Thoms' family year in review 2006

This year we were unable to take our normal yearly camping/family vacation. But we were able to do some small things together. In late February we took a spontaneous trip to the cities to see the children's museum. The boys (Douglas and Phillip) really enjoyed that.
In July we went to Sioux Falls, SD to the Jazzfest 2006. It was a hot weekend and the boys thought the music was kind-of loud. We would like to try it again sometime but maybe without the children.
On June 10th we started to remove our siding on our house. When all is said and done we replaced siding and windows on our house and went from a 4'x 6' deck to a 12'x 12' with 4'x 4' platform and stairs. For the first two weeks of the project we had help from family and some friends but that wasn't enough time to complete the project. James and I finished it ourselves. The outside was completed by the end of August but there is still work to be done on the inside.(trim work around the windows) It was a long project but very rewarding. We are extremely happy with how it turned out and we completed it early enough to enjoy a couple of meals out on our new deck.

BEFORE

AFTER

And in September we went to the Minnesota Science Museum and toured the Body Worlds exibit and the three boys even sat through a 45 minute omnitheatre movie on the human body. It has been awhile since either James or I have been there. It was a nice family getaway.

James and Pamela

We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary this past July and also 11 years of being together.
James has been keeping busy with school and work. In Jan. we got a call about a week before spring semester started and were told that they had an opening in the transition courses (two classes that james needed before starting the RN program). So James took those on for spring semester along with some generals classes. He was also told that he was 2nd runner up to start the RN program in the fall of 06'. We found out a few weeks later that he was accepted into the RN program. So he started the program in Aug. He will graduate in May with his RN. (about a year earlier then we thought it would all get done) He is also still doing his on-call autopsy assistant position. In July we attended his 10 year class reunion, that was nice to see some of the people he graduated with but also hard to believe that it has already been 10 years.
Pamela is keeping busy with the 3 active little boys. She was able to get away in February to attend a friends baby shower. With all of the house projects this past summer she also got to learn how to do siding and put together a deck. It was nice to get away from the everyday stuff of being a mom and wife. She has been working with Douglas to teach him to read, that is one of her bigger goals, he seems to be a very good learner so that makes things easier.

Douglas James

Douglas turned 5 on Sept. 3rd. In May we had him tested for early entrance into kindergarten and found out that he could have started this year but after some discussion we decided to wait to send him until next year. On March 11th a wonderful thing happened to Douglas, He asked Jesus into his heart. And there are times when he says that he misses Jesus and wonders when He will come back. In August we went to family fun day at the Kandiyohi County Fair, they had a kids pedal tractor pull, Douglas participated and got 3rd place for his age group and he even received a trophy. At the end of Sept. he started his first round of swimming lessons, he enjoyed it and can't wait to do it again. (hopefully this spring) He really likes to draw and paint. I don't know how many pieces of paper he goes through in a day. He is such a big help with his brothers and it is hard to believe he is 5 years old already :( It goes too fast.

Phillip Isaac

Phillip turned 2 years old in January of this year. We gave him a radio flyer tricycle for his birthday which he mastered and loves to ride. He also got to drive Douglas' motorized tractor. He enjoys playing with cars, building with blocks and singing. He seems to like playing by hisself but he also likes to play with Douglas when it suits him to do so. He is such a little man and he does many adorable things. We feel he is growing up faster then we care for him to, but what can you do?

Evan William

We welcomed Evan William into the world on March 17, 2006 @ 4:20a.m. He weighed 6#11 1/2 oz and was 19 inches long. He has grown fast. He was dedicated to the Lord on Mother's Day. He is now almost crawling (7 1/2 months old) He enjoys watching his brothers play and he really enjoys it when they talk and pay attention to him. He is now working on keeping up with them. He is an incredible joy to us and our home.