Jack's 5th Birthday

Jack at 5.  In some ways he is growing up so fast and in others I just love how little he still is.  Jack loves animals and copying everything his brother does.  He is in his final months at University Kids with Mr. John and is looking forward to his first summer at Club U.

Jack has been looking forward to his birthday for some time (months) now.  It is so amazing at how much more fun birthdays are with little kids.  They are just so excited for everything.  Here he is opening presents and blowing out candles at Pa and Nana's.

 

This was also the first year that Jack got to have a big birthday party with all of his friends from school.  He chose Jump Around Utah as the place he wanted to go.  While he was excited for all of his friends to be there, he was especially excited to have his "best girls" Kaitlyn and Chloe there... 

I dub this "Kaitlyn's Possession" as she is not letting go.

Kaitlyn and Chloe

Left to right: Milo, Cole, and Asher

The whole crew

Look at that smile...

 It was a great birthday!  We love you, Jack!

This is the Place Heritage Park

So...baby animals are pretty cute.

Jack's Artwork

It's a truck, you guys.  A TRUCK.

It's a cheetah, you guys.  A CHEETAH.

These are giraffes, you guys.  GIRAFFES.

 

Easter

In Jack's book, Easter is the best holiday.  He loves it because it is close to his birthday, and he approaches it with the same enthusiasm he has for Christmas.  Good thing there are lots of fun things to do!

We had an early Easter egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Thomsen's house.  Here are the boys looking so grown-up and handsome!

Our emerging basketball star.

This year, Grandma and Grandpa did a scavenger hunt, complete with clues that the kids had to find.

The clues were on these little green cards they had to find.  See that card literally right in front of them?  I won't tell how long it took for them to find it.  Sigh - the challenge of moms everywhere.

Brothers

Opening the loot

At our house, the Easter bunny hid puzzle pieces in eggs.  Once the pieces were put together, the boys got their final clue and could go find their Easter baskets.

  And finally, one more hunt at Nana's.  Easter definitely lived up to Jack's expectations this year!

Welcome to 2016

New Year's is usually a pretty low-key holiday for us.  After all the Christmas festivities, it's nice just to relax and welcome the new year at home.  We did go to the Natural History Museum for their "Noon Year's Eve" where there are lots of activities and a countdown at noon.

 

Welcome 2016 - we are excited to see what the year brings!

Christmas 2015

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays - even more so now with the boys.  They make everything so magical and fun.

This year, the boys got to get their own little trees for their rooms and pick out the decorations.

Cole went with traditional red, green, and gold.

Jack went with a very colorful blue, pink, and octopus.

We also hosted the annual Thomsen Graham Cracker House build at our house:

From left to right: Hayden, Andrea, Brock, Mitch, Cole, Jack, Haley, Lindsay

Cole won the coveted prize for tallest structure.

Jack was a little more focused on the candy-eating.

 We enjoyed the annual Barber party at Nana's.

Jack wanted to be a sheep in the nativity. I'd say he's a pretty cute one.

From left to right: Hallie, Evan R., Hannah, Cole, Evan C., Jack

We made cookies! (Not sure what happened to Jack's gingerbread man.  Looks like he waited to go too long...)

 

And sledding was a big hit.

 It's not Christmas without some lights.

 And of course, the main event:

 What a wonderful Christmas!

Just So

When playing with dinosaurs, it's very important to ensure they are facing west, nose-to-tail.  Otherwise, it just isn't right.