shawn is always trying to follow me with the camera.  If I die before him, he'll have tons of photos to sort through and remember me by.

It was a gorgeous day to be in Jackson Hole.  We all wished our time would have been longer.  But.  Yellowstone was calling our names. 

Crook Family Lodge....

The Crook side of the family (actually Bates if you want to get technical) have a lodge in Driggs Idaho.  This is where most of our Crook reunion's take place.  It sleeps all of us (barely.  We keep growing!), and it's the perfect place to mix touring beautiful locations like Jackson Hole and Yellowstone, with just laying around the lodge talking and eating.  Family photos are rare, so we headed outside to get a shot before it was too late.

Back L to R: Curtis, Logan, Rhonda, Jack, Shawn, Jayne, Darla, Brynn, Brian
Middle: Atlin, Presley, Kennedy, Tyler, Anna, Jeremiah, Dad, Mom, Deeanna, Dusty, Maggie, Rochelle, Jessie
Front: Landon, Ethan, Aubrey, Alyssa, Trey, Damien
Quite the group!  And we are far from being complete I'm sure.

We got a shot of some of the "cooperative" grand kids.
And Shawn tried to get one of just our kids.  When our kids are done taking photos, they are really done. 

Fall Soccer Season....

Landon decided to try soccer this year.  He's seen his three older siblings play.  Sadly, if he hadn't requested being on a team he wouldn't have had his chance.  Poor kid.  After trying the gamut of sports with the first three, and deciding none of them are a good fit, the fourth child gets forgotten.  Think Landon has it bad?  Presley doesn't have a chance. 
The community center was the perfect starting point for Landon.  One hour a week.  The first 30 minutes they practice as a team.  The next 30 minutes they play a game.  It's a slow ease into the sport which was just what Landon needed to thrive.  And he did!  Most of his team he knew from school.  It was fun to see how adored he is by his classmates.  Especially the ladies.  Definitely a ladies man.  Who isn't afraid to say how much he enjoys their attention.  Funny boy.

Surprisingly, he was a pretty aggressive player.  Not mean.  Aggressive.  He wasn't afraid to go after the ball, and to take a turn kicking it down the field.  It was fun to see this side of him.

Landon loved playing soccer.  He can't wait until next year so he can play again.  I'm glad he found something he enjoys.  And is pretty good at.  It's fun to see him in his element interacting with kids his own age.  I love this little guy with his melty chocolate eyes and big grin.  Who wouldn't enjoy watching this kid play soccer?