The Afternoon Before Christmas

I don’t know if you got the memo, but the economic climate has affected Santa as well. (More so than global warming, if you ask me.) Due to the recession some of the elves had to be let go (no worries, they have other options, right?) and this has left the Big Guy short-staffed (hahaha… short-staffed, get it? Phft.)
Imagine our surprise when Santa stopped by the afternoon before Christmas… during Caleb’s nap (what a crazy random happenstance!)… to hand off Caleb’s gift, so we could get a head start on constructing the rubik kitchen. Thanks, Santa. But special thanks to Mike, who armed with a screwdriver and pliers, assembled the toy, pulled the Abominable’s teeth and helped Rudolph save Christmas.

Ahem…

Anyways, Caleb got a good stash this year, we went Old Skool. Caleb received a gender neutral kitchen (so he can leave mine alone), another car, a toy piano (so he can leave Marné's alone), clothes, and the Fisher Price farm box set.

After opening presents we gorged ourselves on the traditional Thomson Christmas breakfast. Every year I worry that I don’t make enough… this year it was cinnamon rolls, waffles with various toppings, bacon, biscuits and gravy, and orange juice.

And of course
there was enough!

I also made
my first pecan pie . . .

Oh.

My.

Gluttony.

Here’s the recipe I used for the crust and the filling.







So. Here’s the Christmas letter I didn’t get out in time. Oops. Read it if you want.

Maybe I'll strive to send out valentines this year. ; )

The Unsent Christmas Letter, 2009 edition

Dear Family and Friends,

It is suiting to start our letter this year as Charles Dickens began his novel The Tale of Two Cities. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

Earlier this year our family was expecting to welcome a fourth member; however, an ultrasound during the second trimester diagnosed the baby with Trisomy 18, a fatal genetic defect. At thirty weeks gestation, our daughter, Emma Lane, was delivered still. The dispensation of being Emma’s parents during this life was a brief opportunity but invaluable.

Any parent could tell you about the immense knowledge gained from what the world perceives an unlikely source: a child. Just as we have learned much from Caleb and from Emma this past year, our heavenly Father has learned a great deal from His children. He has witnessed compassion, good will and love unbeguiled as many have helped and comforted us during this experience. We offer each of you our gratitude for your condolences. Thank you.

Rest assured we are being kept busy. Michael has completed his first semester at Harvard, and is learning to juggle family, work, studies and callings. Michael is still serving as the branch’s Activities Chair as well as a youth Sunday school teacher. Angela has been serving as the sole member of Michael’s activity committee (besides Caleb, who has been given the title of Chaos Coordinator) as well as the Sunbeam and CTR5 Primary teacher. She will also be ringing in the new year with a calling as a counselor in the Primary presidency.

Our adventures this year include travel to New York City, and Sharon, Vermont. We are excited to visit the West this summer! Making stops in Mesa, Flagstaff and St. George. We look forward to decent Mexican food and seeing everyone, of course!

As a closing thought we would like to express our heartfelt love for our Savior, namely, Jesus Christ. Through the best of times and the worst of times his affection is unchanged, it is sure. The sentiments penned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in the hymn I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day “ring” true: “God is not dead nor doth he sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevails, With peace on earth, good will to men.” What comfort the Gospel brings!

Wishing you the special gifts of this holiday season- Peace, Joy, and lasting Happiness,

The Thomson Family

Michael, Angela and Caleb

DO NOT CLICK UNTIL...

The above link should only be clicked

if you begin to sing the 12 Pains of Christmas

or if you heart becomes two sizes too small!

Merry Christmas!

Tis the Season . . .

Today I am reading through my postpartum journal, the one I kept during those late night feedings, as I studied the topical guide.
“Tis the Season” is an eclipsed phrase hung around door knockers, shrouded over fireplaces, and shellacked on displays this time of year.
You can fill in the blank or insert the conventional “to be jolly” and the additional
“fa- lalalala...” if you are taken away in the holiday spirit.

But for me, I'm jotting in…

Now, before I get knee-deep in compassionate comments or empathetic e-mails, I am not referring to Emma’s New Year’s Eve due date, but to… well, just keep reading…
The following was scribbled in my journal on the scripture Matthew 12:49
“Verse 50 gives further explanation. It says, ‘whosoever shall do the will of my Father [. . .] the same is my brother, sister, and mother.’ It is interesting that a disciple could be considered Christ’s mother. If we consider what Mary’s mission was for this life and consider her characteristics – it is a very noble role to take on, respectively. One aspect of her role was to provide a temporal body for Christ. As a disciple we are providing ourselves as a body with which Christ can use us for good…”
As I pour over my journal of what I had written, I expect the thoughts I recorded (when I was so far from my recent experience and now as I seem so removed from that time of maternal naivety) to be shallow or amiss… but I don’t get an ounce of satisfaction.
I want to share the following quotes:
In reference to 1 Samuel 1:20:
“’the time was come’” is a perfect description of the requisite of motherhood.”
Inklings of Psalms 113:9:
“Verses 7-9 shows what God does with every man and women that comes unto Him. [ . . . ] a woman who was once barren can become a joyful mother and keeper of the house. God doesn’t make us become more, he helps us meet our potential –which remember is infinite. A beggar can become a prince of nations, so can a barren woman keep the House of Israel. These are not transformations but a progression.”
Tis the Season to be a mother. To provide able bodies, to take considerate and deliberate action, the time has come, and as you counsel with God your abilities will exceed any shortcoming you perceive. Several months ago I read I Am Scout a biography of Harper Lee, and a passage redefined love for me. Before Lee wrote To Kill A Mockingbird, she was living in NYC, dirtpoor, working hard and barely surviving- not even writing. She spent a lot of time with a family by the name of Brown. For Christmas the Browns gave Nelle (Harper Lee's first name) a simple white envelope, within it a note that read "Dear Nelle, You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas." They would pay her a year’s worth of wages so she could devote her time to her craft, her calling. Later Nelle wrote, "A full chance for a new life. Not given me by an act of generosity, but by an act of love. ‘Our faith in you’ was really all I had heard them say."
I like the line this quote draws between generosity and an act of love, because they are different. Too many people think of the Atonement as a generous act rather than one of love.
Do you give to others because you are in better standing than them or is it out of genuine care?
Which caused the condescension of God?

