Christmas at Granny's house

My Mom, Linda, at her table getting ready for Christmas dinner.

Matthew, Ryley, Stephanie, and Hannah Hughes, Andrew Hoffman, Sarah, Jayson and Sasha Mathison at Granny's house in front of the Christmas tree.

Granny and Stephanie getting ready to make crescent rolls

Sarah and Ryley

Pam, Mom ( Granny) and Me

We went to my Mom's house for Christmas dinner. We also went there on Christmas Eve so that we could see my sister Pam and her family. It was wonderful seeing everyone. We were all together for Christmas. My Mom was so happy to have all of her "people" there at the same time. Even Stephanie from Texas and Andrew who is in the Coast Guard was there. It was great. Family is the best part of Christmas.

Sarah's New Haircut

Sarah's new "do"

Sarah came over today and showed me her new haircut. I really like it. I think it makes her look like her Auntie Chris....and mature too. Aint she a beauty? I love this girl.

Christmas Morning 2009

Dave and his newest videos: Star Trek and Young Frankenstein

Andrea and her new counter top convection oven

Jayson, Sarah, and Sasha

Jayson, Sarah, Andrea and Sasha with the kids' stockings

Jayson, Sarah, and Sasha

Christmas this year was quiet and nice. Everyone was home, with the exception of Heather and Mike. Sarah was supposed to go to Oklahoma to see Rick and his family, but because of the blizzards in Midwest, her flights were canceled two days in a row. She was bummed big time over that. The good thing for us was that she was able to spend it with us. We went to Dave's sister's house on Christmas Eve for dinner and presents, then on Christmas day, we went to my mom's house for a mid afternoon dinner of prime rib. It was super. I love Christmas!

Three New Posts

Just to let you know, I have posted three new posts. I have several more to do , but I am tired and I want to go to bed.

Sasha's Hope Chest

Sasha's new hope chest

Sasha, Granddad Rex Hoffman, and Dave

Sasha received a beautiful handmade hope chest. Granddad has been able to make hope chests for all of the granddaughters in the past. With Rex's delicate health the last few years, Sasha knew that there was no way that she would ever get a hope chest from her Granddad. Well, we found a way to surprise her. Dave has gone over to Mom and Rex's house weekly since October and helped build her hope chest. It is beautiful. Dave and Rex worked together as a team. It is really a gorgeous heirloom. So now, Sasha is super excited to be able to have something handmade from both her dad and Granddad. Precious. Isn't it gorgeous???

Jayson's first Court of Honor

Jayson and Dave

John Warczak, Scoutmaster, and Jayson

Jayson with his Tenderfoot, 2nd and 1st Class
Advancement badges.

Dave, Andrea and Jayson Mathison. Jayson is pinning me with
his First Class pin. I love that he was so careful as to
not stick me with the pin. It was hilarious.

Jayson had his very first Court of Honor on December 16. He earned a Merit Badge for Environmental Science, which is an Eagle Required Merit Badge. He also advanced from a Tenderfoot, Second Class, and then to a First Class Scout. We are very proud of him for his accomplishments in Scouting. Someday in the next few years, we will have two Eagle Scouts in this house. I can't wait.

Sasha's Choir Christmas Concert

Sasha had her Christmas Concert on December 17. It was a really nice concert. I was really impressed that they actually sang religious music. The director, Dr. Keller, is amazing. He expects a lot out of the kids and they deliver. Sasha is in the front row the third from the right. Enjoy the music as it is great.

My hubby loves me!

Dave sent me this picture this morning. He wrote that on a roof at Boeing. He is getting ready to remove a large section of the roof and he wanted me to know that he was thinking of me. What a nice thing to look at when I was checking the e mail this morning. It is super cold outside.

Out with the Beagley's

Tonight we were blessed to go out to dinner with some friends that we haven't seen in several years. I would say that they are old friends but then you might assume that they were old, when in fact, they are our age. Paul and Teri Beagley are visiting from Colorado. They moved there almost two years ago for work, and now they are here for Christmas vacation. We were in Brookdale Ward together for many years. Paul used to be the Bishop of the old McChord Ward. We had a great time together. We went to Applebee's and laughed the whole night long. It is always wonderful getting together with friends. Tonight was perfect.

