Christmas Letter

According to the Chinese calendar, 2007 was the “Year of the Pig,” but for us, 2007 will be remembered as the “Year of the House.” We sold our home on White Jade Street and moved to a rental house for six months to await the completion of our new home in the Sierra Ranch neighborhood of North Las Vegas. We wish we could say that building a new home was a pleasant experience, but given our many difficulties with the homebuilder, KB Home, we would rather sleep with rattlesnakes than build another house. We finally moved into our house in late October, and it was such a great relief to have no more meetings, phone calls, or email exchanges with KB’s construction managers, sales associates, and customer service group. In one word – Whew! Despite all of our frustrations, however, we love our new home with its large upstairs playroom, spacious bedrooms, ample storage space, and guest room. Our new address is 112 Junction Peak Avenue, North Las Vegas, NV 89031.

Speaking of sleeping with snakes…one of the most memorable moments of our year was camping overnight in a real Native American teepee just outside Zion National Park in July. We hadn’t really anticipated sleeping on a dirt floor with no heat, a roll-up flap for a door, and canvas walls that stopped several inches above the ground. Thankfully, no critters tried to join us during the night – but we were awake just in case they tried! The kids loved every minute of it, but Ned has vowed to never make online reservations again without asking if the accommodations include a floor and a bathroom. We definitely gained a new appreciation for our pioneer ancestors. The following day, our family enjoyed hiking along the Lower Emerald Pool Trail in Zion Canyon, and it sort of helped us forget the rest of the trip.

Other family adventures during the year included traveling to Malad for Memorial Day and attending Susie Thomas’ wedding and a Thomas reunion in Salt Lake City over the same weekend. In mid-April, Ned attended the national APA Conference in Philadelphia, and at the conclusion of the conference, Cherlynn and Julianna joined him in New York to visit friends and familiar places in and around Manhattan. We also rented a car and drove to Boston to attend Alumni Weekend at the Harvard GSD. We stayed in Natick, MA with Sherlyn and Dennis Jenkins, and when we were preparing to leave, we inadvertently locked Julianna in the car with the keys in the ignition. She was rescued by the local Fire Department. We were thrilled to visit the LDS Temples together in both Boston and New York. During our travels, the older kids stayed at Grandma Silver’s house in Syracuse, UT and played with their cousins.

We will celebrate Julianna’s first birthday on December 27, and it’s hard to believe that she is already one year old. Julianna has had a busy year adapting to various new environments and trying to keep up with her older brothers and sister. She is a very pleasant child, always smiling and laughing and very eager to roll over, sit up crawl, and feed herself (she has never liked baby food). Now she is standing on her own, learning to walk, and trying very hard to make it to the top of the stairs on her own when Mom isn’t watching. She has four front teeth – in the very same location as the four teeth that Harrison lost this year.

Bretton (age 2.5) loves everything outdoors including clouds, rain, sunsets, the moon, the park, tricycles, scooters, and kicking balls. He loves to doodle with crayons, especially on walls and toys. (Yes, our new house has washable semi-gloss paint!) Bretton is somewhat stubborn and wants to do everything by himself. He enjoyed his first “Mommy and Me” gymnastics this fall, and he was so pleased to have his very own activity with Mom. He is now attending a music class every Wednesday with five other children from our neighborhood. (Cherlynn is the teacher.)

Whitney (age 4) attends preschool twice a week at the Silver Mesa community center. She took swimming lessons in the summer and is currently taking gymnastics. Whitney’s favorite color is pink, and her favorite character is Ariel, the Little Mermaid. She is happy to have her own bedroom, complete with a new bedroom set and walk-in closet. Whenever we cannot find her, she’s usually playing with her dolls and Barbies in her closet, which she considers her own personal playroom. This summer, Whitney attended a weeklong Suzuki Music Camp with Harrison, and she began private violin lessons in September. She can now play all of the Twinkle variations in the Suzuki program, and her first recital will be in January.

