Meet Rylie

Rylie is our next door neighbor. She comes over several days of the week after school with Abby while her mom is at work. She's only in Kindergarten, and it is fun to have someone younger than Abby in our house again. It's funny because she really likes peanut butter with celery, and she made her dad go out and buy Adams. She eats a lot of things at our house that her parents could never get her to eat at home, like fresh peaches (she claims they're a different kind.) She and Abby do all kinds of girl stuff together, like nails and hairstyling. We are really enjoying her; she is so expressive and dramatic.

  

                              

Happy Birthday, Chris!

We were at the cabin for Christopher's birthday, so we had a little party for him.He said the two balloons he is holding represents the two kids everyone else his age already has. Don't worry, Chris. We know you will be married before you're 35.

 

                                     

                                                                         

Thompson Family Reunion

The highlight of the reunion was getting 8 of the 10 siblings together!  David passed away in 1988 so the only one missing was John, the youngest child.  Grandpa Thompson came from a family of 13 children and there is only one child left, Aunt Gerry. She is the 12th child. It was fun to get reacquainted with some of the Thompson cousins. They were never as close as the Smith side cousins. We found out that Dale's cousin Joyce Balmforth recently made a trip to Maine and stopped in at a nearby church on Sunday only to meet Amy's parents, Mark and Marta Sisco.  When they learned she was from Idaho, they asked if Joyce knew any Thompson's.  She said, "I am a Thompson!" Then they asked, "Do you know Dale and Amy?" And her reply was, "Dale is my cousin!"  What are the chances? The world is certainly small!

                            

Oliver and Hazel

Oliver loves animals. He can mimic the sounds of dogs, cows, and sheep. At the cabin we took him out on the porch to crawl around and Hazel was out there. Usually he is a little bit scared to be up close and personal with big animals, but he wasn't a bit intimidated by our slobbering affectionate dog. Sam, if you were here, you would get equal time on the blog :)

                                

                                

Labor Day

Every year over Labor Day, we go up to the cabin and chop down trees for the wood-burning stove. Dale had 5 of his 6 sons up this year! Clayton, you were missed! It was a blast. Tyler took the pictures so he's not in any of them. There were also lots of other relatives up there helping. During the same weekend we had a Thompson reunion. The cabin was filled to the limit!