Seventeen!

"Mother, could you please make him scream somewhere else?" our eldest daughter complained, whilst I tried to wrestle the fork away from our 2 year old baby.

I shot her a look.

She was still reclining in the computer chair, watching TV and eating cake. She didn't notice.

I turned back to the task at hand.

"I . . WILL WIN . . THIS . . WRESTLING . . MATCH. . . !" I panted, fighting for breath.

Piercing, high-pitched screams split the air in our living room, echoing throughout the house. Resonating above the normal, everyday chaos, Lincoln's protests were quickly shot down again, with annoyed retorts from the big kids, and plenty of fidgeting.

The homestead is presently nearing capacity. . Fifteen or so teenagers/children are 'hanging out' over here in honor of the twins' birthday weekend. It's really pretty great. : ) They're laughing and talking, joking around, shooting the breeze, havin' a good old time. Of course we have the usual kaleidoscopic rainbow of drama, moodiness, and dynamics to deal with. . . which shouldn't be too surprising, considering the age range represented. . . .

But anyway,

Happy Birthday to Clint and Eric, Eric and Clint! Number Seventeen!

25 Things About Me!

Okay! Here we go!

1. I am technologically impaired/challenged, and really have no idea how to set this up. . . : ) (This being just about anything having to do with the computer, although I am learning. . .)
2. My childhood dream was to someday be an Olympic figure skater!
3. I'm from 3 different places: Northern Utah, Northeast Missouri, and Central Virginia, Charlottesville.
4. I met my husband almost 20 years ago, while job hunting AT THE MALL! : )
5. I'm a big fan of holidays, primarily Christmas. . and old movies, mostly from the 40's and 50's. . .
6. My Italian Grandmother's sister. . . was blond. : ) Go figure.
7. Blupebbles has been my call sign/user name for about 10 years now. . . reference to a random Flintstone nickname from way back when. . .
8. My favorite color is acid wash blue. Electric turquoise, Cancun aquamarine. . .
9. My husband and I originally thought/felt that we could probably handle . . maybe 4 kids. . . Turns out we were right. : )
10. I will forever remain a die-hard conservative who finds politics mildly amusing, or moderately stimulating, depending on the day. .
11. I do love being a mother, although I have no idea what to do with these kids once they hit that tweeny-bopper stage. . .
12. My family lives about 5 or 10 minutes from the busiest LDS temple in the entire free world! Jordan River.
13. I'm happiest when snuggling a warm little baby. : ) I love my babies! I continue to be fascinated by genetics, and the miracle of childbirth.
14. I'm the oldest of 8 children, 6 brothers and one little sis! And I can't have 8 kids, because my mother had 8 kids, and her mother had 8 kids. . . Wouldn't wanna be redundant! ; ) Oh, and I hate the phrase 'stay at home mom'. I ASK you, where ELSE would a mother stay?!
15. I have recently taken up writing, and although it hasn't proven to be terribly lucrative, I plan to pursue it more aggressively in the future. : )
16. I'm a big fan of Snoopy! And if we're gonna watch Peanuts, and order out, it's going to be pizza, or Mexican! Ole!
17. I think it would be great to pick up his and her's sports cars. . . Maybe a Navy blue Cougar, with bronze-ish interior, and BYU on the license plate. . .
18. I'm a quarter Italian, about a third German, and the rest is a fun mixture of Northern European. English, Scottish, and Dutch, to name a few. I've always wanted to tour Europa, maybe do that backpacking thing. . . Someday.
19. I'm way hip into photography. Ask anybody, I loooooove to take pictures! I'm the obnoxious one at parties, who's always snapping your picture just when you're getting ready to take a bite of something.
20. I am a cowgirl at heart, and someday hope to have a cabin up at Christmas Meadows. . .
21 . I like my syrup COLD, thank you very much. Like it was just harvested from a tapped, frosted maple tree somewhere up in New England.
22. I freak out when people touch my feet. Probably the ticklish thing.
23. I am a passionate person, who tends to speak out, sometimes when I probably shouldn't.
24. Love kitties!
25. Recently went back to school, where I will be majoring in Visual Art and Design. Oddly, I'm doing better in the Political Science class. And I'm not entirely sure that this whole school thing was a good idea. . . because there simply is not enough time in the day!

And there you have it! 25 Things About Me! Courtesy of the evil Facebook.

January!

Well, like I said, a couple of weeks ago, I went back to school. But that wasn't all! There have been so many other fun things going on this past little while! Laena is in the process of applying to different colleges, so we'll see where that goes, although she has talked about staying home, and just going to the Community College. . . We'll see what she decides. . .

Clint has started drum lessons! Private drum lessons with Laena's friend, Trevor. He's such a good kid! Laena and her friend Summer dragged Clint over to Trevor's last Thursday, and he liked it so much, he decided to give it a whirl. : ) I'm excited that he's excited about something!

Eric keeps plugging away, working at the theatre on weekends, having fun at school. . . And again, the boys' birthday is tomorrow! : ) It's funny. We always have to make 2 cakes, because Eric likes fruit flavors, but Clint's all about chocolate! You would think we could get away with ordering just the one. . . Chuckle.

