Baby Ellie's Big Day

Well I'm an Uncle. It's Official. Today was the blessing of Ellie Lynae Thompson in Idaho Falls. This is just one of the pictures of this adorable little girl. I wish I could take her home sometimes and just not have to worry about when she has poopy diapers or is hungry or fussy; and I could totally handle her. haha.

But it's amazing to see the change in the enviorment that this little baby has brought to my family as well as my sister and her husband. It strengthens everyones testimony that we really did live somewhere before we lived here on the Earth. I remember teaching a few people right after they had their babies in Guatemala and it definitely gives people a whole new perspective on life and what is really important. The TV and everything else makes us feel that worldly things are more important, but sometimes these babies are sent here to teach us a little lesson on humility. To let us take a step back and realize what is REALLY important in life.

They had some sweet professional photos that people did for them and they have her sitting in this cup with a little flower on top. I tried to find it but they don't have it at the moment. One day i will get it up here.

But it's official. Ellie Lynae has been blessed, but more so is blessings the lives of all those who are around her.

A New Semester....A New Life

For those of you who are still following my blog, and are disappointed that I haven't updated it lately, here you go.

A lot of things have changed. Back to the single life for me. I've guess I've learned my lesson in a way about dating younger girls. We just don't have that much in common. Obviously I can't expect anyone to be perfect until I am perfect myself, (and we all know that is never going to happen haha) but the necessities of a relationship weren't there. It's for the better and life moves on.

As far as school I am on my break until April. I am on the summer/fall track right now here at BYU-Idaho, meaning I study from April to December. There is a short 7-week break that we have during that time, but money is tight right now that's for sure. It's getting hard to pay for everything this year, so I think I might take off the summer semester off and work to get some more money. I feel pretty good about life right now. I'm basically on my own, Gary and Renae are doing great helping me out when they can. They are still paying for my insurance which is nice. Otherwise I would have to fork over another $250 for insurance through the school.

I'm in the 3rd year of school. I figure I will test out of Spanish this winter which will give me 12 credits. Another blessing of serving in a Spanish speaking mission. I am just starting to get into my major, which is Communications. I am going to focus in Marketing, and eventually have plans to get down to Glendale, Arizona to a school called Thunderbird, which is an international business school. I hope to be able to do International Marketing and use my Spanish.

Currently I am still employed at Melaleuca. It is treating me well. Love speaking to the Spanish customers. Sometimes they make me a little baggy or "trunky" for the mission again. But I think everyone has those nostalgic feelings from time to time.

Love the gospel. Love my ward. Things are just going great now. I guess you could say i just need a girl to complete it. I'm not worried. I will find one. I got my missionary out still, she has about 6 months now. I can't believe Glen will be home in June. That's 4 1/2 months from now. CARAZY! It will be 4 years unless you include those 15 minutes in the MTC.

Well I hope this was a great update. I will get better. Definitely one of my New Year's Resolutions. Take Care. Set some goals this year and let's accomplish those little buggers. Miss you all. Update me please. haha.


Did I mention I dominate on the Wii?

For All You Doubters

I know people doubt me in a lot of things. After Thanksgiving I feel like I have proved a lot of people wrong in a lot of different areas. Here we go.

1. "I Can't Help In The Kitchen." Are you kidding me? You must have forgot that I worked at the exclusive and exquisite Chuck-A-Rama Buffet. I put my potato-peeling skills to work and dominated them.

2." I'm not famous, so nobody will ever name a kid after me." WRONG AGAIN. I keep coming to these family reunions and I meet one of my cousin's kids. What do they name him, R-Y-A-N. Hmm....interesting. Does that mean i'm famous, I dunno. Interpret that how you would like.


3. "I take it all the time, and never retaliate." I'm pretty sure you might have to ask Koy about this one. He tried putting me in a headlock. I quickly escaped due to my lightning quick reflexes and put him in my favorite hold, "The Atomic Wedgie Hold." This is easily done by giving him a wedgie and placing his underwear over his foot. Pretty hard for him to get out. He definitely learned his lesson.
4. "Ryan, can't gain weight." Guess again my friends. I cracked 170 before Thanksgiving dinner. Next Goal 175? haha. I dunno. But I have been eating 4 meals a day, drinking protein shakes and drinking lots of water. It seems to be working for me. It's only taken me 5 months to gain 8 pounds. haha.
5. "Only Asian Men Can Become Pregnant." That's where your wrong my friend. I woke up this morning with some morning sickness. I thought it was because I was hungry. Nope. I'm pregnant. haha.


PS....."NONE" of this is sarcastic at all.

Give and Take.....And a Little Patience on Her Part :)

It's been a while since I have updated this...and well for those of you who knew dating retirement wasn't going to last very long, i'd hate to say it but YOU'RE RIGHT. Remember how i said I wasn't going to come out unless someone swept me off my feet. Well it happened. haha. The young lady in the picture is my "special friend" Jamie. She has been chasing me all semester, dealing with my bitterness towards the opposite sex and she was very persistent. She wins the award for never giving up. We've been together every night for the past three weeks. Did I mention she is an amazing dancer? Well she is. I might have to get me a pair of comfortable shoes, because after a night of dancing with her, I'm sure my feet will be sore. haha. She's a great ballroom dancer, and although I have yet to go to one of her performances (what a jerk huh? I know...i'm workin' on it...) the videos that are made of her by her mom's camera are good enough. To move like that, I think she has to have a little latin blood in her haha.

