Zermatt Resort in Midway.

So a couple months ago Marilyn informed us that on the anniversary of Mark Jone's death she was taking her family up to the Zermatt resort in Midway to celebrate family and being together and to remember Mark.  She found some great deals on city deals and invited who ever wanted to join the fun.  Pretty much none of us could turn her down. :)  It also happened to be Morgan and Kaitlyn's birthday weekend so we had a lot to celebrate.  When we arrived and checked in we immediately headed for the pool.  The kids were in heaven.  They had an indoor pool/hot tub and then a rock passageway to the outdoor pool and hot tub that you could swim through to get there.  We swam for a couple of hours and then got ready for dinner.

Our party of 22 just about gave the waitress at the pizza place a heart attack. :)

After dinner everyone wanted to go swimming again so off we went.  We swam until 10:30 and the kids were exhausted!

Joel & Lincoln

Me & Sammy

Wilson & Mark

Overtaking the hot tub.

Waders.

Marilyn, Wilson, & Wade

Zina Zee

Kate

Sammy, Angela & Dylan.

Kaitlyn & Marley

Lee & his (we think) torn meniscus.

Morgan & Sammy.

These boys were so funny with their bubble beards, but I just couldn't get Sammy to look at the camera!

Grandma & Sammy

Sammy was the only one that would hold still long enough for me to get a decent picture. :)

This boys loves the water.  He would jump in from the side go completely underwater come back up spluttering and choking and then say, "adain, adain!"

The boys: Wade, Wilson, Sammy, Lincoln

The adults had an evening meeting to discuss Grandpa's condition so I offered to watch the kids in our room.  (I get updated fairly frequently from Mark so this way he could explain to everyone else what is going on with Grandpa's health)  We had root beer and chips and then they snuggled in bed to watch a movie - but by the time everyone came to pick up their kids only 3 had managed to stay awake. :)

The girls: Piper, Zina, & Kate.

Mark and I stayed up way to late talking in Jessa, Morgan, & Lee's room.  We finally made it to bed around 2am.  I NEVER stay up late so this was a record for me. :)

Miraculously we woke up early Sunday morning  got everyone ready for church and said goodbye to the rest of the family and then drove to the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake to see Grandpa.

 Love these guys!  

Grandpa is in the ICU which doesn't allow kids under 14 back in the rooms so we had to wait in the lobby for Grandpa to come see us.  We also got there at the same time as a team of doctors so me and the kids waited and waited and waited while Mark and Grandma went back to see what they had to say.  Finally Grandpa arrived and we had a good little visit.  Since it took longer than we thought we ended up taking the Sacrament there in the waiting room with Grandpa and Grandma instead of making it back to our Sacrament meeting.  It was a very cool experience and made it that much more poignant in such a different setting. 

 Hugs for Grandpa.  

Wilson declined.  He isn't really into giving loves these days.  

He has even informed me that I am only to "blow" kisses to him.

I manage to sneak a few real ones in now and then. :)

I love this picture of Sammy and Grandpa.  They have always had a special bond.  Sammy has never ever played shy to Grandpa and has always given Grandpa the running bear hug.  It's really sweet and this time was no different.

We are hoping that Grandpa gets to come home soon so we can see him more often!

We drove straight home from the Huntsman and threw some BBQ chicken in the crock pot, some brown rice in the rice cooker and made it to the 2nd two hours of church with time to spare.  Mark prepared his lesson on the way home from Salt Lake. :)

We were exhausted after church, but true to Thomas form we headed over to Grandma's for Kaitlyn's birthday cake and ice cream.  

(The party never ends with the Thomas family).

I'm glad we went because we were able to all sit around and reminisce about our favorite memories of Mark Jones.  It reminded me of what a great thing family support is and brothers and sisters.  

So grateful for family! 

Long lost cousins, Presidents Day & Step II.

Before Valentine's Day we were able to make a bit of a spontaneous dinner trip to Mark's cousins.  We had been trying to have them out to our house, but due to getting sick and funerals it just wasn't happening so when I got an email from Emma Monday morning we decided to just make it work.  It was fun getting caught up since our history is kind of funny.  I dated Mike in high school and he is actually the one that introduced me to Mark back in grade 10.  For years I thought I was totally going to marry Mike until I ran into Mark at BYUI after his mission.  The rest is obviously history.  :)  My kids had such a good time at their house and Zina keeps asking me when she can go back to that house and play with Jack and Luke. :)  It was fun to catch up on all the families & friends, eat Emma's delicious meal, and watch them try to match make Liz. :)  Thanks guys for the fun evening!  

