Flood & Annette Thomas Family

"Cruise Countdown"

2011-08-25T20:30:00.003-05:00

I have the best boss in the world, he is sending all 7 of us girls from the office on a Caribbean Cruise in November!! To help keep the girls excited about the cruise even though it is still 2.5 months away I made a "Cruise Countdown" for each of the girls in the office.

I got the block from Hobby Lobby, the Zen Gardens are from the Dollar Store, and the decorations are from the local party store. I made the numbers on the blocks with digital scrapbooking supplies.

I can't wait!!

The First Day of Spring

2010-03-20T16:48:00.001-05:00

March 20th is supposed to be the first day of spring. We had a wonderful snow storm last night, and I woke up to a beautiful winter wonderland.

Childhood Memories

2010-03-13T20:22:00.003-06:00

Late at night after feedings I would hum or sing silly songs while rocking the boys back to sleep. Sometimes it would be Primary songs, or songs from when I was little. Most songs were forgotten as soon as the kids would fall asleep, but one song I used to sing to Danny really stuck.

Twas the DAY before Christmas. . .

2009-12-28T23:41:00.002-06:00

Twas the day before Christmas and all through the town, not a creature was stirring, well except for all the Thomas boys playing in the new fallen snow. What a great surprise to have our first white Christmas here in Lubbock. I know some of my loved ones in the more northern part of the U.S. may think me silly, but the 3-4 inches we got here, when it was only supposed to be a "dusting of snow" was somewhat of a Christmas miracle.
Except for a small accident on some ice everyone had a great time. And, we are looking forward to another "dusting" this week.

Annette Oakley

2009-11-27T00:04:00.004-06:00

When I got home from work Tuesday, I immediately jumped into my PJ's for the night and came into the family room to get comfy in my chair. Flood looked at me and asked, "Aren't we going to the ward Turkey Shoot tonight?" To which I replied that I had forgotten all about it, but if Flood and the boys were going to go I would go also, but I wasn't going to shoot.

It was a chilly night, but we were all bundled up nicely, and they had a great fire burning in a fire pit. It was a really nice evening, for the Annual Turkey Shoot with friends from the ward. They had a string of flood lights on a forklift illuminating the fields. The bright orange skeet reflected really nicely in the lights.

They started the competition with the youth of the ward - everyone under 18 that wanted to shoot. There was one practice shot, and then the next 5 shots counted. David won in his age class. Then the Elders of the ward had their chance, with Owen, Jeb, and Flood all taking their turns, unfortunately they did not win. Next was the Relief Society's turn. Flood and the boys all said that I should keep up the family tradition and take my turn. I haven't shot in ages, and I wasn't going to, but they talked me into it. Flood was great getting me used to the 20-gauge shot gun, and to my amazement I shot 4 of the 5 skeet! Between David and I we brought home two turkeys for Thanksgiving! We all had a wonderful evening.

Happy Birthday Flood!

2009-11-12T22:03:00.003-06:00

Flood turned 51 on Tuesday. We are a little short on funds right now, so we had leftovers for dinner, and he got his favorite candy bar and a card for gifts. (Although Niels and Laura did get him a nice tool box). Not much, but we had a good time. Now that Flood is working again (as a substitute teacher), we will have a better birthday party for him in a few weeks!

Just thinking about Dad

2009-08-29T12:06:00.003-05:00

I was looking through a catalog and saw a cute picture with this quote. I really liked the quote, but didn't like the price of the picture, so I made my own!

Yard Sale

2009-08-29T12:00:00.003-05:00

Once we got Granny moved out of her house, we had a yard sale that weekend. In between the few customers we had I taught Owen the "ancient" game of Jacks. And after not playing the game since I was in grade school (thus the ancient game) I schooled Owen in every game we played. I also made out flash cards and quized Jeb, getting him ready to take the Pharmacy Tech Certification test.

