The Thomas Family

Since we were all finally together in one place at one time, we decided to take a family picture. We debated on getting all dressed up fancy and looking our best, but decided in the end to just take a picture as-is. Apparently I was the only one that got that memo and everyone else looked adorable. You'll notice that one of my kids isn't even in a shirt and the other one looks like the uni-bomber with the hoodie. That's my family.

The only one not looking in the picture is Max. He's Lyndsey & Brian's baby. Poor guy was pulled out of bed for this picture. Here is a close up of his cute little face since it isn't really visible in the group shot.Here is a shot of the 6 of us. I'm the oldest of the crew. To the right is Lyndsey. She is married to Brian and resides in Idaho. They have Max in their family now. She teaches special ed. in an elementary school and is finishing up a class so she can apply to OT school in the fall. Brian is the computer whiz at the school district my mom teaches in. Behind Lyndsey is Charlie. He's next in line. He lives in Alaska with his wife Keri and their dog racecar. He's an engineer up there in the north, and Keri has a demanding job that keeps her stressed out and traveling all over Alaska in small planes. Ben is on the far left in the back. He's #4 in the line of kids. He lives in Southern Utah with his wife Jena. He is an appraisor there and loving it, and Jena is working on her nursing degree. Matt is behind me. He's the youngest boy. He's also the tallest. Matt is a student at BYU when school is in session. This summer he was a tour guide in Alaska and lived with Charlie & Keri. I hear he's quite the guide and am sad I didn't get to take one of his tours. And last but definitely not least, is Katelyn. She is on the front left. She turned 19 in May and just finished her 1st year at BYU-I. She also just sent off a missionary so life is pretty hard right now. She's applying to be a nanny on the east coast while taking a breather from school. She'll start ISU in the fall of '08 in the physical therapy assistant program. I really wanted a shot of just my sisters and I. Shawn obliged. Well, I guess it was really Kate's idea, but I'm sure I would have thought of it eventually. Only 2 years seperate Lyndsey and I, so we shared a room pretty much our entire lives. We also used to fight over anything and everything. Age has mellowed me out, and now I can say we are pretty good friends. It's fun to see her as a mom, she is such a natural. She makes it look so easy to have a baby around.

Kate. Who doesn't love Kate? 13 years seperate us so I vividly remember rocking her to sleep at night. I secretly claimed her as my own. It's fun to watch her grow up and become a woman. Everyone is always telling her how much like me she is. (I'm sure it scares her to death to know what her body will look like after 4 kids!) She is actually much more patient and calm about things then I ever was. I'm so glad I have these 2 girls. I'm also glad that my married brothers snatched girls that are so much fun and easy to love. It makes me kind of sad that Kennedy will never have a sister. However, maybe she'll get some say in who her sister-in-laws will be.

***I also didn't get the memo that I was supposed to wear a red shirt with a white one underneath. Funny thing is, they didn't intend to dress alike, sisters just do that sometimes.