Brett and Cindy

Christmas in Colorado 2011

2011-12-28T12:41:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas from the Thompsons! This was our first Christmas together, living in Colorado. Elly is 8 months old now, and continues to fill our days with smiles.

We spent Christmas weekend down in Englewood, CO with Brett's family. Elly loved Uncle Jim and Aunt Teri's Christmas tree. She's so excited for Christmas!

Yummy, crinkly, colorful wrapping paper.

Mommy helped Elly unwrap her Christmas presents.

Daddy couldn't wait, so we let Elly open this gift on Christmas Eve, a pink water bottle all her own!

Santa gave Elly this fun activity table. It's just her size!

Aunt Teri gave Elly this Baby Grand piano!! She loves it.

Elly's been making the most adorable faces lately, our favorite one we call, "scrunchy face." Here are a couple of glimpses of it.

Cousins!! Kadie, Kelli, and Josh

Grandma Thompson and Elly. Such pretty blue eyes!

Daddy got a foam roller for Christmas, great for stretching. Ahhhh......

Elly LOVES cats and dogs. Snow the cat entertained Elly ALL weekend.

Elly's first Christmas was full of fun. Experiencing Christmas with this sweet angel makes this time of year even more joyful!

Thanksgiving and more!

2011-12-08T21:01:00.001-06:00

We took a whirlwindtrip over Thanksgiving, visiting California and Las Vegas to see as much familyas we could. We left the snowin Colorado and enjoyed the green grass and sunshine.

Elly wore a dress made by her Great Grandma Swenson, and another made by her Grandma Winkel. I guess I better learn how to crochet!

Sometimes, Grandma Winkel can’t wait for Christmas to open presents. And since we'll be in Colorado for Christmas this year, Elly already opened her first Christmas present. Of course, the paper was the best part!

All the "Winkel" Cousins!!

Grandpa Thompson and Elly, hanging out in Las Vegas.

Tired out from such a fun trip!

Back home we've been having fun too.

Elly’s had fun eating some yummy food!!

Peaches are a little tart though.

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

*Cousins*

John, Brett, Brandon

Babies born 2011

Emerie-September, Elly-April, Bron-January

Fall!

2011-10-17T22:51:00.013-05:00

Elly is 6 months old now and she's just as sweet as ever! She's got 2 bottom teeth, sits up, and is on the very verge of crawling. We’ve been settling down here in Loveland, although we haven’t exactly been staying at home. We took a road trip to Utah, Nevada, and California. Elly's been quite the little traveler. We're also having all kinds of fun here in Colorado. Here are some pictures from our adventures the past couple of months…

Elly's first visit to the beach (Huntington Beach, CA).

Cousins-Malia and Cecily

Cousins-Schaffer and Aria (Santaquin, Utah)

Cousins-Benee and Adam (Apple Valley, CA)

Cousins-Kadie and Kelli (Colorado)

Grandparents (Las Vegas, NV)

Grandparents (Apple Valley, CA)

Time for Cougar Football. Go BYU!

Brett's birthday!! Brett, Kelli, Kadie, Grandma, Teri, Josh, Jim.
Everyone fit in our little front room!

We've taken Elly hiking a few times. She loves it! Our little nature girl. These pictures were taken in Rocky Mountain National Park in October!! We've had amazing fall weather.

We love the Fall!

And now... our 6 months old cutie pie, here are just a few of her adorable expressions!

2011-09-01T22:07:00.033-05:00

Elly is 4 ½ months old and getting cuter, and bigger, every day!

She’s developing such an adorable personality. She smiles at everyone and giggles with delight. Elly loves to hike, as long as she got her little sun hat on. We hiked Devils Backbone and Round Mountain, both right here in Loveland, CO.

Just last week she started rolling over. She kicks up her legs and rolls from her back to her tummy. Within a couple days, she was rolling all over (both ways) and scooting around on her tummy. She’s getting pretty good at getting the toys she wants.

Elly loves water bottles. She wants to drink whatever mommy and daddy have.

