Yet ANOTHER Bouncy Ball

This morning Debbie and I left at 6am to continue our training for this upcoming marathon. We have had unseasonably warm weather (70s) so I left with shorts and a tank top. We ran over to Panther Creek and then South on Legacy. This is where we encountered the 20 mph winds. MY GOODNESS! I was sooooooo happy that it was 67 degrees when we left... at least we were warm as we struggled through the 4 miles of wind. It never let up! It seemed so easy to run when we headed West on Stonebrook - at least it was a cross-wind! :) We continued to run and made a water stop over at Walgreens on Legacy and Lebanon. We were at about mile 9 and I entered the restroom and ended up sitting there longer than intended! Augh! We lost about 5 minutes thanks to my restroom problems that I seem to encounter... anyway... we continued on.

We were going to be running North now - with the warm wind! At least we'd be pushed home! At about mile 14 the wind literally changed on the spot and the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees. Talk about change, instantly! (I looked over at Debbie and was coveting her pants she had on.) The clouds were rolling in and out all morning, but then off to the West we noticed the dark, dark clouds. Cool, I thought! It seemed to be all past us. Then up ahead I noticed our mini-van parked near the intersection of Teel and Main. It was Glenn and he did not have any water or Gatorade. He just had a message - we're in a tornado watch, get home! We were about 2 miles from home now... he took off and circled us a couple of times, but then the one time I saw the brake lights come on... the van back-up lights came on... and out jumped a child (with no shoes or socks). I couldn't tell who it was but he grabbed another BIG BOUNCY BALL and jumped back in the car! We now own 4 bouncy balls! (If anyone needs a bouncy ball, please stop by and you can have one.)

With about 1 mile left the rains began falling and the temperature continued to drop (53 on the Walgreens billboard)! The winds were blowing and it felt like hail balls were pelting us. I kept thinking to myself - why? why? Why am I doing this? We were soaked thru and thru BUT we made the 17 mile jaunt home and watched the storm roll through. Within 30 minutes the sun was shining; there was nearly no wind!

Merry Christmas 2008

We were woken at 6:02am! What time did you get up? Glenn kindly asked that we could wait till 7am to start the party! We have good kids - they honored our request! Merry Christmas to you!

Happy 11th Ben

Happy 11th Birthday Ben! Last night when Glenn came home from work we had our birthday dinner for Ben - beef stroganoff, brocolli & cauliflower with cheese and homemade bread! Just Delicious!

After we ate (kinda' late) he wanted to open some presents. In order to clear the dinner dishes, I sent everyone upstairs to get on PJs. Emma shouted, "Do you hear the ice?!" WHAT? ICE? She was right, it was sleeting. To which Ben yelled, "Oh, that would be the best b-day present - no school tomorrow!"

Presents were opened, children went to bed, Glenn went back to work after stringing the lights on the tree and I went back to baking 8 dozen (2 dozen per child) cookies for the &%#!*& cookie exchange at school this morning! (I was up till after midnight. Glenn was up till after 2am.)

This morning, everyone was up at 6:30 (thanks to Ben's new alarm clock) and ready to go by 7:35. Out the door went Zach and he wiped out on the sheet of ice! I ran to the computer and typed in FISD (Frisco Independent School District) and there it was... BEN'S WISH HAD COME TRUE!

No school today - the only problem is - we're ALL UP and ready to go and it's only 8:30... maybe everyone will take a nap?!

Thanksgiving 2008

We enjoyed a Wonderful Time during the Thanksgiving Season with Glenn's Family in Sunny Mesa Arizona! (It even thunderstormed and rained the 10 days we were there! We had lived their for nearly 3 years and I can count the days on one hand that it ever thunderstormed and rained... what's that ALL ABOUT!) Anyway... we were especially excited to be able to visit the temple with all of Glenn's Siblings in honor of the youngest sister, Melanie and her spouse Clark! (And guess what - they are moving to the Midwest this coming year! Score for us!)

I have to tell about a few of the things we enjoyed doing while we were visiting. We hiked a few of the kids up to Arnett Creek near Superior Arizona.

Here we found Apache Tears - legend has it that about 75 Apaches and the US Calvary squared off against each other in battle on a mountain overlooking what is now Superior, Arizona in the 1870's. Rather than face defeat, the outnumbered Apache warriors rode their horses off the mountain to their deaths. The families of the warriors cried when they learned of the tragedy. Their tears turned into stone upon hitting the ground. Today these beautiful translucent gemstones are known as Apache Tears Good Luck Stones. The kids were all so excited when we began to find the stones!


After the hike we ALL enjoyed Grandma's Delicious Banana Bread - she had made over 20 loaves I bet! I think we cleaned out her freezer! Score for us!




A lot of us participated in the Turkey Trot. This is either a 10K run, a 2-mile run or a 1-mile fun walk. Quite a few of the cousins participated. I believe Nick led the pack in for the 2-mile run! (17.47)! Go Nick! Ben completed his Very First 10K with a time of 1:02.



