Quotes of the Week

"Living each day as it if were our last, rather than converting us into hedonists, will make us appreciate how
wonderful it is that we are alive and have the opportunity to fill this day with activity. This in turn will make us less
likely to squander our days. As we think about and plan for tomorrow, remember to appreciate today."
-- William B. Irvine

"If, in 10 years, you were to look back at your actions of today, what would you change? Always be asking yourself in terms of your goals and how you want to live."
-- Craig Ballantyne

"Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity."
-- John F. Kennedy

Neglect, Fire Hazard, Airport Scene, New Race Track, YW Update

When I got back from Omaha, I noticed my poinsettia was dying. Even though it was right by the kitchen sink, neither Glen nor Ben thought to water it for me while I was gone. Oh well. It was pretty while it lasted.

One evening I smelled something burning. 

No worries.

It was just a strategically placed stuffed animal sitting on a lamp's light bulb.

I was Jeff and Sarah's airport shuttle driver a couple of weeks ago. Just one request by Sarah before going to the airport--she wanted breakfast upon their arrival at our home. Wish granted!!

There sure is a lot of paraphernalia when traveling with children.

Off to Omaha they go! So cute watching Jeff and Sarah wheeling the luggage while Eli takes care of pushing Carson in the stroller.

We bought some new little cars to add to the car collection the little grandchildren love to play with. Spencer was excited about opening it when he got a good look at it.

Caroline played for quite a while with the new launch and loop race track. Then she asked me if I had bought any new girl toys. She seemed a little disappointed when I told her I hadn't. (Actually, that thought never occurred to me...) She said if I would buy a doll, then she wouldn't have to play with cars when she comes to our house.

Just a little Young Women update. For the combined Young Men/Young Women activity this week, we had a talent show. My Mia Maid class worked hard on doing a song/skit.

Gabby (in white) was the head and her arms were the feet of the little person. Rachel is cutting holes in the back of the shirt so she can put her arms through the sleeves. With a sheet held up and only the upper part of Gabby's body showing through a slit in the sheet, it looks like a tiny person dancing on the table. Sydney (in red) was the arms to Lauren (who had to leave early on this practice night). Thankfully all four of them were there for the performance. 

When all the acts had been done, everyone voted and--you guessed it--THE MIA MAID CLASS WON!!!!!!!!!!!! It made it worth all the effort we put into it!! 

The Young Women leaders have been working on a big craft project. We had it set up last night a couple of hours before mutual began so anyone could stop by and help us. We worked on it until 10:30 p.m. and then a few of us went back to the church today to spend 4 more hours on it. 

And it's still not done. UGH!! 

We have a big problem. Jamie can't find a "U" stamp anywhere. She's tried 4 craft stores. Several women have called several of their scrapbooking friends and no one can produce a stamp that goes with this font.

Jamie tried to improvise by trimming down a "C" stamp and this is what she got. She tried again with trimming the "O" stamp and it wasn't much of an improvement.

Despite that little problem, we kept working and working and working on the project.

This is supposed to be our hand-out gift to the girls on Sunday at New Beginnings to remind them of our YW theme for the year.

 Let's hope a miracle happens for this project to be completed on time.

Quotes of the Week

"Change might not be fast and it isn't always easy. But with time and effort, almost any habit can be reshaped."
-- Charles Duhigg

"Agreements, whether to yourself or others, should not be made if they cannot, or will not, be honored. You have the strength, intelligence, and heart to know what you are willing and not willing to do."
-- Dr. Gay Hendricks

"Approach life knowing there will be plenty to go around. Be generous."
-- Frank McKinney

Farewell Visit to Omaha

Jacob recruited me for babysitting services once again. This time the reason wasn't for them to have another baby (which is usually the case). It wasn't because they were going on another cruise (although that is where they are right now and they talked Sarah and Jeff into taking a working vacation to babysit their children for them). 

It was because they are moving to Houston soon and they needed to go on a house hunting trip. Hence...Grandma Thomas to the rescue!!!!

I have told Jacob time and time again that I am sick of going out there in the dead of winter. It is so cold and it is so windy and it gets icy and the snow gets packed on the roads and the plows don't do a very good job of clearing the roads and it's hard to take the kids anywhere because of having to bundle them up and get them all in their car seats and who wants to take them anywhere anyway because it is TOO DARN COLD!!!

