Merry Christmas 2015

 

Our Carmichael Thiots
What a crazy last few days it's been for our Carmichael Thiots.  On Christmas morning, Charlie headed up to the mountains for some skiing.  He drove the jeep and had a wonderful time until he left the ski resort and headed for home.  About 1/2 way down the mountain, the jeep engine light came on and started blinking.  Not a good sign.  That jeep has been a going machine for many years, but decided right on Christmas day that it was done.  Charlie called a tow truck and waited a couple of cold hours for it to arrive.  He was towed on home and got to spend a couple of hours with the kids and enjoyed a little jumping on the trampoline Santa delivered to them.  They got up Saturday morning, packed their bags and headed to the airport.  The flight was delayed 30 minutes, no big deal and they were off to Dallas,  Upon arriving near Dallas, bad storms were in the area and they diverted the plane to Austin for what they thought would be a couple of hour delay.  WRONG!  They just now left Austin and are finally on their way to Dallas.  Dick just left to go pick them up.  Oh what a memorable Christmas this has been for them.  I can't wait until they get here to start hugging all 3 of them.  Thank you for your patience.  I think I would have given up and gone home.
Update from Charlie: We still have not made it to Dallas. We ended up in San Antonio. We are leaving now at 11:11 pm. Dadadaaaaa

Update #2 we finally made it all the way.

Our L.A. Thiots
Pierce and Stacy and Adelaide arrived on Wednesday at noon.  No storms in the area that day and all went well.  Skyler was off work and ran to Love Field and picked them up and then dropped them off in Arlington where they borrowed Stacy's mom's car and came on over.  We quickly turned around and headed to Six Flags with Ricky's family but found that nearly everyone in the DFW area was at Six Flags so we made a new plan and went for an ice cream treat and came home.  They stayed with us on Thursday too, Christmas Eve, and I LOVED getting to watch Adelaide while they ran and did a few errands.  Adelaide and I had a Panty Party taking in her training pants to fit her tiny fanny a little better.  We giggled and laughed and had such fun together.  She is a darling 2 year old and is so much fun.  I loved getting to have her wake up at Grammy's on Christmas Morning and we loved going to Ricky and Becky's home for Brunch and to get to see all the fun things the girls got for Christmas.On Saturday morning they packed up and headed to Arlington for the Brinkerhoff Family Christmas. We will see them again on Wednesday.  We can hardly wait!

Our Dallas Thiots
We have seen our Dallas Thiots quite a bit this week.  We've loved it and Sky has been a super helper in picking up people at the airport.  On Christmas eve, I hid their shoes and so they stayed over.  It was handy that they opened their Christmas PJ's so they were in business.  What fun it was to have them here.  They went with us to Ricky's and then they went to Arlington to celebrate Christmas with the Neaves family.  What a blessing for us to get to share them with Kara's close family.  On Sunday morning Kara was invited to sing in church with a group of sisters.  All reports were that she did a wonderful job and she said she hit every high note she needed too.  That's a really good thing.  Sky and Kara are celebrating their 4 year anniversary this week.  they had a fun date at a spa which they both enjoyed.

Our Mansfield Thiots
After  a wonderful week before Christmas, and a lovely Christmas day, Becky left for California to surprise her brothers.  Her youngest brother hadn't been home for CHristmas for several years and so it was a real treat for their family to get to be together for the holidays.  The girls and Ricky are getting along fine, not as good as when Becky is in town, but they made it to church on time this morning and everyone looked great with great hair dues.  They came over for dinner tonight and are spending a couple of days with us as Ricky has to work on Monday and Tuesday.  Penny is in her glory and Max is feeling a bit outnumbered and is looking forward to Callum's arrival by morning.

Our Charlottesville Granges
Tatia's family arrive before all the bad storms on Saturday morning and it's been wonderful to have them here.  Penny and Max have had fun playing with favorite toys and it was so warm on Saturday afternoon that we spent time at the Duck Pond Park having a wonderful time.  Sky and Kara met them at the airport and came and spent the rest of the day with us.  We loved it.  Oscar is such a dear little guy and is trying so hard to crawl.  He is still stuck in reverse gear but does show hints of figuring out forward drive.  He let me hold him in church and nothing could have made this Grammy any happier.  Oh it's great to have them here with us.  Jake got to come too and it's his first time here in 2 1/2 years.  We are loving every minute and hope the clock goes by slowly this week.

