AUGUST

Well, it’s been awhile since I have written; the summer has just flown by. Things have been really crazy the last month. I thought that things would slow down after my parents left on their mission the beginning of August but they didn’t.

In the month of August I did a Primary Party, wrote our wards primary program, had our 7th anniversary, threw a shower for my cousin Jeff’s wife Casey who is having twin girls soon, made old fashion quiet books with my Aunt Janet, set up my dance class for the fall, and survived Gordon doing Oklahoma. It has been a tiring month, but we have made it to September.
Gordon’s show went really well and thank you to all who were able to come. This was a repeat roll for him doing Curly, but very different than the last time that he played the role. I would say that his character had a lot more depth this time; which is neat because he is growing inside his passion to do musical theatre. When Gordon played the Beast he was hidden underneath the costume and people were able to see less of him and focus on his character. As Curly, Gordon had nothing to hide behind, so in a way he had to create a strong character to leave Gordon behind for those who knew him. As his wife I felt that he did an amazing job, and I’m very proud of him.
I would like to say that doing a show is a lot like being pregnant a second time around. In between being pregnant you forget different things and so do you in between doing different shows. At first you are really excited and the strain isn’t that much. As you get further along though certain things happen and you remember I didn’t really like that last time. Yet, you are very excited for the outcome and so it’s worth it. The end is the most uncomfortable part because it is the big push to the end. Then D-day comes and the reward of all your hard work is seen and enjoyed

Talmage loved the show all except the Smokehouse. We went to a family night rehearsal and after the guns went off he started crying and told me he wanted to go home; so we left. The Judd character was very creepy and scary, so I don’t blame him. When we went the other night we had to leave during the smokehouse scene because he still didn’t want anything to do with it. However, he talks about the smokehouse all the time at home and pretends that he’s in the smokehouse, so maybe it was just Judd.

Gordon gave Talmage a little cowboy hat to wear the night that he came, and he was so excited. We took Gordon dinner one night at rehearsal and Gordon showed Talmage his costume with his hat and gun and Talmage was so enamored. So, Talmage has been wearing his hat since and sings “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” all around our house. He also likes to say “yee haw,” walk like a cowboy by holding his pants around the belt, and has made up another song about a lonely cowboy. After Talmage got his hat he informed me that he didn’t have a cowboy costume like his cousin Ian, so I think we will have to make him one soon.

Amidst being busy we had some fun outings this month. We went to Tracy Aviary; Talmage’s favorite birds were the pelican and King vulture. They had a really cool bird show. We went to the Children’s Museum and played for hours. Talmage and Audrey both loved the vacuum things that allowed them to send up balls and watch them travel in tubes. The also loved the little town. We went to Red Butte Garden’s with our cousins Jake and Issac and had a wonderful time playing in the snake water fountain, and planting our own garden. Lastly, we went to the Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah with our friends across the street. The kids had fun digging for dinosaur bones and seeing the dinosaur exhibit. So, it was a fun month for outings.

Audrey has been her busy self during the summer. She has no fear of anything especially when we have gone swimming this summer. I have to watch her closely in the swimming pool because going under the water doesn’t phase her either. She keeps me on my toes. She has also gained more teeth; she almost has all of her I teeth in and she has worked on a couple of her two year molars already. She is in the “mine” stage where everything she touches she says “mine;” which doesn’t always go over well with Talmage. She also is very defiant and loves to say “no” to me and Gordon. Thus, we have a lot of time outs.

Her favorite part of her body is her belly and she loves to stick it out and show people. (I’ll have to remind her of this when she becomes a teenager.) She also loves her “jammies” right now and is looking for excuses to put them on after she is dressed. She usually asks at nap time to put them on and I have to remind her that they are for bedtime. We have a lot of fun with her.
In August we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary and Gordon planned a wonderful day for us. He arranged babysitting for the day, thanks to our wonderful sister-in-law Lindsee. We went and saw Mama Mia, went to lunch at the Park Café (this is a fun restaurant that we frequently went to when we were dating), and then we went to the Conference Center. Gordon proposed to me on the top of the Conference Center. When we got engaged you could just walk up there and do whatever you want. Now you have to be with a tour guide, so it wasn’t as romantic as Gordon had hoped, but we still had fun. Then lastly, we watched our wedding video’s and looked at our pictures. It was a really great day.

