A New Thompson is Coming!!

May 30, 2016

Dear Sister Kristina,

How was your week? I hope you and your new companion were busy, happy, laughed a lot, taught a lot, etc. Kirk called me yesterday and said they were just sitting at home watching Sarah’s belly move all over the place. hahaha I think we have a little girl who is anxious to get here. I can’t wait to meet her. Sarah is not getting induced into labor until this Thursday now, so at this point, she’ll be born on June 2. I’m going to drive down to Utah on the 1st so I can be there.

We’re having Kayla Langford and her husband stay here while dad is at work and I’m gone. We’ve told the girls to not scare them away from ever having children. Leah still needs someone to be with her 24/7 and it makes things extremely difficult sometimes. Leah wants to get contact lenses and has been trying out a pair that Sean got for her and really likes them. So I told her in order to get more, she will have to earn them by her behavior. Cross your fingers.  :)

Today is Memorial Day and we have the flag flying out on our front lawn, the one that the scouts put out. The weather is beautiful. We have tons of birds in the backyard now because we put out a couple more bird feeders. Here’s our backyard:

I just love our back deck. Whatever house we move to next, we will definitely have to have a back deck and sofas to sit on. Here’s the poppies blooming:

Here’s a wreath I made last week thanks to Pinterest. It was super easy and it turned out so cute. I just bought bandanas from WalMart, cut them into strips and attached them to a wire wreath. I added a few paper stars and I think I’m going to find some 4th of July garland to add to it too.

Over the weekend, Nikki tested for her advanced red belt and did great. She and Leah are now working on the same belt. Hopefully, that will be good for them. Also last week, the Taekwondo people put on a self defense class and asked the students to bring friends. So Leah asked Fisher to come. Fisher said he had a lot of fun. He’s turned into such a nice young man. Here’s a pic:

Yesterday was a nice day at church. Our marriage and family class was on fathers and they showed us the most awesome video and I had never seen that one. You’ll have to look it up on Mormon Messages, it’s called Earthly Father, Heavenly Father. I liked it so much and immediately thought of the boys so I sent it to them when I got home. I love the way the Bro and Sis Langford teach or maybe it’s just because of the subject matter.

In Sunday School, the Bishop taught from 3 Nep 11 and we discussed the people of Nephi, their reaction to Christ’s coming, why He had them touch His wounds, etc. It was a good class. At church a lot of families had extended family there because of the long weekend and also because it was EHS’s graduation. Blake Hansen and his new wife were there, Mason Thompson and his new wife were there and Aaron Peery and his fiance were there. 

Last Wednesday I went up to Camp Glenwood with my counselors to speak to the graduating laurels. Can’t believe it’s been two years since I was up there with you. We had some new games that we did with them and I think they really liked them, lots of laughing and lots of symbolism for Relief Society. It was fun talking to them in the ampitheater and afterwards so many of them came up and gave us big hugs. Emily Anderson and Christina Walker’s younger sister asked about you. I love going up there because it’s a really quick drive and it’s so pretty. The weather was perfect.

As a family we’re trying to walk every day. Walking around the block gets a bit boring, but on Saturday we took the girls to lunch at a new place called Happy Teriyaki. Of course, they loved it. It’s on Eagle Rd right by Quiznos which is right by the river, so afterward we went for a walk along the river. The river is running really high right now, so it was fun to watch. Leah and dad were walking in front of me, dad put his arm around Leah, so I yelled to Leah to act like they like each other. hahaha Here’s the pic. Leah liked it.

I think she’ll like the picture even more when she grows up. Here’s another pic the girls wanted me to take of them. They wanted to spell out words with their hands:

This spring has just been gorgeous and I really don’t want to see the heat start coming. It seems like it’s more beautiful everywhere I look this year. Then I thought to myself that perhaps this year Heavenly Father is helping me see the beauty, the tender mercies a little more because He knows how much happiness it brings to my soul and He knows I’m in need of it a little more this year. It’s working!! And I thank Him for the beauty of the earth. He didn’t have to make this earth pretty at all in order for us to be tested. It’s truly a gift and an act of love.

