Our Summer Vacation

After a very relaxing week in the woods of Island Park, Idaho, my Grandpa Thompson told us about this beautiful waterfall just 14 miles out of our way on the way home. This was a great end to a great trip! Thanks, Grandpa!

Day 1

Setting up camp

We were the only ones with a wall tent there!

Elijah & Morgan

Emily & Jay (the only time I'm in pictures is when I take them of myself. . . how sad!)

The dock on the river

During our first night, a black bear came into our campground (specifically the Forscutt campground) looking for food. Jay heard it banging things around. I'm really glad I didn't hear it - just hearing about it the next day scared me so badly I dreaded middle of the night trips to the restroom!

Day 2

What's camping without a shower??

Jacob, Makayla, Grandma Thompson & Grandma Whiting are missing in this photo on top of "Golf Ball Peak" (the big round Doppler radar satellite)

River rafting - a BIG HELLO from my baby sister, Makayla, Dad, & Cindy

We got out of the river just in time for the rain to start. Then it hailed. . . . it was CRAZY! Our tent stayed completely dry and warm inside. Later we were able to use our stove to dry out Dave & Liz's blankets. Aunt Marlinda later said, "you and your tent. . . you're the ENVY!". :)

Tuesday was Carmen's birthday. She's four now!!!

Day 3

Local wildlife: Osprey

2nd Rafting trip - our four boys

Elijah and the rapids

Zach (nice tongue!) and Jake

My brave sisters and the snake! Good job Makayla & Lindsay!

Cute little garter snake

David & Liz competitively throwing rocks

Dinner/Theater night. . . . spendy but highly recommended! Our boys had so much fun!

Indoors at dinner

This poor frog was so afraid that it peed on Jacob seven times!

Day 4

The saddest thing happened on Thursday. . Dave and Liz went home. Jay and I both decided that the atmosphere of the camp changed when they left. You guys definitely have a good spirit about you - we could tell when you were gone! P.S.Thanks for the big blanket - it made all the difference!!

Dad really liked Jay's telescope. Anyone out there looking for a christmas gift idea for Dad. . . . here you go! (Marlinda looks in on the action)

Lindsay is a great Aunt!!! Here she is rowing my sweet baby David around on the river.

These two cute men in awesome hats are my Dad and his Dad. . . I just love this picture!

Here's a great picture of my man, the raft hauler doing his THANG. . . .

On Friday morning we woke up to another dangerous wildlife story from our host Bill and his wife. . . . it seems that first thing in the morning (around 6AM) a pack of wolves came in to our camp ground (this time not the Forscutt campground) and scattered a few horses. One broke out of its harness and the other broke its rope. . . the man found his horses four miles away. . . . so now we have bears and wolves to worry about. . . WHY did I go camping again? :)

Day 5

My brother, Cory, and our cousin, Spencer rented these Sea Doo's on our last full day at Island Park. They were kind enough to take us out. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit, but this was my first time on a Sea Doo. :) I really enjoyed myself and I didn't fall off!!

Cory took Jay out and later let him drive it. . . . that was fun. I wish I would have taken my camera out there, but you get pretty wet out there!

Card games are big at the Thompson camp out trips!

On Thursday, Grandpa Thompson helped save the meal we cooked by lighting my charcoal briquettes and giving me great tips about cooking with Dutch ovens (Jay had abandoned me to take the rafts down for the fourth time). . . the next night, he and Grandma Thompson and Aunt Marlinda (cutting the veggies all day long!!) made this incredible stew. It was so good I had to get a picture of it! Thanks for the yummy meal!

My brother, Cory. . . the future Missionary! He leaves us on September 24th (five days before our brother Logan gets home) to go teach the gospel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. . . We'll miss you so much, Cory!!

Day 6

Here are some other pictures we took on our visit to Mesa Falls on the ride home. . . .






Now we're home again and feeling a little out of sorts. . . we stopped by Chris Ryan's house (Zach and Jake's dad) to drop them off for the last three weeks of their summer vacation. . . . when we finally came home, we were exhausted!! It's so good to be home!

Hopefully the other brothers can come next year since Cory will be on his mission! We also missed you, Rena!!! We talked a lot about eveyone who wasn't there. . . . remembering things about them. . . . Marsha, I realized it's been four years since I've even seen your beautiful face! I told Marlinda that it's a good thing she comes so that I can at least remember what you look like! (my two favorite aunts are identical twins)

I'm so glad to have been invited to go with my Dad's family camping. . . . we really enjoyed ourselves and look forward to many years to come!

Hardwood limbs

Here are some limbs I had my boys throw over the fence into our back garden area. They are never going to get that six pack they are always talking about unless they do physical hard labor.

Hardwood

Last year our heating bill was zero dollars total because we heat our house with wood burning stoves. There have been some dead thirty-five year old black walnut trees next door that the neighbors finally let us cut down this week before our big camping trip. The larger logs go to the mill to make planks of black walnut for building things and the smaller limbs get cut up as firewood. The trees were over fifty feet tall and made quite a noise when they hit the ground. Here I am cutting up some of the small stuff. I especially like this pic because it shows how my sexy broad shoulders go so well with my white bony legs. One of our neighbors children looks in on my activities in awe.

Boys in the leaves

Back in 1999 I took this one of the boys in the fall. I've always liked this pic. Jay

Scottish Pride

Today we had the honor of attending the Payson Scottish Festival. This is a free event complete with a parade. . . . . .

Opening Ceremonies. . . .

