Marius

This is Marius, a 9 year old boy from Romania. This is a picture of him before he was burned in a horrible fire, which also took his parents lives.
This is 9 year old Marius after the fire. He has recieved 4th degree burns over a huge portion of his body. He is coming to California to be fostered by a family in our ward here in Santee. He has been given an extended visa of 5 years, along with his 19 year old brother, so that he can be cared for at Shriner's.

His story is recorded on the website here and I hope you will go to it and read about and see who he is: http://www.teammarius.org He will be in primary with my boys and I hope they will be good examples of Christlike love to him. I hope he will feel loved and accepted here. We pray for his recovery and especially for his internal wounds to be healed. He will only have an interpreter for a month here so we realize this will be a bit of a scarey experience for him. Please keep him in your prayers!

Our move....

Well,for those of you who don't know, we have moved to the San Diego area for Rick's Navy Medical Internship. He's doing really well and of course they like him. We are exhausted! I say we because he's up at 4am every morning, and I'm pregnant! Anyway, following are some photos of our week long vacation/drive to California. We had a great time and made lots of great memories. It was our first vacation ever as a family, not including flying home for holidays to be with family.

Tuscon with the Packers!

We stayed a couple days with my sister Lenona and her 3 kids. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures except for at the pool. Rachel, my neice, really enjoyed Rick flipping her in the pool.
Brahm enjoying the sunshine.
McKay getting flipped.
Emerson just being cute!

Lenona enjoying some sun on the floatie.

Lake Meade

We practically had the whole beach to ourselves for most of the day. It was a blast!
The boys found lots of shells for collecting and enjoyed getting warm in the sand.
McKay.
Emerson.
Brahm kept sticking his head in the mud. The hard part was getting him cleaned up without getting dirt in his eyes. He's such a funny little boy!

The Virgin River

The boys practicing skipping rocks.
Emerson collecting rocks.
Brahm completely knocked out on trolley ride home from the hike. We were all pretty exhausted!

Daddy playing with the boys.

Temple of Sinawava hike ends here at this beautiful part of the Virgin River. Here Brahm plays happily in the muddy water.
The water was very cold, but none of the boys cared. I was the only woosy who wouldn't go in farther than my ankles. But, someone's gotta take pictures, right?

Zion National Park

Zion is Rick's favorite National Park. He bought the boys these walking sticks which they ended up dragging and poking at people all the way along the hikes. But, they were really happy with them and I guess that's what matters.

Rick and I at the Weeping Wall. Water falls on the top rocks which are pourous and the water sinks down the the rocks that aren't pourous. Then the water drips over the edges because it can't be absorbed anymore and all these incredible tropical flowers and plants grow all along the edges. It's really beautiful!
The hike to the Temple of Sinawava.

A Day at Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon is one of my favorite places on earth! It is so vast and beautiful! I admit that I was a bit panicked by how close the boys would get to the edge, but we still had fun!
Look at those beautiful red rocks behind McKay!


Ahhh...such beauty!

Visiting Great Grandpa Christensen

Ahh...the memories of Richfield, Utah. This couch alone has lots of memories. Here's my sweet grandpa with the boys. He taught them how to tie knots and told them some jokes and riddles. They loved it! It was wonderful to see him!!
McKay on his horse. We went horseback riding near Bryce Canyon. We all had so much fun! Brahm wasn't old enough to go so we took turns sitting and eating Cheetos with him and petting the "nice" horses.
Rick enjoying a little cowboy living.
Emerson turning on the charm.

Memorial Day Hike in Millcreek Canyon

It rained and was cold all day, but the Thompson clan made the best of things! Katherine & Jacob, Christopher & Tallie.



Emerson finds the biggest stick possible. There were no shortages of sticks for the kids on this hike.
Goofy McKay roasting his hot dog. Emerson, McKay, Ike, Azalea & Chris.

3 little fishes...

Brahm started swim lessons this summer. He is fearless. Here he is actually swimming. He cannot touch the bottom of the pool except for right next the the edge at the shallow end. I had to get in with him because he was constantly getting in "over his head". He'd swallow some water and cough a bit, I'd rescue him and return him to the steps, then he'd turn around and do it again. He did throw up twice...He swallows a lot of water!
Brahm rarely stays above water. Sometimes the lifeguards panick and think he's drowning.

Emerson prepares to jump. Water is so much fun for my boys!

Swim Lessons

McKay doing the breast stroke. His teacher really wants him to try out for a swim team. He does really well and we're pleased that he has worked so hard.
Emerson swimming solo. He's such a stinker. He is a good swimmer, but mostly loves to play. His teachers give him a hard time because he constantly wanders off when he's supposed to be at the edge with his class. He is such a silly boy.
McKay doing the backstroke.
Emerson getting ready to dive.
Fun! Fun! Fun!

Ogden Marathon

Here's Rick and his twin, Rob, running the Ogden Marathon 2008. Rob grew this awesome mustache so he could look like "Hulk Hogan"?? So hilarious we couldn't stop laughing!

All 5 of our boys were troopers and had lots of fun wearing the dad hats they all made and cheering them on. Climbing IN the water fountain was a must at the end of this very hot, long day!