Aunts and Uncles!

Chad flew home from Washington D.C. to be at the funeral. We miss him so much. He is such a great uncle. I love this picture...all the kids are in it except for Austin and Laila.Love this picture too. My kids love these girls!

Family Pictures

My whole immediate family was able to come to town for the funeral. It was the first time we have all been together since my little brother got home from his mission 2 1/2 years ago. It was so fun! I did not go to bed before 1:30 every night. I love my siblings, in-laws, nieces, and nephews!

We have not had a family picture since before Ryan and I were married so we insisted on having one. We threw together outfits and attempted to take some. It was hard with so many people and 10 kids under the age of 6 but we did our best!

The whole family!My siblings! Sisters!Handsome men!We love this lady!The greatest parents!Daddy's girls!Have I ever mentioned how much I love my family?!?

Happy Birthday!!

My babies are 2! I can't believe it. These last 2 years have flown by. I love both of these boys more than anything. They bring so much happiness to my life and put a smile on my face every day! I feel so lucky to be their mom! Happy birthday Brady and Easton! I love you!

Evelyn Amanda Thompson

My Sweet Grandma passed away last night. We jumped in the car and are now in Utah to be with my mom and family. It is a bitter sweet day. We will miss her dearly but are so glad she has gone home to be with our Heavenly Father and my Grandpa Joe who passed away 12 years ago. The time I spent with my Grandma recently and the pictures I took with the boys are a gift I will cherish forever. My older sister Renee had taken her kids to visit her yesterday and were there at the time of her passing. Here is a brief description of what happened in my dad's words.

"It is with sadness that I announce the passing of Joeen's mother Evelyn earlier this evening. For some time the family has been aware of a growing aneurysm in her brain, for which there was not a reasonable option for treatment. Over the past year she had experienced increasing difficulty with confusion and balance and had suffered at least one stroke. Today she ruptured the aneurysm, and passed away peacefully shortly thereafter.

Her last awake moments serve as an appropriate metaphor for what was most important to Evelyn. Renee was visiting with her children, and Austin was running up to Great Grandma who started to lift him up. At that instant she collapsed into Renee's arms, and was gone. I can vision Evelyn's wonderful smile as Austin approached, and the gratitude she would have felt to have such precious visitors. Her life was completely devoted to her extended family, and it some how seems fitting that her last moments would have been shared with one of her beloved grandchildren and a great grandson, reaching out to greet them.

It is not often enough that I reflect on the blessing of a wonderful family, or credit Evelyn adequately for much of what is good and wonderful in my life. From the frozen plains of Northern Minnesota and Norwegian immigrant heritage, raised by a widow during the Depression, this shy, humble, and self effacing woman raised six wonderful children who returned her love with a host of charming grandchildren who adored her. All of her energy was expended loving and supporting her extended family
and honoring the faith she adopted after marrying her husband, Joe."

Like Father Like Sons...

Brady and Easton LOVE their dad and LOVE to do whatever he does. We had a relaxing conference weekend hanging out as a family. On Friday night we watched the BYU football game! The boys insisted on sitting on the couch by their daddy and yelling "touchdown". The next morning Ryan was doing his "perfect pushups" and Brady and Easton wanted to try. This is now their favorite thing to do! I love my 3 boys!

We Love Grandma!

While in Utah we were able to spend some time with my sweet Grandma Evelyn. She had some medical problems back in July and this is the first time I had seen her since then. It was fun to be able to spend some time with her. Our favorite thing to do with Grandma is to go to the mall and get lunch at the eatery! These pictures are from when we went to see her at her new home.

SYTYCD!!!

I got a little behind on my posts but even though this is a little late, I have to post it! I was able to go to the So You Think You Can Dance concert while I was in Utah with my mom, Abbey, Kelsey, and Aleena. It was so much fun! It was a very entertaining 3 hours and they did most of our favorite dances! I loved every minute of it! During intermission...we had really good seats!Pretty impressive for a self timer in the car! Sisters!