Thompson Family Reunion 2008

**Edited to add more photos and video's** On day one we arrived in Rexburg, ID around 1:30 pm. We met up with Matt's family and had lunch at Craigo's. It's a pizza and pasta buffet. Just what I needed! After waking up early and only having a granola bar and a few pieces of candy, it hit the spot! Their ranch dressing was to die for! I also loved the sign that's on the bathroom door.



It really wasn't that ugly but it wasn't the greatest either. After lunch we went around Rexburg to tour BYU-Idaho and the new Temple. Before we went to the reunion site, we had to take a small detour to Wal-Mart. About 20 miles from Rexburg, I realized I left my Mary Kay roll up bag at home. I had to get the bare necessities to last me through the week. We arrived in Ashton at 3:00, just in time because we weren't able to go into the lodge until than. Ashton is beautiful! All green farm land as far as the eye can see. The Teton Mountains in the near distance.The lodge that we stayed at was amazing! It's a large old barn that was remodeled. It has 7 bedrooms, 4 baths, a loft that has 16 bunk beds and a theater/game room.



While we were waiting for all the family to show up, we just hung out. Baseball was played. Adults vs. small kids. They didn't keep track of score but the kids were doing really well. Evan enjoyed all the commotion. I had a hard time getting him to eat and him letting me change his diapers because he just wanted to be out there with the kids. When everyone arrived we sat down and had a great dinner. I wasn't too hungry because of our big lunch but I still ate a lot. I had to make up for missing breakfast for Evan. After dinner most of us went to the Green Canyon Hot Springs. These springs aren't out in nature like you think they would be. Instead it's almost an Olympic sized pool with basketball hoops, diving board and it's indoor. Your basically swimming in bath water. It was so nice. Evan loved it! There's also an outdoor pool that's smaller but it was more hot so it was like a spa. It was only 3 ft. There was even a smaller pool in the corner that was ice cold! No one was in that pool. We were daring people to go all the way in it. Our cousin Jessie who is 8 was the only one that managed to go all the way under and not blink twice about it. Matt only got to his shoulders. I only got to my shins. It felt like my heart was going to fail. Other people also managed to go to their shoulders. It was so funny to watch. There are no pictures because nothing was allowed in the pool area but towels. Kind of disappointing. Day 2 we spent the entire day in West Yellowstone. That place is absolutely beautiful. I thought I went as a child but I guess I never been. We took so many pictures. I obviously can't put them all in so I will only put in a few of my favorites.



We saw a lot of Bison and only one elk the entire day. We saw one Bison right on the side of the road scratching his side on a tree but once we got close to it, it started walking down the road.



During our lunch and dinner breaks we would see tree trunks wedged between two trees to make a see-saw. There was one that was for big kids only because the tree was so long.

Before we headed back just Matt, Evan and I went to go see the bears and wolves. Evan loved the bears. He got so excited looking at them. It was a little surprising because this is what we got before we saw them. See picture below



The wolfs were amazing. They howled for us. After a while Evan started to howl with them. I'm happy that we caught it on video


Day three we did a session at the new Rexburg Temple.



The session we planned to go to was full so the one we attended was in Spanish so we had to use translation devices. That was an unique experience. After the Temple, the entire family went to Big Jud's. They are famous for their 1 lb hamburgers. They are really huge! One hamburger fed four people. I wish I got a picture of one but we devoured it before I thought about it. Day four was Sunday so we attended church. Before we left I lost my footing and fell down the wooden spiral staircase. All I can say to that is OUCH!



My shin and third toe look beautiful! After church we relaxed a little bit but than we went to Mesa Falls This is the lower falls.

We than went to the upper falls.

The upper falls were so beautiful. It was cool that we could go right to it. Later that evening we celebrated our Grandpa's 75th Birthday. Everyone was asked what their favorite memory of Grandpa was and what we would say to him. It was filmed and we watched it with Grandpa. The kids than played the game Pin the Tail on the Donkey but instead it was Pin the Hearing Aid on Grandpa. The older kids and adults played Family Feud. That was fun! We than had cake and ice cream!



Happy Birthday Grandpa! On our last day we didn't just drive home. We drove through the Teton Mountains and visited Jackson Hole and The Teton National Park. The Teton Mountains were beautiful at every angle.



It was a great reunion. Matt and I enjoyed every minute of it. We appreciate Devan and Becki for all their hard work in putting on a fun reunion. We can't wait for next year.