Charlie and Tommy drove up to camp Tracy last weekend, for an overnighter with the Boy Scouts! I've never understood the reasoning behind Winter camp outs, but this one's a little different, because they get to sleep in cabins! With little wood stoves. : ) Tommy had a great time tubing down the sled hill. I'll see if we have any pictures. . .

Yep, we've been having all kinds of fun lately! : ) Believe it! On the 17th, Aleia and I went to lunch over at Wingers. She had won a coupon for a free kid's meal doing something scholastic. : ) What a cutie, that Rosebud! You never know just what's coming up next!

Jeffy's been having Evan over every chance he gets. . . They have a lot of fun together. Jeffy's enjoying Kindergarten, but I still can't bring myself to let him go 'full-day'.

My mother's birthday was last week on Sunday, January 18! Along with her twin sister, Jean's. ; ) Happy Birthday, Aunt Jean!

A week ago last Saturday, Laena went to a fun dance with Trevor and Summer and all the gang. It was an '80's Neon Retro Dance'. They dressed up all cute, in jeans and florescent tee-shirts, and made me think of yesteryear. (wistful snicker/sigh) Too bad I got rid of all my 80's stuff a couple of years ago, just in time for it to all come back in style. . . But ain't that the way it goes!

Somewhere around that same time, we sold Laena's car to Pick-N-Pull, your friendly neighborhood scrap yard! She got to drive it up there with her dad. And now we don't have that old beater Oldsmobile perpetually taking up space in our driveway! Yay! Plus, she got a couple o' hundred dollars out of the deal, which was nice. Good stuff. : )

In other news, Charlie's planning to get his eyes fixed in about ten days! Lazik, Baby! I still can't quite believe it. . He's been wearing glasses for about 30 years now, and has wanted to do this for a while. I tell ya what, he's a braver man than I! There's no amount of Valium that could hold me in place. I'm freaked out just thinking about it! But it will be really neat for him to be able to see without contacts, etc. . . And kinda weird, at the same time. . . It's just amazing, the technology that's available these days! : )

And that's a wrap. : ) The latest update from the Mason Clan, here in the fabulous Salt Lake Valley!

Tune in next time, when you will undoubtedly hear even more fantastical, amusing stories, from our home to yours!

Pre-Twilight

Tomorrow is our twins' birthday. January 30th, 2009. There's a date that brings back memories! (shudder, sniff) And it always seems to land on Super Bowl weekend! : ) I can't believe they're as old as they are. It's insane! We must really be getting up there, if we have 2 boys that are Juniors in high school, and almost SEVENTEEN! Seems like they follow their sister so closely, that they're almost in her shadow, and tend to surprise us when they reach these types of milestones. They're right behind her, but really shouldn't be so close!

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I started school again. Yep, went 'back to school', to see if I could improve myself through education. It was kind of an emotional experience for me, when Charlie and I were picking up books at the bookstore, and getting my student ID. . . all of that. I'd always wanted to go to college, but have never taken even one class. Well, okay, there's been a little experience picked up over the past 19 years or so, and we have sat in on some parenting classes, etc. . I suppose I would probably have earned the equivalent of at least a Master's Degree in 'the school of hard knocks', considering our lives up till now. . . But still, I have never graced the halls of a University, or even been inside a college classroom. As crazy as that sounds, it's true. And now I'm getting misty again. It really was a tender moment for me, when Charlie and I were there at SLCC, and it seemed like I was actually going to be a part of something . . alive and important.

Of course, our family is all of these things, and obviously number one, but it was still pretty cool.

Last night, as I was walking back to the parking lot, just before twilight, books in hand. . . I looked around at the frosted campus, softly lit by a dozens of muted incandescent lamps, and realized it's purpose, and the blessing that education is, in our lives.

So, we may be approaching the 'twilight' of our lives, what with all these big kids, who are soon to be going off to college themselves, and the impending onset of 'middle age'. . . (40's comin' up fast!) But I think Charlie and I have 20 or so years yet, hopefully more, to experience life, and learning, and to grow from both. : ) Here's to the dawn of my formal education, and to the 'top of the mountain' for myself and my husband, which we can hopefully enjoy more fully together, with the growing independence of our children, before we start heading 'over the hill'. ; ) And hey, it's all good! It's okay to be getting on in years. . . (ha ha) The view is sooo much better from up here!

We can see!

Inauguration Day

The Inaugural Address was well written, but, as stated in an email from the Family Research Council,

"By God's grace, many old wrongs have been righted, but some remain."

