Claire Elizabeth Thomas

Abe and Klarissa aren't the only ones multiplying these days. I flew from San Francisco on Newland's blessing day so I could be in Omaha for the birth of Claire Elizabeth Thomas the next morning. Claire's siblings were awfully anxious to meet her, so off to the hospital we went.

It is always a very sweet experience to see a newborn baby for the first time.

Laurie said this was the easiest delivery of all her children. Quite remarkable considering it was her fifth C-section. That was very good news.

Everyone was eager to have a turn holding the new baby.

The kids love eating snacks at the hospital.

When it came time for Jacob to change Claire's diaper, the kids huddled around to see what that was all about.

More holding of the newborn.

Natalie had piano lessons that evening. We stopped for a Taco Bell dinner on the way home. Emma's face looks so distressed because she found two small pieces of lettuce in the taco she ordered with just plain cheese in it. She picked the lettuce out but refused to eat the taco. Apparently it had been contaminated.

Here's a cute little pilgrim boy...

 ...holding a turkey that says "Eat carrots NOT turkey!"

Emma's thankful wheel shows she is thankful for family--including new sister Claire.

Another day, another hospital visit. This time Claire was sporting a BYU headband.

Laurie got home from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day.

While waiting for the Thanksgiving feast to finish cooking, Logan entertained himself playing with cars while Natalie and I entertained ourselves trying to take self portraits.

I really loved the turkey standing on the fireplace and wanted to make sure that got in the picture. Here are some of our attempts. This one we totally blocked the whole turkey.

This one shows I'm getting mildly better with my aim.

Here we have great turkey coverage, but part of Natalie is cut off. It was quite evident I wasn't being too successful in taking a picture of us and the turkey, but we were having fun trying.

Jacob suggested he take the camera and take the picture of us. After he snapped the shot, I asked if he had gotten the turkey behind us in the picture. He said he got both turkeys behind us in the picture.

Here's Jacob with the real turkey...

...with the other little turkey looking on.
The table set for the Thanksgiving feast.

The kids were super excited Jacob and Laurie brought home their bottle of sparkling cider from the hospital to share with them. They made toasts around the table.

There is much to be thankful for. This year I was especially thankful all went well with the birth of little Claire. Everyone was thankful Jacob and Laurie could be home for Thanksgiving dinner.