This week as I spend time in Utah, I’ll be sure to send pictures while things are happening so you can feel a part of it. I won’t make you wait until next Monday to see your new niece. Babies are also a gift. They bring families together in love and remind us of where we came from and help us learn what it means to be like a child in our loving and trusting.The video Earthly Father, Heavenly Father talks a lot about that pure faith and trust of a child. I’m so excited to hold her and to see Addie.

I hope you are doing well, feeling loved, feeling our prayers and having lots of opportunities to share your testimony, to share your light even with the other sister missionaries you are leading. Remain faithful and put the Savior first and all else will fall into place in the timing of the Lord. Remember- Faith in Every Footstep!!

Love you very much,

Mom xxoo

Last Monday for School

May 23, 2016

Dear Sister Kristina,

Nikki declared yesterday that today was going to be the last Monday of school for her freshman year. In a way, this year has gone so quickly, but in other ways it has just crawled by. But either way, I can’t stop the fact that the girls are now entering into their junior and sophomore years.

Last week the girls had their end of the year EHS choir concert. It was wonderful as usual. The choirs each year are always so awesome and Mr. McMullen just seems to have a great rapport with each group. I’m so glad he’s staying at the high school. This will be Leah’s last year with him because she just refuses to take choir any more. The fact that it’s such an easy A doesn’t really mean anything to her. I’m not sure why she doesn’t want to continue, but I’m not going to fight this battle. She will be taking piano her whole time in high school though, so at least she has some music. Right now she’s not taking any focus medicine and she’s not able to even play the piano, so until she’s back on that medicine, she’s even stopped taking lessons with Sally. It makes me really sad because she used to really enjoy playing. If she can control her mood swings and anxiety, then the doctor will put her back on focus meds. So we’ll see how it goes this summer. I’m hopeful.

Back to the concert…I’ll send you a copy of the program with your next package so you can see who did what and what they sang. It was really fun hearing the men’s quartet singing PBJ from Inside Out this time and they did a great job with it.

Not much out of the ordinary happened last week. Sarah got kind of sick and was having vertigo. In fact, she’s still having it off and on and it makes her so sick. Kirk had to stay home one day from work to take care of Addie. I guess Sarah’s mom Dee gets it every so often and she says it lasts about ten days, so it sounds like that’s what Sarah is feeling. I know the feeling cuz I’ve had it before and it’s awful, so I felt so bad for her. And you know how sensitive Sarah is to movement, car sickness, etc so this has been horrible for her. I told them I was on alert to come down and take care of Addie if they needed, but Nicole came and got Addie one day and kept her overnight and this weekend, Dee is coming into town since Sarah is having the baby a week from Wednesday. Can’t wait to meet our new little baby!! Here’s a pic of Addie at her sleepover.

Yesterday Nikki spoke in church with a bunch of seniors. She looked like she fit right in. haha She did a great job and wrote her own talk. She spoke of having a good self image as a daughter of God. In her talk she spoke of a turning point in her life when she was at girls camp her first year and how self conscious she felt. Then at the dance, you grabbed her and had her dance with everyone else and she loved it. She said from then on she didn’t care what others thought about how she looked or dressed or acted. She felt good about herself and knew who she was. I know I sent this to you yesterday, but just thought I’d attach it to the email.

Sean sent me this picture yesterday to show me how Blair actually takes their cat Scout out on walks on a leash. People always make comments when she’s out walking. So funny.

Sean also says it’s so pretty right now in Chicago, so green. After the winter, I’m sure this feels gorgeous. Alex is hanging in there in New York just waiting for Savannah to get there. He calls me when he walks home from work. He likes to walk because he says it’s so much nicer being above ground rather than under on the hot crowded subways. I google earthed his work place the other day and then looked at the street level and could see exactly the path he takes every day all the way to his apartment at Columbia University. He actually walks by the Manhattan temple every day. He thinks he’s found a place for he and Savannah to live when she gets there. It’s so expensive to live there, so it’s not the easiest decision.

