Thompson Times

Projects and Trips

2011-05-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

I admit I am not great at blogging. In fact, I have contemplated getting the book "Blogging for Dummies" so I can have cute backgrounds and perfectly laid out pictures and captions like so many of you! So if you want to share with me your insight (I'm being serious) please let me know and we can sit down for a minute and I can try and learn!

Caveat: There is going to be a lot of pictures, you don't have to look at all of them but they are there if you want to.

Anyway, in February Graham had to go to Pasadena for work and so we made it a vacation and my sister and her husband went with us and we had an absolute blast!

Medieval Times show and dinner. Our knight didn't win...but it was fun anyway!

I'm trying to get better at photography and am not sure exactly what this picture represents.

It was so beautiful and solidified for me that I need to live near the ocean, I just love it!

Outside Disneyland we went to the Lego store and HAD to take a picture with Darth Vader!

So this next picture is of Easter time. For Easter in Relief Society I made these cute little chick cupcakes for all of the women. I made about 50 of them...the idea is from the blog Our Best Bites, it is awesome!

I'll have to admit though...it definitely looks like they are staring you down!!

The next little trip that we got to take was to Portland, OR...again for Graham's work. I have a grandpa, aunt, uncle and cousins that live there and we had a really great time seeing them. We took a couple of pictures of the Portland temple while we were there. It is beautiful!

Last but not least are the newest ventures in our lives. I finally got the garden planted after tons of cold weather here in Utah and after having a wonderful lesson in gardening. This is the basil currently...hopefully it will be much taller and more plentiful in the next month or so!

And the most fun thing...we are finishing our basement. Before we started there were basically just the concrete walls. We have now had it framed, got new windows and are working on the electric. To some of you this just looks like a mess, but to me it looks like doubling our living space.

> If you have made it to this point, congratulations! Pat yourself on the back and have a great day!

Happy Birthday Bryson

2011-04-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a year almost to the hour. We miss him so much, but know we will be together again. It was fitting having Easter this last weekend. How grateful we are for the atonement and all the peace and healing that it brings us. Thank you so much to everyone who sent us love and prayers and thoughts and flowers today. We are truly blessed with wonderful family and friends!!

Individual Interview

2011-03-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

I had my individual interview today, Graham will probably have his in a couple of weeks. I think it went well, same questions that we have talked about before but a little more in depth. Graham bore his testimony on Sunday about us losing the baby and how he felt; and about us making the decision to adopt and I just bawled through the whole thing and then had a hard time keeping it together the rest of Sunday. Then today there was a small bit of drama with getting to my appointment, so when I was there I couldn't help but cry...not super crying, just teary and emotional. I really miss Bryson. It is almost his 1 year birthday...sometimes it seems like it went so fast and sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday. April is going to be a hard month...keep us in your prayers. We love you all.

Intake Interview

2011-03-21T18:45:00.000-07:00

First things first...I had a clean bill of health from the dentist. Graham wasn't so lucky. He's always telling me to brush and floss more, but when I go to the dentist and he tells me my teeth are great...where's the motivation??

Okay, on to the more important topic, the intake interview went well today. We talked to our caseworker and told her a little bit more about how we came to the choice of adoption, how great our marriage is : ) and then went through a WHOLE slew (not sure how to spell that) of papers on what things we need to gather (birth certificates, marriage certificate, medical stuff, etc.), filled out paperwork for our background check and asked any more questions we had.

Then...they send you and even more lengthy application that we each fill out and turn in. We should be getting that application on Wednesday. I am so anxious to get this show on the road I can barely stand it! But so glad that we are on the way to being approved. Probably won't be many more updates until the home visit...hopefully that will be by the end of April.

Learned an interesting thing though...some people design and print "adoption cards". They look like business cards but they have information about the families and their hope to adopt and ways to get into contact with them. Some also have pictures of them. They give these out to friends and family to pass on in the event they know someone that is interested in placing for adoption. Some even give them to their doctor in case they come across the situation. Feels a little outside of my comfort zone, but this whole process has really stretched me mentally and spiritually already. What's a little more stretching and growing right??

Thanks for all your comments and love as we start this amazing journey.

First Step

2011-03-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

We have our intake interview on Monday morning, right after the dentist! Not sure if that is a good idea...the dentist office always puts me in a damper mood (no offense any dentists reading this, it's the office; it's not you). Sounds like it is more talking and the start of a long road of paperwork. So anxious to get a move on!

