2012 Year In Review

A Look Back on the Thomases’ 2012

As 2012 draws to a close we have appreciated receiving pictures and updates from so many of you and we think with fondness of the times we have shared together and hope for more such opportunities in 2013. 

So as we look back over the year that was 2012, what stands out?

·        Immediately after the start of the year John (JT) was surprised by a bout with pneumonia. Fortunately, no hospitalization was required and once the fever subsided, he recovered steadily.

·        Spring Break brought our first family trip through the Disney system, with many traditional highlights, and we found Animal Kingdom on Easter especially engaging. The only low point was Jen and the kids getting trapped by Southwest Airlines for 2 days after their return flight was overbooked.

·        J.T. had left Florida a day early to join several friends at the Boston marathon … which was a fantastic experience despite suffering through his slowest time ever (due to near record 92 degree heat, and reduced preparation during pneumonia recovery) .

·        In May, Jen and J.T. traveled to Israel (link for pictures) for a pilgrimage tour led by Dr. Gary Chapman and his wife.  It was truly extraordinary to experience and gain insight into so many Biblical sites we have read about throughout our lives.  Special moments included sailing the Sea of Galilee, baptism in the Jordan, floating in the Dead Sea, running up Masada, haggling with vendors in Old Jerusalem, and seeing the buried portion of the wailing wall beside the Temple Mount.

·        We maintained the wonderful family traditions of beach week with the McCains in June and the Thomas family reunion in central Alabama for the Fourth of July.

·        The resumption of school saw Ross entering 7^th grade, and Lydia and Russell as bookends at our neighborhood elementary school – 5^th grade and Kindergarten respectively. 

·        Ross (13!) had a health setback this fall as he contracted mono and had to miss many weeks of school and activities.   He expects to return to a normal schedule in the New Year. He continues to enjoy soccer and Boy Scouts. 

·        Lydia (10) is enjoying Juniors (Girl Scouts – cookies anyone?), gymnastics, and many arts and crafts projects.

·        Russell (6) is quite energetic. He is giving Tae Kwon Do a try, as he likes the “kicking part of if.”  He continues to be a devoted follower of all the major superheroes!

·        Jen is working with her publisher and co-author for a re-release of their book in May or June 2013 as “When I’m Sorry Isn’t Enough”.  She continues to practice her individual and couples’ counseling part-time through Associates in Christian Counseling in Winston-Salem, seeing 6 clients per week -- which seems to be a good balance while orchestrating our active household.  She continues to exercise with friends and has taken up tennis.  In 2012 she also began sharing her skills through occasional travel to help lead family retreats for Inheritance of Hope. Their mission: To improve well-being in the lives of children and families with a parent diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

·        John continues to enjoy his role at Stearns Financial Group helping clients navigate their financial challenges and pursue investment opportunities; the firm’s steady growth in recent years has been encouraging and their second office in Chapel Hill is well on its way to success.  JT was pleased when his health allowed him to resume enjoying distance running, often surrounded by a troop of like-minded friends.  This year he ran his slowest and fastest marathons – his 18^th and 19^th in Boston (April, 4:21:10) and Richmond (November, 3:06:41) – as well as two half marathons within 30 seconds of his best ever.  Here’s to getting older and faster! (wouldn’t bet on that to continue …)

·        As we look towards 2013 we anticipate another exciting year, two markers will include our 20^th wedding anniversary (we hope to return to Bar Harbor, ME where we honeymooned, this time in the Fall), and Ross participating in the national Boy Scout Jamboree at their new center near the New River Gorge in WV in July.

We were reminded this year that our health can never be taken for granted, and are thankful for the opportunity to maintain our rapid pace, forming many special memories and looking forward to 2013!

Best wishes,

The Thomases 

Lydia's 10th Birthday

LYDIA’S 10TH BIRTHDAY LETTERS

Lydia,

I love you so much my daughter.  It is hard to believe we have already been blessed to have you among us for 10 years!  You are a special light in our family and the world.  I hope and pray you step into the fullness of who God has designed you to be, that you would follow your calling and be a person whose character calls others to hope, happiness and joy.  Your creativity and laughter will always bring a smile to me.  I recall fondly so many of our times together from your birth to daddy's breakfasts before school to our trip to Kiawah Island.  You have such a natural friendship with your "adoptive grandmothers" it makes me proud that you can enjoy and care for them as well.  You can be such a good friend and influence, I pray you would walk close with Jesus and never grow tired of doing good.  I can't wait to see who you will grow to be over the next 10 years, imagine, you will be almost done with college by then!

I love you up to the moon, big as the sky, deep as the ocean, forever and for always.

Daddy

Dear Lydia,

I just wanted to write you this letter to wish you a happy 10th Birthday.  I want you to know how very special you are to me. You are an extraordinary young lady. You never cease to amaze me with your gratitude, creativity, great intellect and overwhelming beauty. I see your nurturing spirit in the way you care for your little brother and the kids in your class who have special needs.

