Our 6 Years together

Well, Bryan and I celebrated our Anniversary on the 15th. We have been together for 8 years and married for 6. We married two years to the day after meeting. It has been a whirlwind 6 years with lots of laughs and adventures and a few tears. But definitely the best years of my life so far. Here are a few of the highlights of our time together:

- We've lived in two states and have moved 6 times in 6 years.

- We've sent out change of address info in our Christmas card four years in a row (YIKES!).

- We've adopted two furry kitties.

- We've traveled extensively.

- We've welcomed our first child, Shawn Austin, on 7/28/07. He has been a wonderful addition!

- We've climbed 4 14ers (mountains in Colorado over 14,000 ft in elevation).

- We've been in 8 weddings (not including our own, 6 for Kristen and 2 for Bryan).

- We've worked together at 3 different jobs, and have now started our own business (Thompson Photography).

- We've each graduated twice (Undergrad and Masters programs at Harding University).

Here are some of my favorite pictures of us together:

Our first BIG date at Harding (5/2000).

Kiss at the Airport before Kristen leaves for a semester in Australia (8/9/00).

Bryan's first trip to Colorado (Christmas '00).

Bryan's first day skiing (New Years '00).

Our Engagement (3/18/01).

Pledging time at Harding (Bryan was a Beau for Shantih Women's club) (9/02).

Road trip. Not sure where we are going. (Spring Break '02).

Going to a Shantih "Wacky Tacky" function (2002).

Our Summer in Austin. (7/4/03).


At my Grandpa Freddie's Funeral (9/18/03).


Josh and Shiloh Jones' Wedding (12/20/03).


Noel and Cherie Coleman's Wedding (Bryan's sister) (4/25/04).


MBA Graduation, with MBA director Allen Figley (7/31/04).

First day in Denver, CO (8/1/04).

First road trip in CO, to Estes Park with Gordon and Kathy and my Mom (8/4/04).

Trip to Austin--in front of Univ. of Texas Bell Tower (after Longhorns won Football National Championships) (2/19/05).

Bryan's business trip to Chicago (6/05).

5 year Anniversary weekend in Breckenridge--sleigh ride in the mountains (12/18/06).

Christmas in Colorado (12/2006).

With Shawn an hour after birth (7/28/07).

Bryan's Last Day

Today is Bryan's last day at Allied Insurance. It has been a great company to work for and such a blessing to us. He (and I) have made so many amazing friends while we were employed there and we are really going to miss all of you. However, we are so excited for what God is doing and for the opportunities He is putting before us.

In case you haven't heard, Bryan has accepted a position at our church, Lakewood Church of Christ. He is going to be the Media Coordinator, which means he will be facilitating all media outlets during services, classes, special events, etc. He will also be in charge of the Church's website (http://lakewoodcc.net/). They are discussing adding other responsibilities, but this will be the majority of his position at this time. He is really excited for the opportunity to use his talents to serve God.

He will also be getting our photography business website built. The flexibility in his schedule (instead of 12 hours away from home each day) will enable us to start doing more photo shoots and growing our business faster.

The Thompsons are coming!!!

We are so excited that Bryan's parents are coming to spend a week with us at Christmas. They fly in this Sunday and will stay until next Monday (24th). We have so much we are going to do while they are here--a whole day of baking, shopping, a tour of Focus on the Family, a trip to Breckenridge, Movies, a family photo shoot and more. I will leave all of that for another post. Expect a lot of pictures to be generated in the next few weeks!

In order to get ready for their arrival, we started wrapping gifts and getting the tree ready. Here are some pictures (we had a little too much fun)! :)

Shawn sitting in a BIG bucket of bows (trying to eat a bow).

Shawn ENJOYING sitting in a bucket of bows.

Kisses from Mom.

Sitting on a GIANT wrapped box (and loving it)!!

Standing in front of our half-decorated tree.

Tim Tebow wins!!!!

YEAH!!! We are so excited for the Florida Gators quarterback, Tim Tebow, who won the Heisman on Saturday. We are excited because:

* he is the first sophomore EVER to win the award;

*he is a great role model;

* he had a great season;

* but most importantly, he is a CHRISTIAN. His family served as missionaries in the Philippines, and he loves working with his church when he is home.