Of course there was the traditional turkey dinner. We found a bowl of peas (that never made it to the table) in the microwave the next morning. Some of my kids were excited that the peas STAYED in the microwave!

We met up with Glenn's cousin Alice and her family over at the Mesa Arizona Temple. We went over to see all the beautiful Christmas lights.

We had a fun evening over at Aunt Melissa's house to celebrate Uncle Eldon's 40th b-day! It was fun to eat grilled burgers and yummy cake! All the cousins had fun jumping on the trampoline and watching movies and playing with toys. There's starting to be LOTS of cousins! Fun, fun fun!

Goofy golfing - keeps getting goofier each year I guess! Aunt Mindy started this outing last year and it proved to keep everyone occupied for a good part of an afternoon. The kids definitely enjoyed themselves!

It felt as if each night we indulged ourselves with leftover cake, pie, flan, you name it while playing obnoxious card games that PROVED that it's ALL IN THE DEALER'S DEAL on who will win the game! I totally won one game BIG TIME, BIG SCORE... all playing were wanting to play again and I should have bowed out... BUT NO... we played again and I landed FLAT ON MY FACE! No fair! It was so much fun though!

As we packed up all the gear, plus all the kids, we were just so thankful to have been able to come out this year to be all together. We have a wonderful family and we're excited to be back again next year! Happy Holidays!

Happy Anniversary/Early Christmas??

We have been Texan-ites for the past year! and we really enjoy Texas! The other night I asked Glenn what he thought of our first year in Texas? We dilly-dallied and joked around about BIG TEXAS THIS and BIG TEXAS THAT! Texas truly is BIG! There is land all around... once you get out of the city. There are still cows nearby, horse ranches, it's very BIG and beautiful. Fall colors are setting in again. Another year...

Now, if you look closely at our old swing-set... the one that came when we purchased the house... you will see that it is pretty dilapidated. It has gone through a few years (before we arrived) without treatment and now the wood is starting to split and so forth. So, we decided to GO BIG and put up a new swing-set.

Glenn did some designing and some googling and came up with a swing-set that will swing 5 people, monkey-bar a few others, fireman-pole the neighbors and slide whoever is left. We are also trying to "place" the rock wall from the old set somewhere on the new. We don't know about that yet! Stay tuned for the FINAL gift!

Merry Christmas!

New Yeek

Christopher: Mom, this dessert is new yeek!

Me: What did you say?

Christopher: New Yeek!?

Glenn: Do you mean unique!

Christopher: Oh Yeah!

Christopher always keeps us on our toes!

I wish he'd stay at this age for a few years. He's just a hoot!

WELCOME home Ben

Benjamin spent the last three days and two nights at Camp Jolt. Camp Jolt is a science camp on the Texas Oklahoma Border (AKA Lake Texoma). He did fun things like fossil hunting, zip lines, animal tracking, hiking, scavenger hunts, etc.

This was his FIRST time being away from home. He had a WONDERFUL time and said that he never teared up - well maybe once or twice, but quickly got over it! (I sure missed him.) He's such a good kid!

It was a bit boring at home - Nick had no one to bug/make laugh... and when he tried to do his tricks on Zach - Zach didn't put up with it like Ben does! Zachary said it was a bit weird sleeping in his bedroom alone, without Ben nearby in his bed... something about an empty bed.

We're glad you're home Ben!

ER or FD

We have been in the school system now for 6 years and I have NEVER received a call from the school nurse... EXCEPT for last Friday! Here's how it went:

Nurse: Mrs. Thomas, could you please come down. I have your son here with me.

Me (panic): Which one? Was there a peanut mishap?!?! (Ben and Zach are allergic to peanuts.)


Nurse: No, no, I have Christopher with me. He has a... (pause)... a... ring on his finger. Well, no, it's more like a washer of some sort. He has two stuck on his ring finger.

Me: Oh, yes, I remember seeing those in the garage the other night. On the shelf.

Nurse: Yes. Exactly. During morning assembly he got the attention of the principal and he brought him over to his teacher. She then brought him to me and I have been trying to slip them off with soap and lotion but have had no luck. His finger is starting to swell and I think you should come and take him to the doctor.

Me: O?K? I am waiting for the neighbor to drop off her son (so she can go to the cannery) and I'll be to you in about 10 minutes, as soon as she comes with her son. Soak it in cold water and please keep trying to get it off!

Nurse: Well, please hurry!

I hung up and dialed the pediatrician and he recommended that we go to the ER for he had no way of removing the rings! GREAT! That would mean a very llloooooonnnggg wait and very very BIG $$! The neighbor brought her 2-year-old over and he (Dax) and Emma (3 yrs) and I took off for the school. We got to school and found Christopher with rings on his fingers (but no bells on his toes)! The middle-school nurse was coming down for she had a ring cutter in her equipment stash. When she entered and saw "the rings" she just laughed and said to the Nurse, "You told me they were RINGS, not heavy duty washers!" There was no way! But she had an idea that I never knew... Mrs. Thomas, did you know that the Fire Department cuts off rings?" My face lit up, "Really! Really! That's where we're heading first! I'll let you know how this all comes out! Bye!" And off we ran...

