Christmas Letter

C – Christ is the most important reason for the season, and we are grateful for the many blessing we have received this year, and for his atoning sacrifice so that we might someday return to live with him again.
H – Home in Utah. Yes, we have made the move to Utah from Alaska this summer. New address, new adventures, family togetherness, bed bugs, car accident, new jobs, painful new house discoveries, and warm weather!
R – Ryker (2), Ben, and Mandi are continuing to live in Cedar City Utah, where Ben is still the senior crewmember on the wild land helicopter crew. Mandi is expecting their second in June, and is working as a dental assistant.
I- In Utah, lives Amanda and Dustin and their 3 daughters Cami (5) Addison (2) and Brielle (9 months). They have just built a new home in Saratoga Springs.
S- Special Education at Shelley Elementary School in American Fork is what Diane is teaching this year. Hardest job she has ever had, and the paperwork is endless. She had some great adventures this summer including traveling to the Turks and Caicos Islands to see the Herberts, and driving from Miami to Washington DC to see the sights, and spending time in Dallas and Cedar City with the kids.
T- Tying up loose ends was Rich who had to help the movers pack up the house, clean it up, build his cabin in Ninilchik, Alaska, make the long drive to Utah, and fix all the surprises at the new house. His plans are to spend May-September in Alaska fishing and working on his cabin, and enjoying retirement.
M – Military duty for Kevin (18) who is in basic training with the Alaska National Guard at Ft. Benning, Georgia. After his graduation in January he will be heading straight to Ft. Jackson, GA to complete his training as a (25 Quebec) Multichannel Transmission Systems Operator-Maintainer, who works directly on communication devices and equipment. He will be home in May to begin college in Utah.
A – Adam, Mindy, Caden (6), Ambree (2) live in Dallas where Adam is now working as an under-cover police officer with lots of exciting experiences, like a recent recovery of over $200,000 worth of meth in a traffic stop. Mindy is taking great care of the home-front.
S – Savoring our memories of our many friends and loved ones, and wishing you all a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

Drop a line to our new address:
3983 Centennial
Cedar Hills, Utah 84062
Thayer.Diane@yahoo.com or rwthayer@gci.net

My family together again!

It was so fun to have the Jonsson family together. Mom, Dad, and the five kids together again!

Fun visit with family

Ben, Mandi, and Ryker came up for my birthday, for a family party, and to visit. We were able to have a fun family dinner with the Jonsson family. We went to a BYU football game and cheered for BYU. One of the few games they won! Kevin, Ben, and Rich had a fun time golfing. It's so nice to have family nearby!

Ridgefield Washington

I flew to Portland, Oregon for the UEA weekend and spent some time with Barb White and her family. Barb and I went and picked blackberries and made yummy tarts. Boy were they prickly!

Erin Rivard and her kids came over too, and we had so much fun. We played with the kids, ate, and went to the Portland Zoo.

Busy

Started teaching Special Education at Shelley Elementary School! That's keeping me plenty busy, then I come home and help out my parents. I'm enjoying spending some time with family at various gatherings. Looking forward to seeing Kevin and Rich in a week!

Graduation Day!

What a wonderful day we had today! After 22 weeks of in-residence training, including academic studies, vocational instruction, life skills, military skills and self-discipline, Kevin graduated with his high school diploma a year early. He earned a 3.5 GPA. Out of over 160 cadets he was one of 15 to earn a diploma and was also recognized as one of the "Directors Top Performers". We were blessed with many good friends who attended the graduation. And we were so happy to see them, and many more friends at the get together at our house this evening.

It was also nice to know that family from across the country watched the graduation live on the computer!

I was able to fly in last night for this special occasion and will be heading back to work on Sunday morning! I am so grateful to have such a wonderful son, and for all his hard work and accomplishments! He is going to do great things in the future too!

Bear Lake Jonsson Reunion

We had a wonderful time at our Jonsson Family Reunion! We spent August 9-13 making and reliving memories! The food was fabulous! We played games, got a jet boat and did water activities, and went to a cave. It was so fun to be with family! We did miss all those who couldn't make it. Hopefully next time!

Kanarraville Falls with the family

Adam and his family, and Ben and his family and I are down in Cedar having a mini family reunion! Today we did an awesome hike to Kanarraville Falls where we hiked a lot in the creek. It felt so good to walk in the water during the hot weather. There was a fun rock slide into a pond which Adam, Ben, and Caden did several times. We had to climb a ladder made of a huge log which was scary. We hiked in the middle of a beautiful canyon with steep cliff walls surrounding us! (Would not be a good place to be in a flash flood) It is a totally different kind of beautiful compared to Alaska. I was thinking at one point that this was what heaven will be like, hanging with family and enjoying the beauty!

Fun in Cedar

I had a wonderful time visiting with Ben, Mandi, and Ryker in Cedar last week. I got to spoil Ryker for a couple of days while I was babysitting. He is the cutest kid! I have never seen anyone run faster at his age than him! He loves to go for walks in the park with me in the morning, and I can get him to sleep by just holding him for a few minutes at nap time! Mandi and I have fun together too! Ben was able to spend a little time at home even though he was on a fire. It was great to see him!

A special day!

UPS delivered a beautiful bunch of roses today from Kevin. He had a day out on Saturday with Jason Rampton and he must have ordered them then. There was a card that said, "Thanks for everything you have ever done for me mom." I'm so proud of him, and so happy for being his mom!

We put an offer on 2 different houses today. And I got offered a job at Shelly Elementary in American Fork.

Next week Adam, Mindy, Caden, and Ambree are coming and we are doing a mini reunion in Cedar City with Mandi, Ben, and Ryker. We are planning on seeing Tarzan at Tuachaun, and doing some adventures in Zion.

Then the Jonsson Family reunion in coming up the 2nd week of August.

So many good things are happening right now.

Family

Family Time

We have had a fun time together! We have been swimming everyday. Adam and Mindy have cooked some yummy food. I watched the kids so Adam and Mindy could go to the movie together, and we made cookies while they were gone. We went shopping at Costco and pet stores, watched movies, and I have killed over a thousand bad guys with Caden. He sets up all these action figures and we knock them down! His favorite game!
I really do have the cutest grandkids in the world! I'm so blessed to be able to spend time with Ryker, Ambree, and Caden. They bring such joy into my life.
It has been over 110 degrees here, and walking outside is like opening an oven, but I'm loving the blue skies everyday!
Couldn't ask for better daughters in laws either!

More camping photos

Texas

We went camping at the lake. It was over a hundred degrees, but cooling off in the lake was nice. Adam fixed us a nice dinner of shrimp and beef. We went for a walk and while we were gone these raccoons came into the camp and made a huge mess. Even when Adam was throwing logs at them they weren't scared of us. They were really creepy!

We spent the night, and then got up and swam some more in the lake with the fish and turtles. It was a fun trip!

Baldy

 

I dragged Rich up Baldy this morning for a little hike. 1 hour and 40 minutes top to bottom! It was a partly sunny day, so really nice. We saw a mother ptarmigan and her 6 babies. Luckily, we saw no bears. I'm going to miss hiking in Alaska!

More cabin photos

 

 

 

 

Cabin in Ninilchic

 

 

 

 

Rich was down in Ninilchic for 2 days helping dig the hole and get the cabin started! Finally a beginning!