Thompson Reunion - Lake Shasta 2010

Every year the Thompsons have a family get together/reunion in Shasta Lake, northern California. They have a speedboat (as the kids like to call it), rent a houseboat and spend the week on the lake. It is such a terrific time, and different than anything my family does, so it was really fun for me to be a part of the festivities this year.

The lake is so beautiful - clean water (although it is a little chilly), trees everywhere, millions of stars at night. Perfect vacation spot.

Me and Britt - The two pregos. Brittny was only 1 month away from having her baby and she still came on the trip. What a trooper! I was only 10 weeks along at this point so I was defintely a little motion sick some of the time, but it was a small price to pay.

We took a fun little adventure hike with all of the kids on the hill behind where our boat was parked. There was a hiking trail already paved out so that was nice and made it easier. The butterflies were so crazy, they would just land right on you, not even afraid.

Abby and I encountered a baby rattlesnake on the trail. It was only about 1 foot long and we were still scared of it! Haha

We played lots of Boggle (even Carson learned how to play!), ate tin foil dinners, played with the kids, did Science experiments with Papa, and when all was said and done, slept under the stars at night. It wasa perfect trip. Thanks for everything Mike and Lou Ann, we had a great time.

Administrator

The last time I wrote (way back in May) I mentioned that Chris passed his test to become an administrator. So, here's the proof that he actually did it. We came home from his family vacation in Lake Shasta with this in the mail... It was a good day! :) Great job honey.

He Passed!

Wanted to give everyone a quick update about what is going on in the Thompson's professional lives. Well, Chris has been studying for the last few months and finally took his Administrator's test last week (6/20/10) and PASSED!! I am so proud of him for all of the hard work and effort he put into studying, and so glad it payed off (as we knew it would!). He takes so much pride in his work and really loves working at Highland so we are very glad the test is over and we can move forward with the career plan he was anticipating. Chris is such a wonderful husband and provider and takes such great care of his family (ie: me). I'm so proud of you Chris. I love you!

Congratulations!

THE ALASKAN INN

Chris surprised me this weekend with a lovely stay at The Alaskan Inn - Bed & Breakfast! I have always wanted to stay at one so I was so excited when we arrived, since he didn't tell me where we were going until we were heading up the canyon. We absolutely loved it. Chris said he was checking out a few places but took a chance on this one. Good choice honey!

The Lodge

It wasn't your typical Bed & Breakfast b/c all

of the guests had their own little cabin - of

which there were about 10 total. It was perfect.

Our particular cabin was called Misty Fjords.

Our cabin had a bed, TV, large tub

(with sparkling cider chilled and ready :)

and a bathroom. Very cozy.

Chris took me to this really cool (and hightly

rated) steak restaurant just down the canyon

a few minutes. It was called Timbermine. The

inside was dark and really awesome, felt like

you were in the mine.

It was actually quite dark in here. All the guests

got their own booth and could adjust the lantern

to the brightness they wanted. Loved it. And the

steak was delish!

Me and the honey.

Last, but not least, you get breakfast served to you in the morning. We let them know our orders and the time to bring it the night before and then, presto, it magically appeared in the morning! Breakfast in Bed. Or, at the table...

We had an awesome time. It was so sweet of Chris to go through all the trouble and give me this great surprise. A cabin in the great outdoors, I was very happy. We loved it way more than we though we would so we will have to go back again sometime. We found a bunch of hikes nearby and a great running trail, too. Also, it is in Ogden right near Snow Basin so anyone who wants a fun romantic getaway next year, you know where to go!

Thanks again, Christopher. I love you!

VISITORS

Katie and Josh came and visited Utah a few weeks ago. It was really fun to have them at our house one night and go snowboarding together, like the good ol' days. And, eat cafe rio, of course. We miss them and wish they lived closer! Come visit again soon.