Well, we hope you are all doing well. The Thomas’

MAY

We started out this month with a Stevens’ family reunion, which is my mom’s side of the family (she and her two sisters.) It was really fun to be together with my cousins and catch up with the ones that I’m not able to see that often. My children had a wonderful time playing with their cousins and second cousins. The highlight of the night for Audrey was riding on little scooter bikes with a big cousin on the tennis court. I think she rode for a good half hour at one point. Talmage also had fun riding the bikes, jumping on the trampoline, and playing swords with his bigger boy cousins. My Grandma and Grandpa Stevens were two amazing people; a coloring book was put together about different things they did in their lives. It has been fun to have Talmage learn about them as he colors the pictures. It is a huge blessing to have such a wonderful heritage and to be able to remember it and also share it with my children. We really enjoyed ourselves.

The following week Gordon’s parents came to visit and we were all really excited to have them come. They came because Gordon’s brother Grant and his daughter Emma were in “The Wizard of Oz.” Grant was the Cowardly Lion and Emma was the Coroner (the munchkin who examined the wicked witch’s body upon being smashed by Dorothy’s house). Anyway, they both did an amazing job and it was so fun to see them in the show. Talmage enjoyed watching the show and got so excited at the end when the wicked witch died. He turned to me with his arms opened wide and excitement in his voice, “The Wicked Witch is DEAD!” – It was very cute. While Gordon’s parent’s were here we had fun playing games, being together, seeing the play, and the girls got away for a Mother’s Day pedicure; it was really nice. We wished the trip could have been longer, but we enjoyed so much having the time with them.

Mother’s Day was wonderful! Gordon’s parents came to sacrament with us before they took off back to California. Talmage sang for the first time with the primary children in Sacrament meeting. I got a little emotional seeing him up their singing; it was really sweet and very rewarding. At the end of church Audrey and Talmage had both colored me a cute watering can with a packet of seeds and they were so excited to see me, which always makes one feel so special. We came home and Gordon made lunch, we all took naps and then had a lovely dinner at my parents house. So, it was a fabulous day.

This month I had my dance recital. It was the first time that I did it at night, so we had a lot more people there, which was fun. All of my students did a wonderful job. The highlight for me was the group shape that the children made together. We had been working on the group shape for a couple of weeks, and I had just come to accept that it’s going to be what it’s going to be. So, that night I told them to get into their group shape; I helped two get in place (they were in the middle of a circle of hoola hoops) when I turned around before starting the music I was amazed! The shape had levels, depth, they had all decided to connect with one another through touching with their arms, and no one was moving; it was beautiful! I felt so validated as a teacher that they are learning the things that I’m teaching them. So, naturally we took a minute to take some pictures to remember the glorious group shape. I was very happy with how the recital went and I look forward to a break this summer and then starting back up in the fall.
Talmage did a fabulous job in the dance recital. At the beginning each of the students had a free dance to get to their X (their special place they stand). When I called Talmages name he did a big roll, cartwheel jump, and ended standing. It was really good and warmed his dance teacher / mom’s heart. He loves to move and is very agile; it is fun to have him in my dance class (most of the time.)

Talmage is big into superheros right now. One day he had his snow boots on and he told me they were his super boots, then he asked to have his cape put on, next he asked for his mask (his green sunglasses), then he looked at me and said “Mom, I’m Super Mr. T!” It was so cute. He is “Mr. T” to Grammy Thomas so that’s how he came up with his superhero name. He is very particular about his green sunglasses being a mask, so if you ask him if he wants his sunglasses, he will correct you and tell you they’re his mask.
Talmage’s favorite song to sing is “Life is a Highway” from the soundtrack Cars. He only knows the chorus, but he loves to sing it over and over. My favorite is when he sings “whoo” at the end of the chorus, before he goes right back into it.
Gordon has been playing indoor soccer lately, which has been fun. One night I was able to take the kids to watch. When I told Talmage we were going to go he asked his dad if he would score a goal for him. Gordon told him that he would try and Talmage responded back, “I know you can do it Dad.” It was so cute and Gordon didn’t let him down because he didn’t score just one goal, but three. Both of the kids just loved watching him play.

Gordon’s big news is that he is doing the musical “Oklahoma!” at the end of August with the Lehi Arts Council. He is playing the roll of Curly. He played this roll when we were engaged, so he is excited to do it again. He will be performing at the Barn at Thanksgiving Pointe, and he also gets to ride in on a horse in the first scene for “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning.” So, it should be fun; the rehearsal schedule is a lot lighter than Beauty and the Beast, so that makes me happy.