Here is a link to ESPN.com to learn more about him:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=183484

4 month Appt & other pics

It is hard to believe that Shawn is already 4 months. I feel like we just found out we were pregnant and now he is already 4 months old!! He had his check up today and the Doctor said that he is very healthy. The Doctor got a lot of enjoyment out of just sitting and watching Shawn wiggle and talk and try to run (I'll have to post a video of this--it is hilarious). Here are his stats:

Weight: 14 lbs 6.3 oz (41%)

Height: 62.5 cm (40%)

Head: 40 cm (18%)

The Dr. said there is still hope that Shawn will be tall like his Daddy (or maybe even taller). It was Shawn's second round of Immunizations. He had to get 3 shots and it was not any easier than the last time.

Here is a picture of Shawn with his bandaids. He was such a trooper!

Here is Shawn smiling at Daddy.

Here he is in the Bath tub. This is definitely one of my new favorites. He doesn't like doing tummy time unless it is in his bathtub. Which is usually fine, unless he has added fluids to the bath tub (if you know what I mean)! :)

We received a Baby gift from Dwight and Ann Evans (formerly of Westover Hills C of C in Austin). These shoes have his name and birth date imprinted on the bottom. He is finally big enough to wear them. I love this picture because he was screaming, but he is still SO cute!

And here is one where you can actually see the shoes. They are so adorable. Thank you so much for the sweet gift. :)

Our trip to the Park

On Tuesday, Shawn and I walked to the park. It was the calm between the two snow storms, so we took advantage of the nice (warm) weather. Here are some pictures from our day.

Our new park --it is only 2 blocks away.

We had SO much fun just looking around. It was very quite.

Sitting in the swing.

Just me and my Mom. :)

Laying in the grass looking at the sky.

The ducks -- the pond is already half frozen!!

All tuckered out after a very long day! :)

Thanksgiving 2007

Bryan, Shawn and I celebrated the Season with a quite weekend home. We've been on the go so much that we really just needed some down time. Bryan and Shawn enjoyed taking a nap together and watching some football, and I was a whirlwind in the kitchen. So we were all doing what we liked to do. We enjoyed spending some much needed quite time together. I didn't get a picture of our little family together, but here is one of Shawn in his "Baby's 1st" (Thanksgiving) bib.

Shawn's first Thanksgiving.

We also did a photo shoot of Shawn in a GIANT pumpkin. I thought the pumpkin wasn't going to be big enough, but it turned out to be too big. I finally had to put a blanket in with him so we wouldn't wobble around inside. I think they turned out really cute!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Gator Fans

Two weeks ago we went to watch the Florida Gator game at our favorite spot--Jackson's. This is a great Sports bar downtown and also the home of the Rocky Mountain Gator Club.





Bryan and I have always loved going down there for the game. So we decided it was time to introduce Shawn to the group. We knew it would be a small crowd due to the team they were playing--Florida Atlantic University. Plus, they were expected to have a blowout game. It was a small crowd which was great for us. But it was definitely fun to get Shawn in on the action early on. The final score was 59-20. GO GATORS!!


We had fun cheering on our favorite player, Tim Tebow. We hope he wins the Heisman. Not only is he a great player, but also a Christian and a great role model for youngsters.
Thanks Nanna and Papa for Shawn's great outfit. He looked so cute in his Gator gear--coverall, booties, pacifier and pacifier holder.

Thompson Photography, LLC

Well, in the past 2 months Thompson Photography has also gone through a lot of changes. First and foremost, we are now a registered business! We are now an LLC and just recently received our tax ID number in the mail.

We have done so much this year and still have a few more events before the end of the year. We have done several weddings, a myriad of family photo shoots and even some special events--like the Santa photo shoot mentioned in my earlier post. We also have a large corporate Christmas party coming up in the next couple of weeks. Bryan has also become the resident photographer at church. He takes the New Members pictures each month and is the photographer at all major church events.

Now that we have our own office for Thompson Photography we know that the business is going to grow exponentially. Please keep this in your prayers as we try to balance a new baby, a new house, Bryan's full time job and all of our other obligations.

Below are some of our favorite photographs from the year:

(these pictures are property of Thompson Photography and are copyright)

Dougherty Family - Morgan

Ava's 6 month shoot

Art & Karyn Heffron engagement picture

Karyn with her Bridesmaids

Kathryn with her Bridemaids

Kevin and Kathryn before the wedding

Kevin and Kathryn after the wedding :)

Kristen at 8 months

Heinrich family Christmas shoot