When Elly was 2 1/2 months old, we had our our friend Emilie take some photos. They’re a couple months old, but we love them so much! I just had to share!

This Month...

2011-07-13T10:28:00.023-05:00

It's been ONE month since we packed up our life in Illinois and headed to Colorado. It was a tearful goodbye. But we've been blessed to spend a lot of time with family, which is one of the reasons we moved back out west. Here are some of the happenings in our life this past month...

My sister Tina and Chad had their baby girl Aria's sealing and blessing in Utah.

Cousins! Aria (7 months old) and Elly (2 1/2 months old)

The very next weekend was Elly's blessing in Colorado.

Sunday morning, all dressed up and ready to go.

Grandma Winkel and Grandma Thompson

Cousins and Uncles: Jeff, Brandon, Bron, Brett, Elly, John, Tony, Chad, Schaffer

Our family members who were able to attend Elly's blessing in Englewood, CO on July 3, 2011.

It was a fun filled weekend with family, grilling, wading in the creek and playing in the park.
Riding the train in the park!

Tired out baby girl.

Elly is 3 MONTHS OLD now, and smiling so much! Here are some of my favorite pictures...

Elly is ONE month old!

2011-05-23T19:04:00.005-05:00

Our precious Elly is one month old already! She is smiling more and more and just melting our hearts with her adorable faces. Here are some of my favorite pictures of our little doll.

She is going to grow up living in Colorado, but she'll be able to say she's been to Nauvoo!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-25T18:11:00.006-05:00

Happy Easter from the Thompsons
Ellysia is 10 days old and so precious in her Easter dress!

Our baby is here!

2011-04-19T10:37:00.016-05:00

This has been the week that we’ve been waiting for, and one we will never forget. Meet Ellysia Ivy Thompson.

We call her Elly, and Ivy comes from her great-grandmother, Brett's grandma, Blanche Ivy Long Henderson, who passed away the night Elly was born. Our week of excitement started on Monday night. I was sick with what turned out to be a virus or some kind of stomach flu. That was the beginning of our sleeplessness, which as new parents, we knew was inevitable. My water broke the next night, Tuesday, at 1:30am (technically Wednesday morning). We made our way to the Proctor Hospital and checked in about 3:00am. Even though my water had broken, there were no contractions. Our goal was to have our baby with no medication or intervention, so in order to avoid being induced, we did our best to get contractions started naturally, and luckily they did! Around 5:00pm on Wednesday, we were well on our way. Elly was born that night, Thursday morning actually, at 1:46am. Brett was an amazing support and helped me work through every second of labor. I could not have done it without him. Our midwife Sherry was an amazing support as well. We are so grateful that everything went smoothly, and that we were blessed with a beautiful, healthy baby. Here are a few snapshots of our experience...

Mommy meets her baby girl

Daddy cuts the cord

Perfect baby

First bath

All bundled up and comfy

Daddy loves his Elly

How could you not love this cutie?

Exhausted girls

First Thompson family photo

Brett brought in roses and a birthday cake to celebrate! So thoughtful!
Happy birthday baby girl!

Going home!

And now the true adventure begins!

Baby Girl Thompson

2011-02-27T21:48:00.002-06:00

January 2, 2011
26 weeks (5 months)

February 27, 2011
34 weeks

2010 A Year in Photos

2010-12-31T16:23:00.032-06:00

JANUARY

Tina and Chad had little Schaffer sealed to them in the Provo, Utah Temple.

The Winkel Sisters auditioned for America's Got Talent.

FEBRUARY

We bought a HOUSE! Built in 1913, this house has been a big remodeling project, which has been a huge part of our 2010.

Cindy performed in The Music Man at the Peoria Players Theater.

APRIL

We went to SPAIN!!

MAY

Our nephew Chris graduated from Doane College, Nebraska.

JUNE

Grandpa Swenson's funeral.

Winkel Family reunion in Big Bear, CA.

JULY

Brett's mom and grandma came to visit us in Illinois.