Granny's Moving : (

2009-08-02T22:45:00.003-05:00

Well, all good things must come to an end. Granny Thomas will be moving this week. The truck arrives for us to load on Tuesday, August 4th, and Granny flies out on Thursday evening at 6:30. I can truely say that is has been a wonderful experience having Edwina live close. I know that she will be very missed. Her new address information is -

Edwina and Ted

2009-07-25T16:25:00.003-05:00

As granny gets ready to move, we have been going through some of her stuff, and I was able to sneek away with one of her scrapbooks about her and Ted. I scanned in a lot of her pictures and have been having fun making some scraps.

Happy 4th

2009-07-08T22:51:00.003-05:00

As usual it was another great fourth of July! David, Alleen and the kids came down to join in the family fun. There was swimming, and eating, and eating, and swimming, and movies and then the finale! Fireworks at Garth's work. Everyone had a "blast", and everyone went home with the same number of fingers as when they came, which, given the large amount of boys in attendance is a miracle.

Hope you all had a great time also, and God Bless America!

Just Thinkin' about Mom

2009-07-03T02:09:00.002-05:00

Well I have been going scrapbook crazy as usual (lucky for you I am posting them on another site so I won't have to bore all of you with them - just in case you want to take a peek though, they are posted at www.scrapbookflair.com/annettebtac) anyway, in learning how to use templates I got to thinking about my mom. And this is what happened. She is an amazing woman, and I am very blessed to be her daughter.

2009-06-21T01:02:00.003-05:00

Being raised by a sweet mother that I swear was a frustrated hairdresser my 3 sisters and myself had our fair share of strange hair styles. I couldn't wait for my chance to play dolls with my own daughters. Five sons later I am still having to wait. . . .there's always granddaughters!

She used to be a beautful baby!

2009-06-16T21:48:00.003-05:00

I know you are all getting sick of my lame attempts at scrapbooking, but I am having fun. I have been scanning in old photos, so I'm afraid you're going to have to put up with it for awhile longer. As my dear niece Amber said while looking through my old photo album "Aunt Nette, you grew up when everything was black and white!"

Fun at Uncle Garth and Aunt Diane's

2009-06-14T13:58:00.003-05:00

We have been having a great time using Uncle Garth and Aunt Diane's pool this summer. David wanted me to document that he is able to do a back flip off of the diving board because nobody believes him. So the following if proof that he did it at least once! Which is more than we can say for his brother Niels who can't seem to get up the nerve to try.

It's Final

2009-06-07T00:55:00.002-05:00

After 12 long years Owen has graduated from High School, we are so proud!

There's always a party at Garth's

2009-05-27T22:33:00.003-05:00

Garth and Diane opened their home again this Memorial day. There was food and fun for everyone. All my nieces and nephews had a great time. (As did my boys, but they aren't nearly as cute!)

Getting Ready for Summer

2009-05-27T00:03:00.003-05:00

Well - It's that time again. Time to get the pool ready for summer. This year Garth and Diane has some big plans, the pool had to be stripped, painted, tiled, and the yard had to be dug up, and the fence repaired. Everyone pitched in and worked hard. The results were great!

And he's graduating from Seminary Too!

2009-05-24T23:22:00.002-05:00

After4 years of waking early, he's finally done it. Owen has graduated from Seminary. He has done it all on his own (mostly), he sets his alarm gets up and gets his own breakfast, gets all ready for school and gets a ride with Kris Talbert to Seminary. He only wakes Flood or I if Kris doesn't show up. We are very proud of him and his efforts!

Owen's Graduation Announcement

2009-05-17T19:43:00.003-05:00

I can't believe we are almost done with another school year!

Last year this time we were getting ready for Flood to graduate, and I was in the middle of Chemo. Oh, what a difference a year makes.

My Very Own Office!

2009-02-08T23:17:00.003-06:00

After over 30 years of working, I finally have my own office!! I got to decorate it with the things that I love, pictures of my sweet husband, and my kids. Also, a complete wall of southwest windmills. Life is good, the Lord has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams!