Harrison (age 6) is now a first grader at Gilbert Magnet School, a public elementary school in North Las Vegas that focuses on art, communication, drama, and music. He has a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Payer, who keeps the kids very busy with projects in addition to their regular school work. Harrison’s most recent project entailed writing a poem entitled “Two Fat Turkeys,” painting a watercolor picture of a turkey in a vegetable garden, and creating an exhibit of “Two Fat Turkeys” for display. He approached this project with his usual mix of enthusiasm and imagination, and we were very proud of his hard work and the excellent grade that he received.

Harrison continues to enjoy reading and now surprises us by reading road signs as we drive down the freeway. He is also a very good speller. He continues taking violin lessons and will play “The Happy Farmer” in his third recital in January. Harrison participated in youth soccer for a second season; however, he seems to prefer singing and swinging his arms around the field rather than scrambling for the ball with the crowd of soccer players. At Harrison’s request, the kids and Dad enjoyed a visit to The Secret Garden at The Mirage in July to greet Sgt. Pepper, the resort’s newborn baby dolphin.

Ned continued working for Wood Rodgers throughout the year and kept mildly busy despite the recent downturn in residential development in Las Vegas. However, with additional layoffs within the company, he decided to seek a more secure job within the planning field in Las Vegas, and we were greatly blessed to have a suitable position open up at the City of Henderson. Ned will begin working there as a Principal Planner in the Community Development Department in January. He will also continue serving as a member of the North Las Vegas Planning Commission.

Ned traveled to Japan in September to attend the funeral of our dear friend, Yoko Wada. His luggage got lost somewhere between Los Angeles, Seoul, and Fukuoka, so he spoke at the funeral in a borrowed suit and later attended the Buddhist cremation ceremony with Yoko’s family. Despite the somber circumstances, it was wonderful for Ned to reconnect with our many friends in Fukuoka, and he managed to take an overnight trip to Kumamoto to visit the Ogata family in Nishihara-mura. They treated him with a visit to the local “onsen” (hot springs), karaoke, a driving tour around the village and Mt. Aso, and noodles by the Shiraito waterfall. Ned continues serving as the ward clerk at church, and he was ordained a High Priest in August by Joseph Free, one of our friends who served as a senior missionary in Fukuoka when we lived there.

Cherlynn is very busy as a full-time mother, chauffer, chef, seamstress, etc. – among the many other hats she wears. She is truly the glue that holds our home and family together. She carpools to and from Harrison’s school and takes Whitney to and from preschool at the recreation center. She takes Bretton and Whitney to gymnastics, Harrison to soccer practice, and Whitney and Harrison to weekly violin lessons as well as a weekly group workshop. She takes Bretton and Julianna shopping in between everything else. Despite having such a busy schedule, Cherlynn started a weekly music and movement class for toddlers and preschoolers after we moved to our new house. Our new playroom is a perfect location for the class, which is based on a “Mommy and Me” music and movement series that Cherlynn attended with Harrison when we lived in Ventura, CA. The children use shakers, sand blocks, and rhythm sticks as instruments while learning the words to a variety of fun, age-appropriate songs. Whitney, Bretton, and Julianna participate in the class as well as five other children from our neighborhood. Cherlynn also helps at Harrison’s school through the PTA as well as in the classroom twice a month. Cherlynn’s last grandparent, Lorene Blatter, passed away this month. We recently attended her funeral services in Manti, UT. Cherlynn continues to teach the Gospel Doctrine class at church (going on three years) as well as organizing weekly playgroup activities for moms and kids.

We wish you the best in the coming year,

Ned and Cherlynn Thomas
Harrison, Whitney, Bretton, and Julianna
112 Junction Peak Avenue
North Las Vegas, NV 89031
702-399-7928
nptcbt@yahoo.com cbanjiff@yahoo.com

Thomas Family Photo

Here we are sitting still and smiling all at once! Ned, Cherlynn, Harrison (6), Whitney (4), Bretton (2), and Julianna (1). We're a busy, happy bunch!