The Branch of the Family Tree Residing in Germany

Nathan, Sarah, and the kids are doing well. It's been a crazy couple of months for them getting Nathan out of officer's training and the family moved to Germany. Sarah has carried her load so well. What a great mom and wife she is! Makayle started second grade on post, and Paige started German kindergarten. Carter is almost 2 years old and loves to sing. The kids are growing up so quickly! We love them SO MUCH and are very proud of them! Below are some pictures of them. We love you, little Thompson family!

The Best Man

Last week was a fun (but very busy) week that we spent with Don's side of the family. His mom came down from Show Low, and his sister Cali came in from Georgia to be here for Jonathon (Don's youngest brother) and Leslie's wedding. Don was the best man. He's not one for wearing a tux, but I have to say that he looked VERY handsome! Below are pictures of Jonathon and Don, Jonathon and Leslie, Don with his mom and sister Cali, and the four of us.

Paul's family was there also, and it was good to see all of them (Paul, his wife Laurie, his son Dale, his daughter Cali, and Cali's daughter (their first grand child), Trinity. Here's a picture of them with Don's mom. The next picture is of the Carter girl cousins: Nicole, Cali and Trinity, and Jenna.

So, it was a very full week, but a fun one. It was nice to have an occassion to get the Carter family together. Congratulations Jonathon and Leslie! May you have a happy and love-filled life together!

Friday--Fun Day!

Last Friday we had a lot of fun with the Slagel side of the family. My mom, Kathy, and my youngest sister, Susan, came out to visit. So did my niece, Angela Anderson, and her two little boys (Aiden age 2 and Tyler age 4 months). Her husband, Jon, is serving his second tour in Iraq and is due back in the fall of 2009. Jennifer and Nicole both made it over for lunch and an afternoon of fun together. This is a picture of Tyler, Jenna, Nicole, and Angela.

This is Aiden playing the piano. He's a fun little guy. It's a good thing that Aiden and Tyler were there because Don was feeling a little bit overwhelmed by all the women in the house. But don't feel too sorry for him. He got some serious male bonding time that morning with a couple of the guys in the Elder's Quorum. They got up and went mountain bike riding on the hills just east of us (which they've been doing for the last few Saturdays). It's becoming one of Don's favorite pastimes.

This is Susan (whose shoulder is healing from surgery) and I. We were getting food ready, and Mom was talking to us. Notice the green space on the wall with the shelf behind me? That used to be all cupboards. But a couple of years ago people broke into this house and stole AC units, eight feet of the upper kitchen cupboards, the screens off the windows, the ceiling fans, part of the chain link fence out back, and stuff from the shop/dog kennel. Anyway, we are slowly getting things replaced. The cupboards, however, can't be matched, so we decided not to try. Instead, Don made a shelf for me to put my cups on, and I really like it!

And this is Don and Jenna. They were playing with the dogs (Jen brought her dog over, too) in the front yard. I got them to stop long enough to pose for me.















Even though nobody went swimming, we played games and had a great day together!

'Da House

We moved into this house in July as part of Don's job. This is the view coming in from the front door with the piano, diningroom, and fireplace to the left. The sliding glass door (going out to the back porch and the pool) is at the center back, with the couches and entertainment center across the room. That's a small secretary desk to the immediate right. Once you come in a few steps and turn right you'll be facing the kitchen. The balcony at the rear above the sliding glass door is part of a separate upstairs office that is entered from the front porch. When you're up there you can open the upstairs sliding glass door and stand there over looking the livingroom.



This is the great room downstairs. At the far side in the corner is a two-story rock fire place with windows on the walls to either side of it. The dining room room table is in from of the fire place. The piano is along the wall going toward the front door. In the foreground is the livingroom furniture facing the other wall which has the entertainment center. The downstairs has windows on every wall except for the one where we put the entertainment center. I had to put blinds and curtains on a toatl of 14 windows and 4 sliding glass doors. I think we really do live in a glass house!

This is the view looking from the entertainment area back at the front door and kitchen. There's a sliding glass door at the far end of the kitchen. To the left is a spare bedroom and bathroom. The stairs go up go to the master bedroom (which is an open loft), a big bathroom, a large walk-in closet, and lots of storage. The kitchen is fairly large and has an island with a gas stove and grill in it.






This is a shot of the ceiling above the master bedroom. The whole ceiling looks like this. We love the wood beams and slats.

The house is bigger than we are used to, and we are enjoying that. The outside area is huge. I'll have to send pics of that some other time. We feel very blessed to have this house to live in.

Trooper has settled into the family well. He and Mia are regular pals, and we're glad for that.


Don's brother, Jonathon, is getting married in about ten days, and we are so happy for him. Don's mom and his sister Cali will be here with us for a few days. We're looking forward to their visit. My mom and Sister Susan will be visiting for a day at the end of this week. Jenna came out for a day last Friday, and Nicole comes over for lunch fairly regularly since she works out here. Nathan and Sarah and the kids are settling into their new home and routine in Germany. We love checking up on them through the blog that Sarah writes.

Today was one of those busy days at Church: I sang in a trio in Sacrament meeting, team taught Sunday School (Marriage and Family Relations Class) with Don, and taught in Relief Society. Next week Don will have a similar Sunday since he will be treaching Priesthhood in addition to Sunday School. We're glad to be able to serve. We love you all!

View Out the Back Sliding Glass Door

There's a fairly wide back porch off of the living room and then the pool area is off of the back porch.

Grandpa Playing Tarzan for the Grandkids

We have several large mesquite trees in the front yard. Don was playing around in them wishing the grandkids could be here playing, too. At least the dogs were entertained by his antics!

He's Our Little Trooper

This week we rescued a 7-month-old male puppy from a guy who has a heavy hand that Jenna knew in her apartment building. We paid him some money and he gave us the dog. As far as I'm concerned, I'd have paid a lot more to get that sweet little puppy out of that house. He's bright, attentive, and a fast learner. Supposedly he's a dalmation-lab mix, but I don't think he's going to get that big. I guess time will tell. We named him Trooper. He follows us everywhere we go and doesn't let us out of his sight. Such a little body guard! He and Mia really like playing with each other, although Mia tires of it before he does :-)