Fire Department: Well, well, what have we here?

Me: Yeah, Hi, my son got a few rings stuck on his finger. The school nurse told us that you may be able to help us out?!?! (Please... please...)

Fire Department: Ok, you bet. Where did you get these rings Chris? From a gum ball machine or something?

Chris: No, they were in my Dad's Tool Box.

Me. You see, they are heavy duty washers.

Fire Department: Yes Ma'am. Well, I'm sure they are not that heavy duty. (chuckle chuckle)

Me: Well, Chris, you need to show the officer. Christopher, open your hand and show him.

Fire Department: (LONG PAUSE) WOW! Those are heavy duty. RJ, can we get these suckers off?!

RJ: Yeah. Stick him in the ambulance and get the hax-saw.

They brought out these 3-foot snippers and could not get a good enough grip on the rings without squishing Christopher's finger. They got out every pair of pliers, snipper, etc. that they could find (at least 20 pair). No Luck! It's about 15 minutes into the procedure and I was starting to give up hope and thinking about the $$ that would be spent and the TIME LOST going to the ER. Then they got out the KY-Jelly and also axle grease. Emma and Dax had had enough of sitting in the ambulance. We had 4 fireman huddled around Chris. (Christopher was smiling for he thought it was pretty neat to be sitting in the ambulance.) Then they began snipping at the edge of ONE of the rings. They snipped enough to be able to start filing away and after they filed the one side, there was still no way to slide it off or bend it enough to get it off so, they began snipping and filing at the other side... an hour later, Christopher was FREE!

Tacos or Chili

Tonight I took Chris (K) and Emma with me to deliver a dinner to a family in our neighborhood. On the way home the conversation went like this:

Chris: Mom, tomorrow is election day.

Cindy: Yeah. You're right.

Chris: It's the day you go vote.

Cindy: Yeah. Do you know who there is to vote for Chris?

Chris: Well, there's Barack Obama or... or...

Cindy: John...

Chris: John McCain. That's right. John McCain.

Cindy: Who would you vote for?

Chris: John McCain.

Cindy: Really?! Why not the other guy?

Chris: Tacos Mom. John likes tacos. He also likes to hike.

Cindy: What does Barack like to eat?

Chris: Chili Mom. I don't like chili. We had chili at that one ward party a few weeks ago right? That was chili wasn't it?

Cindy: Yes. It's the bean stuff where you can put cheese on top.

Chris: Yeah. I like tacos Mom.

So, there you have it!

Vote For Tacos - Vote John McCain! :)

The Great Wolf Lodge

We are all HOWLIN' about The Great Wolf Lodge. Though some may say it's pricey, we took full advantage of the hours of operation and arrived Friday at noon and departed Saturday at 2pm (we could have stayed till 10pm on Saturday but we wanted to get back for the Dedication of our new church building at 4pm).

As we checked in, the bellman told us how "this would be the BEST night to visit the lodge." There were only 90 rooms booked on The Night Of Halloween. "Usually the place is jammed packed on the weekends. It's only been open since the first of the year and we have NEVER had a slow weekend. Lines for the waterslides can be up to an hour wait. You guys picked a GREAT weekend to visit us!"


We were feeling pretty happy inside after hearing his report! And when we were checking out on Saturday afternoon, we understood what he was talking about. THERE WERE PEOPLE (wolves) EVERYWHERE and EVERYWHERE! And the waterslide rides were beginning to have a longer and longer wait.

Ben and Zach had the best time on the waterslides. There were four large slides like this one. It was 93 stair steps to the top of this slide. Nick and Chris were just tall enough to go on slides like this one. (Chris would do these slides if you asked him, but he insisted that Mom or Dad would hold his hand.)






Whenever the Wave Pool was ready for waves, the coyotes would begin to howl and howl. That was the sign! All Thomas Boys could be found in the wave pool and once the waves were over, skat, the boys were all off to the water slides or play areas.

Saturday arrived and it was time to go...



As we arrived at the church building just in time for the dedication at 4pm, we filed into a bench and sat down. Within 10 minutes, Christopher was sleeping upright in the bench, mouth open and snoring. Drool began to drip from his face and we caught it with a Kleenex. Emma was nuzzled up in Glenn's arms. And we about lost Nicholas at the dedicatory prayer. It was kind of long and with eyes shut, heads bowed and arms folded, he began to teeter a bit. We propped him up! I think we may have played a little too hard - I have never had kids fall asleep in church!

The dedication was very nice. We are grateful for the people who built this wonderful church. It is a beautiful building and it will stand for a long time. It will see many holy ordinances performed inside its walls. We feel very blessed to be living in such a time. Though there are problems world-wide, the church continues to grow. People are looking for the truth. Many in our community and neighborhood are asking about the new building on Legacy (the street where it stands). We hope many will come out to visit.

