Christmas Tree Cutting 2009

It is time for the annual Johnson cutting down of the Christmas tree. One of my fondest memories in between fights with my yahoo's for brothers, was our trip out to the tree orchard to cut down a tree. We would cut it down, fight, drive home, fight, decorate the tree, fight, and eat dinner. I loved every minute of it and vowed that once I was on my own, I would carry on the tradition. My dad went with us last year and this year. I had a blast.

Me cutting down the great beast of a tree. It was Man vs. Nature and I was bound to win.

The traditional ritual of hoysting the defeated tree over my head to show how I rain supreme over nature.



Sepporah making the traditional goofy face.


Jessica and I enjoying the ice cold air.


Pops and Sepporah. Two pea's in a pod.


Jessica and Sepporah before I cut down a tree.

Thanksgiving 2009

It was wonderful having all of you here and very sad when you leave. The house is so quiet. I love you all. Here's a few of my pictures.

Pics from Thanksgiving

I took a ton of pics and didn't want to get yelled at for not uploading them all so I created a picasa album and put it in the side bar. You can watch them from there or click on the slideshow to take you to a bigger slide show. The game I want you to play while looking at them is "How many pics can you find Matt playing on his iPhone".

Sadness

Hey family. It is with great disappointment that I have to make this announcement: we're not coming to Grandma's for Thanksgiving. Basically for work reasons.

Two weeks ago I had a forecast of the coming weeks, the spots I would have to score for work as well as a policy paper for the Asian Development Bank that I agreed to copy edit at night... and I knew it was going to be brutal. But I got everything done - or so I thought - and came home last night elated that I had actually gotten everything done and could now visit my family with a clear head. That was last night. Within an hour this morning all of that was undone. The editor of the paper wanted another pass... the spot I turned in needed revisions... and our company agreed to do a last minute rush job for an ad agency (agencies love to work holiday weekends and tell everybody this will effect at the last possible minute), of which I would have to work, due Monday.

So... I can't come. Claire cried. I cried on the inside. Kirst is bummed. We're going to miss you guys. Sorry...

Daniel

Prayer Request

Sarah sent me this.

Matt, if you could post something on the blog that would be great. This morning at work Jason stepped on a patch of ice and fell off the roof 2 stories high. He fractured his 12th vertebra in about 4 places.  He has no spinal cord or head injury but one of the fractures closest to the inside of the body is resting on his spinal cord. He will most likely need surgery.  He is currently in the neuro trama icu at cox hospital here in Springfield. Unfortunately, I do not think we will make it to grandma's this year for Thanksgiving. Please keep him in your prayers.
Thanks Matt

Sarah

The Onion

I don't know how many of you read The Onion. It's a satirical paper that's been around for a while. I think they are a great example of how humor is possible without being mean or crass. This is really funny:

Click here to watch, and after you've watched it, watch it again reading the news ticker at the bottom of the screen.

Misc

The post about the person who shoplifted, outran a cop and slashed tires was a joke. I just did it with my brothers to blame it on Steve (Stephen) to see Grandma's reaction. Also, we were curious how others would vote.

On another note...

I'm going to post all of the entries I have by Friday (maybe sooner). You have until Monday to guess. I still haven't received them from a lot of people.

One More Person - Yes, I'm Embarrassed For Them

1. I frequently wear white pants after labor day.

2. I once put a sewing needle in the coffee cup of my home ec teacher's coffee. I believe she received the message loud and clear.

3. In my high school we were required to complete a certain amount of community service hours per year. I convinced one of my teachers to sign off on service hours for me if I would agree to shut off all the lights in a certain wing of the building each day after school. For this I received a key to one of the janitors closets. I used this closet to make out with my girlfriend. I think sometimes I remembered to turn the lights off.

Another Person

1. When I was around 7 years old, I helped to raid a watermelon patch.

2. When I was a kid I was coaxed to leave church to fight a boy my age. After taking the first and only hit, I beat up the kid and went back into church.

