Happy Holidays

Dear Family and friends; Thank you for stopping by the blog. We had hoped to get some really cute features on here for our Christmas letter but alas, our old computer is moving so slow and is so temperamental that it is just not working out the way that we wanted it to.

Nonetheless, we really want to give you an update on how things are going. We have been in Missouri now for over a year. We have a wonderful life that is full of blessings and trials. Each member of our family contributes to the love and joy that we feel at this Christmas season.

Adam was baptized a member of the church this year. He is in the third grade. He continues to do very well in school especially in thereading, spelling, english, etc. part of it. He has been improving his math scores as well and is making steady progress. Adam enjoys cub scouts and is almost ready to get awarded his wolf cub award. We love him for his real true desire to follow the Savior and deal with lifes challenges the way that Jesus would do it.

Annika is 6 and is loving school as well. She is learning to read and write. She is very diligent at doing her homework and studying hard. Aunie has some really sweet little friends here and really loves her Sunday School teacher (sister Shelton) and her bus driver (Pam). It is interesting to see how she has really taken to these wonderful women and what joy they bring to each other. She also really enjoys being a little mommy to her brother Micah. She watches Stacy close and follows her lead in taking care of the baby.

Eli is a bundle of fun. He is always smiling and happy. He does joy school with a couple of his little friends and is learning about values. He helps mom a lot and really enjoys the time that he spends with her. It is difficult to express how truly cute his little personality is, but he makes us laugh a lot moan a little (he IS four you know) and pretty much everything else in between.

Micah our tiny baby is enjoying his first Christmas on earth. He is getting very big. We guess that he is about 18 or 19 lbs now and, like our other kids; he is a chubby little angel. He smiles and talks a lot and is very popular with the ladies in the ward and in the community. In fact he is popular with the guys too. He enjoys going out and greeting his public.

Stacy continues to be as busy as a mom can be. She is toughing it out in the country. She is a farm mom and does her chores out here. She also runs the joy school without any help, takes care of the children and occasionally makes the 20 minute trek into town in order to enjoy a bit of a social life with friends or at church. She is still active in her Moms of Preschoolers (MOPS) group. She is the education counselor in the relief society and enjoys serving the Lord by serving the women and families of the ward.

Chris changed jobs in September and is now working as a therapist on the acute mental health units at Heartland Hospital. Chris works just a few hours a week at Nevada Mental Health and will continue seeing a few patients there until they terminate from therapy. Chris serves as the elders quorum president in the ward. He really loves being involved in missionary work and the spreading of the gospel message. When he is not at work he works hard trying to stay on top of the farm chores. There is alsways a project that needs doing and it often seems that there is not enough time to get everything done.

We wanted to recap our year by listing our top ten things that we are thankful for after experiencing our first year in Missouri.

10 We did not blow away in a tornado. Missouri set records for the numbers of tornados that touched down in 2008. None of them came close to us though.

9 We did not wash away in the floods. We had one of the wettest years on record and water was everywhere but it didn't bug us hardly at all.

8 We got a cow (Nana) and she had a little heifer calf. Nana, who starred on our Christmas card, is a wonderful addition to the farm.

7 We have a newfound appreciation for electricity and running water. After being without electricity for three days due to an ice storm and without running water for three days due to frozen pipes, we now count those among our luxuries.

6 New friends!! Between church, schools, neighbors, etc. We have been given so many new friends and relationships that we cannot even count them all. They have blessed our lives in numerous ways with love, advice, prayers, and acts of service. .

5 Animals, animals everywhere. As many as 32 chickens, 12 cats, 2 cows, 8 rabbits, 15 guinea hens and a duck have called our farm home this year. That does not count the wild critters that frequent the barn, yard and fields around our little house.

4 Sunrise and sunset. We are surrounded by natural beauty of the highest order. The beginning and the end of the day are the most beautiful and make us feel blessed all the time.

