Christmas Pictures!

Have a VERY Merry Christmas!

It is that time of year again, yes there is some excitement in the air! Santa Clause is just a few days away from loading up his sleigh and he's gathering his reindeer. Missoni received her very own message from him this morning. He announced that since she had been a good girl all year that he would be bring her a beautiful dolly to Aunt Brandi's house.

It has been a great year for the Thompson Family. I have to say we are truly blessed beyond words. We have had so many wonderful opportunities and blessings come our way this past year.

I spent the year playing with the most amazing little girl on earth. It has been remarkable to watch her grow from a little helpless baby, to a walking, talking and very independent and strong little girl. She brightens our lives in so many ways. She is quite an artist and has a sincere love for reading. She can sing Oma's song in German and knows a lot of Tagalog words that tatay speaks to her. She can say lot's of words and many sentences. Her favorite word is Chocolate, thanks to the Advent calender her Oma sent this year. Missoni is eating quite well now, she loves cashew butter and honey sandwiches, yogurt, scrambled eggs, pretzels, chips, turkey, pizza, cows milk, diluted juice and much much more. Mommy is working at the YMCA now so we spend most days there in the mornings, playing with the other kids and toys. We do crafts, sing songs and read stories. It has really helped us to get out of the house and get to know some very neat ladies and children in the community.

Missoni became a "frequent flyer" this past year. She went down to Florida to see Oma and Papa for Christmas last year, but before returning home to New York she took a ten day detour with Aunt Tiffy, to Mexico to see Grandma and Grandpa. What a great Christmas break! Then she headed back down to Florida this spring to spend another week with Oma and Papa in Florida for tatay's spring break. This summer was also filled with exciting places and flights. Tatay had a great internship at the International Trade Administration at DOC in D.C, so Missoni and I spent 4 weeks this summer visiting Oma and Papa and Tiffinie, Brock and Bryce and all of our other great friends in Florida. Then we went to see tatay for a short 4 day stay in D.C. Then we headed out to Wyoming for 4 weeks so see mommy's side of the family. We got to see a lot of our cousins that Missoni had never met. Then we headed back to D.C. to spend the rest of the summer with tatay in D.C. Oh, how we love D.C., Missoni and I would spend the day riding the metro to free museums, playing in the pool, going to local parks and just walking all over the city and loving it. At the close of the summer we headed back to Syracuse, all of us in a rental car, and tatay started school!

Can I just take a second to say that I have such a hard working, helpful, dedicated husband! Chris has done such a great job this semester as well as every semester, juggling his academics, family and church. We had the great and wonderful news of finding out back on Oct 22, 2008 that I am expecting baby #2, and so I have had some hard days, and Chris has not only helped me on those hard days but he has truly taken the duty of father, student and priesthood holder to a new level. He is just about to finish his last final this Monday and has done an outstanding job this year. He will have close to a 4.0 GPA in his Master classes and though his law classes are much more difficult he has managed to pull off great grades in these classes as well. He is also very close to being able to go to Vienna this spring to compete for a VIZ competition. Chris has been also playing a huge role in taking care of the house and cooking while I have had some very hard days, being sick. I am very grateful that he is so understanding and willing to help me. I am very blessed to have such a devoted man in my life. He adores his daughter more than anything and I know it has been hard on him not getting to spend every second with her. So thank you honey for your hard work!
On Dec. 16th we head off for another flight down to Atalanta, Georgia. We get to spend a week with Missoni's two aunts Brandi and Tiffinie and then on down to Florida for two weeks. Brock is going to fix Chris' tooth! So thanks Brock! We can't wait to get to some warm weather and take Missoni swimming. She has been in swimming lessons this fall so it will be fun to watch her show off to Oma and Papa.

Our hearts are filled with thanks and gratitude as this Christmas season approaches. We know that we are nothing without our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and recognize that he gave us everything. We are blessed by him everyday and so thankful for our knowledge of him during the Christmas season.

We love and miss all of our friends and relatives. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone. We couldn't do this difficult journey of Law School without all of your help, so THANKS to all of you for your love and support. We Wish you a VERY Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!