Audrey’s big news is that she is potty training herself! I think this is the best gift a child can give a parent. She tells us that she needs to go potty and we take her and she goes. She is more consistent with bowel movements, but it is really good for a 20 month old. She truly likes to be a big girl sitting on the big potty without the little child’s toilet seat; it’s so cute to see such a little thing on a big potty. She absolutely loves the praise she gets, and always makes sure that she tells her daddy about her accomplishment.

Audrey is picking up a lot of new words as of late, mainly animals. For the past month we have been reading the same animal book for nap and bedtime, (obviously not our choice) so that is why she is doing well on animal names. She says, fish, frog, bear, cow, and bird. Her new animal sound in a turkey, “gob, gob, gob” and a rooster “doldoo” it’s cute. My favorite thing she says right now is “OH, NO!” She says it whenever something falls or just isn’t right. She is also finally saying “amen” after prayers. For the longest time she would say “done” at the end of prayers instead of amen.

Audrey continues to be tough girl keeping up with her brother. She has scraped knees and bruises everywhere. She is convinced she can jump off of everything. She jumped off my aunt’s trampoline before I could get to her the other day. Luckily she didn’t break anything but she limped for a minute or two after. She is truly jumping off of things now, where before she would just kind of fall off and praises herself for jumping. She can also climb up the slide on our playhouse without help. She is one busy girl.

Well, the total for getting sick this month was once for Gordon, Talmage, and me, and twice for Audrey. I had some stool samples taken for Audrey since this was our third month of stomach sickness and I felt we couldn’t possibly all get four different stomach bugs. Initially nothing came back and then a couple days later the doctor called and told me that they found a food born illness in Audrey’s stool found only when you reheat rice (I can’t remember the name) So, apparently I need to be careful about reheating rice; I’ve never thought about it before. Most likely we had a couple of different stomach bugs and one rice related stomach thing. We are crossing our fingers that June has no stomach bugs for our family.
Thanks for reading our lengthy letter.

The Thomas’

APRIL

Another month full of stomach bugs. Talmage had another 9 days of the bug; not as intense this time, but just as long. I was very grateful that Audrey didn’t get it again with him. However, she had a 24 hr. episode later in the month as well as me. So, since we went through it again I tried to think about what I didn’t learn from the first time, which I think was slowing down and playing with my kids. So, I really took the time to play with my children as we were isolated at home. We had a great time amidst the sickness.

I have been enjoying my yoga class. It is really great to have someone leading you and being able to push yourself. I also had an adult modern master class this month that was really fun. I love being able to move my body like I use to everyday, and feeling sore is so wonderful. Also, this month I had a primary party. The party was all about the sacrament; it wasn’t the most exciting of parties, but I think that the children learned a lot. The weekend of the party was crazy, first I had the primary party, then we had a farewell party for friends and then the next day we spoke in sacrament. We were happy to relax when it was all over.

Audrey has decided that she wants to put her own pants on. One night we were playing upstairs and she decided to take her pants off, and then she decided to put them back on by herself. For about twenty minutes she worked on getting her pants on. I tried to help a couple of times, but I was quickly told to back off. She was very cute as she would put both legs in the same pant leg and realized that she couldn’t stand up. Then she also kept putting them on backwards, and that is what we ended up with after twenty minutes and she was quite proud of herself.

Mid month we had a wonderful visitor, Gordon’s dad Richard. He was hear for the week on business, but their was a lot of time to hang out with family. We all benefited from he daily perdium, and had fun going out to eat with him. Gordon especially had fun going out to lunch every day with his Dad. We had a special day with the kids and moms, we went to Chucky Cheese, and the kids were in heaven. Talmage especially loved playing the games and riding the rides and having time with his Papa and cousins. Audrey fell in love with her Papa this visit. She would wake up asking for him, constantly ask for him when he wasn’t around, and relished in his attention. The way she says “Papa” is very sweet; it was fun to see their bond get stronger.

Talmage continues to be our sweetheart. He is so fun to watch play as he imagines his way through life. He likes to pretend that he has his own kitchen and makes me lunch or dinner; we have fun. He of course also likes to pretend to get the bad guys. We run around with sword and fight the bad guys; we also save each other. It is cute how he likes to include me in his battles.

