The Thompsons

Hi!

We are Ryan and Christen Thompson; you might recognize us better as the chasers of our friendly, snack stealing, Beatrix (16.5 months).  We have been attending Garden City since we got married and Ryan & his daughters (Madison, 24 & Lauren, 21) moved down the mountain (Ben Lomond) almost 5 years ago.  Ryan grew up in Santa Cruz and remembers it being a small sleepy town that came alive in the summer for tourism, back before Pizza My Heart was a chain.  His whole family was there and were restaurant owners so he remembers being an intimate part of the community.  Christen came to San Jose 12 years ago from Modesto which she considers not really anywhere, but close to everything.  Growing up there gave opportunities for day trips to Yosemite or Christmas shopping trips to San Francisco, hot summer days swimming, and warm summer evenings with the smell of peaches and perfect for ice cream.

Since moving to San Jose Christen found a love for trail running and especially enjoys the Quicksilver Trail to get away and be with the Lord (though our last hike there was to induce labor).  Ryan prefers ‘chicken runs’ (aka crawls) from one Korean fried chicken restaurant to the next along the El Camino.  Together we have discovered the beauty of our neighborhood around Santa Clara University/Rose Garden through many walks or bike rides during COVID.  We have enjoyed supporting local restaurants (The Hashery, China Inn, Eduardo’s…) through this time and were encouraged further when God provided a new rental last June with a larger outdoor living space and garden area.  This has been a huge blessing for maintaining community and an outreach ministry through enjoying meals during COVID.  Pre-COVID we spent an afternoon and evening exploring spots (and snacking our way through) San Francisco and came across our favorite discovery yet: Golden Gate Bakery in China Town with amazing egg tarts.

As you might notice, we love food and the fellowship that comes with it.  We have found a perfect home in our Salinas Life Group with similar hearts of loving our neighbors and fellowshipping over shared meals.  Though COVID limited this a bit, we enjoyed using Zoom to stay connected and grow in understanding with one another.  Getting back together in person over an outdoor Easter brunch was a recent joy and we look forward to the nice weather enabling us to resume our shared meals as we grow in Christ together.