October '08 At-A-Glance

WOW - this month has FLOWN by... we have been busy, busy, busy... and very tired, tired, tired... it's not often that Glenn and I sit on the comfy chair and take pictures of ourselves!

Ben's soccer team (Chargers) is doing great! They were leading the pack till last weekend, when they got beat by the 3rd seeded team. Oh well. He's still having a good time. They mostly play on Saturday's and will finish up next month.

Christopher's soccer team (FC Frisco) is also doing great! Christopher enjoys soccer and can really kick the ball well. He even kicked the ball into the goal (for a score) from the opposing team's side at one game! We knew he could kick well and he is pretty accurate. He is not as aggressive as he was last year; he is just always looking for an opportunity to really kick that soccer ball - and score a goal AT THE SAME TIME! :) His team also plays on Saturday and will finish up next month. (Saturdays have been busy!)

Last week his Kindergarten Class went to a Pumpkin Patch and Emma and I joined him for part of the morning. It was fun to run around the patch and feel the cool breeze of Fall in the air!


As for Emma...

Continuing to raise four strappling sons, this is a WHOLE NEW Chapter for me! I also grew up in the farming community of Bruno Nebraska (population 120) where there was only a gradeschool that housed K thru 8th in two rooms (K-4 and 5-8). I just need to say that I never took dance classes and don't think they were even offered anywhere NEAR Bruno Nebraska! So, when our 3-year old is talking about pirouettes and stuff like that - I HAVE NO CLUE! (Glenn's memory is slowly being jogged in this area too... he is starting to remember seeing his sisters do all kinds of dance-things growing up.) (Sorry, I just don't know all the lingo on this one yet.)

Nicholas continues to do this -

He will begin the competitive season in December. We are excited to see his routines on all 6 events! Go Nick!

Debbie Harris (friend in the next suburb over) and I ran the Double Trouble in Grapevine. Once again, she placed 1st (5K) and 3rd (10K) in her age division. I placed 2nd in my age division in BOTH races. It was fun to go and bring home some medals... I just hope I can do this in February! The Cowtown!

Zachary is gearing up to play basketball in the Fall. He has been taking it easy these past few months. He is a trooper and goes to all the practices of Ben and Chris. He rarely complains and I keep reminding him that his turn is next! He and Ben are working hard in Scouts and also both continue to take piano lessons. (Great News - our piano teacher comes to our house! I now wish EVERYTHING could come to our house!)

Last weekend the boys were very excited - and so were the girls too. The boys slept out under the stars in the backyard while the girls slept in Mom and Dad's big bed! Life is good! We like camping out in our backyard... and with the price of gas... we'll be doing a lot of this!









Tonight we carved the Halloween pumpkins and had soup for supper. It was a GREAT night, but Ben had to cut out early to get to soccer practice - AUGH!

Since Ben and Zach are allergic to peanuts and nuts - we don't make much of Halloween at our house. (We also have one in braces.) Last year we took off to the Grand Canyon by train. The year before we went to Legoland. We try to plan a family activity AWAY from the trick-or-treating... this year... we're going to the lodge... the GREAT WOLF LODGE! (We will plunge, splash and float in Texas' largest indoor waterpark.)

We'll get home in time for the dedication of our new church building on Saturday. Last week we went to church on Sunday and we left home at 8:55am! We were even early to church! YES! (I feel like I'm in Mesa again!)

Flush or Flesh

Christopher: Man Mom, these are great oranges!

Mom: Yes. They sure are juicy.

Christopher: You know what makes them juicy Mom?

Mom: Well... um... the juice, don't you think.

Christopher: No Mom, it's the flush!

Mom: The flush?

Christopher: Yeah, the flush Mom.

Mom: Did you maybe mean the flesh?

Christopher: Ooops!


Ben: I think I forgot to flush the toilet Chris.

Chris is Six

This was the year for THE FRIEND PARTY! Friend and Family Parties alternate in our home from year to year. And for the past 3 weeks Christopher has been speaking non-stop of Chuck-E-Cheese! AUGH! (Glenn and I can't stand CEC! Glenn even said to me, "Try to talk him out of it!") We tried Pump It Up (bouncy slides), Canyonlands (rock climbing) and a few others but there was no getting past Chuck-E-Cheese.

Now, Christopher is not into The BIG Rat, the stage, the crummy food... he's into THE TOKENS, THE GAMES, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, the GAMES THAT GET THE MOST TICKETS! Why? So, he can get all those trinky-dinky prizes at the end (cash in the tickets for prizes)!

Our goal was to get Ben, Nick and Zach to play all the games that gave out tons of tickets, and they did a GREAT JOB! After exactly 1 hour... we had spent 400 tokens and walked out with 1,600+ tickets. That's my kind of party! Each child had trinkets galore!

