Yes, we're alive!!

People keep asking if we are still alive. What does it look like? Remember, we live in the paradise called Florida!

We've had great weather for Easter. . . .

 and our Hungarian Easter Egg Trees  are in full bloom.

So what else have we been doing to keep us from blogging? Let's give you a sampling:.

1. Working with 7 young men to help them become Eagle Scouts before the 1 January 2020 deadline for when the Church would no longer sponsor Boy Scouts.

2. Restaining our log cabin to make it look spiffy.

Before

After

Before

After

3.  Researching and writing a 200 page illustrated history of our Scottish and German ancestors and their descendants, namely the Moffats, the McLeans, and the Lallatins who joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1844, 1870, and 1880 respectively and came to Utah to blend together to create the Thompsons.

The coal mining Moffats

 The iron foundry McLeans

 The fresh air loving Lallatins

4.  Creating a shadow box celebrating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism in Hungary in 1989-1990. Our family lived in Pecs, Hungary then while I taught English at Janus Pannonius University and our children went to Hungarian schools. Our family took part in the historic event.

Here's the Berlin Wall before it was taken down

This is the election poster our two teenage sons helped their school buddies plaster around in Pecs late at night to promote the Fidesz Party for the Hungarian election to oust the communists. It says "Please Choose." And choose they did!

 This is the shadow box with pieces of the Berlin Wall that we used a pick axe to collect.  We made a special trip from Pecs, Hungary to Berlin so we could join the Pick-Pick-Pickers in the picture. We brought 40 lbs. home to Florida. The boys are practicing their "Hungarian Look."  Their buddies said they were tired of them always smiling and looking so happy. We were the first Americans they had ever met and Hungarians didn't know about the American "smile, smile, smile" approach to life. Since this is Easter time, we need to remember that in the resurrection "not one hair of the head shall be lost," so look closely at my picture so you'll recognize me in heaven since I assume that according to that scripture, I'll have a beard since that is part of the "hair of my head." I made one of these shadow boxes for each of our children who shared this great experience. Look closely and you'll see the holes we helped make in the Berlin Wall.

5. Gardening. Remember, this is Florida. We've been eating papaya, potatoes, broccoli, carrots,  beans, peas, cabbage, lettuce, Swiss chard, onions, and radishes all winter. Now we're eating wild black berries and mulberries while waiting for the corn and other new delights to come in.

The grandchildren especially love pulling up carrots and eating them.

 Can you tell which are the wild blackberries and which the mulberries?

The new crop is just coming up. We've been having the best salads. We especially love our papaya milk shakes and cottage fried potatoes.

6. And of course, Caroly's favorite--bonding with grandchildren and helping them to bond with each other so we'll have a forever family that wants to be together forever. With cheap airfares, we always have nice batches of family at Camp Thompson Ranch, especially when it gets cold and snowy up north.

Here's a batch at the airport, the Sabins

A favorite activity is to ride around the 30 acres on the golf cart.

Smores and hotdogs, anyone? Ready to sing some campfire songs? Did you bring the guitar?

Kim will lead us in some yoga exercises.

How about some crazy hairdos?

I think the ocean is just in the high 60s. Isn't that a heated pool up north?

Aren't Indian pow wows fun?

Who can climb over the gate the fastest?

Ready to ride with Grandma?

Are you falling asleep in the saddle?

Or are you just giving the horse a love?

 That's just a sampling of what has kept us busy for the last six months.