We Plano Thiots
When Charlie and his family arrive, in a few minutes I hope, every one will be Home for Christmas.  I so appreciate everyones efforts in making this possible.  As our family grows and spreads around the world, it gets trickier and trickier to have this time together.  I'm planning on enjoying every minute.  We set the dinner table for 14 and that's a lot of Thiots.  I can't wait until we have all 20 of us in one place on Wednesday.  Dick surprised us with a night stay at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine.  It has an indoor water park and lots of fun things to keep us all busy and happy for time to spend together.  I can hardly wait!  Merry Christmas to each one of you.  I hope your week has been nice and that you have felt the love of our Savior Jesus Christ too.  SLY Robynn

Our Family Rocks The 3rd Week of December

Our Dallas Thiots
Skyler woke up EARLY Monday morning to a horrible pain in his stomach and back.  He thought he might be dying.  When he told me about it a few hours later, he had figured out from the symptoms that it could be Kidney Stones.  Once he talked to Ricky who has had two episodes of the feared Rocks, he felt a bit better about not dying and focused on managing the pain.  It took 3 1/2 days for those miserable cusses to move on down the road, but I'm glad to report he is feeling much improved.  We've all been reminded to DRINK LOTS OF WATER. Our Family Rocks! Skyler felt well enough on Thursday night to go see the opening night of Star Wars.  I'm glad that could make him feel a bit better.  This is the weekend of Kara's friends wedding which she is helping with.  The wedding cake is done and the grooms pies are baked and everything is ready to put together.  The weather is cooperating, no rain, not warm, but not freezing cold.  I'll be so glad for her when it's behind her.  I think it will be a long time before she becomes a wedding planner to this degree.  Weddings are stressful to say the least.  You are in our prayers you two.

Our LA Thiots
Adelaide is still excelling on the Potty Train!  Go Girl! Pierce got word that he may be heading to Belize on a moments notice, I'm glad to report that he is still home.  Pierce has an awesome job but they don't always allow for a lot of planning for trips. You have to basically keep your suitcase packed and be ready to leave quick like a bunny rabbit.  I'm sure Stacy and Adelaide were happy that the plans didn't work.  Speaking of those type of plans, he wasn't able to get the tickets to the BYU vs Utah bowl came on Saturday which proved to be a blessing in disguise too.  Watching the game at home for my dad was much easier and since Uncle Bud arrived on Friday afternoon, it was fun to have him there too.  My dad has spent the majority of the week at doctor appointments and having scans done.  It's not been his best week and I'm sure a 500 mile drive even to a BYU game wouldn't have been the best this week.  It's interesting how things find a way of working out better than we could ever plan.  Our Family Rocks!

Our Carmichael Thiots
Keelie and her Grandma ran in the Sacramento Santa Claus 5 K this year.  At the very end it started to snow.  What a perfect finish for such a fun race.  Next year Charlie is hoping to join her too. Run Keelie Run!!!!! Last Sunday, Charlie sent me a photo of him and his darling children at the Sacramento Temple in front of their beautiful nativity scene.  I loved the picture and thought to myself, Oh that would make a beautiful Christmas card.  I sent the photo to walmart and ordered a few as I know how busy Charlie's family is this year and thought I could surprise him with a card.  Now the funny part was that in the mail on Thursday came a beautiful christmas card from Charlie to me.  No, he didn't pick the same photo I had, but he chose three darling ones.  Charlie, our family Rocks, we were on the very same page,

