The Thompson Dancers

Layla joined our little circle of dancers this year at 5678 Dance Studio. She starred in an adorable ballet called "What a Wonderful World" (Louis Armstrong) and wore a beautiful pink and white tutu. Sophia was a fairy in a ballet called "Pixie Dust" and Paris did her hip-hop thing to a song called "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf." I was lucky enough to join my friends at the very end of the year and danced to Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation." We all had a great time hanging out back stage. I wish that I had more pictures to share, but simply put: my hands were just too full to hold a camera for very long. Yes, it was that crazy!

Welcome McKay!

April 23, 2010 McKay Richard DeWoody joins the family! Rachel and Jared are now the proud parents of this beautiful baby boy. He is sweet, tiny, and simply precious. Morgan couldn't be more proud of her new baby brother. We are very blessed to have this little man join our big happy clan. We love you McKay and can't wait to watch you grow!

Tayler's Baptism

This beautiful girl is growing up way too fast! Tayler Eileen Moore was baptized on May 8, 2010 by her daddy Eric Moore.

After the baptism the Thompson and Moore families gathered at the ranch for celebration and what else? FOOD! Laurie put together some fabulous pannini sandwiches and for dessert we had homemade ice cream and cobbler. The cousins played together as they always do. Rachel came with McKay and for many of us it was our first time meeting him. Two wonderful reasons to celebrate! We are a blessed family... that is for sure.

Who... Me?

I snapped this picture of Jett and I thought that it was so funny that I just had to share it! He looks so surprised. Could his eyes get any bigger?

Sweet Brenden gets Baptized!

April 17th, 2010 Brenden was baptized by his father Michael. He was very excited for this day. The Thompson cousins did a special musical number "When I am Baptized" and Brookie lead the music. Uncle Brad played the piano for us, and Brenden asked Papa and Uncle Jared W. to give the talks. (yay! I was off the hook!) Afterward we all headed over to the house for tri tip and chicken. I made a slide show for him and played it for all our guests. Brenden was beaming and very happy to finally be eight years old. As his mother, I couldn't be happier to see him embrace this choice to follow his Savior's example.

California Curriculum...

Paris is in 3rd grade and has the assignment of studying the California Missions. She was given the option to visit a mission and create a photo journal of her visit. We of course jumped at that opportunity. We decided on the mission located in Carmel for the obvious reasons. We made a brief stop at the San Jaun Bautista mission as well. It was a cold and windy day, so our time at the beach was cut short. Nevertheless, we had a wonderful day as a family. We stopped at Casa de Fruita on the way home and capped off the day with bellies full of yummy pancakes!

Barns and Blossoms...

There is this fabulous old barn covered in wisteria vines on our way to school every day. Each time I drive by it I think to myself that I would LOVE to take some pictures by it. It's a great place for me to stretch my abilities because it poses a few problems: it's on the road, has an ugly stop sign right in front of it, and is in the shadows most of the day. So... over spring break I took the kiddos out and tried my hand at getting a few shots before all of the beautiful blossoms were gone. As you can see, I was able to manage a few and actually have many more that I'm not posting here. It was fun to try and I'm sure I'll return again next year when the blossoms do too!

My Men...

I just really wanted to share this picture. This is the first real picture I have of all my boys together. I love the awkward phase Brenden is going through right now with his missing teeth and big ears. He's so funny and random that it fits him perfectly. Mike is still my beautiful beau, and little Jett is without a doubt my squeezable, edible, lovable, baby.

Spring is in the Air...

Winter is just long enough to drive me crazy. As soon as Spring begins to appear I can't wait to run outside and be free. These are just a few pictures that I've taken over the past few weeks as I have been able to get outdoors and enjoy some sunshine. All of these pictures were taken on our property. Sometimes I just can't believe that I get to live in such a beautiful place. Lucky me...

I See Skies of Blue...

And fields of yellow! This time of year I see fields of yellow flowers all along the roadside, but can never seem to find one without fences. Well, this year on our way back from the Trinta reunion I found one in Patterson. The kids weren't dressed for a proper photo shoot, but we hopped out of the car anyway and ran through the fields. The flowers were much taller than we realized. In some patches they were over my head!

The Trinta Reunion 2010

Every couple of years or so we Trinta descendants gather for good food and laughter. This year we celebrated Aunt Mary's 95th birthday! She was just as beautiful and kind as ever and eagerly kissed all the grand babies. We met for lunch in Patterson and enjoyed the company of some great family that we hadn't seen in awhile. The cousins met other cousins and spent the afternoon running in between and under the tables. It was a great day!

Brenden Turns 8!

March 29th, 2010 Brenden celebrated his 8th birthday, however we threw his party a week earlier on March 2oth. It was a beautiful sunny Saturday and many came to play. This year we invited Brenden's church AND school friends. By the end of the day we had over 30 kids running around! It was a great party! Brenden came up with all of the games on his own. He wanted to "Pin the Mustache on Mario" and drew the poster for it himself. We made "Power Up Mushroom Cupcakes" and took turns beating up on the turtle pinata. Brenden even invited his 2nd grade school teacher Mrs. Wearin and was so excited to see her accept his invite! Brenden was definitely shown the love on this day and I can't thank everyone enough!