Thompson Christmas Letter 2012

December 2012 Thompson Family Christmas Letter

Another year has come and gone!  We have so much to be grateful for and we are humbled and in awe of all of our many blessings (thanks to our family and friends as answers to our prayers), especially as we think of our Savior Jesus Christ this Christmas Season. 

Eli Gabriel will turn two later this month.  We can hardly believe the milestones he has crossed and how much he has already grown.  He is a very methodical boy.  He already has such a great understanding of the world around him and an ability to reason somewhat with everyone he is sharing his journey with.  He has been communicating in sentences and counting to 10 for a few months now and loves to describe things and learn new words.  He is very interested in complex toys and it seems he will have a knack for taking things apart, just like all of the other boys in the house!  He warms our heart with his smile and his innocent laugh.  He reminds us often of how to appreciate the little things and how to count our many blessings.  He is a handful, but is such a joy to be around and he adds a lot of fun and laughter to our family – something that has carried us through many trials.

  Alexander Phillip will turn twelve in February.  He is excited about being able to receive the Aaronic Priesthood soon and joining the older boys for Scouts.  He is enjoying his online school for 6^th grade and has just started taking a sign language class.  He has a ton of energy – constantly – and with that he brings a lot of enthusiasm to everything we do!  He has found some new freedom in riding his bike around our neighborhood, especially with two of his friends who live close by.  He continues to be fascinated with YouTube and his channel “Alexisthebestking” to which he uploads video game how-tos and demonstrations.   He loves building, creating, taking apart and learning new things.  He made his first throwing knife from scratch with his dad this year, and he loves to improve on his throwing skills.  He also loves to read and is often found in the wee hours of the morning reading under his blankets.  His creativity and sense of humor are vital to our family and we are grateful for his sweet spirit.

 Enoch Maxamillion turned fourteen in April and started as a freshman this year at the same high school his dad graduated from.  He loves his ceramics and language arts class.  He also loves seminary and his super-hero loving teacher! He serves as a Teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood and takes his responsibility of preparing the sacrament every Sunday very seriously.  He is very thoughtful and has recently become very studious.  He seems shy to those who first meet him but quickly turns in to a fun-loving person who always has entertaining and witty remarks.  He learns fast and even found a vein the first time he infused himself this year for his hemophilia.  He excels at everything he does and while at the turkey shoot in November with his dad, earned 3^rd place with his shotgun skills.  He also enjoys his new blog, www.Baconosity.wordpress.com where a lot of his fun wit and charm are revealed.  He is in the beginning thinking stages of planning his Eagle Scout Project and hopes to complete it within the next year.  His clear-headedness keeps our family down-to-earth and his sensitive heart keeps our family sincere. 

Michelle Elizabeth has been busy with church and family.  Keeping up with 3 (four) boys has been fun and exhausting all at the same time.  She loves serving the Young Women in our ward and is learning a lot from all of the other youth leaders!  Her recent interests have been trying to find time to finish the sequel to Taming the Wind and Afraid, a book for Teenagers “at-risk” for Huntington’s disease (another book for www.HDYO.org in Europe), making cards and other crafty things, and learning to cook and bake wheat-free (www.wheatlovesmenot.blogspot.com).  She loves being a mom and trying to stay on top of everything, including a new book club she recently started with friends.  Without her quasi-organization (she tells herself) and her compassion, the family would fall apart.

Enoch Sean has had a very busy year!  Going to school full-time, working as work comes in, and writing and publishing his first novel have been some of his accomplishments.  Envy of the Light Bringer is now available online (in print and digitally) and is the first of a series of novels that are in the works.  He looks forward to graduating from ASU next year with his Bachelor’s in Technical Communication and the opportunities it will present for his business and our family. In his rare spare time he tends to his family’s computer needs, loves to weld and work with wood, read, write, take things apart and fix them (which has been a huge blessing!), sing, assist in the making of zombie movies, and cook AMAZING fajitas (among other things).  Without his ingenuity, talents, discipline, and understanding, our family would not be as happy and successful.

In lieu of a family photo this year, we leave you with a video of our recent Christmas skit (do yourself a favor and full screen it – and smile):  http://youtu.be/MMC_WAmadoY

May your family feel the love of our Savior this Christmas season and have a very blessed New Year!

Love the Thompson Family