Our Charlottesville Granges
I talked to a very happy but very exhausted Tatia on Saturday afternoon.  Jake had taken Miss Penny and Max to the library and Miss Drew, Jake's cousin had just been picked up by her dad and was gone.  Her Primary President had given her a job of cutifying the primary room bulletin board for the 2016 theme of "I Know The Scriptures Are True", which I guarantee she will fulfill with excellence but she was pooped.  Having company, even fun company can do that to a person.  We all know that. I'm glad Cousin Drew was able to come and be a helper and I'm glad she was able to go home so life could settle down too.  Jake will work all week, including Christmas day but I'm sure they will squeeze in some fun times.  Tatia is already planning Monday to be the OFFICIAL PAJAMA DAY. that means, everyone stays in PJ's all day and they don't have to go anywhere, they can stay inside and relax.  I hope it works.  Our Family Rocks! Your Cinnamon chocolate popcorn looks like heaven

Our Mansfield Thiots
It's been a busy week in Mansfield.  Ricky has a dentist office who insists he bring Rum Cakes to share with them at Christmas time.  Ricky assures me he does not even lick the spoon or taste the cake but does this as is demanded by them.  Becky has been busy preparing for room mother duties at the "winter" parties at the girls school.  Harper has been counting down the days until the girls are home all day to play with.  Something almost magical happened on Saturday afternoon in Mansfield.  The Nutcracker Ballet came to town at their lovely Performing Arts Center and Ricky was able to surprise his girls with tickets to the Matinee performance.  They all three dressed up in their beautiful Christmas dresses and got into the car and then were told where they were going. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall and watched their reaction.  Our Family Rocks!  What fun.  The girls are officially on Winter Break until the first of the year.  Let the fun times begin!

We Plano Thiots
After spending a very snowy week in Salt Lake City, Dick returned home on Friday night. This picture is Dad's back  yard picnic table.  24 inches of snow is a LOT! I was so glad to pick him up at the airport and bring him home.  It's been a lonesome week here home alone with one small dog.  Even though our weather has cooled off considerably this week, he said it still feels warm compared to the very cold Utah weather.  Glad he is home.  He hosted a meet and greet ham radio get together on Saturday morning while I served in the temple.  He had quite a nice turn out and everyone enjoyed trying out the different ham radios and choosing which one to order  ask Santa Claus for for Christmas.  Our Family Rocks!  Good Job Dick!

Dick's office Christmas Party took place on Tuesday while he was gone.  He told me I needed to go and so I baked my favorite christmas cookies and went. It was fun to be there.

Pammy and her boys invited me on Tuesday afternoon to come and bake Grandma Browns Sugar Cookies with them.  I love thinking about her and talking to the boys about her and sharing her special trick of putting just a dot of vanilla behind our ears, to make us smell so good.  Thanks for the fun invitation Pammy!
Well, the countdown is down.  If you know me well, you know I am a bit of a Christmas Procrastinator.  OK, I may be the worst yet.  It's not that I don't like Christmas, I LOVE Christmas, it's just that I don't always get ideas until the very last possible moment.  Ok, I'm waiting for those to come any minute now.  We are looking forward to getting to see ALL of our family this Christmas which is by far the very best Christmas gift ever.  Thank You everyone of you for making that big effort to come "Home for the Holiday".  I just want to turn my house into the Holiday Inn for the next week.  Now I just need some energy or a tall Diet Coke and get moving.  I can't wait to write next week's Thiot Times when everyone will be in town.  I love you all and I'm so grateful for this season of the year!  SLY Robynn

On the 2nd Week of December....

Our Mansfield Thiots
When school started this fall, Brooklyn was invited to join the combined 3rd and 4th grade choir.  She has a darling voice and I can see why they wanted her.  Wednesday was her Christmas Concert and I got to attend.  It was WONDERFUL and very fun.  The only tricky part of the night was getting there.  The traffic was horrendous as the concert site was also the site of the Toys for Tots Drop off.  A normal 10 minute drive took us 55 minutes.  The road was like a parking lot and we waited through countless red lights, but I can tell you this, It was TOTALLY Worth it!  Thank you Brooklyn for inviting me.  There was an outdoor festival after the concert that was quite wonderful too.  The weather cooperated and was perfect for the whole evening.  Saturday night our Mansfield Thiots were planning to go to Bethlehem.  I'm not sure if they were able to go or not.  I hope they were.  I love to go there when it's not raining. This week was Brooklyn's turn to go on a daddy daughter date. She picked to have a pedicure and they had fun together.