Cindy's birthday

And her favorite birthday present was learning that we were going to have a baby!

AUGUST

Happy TWO Year Anniversary to us!

SEPTEMBER

Annual Pumpkin Festival in Morton, Illinois, pumpkin pancakes!

OCTOBER

Brett's birthday. The cake is a loaf of pumpkin bread... Mmmmm pumpkin!

We took a weekend trip to the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois.

Backyard leaf burning at our home in Washington, IL.

NOVEMBER

Thanksgiving in Denver with Brett's family.

You can see the beginnings of a little baby bump, our baby girl!

DECEMBER

Christmas in California. Brett was one of the 3 Kings on Christmas Eve.

Tender times with our new niece, Chad & Tina's Aria (just 6 weeks old).

And not so tender times with the rest of the nieces and nephews.

Sunset on the Santa Monica Pier.

And here's to the end of a wonderful year!

Life Lately

2010-10-02T20:11:00.019-05:00

It's been a little too long since out last post, so here's a snapshot of what we've been up to lately... After a bit of a break, we continued to work on our house. The wood floors needed a little repairing. We're also refinishing the floors this month, so check back for updated pictures soon!

Galena, IL

We took a quick trip to Galena, part of the celebration of our 2 year anniversary, August 2.

Morton Pumpkin Festival

This was our 3rd year in a row. We love it! We volunteered with the Morton Ward on Friday night and served dinner...rib-eyes, porkchops, chili nachos, and pumpkin pie. On Saturday morning, the pumpkin pancakes were especially delicious this year! And Emily introduced us to the apple cider slushies, mmmm!

Me and Emily

Trips to Nauvoo.

BYU Football

Brett was able to go to the Air Force game in Colorado.

He says... it's a rebuilding year :)

John and Tyler at the Air Force/BYU game

And just today, Brett repainted the 2 front rooms.

We love the new, darker color!

We LOVE our house. You should come visit us!

June 2010

2010-07-02T10:04:00.035-05:00

June was a full month. My grandfather passed away and I was able to fly to Utah to attend his funeral. How thankful I am for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, knowing that my grandfather is happy. It was a beautiful day with tears and laughter, remembering my grandpa, the legacy he left and seeing so many loved ones.

Mom and her 3 girls... Cindy, Tina, Tiffany

Tony and Mom

Later that week, I traveled down to California to spend time with my family. Brett stayed in Illinois and continued to work on our house (more pictures of his handy work coming soon!) I am so blessed to have a such a wonderful, hard working husband, who let me leave and play for a couple of weeks! Although, every day, I did become more and more anxious for him to join us for the 1st official Winkel reunion. My first night "home," Dad took us to Viva Marias in Apple Valley for dinner.

I spent time hiking with Alan's family, playing with nieces and nephews, swimming in mom and dad's pool, seeing Alan and Tony's latest housing projects, visiting the beach, and playing at Disneyland with Tiffany, her girls, and mom.

When the weekend came, we all made the hour trek up to Big Bear for the start of the reunion. First activity...

Miniature Golf in our matching shirts that Chad designed!

Big Bear Lake and Tony

Miles and Adam

Vienna, Benee, Malia

The THOMPSONS!

We had a Ping Pong tournament and played some pool. There were adjustments by dad, a talent show, crazy games, and yummy food... all under the roof of one cabin. Wish we could do it more often!

Cindy and Tony singing the Fish Song.

Benee and Alan singing some jazz.

Brett...being a good sport.

Dave entertaining us all.

Tony, grilling up the brats.

June 2010

Month of May

2010-05-14T20:01:00.011-05:00

Spring in Illinois is quite beautiful! The Magnolia tree in our yard (we have a Magnolia tree!) started blooming just as we left for Spain. By the time we got back, those flowers were pretty much done, but there have been other flowers popping up all through the yard. The previous owner of our house loved flowers and we have been enjoying a lot of blooming surprises this month.

We have little friends too.

But this spring, most of our time has been spent inside...tiling, grouting, and painting the new upstairs bathroom.