The other day I was putting on a show for Talmage and Audrey and as I was flipping to the kid’s station Talmage saw a little bit of the Price is Right. The little bit that he saw was of an exercise machine being used to bid on. Well, after their show was over they began to play. When I came over to check on the kids Talmage said “Look mom it’s my exercise machine.” He had taken a shoe lace and laced it through the ladder of his fire truck and was pulling it back and forth. Wow, I could believe that the 30 seconds of the Price is Right had such an affect on him, and that he would use two unrelated toys to make his exercise machine. I was impressed and also thought it was really cute; he even had me try it out.

Gordon had a fun adventure of going to a playoff game for the Jazz. I was supposed to go with him, but alas I was having another stomach bug. So, Gordon took he friend Louis and they had a great time. Unfortunately, the Jazz barely lost that night to the Rockets.
Well, life is good. Love, The Thomas’

MARCH

The end of March we had a fabulous trip to California, to visit family there. We generally like to make a spring trip to visit Gordon’s parents and we were also able to attend our nephew Kimball’s baptism. Some of the highlights of the trip were playing with Grammy & Papa, going to the zoo, playing golf (a card game – not the sport), seeing our children play with their cousins, and participating in the baptism. Gordon had a wonderful time helping his parent’s pick out their new plasma TV and setting it up; it really looks wonderful. We also went to the largest playground structure in America which was really fun. The kids had a wonderful time playing with their cousins and Grammy & Papa there. Gordon and I thought it would be fun to go for a bike ride, but we didn’t last that long because their were way too many hills – we like our flat neighborhood. All in all it was a wonderful trip full of highlights and many relaxing moments.

This month we had an unwelcome visitor come to our house; it was the Rhoda Virus. For those who don’t know what that is, it is diarrhea and vomiting for about ten days. We all came down with it one Friday night, and I thought “this can’t be that bad, it’s probably a 24 hr bug.” Well, it was for me and Gordon but not for the kids. Just when I thought our 24hrs were up, it all came back again and kept going. I cried that night, as I was cleaning more messes up because you might remember 6 months back when we had the parasite (which it was like all over again); I felt that I shouldn’t have to go through this again. I know that was a poor attitude to have, but I was sleep deprived and cleaning up unpleasant messes. Well, we got through it after 9 days, and hopefully we won’t have to repeat the unpleasantness in the future.

Audrey is officially 18 months old and in nursery; Gordon excited to attend Sunday school and priesthood again! She did well her first time. At first she just stood by Gordon, then she ventured out and got a toy and brought it back to him, and then when she started playing he left. Their were some tears shed when she realized Gordon was gone, but they were minimal. At her 18th month doctor’s apt. we found out that she weighs 21 lbs. 15 oz – 16%, is 31.2 inches tall – 35%, and her head is 45cm – 13%. So, we are still on the small side. She probably actually weighs more, but she was weighed in the middle of having the Rhoda Virus.

Audrey is in love with her Daddy right now, and is constantly asking him for a ride. She says, “I wan a ride” to him all the time; it is very cute. She has also come up with her own way to say Talmage; she says “Almie.” It is the easiest letters to pronounce with the ie sound on the end because that is what she says for mom and dad. It is so cute to hear her call for him. Her newest animal sound is an elephant. She is also saying “one, two,” because she is hearing Talmage count. The way she pronounces apple is “elpple” sometimes it even sounds like “elmo.” Learning to talk is so much fun. One of my favorite things that she does is when you ask her if something is yummy instead of saying “uh ha” like she does with everything else, she smacks her lips together several time.

Talmage has decided that he likes to whistle. However, his whistle is not a whistle it is him making high pitched sounds with his voice while having his lips look like he is whistling. He also likes to talk about when he gets older; here are some of the things he has told me. “Mom, when I get older I’m going to be a Daddy and have family night just like my dad.”, and “Mom, when I get older I’m going to have four kids” The things he tells me are so cute, and hopefully he’ll be able to find a wife that wants four children as well.

