Thursday, December 4, 2008

2008 Christmas Letter

Thayer’s Top Ten of 2008

10. We survived another year in Alaska, with Rich loving it, and Diane ready to move to a warmer climate. There were 7 days where the highest temperature for the summer hit 65, rainy and cold the rest of the time. The dark, cold, and distance from family is taking a toll on her.

9. Rich hit a bull moose in October and survived. The car only has a small rippling dent in it.

8. Rich and I celebrated my 50th with a cruise to the Western Caribbean, and a visit to see Adam, Mindy, Caden, and Ambree in October.

7. Kevin turned the big 16 in September. He is working at Walmart as a cashier, earning money, credits for high school (to make up for taking seminary), and is out of the house for 16 hours a week!

6. Amanda and Dustin added a sister for Cami. Addison, was born in August. They live in Utah.

5. Ben and Mandi blessed us with a grandson named Ryker, born in March. Ben now has a permanent wildfire fighting position N.P.S Zion Helitack, in Cedar City, Utah.

4. Adam and Mindy added a sister for Caden to their family. Ambree joined the family in October. This makes our 5th grandchild. Adam is still working as a police officer in Dallas, and has lots of exciting stories to tell.

3. Diane is still teaching 4th grade, had two hernia operations this year, went to China to teach again for the summer and recruited lots of friends to go with her, and turned the big 50.

2. Rich retired after 28 years in the Public Health Service. He is now substituting for the Anchorage School District. He was able to fish all summer and fill the freezer with halibut and salmon.

1.We are blessed with the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives, good health, a warm home, plenty to eat, wonderful friends and family, and more blessings than we can count. You can check out our blog at Thayersadventures.blogspot.com and email to Thayer_Diane@asdk12.org


Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year! The Thayer’s

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

More photos




Caden and I went walking this morning, as usual. We stopped at the park and played and it started to drizzle. We thought we should head home when it started to pour. And it poured! We got home and decided since we were wet we should just have fun and run in the street in the "river",  as Caden calls it. After cleaning up, I held Ambree! She is so fun to hold and look at. 

Monday, October 13, 2008

Mexico










Day 6 Cozemel

We got up early today so we could get off the ship quickly. We met in the theater with a lot of other people and were able to get off the ship first because we had a long tour. We walked off onto the dock and a few feet later walked onto a water taxi, and rode for 30 minutes. We rode across to Playa de Carmen, where we boarded a bus for Tulum. We rode for about 30 minutes and they had us stop for the bathrooms at a tourist trap. Didn’t buy anything. We then drove another 20 minutes to Tulum. Our tour director walked us out the ruins and did some explaining about Tulum. Unlike our last cruise where we could climb on the ruins, we could only look at these. But, it was fascinating! I teach about Tulum to my 4th graders when we study Incas, Mayas, and Aztecs. Now I will be able to show them real pictures of the ruins.
It was hot, hot, hot! I wore my swimming suit so I went and cooled off in the ocean. We didn’t have a lot of time there. We think they should have skipped the tourist trap so we could have had more time at the ruins.
After an hour and a half we headed back the way we came. We got back on the ship and went and had a buffet! Then we went to the nightly show. Tonight it was a juggler and then a comedian. The shows are pretty good. Lots of music and costumes.

Day 7
Last cruise day. We got up, walked for a mile on the track and headed to breakfast. Then I headed for the gym and did 15 minutes on the elliptical machine, then headed to the room for a shower. We got on our suits and headed to the pool and swam and relaxed. We went to a meeting about how to disembark the ship, then had lunch. There was a chocolate buffet. I love chocolate, but I have to say it wasn’t’ the best. But the chocolate melting cakes, I had one everyday! Oh are they good! We swam some more and then went to a reception for people who had been on cruises before. There was all the alcohol you could drink! We stuck with the punch. There were snacks too!
Then it was off to dinner in the dining room for the last time. Rich had steak and shrimp and I had shrimp and ribs. Yummy! And of course, a chocolate melting cake for dessert! We skipped the last show and did some packing, and went to bed early! It was an awesome trip and lots of fun!

Grand Cayman





Day 5. Grand Cayman

Because we have been to this island before and had done a sting ray tour, I just wanted to head to the beach and relax and swim. I wanted to just get off the boat and find a tour like we did the last time, but Rich was worried about doing that, so he paid 30$ a piece to have someone take us 15 minutes to the beach and back. It was very relaxing. We could have take a taxi for 10$ a piece round trip. Rich is not very adventuresome! It was a tender stop, which means that you had to get on boats to get to the shore and back to the boat. The beach was good. Nice white sand and the water was really nice. I just swam and swam. I love the ocean and could live next to an ocean forever. We came back to dock and I found a stingray charm for my bracelet.