More house pictures to come!

Spain 2010

2010-04-18T19:55:00.022-05:00

We spent Spring Break seeing as much of Spain as possible in just 10 short days. We flew into MADRID, then hopped on a train and went south, directly to SEVILLA. The cathedral here took my breath away. It was an amazing way to begin our Spain experience.

The next evening, we took a bus to GRANADA. Another amazing city. We spent the day seeing The Alhambra, an old Muslim palace, and walking the streets enjoying the beautiful buildings and orange trees.

Eating in Spain was an adventure in itself. The typical Spanish breakfast...Churros con chocolate, mmmmm!

Bocadillos - a favorite sandwich in Spain. Calamari bocadillo...

Fruits

And last but not least! Octopus...

BARCELONA was next. This was the only cloudy day of our trip, but we still enjoyed the city, walking the famous Las Ramblas walkway, catching a glimpse of the east coast, and seeing the works of Antonio Gaudi (Modernist Architect) including the unfinished cathedral (still under construction) - La Sagrada Familia.

Here is Gaudi's Park, Park Guell.

There is also another cathedral in Barcelona...beautiful.

That night in Barcelona, we even found some jazz!

We then flew from the east coast across the country to SANTIAGO de Compostela. Brett spent the last 2 months of his mission here. This city had a unique and different feel than the cities we had visited before. It is also the final destination for those people walking the Camino de Santiago. The Cathedral...

The next night, we took a night train back to Madrid, making it just in time to catch a train up to BURGOS, where Brett spent 6 months of his mission.

Before seeing much of Burgos, we spent some time at the train station trying to retrieve Brett's backpack which we left on the train! Oops!

The cathedral in Burgos has been through some major cleaning and renovations in recent years. Brett was amazed at the difference since his last visit.

On Sunday we went to church at the Branch in Vitoria, where Brett served for 2 months. Here are some of his friends who warmly welcomed us.

Finally, we came to our last city... SEGOVIA. Here we saw a Roman Aqueduct, dated between the 1st and 2nd century! We saw the Alcazar, a palace dated around 1120AD.

That night, our trip ended with Brett finding one of his favorite stores...

This Spring Break trip will be hard to top. We had an amazing time!

Home Sweet Home

2010-03-14T15:58:00.062-05:00

Remodeling our first house together has been quite an adventure! It's been keeping us busy for the last 2 months. The night we closed on the house, I went to 'Music Man' rehearsal, and Brett went over to the house and started tearing out the cabinets. That's how the next few weeks of our lives went. Now we are actually moved in and continue to work on making this house our home. Here is a glimpse of the progress so far!

ONE

TWO

THREE

Here are some MORE before and after pictures of our kitchen.

Brett did an excellent job cutting tile for the kitchen floor.

And I was an excellent tile-delivery girl.

The house came with this lovely, experienced carpet. Luckily, we discovered that underneath the carpet, the hardwood was in pretty good shape!

And as is the case when you purchase a house that is 100 years old, you find some surprises, like the the little furry friend I found in a vent.

The main floor bathroom was the second project we began to tackle. It is almost complete! We just need to put in the pedastal sink and paint!

The upstairs is going through the most change, with new walls, new bathroom, and new everything. Brett had a great time knocking down walls.

We turned this closet into a hallway...

Here are the beginnings of a new bathroom and the Master bedroom.

Brett's cousin Brandon and Shari stayed for a weekend, and helped take out some carpet to reveal our lovely stairs.

Brett's mom came out for a weekend, and we put her to work. She helped us fill the first of our big garbage dumpsters.

It is definitely an work in progess. We are learning so much! Check back for more pictures coming soon! Or even better come visit us and see the house in person!

Christmas in Colorado 2009

2009-12-28T10:02:00.003-06:00

We had a great Christmas week with Brett's family in Colorado this year. We filled up our days with some of Brett's favorite Denver activities! From attending my first NHL game (Colorado Avalanche) to Rico's Italian food to a movie in 3D. The week was full of fun!

