Our First Teenager!

Bruce turned 13 years old on August 12th. It's hard to believe we have a teenager, but between my gray hairs and Bruce's voice changing, I guess it's true! We are very proud of Bruce. He was born with a great spirit. He keeps us laughing and really does well at everything he tries.
Happy 13th Bruce! Earlier this year when we talked about how Bruce would be a teenager, Claire says, "He's going to be so defensive!". Haha
Bruce and I went to a movie in the morning. When we got back the girls had put up signs and decorated the house. What a lucky boy to have 3 sisters.

He chose to go to Red Robin for his birthday dinner. Grandpa met us there. Here's a picture of Bruce when the waiters are singing to him, and another of Grandpa Thompson handing down his name plate to Bruce. 

He had cinnamon rolls for his cake. Note to self, never use sparklers as candles. There was smoke and ash everywhere!

Family Vacation 2016

It's been many years since we've been able to go on a family vacation, and we all really needed to get away! We took a road trip to northern California. It was so nice to be away together. The kids loved staying at hotels. The farmlands and beaches were beautiful. I had no idea that Northern California had so many pine trees! 

Heading out of town below. Heading back home above.

The elephant seals we saw were huge. San Simeon, CA

They were in the pool most every day. We also had a nice hike along the coast in Cambria.

In Monterey we rode peddle boats and played at the park.

In San Francisco we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, walked around Golden Gate Bridge Park and visited the California Academy of Sciences.

Another hike just before getting on the way down from the Muir Woods.

 Yosemite National Park - It was beautiful. We saw 2 deer, hiked, played in a lake and a river.

 We drove to Palo Alto and visit the Stanford campus! It was beautiful and surrounded by woods. Now we know why the Stanford S has a tree in it. :)   (above)

We stayed in 3 different hotels. With our two cots it worked out great.

That's all the pictures I can fit! :)  Here's hoping for another family adventure next year. 

Linda's First Girl's Camp

Linda had a great time at her first Young Women's Camp. She isn't 12 until the end of November but they let her go. Her favorite things were the zip line, the pool, lip sync contest, Tree of Life activity, and Life game. She helped cook and had fun with the other girls in her cabin. It was 104 degrees while they were there! She was one tired girl when she got home.

Tuesday morning getting ready to drive up to camp with her friends.

 Linda's bed. She was on top bunk.

She helped cook hot dogs for the camp./Ready for zip lining!

Thompson Family Reunion 2016

Robert's parents were nice enough to rent a huge house for the Thompson Family Reunion. Since it was in Oceanside, our family was able to come home and sleep in our own beds at the end of the day. Robert had to miss a lot of it because of work and Linda was just there for day 1 before she left to Young Women's Girls Camp. The rest of us were there for most of it. Enjoy some pictures from the week. 

 Each of the 8 original Thompson siblings was assigned a color. We got green. Too bad it's not close to Saint Patrick's Day! :) 

 Cousins, cousins, cousins! All 28 cousins were there for day 1 then 27 of them the rest of the time.

Here is the entire Thompson family. Two more babies coming soon!

Families Are Forever

All of our children are now baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We're so happy they are now members of the church and that they have the Holy Ghost to be with them throughout their lives. They were all baptized and confirmed on their 8th birthday at the California Building in Oceanside, CA

Claire's Baptism Day!

Claire was able to get baptized on her birthday too! We were so happy that so many family and friends came out to support her on her big day. It was a nice program. We had chili, potato soup, fruit, vegetables and cotton candy afterwards. 

Here is the program of some pictures of Claire on her big day.