Happy 8th Birthday Maryn!

October 20th, 2008 Maryn Libby Thompson turns 8 years old! Can you believe it? Already!? Heather and Noah had a few of us "locals" over for dinner to celebrate the affair. Maryn was so happy to have her family around her! She was all smiles the whole night! As always, Heather served a delicious meal. We had homemade lasagna, followed by moist chocolate cake. It was a nice evening spent with family! Thanks guys! Happy Birthday Maryn!

How to Eat a Banana!

With Morgan around it's impossible not to find even the simplest of acts to be endearing! Here she is eating a banana... what more is there to say?

The Next Day...

The cousins gather around Grandmother and Grandpa to take a picture with "Scarecrow Bob" in the daylight! Notice how Grandpa is tickling Paris, and Brenden is tickling Scarecrow Bob!


Scarecrow Bob gets popular and turns into a family affair!



Mike and I returned to the ranch the day after the party to clean up some of our mess, and found everyone enjoying their Sunday and carving pumpkins!

1st Annual Thompson Halloween Party!

We Thompsons make a FABULOUS team! We all worked together and had an awesome party because of it! We had various homemade soups for dinner on a beautifully decorated table done by Brooke, games, dancing, haunted hay rides, face painting, a fun house, and just plain fun! I made "Scarecrow Bob" using Grandpa's clothes. Throughout the night many took turns getting their picture taken with "Scarecrow Bob"! Jared DeWoody made a potato blaster that brought big smiles to the kids' faces! Jared Wetenkamp was quite the DJ and kept the kids hoppin' with lots of fun halloween music. With Jared's music expertice Brooke and I even did the limbo, chicken dance, and "Hokie Pokie" with the kids! Mike built a fun house with strobe lights on the back porch. That was a total hit with the kids. As the night passed the kids continually ran back to the fun house filling the air with shrieks of laughter. The haunted hay ride was a complete success too! On the ride we visited an old witch's house, a grave yard, drove through some ghosts, and were chased by some crazy ghouls and goblins with chainsaws! The haunted hay ride was such a success that the kids loaded up on the trailer for a third ride! Later in the night there was a cupcake walk where each kid won a wonderfully hand decorated cupcake. Thanks Auntie Mary Ann for all of your work and creativity! Grandmother and Grandpa were spookily dressed and served "witches brew" out of a cauldron! (homemade rootbeer) At the close of the night Brooke brought out her homemade pumpkin roll and believe me when I say that it was delicious! Just when we thought that things were coming to a close, face painting became popular again! The kids lined up to have bats, pumpkins, witch hats, ghosts, and scars painted on their little faces! The night was an absolute blast! Thank you so much to all of you that worked and planned so that we could have this wonderful evening! Our family is so much fun! Like I said before... we make a great team!

My First "Official" Photo Shoot!

Do you guys remember the story I told about my friend from church that wanted me to take her Senior pictures? Well, we just had our first photo shoot last night. These are just 4 of the nearly 90 pictures that I have prepared for her. It was an AWESOME experience and I am so excited to be doing photography! I hope to learn, grow, and get better and better!

Knights Ferry Picnic... Thompson Style!

Twice a year we gather at Knights Ferry for a picnic following General Conference. It is a tradition that I have come to look forward to and love very much! This year I took over 200 pictures, so I have lots to share with you!

Grandmother and Grandpa provided us with a delicious meal of hamburgers, beans, and salad, followed by pie and "jellybean" cupcakes for the kids. Jared DeWoody did a great job grilling the burgers to perfection... thanks Jared! We celebrated Uncle Stans birthday and made his day by singing to him twice! As tradition dictates, we set out for a walk after dinner and had lots of fun trying to keep track of all those cute Thompson kids!

As you can see, we love our Grandmother and Grandpa!

This is the view from our walk... just beautiful!

Paris, Royce, Katlyn, Sophia, Brenden, Kourtney, Dominick, Taylor, Camille, Rachel, Morgan, Billy, "Captin" and his son...

Dominick...

Meredith and Rachel hiked Half Dome (and succeeded!) so Dominick had a sleep over and play day at our house! He and Sophia enjoyed each other's company. After we picked Paris and Brenden up from school, we visited a local pumpkin patch. The kids had fun picking out mini-pumpkins, running through a corn maze, and taking silly pictures with the pumpkin paintings!

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission!

On Sunday as our family was preparing to attend the General Conference meeting, Brenden emerged from his room dressed in this fine ensamble. As you can see, he's had a growth spurt. Mike and I just loved the look of the "flood" pants with the white ankle socks!


Flood pants or not... you can't deny that Brenden is one fine-looking missionary!

More "Experimental Photography"

The kids attended a birthday party for one of Paris' classmates this past Saturday. It had rained off and on that day and as we were leaving the party walking to our car the sun was just beginning to set. The conditions made for a perfect photo opportunity. So, we hopped the fence and borrowed the beautiful landscape. These are just a few of my favorites of the day...

Because I Can!

I've been experimenting with photography quite a bit lately. There is a beautiful rustic wooden park in Oakdale that I've been wanting to take pictures at. This week I decided that I would take advantage of my one-on-one time with Sophia and take her to Storytime at the local library, but before we went, we swung by this lovely little park for some pictures. I love how they came out... so I am posting them for your enjoyment JUST BECAUSE I CAN!

A Nice Walk with the Family

Our Sunday afternoons are usually spent napping... trying to catch up on all of the sleep that we lose over the week. This particular Sunday we woke from our naps feeling energized, so we decided to go on a walk. There is a beautiful trail that runs along the river by our house. We took a different route than usual and it turned into an adventure. There were hanging vines and fallen trees to climb over and under. Fall is beginning to make it's presence known, so the fallen golden leaves added to the feeling of the evening. There are wild grapes that grow all over the ground and up the trees. The kids had fun picking and tasting them. It was a nice breezy evening... one of those days that you wish didn't have to end...

Happy Birthday September "Peeps"!

Mom (Marilyn), Mike, Laurie, and Jared W. all have birthdays in September so of course we had to gather and celebrate! (you know, a reason to eat some cake and drink more milk!) Uncle Mike brought the 4-wheeler and spent the evening giving kids rides through the orchard. There was taco salad for dinner and Brookes scrumptious cake for dessert. A day at the ranch is pure bliss. The ranch is home to all of us... it always will be no matter where life takes us and how the years age us. Home is where the heart is... well MY heart is with my family right here at this sweet little ranch!

These are a few more special moments from the birthday celebration that I wanted you all to see!

Laurie and Rachel... always bright and beautiful!

Uncle Eric takes the boys for a ride. Royce was elated to be on the 4-wheeler!

This is a picture of our beautiful orchard at dusk. I love this place!