Merry Christmas!

 

Dear Family and Friends:

We hope you and your families are doing well. We are so thankful for this time of year to focus on the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We are so very grateful for His life, example and the Atonement.

Love,
The Thomas Family

Phil and Laine

Phil and I are still plugging along. Phil is still working at Triumph. They have had three layoffs this last year and thankfully he has survived each one. They put him on a team to help develop a plan to make the company more productive and profitable and sent him to a training class so that looks promising for the future. He is a ward missionary; way out of his comfort zone. He started piano lessons this year, something he has wanted to do for a long time. I am still doing medical transcription from home. Working just part-time but it keeps me busy. I am a den leader with the wolf den in cub scouts. I enjoy it but it does keep me hopping. I'm planning to go back to school and take some photography and computer graphic arts classes this coming year. Exciting!

Jess, Dallin and Ellimere

Jessica, Dallin and baby Ellimere are still in Idaho. Sigh. Baby Ellimere was born January 9th. Jess had some complications and we almost lost her. We are so thankful her life was spared! Phil and I got to go meet baby Elli and I stayed there for a week to help out. It was very nice being there with Jess, Dallin and Elli! Jess, Dallin and Elli flew to AZ for a visit in March and we went to Idaho in June. Jess stays at home being Elli's mommy. She has learned she really loves baking and makes lots of yummy things. She is in the Idaho Falls Symphony playing the viola. She teaches in Primary. She made an amazing comeback from her earlier health challenges and participated in a triathalon this summer. She did the swimming part (in a lake, brrr; had to wear a wetsuit). Dallin's uncle did the biking part and a cousin did the running part. Their team came in 2nd overall. Yeah! Dallin is working as a goldsmith in a local jewelry store there in Idaho Falls. They keep him pretty busy. He is a talented guy! He is a counselor in the Elder's Quorum in their ward. Little Elli will be 1 in just a few weeks. Can't believe Phil and I are grandparents. Ellibean has several teeth and is walking now. She's got red hair like her daddy. (Jess had red hair when she was a baby too.) Elli's a cutie!

Vanessa

 

Vanessa turned 15 in April. She is a sophomore now. I think she has finally stopped growing at 5'7". Phew! She is doing well in school. She participates in track. We call her Fleet Feet or the Flying V. She really pushes to improve her time and is keeping fit with pre-season track practice. She made it to State this year and was so excited! She is a great help around the house and with the ping pong balls (wild and crazy littler kids). She keeps them in line. Whoa lookout! She loves cooking and her favorite channel is the cooking channel. She usually cooks dinner once a week and does a great job.

Olivia

 

Olivia turned 11 in March. I think every night she grows 2 inches. She is getting so tall! She is in 5th grade this year. She still struggles due to some learning disabilities but she has learned to have a great attitude and to keep on trying. She loves to help others and is very kind and thoughtful. She loves girly stuff but with four brothers some of the girly-girl side is wearing off. She is always so good about being thankful for things. She writes notes and is always thanking us for things. Keeps us humble.

Jamal

 

Jamal turned 10 in March. He's in 4th grade. He is doing well in school and is a very conscientious student. He is a Webelo in scouts and enjoys the scouting program. He has quite an artistic talent and is the class artist. Whenever they need something drawn in his class, they ask him. He really is quite talented for a little boy. Very creative too.

Khorey

 

Khorey turned 7 in June. He is in 2nd grade. He is still full of so much energy we started calling him the Tornado. Just a whirlwind. He does great in school. Seems to come easy to him. Lucky boy. We seem to finally have the right combination/amount of medication to help him manage his ADHD. He is doing so much better behavior wise and sleeping better too. Hip, hip, hoorah! He really tries hard too. He is a kind, thoughtful little boy.<

Delron

 

Delron turned 5 in March. He is in kindergarten now. He loves school. He asks every morning when I wake him up "Is it school today?" He is doing better with speech and still has speech therapy in school. He mastered writing his name and does a good job. He was writing it totally backwards N O R L E D. Couldn't figure it out until his teacher explained. He is left-handed and is transposing it. He has figured it out now though. Good job Delron! He has quite a wit and comes up with some pretty funny stuff.

Isaiah

Isaiah turned 3 in March. When I had him try on some winter clothes from last year all the pant legs were about 2 inches too short. Sigh, our baby is growing up. He will be a Sunbeam in Primary in January. No more nursery. Sigh. He is pretty excited about being able to go to the "big kid" classes like the other kids. He is a joy in our lives.

Zoo

 

 

 

This year we lost our cat Taz (14), our ferret Jiffy (9), our dog Snickers (14), and our cat Sasha (14). All passed away from old age. It was hard to lose them all in one year. Sigh. We still have our dog Toby, our dog Sadey, our cat Hoover and we added a puppy. She's a lab mix, 8 months, named Toffee.