Might get flurries this weekend. Haven’t officially had our first frost yet but it’s dipping into the mid-thirties at night now. Had the scouts camp out in our backyard last weekend – they can attest to the 30’s at night and the grass sure was crunchy and white in the morning regardless of what the weather people are saying about official frosts. I made campfire stew and we also used pie irons to make sandwiches and pizzas and all sorts of different kinds of pies over the campfire!
Sorry for the lengthy time between posts. Maybe I’ll make up for it by posting quickly twice. Or maybe not. Life has been insane but finally football is almost done, and soccer is done, and cross country is done, and CISM weekend training is done, and Beth’s pre-defense-(or whatever it’s called)-paper is done, and Susana has been in NYC for a week. It’s all good – but busy.
One of my make-a-wish children died a few weeks ago – very sad, but I got to see him the weekend before which I’m very grateful & blessed for it all working out. That same weekend he spent several hours with Vikings players at their practice facility, met AP and other Vikings, and went to the Vikings game the next day. The Viking World Order (VWO) group has been fantastic about taking care of him and his family – Make-A-Wish really didn’t get involved very much with a wish unfortunately but it was still great to get to know this amazing 13-year-old. At the visitation it was packed with people in football jerseys – unlike any visitation you’ve ever been to – I guarantee it! I took the kids and Susana to a spaghetti fundraiser the weekend after the services and it was the same thing – completely filled with people in purple and Vikings attire. It’s great to see their family get so much support in this time of need.
In completely random order that likely won’t match up to photos…
First-day-of-school photos (yes, from a month ago).
Colleen has braces.
Christopher is playing on a girls football team – or is it that a girl is playing on his team – I can’t remember 😉 BTW – she’s great!
Harry Potter sometimes visits us. Wish those darn owls wouldn’t follow him around.
Susana made us a fantastic Spanish meal – super yummy!!!
Mmmmm – fish chowder and local beer at the Angry Trout in Grand Marais. Love that place!
Colleen also made us a dinner – I recommend the orthoptera over the diptera.
Muddy, muddy football. The boys spent more time picking mud out of their shoes than playing!
Scouts waking up around the fire after spending the night camping in our yard on a 34F morning 🙂
Daddy’s and Megan’s apple pies. Yep – we are master chefs!!
Colleen and Mary Tyler Moore (we took Colleen to a nice dinner downtown followed by seeing Wicked for her birthday).
Lots of pictures from the corn maze this year. Fun times!
See the picture of me (or is it grandpa?) in the flannel and all hunched over helping serve food outside with the scouts? Did you notice the orbs? What?!??! You missed the orbs? I watched a video by Dr. Wayne Dyer several months ago. I wouldn’t suggest that anyone watch any of his videos but he did have a few fun quotes or ideas mixed in with all of the other insane thoughts that he has. So…he says that orbs in photos are spirits and otherworldly visitors and that it is an amazing coincidence when they show up in pictures. So I have four spirits visiting me that morning by the campfire. Sweet! Cool! And here I thought it was all due to me not cleaning my lens ever. Fantastic that Katherine, Andres, and Grandma & Grandpa T all joined us that morning!
Hope all is well with everyone. Can’t wait to see mom and dad in a month!!
Enjoyed the pics and update. You certainly had a busy autumn. I’ll be busy keeping up with leaves for the next few weeks. I put 16 leaf barrels out at the curb yesterday and am waiting for more leaves to fall before next Tues. When we look at our trees it doesn’t look like many leaves have fallen from them. I’ve also been trying to finish up the pond project. I seem to have a little leak somewhere, but will track it down next spring. We’ve bought some plants recently. I’ve got to lay low for awhile as it seems like every time I go to H. Depot I come home with some plants. They’re half price and fall is a good time to plant so despite mom’s doubts it seems like the thing to do. We have 3 frogs that like to swim in the pond and Cameron enjoys them.
Glad to see that Susana is enjoying the American delicacy of corn on the cob. Did she send pictures to her family to show them? That looks like a fun place to go.
Before I forget, I didn’t see your comments about the insect collection pic. If that belongs to someone in your family, hang on to it. I told Phil and Pat that as much as everyone laughed at my 50+ year old collection, it could be worth some $. Mom and I were in an antique shop in Concord, MA a few weeks ago and there was a “vintage insect collection” priced at $115. The lady heard us laughing and we told her that we had an antique collection of insects.
I always thought that orbs were mistakes. I didn’t realize spirits were involved in their presence. I often had similar spots in B&W pics I used to develop. Maybe I wasn’t alone in the darkroom.
That was too bad about your Make-A-Wish young man. As sad as his loss was it’s nice to know that you and others brought him happiness and peace in his final days and weeks. At 13 it sounds like he really touched many lives.
I won’t comment on all the pics, but enjoyed them all. Hard to believe another school year has begun. Best of luck to all the students. Mom doesn’t seem to miss not going back to school this year. All the young Thompsons displayed good form – in soccer, football and striking the same pose as M-T. M. From Colleen’s smile it looks like she has accepted the braces quite well.
Keep all the cold weather and snow you want. We won’t mind if we have a mild winter. We finally turned on our furnace yesterday. We are looking forward to seeing you all in a few weeks and meeting Susana. Better send this quick – our Comcast service has been going in and out and looks like its working at the moment.
You are one busy family!!! But looks like everyone is having a good time in most of your pictures. Can’t wait to meet Susana and see all of you in just two weeks. I agree with all dad said in the comment before mine. We love seeing your pictures and reading your comments and updates. Keep up the good work. I’m busy helping set up the Church Fair and will work at the fair this Friday and Saturday. Lots of hard work and love goes into making it a huge success each year. Bye until November 13.
Love, Mom (and Grandma T)
I didn’t notice Dad’s reply until I got notified of Mom’s comments – sorry about that. Yes, we are definitely busy as always. In just the past week football, cross country, and soccer all stopped for the season so that will help. I’ll tell Colleen that her bugs could be worth big bucks some day…maybe Dan wants your old insect collection instead of the Cougar???? I did comment on Colleen’s insect collection – it was this “Colleen also made us a dinner – I recommend the orthoptera over the diptera” 🙂 My pond loses water when the temperatures first dip/rise in the fall and spring – it fixes itself within a few weeks so I’ve stopped panicking each year. Glad you two are keeping busy too – I’m sure it was a huge change for mom not going back to work so hope that continues to go well. We can’t wait to see you so soon – really looking forward to it. Take care – hope the Church Fair goes well!