Eloise's House

When we moved into the Clinton Ave house miss Eloise was not yet born. But just a week later she made an early arrival and joined the family.  She entered the house as a wee 6lb 4oz perfectly sweet baby.

She quickly became a spirited toddler! Luke would fall asleep beside her on the floor of their green bedroom after comforting her in her fits.  He'd bring a pillow down, cover them both up, and they'd drift off till morning. 



 She became a big sister just before her third birthday and took the responsibility quite seriously. She allowed Kate to crawl into her bed as soon as Kate was able and still allows Kate to twirl her hair until they both drift off.  She was immediately and has continued to be a loving, protective big sister. 

While she may grow quite slowly, she matures quite rapidly.  She has become our responsible, studious, orderly doll.  She amazes us with her sense of adventure, amazing upper body strength, and ability to create order out of chaos.  What a beauty she's become.



Luke's House

When we moved into our house on 3824 Clinton Ave Luke was almost 4 years old.  At that time he was not Luke but instead would only respond when called Spiderman or Peter Parker. He had just been adopted by Chris a couple days before we moved in and became a big brother a week after we moved in.  He was silly, full of energy and creativity, and a pure joy.

Over the past 8 years he has grown into an amazing young man of God.  He is empathetic, desires peace and harmony, and has fully grown into his role as leader of the siblings.  He cherishes his sisters and it is precious to see.  

Luke quickly became friends with the neighbor across the street, Troy.  They have been best friends for the past 8 years and it is one of the most difficult things about moving.

They went from wee boys to tweeners hanging out at the MOA and the MN State Fair together.

Sara's House

We've moved out of our house of 8 years and all feel a flood of emotions. In an attempt to process the closing of this stage I figured I would do a series of posts on each of the 5 family members and how we changed during our lives on 3824 Clinton Ave. 


 When we moved in I was 24 years old, pretty much still feeling like an adolescent. Now, when moving out, I am 32 and feeling pretty darn old. During my life in this house I learned how to really be a wife, how to be a mother of 2 then 3 children, and how to love a neighborhood. I started and finished a graduate degree and started a small business. God taught me how to be truly vulnerable, how to honor and respect my hubby, and how to cherish my children in gentleness. 

Most Thankful For ~ 8 years of peace and protection for our family and a house that holds only beautiful memories for my children. 


 Will Miss the Most ~ The neighborhood children.

Neighborhood VBS - 2006

Eggs

This last week has been a difficult one for the Thompson Family.  We have officially moved out of our house where we lived for 8 years.  More on that in another post to come once we've have time to process.  For now we have moved into our friends' home in South Minneapolis.  The Dube's have created a sweet little apartment for us in their basement.  It is already feeling like home.  The Dube's have chickens!  This has proven to be a great disctraction from all the transitions for the kids, especially the girls.  Today they were thrilled to have the responsibility to collect the eggs.  Yet another perfect opportunity to prepare for life in Haiti.  A big public Thank You to the Dube's for housing us during this transitional time.

A quick update on us:  We have completed all of our required trainings and we have both completed our work commitments.  We have 75% of our monthly support committed. We are currently raising support full-time and once we reach 95% we will be buying plane tickets!  So we don't yet have a departure date but we are hoping to leave in early August. Your prayers during this transitional time are much appreciated!

Kids 2012 PILAT language update

KidsPILAT.MP4 from Chris Thompson on Vimeo.

Whirlwind!

The last few days have proven to be a total whirlwind.
Quick update - The kids finished school, Sara wrapped up her work with her clients, Chris finished teaching, Kate turned 5, we were all part of the amazing wedding of John and Krista Ternus (Sara's cousin).

What's next? June 6th - June 10th we will be in Roscoe and Milwaukee visiting family, friends, supporters and potential future supporters and church mission boards. June 11th-June 22nd we will be in Colorado at Missionary Training Institute attending the Program In Language Acquisition Techniques (PILAT). This is program for both the parent and the kids. We will be learning language learning techniques and transition training. We will also use this time to visit friends, supporters, potential future supporters and church mission boards as well. If you are within a couple hours of Denver, Colorado and would like to get together let us know! So Minneapolis friends - we will be gone most of June but we haven't left for Haiti yet. Our plan is to leave August 1st, Lord willing.

We will be in Minneapolis and the midwest from June 23rd - August 1st. Yippee.

We are at about 68% of our monthly commitments. Praise God!

Kids Spring 2012

Kids Spring 2012 Update from Chris Thompson on Vimeo.