He invited 7 friends, but only 4 were able to come! And after an hour at Chuck-E-Cheese, we were ready for pizza and racecar cake!

What To Be When I Grow Up

Remember that question? "Hey little girl, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

This week is College Week at our Elementary School. Each day has a theme and today's theme is "dress like the career you want to have" day. Someday, I want to be...

Ben - Scientist or a Researcher. He is way into geology and rocks and sediment and stuff like that. But yet the other day I found him with a bunch of anatomy books, cancer and burn books... there is so much waiting to be discovered and Ben will get his chance!

Zach - Army Pilot. He loves talking with Uncles about careers in the Air Force! He just thinks it would be neat to fly planes. He likes reading books about the Tomcat and Harrier planes.

Nick - Olympic Gymnast. Nick will challenge anyone (even Uncle Brent) to push-ups. He is found daily doing push-ups by the 100s... by the hundreds... and he enjoys it! And if he's not walking on his feet, he's on his hands! He realizes that an Olympian isn't a lifelong job. After winning a few Gold Medals he'd like to be an Olympic Coach.

Chris - Chef. This boy LOVES food! He especially loves carrots and spinach. He thinks butterscotch pudding/topping is way way to sweet, but will eat a ton of Oreos. He enjoys anything that Mom cooks (pancakes, oatmeal, spaghetti, salmon, chicken, burritos).




We'll have to wait and see... time will tell...

A Special Stake Conference

After being able to listen and see Elder Holland last year , we were ALL very excited ONCE AGAIN to listen and see Elder Nelson this morning. He too is a member of The Twelve Apostles of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints. When Elder Holland came to visit last year in Mesa, we arrived at the church 3 hours early (7am) and still sat in the hard chairs! We were advised by many (in this area) that it would be much much different here. "There's no need to come until an hour before. Doors won't open till 8:45am. Etc. Etc.) Well, we wanted to get soft chairs, so we got to the church at 7:15am and were able to get soft chairs about 8 rows back - not bad! We were the first family from our Ward, the Frisco 6th Ward, at the conference!

Well, with a little over 3 hours till Conference started, what was a bunch of boys going to do? Ben was content to read a novel about The Hill Cumorah in the bench. Great! He could watch our seats! Thanks Ben! Zach and Nick and two of the Jensen boys began counting chairs. :) After we multiplied and added from each overflow room they came up with 1,503 seats. (We were putting 10 people in a bench.) Sounds good! Zach is Zach and while he was counting chairs, he spoke with a couple of the ushers... they were planning for about 1,500. They all agreed on his counting ability. Christopher and Emma were off going onto the stage and just roaming the halls and trying out each of the doors - some were open! Score!



Conference was about ready to begin and the Stake President kept coming to the pulpit asking that everyone, please, squish together more and more... tighter and tighter...

Elder Nelson entered and Conference began. The Stake Presidency spoke followed by a few musical numbers. The Mission Pres and wife spoke. The Stake Primary Pres spoke. Elder Martino of the 70 was accompanying Elder Nelson and he spoke. He spoke about "why bad things happen to good" and this was one of my questions that I came to Conference wanting an answer for. He based much of his talk on the book of Romans. At this time I had to do a RR run with Emma and realized just how packed the building was! When we pushed open the door we knocked some guy in the head that was sitting on the floor - I don't really know why he was sitting in the way of the door?!?! Probably because there wasn't much room elsewhere for him.

When we came back there were men doing head counts and President Roberts (Stake President) announced that there were 1,939 people present! Zach later informed us that the church is liable for 1,800 - maximum capacity that he read on a sign somewhere! Oops! No wonder there were people EVERYWHERE!

Elder Nelson spoke last. Of course he spoke about Hurricane Ike. When he and Elders Uchtdorf and Bednar were at the airport, airport personnel gazed at them conspicuously wondering why they would want to be going to Dallas when Hurricane Ike was on its way there too?

Elder Nelson spoke of "teaching our children" mostly. He spoke on missionary work and temple attendance too. He made it very very clear that we need to teach our children that we all come from a loving Heavenly Father. We need to be sure they are taught to pray with sincerity. We need to teach them about the atonement of Christ. We need to teach them to not fear death. Heavenly Father is also awaiting for our return. We will all be resurrected and continue to grow! If we're not thinking about Jesus and the atonement during Sacrament time, then we need to refocus our thoughts. We need to teach them the importance of Prophets, especially Joseph Smith. He taught us "as parents" to not be "quick to answer" our children. Listen to there thoughts. And most importantly to always, always, always have love and kindness in our homes! (I feel like that one HIT home! Glenn and I quickly glanced at everyone!)