One of the first things we did was drive up into the mountains. We wanted to do a little hiking, but there was a bit too much snow. We spent some time in the ski town of Breckenridge, where we went shopping and had the most delicious French pastries, which was a great start to a proper Christmas week full of yummy food.

Here we are at the Hockey Game with Brett's cousin John, and Amy.

Here is the famous El Chapultepec, great jazz!

For one of the Thompson family traditions, we saw a Christmas comedy at the Music Hall at Heritage Square, "The Haunted Man," a Christmas story by Charles Dickens. It was so fun!

(Cindy, Brett, Mom, Jim, Teri)

Merry Christmas at the Kavinskys!

(Teri, Brett, Mom)

Merry Christmas Chris, "Rock'em Sock'em Robots" kept us entertained.

(Chris and Jim)

We were also entertained by Kadie as she sang to us using her new gift, Play Station "Sing It."

(Kadie and Eliza)

We celebrated our nieces birthday at Red Robin. Yummy! Happy Birthday Kelly!

(Sisters... Kadie and Kelly)

Finally, we arrived at the Peoria airport to discover a wonderful "welcome back to the Mid West" snow. Good thing I got a beautiful new, warm coat for Christmas!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!!

2009-12-06T15:35:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Evita

2009-11-23T18:18:00.000-06:00

Cindy's first official show here in Illinois was the musical Evita at the Peoria Players Theater. The show ran from November 13th - November 22nd. We had a great time and met some wonderful people! Here are a few photos...

Eva and Susie (our Music Director) ready for the show to start.

Where does all that hair go?

"Goodbye and Thank you Magaldi."

Eva and Peron come to power.

Don't Cry for Me Argentina - the beginning of Act II.

Sick Eva... "I've decided, I should decline..."

Gone Eva. How cool is the slide of the real Eva in the background!

The whole cast of Evita 2009!

Brett made his way into the hearts of the cast and crew. He came to every show. What an amazing husband!

Visit from Shoni

2009-10-23T09:31:00.001-05:00

My cousin Shoni came out here to visit us! Here we are having a little lunch at the One World Cafe in Peoria.

Then off to a night of Middle School musical magic! I helped direct the Washington Middle School production of Oklahoma. The kids did a great job!

What's a visit to the Midwest without going to an apple orchard? Even though we didn't actually pick any apples this time around. We went with some squash instead, but we did have some apple cider and apple dumplings. Delicious!!

Our little Peoria forest. Perfect for walks and posing for pictures.

We made sure to take Shoni out to Nauvoo. She had spent some time there a few years ago doing the Nauvoo Pageant. There really aren't many things more beautiful than Nauvoo in the Fall.

Starved Rock

2009-10-23T09:13:00.000-05:00

We went to Starved Rock again this year. It was a little bit different this time...

Last year, the leaves were so colorful!

This year... we were a bit too early.

Last year, it was a beautiful, warm November day... sporting the short sleeves.

This year we went in October. Brrr!

Discovering the Midwest

2009-10-10T21:49:00.000-05:00

We've had a lot of fun learning about this part of the country. Here are a few snapshots of some of our adventures in the past few months!

WISCONSIN
We took a day and drove up to Milwaukee, WI. We found some great things, including the Milwaukee Public Market and the Spice House, where they prepare all their own spices. Wisconsin is known for the cheese and visiting the Mars Cheese Castle gave us the opportunity to sample a little bit of everything. We also stopped at The Apple Holler, an apple orchard/petting zoo - rabbits, chickens, cats, and goats!

IOWA
We visited this cute little town right on the Mississippi River in Iowa called Dubuque. One of the main attractions is the Fenlon Elevator, which is an invention built in 1882, that offers a fast way to get up this steep hill. We paid our dollar and rode up. It gave us a beautiful view of the city.

NEBRASKA
We were able to spend a weekend in Crete, Nebraska, which is just outside of Lincoln. Brett's mom, sister and family drove out to Crete too! Chris, our nephew plays goalie for Doane College. Go Tigers!

