Cousins...

I love that each of them is doing there own thing...getting the other set of cousins was a little more tricky, let's just say it was at the very end of the day...there were some great individual shots though...thanks Pics for a Purpose!! Can't wait for next year!

Thomsen gene - something fierce

The Thomsen gene sure doesn't fall far from the tree now does it?

So serious...they made them take professional pics and then pay for them (of course).

Levi, Connor & well...what's her name?

Last week we walked down the boulevard in Kirkland to Kidd Valley and playtime at the Houghton park and beach. Always a hit with the kiddos. It was still so nice and warm in the evening down there.

Stitches are out!

Took my Mom into the Dr. this week, they took out the stitches (4 inches long) and put her in a pretty pink, hard cast for the next 4 weeks. After 4 weeks the cast will come off and she will begin physical therapy. We are moving her back into her house tomorrow. She is able to move around pretty decent with a walker, crutches...or wheel chair. She's excited to go to church tomorrow. :) Please keep praying she heals quicker than expected and financial aid comes through!

The windy city...

What a crazy, fun, exciting and yes a bit windy weekend...
Carlee, Krysta (brothers gf) & I headed to Illinois on Thursday to attend Michael's graduation from Naval boot camp. Poor Mom was forced to stay home with her broken ankle. This was my first time away overnight from Greyson and I had yet to be away from Levi for more than a day or two. This trip also marked the longest Josh has consecutively had to to care for the boys for 24 hours, for 4 days...ALL on his own. Everyone did great on this end, only went to McDonald's twice and the organic lollipops that Levi gets for the potty are only half gone! Josh is a wonderful Daddy and all three boys had a great time bonding. He gets extra points for the terrible stomach bug he came home from work with the day before I left that had him on the pot several times a day, which latest up until yesterday. Poor guy, at least he got to experience true motherhood - no sick days here! :)

Our time in Chi-town...

Thursday

Carlee & I flew on companion passes from my sister in law (thank you Jenifer!!), which means stand by. Of course this can be a bit dicey, but Carlee & I were all smiles when we were given seats in first class. Now, I've had the pleasure of first class on the rare occasion - however I had yet to experience United. Alaska take note - we enjoyed a delicious cobb salad with jumbo shrimp, of course all the drinks to our contentment and a warm cookie and milk to make our cozy first class cabin all the more warm and fuzzy.

Friday

GRAD DAY!!

Up at 4:30am, gates to the base opened at 6:30am - and if you wanted a good seat you arrived at that time. Granted the graduation did not start until 9am - and the ceremony itself was 2 hours. Wow, long morning waiting. But well worth it. Prior to each divisions entrance they show a short video of a day in the life of a seaman recruit. Which fills you with an even greater pride than you walked through the gates with. These men and women endure a grueling 8 weeks of intense training. They are broken down physically and mentally to be the best. Never have I been so proud to see my brother march in with division 284. You sit in the section of your recruits division. So when the announcer calls them out the place goes crazy, the building is bursting with enthusiasm, pride and joy as each family member and friend roars for their recruit. As they march by I got goosebumps and was filled with tremendous pride and emotion. Our little buddy, all grown up in his dress whites - A Sailor. Job WELL DONE!!

Saturday

Today we spent the entire day downtown Chicago. Seeing the sites, catching up and hearing stories. Chicago is a HUGE city with a ton of energy. Not to mention it's the big O's stomping ground. Of course we paid Harpo Studios a visit. What would a trip to Chicago be without checking out Oprah!?

Sunday

Relaxing, story time and back to Seattle...

Michael had story after story to tell, I should have written them all down. But I'm sure I will remember them all in the weeks to come. The most prominent story was the fact that he was a leader in his division for the first 6 weeks. In fact he was to carry a flag at graduation, which is a indication of your stature. However at some point in time he and another ship mate decided to spice things up a bit. In the middle of the night they put on their ski masks and went around roughing up their other ship mates pretending they were Iraqi Insurgents. Surprisingly when their RC caught them, he thought it was somewhat funny. They were mildly disciplined and Michael had the leadership privilege taken away. Some things never change, but I do think he is more mellow and he seems to have gained patience over the last 8 weeks.

