Better Late than Never

On June 22nd to the 27th, Matt went to Boston on a business trip for Training. This was a trip that he was really looking forward to going on. He left on Sunday and came home Friday. On Sunday since it wasn't a business day, Matt and Steve (Boss) went to Salem and did some site seeing around the area. Here are a few pictures of the places they saw.

Salem Graveyard


Nathaniel Henry Felt House

Nathaniel H Felt lived an abundant and fruitful life of service to his family, church and community. Although he is not a "famous" figure in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he is a fine example of someone willing to sacrifice almost everything for the causes he loved most. Born at Salem, Massachusetts in 1816 he got a liberal start in an environment that groomed him for a prosperous future. Mr. Felt was one of Brigham Young's closest associates, and was entrusted with Young's daughter Vilate in 1844 (Vilate was sent to Salem for educational opportunities). From his service as pastor of London, a defender of Nauvoo, as an active emigration agent for his church in the United States and Europe, as Conference President in St. Louis, to his calling as Assistant Presiding Bishop and many other assignments, Nathaniel Felt made his own mark on the Restoration. This is a small biography from the Felt Family website www.nhfelt.org.

Monday they did some more site seeing

Plymouth Rock Plaque


MayFlower2. This is a replica of the MayFlower



On Tuesday they got the opportunity to go to a Red Socks game against the Arizona Diamond Backs. This is the main reason Matt was looking forward to this trip. It was a dream of his to go to the Fenway Park and he finally got the opportunity to go. He had this same training last year before Evan was born but it was in Connecticut. They usually have it in Boston so he was sad that his Fenway Dream was postponed for another year. These pictures are to brag to his Uncles because they've been wanting to go to Fenway as well.



They sat next to the Green Monster


The entire week was cloudy and raining but Wednesday was the only day they had sunshine. They did a little more site seeing and they took this picture of Plymouth Harbor


Thursday they went on a Paddle Boat ride and went to the Forefathers Monument


Forefathers monument is the inspiration for the statue of liberty and is the largest granite monument in the US


On Friday, Evan and I were really happy to have him home but we were glad he had a great time. He's looking forward to next year if they have the training again in Boston.

Catch Up

I'm a little behind on our blog so I'm going to catch up on the last week.



Tuesday the 22nd was my 24th Birthday. I'm grateful for my husband for taking the time in making my birthday a great one. He planned a BBQ in my honor at our house and invited all my family and close friends. Thank You Nathan and Elizabeth for spending hours on smoking meat for the Pulled Pork that was so delicious. We ended the night by setting off fireworks. It really brought back childhood memories because for as long as I could remember, before we moved from Utah as a little girl, we set off fireworks on my Birthday instead of waiting till the 24th. This was Evan's first time seeing fireworks since we ditched out on them on the 4th. He was mesmerized by them.

On Thursday the 24th (Pioneer Day) we both had the day off. We spent the morning shopping and had lunch. We spent time with our friend Chelsea. We wanted to keep her company while she had to work. Later in the afternoon we spent some time with our families. After a BBQ at Matt's parents house we took Ericka, Nathan and Elizabeth shooting. It was the girls first time shooting. They have a natural talent for it. It was a blast! We came back to Spanish Fork to get Evan and Ellen to go to the baseball fields in Spanish Fork to see the Big Firework show. Evan ended up falling asleep waiting for them to come so we had to wake him up when they started. It took a while to wake him but once he was up he was enjoying them like the rest of us. Here are some pictures of Evan while we were waiting for them.




Since my Birthday landed on a weekday we did a little more celebrating on Saturday at Lagoon. Grandma Thompson watched Evan for us because we were worried about the heat. It reached 100 degrees that day but we still had a lot of fun. We planned it just right by coming when the park just opened because we hit all the big rides before the lines got so long. On our way home we stopped off at Cabelas. We've been wanting to buy another gun since our last outing and we ended up buying a Ruger semi automatic 22 rifle. While Matt was filling out paperwork, I was looking around for other things but I ended up running into Nathan and Elizabeth. They had so much fun that night that they wanted to buy their own gun :). Since we had to try out our purchases, we went shooting again. Ericka came with us again.




A storm was rolling in and I got this beautiful shot of Matt with the Utah Lake and the storm clouds



We were all very happy with our fun purchases.

Funny Evan

I don't know what he was doing in his play pin but it was so funny. We had to pull out the camera to film it.



Here is a picture from today.

A Great Weekend

Since we got sick after the Reunion, we were excited for the weekend and we were looking forward to getting out of the house and doing something fun. We went to Bridal Vail Falls after we spent the morning doing a little cleaning and getting rid of the weeds out in the front yard. It was a nice 5 minute hike with a paved road so it was nice to be able to bring the stroller with us. I know it's only 5 mins so it's not a big deal carrying Evan but it was nice not having too.





Later on in the evening we spent our time with Amy and Austin playing games. Amy's family was in town so they played with us.

On Sunday we had Leanna (Matt's sister) come over for dinner. After dinner we decided to go up to the falls again because she has never seen them. While we were in Provo Canyon we went up to Squaw Peak to over look Utah Valley. Everything looks so different from above. I couldn't figure out what things were.

I finally did it!

After many months of wanting a new haircut, I finally got the guts to chop my long hair off. This wasn't an easy decision to make because my hair doesn't grow fast and I was afraid that the cut I wanted would look horrible on me but I'm happy to say I LOVE IT! It's so easy to do, Evan can't pull my hair as easily anymore and I don't have the option to pull my hair back in a ponytail. It's a great change for me.

What memories do you have with me?

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

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.