Happy Birthday Daddy-O!

We celebrated Brigham's 37th Birthday on July 16th. It is hard to believe that we are getting so old. My how time flies. Its a good thing that some things get better with age. Brigham is amazing and he is definitely more wonderful every year. This cake threatened to set off the fire alarm.
It is nice to know that his lungs are still in good shape!
37 Things We Love About Dad
1. He is nice (Katry)
2. He is awesome (Seth)
3. He is thoughtful (Brig)
4. I like Daddy (Kaleb)
5. He never gets angry (Heather)
6. I like it when he plays soccer with me (Katry)
7. He plays games with me like Axis and Allies, Risk and wrestling (Seth)
8. Riding bikes with Dad (Brig)
9. I like to play Memory game with Daddy (Kaleb)
10. I love how concerned he is with our happiness (Heather)
11. He is a tease and that is fun......sometimes (Katry)
12. He is happy (Seth)
13. I like talking with Dad (Brig)
14. Wrestling with Dad (Kaleb)
15. I love what a sincere, honest person he is (Heather)
16. I like to race dad when he comes home from work. I'm on my bike, he is in the car (Katry)
17. He is talented- he can fix stuff (Seth)
18. He is a good teacher in work projects (Brig)
19. I like to play Go Fish with daddy. (Kaleb)
20. I love how kind and respectful he is to everyone (Heather)
21. He is a good teacher in soccer (Katry)
22. He is a genius- very smart (Seth)
23. I like how he copes with Kaleb- he doesn't scream (Brig)
24. I like daddy to watch me play soccer (Kaleb)
25. I love how he leads our family to follow Christ (Heather)
26. I love what a good sport he is (Katry)
27. He is athletic, I like to watch him play soccer and basketball (Seth)
28. I like how he wants me to do good (Brig)
29. I like him to tell me stories (Kaleb)
30. I love how caring and considerate of my feelings he is (Heather)
31. He teaches me things I need to know (Katry)
32. He is a master bug killler (Seth)
33. I like how he loves mom so that I know that we have a good strong family (Brig)
34. He takes us to do fun things like Germany(Kaleb)
35. I love how he shows us by example what true love is (Heather)
36. He loves us all so very much (Katry)
37. He is the best Dad in the whole universe (Seth)
WE LOVE YOU DAD THANKS FOR BEING OUR ROCK!

Lavender Days

Lavender Days takes place in Mona, Utah every year around the first of July. It is a celebration of the lavender fields coming into bloom, and a money maker for the company that my dad works for- Young Living. They have a lot of fun things going on. We saw a couple wild west shows, a jousting competition, the kids rode horses...
climbed rock walls.....
and learned to twist a lariat. They also jumped on bounce houses and slid down gigantic balloon slides. A good time was had by all- even if it was a bit hot out. Sizzling!

Happy Birthday Katryanna! #10

What is great about being ten? I am one year older and wiser too!
What is your favorite food? fettuccine alfredo
What is your favorite song? I Belong To The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
What do you like to do? Play soccer, spies with Seth, I like to eat food, read, be with my family.
What is your favorite dessert? ice cream cake
What is your favorite scripture story? King Benjamin, I like it because he taught the people that when they serve each other it is the same as serving Heavenly Father.
What is your favorite present? Marine Mania, candy, lava lamp
What is your favorite color? Light blue
What is your favorite thing to do with your family? play soccer, go swimming, just hanging out with them
What is your favorite animal? Horses, tigers, dolphins and monkeys
What is your favorite book? Little House on the Prairie and Harry Potter
Favorite Sport? soccer
What is the scariest thing you have ever done? Go off the high dive
What is the last chore you did? pick-up and vacuum
How are you like your mom? People say that we look alike
How are you like your dad? We both love soccer
What is the most important thing to you? My family
Ten Words to Describe Katry
1. Beautiful
2. Angel
3. Athletic
4. Aggressive
5. Creative
6. Brilliant
7. Lovable
8. Fun
9. Responsible
10. Peacemaker
A conversation with Katry: The funniest conversation that I can remember with Katry was just a few months ago. Katry has wanted a baby sister forever. That's all she asks for for Christmas and birthdays etc. Well, when we found out that I was expecting we brought her with us when we had the ultrasound done. It was quite obvious that it was a boy. Her little face was just stunned, she was super sad. After we left the room we were walking down the hall holding hands, and I said to her, "Well what do you think?" She replied full of hope, "Maybe it will fall off!"
We love Katry, she is so wonderful in every way. We can't imagine life without her spunk.

