End of October update.

I have to say I'm a little annoyed that Blogger posted our latest entry "Autumn Vacation" below our previous entry "TFI 2008" so those of you who actually look at our blog (not via reader) might not know we put a new entry up (something about which one we created in draft form first...whatever!) Thanks for being patient while we finally got around to posting about our vacation in early October. Here's a summary of other things we did this month!

We drove to Fort Worth for the BYU v. TCU game. It was our first road trip in the minivan and we had a good time. The kids napped the first hour of the drive, then listened to kids music the rest of the way. They only drove us a little crazy, but all in all it was ok. We are proud that they still don't know about the entertainment system in the car! We got to TCU and attended the BYU tailgate party where Paul and the boys got their picture taken with Ty Detmer (former BYU quarterback for those of us not huge BYU fans!) The game was less then desirable. Having been undefeated, we thought BYU would do well, but they got squashed and it was sad to watch. The kids weren't that interested in watching the football game anyway, so we left early in the 4th quarter to begin our drive back home. The boys slept easily in the car and Paul and I talked and laughed and had fun the 4.5hr drive. We arrived home sometime after 3am, exhausted, but happy.

The boys with Ty Detmer

beautiful sleeping boys

We've still been having soccer games and practice and I took some pictures of the practice this week. All the kids love the practice (more than the games I think) and Paul lets whatever kids are at the park join in too. They all seem to have a good time.

stretching

red light - green light

I can...hop on one foot

freeze tag

Other things we've done this month? Hmmm...we've been busy with our church callings, got to see some of our best friends get sealed to their new adopted twins in the temple, have had friends over for dinner, and have tried several new recipes. We've had fun and played together and are looking forward to carving pumpkins tonight. Hopefully a Halloween post won't be too far behind.

TTFN

TFI 2008

The annual Thomas Family Invitational was held while we were in Utah. All the events were fun, here are the highlights.



Abe chose to play Mini-golf. And he should be congratulated for winning his own event.

Kate chose to play hide & seek. Jen may not have had the greatest hiding place, but won nontheless.

Grandpa chose to play Trivial Pursuit. And after leveling the playing field, Aaron proved his superior mental skills and won.

Aaron chose Chutes & Ladders. Thanks to Lis's new condo on the third floor she must be very skilled at climbing. She won this event.

Jen chose to play Yahtzee. Always a classic, this event was won by Tiffani.

Matt, as always, chose poker for his event. However Andrew came through with the victory in this Texas Hold-em nail-biter.

Tiffani brought back Shut-the-box. And as the person who introduced this game to the family, Paul came out on top.

Paul introduced to the TFI a silly game called Killer Bunnies. A riot of a game that anyone can play and anyone can win. But, Aaron won.

Grammy inflicted an 800M speedwalk on the TFI this year. And again, after the playing field was leveled... Abe came out as the speediest walker.

Lis, the avid outdoorsman, chose Go Fish. Tiffani was the best fisherman in the family this year.

A spontaneous event, the RUN, was an all out sprint where the fastest Thomas captured an extra bonus point. Andrew squeeked out as the fastest Thomas.

Sara wanted an event where strategy came fully into play; 'battle' (aka Rock/Paper/Scissors) The victor of the massive Thomas family 'battle'... Grammy!

The Signature TFI event, UNO was Andrews choice event. And like Abe before him, Andrew won his chosen event.

Without winning any events, but a competitor in all of them was the TFI 2008 Grand Champion... Kate Congratulations.

Autumn Vacation

Time to document our trip to Utah. We were gone Oct 2 - 12. Luckily, The boys fly well.

This time we flew up late at night and the boys, in their pajamas, fell asleep just after take-off. I imagine that the passengers sitting next to the boys were a little annoyed by stray feet as they slept, but likely preferred sleeping boys to crying, fussy, awake little boys.

We went up the canyons and saw the pretty leaves. One of the things I truly miss about living in SLC is the proximity to the mountains. We intentionally came to Utah in the fall this year. I love the fall colors, and Aaron and Brian really took to hiking. They wanted to keep climbing up further and further. I look forward until they are older and we can have some real adventures.

We spent lots of time with cousins and playing on the trampoline. Between getting 'bounced,' and duck-duck-goose there was a LOT of laughter on the trampoline:

Duck-Duck-Goose!

Crack-the-Egg

"I can jump so high"

We participated in the TFI 2008. (Thomas Family Invitational)

We went to the temple with others from our ward in Houston, went to the Saturday PM session of General Conference and had some truly great spiritual experiences.

I drove up to Idaho with my Dad and brother to visit my grandparents. My Grandpa had a special message for all his family.

He was in good spirits, and just wanted to know that we loved him.

Jen made a fantastic birthday cake, my mom made a delicious birthday dinner, and I had a very enjoyable birthday.

Sadly, there wasn't enough time to visit all the old friends that we have in Utah, let alone some of our extended family whom we miss greatly.