We came back to the ship and had a trip thru the buffet line, and then walked around the deck for a bit, played some chess, and headed to our room to get ready for dinner. There is a newlywed couple from Dallas that sit at our dinner table with us. They are cute and fun to be with. Tonight was dress up night again. Rich had a steak and I had shrimp. We had baked Alaska for dessert.

We went to the show and it was a huge magic show. Amazing how they can stick people in a box, fold it down, and plunge knives into it, and then fold it back out and the person comes out!

Jamaica








Day 4. We made our first stop in Jamica. We decided to go on a Zip Line tour in the Jungle. We got off the boat and took a tour bus about 30 minutes past beautiful orange groves and up into the hills and jungle. They had us get all decked out in gear and we walked into the jungle. Unfortunately it started raining and poured literally buckets on us. But, we still climbed up to the towers and zipped thru the trees. The last of the six zip lines was over 1000 feet. You couldn’t see the end of it. Rich said he was scared, but because an 82 year old woman in front of him went, figured he could do it. I think that driving in a taxi in China was much scarier. After the tour we headed back to the ship totally soaking wet, had a shower and ….ate a buffet! We skipped the fancy dinner, but went to the magic show. It was really cool! Amazing!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Cruisin






Day 1 Sunday
We flew to Houston and took a shuttle bus to the port. We had to wait in line for an hour and a half to get on the ship, and finally got on about 2:00. We immediately hit the buffet while we waited for our luggage to come. Yummy! Then we checked out our room, and the rest of the ship. It is huge. We are on the same floor as the buffet, so we don’t have to walk far, but we take the stairs all the time. Plus there is a walking track. Our luggage finally came just before 6, but we took off for the dinner. We eat at six in this fancy restaurant. You pick off the menu and they treat you so wonderfully. There is always a show after dinner. That night it was a variety show with dancers.


Day 2 and 3 were Days at Sea. We ate and ate and ate and walked the track 3 times a day. We also swam in the pool. It is salt water, but the hot tub is not. I got a nice little sunburn. But I really look a lot better with sun on me. The weather is sunny and blue skies. We basically did whatever we wanted to all day long.
I celebrated my birthday on Day 3. We ate at the fancy restaurant and I had two Chocolate Melting Cakes! Then the waiters brought another small cake with a candle on it and sang to me. Can’t believe I’m 50!

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Texas




We are down visiting warm and sunny Texas, and the kids and grandkids. Caden is a doll, so fun to play with. I took him for a walk today and we saw frogs jumping from a pond, a hawk eating a snake, ant hills by the dozen, and blue sky and sun! 
We held the baby most the day, and enjoyed looking at her cute face. She is a doll. Dark hair, tiny, very quiet. Caden is really good with her. He is a big helper!

Kevin


Kevin got hit in the face with another kid's head during basketball. I was called at school to come pick him up and take him to the hospital. We spent 6 hours there. He had an MRI, an IV, a morphine injection, and pain.  We found out he has a broken orbit bone. He missed a couple of days of school, but seems to be doing fine now. He is a tough kid.  He is now on antibiotics, and pain pills, and no contact sports for a month.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

golfing for Kevin


Kevin loves golfing!  He has been going every time he gets a chance. His seminary teacher even took him on Monday.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

OUCH!!

Poor Kevin!

I had just stepped into the office today at work to deliver a naughty student to the principal, and the secretary handed me the phone and told me it was the nurse calling from Chugiak High School because Kevin was hurt. He was playing basketball at lunch and some kid ran backwards into Kevin as he was turned sideways. Hit him with the back of his head and fractured Kevin's orbit bone in his face. 

I took him to the emergency room and there we spent 5 hours waiting, and waiting, and finally getting a CAT scan, and told he had fractured his orbit in two places!  He is on heavy meds and will be the ENT doctor on Thursday. 

He is in a lot of pain and right after taking a pain pill threw it all up.  Hasn't eaten since lunch. And he usually eats a ton!  You can't even imagine how much he eats!  He is over 6 feet tall now. Towers over me.  Texts all the time, is doing pretty well at school except for English.  No basketball for a while!

New Grand-daughter

We are so excited to have a new grand-daughter.  We will be heading down to see her soon!