HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

Well, another year passed and gone. I can't believe how fast the year went. One more term left until Jeremy is officially in his (third) last year of law school!! I am so excited!!! It finally feels like we are coming to the end. I know that he will still have to pass the bar and that even when he finds a job we will still be living like students for a while because of all the school debt BUT despite all that at least we will be done with school. We will be married 11 years in July, have 4 children and have been in school WAY TO LONG! I am tired and exhausted and ready to be done. I look forward to a brighter year, a year of changes and of surprises. Jonah will turn 8 this year and get baptised, that is exciting!! My parents and Jeremy's dad will come for that and I can't wait! Jeremy will be in his last year of law school, Isabella can start pre-school and becomes a sunbeam at church! Hopefully we will have less car problems! Mailee will love some one on one time with mom. Jeremiah is excited to turn 6 because then he gets a subscription to Junior National Geographic from his Nana just like Jonah did. I will turn 30! I don't even like to think about it. I have always felt 20 no matter how old I got now I am exiting my 20's and it is a little unsettling for me. Oh well, Hopefully it will be my year! We should finally be able to go home the end of the year. If all works out we will end our year in Mesa AZ, with my family. I have missed them so much! I have missed AZ. What an adventure we are having. I will say that we have been so blessed here and have made amazing friends who will be very hard to leave. It will be a bitter sweet Christmas for me BUT in the end my heart is in AZ and it is where I belong. My kids are already talking about it. I think it will be harder for them to leave now since their cousins and aunt and uncle from Jeremy's side are here and they have created a friendship with them. They will have a hard time with that but yet they will love to reunite with their cousins from AZ and be able to see Nana and Tata. Who knows, maybe Grandpa will come see them when we are closer. :) I know there will be so many things that I won't expect and things that I will not like but I will enjoy the journey and cease the moment, for a moment is all we get until we look back and it is gone. My kids are only small for a moment and some day when they are older and don't want to be around me, like they do now, I want to know that I did all I could to show them I loved them and that they are my number 1. I wish you all a happy New Year and I hope that yours will be one to remember. Thank you for being apart of our lives. xoxo The Thomas Family

*I wrote this before midnight when my kids fell asleep and then added the picture this morning which is why it says I posted yesterday. Just thought I would explain incase you wondered why my new years post was done before new years.* :)

Christmas Sunday, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas
Mailee please sit up and smile....you can get a piece of candy:)

Yeah! We'll take it!

Isabella, Mailee and Lizzy playing the baby grand.

Joe, Jeremiah, and Jonah

Lizzy showing Isabella and Mailee the kid table

Mailee and Jill

Mailee waiting to open Aunt Carries present

Jerry as Santa's Elf

Darnel as his "cool" self

Anesah, Aunt Carrie, Isabella, Deyshawn, and Jeremiah

Isabella, Jeremiah, Jonah on Christmas morning.

Mailee was not cooperating :)

Well, Christmas Sunday did not go as planned! It was hectic and my girl's hair would not cooperate with me. My hair was making me mad AND the weather was horrible. I forced myself to go and it was a very nice meeting. Christmas Eve was a blast!! We went to our friends house and joined her and her family and friends. She had a wonderful Mexican fiesta and it was the best Mexican food I have had since moving to Michigan!! Her home was beautiful and my kids love to play with her children, who range from 16-25 years of age. :) Her kids are such great sports! We enjoyed ourselves very much and then when we got home Jeremy's sister and her family came to exchange gifts with our kids. They loved to see their cousins and get to have 1 present before Christmas morning. The next morning we found Jonah (at 3am) sitting in front of the Christmas tree just gazing at it! He was not happy when we had him go back to bed. We were up at 6:30 and had to wake up the girls since the boys were ready to go. They had so much fun. We were pleasantly surprised at what Santa left for them, they must have been really good this year! :) We took a few pictures but mostly video. We missed my family in AZ but it was good to have Jeremy's here with us this year. All in all it was a nice Christmas. I am grateful to celebrate the birth of my Savior and wish you all a very happy New Year!

My little big boy

Jonah came home with a present he had made for me at school. It was so cute! I loved the picture ornament and inside was a pad of paper with his art work printed on it. He had it wrapped in paper he had decorated with paint. The whole thing was so cute! I loved it! He also got to go to the Nutcracker Ballet with his class and so he was told to get dressed up. He looked so handsome and suddenly I saw him a little older and to be honest it kind of hurt. Where is my little boy going, my baby, my firstborn? It's crazy how time flies by and I only hope I can learn to enjoy the journey a little more instead of waiting for the day to end. I sure love my kids so much. I can't imagine my life without them. Anyhow, just wanted to share. :)