Chemo Hair - Before and After

2009-01-25T22:41:00.002-06:00

I went for my first haircut last weekend since getting my hair back after the chemo treatments. I asked the hairdresser to trim off the sickly ends, and asked her if there was anything we could do with my hair to make it look a little less "butch". This is what we came up with.

Our Side Trip Home

2009-01-18T17:35:00.005-06:00

On our trip home from Grandpa and Grandma's we took what was supposed to be a quick side trip and ended up enjoying the great (FREEZING) outdoors for a lot longer than we had expected.

I thought it would be fun to stop at the tornado shelter rest stop on I-40. It was a good quick stop, but the weather had turned windy and very cold!

After the rest stop we decided to check out a lake that was just 3 miles off the Interstate. It was a real quick stop to see a little mud hole. On our way out of the little dip in the road that was the "Lake", Daniel noticed that there was smoke pouring out of the back of the van.

After pulling to a stop, Flood and Niels determined that the oil filter that Jeb had replaced the day before had blown the seal. Luckily Niels and Laura had been following in their car, so Laura and I got to drive for 15 - 20 miles to the next truck stop and get some oil and then drive back for the boys to refill the oil in the car.

We were very blessed, the car wasn't hurt, and besides being cold nobody was hurt. We all got home safe and ready for another week of work and school.

Trip to see Grandpa Garth and Grandma June

2009-01-18T17:10:00.002-06:00

We all had good time going up to see Grandpa Garth and Grandma June. We left around 9:00 in the morning and stopped in Amarillo at the KFC to pick up lunch for everyone. Garth and June were in good spirits and good health, and we all had a good time catching up on everyone's lives.

What A Wonderful Day

2008-11-23T18:26:00.000-06:00

What a beautiful Wedding. The festivities started Friday night at the Family Dinner. Flood cooked enough food for an army, of course it was planned to feed all the Thomas's and Allreds. We were very blessed to be able to have Flood's sister Tammy, her daughter Aleene and her husband and kids come into town for the wedding. We also had Flood's sister Hazel and her husband Tom come into town. And naturally Edwina was there along with Garth, Diane and all their kids and grandkids. It was wonderful to have so much family around to help with getting things ready and helping to clean up. Isn' t family great!! It was a good time to get both the families together and get to know each other better.

The day of the wedding dawned bright, sunny and clear and it had even warmed up a touch. Laura and her mother were very sweet and invited me to come with them to the temple early and be with them in the brides room since I don't have any daughters of my own. The wedding was beautiful. It was very special with family and friends sharing in such a special occation.

The reception was great fun. Laura had a wonderful plan for the reception with a great tropical theme. Everyone had a wonderful time. Thanks so much to so many people that made this a great and memorable time.

2008-11-23T17:22:00.000-06:00

October 24th - 26th

A great time was had by all on our trip to Arizona. Myself, Jeb, Niels and Laura made a Beeline trip out to Arizona to see Loved Ones and help to celebrate my mom's and my sister Diana's birthdays.

We had a great time seeing sights in Mesa, and we were surprised by my brother David and his new bride coming down from Northern Arizona. We ended our short stay with a delicious dinner made by Michele and Larry. All the family was able to come over and enjoy an evening of catching up with each other. Uncle Larry took Laura up for her first plane ride in his Steerman Bi-plane. She had a wonderful time.

She was able to meet all the Porter side of the family and married Niels anyway. What a smart girl!

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks!

2008-11-10T21:52:00.001-06:00

Well here goes nothing - I figure with all the things happening in our lives right now it would be a perfect time to start a blog to help family keep in touch.

After a year of ups and downs like this last one here's a little recap.

JANUARY 2008 - The start of a new year, blissfully unaware of the things to come. I've had this stupid cough going on for 5 months now. I guess it is going on a little long for just being allergies. The doctor says "It's probably just "Adult Onset Asthma", but just to be safe, go get a chest x-ray." David is an official teenager this year, he turns 13 this month!