Sasha WON !

Last night, Sasha won her wrestling match. It was awesome. She had an opponent who was a great competitor. Sasha had the girl on her back in no time at all, and pinned her. It was after she pinned the girl, that the timing official determined that they didn't start the clock right. The pin was denied. Then Sasha pinned the girl a second time, but the umpire ( or whatever they are called in wrestling) determined that Sasha had done an illegal move....so that pin didn't stay. So, for the third time, Sasha pinned this gal, and it took. Yippee Skippee !! Sasha was super excited. Go Lady Lancers.

A special boy on a special rocker

Ryley, 10 months

Ryley is my great nephew. He is sitting in the rocking chair that my grandfather made for his upcoming "baby". That baby is now 78 years old. This chair has been sat on by my mom and her three siblings, and all the grandchildren, great grandchildren, and now the great-great grandchildren. All of my kiddos were able to use the chair too when they were little. Of course, Ryley is super cute. Ya can't go wrong with a baby with just a diaper on. They are sooooo cute. I get to meet him for the very first time this next week. We are so excited to see them all. Anyway, I just had to show you him and the chair.

My Grades are In !

I am super excited to be done with another quarter of school. I had really enjoyed my Early Childhood Class. I earned the highest score in the class. Out of 400 total points for the quarter, I earned 410. Yes.....thank goodness for extra credit. I really liked my teacher and thoroughly enjoyed learning from my classmates too. So, thanks for letting me brag about my 4.0 grade. Now...on to the next quarter after we get back from Mexico.

Jayson's Christmas Concert

Jayson had his first Christmas concert on Thursday December 10th at Mann Middle School. We are so proud of him for playing so well. It takes a LOT of courage to play a duet, after only learning the instrument since September. I would NOT have ever done that in a million years when I was his age learning the trumpet. Yayyyyy Jayson.

Sasha is a Wrestler !

Sasha in her wrestling garb.

Sasha looks so T A L L in this picture.

Sorry it is so dark. This is Sasha just starting to wrestle.

Sasha has surprised us all by joining her high school's wrestling team. She really loves it and even made the Varsity team. This is something that I wasn't too thrilled with at the beginning but she loves it and she only wrestles girls so I am OK with this. Anyway....little Sasha is a powerhouse.

Our New Grandbaby !

Heather's pregnant belly

Dave's daughter Heather, just sent us this great picture of her pregnant belly. The baby is due on March 21st. She is a girl and her name will be Ava. We can't wait to meet this new little princess. There is nothing prettier than a pregnant belly. Heather and her hubby Mike are super excited to have this baby. We cannot wait to become grandparents.

Help ! I made a mistake

Hello Blogging Friends,

Ok...you all know that technology is generally not my friend. Well, today is no different. I have posted three postings today. If you will look at the one with Jayson and his robot, you will see that directly underneath that posting, is an almost identical one with just pictures. I tried to delete that second posting, but then they warned me that the pictures will be deleted in any blog that I have them in. I didn't want that to happen, so here is where I ask for your help. What do I do to delete that second post? I want to get rid of the whole posting but not the pictures in the first posting. What do I do? Any help would be appreciated.

Jayson's Robot Tournament

This is the robot that Jayson's team built

Jayson and his medal

Jayson making his robot go the course.
Sorry it is so dark.

Connor, Jayson, and Rachel working on their robot
before the competition.

Jayson made this Lego Darth Vader

The Lego Company and Intel were sponsors of a robot competition. Every Tuesday after school, Jayson and several other kids built a robot. It had to be able to do several maneuvers, pick things up, run over things, and then go over this bridge. They were able to program it to do these things. I am totally impressed with the knowledge these young people have. Jayson had a great time. It was held out at Cougar Mountain Jr. High out in Graham. It was a lot of fun to watch. He can't wait till next year.

Jayson

Cousin Brett comes again !

Brett, Jayson and I

My cousin Brett came over again on Sunday afternoon. He is a long haul trucker and he drives for Interstate Trucking. Whenever he is in town, he calls. I love having him call and visit. We always lived far away from each other when I was little so I didn't get to know him as well as I would have liked. Since January, we have seen each other more than we previously did our whole entire lives. I think since January, we have seen each other 6 or 7 times. I love family. They make everything worthwhile.

