Quotes of the Week

Seek the source of true strength--the Savior. He desires your happiness and exults in your desires for righteousness. Make him your strength, your daily companion, your rod and your staff. Let him comfort you. There is no burden we need bear alone.
--Chieko Okazaki

When the focus of our lives is on God's plan of salvation...and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening--or not happening--in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him... For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!
--Russell M. Nelson

Each member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an individual responsibility to learn and live the Lord's teachings and to receive by proper authority the ordinances of salvation and exaltation.
--David A. Bednar

Montgomery Truman Thomas Born; First Covid-19 Immunization; Jury Summons

On Friday morning, March 5th, Klarissa went to her doctor's appointment and there were some irregular contractions going on and she was pretty miserable. Her due date was 5 days later. 

The doctor asked if she would like to go to the hospital and be induced. By the time they got to the hospital that afternoon, she was in labor on her own. 

Shortly after 6 p.m. a healthy baby boy was born. 

His name is Montgomery "Monty" Truman Thomas. True to form, Klarissa was a champ delivering another huge baby. He weighed 9 lbs. 3 ozs. which is half a pound less than their previous baby.

We now have 19 grandchildren--12 boys and 7 girls. There is a lot of male dominance going on in our family.

Abe posted some comparison photos of all their babies at birth. He feels like they all look the same at birth, but then turn into such unique little people so quickly.

Newland -- bottom left

Wynne -- bottom right

Magnus -- top left

Monty -- top right

It is always such a sweet experience for the older siblings to meet the new baby.

We are happy to report that the following news article is correct. Rebecca had been in on the early Covid-19 vaccinations because of being a substitute school teacher and she reported on the efficiency of receiving her vaccinations. 

The location was the Davis County fairgrounds in Farmington. There was a long road leading off the busy road that would allow for a long line of cars if necessary. There was no long line of cars when we arrived in the middle of the day.

We showed our pre-printed forms and our ID and then merged into the line leading into the building.

Once inside, we were directed to an empty station.

A security guard was walking around making sure everything/everyone was acting in an orderly manner.

We didn't even have to get out of the car to receive our vaccinations. She did Glen's first and then came over to my side to give me mine.

We pulled out of the building and into a parking lot where we were instructed to wait for 15 minutes to see if we had any kind of an adverse reaction.

There was an ambulance in the parking lot and we were instructed to honk our horn repeatedly if we were experiencing difficulties. No one honked while we were there. We didn't have any issues, so we were soon on our way.

I have officially been notified that I have been "randomly selected as a prospective juror." My term of jury service is from April 1st to June 30th. That seems like a long time. 

My first thought was that during this Covid time of going nowhere, and not much at all on the calendar, I figured it's a great time to be called to jury duty. 

But... then it occurred to me... we actually DO have something on the calendar. 

We have a family reunion scheduled June 19-25 with our children, their spouses and all the grandchildren. I certainly don't want to miss that! Especially since we have had this vacation planned for well over a year. 

On the form, there was a place to write in dates that would be a conflict. I hope they will honor that one week out of the three months.

I enjoyed the sentence at the end of the letter that tells the small amount I will be paid if I do get called for jury service. This is the part I loved: "You will also be rewarded with the pride you can take in serving your community."

I do recognize the importance of jury duty. As is stated in the letter: "It is an important civic duty and an important civic right. Our justice system cannot function without you."

But, I just needed a few chuckles to get me over the shock of the possibility of being called to jury duty.

When I learned Nani had also been summoned by the court system to serve jury duty, I had to laugh at the irony of us both receiving notice at the same time.

Yes, I will happily serve if called upon to do so. I had the experience while living in Georgia of being on a jury. It was an informative and interesting few days. 

I think the worst part will be wondering for three months if/when I will be called to report for duty.