And some people that are really into it. . . .

don't they look great?!?!

Jay has gone to this for the past three years. This is my first year, though. I've been missing out! Lately, I feel that Jay has been frustrated that we don't enjoy the same types of things. I can honestly say I enjoyed this even as much as he did.

The parade is really short. . . the bagpipe "bands" march up the street and around the corner where they line up for the opening ceremonies. They play songs as they pass. . . . I enjoyed it so much. There is something about live bagpipe music that always, always makes me cry! I don't even feel the tears coming. . .they just start streaming down my face. I've heard bagpipes live about 5 times now. . . . same effect every time.

The opening ceremonies is (according to Jay, and it's so fitting, I'll use it here) "hair-raising". I definitely got goose bumps when the soloist did "Amazing Grace" and then after the first verse the entire field errupted in the chorus. . . . it was fabulous!!

There are booths all over the park and most of them are "clan" related. There was one there that was named "Clan Forsyth" - I believe this is where our last name originated. . . .it was fun to talk to the man there - he is an expert on the Forsyth line stories. We learned a lot and I can't wait to find out from Jay's parents what they know about the link there.

Some of the booths sell the Scottish kilts and souvenirs and other stuff. . . . Thanks to the couple in the fabulous costumes, we'll probably be looking for some authentic Scottish clothing to wear next year.

There is also a Scottish festival at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi - we'd have to pay to get in but we'll definitely plan on going there next June!

I had a wonderful day and even though the kids were ready to leave way before Jay and I, we felt the Scottish pride that was generated there. . . how exciting to be a part of that for a day!!!

Dog for a Weekend?

I think it's true what they say about people being either "Cat-People" or "Dog-People". Personally, I grew up with both - sometimes at the same time. Once I had children, something weird happened. I started to get irritated at the dog that I grew up with . . . I found that any attention he demanded just grated on my nerves. Since I had babies of my own, I've learned that I prefer cats with their self-bathing, self-entertaining, self-exercising, and self-feeding ways.

This weekend I got the rare treat of babysitting the Thompson dog instead of the Thompson kids. Here is a picture of us driving home to Nephi. He wouldn't look my in the eye. Only straight ahead or out the window. It was pretty funny. Harvey is a good dog - I'm just not a "Dog-Person". I think Liz was worried that it would bother me beyond control, but it's been ok.

Friday morning, Jay walked in to check on the boys really early. Harvey was in his kennel and started to growl at Jay. He wouldn't stop and it woke the boys much earlier than we wanted them to get up. Jay had to turn on the light and open the kennel. Harvey was so cute - he came out with his tail between his legs - head down and wagging his tail in a really meek "I'm sorry. . still waking up and didn't recognize you or remember where I am" kind of a way. . . . it was pretty cute.

Elijah has been taking really good care of Harvey. He's been combing out the "dreadlocks" that Aunt Liz mentioned when I picked Harvey up - Elijah thinks they're getting better. :) He takes him on walks every day and makes sure he eats and has plenty of water. Aunt Liz couldn't have asked a better person to take care of Harvey.

Elijah is our son that is always asking for a dog. He'd say he was an "Animal-Person" - not partial to one particular kind. . . . My personal bonus this weekend is the comment Elijah made after getting Harvey un-stuck from his rope in the backyard for the third time in 30 minutes. . . .he said, "This dog is changing my mind about having a dog".

YES!!!! So thanks, David and Liz (Liz is the "Dog-Person") for this eye-opening experience into the care that goes into a dog. . . .so that Elijah can compare that with the care a cat takes.

I try and take pictures. Kind of a hobby I guess. I'm not very good at all. One night we were at Temple Square and Emily just sort stuck the camera over her shoulder backwards and took this pic. Just a great shot.

Life on a "Farm"

It's almost time to start hunting and collecting our winter heat source. Here are a couple of picures from last year. . . . .

This is Jay using the log splitter that we rented. We all spent the whole day outside splitting and piling wood . . .

This is the nice pile of wood we collected that kept us semi-warm all winter long. . . Ok, we didn't freeze, but I definitely didn't go anywhere without a few layers. Since I'm the only girl, I get a lot of crap when I'm cold that it "must be a girl thing". . . I highly doubt that I'm the only one cold when the inside of the house warms up to a whopping 50 degrees (Jay. . . you know I'm telling the truth!)

A moment of silence for Randy. He was hatched last year and sent to us through mail order from our local farm store. He was supposed to be a girl. We learned that the GORGEOUS tail feathers come with some pretty nasty personality traits. Once Jay found out that his baby girl (me :) ) and his baby boy (David) were afraid to go in the backyard, he offered Randy to a nice visiting African man who knew exactly what to do with nasty birds. I wish I could say I miss him. . . .Rest in peace, Randy!

Our boys are very good with the chickens. Today, Elijah reported 44 eggs recovered from the chicken coop. We love giving eggs away almost as much as we love eating them!

Of course, no farm would be complete without a carcass or two around. . . here's Jay with a freshly slaughtered deer carcass. (No, the LA man didn't kill the animal himself. . . it was a gift - if you can believe that!) ~Em

Me and the boys at Fathers and Sons testing out the wall tent. No hamburgers for us. Those two dutch ovens have a couple of roasted chickens and some cobbler in them.
Jay

This is the first time me and the boys ever used our wall tent. Ice fishing at Yuba Lake, Utah. There were a lot of very cold boys at that event. Not us. The boys were so warm in there they all slept in their boxers while it snowed outside.
Jay