Also, I 'm not sure if I mentioned it, but I got a job 2 weeks ago. Wahoo! It only took me 4 months to find. I am a personal assistant to the owner at a scrapbooking company called We R Memory Keepers. I really love my job so far and feel lucky to finally be working again. It's tough times finding a job right now and I didn't realize it until it was my turn to start looking. If you are ever interested in anything scrapbook related you know who to ask! :)

TRIATHALONS & SCORPIONS

Well, as you can see from the pics, we survived our first Sprint Triathalon! It was the SHAC (Sand Hollow Acquatic Center) Sprint Tri, down in St. George, Utah. 400 meter swim, 10 mile bike, and 3 mile run. Chris and I did it with his sister Amy, and 3 of Amy's Sister-in-laws, and then spent the rest of Easter weekend down in St. George. It was really fun to do it with a bunch of people because the run and bike were in two loops so we would keep passing each other and cheering each other on. Well, mainly Chris kept passing us...but, you get the point :). Chris finished 9th in his age division - he did awesome!, and I finished 2nd in mine (although there were only 22 people included in my division, but I'll still brag!). Not bad for our first one. We do have a lot to learn about transitions - they are harder than you think, and what to wear, training, etc. but it was a lot more fun than we had expected so we are going to train for another one. Chris wants to do an Olympic Tri next time - which is double the length in each event, so we'll keep youp posted on that. All in all, everyone finished and did awesome!

So we stayed with Papa Thompson down in St. George that weekend. He is so nice and always so willing to share his home with us. He didn't even get mad when we woke him up at 4:30am becuase Chris was stung by a SCORPION on the back of his knee, in our bed! We actually caught it in our sheets! (See pic above) We weren't sure if Chris was going to die (what do we know about creatures of the desert??), so we woke Papa up to find out what to do. He said Chris will survive and his leg will just throb for about 4 days, then the pain will eventually wear off. I felt so bad because we were all exhausted from the race earlier that day, then Chris was stung at 4am, so he couldn't go back to sleep because of the excruciating pain....but he eventually drifted off. He is a trooper.

All in all, it was really fun to spend Easter down with the Thompson's. We loved watching Avery and Lucy hunt for their Easter baskets and find the eggs that the Easter bunny hid outside. And it was fun to have them at the finish line of the race cheering us, and their awesome Mom, on!

Game Time

Our favorite evening pasttime...
Does anyone know what the word "nib" means?
Maybe if you played more boggle you would:)...

Trip to Paradise

Because my husband is so loving (and I'm sure will use this trip as leverage later) he allowed me to take a week vacation with my parents to go and visit the pregnant sister in Hawaii. It was such an amazing trip depsite the minor set-back in Portland and the unruly weather. Becky and Doug seem really happy and excited to get ready for the baby in a few months. It was really sad to leave because that means we all won't see each other for a while, but it was such a great trip to see Becky and spend some quality time. Despite what the pictures may show, it rained 75% of the time! But we did get a few good days of sun and got some work done in the house; so all in all, a very fun, productive trip. Thanks for having us Becky and Doug. We love you guys!

Trip begins at 5:50pm - Me, Mom and Dad on our way to Honolulu from Portland and the plane breaks 20 minutes into the flight. We turn around and return to the Portland airport. After waiting 4 hours they tell us the flight is cancelled until the next day at noon, so we get a hotel (it is 2am by that time), get some shut eye, and return to the airport the following morning. It cut a day off of our trip which we weren't happy about but at least we made it to Hawaii safe and sound.

Here's dad taking a quick nap in the airport.
He couldn't resist the comfy bench he found :).
Me and Mom played cards instead.


Arriving into HNL airport we remembered
why the wait at PDX was totally worth it! See
picture below.


This was the perfectly sunny Saturday we got.
It was picture perfect! This pic is on Dad's
camera phone so it was kind of dark.


Becky don't be mad at me for posting this,
I just had to. You're so cute with that tummy!


Family shots.




This was an entire rainbow out in the water.
Rare that you see the entire thing start to finish.
Just beautiful.


This is me missing Chris.


Dad was happy, surf and sunshine.

This dog was on a walk with his owner. This is

the branch he found to carry with him. Haha.

It was really hysterical. He was struggling to

carry it; think he found the biggest stick on

the beach!

We visited the Dole plantation on our way home

one day. It was my first time ever stopping in

there. Pretty fun, and Dole Whips - ah, delicious.

This one makes me laugh!

This is how they grow, for anyone who didn't

know. Pretty cool.

It was a perfect trip, other than the fact that Chris wasn't there with me. Things aren't the same with out him. Nor are they as fun! So hopefully we can visit Hawaii together sometime soon.

Mom dad becky doug, miss you guys. Thanks for a great week!