Dad is working at Emmett today, so I’m busy getting errands done. This week I’m going to Living the Legacy with my presidency, so I need to get ready for that and our wifi has been painfully slow and unreliable, so now I have to call someone to come out and look at things. 

Mission calls this past week were Ren Hansen-Arkansas, Abby Hansen-San Antonio Texas spanish speaking and Caleb Shaw is going to South Africa. I’m sure there’s tons more, but I’m not much in the loop any more and the girls don’t really seem in the loop yet either. You probably hear more than me at this point.

Kirk sent us picks yesterday of the angel Moroni at the Bountiful temple. Lightning struck it and this is what happened:

Poor angel Moroni. He’s still standing strong though. :)

Can’t wait to hear about your first week with your new companion. I hope things are going well and that you’ve been busy on errands for the Lord. I’m so grateful for you, for our relationship, for your relationship with the Savior and for your great faith.The world is in such great need of women like you especially in this day and age when women are being tempted and tried and bombarded by the adversary. Here are some quotes I like about being a light in the world no matter where we are:

I know that you are that light that is helping others find their way. I also know that you are a light in my life. I pray for you always, think of you daily and have faith in the Lord that He is always by our sides. Hope you have a wonderful week!!!

Love you sooooo much,

Mom xxoo

Weekly News

May 16, 2016

Dear Sister Kristina,

I even get excited just getting your emails that ask me to pass your emails along to someone. haha I’m such a mom!! I feel so blessed to be able to live in a time where I can hear from you seconds after you write. Mondays for me are just trying to get all organized for the week, running errands, catching up, so waiting through the day for your letter is awesome.

Yesterday was wonderful. Since church is so late, dad and I spent the morning prepping things for dinner, dad studied for his lesson in High Priests and I studied our lesson in the marriage and family class. We had Myles McKell over for dinner yesterday and he asked if he could bring someone he was dating. I thought it might be weird seeing him with someone new after his divorce, but I guess I haven’t really seen him with his first wife much, so it was all good. She seems very nice and he’s happy to be dating someone. He says he’s just going to see where it goes. I hope he takes his time with it. Second marriages have a hard time working out and I think it’s because people jump into them too quickly.

We had roast beef yesterday which I’ve been craving, but I never really taste food when I have company over because I’m so immersed in our conversation, so after they left, I realized I hadn’t really tasted anything and didn’t eat much. It all looked great though, mashed potatoes, gravy, BBC salad, roasted carrots and onions. I’ll eat some of the leftovers today. yum

Our sacrament meetings are now the graduating seniors speaking so that’s always fun. Yesterday it was Ren and Abbey Hansen, Desiree Thompson and Kate Hill. It’s fun seeing how much they’ve all grown up. Next Sunday Nikki is the youth speaker. It’s funny how excited she gets to speak in church. :) I love it. And then our marriage class is always great. I always learn something in there.

Last week our iMac desktop computer died. I noticed lately that it was getting dimmer and dimmer, but I thought it must be my eyes. haha Then one morning it was just black. So we took it in and they said it was so old that they didn’t even have new parts for it. I didn’t realize that we’d had it since 2007!! yikes, that is old in this world of technology. Anyway, we had to buy a new one and now my complaint is that the screen seems so bright. I have to actually turn down the brightness. haha and it’s so large. The good thing about large is facetiming Addie!! anyway, I’ll try not to complain too much.

Saturday night was Jordan Grigg’s reception. Kris had her yard looking beautiful and it was great weather for a reception. The new trend for wedding dresses now is simple lines and not white, usually a champagne color kind of like Savannah’s. Jordan’s wife’s dress was beautiful. 