3 We get to witness miracles as the Lord does his work in this area. The ward is growing like crazy including people moving in, convert baptisms, and investigators attending church

2 We have had great health and no major injuries. Doctor? What is a doctor? Even Stacy’s delivery which was all natural was about as smooth as we ever could have hoped for.

1 Micah, he is an angel straight from heaven and adds a ton to our little family.

Halloween 2008

Kids had a fun time at halloween this year. We went to a pot luck at church then Trunk or Treating after. We won the best decorated trunk this year. We brought the truck and decoraded with haybails and a scarecrow. Adam was a ghost, Annika was Princess Annika, Eli was Hopper from a Bugs Life, and Micah was a puppy. They were all so cute. Dressing up is the funnest part of halloween!

Micah is growing!

Micah is sure growing! He is now 2 1/2 months old and he has already doubled his birth weight! He weighs 15 pounds! We love him to death! (ok, more like forever) He is such a good baby! He is happy most of the time and we love to make him smile and laugh! Every ounce of pain to get him here was worth it! When I look at Adam and my other kids and then look at Micah, I realize how fast time goes and kids grow up so fast, so we are enjoying every moment with Micah. I'm sorry to all my family and Chris' that we moved so far away and that you cannot hold or "squish" (as Chris' family would say) little Micah. I know he loves a good "squishing."

Produce from our garden

We grew a large garden this year, probably our biggest garden yet! We enjoyed the fruits from our labors. We were somewhat limited as to what we could grow this year because we planted late in the season. Veggies we grew this year included: bell peppers, tomatoes (5 different varieties), zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, beans and okra. We gave a lot away and also canned and froze some. Probably one of the best parts about our land is that we have 2 large pecan trees and several black walnut trees.

This one was hiding.

New Addition "Columbus The Duck"

We have a new addition to the farm, his name is Columbus. Adam named him. He was given to us by a friend together with three hens and a rooster. Columbus makes a nice addition to our farm. We like him. I love hearing his quack, it is a new sound from the familiar "Cluck, Meow, Mooo, and Cock-a-doodle-doo."

Happy Birthday to Stacy!

We spent my birthday with some friends who are members that live by us. There names are Janet and Gary. We ate heart kabobs with vegies and rice. It was a gormet meal!

Our Baby Micah is Here!

Announcing the new addition to our family, Micah Thomas!
Born: August 9, 2008 @ 5:20 am
Weight: 7 lbs 8 oz
Length: 21 1/2 inches
He is absolutely beautiful! We all love him so much!
Labor and delivery went well, he was very anxious to get here and wasted no time. Happily, to mom and dad, he waited long enough until we could get to a hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 5:00 am and he was born shortly after at 5:20 am. Stacy and Micah are home and both doing well.

The Yoder's Farm

We have had the pleasure to get to know a unique family here living near us, the Yoder's. When we first moved here to Missouri we were looking for, of course, raw milk. The closest raw milk we found was raw goat milk at the Yoder's Farm. So we dicided to try it out. We found we liked it just fine and continued to purchase milk from the Yoders every week. Through this, we had the opportunity to get to know this wonderful family. They moved here from California 15 years ago. They have 9 children from age's 30 down to 10. Their oldest is married and living nearby, but the rest of the children still live at home to help out with the farm. They have around 150 plus milking goats. This family is truely unique. They eat 3 meals together most days, sing and read from the bible at every meal, dress simply, and all are very talented. Emily, 27 is a midwife and very good with animals. She helped us tremdously with Nana when she developed Mastitis. Issac, 20 built the log cabin in one of the pictures when he was only 15 years old. They are all hard workers and have music abilities. Skip, 25 plays piano by ear and most of them play the violin and sing. My kids love to visit their farm. I enjoy my long talks with Katie, the mom. She is very simple, kind and spiritual.

Every year they hold an open house to the farm and invite the public to come tour their farm and sample some goat products like; milk, cheese, ice cream, fudge and goat burgers. This year they did a special program to tribute past presidents since it was held a week before July 4th. We love living here in Missouri, it gives us a unique opportunity to meet truly wonderful people we would have never met otherwise.