Our Charlottesville Granges
As you can tell from the photo above, it was Tatia and Jake's turn to have the Kids Club at their house on Friday night.  All went well with only one bump in the road.  One little gal bumped her head on a chair and thankfully Dr. Jake was close by to administer a bandage and make everything all right. Penny had a wonderful opportunity on Thursday to Dance with the Sugarplum Fairy from the Nutcracker ballet.  As you may have guessed, Penny was thrilled to pieces.  Max has been enjoying the unseasonably warm days in the sandbox and in the garden, playing in the dirt and collecting rocks for his ever growing rock collection.  Oscar has been singing this week,  "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" and his wish came early.  Both of those precious teeth have broken through the gums and it's made for a miserable week, but he is got his Christmas wish.

Our Carmichael Thiots
Charlie's family had an extra busy and fun Saturday yesterday.  They went to see the Movie, The Good Dinosaur.  They have been excited to see it and it did not disappoint.  Callum loved roaring with the little boy Spot in the movie.  He does a great impression of spot.  Keelie enjoyed it too and they loved being their together.  Saturday night was even better however.  The chapel that is up on the Temple Hill in Sacramento, had a live nativity on Saturday night.  Charlie's family went with their good friends to see it and they loved it.  The night was a bit chilly which made it even more special. Afterwards they walked over to the temple grounds which had the beautiful nativity scene set up and they loved that too.  What a perfect way to feel the Christmas spirit.

Our LA Thiots
I LOVED Pierce's newest Holiday Beards.  Sometimes I wonder if it's hard to feel the Christmas spirit when the weather is warm, the sky blue and the closest thing to white snow is the white sand on the beach.  We've had just that kind of weather here in Texas this week and it's lovely.  I am not complaining a bit.  I do believe Christmas can come at any temperature.  Pierce called Dick this week with some exciting news that he might be able to get tickets to the Los Vegas Bowl next weekend.  Dick got excited and checked with Grandpa to see if he might be available to go in case it works out.  Right now, we are just crossing our fingers that it might work that they could go together.  I know my dad would love it and I know Dick would love it too.  Cross your fingers with me will you?

Our Dallas Thiots
Sky has had a crazy busy week with lots of "deliverables" due early this week.  That means the final copies of the ad need to be ready to go to print.  It makes for lots of pressure and more stress than usual.  Kara too is up to her eyeballs in stress and wedding planning for her friend.  She offered to help and she's been doing things a head of time, but much of wedding planning has to be done right on time which is making it difficult.  Please keep both of them in your prayers.  I love you Dallas Thiots!

We Plano Thiots
Thursday morning I received a gift from heaven above.  When I walked into my kitchen I knew it had come.  No, it wasn't wrapped in a package sitting on my counter, it was outside my kitchen window, peeking in between my neighbors roof tops.  It was the most gorgeous sunrise I have seen in a long time.  It made my heart leap and sing out with joy.  It was PINK and I just knew my mom had a little something to do with sending it to me.  I've missed her so much this Christmas season.  When I put out my nativity scene that we painted together when I was in college, I missed her.  I love the eyes on all of the little people.  Mom painted them and they are beautiful.  When I put my tree skirt on my tree that she made, it made me miss her. But when I looked out my kitchen window and saw the glorious sunrise, it was like getting special delivery hug from heaven above.  Thanks Mom!
Dick is going to be gone starting tomorrow for the week and so we have been trying to pack in as much Christmas cheer before he goes.  We had fun on Monday night making Christmas plans and on Tuesday we went to see the play White Christmas.  Lauren, Kara's darling sister, was in it and we enjoyed it alot.  On Wednesday I got to go to Brooklyn's Christmas choir program and when I got home we went to Brahms for Eggnog milk shakes.  Yummy.  Thursday we went to the Stake Presidency's Christmas Open House and loved seeing so many people we love.  On Friday we went to see the Good Dinosaur and loved it.  Saturday night we stayed home and watched the movie of White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye.  It was great too.  And now it's Sunday, and I get to help in Singing time in Primary.  What could be better than that?
I hope you have had a great week. I've loved getting Christmas cards in the mail this week from many of you that I love.  Enjoy this season and know you are loved.  SLY Robynn