We Love America!

The Fourth of July was a lot of fun this year. We went to the parade and had great seats thanks to GmaT and Grandpa. We loved the jets thundering over head, the soldiers past and present marching by, and the warrior missionaries marching on. We are so blessed to live in a country of such great opportunity. Despite its current flaws and struggles, it is still the most blessed nation on the earth, and I have no doubt about the fact that it is a privilege to be an American.
Aunt Jaleah- Soon to be Aunt Lindsey (Uncle Kaleb's finance), & GmaT
Uncle Staven and Aunt Ashlee and Grandpa
Grandpa and 2 1/2 month old Cutie Kai
After the parade we headed up American Fork canyon to Tibblefork and had a fun picnic lunch and rowed on grandpa's canoe. Those that were brave enough got into the icy water. Micah humored me with throwing the frisbee back and forth. I am not a great frisbee thrower. It was so beautiful up there. It reminded me of Southern Germany, and here it is right in our own back yard. After that, Dad and Mom took me out to the Spagetti Factory for a birthday dinner. It was delish and the company was superb. Thanks! I guess I am officially old now- because I opted out of waiting up for the fireworks and just went to bed. I was just too exhausted. I knew this day would come I just didn't expect it to hit me when I was still relatively young. Ouch! I am going to blame it on being a nursing mom and I am just plain exhausted most of the time. :)
We love you America! Land of the free because of the brave!

A Baptism and A Blessing!

Oh My! Surely these are two of the most handsome guys your've ever seen. Cute Seth was baptized on Saturday June 21, 2008. Uncle Kaleb and Uncle Nephi both spoke at his baptism and all his cousins and Grammy Redd sang special songs. It was a great spirit filled service that was attended by angels. Right after his confirmation we handed our cute little Kai into the blessing circle and he received his name and a blessing. According to reports he just looked up at his dad and smiled the whole time. He surely is an angel. Most of the "Redds" were there as we were in the middle of a family reunion, and most of the Thompson's were able to come. Loved having all of that family there. Seth waited a month to be baptized because he wanted to be baptized in Utah where Brig and Katry had been baptized. I am so glad that it worked out so well. We had a big pasta bar dinner with everyone before the baptism and brownies and ice cream after. It was a lovely day and I felt as if I was an eight ounce cup that had gallons of joy being poured into and I just couldn't contain all the happiness I felt.

Cross Country Pitt Stop #2- Nauvoo

We love Nauvoo! Since its our favorite place in the Midwest, we just had to brave the rising flood waters to visit it one more time. This year we went on a mile long handcart trek. It was definitely not a walk in the park. We pushed and pulled while the wheels creaked as we rolled along. Creak, creak, creak, creak was our song. I really appreciated the fact that it wasn't a lovely stroll. We pulled it up steep climbs and and held it back from rolling down bouncy, bumpy drop offs. We even pushed through three stream beds. Of course our only cargo was our precious little fellows, so it was much easier than if it was loaded down with all of our earthly posessions. We read little vignettes of journals from pioneers along the trail. It was very touching. I am so glad that we had that experience. The kids favorite stop in Nauvoo is the Pioneer Pastimes. They have loads of pioneer games for the kids to try their hands at. The kids and I mastered the game of fox and geese. We walked on stilts, threw hoops, raced up ropes and tons of other fun things. The Nauvoo band came by and we danced and marched to their patriotic beat. It was delightful. The high light of the trip is a night at Sunset on the Mississippi. It is where all the young and elderly missionaries entertain us with skits and music. It is always a hoot.

Cute little pioneers!

Cross Country Pitt Stop #1- St. Louis

We pulled out of E-town on the morning of the 14th. We drove four hours to St. Louis and went right to the science center. A big thanks to all the residents of Missouri for a nice big, free center. We also visited the St. Louis Zoo. I don't seem to have any pictures of the day- but we loved it, especially cooling off in the nice super refrigerated penguin exhibition.