6 years ago !

Yesterday was the six year anniversary of when we moved into our home. We were so excited to own this great house. The kids had been crammed into our small house for a long time and so we felt really blessed to find this house. It was huge compared to our other home. There was not a lot of furniture when we moved.....and you would never believe that now if you were to see our house now. We have too much furniture and stuff. We are blessed. Anyway, I just can't believe that we have lived here six years already.

Daisy went shopping

My dog Daisy!

I did something today that I have never done before. Today, I took my dog Daisy with me to Petsmart. She just was so good. She stayed in the cart and had a bazillion folks comment on what a cute puppy she was. One grandpa said, "How old is your baby?" I smiled and told him that she was almost three. He smiled and said that his baby was almost 11. It was super cute to see the dogs and their wagging tails. Now Daisy and her sister Mercy will have enough food to last for another month or so.

Lakewood Police Dept. Memorial

A very small portion of the memorial for the 4 Lakewood
Police Officers who were assassinated on Sunday Morning

I drove in front of the Lakewood Police Department this morning and took this picture. Let me tell you....this is a SMALL portion of the memorial. There were hundreds of cars lined up on the streets, people bringing donations, and several news crews broadcasting. This is amazing. It makes me so sad to see such evil. How many families are affected by this senseless crime? I know when my brother was randomly singled out and murdered 2 years ago, I felt hurt, angry, mad, and every other emotion when I would ask myself WHY? I know that I do not know all the answers? Only Heavenly Father knows all things. What I do know is that I wish that I could share the Gospel with these fine families who have lost loved ones. Knowing what I do about the Gospel made losing Craig much more bearable. I still am having a hard time getting my brain to think that there are such evil people in this world.

Cleaning is DANGEROUS !

My nasty bruises from cleaning !

I normally am not too clutsy of a person. Yesterday, however, was a different story. I was wiping off all of the fan blades from our ceiling fan. I was lying in bed the other day and noticed that there was a foot tall sampling of dust on the blades. I have tried to ignore them...but this was too gross to forget. I was standing on my bed, lost my balance, and I scraped my leg against the side wooden frame of my bed. I tried to push myself away from the bed so that I wouldn't rip my knee cap off as I quickly descended. I did manage to avert that particular danger, but did manage to badly bruise my fat thigh in two places . Let me tell you.....that HURTS. I could barely breathe after it happened. Just goes to show you that cleaning is DANGEROUS !

Crazy Kids !

This is what happens when the kids get a hold of my camera. Every time I leave the camera by the computer, I am always surprised at the number of crazy faces that look back at me when I turn on the camera. I am so glad that they like each other and can have a great time together.

Black Friday Shopping

Sarah and I at Denny's eating breakfast !

I have to admit it!! I am one of those crazy and retarted people that willingly get up at 0300 so that I can be to Walmart super early. This year was no different. When I drove up to the store, there was a huge thing MISSING. There was NO LINE. They had let people inside right after midnight. That was cool. What was not cool was that they were sold out of a TON of the cool things. That was definitely a total bummer. We did get many nice things though so all was not lost. Since many of the folks that I buy for read this post, I cannot tell you what I bought. Sorry.

Blessings

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I thought that I would post some of the the things that I am grateful for. We will do this around the table tomorrow, but I also wanted my friends and other family members to know this too. First of all, I am grateful for my wonderful companion. Dave makes me better. He and I have so much fun together. I cherish him. Second, is my children. Even though they are no longer super little and I don't have to do much for them anymore, I cherish them. Heather, Sarah, Sasha, and Jayson are the BEST!

I also cherish my friends. Every one of you holds a special place in my heart. From my Church friends, to my neighbor friends, to my new classmate friends, my world is better because of you.

I am also grateful for our job's. There are many who are either unemployed or underemployed. I am grateful also that our debt only consists of our house payment and Dave's car.

I am super grateful for this beautiful area that I live. I woke up in the middle of the night last night, and there were so many stars in the sky. I know that our Heavenly Father made them too. What a blessing. I love Mt. Rainier. I love the green trees, and I even love RAIN.

