Family History, I am doing it!

 Sarah and her awesome accordion!  What awesome talent she has!

 Marriage certificate of Sarah's great grandparents Leland and Florence Paul

 Wedding picture of Florence and Leland Paul.  Isn't this a beautiful picture?  I love how love looks on them.

 Wedding picture of Linda and Jim Paul, Sarah's grandparents.  Aren't they super cute?

 Jim Paul's high school graduation picture

 Leland and Florence Paul, Sarah's great grandparents.  He died right before Sarah was born in 1989, and she died this May, 2011

 LaVerne and Art Dart's wedding picture.  Such a beautiful picture.

 Art and LaVerne Dart, Sarah's great grandparents.  Art died in 2007 (I think).

 LaVerne and Sarah

 Grandma Linda and Sarah.  Sure love them BOTH!

When we were on our trip to Chicago, we drove up to Casco Wisconsin to visit with Sarah's great grandma and visit with Great Aunts, Great Uncles, and extended cousins.   Casco is about 20 minutes outside of Green Bay Wisconsin.  We had a blast.  It is always fun to be with family.  They welcomed Dave and I and the kids with open arms.  I love them and can't wait to visit them again soon.

Family Vacation in Chicago

L to R:  Andrea, Jayson, Sasha, Sarah, and Dave

We semi surprised the kids and took them on a family vacation to Chicago.  I will post more pictures later, but wanted to get this one online before I got too backlogged with other things to do.  We had a blast and can't wait to go back again sometime soon.  

 

 

A New Grandson

 Isn't he perfect?

Just by coincidence, they were both wearing the same colored shirts.  I love this picture

Introducing Gabriel.  Heather had her precious new baby on June 6th.  He is a sweet boy who is very cuddly and sweet.  I love holding him and just being near him.  He is definitely a keeper.  

Celebrating Sarah's birthday

 Sisters!  Sarah and Heather (who delivered Gabriel two days later)

 Dave and Heather

 Gee, I wonder who will have their baby first?

L to R:  Heather, Ava, Sarah, Sasha, and Jayson

We went out to dinner to celebrate Sarah's 22nd birthday.  We went to Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse for dinner.  It it the place that gives you a bowl of peanuts when you walk in, then throw the shells right on the floor.  It was very good. We had a great time with everyone.  Heather sure was ready to have that baby.  She looked beautiful in her very pregnant belly.  

 

Sasha Makes Meatloaf

Sasha made the most delicious dinner a while back when we had company.  I am so proud of her for her nummy cooking skills and her desire to learn.  This will definitely be a skill that will be used every single day in her adult life.  She has even taught me a thing or two.  Go Sasha...I will eat your cooking ANYTIME!

Cousin's Pete and Debbie

L to R: Pete, Sasha, Debbie, Jayson

More crazy people

On May 13th, Pete and Debbie came over from Coeur d' Alene for a nice visit.  They came just to spend time with us.  We had a delicious meatloaf dinner on Friday night, then on Saturday we went to the Tacoma Glass Museum, then off to Seattle so we could tour the Underground Seattle Tour.  Unfortunately, they had to go home on Sunday as they had to be at work the next day.  We loved spending time with them and can't wait to see them again.

Winter Time Tubing

Jayson, Sasha and Dave were fortunate enough to go tubing at Snoqualmie Pass two weekends ago.  They had a great time.  Our youth group at church went and from the looks of this picture, everyone had fun.  Can you see Dave and his funky 70's style ski pants?  Jayson is kinda toward the middle and Sasha is next to Dave on the right side of the picture.  Brrrrrrrr.....yet totally fun !

Christmas!

 My Momma sitting in her comfy chair on Christmas morning.

 Dave and Sasha.  My mom made Sasha the beautiful quilt.  Sasha also received pearl earrings and a necklace from my sister and her husband. 

 Rex and my Mom

 Rex, Granny, Sasha, and Jayson !

What a great looking group of folks.

 

Dave and I.  We actually took a good picture together.  

 

Our family:  Jayson, Dave, Sasha and Me.  Sarah didn't come over, so she was missing. 

  

Me, Rex, my sister Pam, and Mom

     We had a great Christmas this year.  We had the Mathison clan over on Christmas Eve.  It was a lot of fun.  Alice, Ken, Debbie, Trevor, Brianna, Don, Liza, Rosemary, Billy ( Rose's boyfriend) and our family was all there.  We ate prime rib, mashed potatoes, sweet carrots, fruit salad, and these amazing rolls.

     On Christmas morning, we opened our presents then visited our friends the Hoeppner's for about 45 minutes.  Then we headed off to my mom's house for the day and dinner.  It was a great time there too.  Dinner was delicious.  I always love spending time with the family.  

 

Nieces and Nephew

Stephanie Anne and Stephanie Rose. My beauties!

Stephanie Hughes and her brother Andrew Hoffman who was just back from Iraq in the Coast Guard. Welcome home, Buddy.

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.

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.

Going to the Rainiers Baseball game

Sasha and cousin Rosemary Mathison at the Rainier's Game

Sasha, Rosemary, and Jayson Mathison at the Tacoma Rainiers Baseball Game in June 2009

We had a great time at the Tacoma Rainiers game. We were able to get tickets through Don ( Dave's brother) for the game, hot dogs, and the firework show afterwards. The Rainiers lost the game to Reno but we had a fabulous time inspite of the loss. We all had a great time. We even met up with the Hoeppner Family. They are our awesome friends from the Fruitland Ward. Afterwards, we went for ice cream at McDonalds in Fircrest. There is no time like family time.

Cousin Debbie

Pete and Deb Pryor--aint they cute??

I have been on vacation in Idaho the last several days. My cousin Stacy, Debbie's daughter, got married on Saturday. It was a gorgeous ceremony and the venue was gorgeous too. Stacy and Matt were married high in the hills of Coeur d'Alene Idaho. One of their friends has this gorgeous home overlooking the valley. I saw all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and their kids, and grandkids. Family is truly the most important thing. We had a BBQ at Pete and Deb's. Nummy hamburgers, melon, chips, and potato salad. The perfect American meal.

Family Fun Day

Dave and I sitting and relaxing at Northwest Trek

Jayson and Sasha at Northwest Trek in front of the Barn Owl Exhibit. Aren't they super cute together?

Thursday was a terrific day because we all either skipped school or skipped work. We all took a "Mental Health Day". Since Heather and her hubby Mike and son we in town from Texas, we decided to take family pictures. We went to the Picture People at the Tacoma Mall. For some strange reason, all of the pictures actually turned out great. Kids always look awesome...throw the adults in there too and that is a whole other story. We ended up buying a few of the pictures and the CD of the session so that we could make copies as we needed them. After we were done with the picture, Red Robin was calling our names for lunch. We all ate our favorite burgers and then after than, headed out to Northwest Trek. This is a fabulous wildlife preserve that has an hour long tram ride. We saw bison, elk, deer, canadian geese, wolverines, beavers, eagles, and other animals that I cannot remember. It was a great day to be with family.