Friday, July 20

4.2

After experiencing my first earthquake this morning, I now consider myself an expert in the field. Fern and I woke up at 4:42am to a 4.2 earthquake. After the shaking stopped my mind was cleared and I began explaining to Fern the importance of the little quakes that relieves the tectonic pressure to prevent larger quakes. It's science. In the end, all is well despite our apartment sitting directly on the epicenter. So please.....stop the flood of calls to make sure we are alive.

Thursday, July 19

We're moving!

That's right. In about 12 days we'll be loading up a truck and moving to the great northwest. Tyler reached his full potential at his current job pretty quickly and decided to stick the old resume out there to see if anything bit. He's been offered a job in Seattle that has everything we're looking for. My favorite part are the fabulous new hours. While I can't wait to improve our standard of living (no more mice or bridge tolls), part of me wishes we could have just a little more time here. I love San Francisco, and there are so many things we haven't had a chance to do, though not for lack of trying. But please don't misunderstand me, I am VERY EXCITED to head up north. I love Seattle too!

Monday, July 16

By the Way...

  • I made a HUGE scene at Church yesterday. I've made big scenes before, but trust me, this was the biggest. Several women in Relief Society commented that most people who get married young, end up divorced due to the age at which they married. One woman remarked that her daughter waited to get married until after she'd received a Master's degree, concluding that girls who get married young must not have any plans for their lives and get married because (they're stupid) and don't know what else to do (except like twirl their pigtails I guess). After listening to woman after woman insult me, I had to speak up. I told them they were being mean (yep!) and explained my side of the story. I may not have a Master's or teach inner city kids in Chicago, but I have an eternal family, which is why I'm here. Simply put, it is WHO not WHEN. Etc, etc. A LOT of women came up to me after church. Some to apologize, some to agree and some to defend themselves. Luckily, Tyler showed up and saved the day by getting me out of there. I am scared to death to go back next week.
  • Danna and David's wedding was stupendous. But honestly, how could it be anything else? I'm so excited for them to FINALLY start their new life together! My parents drove up from San Diego, and then shuttled Tyler, Mack and me out to Sacramento for the festivities. My mom took Mack to hang out with an old friend, while my Dad and Tyler managed to squeeze in a movie (Transformers) between the sealing and the reception.
  • Mack is CRAZY lately. It's very cute when I'm in a good mood and infuriating when I am stressed or need to get something done. Busy busy busy. He gets into and climbs onto everything. Mack loves riding his little tricycle around the living room, waving or yelling to people outside the window and spilling cups of milk. For all his mischief, I have to say that in some strange way he is very well behaved. Mack travels extremely well. Sits good through most of church and follows a few simple instructions. Most recently he learned to sit down when I tell him "Sit down on your BUM." I think it's very cute. He still loves to "read", and his favorite book has to be Tyler's old Spanish-English dictionary from his mission. His vocabulary now includes the words:
Hot
Bye
Lello (Hello)
Hi
Ball
Zoo
Nanana (Banana)
Ma Ma
Da Da
Zzhoes (shoes)
Uh-Oh
Dee (Tree)
Dickle (Tickle)
Boom Boom
**I forgot to mention that he also says dog, ruff, sky and hot. Just this morning he said poop, but he says it "bo".**
  • For the last day and a half, a bunch of people that live in our building have been out on the front lawn arguing very loudly. We have no idea what it is about because the whole things in Turkish. But it must be serious because the women always leave crying. I just hope it doesn't get violent.
  • I'm looking forward to the next two weeks WITHOUT travel leading up to Kerin's wedding. Hopefully we can get our hands on some boxes and I can start packing--again.

Fourth of July at Embarcadero

Thursday, July 5

Is this thing on?

FIRST! We want to wish you all a happy Fourth of July, especially our brothers in arms. This Thompson family celebrated by eating at Ikea for lunch, then taking BART to Embarcadero and walking around buying some produce for our Fourth of July Feast. Later that night we put Mack to bed then ate yummy food and mostly just listened to fireworks as we watched a Globe Trekker marathon of our own making. In my opinion, it was perfect.

Obviously it's been a while since I did this.
Hold on a second, I've got the news on in the background, and the on site weatherman just gave a little update holding a water bottle and a banana. Couldn't he get someone to hold his banana and water for him? Or just set it on the ground? odd.
A lot has happened over the last couple of months. Tyler and I must be addicted to danger because we moved to East Oakland. Now, after a several "incidents" including our car being broken into (yes, the Honda--people must be really desperate) and catching 4 mice in the period of 2 weeks in our apartment, we're hoping to move to Hayward which should cut down a little on Tyler's hour commute.

Back on Memorial day weekend Tyler had his official graduation ceremony from USD. The President of Qualcomm spoke and officially became the richest person I will ever see in my life. This guy practically invented "wireless" and life as we know it. That same weekend, Kyle gave his "Farewell Talk" at church. He entered the MTC two weeks later and just left for Pittsburgh on Monday. Good Luck Kyle!

Later that week, Mack took his second trip to Disneyland. It was a HUGE hit the second time around. His favorite by far was the Carousel, but it sure was funny watching his face on the Haunted Mansion.

In June, Tyler's Mom came to visit for a long weekend and we loved having her. She spoiled Mack, made us dinner and best of all- BABYSAT! Frankly, I don't think any responsible mother in our ward would allow her teenage daughter to come babysit in our neighborhood. We loved showing her around San Francisco and probably set some sort of record for the most attractions seen in one day.
Kassey married Will King last Saturday in Midway, UT. Don't be offended if you didn't get an invite. It was a small family wedding, at least as small as our family gets. Mack and I flew up to Utah for a couple days to help. It was crazy and I'm so glad to be back where I can "relax". Congrats to Kass and Will!
I guess those are the highlights of our summer so far. We've been trying our best to take advantage of life here in the Bay area in lots of little ways. We went down to Gilroy to check our the outlets (which I can't recommend enough), and thanks to Kassey (I had to find a yellow or gray dress to wear to her wedding) I think I may have been to every major shopping center in the area, which is both a blessing and a curse.

Over Father's Day, Mack and Tyler shared their first real tide pool experience down in Monterey. Mack loved the rocks and birds and other funny things. Tyler was a little bit nervous about sticking his fingers in the weird sea creatures. We can't wait to go back.
I can't forget to mention that back in April Mack had his first boating experience. Grandpa can't wait to get him on the tube. I think it might be a while (grin).

Last but not least, Mack celebrated his first birthday back in May with cake, presents, and ribs from Legoland. Of course he got what every little boy dreams of for their birthday, a pony! About a month later, he started walking. He gets better and better every day, mastering moves such as turning and stopping without falling over. He does it all with his hands in the air, up by his head. Talent indeed.
**If you actually want to look at any of these pictures, just click to make them bigger.**