Unfamiliar Territory

2011-03-16T11:09:00.000-07:00

Many of you know that we have been struggling for some years with having children. As a child, I was never the little girl that dreamed of her wedding and looked for the fairytale; I just wasn’t a girlie girl. I loved to climb trees, swim, camp and get dirty. But the one thing I always wanted was children, for as long as I can remember I knew that would be a part of my life. I’ve learned that it’s not working the way that I anticipated, as happens with many things. I’ve also learned the peace that comes from deciding that adopting children will be part of our life story. Graham and I are so excited to tell everyone that we have decided to adopt a child. We are so anxious to get this process going. We are only in the beginning steps. We have turned in our application and are waiting to schedule our “intake” interview, where we talk with a caseworker and, I’m assuming, get asked all sorts of personal questions to make sure we are fit parents. : ) We’ll keep everyone updated as we pass through each step.

We have decided to go through LDS Family Services. They strongly encourage us to reach out to all family, friends, acquaintances, friends of friends, etc. to find our child. For anyone reading this, please spread the word to all friends and family throughout the United States. If anyone is interested, once we are approved, we would like to put links on friends and families blogs letting all that read know that we would like to adopt and giving them our information. Keep us in your prayers as we embark on this journey. Love to all.

Secondhand Serenade...what a blast!

2010-12-21T22:22:00.001-08:00

Graham took me to the Secondhand Serenade acoustic concert tonight for my birthday and it was fantastic! He is such a great musician. I love concerts almost more than anything. There is nothing quite as good as live music. But I must say...I'm starting to feel old when I go to concerts! Oh well...guess they keep me young! Graham and I in the classic "hold out the camera" picture.

Here's Graham loving to have his picture taken between sets. Isn't he handsome.

The venue we went to was really small so we were really close to the stage. This is the third time we have seen him in concert.

He usually tries to stick around afterward and this time we got to take our picture with him.

It's Official

2010-09-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

GRADUATION!!!

2010-08-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

The day has finally come! Graduation was a blast and it was so much fun to put it together and see how it all turned out. For the SLCC Nursing program the graduates have to put together a committee of students and plan and pay for graduation. While I don't necessarily recommend trying to coordinate planning graduation and study for finals while in nursing school...it proved to be a fun and rewarding experience to see it all come together. Below are some photos of graduation, the beautiful flowers we bought (and one that I took home, my house smells awesome!), and the award that I got. More about that with the picture. Thanks to everyone for their support through the past 2 years...especially to Graham for his patience, he was even more excited to be done than I was!!

I received the Spirit of Nursing award. It is the only peer nominated award and it was really exciting. My brother-in-law called it the Emmy for Nerds...I happen to take that as a compliment.

Getting my scroll and pin.

Graham lovingly refers to this group as "The Nerd Herd". We all studied together and each of their families came to adopt the group title for us as well.

The graduation setup. It turned out looking really pretty...despite my nervousness.

30 days...but who's counting!

2010-07-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

I am down to one month of school left until I graduate as an RN. I am so excited to be done and get to put to use what I have learned. I decided to make a chain to count down the days. Can't wait until it gets even shorter.

Overachiever - DAY TWO

2010-07-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

Look how much he got done on day two! We can already walk down them. Now we just have to figure out the rails...this might take awhile so don't expect to see anything for day three! He did such a great job...what a great husband.

Overachiever

2010-07-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

My nursing school has truly taken its toll on Graham. He has been wanting to start a project. So while I was doing a ride along with one of the Fire Stations, he decided to take the plunge and start one. When I got home from the ride along the deck stairs were essentially gone. So I decided that I would chronical the project.

This is the only picture I could get of the stairs as a "before"...

DAY ONE - This is what he got done the first night. He started about 6 or 7 and closed up shop about 9:30. It's a little far away to see it perfectly but it is looking nice already! We'll just have to throw the dogs off for their morning outing!

Writing Again

2010-06-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid I always wanted to be an author. I would write poems and short stories. I really loved it but I haven't written anything for a long time. Well, given recent events I felt like writing again and I wrote this poem.
Written June 4th,2010.

A Baby Today

I lost a baby today.
I stumble through the motions of life;
My body broken, my heart torn, my soul wounded.
I curl like a child on his lap and I sob.
Uncontrollable, gutwrenching; filled with the emptiness of my womb.
He holds me silent, words are of no comfort.
I feel the strength of his arms even as mine remain empty.

I lost a baby today.
A perfect baby boy with my name.
I’m empty. No tears fall.
Outward: strong for her.
Inward: loneliness to immense to bear.
His life so short, mine changed forever.
I feel my arms around her, this body so full of pain.
Broken and shattered; I feel alone.

We lost a baby today.
Our future unpredictable.
No laughter, no amazement, no baby to fill our lives.
Sadness instead.
This dream was but a moment, slipping away before our eyes.
A tiny body: perfect fingers, perfect toes, a perfect spirit.
Not meant for this world.
Each night a reminder.
Missing him terribly.
We feel alone; even as we are together.