Also last week Toni went to Jan’s for a few days and managed to talk grandpa into going with her which was great. He has a hard time leaving the house to go places because he needs a cane to help him walk, etc. He had a wonderful time and Jan made it so nice for him to be there. He got to see Jan’s house which is something he’s wanted for a long time and even went to the beach with them.

On Tuesday night last week, the young women and RS combined for a dinner and program. I went a little early and took the girls so we could help set up. We had yummy food and the speakers were great. They had someone from each phase of life speak-Megan Tanner Bartschi who spoke of her teenage years, young adult years, mission and newly married and expecting. Then Mandi Stoddard (Leah’s best friend’s (Madea) mom). She has five children under 16, just recently got her masters degree and just quick working so she could be home with the kids. Then Anita Kjar spoke (they just built a house in our ward). She spoke about being an empty nester, teaching school, etc. Then Linda Oversby spoke about being a grandma and great grandma and losing her husband to Alzheimers last year. They were all good talks. Here’s a pic of things before it began.

Also last week my Mother’s Day present from dad arrived. It’s gorgeous. I had showed him some pictures of this artist I like named Annie Henrie Nader. She graduated from BYU a few years ago and loves painting in the Renaissance style. There was one picture I particularly liked because it reminds me of you three girls. I didn’t realize dad was actually paying attention to what I was showing him, haha, but here’s the picture on our wall now. I just love looking at it all the time and it looks beautiful in our house.

So you’re staying in Fairfield, huh? I hope you’re happy and invigorated about your work there not only with teaching non members but in your training. Are you still over two wards? and are you still the trainer in the area? How is Ally’s family doing? It’s funny that I don’t even know any of these people, but I worry about them, pray for them, etc. I still think about Camilo all the time. I know that this first year of his membership in the church is crucial to the building of a firm testimony that will help carry him through life. Being born into the church is truly a blessing. Our foundations can have such strong roots through so many experiences, but I really believe that those who join later are given an abundance of the spirit to help them recognize the truth. I hope someone is talking to him about getting his patriarchal blessing now. I think that would be helpful. Our ward has another baptism this weekend. There’s a young man, 18, who has been waiting to get baptized until he turned 18 since his parents are against it. He is good friends with the Peery’s. His last name is Seavey and he goes to EHS. 

Also I spoke with Teresa Peery about Austin. He comes home in one month! He’s the first one from your group to start coming home now, so it’s going to be pretty exciting. I’ll try to keep you posted on all the comings and goings. Both Ren and Abby Hansen have their papers in and are hoping to leave on missions around the same time. Ren waited to turn in his papers until Abby could. They’re hoping to get their calls this week.

Well, I hope you are enjoying your p-day and getting lots done. I’m going to type a couple blessings this morning. There are always a lot of kids asking for blessings around the end of the school year so I don’t want to get too behind. Say hi to Sis. Aiton for me and did you happen to get our package last week? I forgot to send your flash drives back, but I’ll try to put them in the next pkg. 

Have a fantastic week!!!

I Love you more than you know,

Mom xxoo

Mother's Day

May 9, 2016

Dear Sister Kristina,

That was so fun getting to talk with you yesterday, You looked beautiful, sounded great and have a fun companion. Of course, talking with you made my day, me week and I’m hoping to hold onto that until November. :)

Dad is outside planting some plants in the garden, it’s that time of year. Looks like we probably won’t sell the house this year, too emotionally jarring and too much work, so dad will just keeping working hard. My goal is to help him so he won’t have to do as many night shifts any more. I think we’ll try to stay here until Nikki graduates. Not sure what we’ll do then, but we’ll just wing it.

I told both Sean and Alex that we might be making a little trip out to see them in November sometime after you get home cuz I don’t think they’ll be able to take time off to get out here. They said the sooner we come, the warmer it will be so we’ll try to keep that in mind.

Here’s a picture of my breakfast from the girls and dad:

It was yummy. I laughed because they used a bunch of different cereals and crushed them to be the granola on the fruit.

This is a framed picture of the Chicago flag that Sean and Blair gave me. People in Chicago really like their flag and you can see it flying everywhere.