He also told a few stories... about the time he went with President Monson to Brazil and they identified a child with cancer at a temple dedication. They were told of this young boy (about 9) who was battling cancer before the arrival. When they got to Brazil and began the work, the dedication began and at the end when they were outside putting some mortar on the capstone, President Monson asked this young boy to come forward. The boy, wearing a ski hat, stepped forward and one of the reporters asked if he could get a picture. He kindly asked the boy to remove his hat, so as to see his face better. When he did, of course he was bald. As he went back into the crowd Elder Nelson said that he leaned over to remind President Monson that it was time to get back inside, but President Monson told Elder Nelson that there was one more person that needed to dedicate the temple. He looked through the crowd, left to right, right to left and finally spotted a woman in the back and she came forward and then the meeting ended. Then went back to SLC and the next day Elder Nelson learned that President Monson had also chosen the boy's Mom. Elder Nelson asked President Monson, "How did you know?" But President Monson looked him in the eye and told him that he did not know, only the Lord knew. We need to have faith, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He can perform anything through us, his faithful servants!

With the closing of the meeting came the Stake President asking that we respect Elder Nelson's tight flight schedule back to SLC. Basically, please wait in your seats while we leave IMMEDIATELY after the closing song and prayer. A few people crowded the microphone and Zach looked at me and said, "Please, can I just go get a little closer?" I said, "Sure!" Ben and Nick took off to get to the RR, so we would be waiting anyway...

Zach came back beaming. "Mom, I shook Elder Nelson's hand!" "One of the ushers that I spoke with earlier in the morning (when he was counting chairs) gave me a quick shove right into his path and he shook my hand." He said, "I'll see you again in about 3 weeks at General Conference!" Zach said that his hand was a bit cold. Zach didn't think he was any taller than Dad either.

It's The Autumn Equinox

The Autumn Equinox has been the traditional "first race of the fall season" where runners can all measure the effects of their summer training and size up the competition for the races ahead. It is one of the oldest races in Texas. The name of the race originates from the "Autumnal Equinox," which is the day the sun is directly over the equator heading south, and marks the first day of the fall season.

Since we got here last November, I was coming off a high of finally finishing my first 1/2 Marathon. I had continued running but by myself... I would meet one or two "regulars" on a path that I ran... but no connections. I went to church meetings hoping to find someone to hook-up with. I then met Debbie Harris who was just out having a good time. She was running for a bit and I met up with her a few mornings during the week. She lives in the next suburb over so we just meet on Saturdays and do our own thing during the week.

Then, she found a 5-miler and we signed up... I got sick (which is NOT like me). I bowed out. A few months later she found this 15K and once again we signed up.

Last night, the aftermath of Hurricane Ike was headed straight for us BUT was not to reach the Dallas area till 10am... YES... we could still do it and get home in time.

As we drove down the tollway and onto the 635, etc... road signs were lit up everywhere stating "Hurricane Ike is nearing the coast, turn back!" We weren't going to the coast, only going to run a 15K. We got to the race, ran it in a downpour, winds - but nice and warm and muggy!

We both placed in our respectable age categories (Debbie-1st and Me-2nd) and were happy that we beat Hurricane Ike! We headed for home and are glad it's behind us.

The Cowtown in February! Here we come! Come down and join us!

Memory Bag

Zachary (4th) had an assignment last week at school. The assignment was to bring a Memory Bag. In this bag there was to be:

Something warm - a small blanket from his baby days

Something from long ago - a stuffed animal from Grandpa Stara when he was 1 year

Something that makes you cry - a picture of Christian & Stephanie Nielson and family


Something that makes you laugh - a picture of Emma making a funny face


Something as precious as gold - an amethyst crystal from his friend Kyler in San Jose

During the day, Zach's Memory Bag dumped onto the floor and as he was picking it up, one of his friends from another class commented on the picture of Christian & Stephanie. He said, "My Mom reads her blog. I've seen that picture before."

Talk about a small world we live in. Zach said that the small conversation made him feel good inside!

Elder Nelson

A bit of background: A Ward is like a Parish. A Stake is like a Diocese.

OK - This Sunday we will be having a Stake Conference with 4 Stakes in the area (Carrollton, Frisco, Allen and Dallas). At each Conference there will be Apostles and Members Of The 70! Are we excited?!?! YES!!!!

Apostles Bednar, Uchtdorf and Nelson are coming... we are excited!!!! I didn't catch the names of the Members Of The 70; more on that later! (I was too excited about hearing which Apostles would be coming I guess.)

Elder Nelson will be coming to speak to our Stake, The Frisco Stake. The Frisco Stake was recently organized a few months ago. So, for Family Home Evening the other night (family time set aside each Monday night) we had a "get to know Elder Nelson" lesson.

Elder Nelson was born in 1924. He will be 84 years old when he speaks to us on Sunday! His birthday is TODAY!

He graduated from the University Of Utah in 1945 with a Bachelor of Arts. In 1947 he received his Doctor of Medicine from the same University. Then in 1954 he received his PhD from the University Of Minnesota.

He is an Internationally Renowned Surgeon and Medical Researcher.

He has lectured and visited throughout the US and in 69 other nations. He served a 2-year medical term in the US Army during the Korean War.

