Monday, December 17, 2012

Christmas letter 2012

Happy holidays from Team Thompson! This year we had kids on skis, kids on bikes, kids running races, and kids swimming laps. The only thing moving more was our car getting them there.


Ryan is nearly 3 and splits his time between the terrible twos and being the sweetheart of the family. He's transformed from the toddling baby of the family to a charismatic nonstop talker who's always happy to share his opinion and give you a hug. He started attending preschool in the fall and we chuckle how he delivers a “bye, Mommy” then runs to the toys without looking back. Like most third kids we know, Ryan runs the show when everyone plays together.

Claire celebrated her 5th birthday in October. She graduated from preschool in the spring and started Kindergarten in the fall at St. Raymond with Jay. Her teacher says she’s often the last to finish her class work and projects because she’s trying to get it perfect. Claire is very proud that she’s learned to ride her bike (her “two wheeler”, as she says) without training wheels. She enjoys swimming and just started gymnastics. Her wit sharpens with each passing day as does Daddy's wariness about the boys it will attract.

Jay, 6, is now in first grade. He played soccer this Fall with Mom as his coach and Dad as referee but Shawn suspects baseball will be his sport given how many times we've retrieved the wiffle ball from the neighbor’s yard. He can now read and will prove it to you by dictating nearly any written text in the room. He tells us he likes school but sometimes pretends he doesn't. He’s also big into swimming and was one of the stars on the summer swim team.


Shawn is particularly excited at how much progress Jay and Claire made on the ski slopes this year. It turns out it’s pretty easy to lift a 5 year old on and off the lifts and the blue runs aren't that steep if you know how to “pizza” your skis. With snow already in Tahoe it should be a good ski year for us.






Shawn set a personal record for tenure at one company earlier this year and says Google is still the best big company. The big family news this year is Alysia’s decision to take a break from Oracle. She’s looking forward to making dinner and learning where the mop is. She is the kids' consummate coach covering both of their soccer teams and their summer swim team. Alysia and the kids also had the chance to spend more time with our families by living in Virginia over the summer and she’s hoping to repeat that again next year.

We’re more likely to post pictures than words these days but you can still find our updates here on our blog throughout the year.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Shawn, Alysia, Jay, Claire, Ryan plus Moses and Bella the cats
www.teamthompson.org