I was so excited for the Presidents day long weekend.  Attena and Devin were coming down from Rexburg and I had been looking forward to it ALL month long.  And then they got here...and I got sick.  I was so bummed.  Attena and Liz went to the salon and got haircuts without me and then they all went to a girls BYU bball game that was really close while I stayed home and had a pity party in my bed. :(  Mark took the kids out to Lincoln beach - they came home with pink rosy cheeks and noses and happy faces.  

I was feeling a little better on Sunday but not much.  I felt like such a party pooper which sucked because everyone was staying at my house.  On Monday we managed to take everyone skating (thanks to Tena's roommate Kenzie for the pictures -proof they were actually here!)  and then me, Liz, Attena, & Kenzie grabbed some lunch at Zuppa's and hit the mall.  It was fun (a little rushed because they had to head home) and exhausting.  I think I was still lacking energy, but Liz and I shopped a little longer after they left and I found some cute jeans for cheap.  Hopefully they can come back soon so I can make it up to them. :)  Mark tried his best to help out the party but he had a lot of studying to do for the 2nd biggest test of his life. Step II board exams.

Which leads us to why I was so excited for them to come and visit.  I keep on wondering how on earth we survived the 1st 2yrs of medical school.  When Mark started studying for this exam I thought I was going to die.  It has been so hard to adjust back into the "studying every moment - stress out" phase.  Every day I thought - "how did I use to do this? It sucks!!"

On Wednesday the orthopedic surgeon he has been working with told him to not come in on Thursday or Friday and just use those days to study for his exam.  Talk about a tender mercy. He studied all day Thursday and Friday at about 4pm he called me and said, "where are you?  I can't study anymore!"  So we took the kids down to the river bottom to exercise something other than brain tissue. :)

Sure love this guy.  He amazes me all the time!

Wilson was having so much fun until he turned to look at me behind him and he lost control of his bike.  I could tell when he fell that he took off a good layer of skin from his knee.  Poor boy.  He was pretty sad.  We sat on the side of the trail and waited for Mark and Zina to come back

Here they come - To the rescue!!

Wilson wanted to sit in the stroller on the walk back to the van and Sammy got the prized spot. 

Papa's shoulders. :)  Now if only he would look at the camera. :)

Now lets all have a moment of silence for Mark who is currently taking an 8hr exam.

Miss Zina

The other day Liz and I were watching old family videos.  There was one where Liz seemed to be exactly Zina's age and Liz commented on what a bizarre experience it was to watch herself at that age and realize how young she really was.  You see, she has distinct memories of being 6yrs old but in her 6yr old mind she was the maturity of at least 20yrs old. :)

And that in a nutshell is my Zina.

6yrs going on 20yrs.

 She started piano lessons at the beginning of January and is eating it up.

As long as I am there with her helping her along.

Maybe it's Mom's undivided attention she is eating up.

Although when she has friends over the VERY first thing she does is go straight the the piano and perform for them. :)  She's very proud of her piano skills.  

The other day I was helping her and for some reason she just could not get a certain sequence of notes.  I was getting impatient and frustrated.  Wilson was laying underneath the piano bench begging for attention.  Finally I decided to just move on to another song - which she played seamlessly and all the sudden I had a moment.  

And I wanted to hit myself over the head with a frying pan.

I saw her trying to play the song over and over in my head and I heard her giggles had we laughed about her trying to get it over and over again.  Then I looked at her and instead I just saw her big brown eyes looking up at me trying to be perfect.  

She is a perfectionist and loves to please.  Especially me.  

Next time we will giggle together and my undivided attention will be full of love instead of impatience.

I have a lot to learn.

 Zina loves to learn.  One of her homework assignments was to write her sight words in shaving cream.  We opted for chocolate pudding instead.

 She begs to have school and loves to color, read, do worksheets that I find online, do word puzzles etc.

Zina has a soft spot for her Papa.  She loves to snuggle with him and is very aware when he misses their nightly routine of snuggling and reading her library book.   She loves to read and I love when she reads to her brothers.  She is a huge help to me and is usually very quick to respond to my requests.  She is such a blessing as a first child and I'm afraid that sometimes I take her for granted.   She smothers Sam with motherly affection and bosses Wilson with motherly....something.  The days when Zina forgets that she is 6 (or 20) and he is 4 and that he is that little brother that is always in the way are beautiful days. Those are the days when their imaginations are running wild and they play for hours in their make believe world.  I hope that those are the days they remember.  Sometimes Zina gets angry and wants to play alone or excludes Wilson but not Sammy and it makes me so frustrated.

And then I remember

that she's only 6 not 20.

And I love her 6yr old self very very much.