FEBRUARY 2008 - Niels comes home from his mission in Northern California. How can 2 years go by so fast. Jeb turns 19 this month and Owen turns 17. Still coughing, and the inhaler the doctor prescribed isn't doing anything for me. At the insistence of friends and family, I guess I'll go get that x-ray the doctor recommended. Surprise, it's cancer. There is a tumor a little over 5cm by 6 cm in the middle of my chest. It is wrapped around my trachea (thus all the coughing), and arteries.

And so it begins - Doctors appointments, tests and more tests.

MARCH 2008 - Well the needle biopsy they did isn't definitive, so the doctor is going to deflate my right lung and using a scope, go in and take a sample of the growth. I wake up in Surgical ICU, they couldn't deflate my lung, so it was on to a complete thoracotomy. After several days of being on pins and needles, the doctor comes into my room to tell me, "If you're going to have cancer, this is the one to have. You have Hodgkin's Lymphoma"

APRIL 2008 - Chemo starts, this is the start of a long journey, every other week for the next six months - Here Goes Nothing!!

MAY 2008 - There goes my hair! I had no idea how much I look like my Dad until I went bald! Flood graduates from college!!!!!! I am so proud of him, unfortunately I am too weak to go to the graduation ceremony, so after all his hard work, he isn't going to walk and get his diploma, we just have it sent to the house. Niels turns 22 years old this month, and I felt like crap on his birthday. He told me "I bet you don't feel better today than you did 22 years ago this time". He was so right. I had some pictures taken to remember how bad I look bald this month. Won't do that again!!

JUNE 2008 - I get the results from my first PET Scan, and the results are great. There has been "significant" shrinkage in the tumor. Finally, something else to think about besides my cancer, Niels and Laura announce they are engaged!! Life is good.

JULY 2008 - We have another great 4th of July, everything is the same old same old. The chemo treatments continue.

AUGUST 2008 - It's been getting harder and harder to catch my breath! I can't even walk from the living room to the bathroom without having a coughing fit, and spending the next few minutes trying to catch my breath. They can't get me into a lung specialist, so they check me into the hospital. My lungs are shrinking and getting scarred. One of the cancer drugs I'm on is having a bad reaction, and they have to take me off one of the 4 cancer drugs I'm on. After a week in the hospital and a good scare, they put me on a high dose of steroids, and my lungs start working again. That was a close call, and quite a scare, but once again we have been blessed by the Lord and by the prayers of friends and loved ones.

SEPTEMBER 2008 - I don't know which I am happier about: the kids are back in school, or the fact that I am done with Chemo!!! As with everything else this year, when we have good news, it is followed by news to keep us humble. I am done with chemo, but because I have been on such high doses of steroids to keep my lungs functioning, it has brought on Steroid Induced Diabetes. If you don't laugh, you'll cry!

OCTOBER 2008 - We are blessed yet again. After being off the steroids for a couple weeks, and being on diabetes medication, my blood sugar levels are finally getting closer to normal, and I can have my final PET Scan to find out how all the chemo treatments did. I AM IN REMISSION!!! I have to go back to get tested once every three months for the next 2 years, but life is great. Now that I have been off the steroids, I am no longer diabetic. The lungs are still improving, it may take a year to get my complete lung function back, but I am feeling great. We get to take a beeline trip out to AZ to have Laura meet the Porter side of the family. It is sssssoooooooooo good to see everyone again!

NOVEMBER 2008 - Well that catches you up on our year! So far in November we got great news from my mom, her surgery went well, and they got all her cancer! FLOOD TURNS 50!!! I don't know how I can be married to such an old man!

Now that you are up to date with our family hopefully the rest of my entries won't be so long or so boring. Great news to follow: The wedding, complete with pictures. Our trip out to AZ, etc.