He was ordained an Apostle in 1984. He was 60 years old at the time.

He was married to Dantzel White in 1945. He was 21 when he was married! They had 9 daughters and only 1 son.

We then reviewed many of the messages he has delivered as an Apostle. We tried to contemplate what message he would be bringing to us on Sunday.

After we discussed all this stuff, Emma said, "WOW! I sure wouldn't like to have 9 sisters. They would mess up my room!"


Emma, you have it pretty darn good! :)

School Begins for EVERYONE!

Emma is participating in a "Round Robin" preschool this year. She is very very excited about going to Preschool.

I call it "Round Robin" because every 6th week it will be at our house. We have a curriculum of ABCs and 123s. (I think I should be able to handle that!) We will also throw in colors and shapes and stuff like that.

The first week was at our house and it was a success! The children all get along well and they are all so unique in each way. There was never a dull moment! :)

Emma is excited about experiencing other people's homes. (There she will find many more dolls and strollers and girly toys I'm sure.) I'm not sure if this is such a good idea!







Now, the boys are doing great at school. Ben is in 5th grade and rotating classes and having a great time! He is excited for Science Camp in November. Zach is in 4th grade and also has 1 rotation in his day. He is already counting down the days till Summer Vacation '09! Nick is in 2nd grade and can be found doing handstands down the hallway. Chris is still going to Kindergarten and enjoys it. Shew... Life is Good!

Funny Sayings

As we were driving to church on Sunday I made the comment, "I will be glad when the new church building opens." (We drive about 30 minutes to get to the church. The new church will put us 5 minutes to the front door.)

"Yes," replied Zach. (LONG PAUSE) "Then the cemetary kids will be so close to the high school," Zach continued to say.

I SMILED! "Cemetary kids?" "You mean Seminary kids!" :)

Ben commented, "Maybe he meant sedimentary kids!"

***

We were at Olive Garden the other night and Christopher leans over and looks around and then whispers to me, "Mom, what are dristfuries?"

"HHhhmmm" "Chris, can you say that again?"

"Dristfuries Mom, what are they?"

"HHhhmmm" (Glenn, help me here.) "Chris, can you put it in a sentence?"

"Like, the tapestry and dristfuries were in the house."

"DRAPERIES???"

"Yes Mom, what are they?" said Christopher.

I guess I need to get rid of some of these blinds in our home and get some dristfuries!

1st Day AGAIN!

When we moved to TEXAS last November, Christopher had already started Kindergarten in Mesa AZ. He had 4 months UNDER HIS BELT! He knew his alphabet, sounds and all. He was on the verge of reading. Math was making sense. He got on the correct bus to get home each day. Everything was going our way!

Then we made the family move to TEXAS and he was DENIED acceptance into the TEXAS-SYSTEM because they have a set-in-stone cut-off of September 1st. Christopher's birthday is September 26th! AUGH! We spoke with a few people. We wrote a few letters. NOTHING was going to BUDGE a TEXAS STATE-WIDE LAW! GGggrrrr...

But you know what, not a ONCE did Christopher complain about it. He was very very content to hang out with Emma and I each day. We had the best time playing Legos, swords, Legos, house, Legos, games, Legos, cards, Legos, riding bikes, etc. etc. (I think the fact that he didn't have to share any specific Legos was what kept him content.) His old teachers in Mesa sent weekly packets of homework to do so we still had our own little school going in the Thomas Kitchen. It was fun!

So, when this week rolled in I was once again feeling very very sad and thinking... my youngest son is on his way to ALL-DAY Kindergarten. Why? Well... he is so so excited to be at school again. I am glad! I am having a harder time with it than he is. He promises me that he will come home each day. He even offered to ask the teacher to see if it'd be okay if Mom waited outside the door. But he insisted that he had to go to school.

After day 1... Christopher's eating a snack after school and I ask him, "Hey, was your lunch ok?" "Yeah, it was good." "So, what do you want in your lunch tomorrow?"

"Wait! (pause) Wait... I have to go again tomorrow?! I have to go again?"

Ben walks through, "Yeah, pretty much the next 12 to 18 years of your life kid!"

Christopher just sat there. I think he thought that Kindergarten was O V E R ! I assured him that Saturday and Sunday were right around the corner! :) He was okay with that. We didn't discuss how many more days of school there were...

There haven't been any other instances since, just a lost lunchbox, but we'll find it tomorrow! And as for Emma and I, "We're off shopping!"

Balloons To Christian & Stephanie

There are so many "blogs" I would like to do. This past summer was a fun one! Grandma and Grandpa Thomas came down for a weekend. I haven't blogged about that yet. The kids did a bike ride and clocked AWESOME mileages! The sno-cone lady - an UNBELIEVABLE cool treat that is NEEDED in AZ! Today was the first day of school. More on all this later - when time permits.

