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.

Quotes of the Week

"A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition."
-- William Arthur Ward


"Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will."
-- Zig Ziglar


"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."
-- George Bernard Shaw

Newland Michael Thomas

It had been several months since a new baby boy entered the world and we could hardly wait to meet the little guy. The time for our visit had finally arrived.

We took a slight detour to Twin Falls and Boise for a couple of days so Glen could do some work there. The Sacramento Temple was another stop we made on our way to San Francisco. 

Seeing grandbaby #10 for the first time was very special for us. Thankfully Abe has FaceTimed with us so we have seen more than just still-life pictures of Newland. But seeing him in person was the best of all.

I loved watching Abe and Klarissa with their little son.

Time to get the little one ready to go out for the evening.

We were off to Boboquivari's for a fancy dinner.

It was fun to see Abe and Klarissa's new apartment. I loved seeing how they have decorated and ways they are making the most of their limited space. Such a beautiful place for them to live.

Little Newland is the happiest when he's flat on his back in his bed. I guess he just loves to stretch and kick.

It was Newland's 3-month birthday the next day, so Klarissa put him in his party hat for pictures.

Klarissa's mother Ingrid and her sister Mariah join in with the stripe theme of the day.

There were a couple of projects in the works while we were there. Glen tried to help Abe get his computer hooked up to his big, new, flat-screen television.

Another project they were doing was trying to figure out how to get their bed turned a different direction and get it hoisted up to rest the top of the bed on the shelf running along the bottom of the wall and get the end of the bed elevated to the right height.

Off we went to IKEA to get supplies for the tasks at hand. But first, a stop for lunch at the Elephant Bar. Thanks to the Jackson family for tending Newland while we made those shopping and eating stops.

What an adventure we had at IKEA trying to get their new box springs tied onto the top of their car. We had quite a ways to go to get that thing back to the apartment.

Everyone's arms got tired holding onto the box any way they could to make sure the cargo stayed safely perched atop the vehicle en route. (Note: no box springs, vehicles or people were harmed in the transporting of this merchandise.)

Upon completion of the delivery, Glen, Mike and Abe were anxious to get out of there and be on their way to the BYU football game at San Jose. We girls relaxed at the apartment watching movies and Newland. Mariah was so sweet being a doting auntie to her little nephew.

Sunday was blessing day. It was a double treat because not only did we get to be there for the blessing, but we also got to hear Abe speak in church. Of course there were pictures taken after church.

Back at the apartment the photo shoot continued and all were enlisted to get the little guy to look at the camera and smile.

Ingrid had done a lot to help Klarissa prepare the food for our consumption.

After lunch Mariah and Glen took a little nap. Glen used Klarissa's nursing pillow for his headrest. He thought it looked just like the traveling pillow we had out in the car. I guess he didn't realize this is at least TWICE the size of our neck pillow.

Our trip was all too short. The Thomas and Jackson families made our visit so very enjoyable. So long, baby Newland.

 See you again at Christmas time!!

Quotes of the Week

"Your worth consists in what you are and not in what you have."
-- Thomas A. Edison

"All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don't discover why. Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It's what you do for others."
-- Danny Thomas

"To love what you do and feel that it matters -- how could anything be more fun?"
-- Katharine Graham