Our First Week of December

Our Mansfield Thiots
Did you know you could go sleigh riding in Dallas without snow?  Six Flags over Texas has a ride this year that is sleigh riding at the Holiday in the Park.  The Mansfield Thiots LOVE it and went on Friday evening.  They were almost the only guests in the park and they had a WONDERFUL time. There is something extra nice about not having to wait in line that makes things so much more enjoyable.  They are sure enjoying their Six Flags season passes.

Our Charlottesville Granges
Peppermint Patty, a darling elf has appeared in Charlottesville this week and has sure made for a very special week getting ready for Christmas.  Each day they find her someplace else and she has a special pocket with something special to do each day.  It might be a bit of service for someone in need or it might be a trip to the library to find a special story or it might be cutting out your very own snow flakes.  Penny, Max and even Oscar are enjoying their special visitor each day.  Christmas is so fun with little ones around.

Our Carmichael Thiots
Charlie sent this video he made of the amazing leaf pile he raked up and the fun time they had jumping in it.  I don't know when I've seen anything to put a bigger smile on my face.  I hope it works and you can see it too.  Charlie, you are are so fun and I wish I could have jumped into that enormous pile of leaves too.  what fun!!!!

Our LA Thiots
On Friday night, Pierce and Stacy's ward had their ward Christmas Party.  A special guest was invited when Santa was too busy to come, it was one of Santa's helpers.  Adelaide calls him Daddy Santa. What a darling young Santa you made Pierce.  Lady was thrilled to sit by him for a picture.  Now for the BIG NEWS.  Adelaide and Pierce called me on Saturday to tell me that Lady is on the Potty Train.  Choooo Chooo!  All aboard!  She is doing great and stayed dry for her first nap in panties and stayed dry all night.  Go Lady!  What great news!  The fun part was that it was all her idea.  Go Girl!

Our Big D Thiots
It's sure good to have Skyler and Kara home from their trip to Virginia.  We got to pick them up Monday night late and take them home to a very happy cat, Mister Bransen was delighted to have them home again.  They have been playing catch up at work all week and have been extra busy but say it was worth the time off.  Penny and Max are lonesome for them.  They loved having built in play mates all week long.

We Plano Thiots
Monday afternoon will be a day I won't forget.  Dick's Aunt Betty has a daughter, Cindy, who lives in Prosper and every Thanksgiving, Betty Thiot comes to down to celebrate with them.  The best news is that she always saves a day to spend with us.  We LOVED going to lunch with her and catching  up with her.  She is so much fun and recently turned 91 years young.  Yes, she is YOUNG and still is so interested in doing things and learning things and just keeps moving.  Oh how we love and admire her.

Dick finished getting our Christmas lights put out on Saturday morning and hung the wreath in the window and we are looking good outside.  Inside is still a work in progress.  We put up the tree and I have to laugh when I tell you that it is held together with golf tees and wire.  We counted that we have had our tree for 22 years and that is quite a longevity for  Christmas tree.  Each year we promise that if it will hold together one more year that we will replace it next year and then the new year comes and we say the same thing.  It's a nice old tree, and guess what?  It works for us old folks who are held together with a few golf tees and wire ourselves.

We enjoyed our ward Christmas party on Friday and found it especially enjoyable to NOT be in charge of any part of it except making two pans of Christmas potatoes and delivering them on time. We snuck out a little early with some friends and went to the Creche' display up in Allen.  They had 100's of nativity scenes displayed gorgeously and the spirit of Christmas was there in full.  It was so nice to go and see them and we went to the one in the Colony on Saturday night.  It was much smaller but equally as nice.  It is truly one of my favorite things to do over Christmas.
I hope you have enjoyed your first week of December.  I'm looking forward to the Christmas Devotional that will be broadcast tonight.  Another of my favorite parts of Christmas.  SLY Robynn