3. I received a gift and when asked how I liked it, I broke a commandment and leaned on grace.

New Person

1. I let off a noise bomb during the University's president's commencement prayer over a new academic building. It interrupted the whole thing.

2. Used to break into a church to play roller hockey in their gymnasium.

3. Stole hundereds of dollars worth of hood ornaments when I was a kid. The best one was the old Bronco one.

Matt, Chris and Daniel--these are meant for your families!

Nephews. Karen has hand fed these orphans since birth. They are the sweetest angels ever--they've overcome the odds to survive into cuddle monsters and playful human-lovers. I am convinced they'd be great kept in the family. : ) And being raised with 4 bulldogs--they're socialized to be friends with anything/anyone. Your kids would LOVE 'em!!!! Lemme know and I'll bring 'em for Thanksgiving. And Daniel--NOT to eat...

A lot of leaves

Thompson Madness 2.0

The design is done. I stuck with the cow theme Daniel started with. The cow head represents the traditional Thompson large head. I will be adding some interactive features on the side bar in the future. For now, every one needs to rsvp on the blog for Thanksgiving 2009. I hope you enjoy the new layout....I know Sepporah does.

New Design

I am in the process of redesigning the blog layout. I figured two years of looking at cows everyday was enough so I decided to change things. I will have it done by sunday so if you are wondering what is up, well there is your answer. We will call it Thompson Madness 2.0.

I'm a sucker for "cute" AND "the moral of the story is..."

Check this out and just think, how hard would it really be for everyone in the world to set aside differences and just be together, as is? Just be.

Elmo is 60+ pounds and the kitty is just 1 pound. And yet he lets her snuggle at will. What a great lesson in what a gentle spirit can make happen.

Lovely lesson.

Sepporah Reading

Thanks to Jessica and all the hard work she puts in with Sepporah, Sep has become pretty good at reading. Every night before we go to bed, we do devotionals with her and she reads the scripture at the end. She loves doing it and me and Jess just love laying there and listening to her.

New Person...and a Little More Guilt

New Person (See below for more guilt)

1. I passed a geography test in 3rd grade by "cheating." I could NOT think of the 7th continent for the life of me, and Shane Weller leaned over and said, "What, you can't remember how to spell Australia?"

2. I don't necessarily feel BAD, but I still remember paying my 25 cents at the gas station for my 5 pieces of Bazooka gum and coming home to find I had 6. I didn't take it back.

3. Instead of eating at restaurants while on the road for work at one point, when I was regularly in the same town as a (cash-strapped) friend, I would get takeout so I could share. I don't THINK the company intended to feed the neighborhood...


Grandma sent me this email today and it made me laugh. I haven't been posting because I've been busy. Sorry.


Hi Matthew,

I know you have been discouraged that some of our family are not playing the game but can we go ahead with guessing on the ones who have sent theirs? I tried to persuade a couple to get involved but it didn't work. It's their loss.

I am proud of you for trying. I know you are busy and if you can take the time to spearhead it, then we should all take the time to play. I don't know how to send this email to all at one time but if you want to, you can send it and tell them I said get with it and be a part of the family fun.

I am eager to see you and the family. I am clearing out that bedroom to give more room for you if you want to stay here like you have before.

Love,
Grandma

21 Days Left!

http://www.pancan.org/section_get_involved/pancan_awareness_month/

We raise polite bullies...

Check this out. Elmo trying to play with one of the kitty's Karen has been fostering. Cute.

These are a little late...

...but here are a few pics of us at the Franklin Cider Mill a few weeks back, and a little fall yard clean-up.

I think the thing I hated most as a kid was using the metal rakes to rake leaves out of the rocks that surrounded our house. Claire is unlike me, insisting on helping, even when Daniel said, "You're a kid -- go play!"

(However, in all fairness, I was much older than Claire when assigned this task and probably only had to do it...three times ever. Clearly, I'm still scarred!)