Boo!!

Well, it's hard to believe that October is on it's way out. We know some people are anxiously Christmas shopping already, but we finally just got our Halloween costume selection finalized!! With one of our children changing her mind and the other one completely against wearing anything constricting, it wasn't easy! Alauna started out wanting to be the Grinch, but was unhappy with kid version of the CHRISTMAS character so she finally decided to be her most favorite toy these days...a Barbie! As for Reece, we pretty much just found something warm and without feet since he is everywhere!

From the pictures you can tell we did successfully make it out to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the second time this year! We love autumn out there and were very excited to see the Balloon Fiesta, but our main reason for the visit was reuniting with the rest of the Thompsons. It was wonderful watching the kids play and interact together. The last time we were out there Rachael was 6 weeks old and this time she was on the verge of crawling! Hayden and Alauna had their best moments together at the Balloon Fiesta. They were both very excited! We hit the zoo, played at the science museum, learned about dinos at the Natural History Museum, and went to an enormous pumpkin patch! It was a blast! Our tour guides (Ty and Jen) had lots of fun things for us to do and we were very busy! Really, all went very well and the kids did great! Our only real bump in the trip happened on the very last leg of the trip when we spent 30 minutes circling in the air waiting for the fog to lift in Mactown, but we landed!!



Alauna Update: "She's a Barbie Girl, in a Barbie World..."
We honestly never thought we'd be asked a dozen times a day to play Barbies, but that is our reality at the moment. Alauna loves her Barbies and constantly has them out driving around, dressing up, and causing the living room to look like a Barbie tornado has hit. She is really funny about them.
Alauna absolutely loves school. She has made lots of new friends and comes home with all sorts of projects. It definitely keeps her busy! Alauna goes all day, 2 days a week, but they take naps in the afternoon which helps. She enjoys coloring and is getting better at "trying" to stay in the lines (she now acknowledges that there are lines!!)

Reece Update: "Little Wind-Up Boy"
Our latest report on Reece is that he is taking after his father's footsteps in regards to running. Reece doesn't walk anymore, he pretty much runs from room to room. If he isn't running, he is climbing. He still loves the outdoors and enjoys playing in the sandbox. Reece makes car sounds and drives his little cars around on the floor.
He uses a few words here and there, but mostly our communication with him is using baby signs. He signs "more", "all done", and "hungry". Reece says, "yeah" and shakes his head "no". It's getting a little easier figuring out what he needs, but we pretty much know that if he is upset, he is either hungry or tired or hungry again...
Reece busted out a molar sometime last month and he has been drooling a ton so we know more are on the way! It hasn't gotten in the way of his eating. He eats several meals throughout the day and doesn't really turn anything down. Reece is a pro with his fork and prefers to eat in a "civilized way".

Cody and Amber Update:
Cody's hoop season has started and he plays games weekly against some fierce competition. They take the game pretty seriously. We just hope for an injury-free year.
With Alauna in school twice a week, that leaves Reece and Amber home to get things done and hang out together! It's been nice having some alone time with the little man.