When we were in California we went to church and Talmage went to Primary. Well, they were going to sing “Called to Serve” and Talmage raised his hand and when called upon he stated, “My Daddy went to the Toronto Canada Mission.” Then the chorister had Talmage turn around and he told the whole Primary where Gordon went on his mission. He didn’t know anyone in the primary, but he wanted to share how proud he was of his dad – so cute.
For Easter Talmage received a Lightning McQueen helmet with knee and elbow pads. He was so excited about them and for many days after he would wear all of the pieces wherever we would go. Audrey got a Jessie doll (from Toy Story 2), and played with it for a minute before she through it down; it was quiet funny. However, she really likes it and says “yee haw” when she plays with her.

Easter was wonderful for me. I had Sharing Time in Primary and I asked different people to come and represent people who saw Christ after he was resurrected, and share the joy they felt when they saw him. So, I had a Mary Magdalen, Peter & John, a disciple, Thomas, and a Nephite. I dressed all of the people up and it was really spiritual sharing time, and a neat way to look at the Resurrection of Christ.

Gordon and I have signed up for some community classes, which we are excited about. Gordon is taking a fencing class and I’m taking a yoga class. So, we each have a night to get some exercise and have some personal time.
Well, that’s it for the month.
Love, The Thomas’

FEBRUARY

Gordon and I had a wonderful Valentines Day; we celebrated it the day after to avoid the craziness. We did dinner and a movie, which we haven’t done forever, so it was really fun to be together, and then we even managed to play games with Grant and Lindsee afterwards (they were watching our kids). So, we had a wonderful time.
After a long winter and struggling market things are starting to pick up for Gordon at work, which we are grateful for. There are not many lenders left doing construction loans, so they are seeing a lot more files. He has also had fun playing basketball with the Elders, and is now looking forward to region.
I’ve kept busy with my dance class and helping different family members and friends. My sister Lisa had her baby Benjamin and my sister Melanie’s little boy got a bone marrow infection and was up at Primary Hospital for a couple of days. Both families are doing great now.
We had a fun sledding activity with the Jensen’s this past month. More than actual sledding my kids had a great time riding and being pulled on the 4 wheeler that Jason and Melanie brought.
Talmage gave his first talk in primary this month and he did a wonderful job. He started off by stating the first article of faith and then talking about this favorite Book of Mormon prophet Abinadi. Gordon worked really hard with Talmage to memorize the scripture he said in his talk. He needed an incentive (not that we will do this with all talks) so Gordon told him he would get him a Woody doll if he memorized the scripture. What Gordon didn’t realize was that you just can’t go to any store and pick up a Woody doll, so we had to call around and we ended up spending more than we wanted, but a promise is a promise. Talmage was so excited about his Woody and would tell everyone that his Daddy gave him this special toy. It was so cute to see him up in Primary giving his talk, and he did such a wonderful job thanks to Gordon working so hard with him.

Talmage is so adorable right now, especially when you get him one on one. When he gives you a kiss, he loves to hold your face with his soft hands and pull you in close. We go to story time weekly at the Library and as soon as they blow the whistle to go into the room he runs in and sits down front and center on the mat. We have also been able to get outside on some nice days and he is doing really well with riding his trike. He is such a wonderful little boy and just melting our hearts right now.

Audrey on the other hand is always giving us a run for our money. I am starting to think I need to start doing my shopping without my children. Talmage is an angel and walks next to the cart. Audrey no matter how tight she is strapped in manages to wiggle her way out and climb all sorts of precarious ways on the cart. Usually by the end of our trip I’m wrestling with her in one arm and emptying the cart with the other. It’s a lovely sight to see.

She has recently found a fascination with going potty and tells me all the time “pee” and then starts pulling at her clothes. I indulge in her request one or two times a day, when it is convenient with changing her diaper. However, the other night I put her on the potty and I got out the little potty seat so I could get some other things done, and I heard her go potty! It was very exciting, we took pictures and video and all told her how proud we were of her. Talmage said “Audrey’s big like me because she went potty,” really cute. So, maybe she will be potty trained a lot sooner than we expect. (She has subsequently gone four more times. We are cautiously hopeful.)

Audrey loves to say “hi” and wave to people. Her favorite person to say “hi” to is Talmage; when we wake up in the morning I get Audrey and then we go in and get Talmage. The second she sees Talmage she is waving her arm and saying “hi” to him; she repeats her “hi” and wave until he says “hi” back. She also waves to people in the car and whenever we are walking, it is very cute. Her new animal sound is a cat, however, it sounds like a cat and a cow at the same time. She says “moow” when you ask her what a cat says.