Sean also sent me this and invited me to come over and enjoy some with them. I told him that was cruel, but I’m glad they were celebrating in my honor even without me. haha

So Nikki just told me last night that the Camerons aren’t moving to California after all. I really really hope that’s true. She said Rachael and Sis. Leifson both told her, so I think it is. That means that Christmas Eve is back on!!!

Here’s what Nikki painted for me for Mother’s Day:

She wrote me a nice note in a card too talking about how she wants to work harder at being nicer to me. It was very sweet. Leah gave me two things of nail polish and said she would do my toes for me. I’m going to hold her to it. It’s now sandal weather.

I hardly have any pictures of the girls and me any more, so we took one yesterday right before church. I used to think I had big hair until I stand next to Nikki now. Leah’s thinking of getting a perm so her hair can be curlier now. After she and Bianca straightened it, it has never been the same and only a little wavy.

Dad and I took one too. It was such beautiful weather yesterday and so nice to be outside. We have been eating dinner out on the porch almost every night and I just love it.

Here’s a cute pic that Kirk sent me last week when Addie had a little friend over for a movie night. Sarah loves having this friend over because she is so sweet and well behaved-a good role model for Addie. I just love the picture!!

Alex told me last night that he felt so blessed to be born into the best family ever. I told him I knew we had chosen each other far before this earth life. He said probably so cuz he always picks great teams. :)

I’m so happy with my little team, so blessed. I knew each of you had such great potential as I looked in your eyes and heart as a child, but it’s even more fun watching each of you find the potential within yourself. Most importantly you’ve learned that you can trust Heavenly Father and He trusts you. Watching you become, Kristina, is pure joy. There will always be growing pains in the process, but the beauty of your spirit shines right through your whole body, especially your eyes and it’s something you can share with others. I love the tenderness of your heart. That’s the sign of a strong, noble woman because you’ll know how to nurture and love caring truly for the other person. I have always loved this quote and I think of you now as the type of woman needed in this world:

"The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.”

Margaret D. Nadauld-talk entitled The Joy of Womanhood 

YW Gen. Pres. 2000

I hope you have a great week, that it is full, that it is joyful, that you meet new people and that you get to bear your testimony often.

Love you very much,

Mom xxoo

May already??

May 4, 2016

Dear Sister Kristina,

The other day I saw this post from a friend:

That’s how I felt when it turned May.haha We had such a fun April though, but it just flew by. We had two weeks with Kirk and Sarah and Addie, then we turned around and flew to Chicago for a week. And oh ya, in the middle of that I flew to Provo and went to Alex and Savannah’s graduation.

Our trip to Chicago was a lot of fun. It was cold, windy and partly rainy, but it was so fun being there and having Sean and Blair as well as Alex and Savannah be with us. Leah and Nikki said they had a fun time, but they were very unprepared for the amount of walking we did and of course, they let us know how they felt about that. We had had family nights, talks, family walks, walking the dog, etc to get them ready, but they still said we didn’t tell them it would be THAT much walking. haha Before the trip, we were talking about going back east in August to DC, then New York to see Alex and also to Niagara. The girls thought it was a great idea until they went to Chicago. Nikki says she’ll still go, but Leah says absolutely not. So now we’re not quite sure what we’re going to do. I have never been to New York and was really looking forward to it and I thought going to these cities would be a great learning experience for the girls, etc. It’s all on hold for a while.

We got up last Tuesday at the crack of dawn and flew to Chicago. Alex and Savannah had been there since the Saturday before staying with Sean and Blair. Then they moved to our hotel downtown. We rode the subway the whole time or the “L” as they call it there. Sean and Blair had fun things each day for us to do. We went out to eat at their favorite pizza place, their favorite hot dog place (I never thought I’d say I would eat hot dogs on purpose, but at Portillo’s they have the best tasting dogs ever and the rule in Chicago is that you never, ever put ketchup on hot dogs. So I didn’t and it tasted great. We also ate deep dish pizza which the city is known for. Boy was that filling. I actually couldn’t finish one whole piece. I think I’m more a thin crust person. We also went to the Shake Shack which is a famous place there and to Wildberry’s for a beautiful breakfast one morning. As you can see, we ate a lot of good food and walked a lot so I didn’t gain any weight. Leah and Nikki and dad all gained weight though despite all the walking and stairs we did every day. :)

Here we are at CoalFire Pizza the first night.