Quotes of the Week

 We may not be able to see the entire picture just yet, but with patience we can see enough to trust that there is a beautiful, grand design. And as we strive to trust God and follow His son, Jesus Christ, one day we will see the finished product, and we will know that the very hand of God was directing and guiding our steps.
--Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Everything to do with becoming more like the Savior is difficult...the Lord loves effort, because effort brings rewards that can't come without it.
--Russell M. Nelson

Restoring what you cannot restore, healing the wound you cannot heal, fixing that which you broke and you cannot fix is the very purpose of the atonement of Christ.
--Boyd K. Packer

Madison Now 7; Roller Blading Grandsons; Covid-19 First Vaccination Scheduled

The Goldens went to see Matilda at a local high school. Rebecca continues to be amazed at the youth in this area who are so talented in their acting and singing.

Madison had a birthday and she is now 7 years old. Cute birthday girl!! When I asked what her "birthday cake" was this year she said it was sugar cookies with sprinkles on the frosting. YUM!!

I should probably make note of other family birthdays. Jeff and Rebecca both had birthdays the week before Madison. Rebecca was lamenting the fact she was turning 40!

Here's a quote from Glen: "Jeff doesn't whine about his birthdays."

These are the 5-month baby picture comparisons of Kade and Levi. 

Ben's comment: "Kade had already had a haircut. Levi on the other hand..."

Abe's family went to see the movie Tom & Jerry. 

Some more fun with those little Thomases.

Abe sent a video of Newland at the skate park going up and down ramps, hopping on and off raised platforms and racing around the park like a pro. His skills are impressive!

While one grandson was exhibiting his rollerblading skills in Florida, Carson was honing his roller blading skills in Las Vegas.

All that exercise worked up an appetite! Notice the Excells got a new sectional couch. Looks very nice.

What cute little twinning brothers, Jonah and Lincoln.

There haven't been any rollerbladers around here quite yet. There is still snow on the ground. The other day, while looking out our kitchen window, Glen spied 10 deer. I wasn't able to capture all of them in one frame. Most of the others were down in the trees and were much harder to see.

I had to sarcastically laugh when I read this.  

It's hard to believe it's coming up on the year mark since the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic and shut-downs began.

We have been hoping to get our Covid vaccinations soon. I am happy to know Dad and Mom have gotten both of their shots. Rebecca has now gotten both of the vaccines. She was able to get them because she's a substitute school teacher.

I have learned my brother Mike has gotten his because he works for Davis School District and my brother Mark has gotten his because he's a doctor. I will not rest easy until all of us have had a chance to get immunized.

This wearing-a-mask business is driving me CRAZY!!! I cannot stand to wear a mask! I am so glad we don't go out much, because that way I don't have to wear a mask very often.

Hopefully, with the big roll-out of immunizations going on that maybe, perhaps, hopefully, fingers crossed, the finish line will soon be in sight when we can be around people and actually be able to see each other's smiles once again. I miss seeing people's faces.

My latest new recipe was Hearty Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing. That's quite a title!

Glen has been a very good sport at trying my new recipes. He pronounced this one a success.

The next night I tried out Garlic Mushroom Pasta and paired it with an enhanced spinach salad from the night before.

Every two months, for our health insurance, we have to set new health goals. Starting March 1st, both Glen and I set the goal to drink more water. 

We are finding it a chore to drink so much water during the day. It is also just a guess for us as to how much we are drinking. I am tempted to get some of these jugs and wonder if the time lines would be motivational for us.

The weather has been warming up and despite snow still being on the ground, we enjoyed a nice walk up on Bountiful Boulevard.

So many of the things going on in the world right now just cause us to shake our heads and wonder what people are thinking!! Some of the Dr. Seuss books have been removed from libraries. We have to be so careful about what we write or say so it does not sound racist. 

I feel it necessary to document the ridiculousness of people being up in arms about "Mr." Potato Head. 

Glen and I got excited about this announcement!! We have been waiting for our age group to come available so we can get our Covid-19 immunizations. Surprisingly, I hadn't been able to qualify earlier for severe illness, so we were waiting for our age bracket--which is now March 8th.

I guess this meme turned out to be correct.

We got on the computer and registered ourselves. The week of March 8th was all filled up. We had a choice of March 6th or any day after March 15th. Glen had us click on March 6th...and we didn't get rejected...

I felt a little guilty when I got my confirmation email. But, to our defense, we both filled in our birthdates on the applications. They could have rejected us when that info was entered, but they didn't.

So--take that CORONAVIRUS!!!!