It's Christmas Time in West Yellowstone!

Yeah, it's Christmas Time. After 1 and 1/2 years of planning, reserving condos, waiting, planning some more, waiting some more and making final plans we are at West Yellowstone. We have 2-3 bedroom and 1-2 bedroom condos. Everyone is either here or will be coming except for Luke and Jenn's family- Luke has to work Christmas Eve Day and the day after Christmas- boo hoo!! and James and Elizabeth who are in Hawaii; 8 months pregnant and not allowed to fly- boo hoo, but hooray for being 8 months pregnant. Dad is in SL (another story). Tessha had to work this past weekend so she's getting Dad today and bringing him up tomorrow. Seth has been here and gone home to work but will be back today. And last but not least to arrive will be Dalynn who also had to work but will be here by Christmas Eve. The roads are covered with snow and we are praying that everyone coming will get here safely. But what a wonderful way to spend Christmas.
Daniel brought the girls to IF on Friday and between the truck that Tim (Dalynn's Dad) loaned him and Tessha's car (we traded so we'd have more packing space) we were able to get everything we needed up here.
Laura and Mark arrived late Friday night

and Will and Jenni got here around 3:00 on Saturday.
Jenni helped us set up the Christmas tree in their room because it has the largest living room area.

We all ventured off to find the West Yellowstone LDS Branch on Sunday morning and then hurried back to enjoy a relaxing afternoon. After naps, the kids came over to Granma and Granpa's place and we made gingerbread cookies.

Kristi, Haini and the kids came in on Sunday evening and got all settled in their rooms with Will and Jenni and Seth. Sitani and Marley have really grown up. Sitani is talking away about everything and Marley is counting to ten pretty good.

Monday some of us went out for a walk to the store. Kristi has some fun pictures because she was smart enough to bring her camera with her. :-)



We made sugar cookies for Santa Claus and before too long Tessha got here with Dad.

Everyone helped them unload the car and get things moved in and then we had a yummy dinner of tacos in the W/H-K/H-S room. It's the condo with the biggest living space so it's easy to gather there.

This morning Tessha and Grace fixed breakfast and we ate in the D/D-M/L-G/A room.:) Figure that one out.
People have been busy wrapping presents
and keeping little ones entertained before Christmas Eve.
Peggy and Mark sent us some wonderful Washington apples with a lovely set of bells on the package. We used it to decorate our door.


On Christmas Eve,Daniel read us the Christmas story.









Mika played a song on new her violin and then shared with Sitani. And Jenni accompanied the family with a couple of Christmas songs. And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care. Santa made his visit and Christmas morning came so we all gathered around the tree again to open presents.






And there you have The First Thomoose Family Reunion

It snowed and snowed and then it snowed some more. Coming home, Haini had to dig us out a couple of times.

Back Home

The fun didn't end in Salt Lake. Soon after we got home, Seth reported his mission and we had a small gathering afterwards at the house. YEAH!!! Dalynn brought the girls over and stayed for a couple of days.

Dad cooked sausages on the grill. Paunie, Larry, Jolene and Dave were all there. Doesn't Paunie look like Granma Thomas?

Kari and her family were with us.

Mark Larsen came over and we loaded up our plates, took a seat and ate our dinners.









But, Seth was obviously focused on playing with his nieces.

Saturday, September 20, 2008 ~ Frankfurt to Salt Lake City

Back at the airport in Frankfurt, while Dad and Seth returned the van, the rest of us changed clothes and repacked our bags for the trip home.
When everyone was ready we went through the check-in process and headed for our gates. It turned out that Elizabeth and James were listed on the flight to Atlanta and then on to Hawaii just as planned, but the rest of us had been rerouted through Cincinnati rather than Atlanta because the Atlanta flight was oversold. We wouldn’t be seeing Luke and Jenn’s family that way but it was better than staying another night in Germany without a place to stay or a car to get around in, so we proceeded home that way.
We said good bye to Elizabeth and James as they boarded their flight at 7:00. We waited at our gate another two hours but were all on before we took off at 9:45. We transferred flights and luggage as we went through customs in Cincinnati and boarded our flight to Salt Lake. Dad and I were able to fly each leg of the trip home on the same flights as Seth and Alisha were on.
By the time we landed in Salt Lake I was more than ready to stand up again. I think I can wait awhile before another long flight again.
One of the best times of the trip was when we descended on the escalator to the luggage claims area in the Salt Lake Airport. There before us was Granma Harmon, Tessha, Kristi, Haini, Sitani, Marley, Mark, Laura, Jace and Gracie waiting for us. They had a huge banner and balloons to welcome Seth home. It was the best sight of all!!! We took our luggage to the hotel and then headed out to eat. By 11:00 we were all full and ready for a good night sleep so we said our goodbyes and each headed home or to the hotel. We have the best family ever and we have Seth home!!!