January 2017

My mom loved calendars.  Every year she bought several and she kept almost every one.  A few years ago I discovered that I could find the past year whose dates coincided with the current year and reuse some of Mom's calendars.  This year it is 1995's calendar.  It brings back sweet memories.

Jonas had his sleepover this month. We dug out our old game of Kerplunk.  Jonas wasn't a fan after he realized that the one with the most marbles was not the winner, but it was fun playing with him.

We were able to spend a couple of days in Virginia helping with Catherine.   She is thriving and growing. 

 Our washer sprung a "flood the laundry room" sized leak.  We used every towel we had to stop the flood.  Since I use my steam mop, we don't own a regular mop.  Maybe I need to keep one for times like this.  Phillip was able to fix it but it was a mess!

Abram spent a day with us. He is growing up so fast and becoming  quite a climber.  

Hannah's last day of work was January 30.  Her co-workers gave her a very nice baby shower.  She's going to continue working  PRN, filling in when they need her until the baby is born.

  

December 2016

We began the month with a family trip to Old Salem.  

Lilly, Lucy, and Jonas on the star bridge

An important historical marker

Abram staying warm

We paid $10 for a sad little tree at our local tree lot.  It turned out to be one of our all time favorite trees.  

We celebrated Laura's birthday.

Time with family is one of the Christmas traditions we cherish most.  

Jon and Emily

Caleb and Daniel

Jack and Sam

Jaclyn and Catherine

Mark and Devin

Sydney and Ashley

Abram

Jonas

Lilly

Lucy

Phillip

Catherine

November 2016

We began this month with our family camping trip.  It was a little warmer than we'd have liked and we had to contend with yellow jackets, but we had a great time.

After telling Phillip not to walk around the campground without a flashlight, I did exactly that, tripped on a tree root and landed on my face.  This is not a camping experience that I want to repeat.  Next time I'll take my own advice.

We had  a baby shower for Catherine.  What a blessing to celebrate this little girl!

We were thrilled to hold Catherine for the first time, and to take a picture of the three Thomassons together.

We said "Goodbye" to Roanoke Memorial Hospital and Catherine came home at last.

We celebrated Jimmy's birthday

and Lilly's birthday.

We celebrated Thanksgiving.

Catherine had her first Thanksgiving.

Lucy spent the night with us and ate the leftover Cool Whip.

She polished our fingernails.

Then we celebrated Lucy's birthday.  

We'll end the month with this beautiful face.  How thankful we are to God for His blessing to our family.

October 2016

In October

I celebrated my 62nd birthday but somehow must have deleted all the pictures.  We had a nice family meal.  The weather was warm enough to eat outside.  When we went to Virginia, Jaclyn cooked chicken and dumplings for me.  This is the meal that I always asked my mom to cook for my birthday, and Jaclyn's is just as good.  I felt very loved.  

On the 19th, we celebrated our 43rd wedding anniversary. No pictures for that, either.  We went camping and were blessed with great weather and a very quiet campground.  

Catherine celebrated her 2 month birthday.  It is amazing to see how much she grew and changed in a month. Those signs are the same size. The meaning of Catherine's name is "pure strength" and she has certainly demonstrated that in an amazing way.  Our family is thankful for the many, many people who have prayed for her and shown their love and concern.  Catherine is very blessed.

Jonas found some left behind potatoes in the potato bed and was happy to harvest them.  

Abram walked barefoot in the grass.

Hannah planned a family Halloween party.  Even most of the grown-ups wore costumes.  

Lilly

Lucy

Jonas

Hannah and Michael used their costumes to make an announcement to the family.  Baby Worley is due in April.

Even Catherine wore her costume.  She was the cutest Batgirl in the NICU.