Beating the Heat!

We finally got our pool in working condition and the kids and I have been soaking, playing, cooling off, and having a blast everyday!

Big, Beautiful Pregnant Belly!

Here I am in my fullness of pregnancy. My sweet friends and sisters from my ward in Nevada gave me a baby shower this week. They are all so kind and generous. I am indeed very blessed! I think I am set up with all I need. I am just waiting for the baby now. I am 38 weeks. I delivered Adam at 38 weeks, and Annika and Eli at 39 weeks. I am hoping for sooner than later! I am feeling the full effects of summer pregnancy in HOT, humid Missouri. We are all very excited anticipating the addition of another boy in our family. We still don't have a name picked out for sure. If you would like to vote on a few that we are discussing please make your vote. We are considering: Micah, Jeremiah, Ammon, Samuel, and Luke. Please vote or suggest your own.

Our trip to Utah

Yes, we have been back from Utah for over a month and I am just now updating our blog. We had a great time visiting with family and friends! We always had plenty to do and enjoyed all of it. I am sharing just a few pictures of some of the things we did while in Utah. We spent a weekend in Orem and enjoyed visiting our old ward. My cute girl friends and I went out to dinner, with no kids! and had a good time. I have so many great friends!

Time Share in Park City

During our stay in Utah, the kids and I stayed with my family at my parents time share in Park City for a week. We had a great time relaxing at the pool, playing at the park and visiting the Olympic Museum.

Summer Baseball games

We had the great opportunity to attend our cousins, Jake and Nate (Shane's kids) baseball games. The kids love being with their cousins.

Bountiful Temple

The kids and I spent some peaceful time one Sunday at the Bountiful Temple grounds during our stay to Utah.

Sleepover, Smores with Grandma & Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa had a "Grandkids Sleepover" with smores. The kids had a great time.

We are coming to Utah for a visit!

Yeah! We are so excited to be coming home to Utah for a visit. We will get there May 30. Chris will fly back to Missouri June 4 because he has to work and has to take care of the farm. The kids and I will be staying until June 20. We are so excited to see all our family and friends! My 6 month pregnant belly is not excited but we miss everyone terribly so I know it will be worth it! Just for your information, we still have 5 bunnies and 4 kittens, if anyone is interested in one please let me know as soon as possible, we will try to give them away this week so claim yours quick. We have 4 black and white kittens, all of them are 8 weeks old. 2 of them are normal size and 2 are very small for their age. We have 2 white bunnies, 1 black, 1 brown, and 1 grey. They are about 8 weeks old and can live indoors or outdoors. Ours are all outside all of the time. The kids have lots of fun with them.

Adam's Baptism

Adam was baptised and confirmed on March 22nd. It was a great day. Every thing went very well. We were happy to have my parents there to share the day. Adam's cousin, Isabella was also there at the baptism. With Adam's permission, here is his journal entry on the day of his baptism: "Today is a very important day of my life. Today is important because I was baptized. I was baptized on my Grandpa Thomas' birthday and today is the day before Easter Sunday. I was also baptized with my good friend, Hyrum. The bishop said he thinks we were the first two 8 year olds that got baptized at the same time in this ward. I am really comforted now that I have the Holy Ghost. When I grow up, I want to help other people with their baptism. P.S. I didn't hold my nose."

Our cute bunnies! They all lived!

Our bunnies were born March 21st, there were 5 of them. We were careful not to touch them until they grew older. The mother rabbit has done very well feeding and caring for them. They are 3 weeks old now and are chubby and have lots of fur. They are so adorable. I am not much of a fan of bunnies but these are so cute! The kids absolutely love playing with them. They are so soft and cuddly. If you are interested in having one of these bunnies they will be ready to be weaned the end of May. We are coming to Utah and we will bring a bunny to anyone who wants one. Just let us know.