I keep stopping during my day and "thinking" about a mother I know who is in the hospital and will not be coming home very soon. As I wipe sticky fingers, give a kiss off to school, practice the piano, help one with reading, sit next to that special one on the couch, prepare a meal, scratch my head, put on lotion in the morning, go for a run, take a shower... all the day-to-day, many times MUNDANE things I do. I am blessed and humbled.

On Saturday our family launched balloons with our well wishes attached for Glenn's cousin Christian and his wife Stephanie. They are the young couple from Mesa AZ in a terrible plane crash that I posted about before this one. (Christian and Stephanie have this wonderful tradition of releasing balloons with their wishes attached on special occassions.) Stephanie's sister Courtney had this GREAT idea that everyone launch a balloon with a wish attached at the same time all over the world.

Since we couldn't find any close Dallas/Ft. Worth launches, we launched in our backyard and had a great time preparing and "sending off." We are all firm believers that someone will read the notes attached - and act upon them. We know that Our Heavenly Father above has the power to do anything. He truly does love each one of us. We'll just try to do our part.

And so... the launching happened and we will continue to pray and fast. Hey, I did stop by a BOA and I asked about the Christian & Stephanie Nielson Rehab Fund. At first they were unaware. But when she entered it into the computer, IT WAS THERE!

I've Been Thinking...

This past week I have been thinking about many things, but one thing in particular.




Glenn's cousin, Christian Nielson, and his wife Stephanie were in a terrible private plane crash last Saturday. How terrible? So terrible that the pilot passed away a day later. He had burns over 90% of his body. Christian and Stephanie are currently being treated in Phoenix. Christian has about 30% of his body with burns and Stephanie has over 80% of her body with burns. If you want the complete report, you can learn more here.

Christian and Stephanie have four young children. Their oldest, Claire, went to Kindergarten with our youngest son Christopher last year (before we moved to Texas). They are a young family that we love. You would love them too - they are great people!

Many are asking, what can we do to help these people? We too are asking the same question and right now we are praying for them.

As you can imagine, their recovery will be costly. You can donate by visiting a Bank of America or a Wells Fargo bank and donating to the "Christian and Stephanie Nielson Rehab Fund."

I believe that Courtney (Stephanie's sister from UT) has also set-up a direct-deposit button on her blog if you want to use PayPal.

Thanks for anything and everything you can do to help this wonderful family out!

It is my time...

I use to be an Orowheat bread-buyer by the week...

When we lived in California there were plenty of Orowheat Outlets and I'd buy the 100% Whole Wheat bread like it was candy. It was good stuff. I felt good about myself - feeding it to the boys.

When we moved to Arizona the Orowheat bread began containing traces of peanuts and tree nuts. I inquired to the company - what's up with the nuts - and they said it was the way it had to be. With Ben and Zach having allergies I had to make a switch. I went to Costco and began buying the 100% Whole Wheat that they sold. Still felt good about myself...

A few months ago I went and bought a Bosch, thinking this was my time... and it has been a great experience! I'm not saying that one needs a Bosch to make bread, but for us that aren't much into baking bread - it is wonderful! I need to say that again - it is wonderful!

I recently purchased a bunch of whole wheat for our food storage. The kind lady that placed my order from our ward decided to have a bread making class for those who purchased the wheat. Now, I have been to many many bread making classes over the years. But with Rachel, something clicked... it was my time! She herself, having four young girls (about the same age as my boys) gave me the motivation to get on with this bread making business.

I haven't boughten a loaf of bread from Costco or any vendor for the past 2 months! Using part of Mom Thomas' recipe along with Shari Goodman... tips from Shanna Jensen... I am sold!

4th Extravaganza

We had a WONDERFUL time in Bruno Nebraska for the 4th of July weekend! Bruno Nebraska is where I grew up many many years ago! Bruno has a GRAND population of about 100 people. The weather was ABSOLUTELY gorgeous - in the 80s and low humidity! (That is quite unusual for Nebraska in July!)


We did the all time favorites of eating and visiting...







lots of ATV riding and playing on the swings...

Fire crackling is ALWAYS a blast in these little towns... I had never seen or heard of 1/2 the stuff that the boys (my little ones) were blowing up. Glenn had a real blast and reminisced of his childhood with us all! (Uncle Kevin is monitoring the activities in this photo.)




There are 13 counsins on the Stara Side of our family. Our 5 children are some of the youngest. There is ONE very favorite that the boys all enjoy... his name is Daniel! He fits right in the bunch! He is my older brothers' (Kevin) son.

The 13th Cousin was just added a few weeks ago - WELCOME MORGAN ANN! I sure enjoyed holding her and I have to say that there was no lloonnngggiiinnnggg to have one of my own that young again. BUT, I sure did have a great time holding her.




Jill (pictured above) is Kevin's oldest daughter. She is a Senior and loves running! She and her younger sister (Rachel - Sophomore) went running with me one of the mornings. I am happy to say that I could keep up with these young bucks!

The trip went well and we are glad to be back home - yet can't wait to return next year!