School is going great. Thanksgiving Weekend is just around the corner. Wow. Crazy. I'm excited to have a week off from school. I have no desires to do homework this week cause i am looking forward to the break so much. But i think once I pop a little Mt. Dew in me i will be fine i guess. I just gotta get through the next 2 days of school.

Ps....I'm getting dragged by Jamie to go to the Twilight premiere at midnight thursday (techinically friday) but in return she's going to the state football championship to watch my high school play. This is the furthest they have gone in the schools 18 year history. So it will be fun because it's in the Dome in Pocatello. Nice and warm.

Karma----It's supposed to come back around

I'm not going to lie. I comment on everyones blog but it's like a give give give situation. Seriously. Where are the comments. I have Melaleuca Marketing Executives commenting on my blog more than my friends, something is wrong here. haha.

Today is my brother Glen's birthday. I'm not going to lie, I wish he was here so we could do something for his 21st birthday. He has a little over 7 months left in his mission, to me that is CRAZY. I remember the first few weeks i was home I was able to see him in the MTC. It was a great experience, tougher for me than for him because now I have nobody to hangout with at family events. But i guess that is what he went through the last few years while i was on my mission.

Karma right.

Fall Ball---Dating Retirement

What can I say, Momma Bennion loves me. She took me to Albertsons to get me some groceries so I could live and eat like a normal human being. Sometimes we take for granted all that we have until we are in the dumps. I am currently paying back my books from this semester still, so it was nice for mom and dad to give me a lil boost, paying for a tank full of gas and groceries.



This is me playing intramural ball. Yes i got fouled on that three point shot, and i nailed all three free throws baby. Our team is doing decent. We started off in a league below because we are a small team, and we run people to death. But we were beating teams by more than 35 points so they moved us up and our games have been tougher. We had to play the last game with 5 guys and they had 9 or 10, so they just ran us to death. We kept the game close but we lost by 9. But we did well. Tournament starts soon, ill keep ya posted.

School/Work----
Well, things are going great. It's been a while since i've updated. Midterms have just passed and that was a great relief of stress. I'm not the best test taker but if i buckle down, study my brains out and visit a tutor it usually makes for a pretty good test score. I currently have all A's in my classes. Which is a great accomplishment for me. I'm working 20 hours a week at Melaleuca and taking 13 credits. Sometimes my hours at Melaleuca get up to 25 or 30 depending on when month end falls.

Dating---

Well Dating is non-existent in my life right now. More by choice haha. Things are going well though. I figure i will just make friends and associate with people and when some girl shows interest we will make things happen. I think part of my problem is i was forcing things. So I think focusing on studies and continuing to meet new people will help things just fall into place.

Things I'm Grateful For--

I've just been really blessed in my life. The more i think about it the more i realize how truly blessed I am to live in a country where my opinion matters. Where i can select my leaders and enjoy the rights we all take for granted each day. I'm glad I don't live my life in fear and that I can walk around Rexburg and not have to worry about getting jumped or getting my face kicked in. I'm so grateful as well to be a part of the true gospel. It truly scares me to think where I would be without it and glad I have never had to experience the life outside of the gospel. I'm grateful for Christ, for his Atonement, and the many blessings I recieve daily because of it, and the thought that although I fall short of many things, he is there to pick me up and complete what I can't do.

Lovin' Life. How you doin'? haha.

Conference Weekend--Mission Reunion

Well I can't believe that it is October again my friends. Feels like yesterday i was coming off that plane from Guatemala and it has been 15 months. My brother Glen has 8 months left in his mission. Thats crazy. 

So this weekend i went down and saw my mission president and his wife. 

I was also able to reunite with some of my good friends from the mission. Some of my best friends that I was with during my whole mission however weren't there. I missed seeing Elder Moss and my trainer, Elder Hansen, who both seem to have more important things going on right now. (I guess hunting and going to Guatemala are more important)

Here I am with Elder Petty. He replaced me as Branch President there in Joyabaj. Elder Peck and I drove down with his friend Spencer Rammell. In the middle is Elder Caldwell. You can't see it very well but he is supporting a "I Love Jesus" hat. Gotta love that kid. Then there is me. and my good friend Elder Ellis. He's married, and since he's been married I hardly ever talk to him. But i assume married people are very busy. You know with all the work and school. (Riiiiight...haha)

I was also able to see my old roommate Brad Kramer. It is cool to see people you have not seen for 3 or 4 years and see what a mission does to a person. We are all more mature and have the same goals it seems like. It's just taking some of us a little longer to get there. But it's cool to see some people get married that were Dear John'ed on the mission and felt like they had no hope if that one didn't work out. 

I LOVED conference as well. I think that the First Presidency and Quorum of the 12 focused all their talks on me this time. I think it is like that always if we pay attention to what the spirit tells us. Every talk can be personalized I believe. But I really liked President Eyring's talk in the Priesthood Session. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed with things. School, Work, Dating, Fulfilling Church Callings, Attending the Temple regularly and we think "well when I get older it will get easier." It's not that way. In fact, it is the opposite. I have just come to the realization that I need to get back to planning every hour, every day just like i did in the mission. I seem to have achieved everything I had set out to do when i organized myself like that. I recieved so much comfort from the speakers this weekend. The world with the economy as it is can be such a scary thing. But conference gave me a whole new aspect. The Lord will protect us if we are keeping his commandments and trying our hardest to do all those necessary things we need to do in life. He won't let us fail. I'm excited to see what life has in store for me these next few years. Well, until next time. :)