ILLINOIS (home sweet home)
We've spent some time fishing and finding other Midwestern animals. We found this little turtle out in the middle of the road just before a crazy thunderstorm hit.

Illinois is the home of many Presidents. The Abraham Lincoln museum is in Springfield, IL. It is an amazing place to visit! Ronald Reagan went to college right here in Illinois. This summer we visited the one-room Ronald Reagan Museum at Eureka College.

We celebrated out FIRST Anniversary in August. We went to Galena, IL and stayed at a cute Bed and Breakfast. Fun Beautiful town! It's kind of like a mini-Park City and home of Ulysses S. Grant.

Nauvoo is one of our favorite places, of course! Two things we love... the Temple and Annie's Custard.

We have found lots of yummy treats in the Midwest, one being Oberweis Dairy (thanks Brian).

The Morton Pumpkin Festival is the time to celebrate pumpkins! If you've ever bought a can of Libby's canned pumpkin, it comes from Morton, IL! We went to the pumpkin pancakes and sausage breakfast. There are also pumpkin donuts, fudge, cookies, ice cream, pumpkin butter... you name it... it's pumpkin!

Starved Rock One of the only places to "hike" (or go on a walk on a trail) in Illinois. Lots of trees. Beautiful colors. Cold weather.

Trip to Utah

2009-06-24T15:44:00.000-05:00

We recently took a trip to Utah to attend the wedding of our dear friend Sabrina Brown, who is now Sabrina Taylor. Congratulations Bryce and Sabrina!

We packed in a lot of fun in a short amount of time. We were able to visit with friends and family, eat some Cafe Rio and Bombay House, see "The Pajama Game" (starring Tina and Chad), and we went through the Oqurrih Mountain Temple Open House, which was amazing! We were able to enjoy beautiful sun and beautiful mountains, except for the crazy rainstorm that forced Sabrina's reception indoors, but it was still wonderful. It was a great trip!

Shoni, Chad, Tina, Mom, Cindy, Brett, Kami

Guatemala

2009-04-18T19:05:00.000-05:00

During Cindy's Spring Break, we were able to use up some extra sky miles and head to Guatemala. Many people ask us, "Why Guatemala?" There are many reasons. One of my best friend's family is from Guatemala, so I always heard how amazing it was, and some of his family still lives there, so we had a built in place to stay. We always like to travel to Spanish speaking countries, because let's face it, I need to practice! Also, we knew that the exchange rate was heavily in our favor in contrast to Europe. The allure of rain forests, Mayan ruins, active volcanoes, beaches, a city that is one of the best preserved examples of early Spanish colonial history, plus the mix of European and Mayan people all convinced us to go! We had an amazing time while we were there (the coming and going is a whole different story), and would recommend it to anyone. We even know the perfect tour guide!

GUATEMALA CITY

Palm Sunday at the Cathedral in Guatemala City.

TIKAL

There are over 4,000 structures in Tikal.

Howler Monkeys of Tikal...Beware!

FLORES and Lake Peten Itza

Climbing Volcan Pacaya (an active volcano)
That's Volcan Agua (dormant) behind us in the background.

LDS TEMPLE in Guatemala City.

LAKE ATITLAN
(Some scholars say, could be the waters of Mormon.)

Market in Santiago Atitlan.

Pod racing!

ANTIGUA
The old capital of Central America.
Processions to celebrate Semana Santa parade
over these beautiful carpets made of sawdust!

Ruins of the old cathedral in Antigua.

Mmmmm Mango!

Syd Riggs Tribute Concert in Orem

2009-02-10T23:18:00.001-06:00

Sometimes I forget how truly blessed I am to have Cindy as my wife. This past weekend I was reminded of how amazing she is, and how in love with her I am. I get chills every time I hear her sing, and since she would never post video of herself, I took the liberty so that all can enjoy her voice from afar!

2009-02-10T20:57:00.000-06:00

2009-02-09T20:03:00.000-06:00

Our Wedding Day - August 2, 2008

2008-11-11T12:04:00.000-06:00