Have we lost a baby today?
His life made perfect through the sacrifice divine.
Loneliness, broken hearts will heal.
Faith to carry us through.
An angel we have gained.
His precious body now joined with his pure soul.
With his Father and his Saviour.
Never to be alone.
Separate in mortality.
Bound in eternity.
Forever His arms encircle.
We feel peace.

Gone Too Soon

2010-05-03T17:41:00.000-07:00

Bryson Graham Thompson was born on April 25th, 2010 at 11:22pm. He was 7.5oz and 10 inches. He was not with us long and will not have to suffer the pains of this world. He was the most precious child for the time that we had him. We are deeply saddened to lose our first child but are comforted with the knowledge of being able to raise him when the time comes.

Thank you for all of the thoughts, prayers and tears that have helped us and continue to help us through this difficult journey in our lives. Thank you to all of our family that traveled here and saw us through our sorrow. Every day we continue to heal and we will forever have the memory of our little boy in our hearts.

Remember When

2009-12-22T21:51:00.000-08:00

So 11pm at the airport leaves you with time on your hands. That time leads me to think of simpler times. Remember when you used to be able to watch the planes take off from inside the airport. I remember going to the airport and watching my dad or my grandparents take off in the plane and waving out the big windows just knowing they saw us. Now here I sit; blogging on the airports free WiFi, Graham listening to his iPod and me uploading pictures from my jump/flash/thumb drive. Who thought those words would ever be in our vocabulary and pertain to the computer? There is something to be said for simpler times.

Not the only 30 year old...

2009-12-22T21:37:00.000-08:00

I realized when I was packing tonight and making my bed before we left for the airport that I am not the only thing in my home that has been around and with me for thirty years. To some of you this will look familiar...to others it might look down right odd. But to me, it is comfort. This is the baby blanket that I was brought home from the hospital in. It is yellow with bunnies on it. There are a couple of stories surrounding the blanket but the one that I like to believe is that my mom made the blanket and then wrapped me up in it and took me home from the hospital 12 hours after having me. It is the longest thing that I have kept and I still tend to take it every where...not without some banter from friends and family. Thirty long years together and many more to go.

Goodbye 29, Hello 30!

2009-12-22T08:37:00.000-08:00

Well...30 came in with a bang this morning! Graham was leaving for work, I had just gotten out of the shower. He goes out to the garage to leave and then comes back in and says, "Put some shoes on, I want you to see something." So I take the towel off of my head, put on my boots and my coat and head out into the garage. It started with a few papers on the car.

Then there was a clever little song...although I put it in the wrong order in the picture so use your childhood memories to figure it out.

Then Graham closed the garage to show me the rest of the song. The rest you can see for yourself. I am not sure who the little elf was that left this gift, but thank you! I can't believe that thirty is actually here. You know, typing the whole word out looks a lot better than actually seeing the number in writing!
Isn't Santa adorable? Who ever did this is a pretty good artist!

Don't let his looks fool you

2009-11-23T17:56:00.000-08:00

So our new edition has a name...Kai (pronounced Ky). He is darling...and a biter...and terrorizes Coal...but he is darling, right? And that is all that matters!

Kai mauling Addi!

Coal and Kai playing in the backyard.

Pearls Galore!

2009-11-23T17:52:00.001-08:00

This was a perfect 5 year gift.
Thanks honey, love ya!

Happy Anniversary!!

2009-11-20T08:13:00.000-08:00

We had our 5 year anniversary yesterday and it was great! We went out to eat at Red Lobster and then walked around the mall. This last year has been so crazy with nursing school and Graham has been so great about always supporting me and I love him so much for that! Of course...I also love him because he got me a pearl necklace and bracelet for our anniversary. We had taken the trip to Denver for the football game and decided TOGETHER that we would just call it good for our anniversary. But being the wonderful husband that he is he couldn't just leave it at that. I love you Graham! I'll post a picture of my beautiful new jewelry addition as soon as I take one!

Behind the times

2009-11-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

I've decided to be a late adopter and finally come into the world of blogging after looking at all of your cute blogs...although right now mine won't be cute until I figure out how to use this thing! I'm hoping a blog will motivate us to take more pictures...we'll see.
Graham and I just took a weekend in Denver for the Patriots vs. Broncos game. We met dad and Jimmy there and had a lot of fun. We didn't win but had a great, freezing cold time!

Trip to Denver

2009-11-02T20:13:00.000-08:00

Dad, Jimmy, Me and Graham. Good

thing dad had a blanket in the car!

So much fun! Go Pats!

A view from Invesco Field in Denver, CO.