That has always been my complaint as each one of their children has been born in one of the winter months...except Luke...born in October...which wasn't so bad...until Laurie got pancreatitis...and then I was living out there for almost the whole winter that year. BRRRRRRR!!! Can I just say COLD and NO THANK YOU to the BITTER COLD of Nebraska!!!

WELL...

I thought I had it bad in years past, but this year took the cake. Yessirreee!!! I had the "privilege" of being in Omaha when the wind chill got down to -34 degrees. I have NEVER been in such cold weather before. It was ridiculously, bone-chillingly COLD!!!!!

With that introduction, perhaps it will make more sense why the children are basically wearing pajamas in almost every picture and almost every minute of the day and night when I was there caring for them. With weather that frigid, who wants to go out in it?!? None of us!!! So we stayed in and had a great big pajama party every single day.

Poor little Emma had a violin lesson the first day I was there and she reluctantly put on her warm clothes so she could go to her violin lesson. And then she was right back in her pajamas the minute she got back home.

Emma and Luke showed me their artistic talent by drawing some pictures using different mediums.

Claire never really warmed up to me. She always preferred her sisters to me. Poor baby. Traumatized for life, I'm sure.

It probably didn't help that I wasn't watching her closely enough one time and she took a tumble down the stairs and is now scarred for life. Poor, poor baby!

Natalie loved texting her parents and posting pictures on Instagram.

Logan was usually happy doing his own thing. I am just sure Eli and Carson are enjoying playing with the trains and all the toy cars this week with Logan.

When Sarah found out the children were watching a movie and eating popcorn in the morning (their idea--not mine) and I said I was having a grandma break, she made the flippant comment, "It's only 10:00 and you already need a movie break? That's like needing a drink before 5:00."

This might have been a second movie in the same day... Don't judge me!!!!

First day Sarah was on the job, she texted me a picture of all the children on the movie mat watching a movie. I noted the time was 10:12 a.m.. She apologized to me for being so judgmental. She is quickly learning you do what you gotta do when you gotta do it to keep the majority of the children happy for the majority of the time.

Natalie, Emma and I really looked forward to the evenings after the younger children were in bed when we were able to play games together. We played my favorite game--Rummikub--only the Junior version.

Had to take time out from our game so the girls and I could talk to Glen when he called. They were so cute filling him in on everything that had been happening. They were like twins--talking and laughing at the same time and saying the same thing at the same time. It was hard for Glen to understand them, but I was sure laughing as I listened and watched them. He finally insisted they could only talk one at a time so he could figure out what they were saying.

Next day the girls organized a "fun day" to keep everyone busy and happy all day long. Here they are putting water in ice cube trays to make various fun-shaped ice for a little later.

This was "Alvin and the Chipmunks" movie marathon day. They let Logan pick which one he wanted to watch first.

They got all the stuffed chipmunks out so they could play with them while watching the movies.

Another fun activity was they planned, rehearsed and acted out the nursery rhyme "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." Emma is the narrator at the beginning of the story and the other children are the three bears.

Natalie quickly took over the role of narrator when Goldilocks (Emma) entered the story. She's tasting all three bowls of porridge.

Goldilocks is sitting in Baby Bear's chair.

After the chair breaks all to pieces (she tipped it over) she tried out Papa Bear's bed, then Mother's Bear's bed (looks like Claire likes that bed) and falls asleep in Baby Bear's bed.

The Three Bears come back home and after noticing someone had been eating their porridge (which Claire has now found), they are noticing someone has been sitting in their chairs. And then they found Goldilocks sleeping in Baby Bear's bed.

They did a great job acting out the story for me and are taking a bow. Bravo, bravo!!!

The girls are showing me the ice cubes they made.

All the children had baths on Saturday night. Most of them put their same pajamas right back on. I hope Laurie appreciated all the laundry she didn't have to do when she got back home because of them wearing the same thing over and over again.

Sarah posted the video she made of Eli and Carson doing funny things and dancing to the song "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth." The kids watched it over and over again. They were looking forward to seeing those two cousins the next week.

Sunday morning did not start out well. Claire was up for the day at 5:30 a.m. and she was a sick and unhappy baby. Logan woke up a few minutes after she did and it reaffirmed my decision of the previous evening to keep those two home from 9 a.m. church.

