Gift #451- Girls Night

Macy, Finnley, and Moriah are all very quiet and reserved little girls.  But put the three of them together, and all manner of silliness ensues.  They slept over at Finnley's last night and had such a great time together.  I am not sure what Macy would do if she didn't have these two.  They are such sweet friends and I am so very grateful that the Lord placed them all together here in this tiny little corner of the world.

Gift #450- The Chicken Shack at Night

We went out to celebrate our Baby Boy/Beaufort news last night.  We have been to the Chicken Shack several times, but never during the evening.  It was beautiful!  The pictures do not do it justice.  The lanterns are actually red and they are strung all throughout the trees.  The restaurant is up in the mountains so it was plenty cool.  We had a great time.  The ride home was not so great as the baby screamed most of the way which made Macy cry which made Sam sing  Row Row Row Your Boat loudly to drown out Avery Grace and Macy.  But in time, we will forget about the ride home and just remember the beautiful evening.   I think.

Gift #449- The Catch of the Day

The boys are back in Jasper enjoying the company of Mimi and Papa.  But they did not leave Panama City without catching a bunch of mullet, and frying them up with their Uncle Paul and Aunt Catherine.  They also snuck in a sail boat trip with Uncle Terrell and a trip to Shell Island.  Happy boys!  Happy Momma!

Gift #448- A Tiny Baby......

We had our 20 week ultrasound today.  We went to a Japanese Dr named Dr. Shoji.  At the most, he spoke about 10 words during our entire visit.  But three of the words were "healthy baby boy!"  That was all I needed to hear.  Macy, Avery Grace, and I are coming to terms with the fact that we will be heavily outnumbered.  But we couldn't be happier.  This has been an amazing day for the Thomas Family.  We will not fail to give thanks to the Giver of all good things.

Gift #447- Beaufort,SC

Look out SC, here we come!  All 9 of us!  
We are so proud of you Hank!

FY15 LIEUTENANT COLONEL COMMAND SCREENING BOARD RESULTS

Date Signed: 7/29/2014
MARADMINS Active Number: 373/14

MARADMIN 373/14
UNCLASSIFIED/
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC MRA MM//
SUBJ/FY15 LIEUTENANT COLONEL COMMAND SCREENING BOARD RESULTS//
REF/A/MSGID:MSG/CMC WASHINGTON DC MRA MM/041710ZJUN14//
AMPN/REF A IS MARADMIN 270/14, FISCAL YEAR 2015 (FY15) COMMAND SCREENING BOARDS.//
POC/J. R. BERARD/MAJ/UNIT:MMOA-3/-/TEL: (703) 784-9284/MAIL: JAMES.R.BERARD(AT)USMC.MIL//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/1. ON 8 JULY 2014, THE COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS CONVENED THE LIEUTENANT COLONEL COMMAND SCREENING BOARD. THE PURPOSE OF COMMAND SCREENING IS TO PROVIDE OUR MARINES WITH THE BEST AND MOST FULLY QUALIFIED COMMANDERS IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN A COMPETENT AND WELL-BALANCED FIGHTING FORCE. FOUR GENERAL OFFICERS AND SEVENTEEN COLONELS SCREENED THE RECORDS OF 646 LIEUTENANT COLONELS AND LIEUTENANT COLONELS (SEL) FOR ASSIGNMENT TO 137 OPERATING/SUPPORTING ESTABLISHMENT COMMANDS. BILLETS CONSIDERED WILL BECOME AVAILABLE DURING THE PERIOD OF 1 JUNE 15 TO 31 MAY 16.
2. THE BOARD SELECTED 137 OFFICERS AS PRIMARIES FOR COMMAND. TO ACCOMMODATE THE ASSIGNMENT PROCESS AND THE AVAILABILITY OF INDIVIDUAL OFFICERS, 75 OFFICERS WERE SELECTED AS ALTERNATES AND FOUND ELIGIBLE FOR COMMAND BY THE BOARD. THE ALTERNATE LIST PROVIDES AN ADEQUATE NUMBER OF OFFICERS TO MEET THE COMMAND REQUIREMENTS SHOULD AN OFFICER DECLINE COMMAND OR OTHERWISE BE UNABLE TO TAKE COMMAND.
3. THE QUALITY OF THE MARINES CONSIDERED REAFFIRMS THAT THE CORPS CONTINUES TO PRODUCE AND PROMOTE LEADERS OF THE HIGHEST CALIBER. THE RELATIVELY SMALL NUMBER OF COMMAND BILLETS AVAILABLE AND THE LARGE NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE OFFICERS COMBINE TO MAKE COMMAND SELECTION AN EXCEPTIONALLY COMPETITIVE PROCESS.
4. THE COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS HAS APPROVED THE FOLLOWING:
NAME                     MOS   COMMAND

THOMAS JR, H. F.         7523  VMFA-312, MAG-31

Gift #446- Imagination

Sam found some styrofoam in our neighbors trash.  He brought it in and made a skatepark.  And although it is almost entirely covering our living room floor, I do love seeing him use his imagination.  Sam has since brought down 14 Hess Trucks!  I am not sure if the living room will ever be the same again.  But I know that one day I will miss these messes and the little people that create them.  So I am choosing to be thankful.  Thankful for little boys and their imaginations.

Gift #445- A Day at the Park

Sam, Macy, and Finnley at Kikko Park

Gift #444- Summer Days

The boys are continuing to have a great time on their adventure.  I can't tell you how happy this makes me.  I am so grateful to our families for hosting and entertaining them over these past few weeks.  They have had so many wonderful experiences.  They had a great time at Miracle Strip Amusement Park yesterday.  Tomorrow they head to the lake to celebrate Alex's birthday.  And then it is off on a new adventure with Papa and Mimi.  

Life is good for Jack and Josh Thomas.

In front of the Bullet at Miracle Strip!  

Waiting in line at the bumper cars.

At Smitty's BBQ.  A family favorite.

Gift #443- Our Sweet New Ride

We bought Bruce and Colleens little clown car when they left a few weeks back.  We patched up the headliner with super-hero bandaids and added some flames.  We are the envy of Iwakuni.  :)

Gift #442- Having our own Baby Sumo

This is AG's preferred way of sitting these days.  It is especially cute when she is topless- she truly does look like a little Sumo wrestler.  My Japanese ladies began calling her "sumo akachan"  (Sumo Baby.)

Gift #441- Having a Built in Best Friend and Japanese Fireworks

We went to the beach a few nights ago for a picnic.  Hank and I looked out and saw these two sitting side by side.  We are not sure what they would do without each other.  We had a great evening.  The rain earlier in the day cooled the air and thinned the crowd.  We stopped at 7-11 on the way to the beach and bought a package of fireworks.  One thing that we have come to appreciate about Japan is that you can stop at any roadside convenience store and pick up a load of fireworks.  (Randall family, these are the kind of fireworks that you have to drive over the state line to get.  You know the ones.  We even found some in our package that were similar to *** choppers.  We thought of you all.)   The fireworks display was a great way to end our evening.  We were so thankful that we ventured out.