Having you as my only daughter delights me. I am so proud of you for the girl you are and the woman you will become (but hopefully not too soon).

We can never know what will happen in this world, but please know how much I love and adore you. You have such an incredibly bright future ahead of you.  You are a winner!  Your father and I hope that your faith will grow and sustain you through all of life’s challenges. May you always watch out for others who are less fortunate than you.

I love you, my precious girl. Please know that you always have me and our family in your corner to support you through the good times and the bad. Never feel like you are alone because I will always be with you even if only in spirit. Being a wife and mother have been the biggest blessings in my life. I am proud to be your mother.  

I love you to the end of the earth and back again.

Mom

We sent this to friends and family:

If your time permits, we'd like to ask that you please bring, e-mail, or send (our address and map link are below) a note with your earliest memories about Lydia and/or your hopes for her future.

Dear Lydia,

I am so sorry that I cannot not attend your wonderful celebration. I have a houseful of company this weekend as we are celebrating a family birthday ourselves. I did want to send you a note to tell you to have a WONDERFUL Birthday celebration.  

I feel that I am a very blessed teacher to have had the opportunity to teach you in second grade. I have enjoyed watching you grow to be the awesome student you are. I wish you much luck and success in middle school. I am sure you will continue with your academic success in middle school and beyond. Please keep in touch over the years. I would love to hear from you about all that you do in the future. My home email is nccaw104@aol.com .

Finally, I would like to say thanks to you parents for including me in this wonderful endeavor. What a cool idea they had to send you personal messages for this milestone birthday. Welcome to “2-digits” kiddo! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Enjoy your day!

Caryl A. Wollert, NBCT

Second Grade Teacher

Claxton Elementary School

Something wonderful about Lydia is that she is a very strong young lady.  She is solid in her convictions and has a sweet heart.  She looks out for and cares for those in need.  She is able to speak her mind and stands up for what she believes.  She will always hold a special place in my heart.  I know that she will continue to grown into a lovely young woman as she navigates life and learns the great love of the Father.  My hopes for her is that with every passing day she becomes more aware and thankful for God's love and grace towards her.

Love,

Ms. Naomi

Dear Lydia:

Congratulations on your 10th birthday!  What a big day this is – no longer a “little girl”, and almost a teenager!

It has been a joy for Gayle, me, Rob and Bill to be a part of your life, especially since the time that we moved to Winston in 2004.  You were only 3 years old when we moved here.  You are smart, creative, caring, and…. full of wonderful energy!

Our hope and prayer for you is that, as you enter this next phase of growing up, you will discover the gifts God has given you that make you unique, and will learn to appreciate those gifts and the ways in which they enable you to help other people.

I’m sorry we can’t be there to celebrate with you, but know that we will be thinking of you.  Eat some extra birthday cake for us, ok?

Love,

Uncle Hal, Aunt Gayle, Cousins Rob and Bill

Hal & Gayle Eason    

The ING NYC Marathon

Gamma brought her homemade spinach lasagna for J.T.'s special pre-race dinner.

"Go Daddy!" J.T. is the 2nd runner in this photo (blue tank top).

We enjoyed a post-race dinner down the street from our apartment at a Greek restaurant (in honor of our 2010 Greece marathon trip with 7 close friends).

From Wikipedia: "The New York City Marathon (branded ING New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is a major annual marathon (42.195
km/26.219 mi) that courses through the five boroughs of New York City.
It is one of the largest marathons in the world."

"The 2011 Marathon was held on November 6. The men's event was won by
Kenyan athlete Geoffrey Mutai in a time of 2:05:05, breaking the
ten-year-old course record. Firehiwot Dado of Ethiopia won the women's
race in a time of 2:23:15.
Edison Peña, famous for keeping up his running routine during the 69
days he was trapped in the 2010 Copiapó mining accident, ran the
race."


This was J.T.'s 16th marathon. He qualified for the race in
February's Myrtle Beach Marathon.
The first New York City Marathon was held in 1970, the year J.T. was
born. He filed this race report:

Finished in 3:11:40, my third fastest. I was very pleased with results.