Now we’re at Lou Malnati’s.

Sean got us tickets to a Cubs game, but that was our rainy day and the game actually got rained out before it started. We were all disappointed, but Sean, Blair and I had gone to the game early. I was so happy I went cuz I got to see Wrigley Field.

The pitcher who was supposed to pitch was Arrieta who had just recently pitched a no hitter, so Sean was particularly excited to see the game. Because it got rained out though, Sean now has 8 tickets to use for when they replay the game.

It also happened to be the weekend of the NFL draft and it was being held in Chicago, so we went to the festivities and it was really fun. So many booths, free food, ESPN broadcasting live, etc. There was one booth set up just like the draft podium and they said they were going to be giving away prizes. So we stood in line. Once you get up to the podium, they said if the phone rings you were supposed to pick it up and either the NFL commissioner or a player would be on the other end and they would tell you what prize you won. Most people just stood at the podium with no phone ring and just had their pictures taken there, but NO not Alex. He got up there and the phone rang. It was a hall of famer player (he said he couldn’t understand him when he said what his name was). Alex won 2 tickets to any NFL game!! They had video cameras and people there to film the whole thing when he won. Very fun!

Here’s some pix from the park where it was held:

We were trying to feel a little closer to you here.

Skittles was one of the sponsors.

We also went to the Contemporary Art Museum, but Nikki said she didn’t understand how people could call that stuff art. haha

This is the famous Bean at Millennial Park.

Here is Sean and Blair’s cat Scout wearing Sean’s ice cream cup from Wrigley Field.

One day we went to Sean’s new lab and eyeglass store. Leah and Nikki got to make their own lenses and then he took us to this cool new place called Top Golf, a driving range where you try to get points based on where you hit it and you compete with your group and have lunch too. It was very fun and actually very good food too. They’re building one of these in Utah this summer.

Savannah actually beat Alex one game and I don’t think he was real happy about it. haha

This picture kind of sums up how difficult the trip was for the girls. :) And we weren’t even walking much this day when we were in Sean’s car.

We came home late Saturday night and I’m already ready for another trip somewhere. I just love it. Alex moved over the weekend to New York. He called yesterday and said things are going really well. His dorm room is super small and can’t wait for Savannah to join him. She has to finish up some classes she’s teaching and some choreography she’s doing in Utah before she can move. When she gets there, they’ll get a larger place, but not much larger cuz things are so expensive in New York.

It’s odd to know that only Kirk and Sarah are left in Utah now. No one in Provo until you get there. Kirk loves his new job so far and Sarah is probably going to be induced on June 1st because the baby is measuring very large. I can’t wait for this new little girl to come join our family.

I also can’t wait to talk with you this weekend!!! Let me know what time and what method…facetime, etc  I love missionary Mother’s Days.

I hope your past week has gone well. Can’t wait to hear your stories.I have an RS luncheon today, then a meeting with a financial planner, then the girls have a special mutual for the stake getting ready for youth conference in June. Leah just called and asked to go to lunch today with Allie Peery at her house, so it’s pretty normal things around here now.

I haven’t heard anything back from the missionaries that I sent to Rosemary’s house a few weeks ago. I may just have to stop by her place and check on her. Spring is very beautiful here this year. Our house is looking so pretty and I love being outside. We eat almost every dinner now on the porch. It’s great. Here’s our front yard yesterday.

I hope you have a wonderful day and a great week and can’t wait to see your beautiful face this Sunday!!!

Love you sooooooooo much,

Mom xxoo