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.