Natalie was such a good big sister to get Emma's hair all styled without any help from me.

Luke, Natalie and Emma got themselves ready in plenty of time to be picked up for church. Claire was ready for a long morning nap as soon as they left. This was definitely a time I used a movie as a babysitter to keep Logan happy while I dozed for a few minutes.

Once back home, the kids were anxious to act out another nursery rhyme for me--The Three Little Pigs.

Narrator Luke turned into the Big Bad Wolf and was trying his hardest to blow down the brick house where the three little pigs were inside.

Natalie was such a sweetie pie that evening doing the nighttime routine with Logan. He was exhausted from his extremely-early-morning rising and Natalie said he fell asleep the minute his head hit the pillow.

These little girls were angels and were such a big help to me with the other children.

I am happy to report Jacob and Laurie were able to find a home. After coming home not feeling very good about the house they put an offer on, they have since removed their offer and are going to buy another home in a different area. They feel much better about this one. It was interesting hearing of their experiences and how they eventually made their final decision.

This was a good trip for me to be able to bid my farewell to this house and the Omaha area. I certainly have spent a lot of time there. I will be forever thankful to the wonderful people in their ward who have reached out to them over the years and to the ones who have extended love and a helping hand to me as well.

Farewell, dear house, farewell!!

Quotes of the Week

"Set your sights high, the higher the better. Expect the most wonderful things to happen, not in the future but right now. Realize that nothing is too good. Allow absolutely nothing to hamper you or hold you up in any way."
-- Eileen Caddy

"When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence."
-- Helen Keller

The Rest of Christmas in San Francisco

Christmas Day continued when Klarissa and Newland woke up from their naps. We had a little Santa visitor.

Ben read about the birth of Christ from the Bible.

We opened presents.

Next day was wear-your-BYU-clothes day. Breakfast before the rally.

BYU pep rally in Union Square where I got mugged.

I guess I technically didn't get mugged because I wasn't beaten or robbed. It was more like a purse-snatching. But, then again, my purse didn't actually get snatched. It was more like an attempted cell phone snatching. But, thankfully there were some observant, trustworthy people standing next to us who noticed the guy snatching my phone out of my purse in the back of the stroller and one guy grabbed my phone out of the snatcher's hands and put it right back inside my purse.

That will teach me to keep my eye on my belongings and not so much on trying to get pictures of the BYU shenanigans while in Union Square.

Ben got a good picture of Klarissa, Abe and Newland with Cosmo.

Christmas wreaths in all of Macy's windows. Looked so beautiful lit up at night.

Glen pushed Newland in the stroller back up the steep hills to the apartment where Newland slept and Glen worked. The rest of us went to see The Hobbit. They all liked it. It was not my favorite.

 Abe having a good time in front of the movie posters.

 Dinner was at a place where we cook the food ourselves.

 After dinner activity was swimming in our hotel pool. Newland loves the water.

Klarissa left early the following morning to catch a flight to Utah for a friend's wedding. Glen and I went back to IHOP for breakfast again. The boys left us to our own devices that day until it was time to hook up for the ball game.

BYU playing in the Hunger Bowl.

I laughed so much when I saw this picture. It gives us an idea of what Ben would look like sporting the Duck Dynasty look. (Beard courtesy of the fur on Newland's hood.)

Newland kept his eyes on the guy with the strange cougar cap who was sitting behind him.

On departure day, Abe snatched Newland out of a sound sleep (believe me--he and Ben were in a sound sleep as well) and we were on our way driving back home to hook up here with Klarissa. First stop: buffet breakfast in Reno, Nevada.

Our other meal on the road was a McDonald's at a gas station stop. YUM! Yeah right!?!

Home again. I opened the Christmas present Sarah's family gave us. Cute photo!

 Cousins' reunion huddled around the popcorn poppers.

Sarah and I were getting a kick out of Rebecca's pregnant tummy. She carries her babies straight out in front like a basketball is stuffed in her shirt. Baby is due first week of March.

Poor Abe got the vomits which lasted about 24 hours. Thankfully little Newland didn't have any throwing up issues. New Year's Day Abe's family flew back to San Francisco.

By the time they left, Newland had warmed up quite nicely to us. But his favorite was always Ben.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!