12/1/2009
Dear Family and Friends,
Wow! It is hard to believe it is already Christmas time. The year has flown by. We have had a life-changing year. In April of this year, Brent and I attended an event called “Catalyst West” in Orange County. There we felt God calling us to pursue international adoption. We submitted our initial application in June to the Ethiopian program. We received our I-171H on November 27 and submitted our complete dossier to our adoption agency on 11/30/09. It is expected to arrive at the Ethiopian Embassy on 12/10/09 and then the waiting begins to be matched with a 9-18 month old baby girl. The boys are so excited to have a little sister and pray for her every day. It is the sweetest thing to hear them pray for a sister that they don’t know anything about. They are precious boys and we are excited to add a precious girl to our family soon.
Our family vacation this year was to Orange County, California. We met Brent’s sister, Lori and her family there. We went to Disneyland, California Adventure, Sea World, and Huntington Beach. The boys absolutely loved Disneyland and California Adventure. Brent and Garrett sat in the “Soak Zone” during the Shamu show and got soaked from head to toe! Ryan loved being on the beach and ran around like a “beach bum” all day! We had a fabulous time and plan to return soon.
Ryan is 4 years old. He attends Dream Tenders Academy twice a week and loves going to school. He is progressing well. It only took him a few weeks before he was writing his name on his own. He played soccer for the first time this year and enjoyed it for the most part. He made 5 goals in one game. Ryan loves to participate in church activities. He showed a lamb and goat in the Eddy County Fair this year. He did very well. He continues to be very persistent and independent. He is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his sister so that he can play with her. He loves when Brent has days off so he can stay and “work in the shop.” He continues to want to do everything that Garrett does. Garrett gets frustrated with this, especially when it is something that Ryan doesn’t know how to do.
Garrett turned 8 this year and is in 2nd grade. He continues to do very well in school. His favorite part is recess so that he can play football with his friends. He played basketball, baseball, and football this year. He enjoyed football very much and improved greatly over last year. He loves all things football. His favorite teams are the Artesia Bulldogs, Texas Tech Raiders, Oklahoma University, and Denver Broncos. He loves all video games that involve football and can usually be found with a football in his hand. He continues to participate in many church activities and attended two VBS’ this summer. He also showed a sheep and goat in the booster club show during the Eddy County Fair. He also went deer hunting for the first time over Thanksgiving weekend. He was so excited to shoot his first deer. It was a 6 point or as Ryan says a 6 pound deer! Most of the time, Garrett and Ryan play well together. He is a great big brother and is looking forward to having a little sister.
Brent continues to work at Navajo Refinery in operations. He continues to teach his Sunday school class, serve as a deacon, duck hunt, and work on cars for his business. He loves to spend time with the boys and is a great example to them. He took Garrett deer hunting for the first time Thanksgiving weekend.
I continue to be busy with work, my family, and church. I continue to work as an Administrator for Presbyterian Medical Services. When I am not at work, I keep myself busy running kids to practice, I teach first grade Small Group at church. I learned to crochet this year and have been busy crocheting beanies to send to children in Swaziland, Africa. I love to scrapbook and am involved in the Eddy County Community Health Council and Yeso PTO.
We are very excited for what the New Year holds and look forward to what God is going to do in our lives. Please pray for our family as we prepare our home for our new child. You can follow our adventure on our family blog at http://thomasfamily-artesia.blogspot.com.
We wish your family a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Brent, Leigh Ann, Garrett, and Ryan Thomas