Bobby you nailed it in your analysis, in many ways I ran the same race
you did a few weeks ago. Was a bit hot on pace in early middle miles,
but felt like I intentionally pushed and consistently challenged
myself to take what was available by course, crowd and how I felt. I
passed people throughout. Wanted to give myself a shot at a PR, and
stayed on that through 18 I believe. Fairly challenging course
(though nothing like Athens) which seemed to always be slightly up or
down, with a few tough bridges. I was real encouraged through 14.
15 was long heavy uphill on lower level of Queensboro bridge with only
sound the feet and breathing of other runners, I backed it down a lot
but began getting concerned as I descended into mile 16 and didn't
feel any better while emerging into the full throated 5+ deep crowd at
mile 16 on First Avenue. By 17 and 18 I could tell it was going to be
a really hard last hour as legs felt deadened and stride was faltering
when I hit an uneven spot and I realized a PR was out of question but
math was not working as well in my head ... Decided to just see if I
could hang around through 22, and seemed to hold it together pretty
well. But by 23 it was really rugged and I thought I would be winning
the struggle to hold 8 MPM, particularly when all of 24 was a slow
uphill with my family waiting at the top. Somehow as I descended
through 25 in Central Park I "rose up on wings like Eagles", saw a
virtual Herr Booze come rapidly into view, and surged through one of
my fastest miles of the day into an exultant slightly rising finish.
Alive!

Some memorable scenes:
- the African-American church at mile 12-ish in Brooklyn which had a
mass choir on the steps singing Glorious!
- the hard rocking band in the Orthodox Jewish section with the
beards, dark jackets and the Shalom and Be Kosher! sign behind them
- the lady with the sign "Black Toenails are SO COOL!"
- the classic sign "Run like you stole something!" which somehow took
on added meaning in the middle of Harlem.

Really remarkable event here in NYC, just tremendous environment,
following the best marathoners in the world through classic scenery of
all five boroughs (the day started with a ferry ride past the Statue
of Liberty at sunrise ... Incredible, goose bumps. From race start by
crossing the Verazanno-Narrows bridge to mile 17 running up first
avenue in Manhattan and miles 20-24 down 5th ave before finishing
through Central Park), cheered on by huge crowds (biggest I've ever
seen - 2 million reported), thick field of quick runners surrounding
you the whole way (45,000 in all), perfect sunny cool weather with
just a bit of swirling wind.

All in all a great day and great trip.
Headed to see Ellis Island and Lady Liberty tomorrow.

Thought of our Greek group as we had a Greek dinner tonight ... No Ouzo however!

NYC Family Trip Nov. 2011

We met J.T.'s parents in NYC for a 5-night stay in this apartment just west of Central Park on 95th Steet.

Sightseeing is not all fun and games.

We enjoyed the view from "The Top of the Rock" at Rockefeller Center.

J.T. with his dad.

We stopped for lunch and a cupcake then we stopped by the American Girl store with Gamma.

We visited Wall Street (above) and passed through the Occupy Wall Street protest there (below) en route to the 9-11 Memorial.

The Popover Shop.

We brake for all pressed penny souvenir machines.

We toured the Natural History Museum the day before J.T.'s marathon. Trivia: We went back to the apartment that afternoon and watched the movie of this place called "Night at The Museum."

J.T. and Lydia attended the museum's special butterfly exhibition.

Lydia and Russell playing together in Central Park.

This sign caught our eye.

On our way to watch J.T.'s race, we spent some time with the grandparents at The Met (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). They treated us to enormous pretzels from a street vendor there.

The day after the marathon, J.T. made it out to Ellis Island with us.

We wrapped up our NYC experience with another visit to Times Square and a visit to the M and M's store.

Russell reading one of his very first books to Pa at bedtime.

As we left the city, this airport sign stopped us in our merry tracks.

NYC 9-11 Memorial

We were fortunate to obtain tickets to the 9-11 Memorial that opened this September. Lydia (age 9) searched and found the name of the mother of a boy who is one year ahead of her at her school. Sandy Bradshaw of Greensboro was a flight attendant on United Flight 93.

Russell (age 5) was drawn to the name "Thomas" above.

Russell Summer 2011

Russell (Spiderman) in his car seat with our friend Tyler

We can't bear to correct these:

I'd like to drink some "root beard", please.

(While traveling) Lets roll our "soup cases" into the "hootel"

"It's almost quite done" (Russell reported to Mom about a model that Ross was building for him).

**********************************************************************

He told a playmate not to wrestle with him any longer because it gives him a headache, adding, "you should write that down so you'll remember it!"

Russell to Austin: For the third time, my sister's name is Lydia!
Austin to Russell: Can I just call her Olivia?
Mom to Russell: You guys are funny!
Russell to Mom: Yes, yes we are!

Our Small Group Meets at the Park

Most weekends, we can be found with a small group of men who run 5 miles and women who walk around a lake. We've been a part of this open and supportive group for 10 years.

These friends are a "village". We push each others' strollers as needed. Scotty lends us her books on cd for our journeys. In the photo above, Russell is holding the leash of her sweet "Sheba."

Adults: J.T., David P., Raleigh H. Roger C. Steve K, Ross T., Preston M., Chip V., Laura V., Julie C., Scotty H. Kids: Samantha P., Tatum C., Lydia T., Russell T., Emily P., Morgan M.