I am also super glad to have found the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My relationship with him is everything. I love learning new things and helping others to learn too. I am super thankful for the Atonement and that my sins can be forgiven.

I was blessed with AWESOME parents. My original family was awesome. My sister and I always had so much fun. Even my step family was good too.

Anyway...life is great....and remember to "Count your blessings one by one....and it will surprise you what the Lord has done."

I Hate Mold

Mold in our bathroom. The pictures loaded in the
opposite order. Sorry

More mold in our bathroom

My super smart husband removing our super outdated and
UGLY tiles from like....1970. Gross

Dave, the fix it man !

Ya gotta love a man who can do demo work .

This is what my poor hubby did yesterday. Our bathroom has had this weird smell for a while, and even after cleaning and scrubbing it down, it would still be there. When the tiles kept falling off one by one, and they would be full of mold on the backside, we knew what to do. Poor Dave devoted most of yesterday to killing the evil beast. For right now, that means that we have to shower upstairs in the teeny tiny shower that the kids use. What a pain. I know, I know...I should be grateful for hot showers and all that. I agree...but I want my shower back. It will be really nice when it is fixed. Someday when we have time AND money at the same time, we will really remodel our outdated bathroom....but until that time comes....this will have to do.

Sasha's newest pictures

I don't know how to add these pictures so that they look like the rest of the blog pictures....but I wanted to share my cutie with ya. I love her school pictures. I tell ya, these are NOT like the school pictures that I used to have. They were GROSS with a capital "G". Anyway...just thought that I would share these with you all. You can click on the pictures and then you can see them bigger.

The Three Amigos

The three amigos

These are three of the kiddos that I get to love every day. I have had them all since they were teeny. They are all getting super big. I love my job because I get to play all day long. Totally an awesome thing to do.

30 Years Today

Today is my birthday...well not really the day that I was physically born but this is my baptism day. 30 years ago today I was baptized into the Church. I was 11 years old at the time and my Dad and I had been taught by these awesome missionaries, Elders Pyper and Baer. I have sporatically kept in contact with these two brethren over the years. Elder Pyper has his Doctorate in Religion as a teacher at BYU-I and Elder Baer sells something ( I can't remember what, though). Even when I was a small child, I would ask my Mom and Dad..."How come we don't have prophets today?", "How come we don't have 12 Apostles?" Where did God come from? Yes...all these questions were answered when I joined the true church. I have always believed in Christ. It was very easy to join the Church as I guess I knew that I was relearning eternal truths...they were not new concepts for me. I am also super glad for the example of a gal in my 6th grade class that "adopted" me as a sister. Her family was the LDS family that I didn't have. We are still super close today and keep in close contact. Her name is Angie Shutt Barker. Anyway.....Happy Birthday to Me !! I cannot believe it has been 30 years since I entered the waters of baptism.

A Cool Christmas Idea

Here is a great idea for your family to help them get in the proper Christmas mood. We read the whole book of Luke starting on December 1st then ending on December 24th. There are only 24 chapters in Luke and it really helps us remember the true meaning of Christmas. It is really fun and it only takes a few minutes each night.

Home Made Bread

Homemade wheat bread

I just baked wheat bread this afternoon and even though my phone camera made it look like albino looking gross bread, it was delicious. Why don't I make bread more often? My family always raves over it when I make it. It wasn't even that hard to do. My bread machine does all the work, and then I just bake it in a regular pan. The bread tastes delicious especially with a lot of melted butter and then drizzled in honey. A perfect treat before bed...who needs ice cream when there is homemade bread? Anyway...this was just my latest attempt at being Molly Mormon. She is rarely at my house, but occasionally will show up for an afternoon or so. I wish that I could put the delish smell of baking bread through the computer for you all to enjoy.

L. Tom Perry Comes to the Lakewood Stake

L. Tom Perry and Jayson

Andrea, Sheryl Townsend, and Sasha

We were blessed to have an Apostle come to our Stake today. It was wonderful to feel the great spirit that was there. Both Sasha and I sang in the Stake Choir. We sang Guide Us O Thou, The Great Jehovah, I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus, There is Sunshine in My Soul Today, Lead Kindly Light, and Sing We Now At Parting. It was super fun to see Jayson shake his hand. A super day was had by everyone.