This Christmas I do not wish for us to feel loved,
but rather I hope for us to love, genuinely, and in abundance

as only a mother could.

Stocking Stuffers:
First Presidency Christmas Devotional
Are We Not All Mothers?
How Shall This Be?
Good Mary

Chillin'

It’s time once again to feed my freezer. My 2001 Space Odyssey freezer.
Yesterday I made 27 Asian Meatballs, 37 regular meatballs and taco meat.
Today’s plan is to make shredded chicken and Crockpot Chicken.
Tomorrow I’ll be making waffles and perhaps freezer jam.

Whew. Here’s a peek at our dinner menu for this incoming month:

• Meatball Subs
• Asian Meatballs
• Tacos
• Taco Salad
• Chicken Enchiladas
• Chicken Quesadillas
• Choo Chee Curry
• Crockpot Chicken
• Twice-baked Potatoes
• Spaghetti
• Soup and Grilled Cheese
• Pizza

And here’s a recipe for everyone in Flagstaff, stay warm!

Dirty Snow (Oreo fudge)
The appearance is reminiscent of the cinder and snow covered Route 66... Aw, winter in Flagtown.

What you’ll need:

• 3 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup butter or margarine
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• 8-12 ounces white chocolate chips
• 1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow cream
• About 10 Oreo cookies chopped into fourths
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

What you’ll do:
Mix butter, sugar and milk in a saucepan, after brought to a full boil and stir for five minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in chips a little at a time until melted. Stir in the rest of the ingredients (the marshmallow cream, cookies and vanilla) Spread into a foiled-lined and greased 13" by 9" by 2" pan. Cool to room temperature. Cut into squares and serve.

PS The Branch Christmas activity was good. We are glad we had so much help and that so many people came! We collected 20 kits and a whole bunch of food. We'll be sending the kits to Salt Lake this week!

PPS My friend posted this on facebook. Thought I'd share. : )

Hypegiaphobia

I carry around blog entries in my head. In other words, I’m a genuine blogger. I type what I think and hope there’s a filter somewhere in between my noggin and my phalanges.

In my head I compose posts on several topics a week and typically only one makes the cut and is published on this blog. This past week, however, I have been too occupied to publish any entries, yet alone, think of multiple topics.
My mind has been set on the one, the only topic of… callings this past week. For those of you unfamiliar with the church I belong to, we are a lay ministry. Meaning, our members fill various roles of responsibility without the exchange of income. We believe these callings are meant to enrich our lives, the lives of those we serve and also draw ourselves and others closer to God.

Ever since Michael and I met our callings have been intertwined. When we met he was serving as Ward Mission Leader, I was in Compassionate Service. Married, we served together as Sunday School teachers, Primary Workers, Nursery Leaders, Church Magazine Representatives (which I swear to this day, is a made-up calling) and currently on the Activities Committee.
Our branch’s Christmas Activity is this Friday, in case you forgot. I haven’t, hence this post. There’s plenty to do. Not too much. Not too little. Just the right amount of preparation. Most of it is fun. Like utilizing my husband to take pictures of his unsuspecting Sunday School class for the slideshow.
Although entertaining, I find the activities committee calling…

“intimidating.”

I would have used the term “menacing” but I kept imagining a calendar with a mask wielding a ladle.

If you were to ask me about my first calling, I’d tell you about my family home evening leader fling. Which is accurate, but not all encompassing.

Before I was baptized, I was an unofficial member of an activities committee. My sister and brother-in-law were the lone members of their ward’s committee and often made me solicited my help. I remember drawing a life-sized tree on butcher paper with only crayons as my medium. The tannenbaum portrait was used as a backdrop as my sister captured families on film. I recalled how everyone fussed over the relief society table linens and how I didn’t understand (and still don’t) how fifty year old women expect toddlers to respect thread count. Or how

white linens + red jell-o could = anything but defaced textile.

So. Now. Here I am. A decade later. Not scribbling a tree, but sashaying around with raffia and candy canes and terribly nervous, like fifty-year-old-woman-with-arms-full-of-linens-in-a-jell-o factory-on-bring-your-toddler-to-work-day kind of nervous, here. So, wish me luck. And those of you attending, slip me chocolate throughout the evening to sedate me, would ya? : )

As for my Primary calling. The last few weeks since I have returned to church, has been satisfying. Comparatively speaking, if activities is my bed of nails, primary is my cake walk.
I have been working on singing “I Am a Child of God” at the beginning of each class. It is a song everyone knows and brings the Spirit into the room. Of course, prodding the children by rewarding the three best singers has helped our chorus. (The best singers get to say the opening prayer, the closing prayer or be the line leader… hey, I didn’t say they were glamorous prizes!)
But let me tell you. I’m the one being rewarded. I wish I could bottle the feeling I get when my class sings that song.

It’s like being the line leader
wherever you go!

No matter how the rest of my Sunday goes, I have the first few minutes of the second hour that makes my day.

So. Now that you have heard the good and the bad. My fears and fancies.
What are some callings or responsibilities that make you quake? What are some that make you soar?

Comment, please.

P.S. November, where did you go?