Christmas Greetings, 2010

To Yours from Ours,

Merry Christmas!

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

"Some people call me a space cowboy"

All Caleb wanted for Christmas was a full head of hair...

this rocket will have to do.
Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Kappes!

***DISCLAIMER: WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK!

HIGH-LEVEL OF CUTENESS AND SQUEAKY BABY-TALK ENSUES.***

Baby, it's COLD outside!

click to enlarge

'Tis the Season

"When I'm worried and I can't sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings"

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS (Instead of Sheep)
from the 1954 movie "White Christmas"

How’s the *new* house?

Our kitchen, where the magic happens.

"How’s the *new* house?"

We get this question quite often from just about anyone.

So, this is how the house is going…

-The “dining room” and guest room are still full of boxes. I related to a friend “Unpacking is in its dormant stage around here and probably won't arise again until early summer- right before my parents and my nephew come to visit.” It’s sad but true.

- I still haven’t gotten around to decorating our room or the nursery properly.

-Or even put up curtains yet.

- I still get confused about the light switches… several times a day.

- Our yard was leafless for a short period; the Byerly’s came by and helped rake the leaves.

- Mike cleaned the rain gutters (yeah, you *have* to do that out here) right before the first dusting of the season.

Other stuff…

Once there was a Snowman…

So, I made a snowman, he is our official notepad for the next month. I wrote the “I love you” smile for Mike. One morning I came downstairs to find the lost diadem of Ravenclaw on our snowman! GASP!

Since then, our snowman has been collecting horcuxes. Like you ever doubted our nerdiness!

Oh, and our favorite tradition, SNOWFLAKES!

And don’t’ forget!...