Tomorrow Michael goes across the street to A-school for another 8 weeks. This will be more training and a lot of book work for fire fighting, damage control. He will have phone privileges during this time and weekends off. At this point he plans to come home for Labor Day weekend and then after A-school he will be home for 7 - 14 days. If he is being shipped over seas he will be home for 14 days. He should find out in the next few weeks where they will be sending him. He will indefinitely be on a ship, not a sub. Michael was so thankful for all the letters of support and prayers.

So then comes the flight home...not nearly as glamorous as the trip out there. After we dropped Michael off we were in route to the airport when we find out the flight we were going to try and catch was delayed...then WAY oversold. And the next one out, not much better and delayed as well. But as the last flight out of the day at 12:15am, we are going to give it a shot. Come to find out once we arrive a volcano in Indonesia erupted and all the volcanic ash was blowing far West and affecting air travel for two reasons: visibility and it happens to be the very worst thing for an airplane engine. Nice. There were a lot of things running through my head at that time. I'm SO tired, I just want to be home, I miss all my boys, what I wouldn't do for my bed, I pray we get on this flight...wait, do I really want to be on this flight??

We were the last 2 people let on the plane. It was a crazy flight, flying way below normal to avoid the ash. But we made it home by 3am and we were SO thankful. Since the next day it was worse, all flights were cancelled out of OHare. All in all, such a fun trip!

Tee Off Against Trafficking

Because we, YOU can make a difference!

http://www.teeoffagainsttrafficking.com/

As many of you know, I am crazy passionate about this cause. I am so excited about the golf event we are heading up with EWPO to help STOP human trafficking.

Watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQDwd954FGE and join me in being part of the solution! Through donations, sponsorship or simply playing golf you can impact the lives of children in SE Asia that are at risk for being trafficked into the sex trade industry. Can you help? Who do you know...friends, family, companies, how can they help?

Also, check out Kara Hicks - she is offering her beautiful photography for any donation to the cause. Thanks, Kara your awesome!

Do SOMETHING - be a HERO!!!

What a week...

Wow, I feel like this is the first time I have sat down to "veg" all week....

Monday

Often Levi likes to throw the ball into our huge snowball tree out back, to tease his poor doggy Tia. He then takes his bat and wacks at the tree until it drops free from the tree. He may like to do this, but it's not okay - he's been caught and warned, not to it again a few times...that I've seen that is. Well I heard the all too familiar sound of bushes rustling from something wacking them. I walk outside to this....

"This" would be my (once) darling rosemary bonsai bush, completely destroyed...by a boy and his baseball bat. I cried... "Sawey Mommy, Sawey tree" Levi says...

Tuesday

I see on the caller ID my Mom's neighbor, I'm instantly on alert. There is a small chance it could be Carlee over there for some reason? Jolene, my Mom's neighbor explains that my Mom has fallen and she can't get up (ha). Quite literally she couldn't move! She was walking over to borrow their lawnmower and slipped on the little incline between their houses. Her right foot went straight back and she instantly knew her ankle was broken. Us Thomsen's seem to go big, she broke it in 3 places. Requiring surgery that evening after spending the day in ER. She emerged from the OR around 10:30PM with a plate and seven screws in her ankle. The Dr. said she would be out for 12 weeks and no flying. Awesome.

We set her up in Carlee's downstairs. She has more room and she wouldn't have little ones bothering her while she needed to rest. :)

The anxiety began to set in...12 weeks of no income and no insurance, would she lose her clientele in that time?Truly, what are we going to do?

As I've said a million times. Don't ever under estimate the power of prayer. The day she was released someone from Evergreen called and I explained her situation. Looks like she won't have to pay a penny for medical. Praise the Lord for community Hospitals. He directed me to the right source to help in other areas. I was able to talk to someone right away, she was so helpful and direct. I immediately began to feel at peace. I may not ever understand why God allows various trials, but I am actually excited to see what transpires in the weeks to come. For every season there is a reason.

The outpouring of kindness and generosity from many friends has been incredible. We are so thankful to you all. God is SO good!

For now, we will continue cleaning my Mom's jobs that just can't wait and continue to pray for a speedy recovery. We already consider it a blessing that the Dr. thought she would still be in the hospital today, she went home Wednesday. Plus, today she went all day today without her prescription pain meds. Awesome!!