Joy Journeys to Begin 2016

• This will be the follow up to Whitney and Jake Thompson's story or Thor's death.   On the way to the UC Davis Children's Center, Thor passed away. The para-medics who transported him told Whitney that they believe he had been brain dead for several hours. Everyone is devastated by the horrible turn in events.  I can;t even begin to understand what the Thompson family is going through.  We spent the next week visiting Whitney every day.  I'm not sure if we did any good but we hope that we were able to bring some peace. Because of the death circumstances, the coroner's office will be doing an autopsy.  The autopsy came back that Thor died from shaken baby syndrome and being dropped on the floor.  Everyone is in disbelief as to the events that are unfolding.  A second autopsy was ordered because it not changes Thor's death to a homicide.  WOW!  I can't believe what Whitney will have to go through.  On December 23, the Thompson's flew to Salt Lake City, Utah to bury Thor.  They are not sure of when the body will be released but they want to get out of Fairfield.  The breaking news on Monday, December 21was that the babysitter was being charged with homicide.  We arrived at the Thompson's just as they had received the phone call.  Whitney was totally in shock.  She is such a sweet person that this thought never entered her mind. This babysitter watched the children often as Whitney works.  Others have since told me that they too have used her for a babysitter.  She does a lot of tending and the entire base has been torn apart. We are in hopes that when the Thompson's return we will be able to help in some way. I have often thought that I don't know how the loss of a loved one can be lived through without the gospel.  
• We had Kit come for Christmas.  He arrived at the Oakland Airport on Monday evening about midnight.  Tuesday morning Craig and I went to District meeting and then went home to begin our week of touring with Kit.  After our meetings, we went to the JellyBelly factory, showed him around the wine country like Napa Valley, then around the neighborhood and places where we frequent.  On Wednesday we got an early start to take the ferry across the bay to San Francisco.  We had pre-purchased tour tickets to Alcatraz.  While we waited we visited Fisherman's Wharf and the multiple shops.  There is also a place where sea lions seem to all come together.  Then back to our tour boat.  Alcatraz was really interesting.  It was something that Kit really wanted to do and I totally enjoyed it.  I know that when Craig and I go places like this we tend to take our time and read most of the information.  However,  I felt like I was being rushed through everything. I had to just be content that we were seeing things as fast as possible because of our limited time.  We did get to have clam chowder in a sour dough bread bowl that San Francisco is famous for. We walked around and saw the trolley car museum.  We decided not to wait in line to ride the trolly car because it had a 1 1/2 hour wait.  We meandered back to the wharf where we went through a 'market' and the shops.  Craig taught Kit to eat oysters and Kit loved them.  They ended up having two helpings.  Then they both tried the trout eggs.  As for me, I took the pictures and tried hard not to gag. On Thursday we were up again early to drive to Muir Woods to see some redwoods.  It was a rainy day so we all had to take an umbrella.  The rain made it beautiful for some of our pictures.  These redwoods are not as big as the one's Craig and I have seen but they are still impressive. We then drove to take pictures of the San Francisco Bridge.  Again Kit got some really great pictures of the bridge.  It was here that we could also tour some gun hideaways from early days. Craig fell while we were there and scraped/bruised his leg.  Kit then took over the driving because Craig was in pain.  It was then off to Chinatown. All I can say is that it totally reminded me of China.  We had a good authentic lunch at a place called Shon-Li.  We didn't buy anything because we never looked long enough.  Maybe when Mindi or Brady come to visit we will take our time.  We drove down Lombard Street and it was cool.  We looked for a place to have fish and chips by googling to see what was around us.  Kit said we needed to try new things.  So, as we did, we were in a very questionable neighborhood.  It wasn't the best fish and chips but we did step out of our comfort zone.  Friday morning was Christmas.  I hope it wasn't a let down for Kit.  I didn't get much for him because of the luggage weight.  We gave him a couple little things and cash.  We watched some football and spent the day relaxing.  Kit flew out the next morning.  His flight was at 6:20 am and had to be there two hours early.  Needless to say, by the time we got home we were in need of a nap and so that's what we did, we had a nap.  We loved having Kit here and we hope he enjoyed and appreciated the time and energy we put forth to try to help him have a good visit. 
• For New Year's Eve we went to Modera California to watch BYU play St. Mary's.  It was really quite disappointing to see them lose so badly.  Craig is a BYU fan through and through.  I was hoping it would be a good game but they really got walked on.  We had very little traffic coming home.  I'm hoping for a very Happy New Year.  Next year at this time, we will be getting ready to go home.  I'm guessing for a busy and great new 2016.