"President Obama referred to the Declaration of Independence when he said, "The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness." What he neglected to include was the Founders' emphasis on life and liberty.
The weekend has been full of symbolic tributes to President Abraham Lincoln: the train ride to the nation's capital along the same route taken by President Lincoln nearly 150 years ago, the festivities yesterday in front of the Lincoln memorial, the swearing in on Lincoln's Bible. While we celebrate the symbolic meaning of these events, there is much more to Mr. Lincoln that we urge President Obama to reflect on. Lincoln once said, "Nothing stamped in the divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on..." Mr. President, with respect we ask--are not unborn children so stamped?
We would not be truthful on this day if we did not share our grave concerns. As we have mentioned, the Mexico City policy, which has long protected the American taxpayer from funding abortions, is slated for repeal. The President's appointees and a willing Congress are poised to accelerate the loss of human life through the expansion of abortion. We are concerned not only that abortion will be expanded, but that American taxpayers will be forced to fund the expansion--something that has not occurred for nearly a quarter century. They appear ready to shackle on us a culture of death in their plans for national health care. There are already signs that indicate opposition to such policies will not be tolerated or even heard.
Thankfully, in the face of trials that beset us, the Lamp of God has not yet gone out, nor has the sacred fire of liberty been quenched. We still have our constitutional right to speak, to evangelize, and to petition government for the redress of grievances. If we are to be taxed for unjust killings, if every American county is to become a new killing field, we will resist in every legal and constitutional way with all the strength God gives us.
Mr. President, this is an historic day. Your inauguration heals an ancient wound. We pray that your administration will not deepen and inflame the wounds of today. We urge you to reject the counsel of those who prey on the young, who profit from death, and who daily break parents' hearts.
President Obama, on the first day of this new chapter in America, we appeal to the better angels of your nature. Protect the most vulnerable among us."

I recently read about the mind numbing evil known as partial birth abortion, that is practiced right here in our 'free' country.

Life and Liberty indeed.

Park City Memories

This is a pic of Charlie and Tommy up in Park City. Charlie worked up there for 4 years, driving 40/48 foot red and white trucks up and down the mountain, in all kinds of weather. He changed routes just before the Olympics. Tommy was probably 2 or 3 years old in this picture. I have a lot of great memories of my hubby's time up in Park City. . . He made a lot of good friends, and learned to believe in mankind a little more, since almost everybody up there is fantastically friendly and genuine. Someday, we hope to build a cabin up in Park City, or thereabouts, or maybe just buy a little house. A little house up in the mountains! : ) Just for us!

Smarty Pants and Perfect Pancakes

The other day, I believe it was Saturday, I had a really nice time just hanging out with our boys, listening to them chat. It was one of those rare instances when they were all getting along, joking around and having fun together. : ) I have to smile! A good memory. .

At some point, Clinton had walked in, and announced to everyone that he had finally gotten the smushed up 'smarty powder' to come out of his nose. . I felt all warm and fuzzy! : )

Hmmmm. . .

Now, you have to understand boys to fully appreciate the entertainment value here. . . Of course, Smarties are the famous wrapped candies that everybody has on hand, leftover from Halloween, stuffed in the back of the munchie cupboard. . The ones that we all pretended were 'pills', or 'medicine' when we were growing up. Hee hee! Such fun! : ) I told my mother that it must be a 'boy thing' . . . She agreed. She also pointed out that trying to breathe in any sort of candy . . would probably be terribly uncomfortable! : )

Leave it to Grandma to be reasonable and practical! But, as the boys would say. . Where's the fun in THAT?!

Ha ha ha! ; )

Saturday (and Sunday) I decided to whip up a batch of our traditional 'Saturday morning hot cakes'! I found a great recipe on the Internet, and went to work. After a while, the aroma of baking 'sweet bread' filled the house. (There was a fair amount of sugar in the batter.)

"Pancakes!" someone was heard to yell. .

Jeffy noticed, rushed into the kitchen, and inquired breathlessly:

"Are they perfect? Or are they all burned?"

Seriously?

You have to understand. . He's just six years old. : ) And genuinely inquisitive.

Hmmmm.

Could this possibly have anything to do with some of my recent baking fiascos? Maybe those involving cookies, and the lack of a timer. . ?

Perhaps. . . But his comments were priceless either way. . . What a cutie!

Chuckle.

Being a Mama is a lot of work, but soooo much fun at the same time! : )

Memories. . .

A couple of weeks back, The Primary put on a breakfast at the church, and called the activity “Meet Your Teacher”. More like “Meet These Bacon and Eggs, and Fabulous Belgian Waffles Made By Janet Wayman!” : ) Just unbelievable. Those waffles were to die for! Charlie couldn't resist. He has actually lost 20 lbs during the past month and a half. . . He's taken on this 'no carb' diet, and has followed it! For the most part. . He did have a small Holiday treat every now and again. . . : ) It's hard to be 100% disciplined in December, with all that chocolate and cheese laying about! Plus his birthday was right there in the middle of it all. . The peeps at work took him out to lunch, and bought him cupcakes. : ) They're always feeding him over there, ordering in or going out. . . He actually passed up lasagna one day! Absolutely amazing. Truly inspirational! Considering my weakness for Italian food, I just have to say. . What a MAN. : ) I need to do something similar. . Especially if we're actually gonna go to my 20 year HS reunion this summer. . . : ) Gotta loose that persistent 'baby fat'!

Christmas Eve, somebody left us a card with a hundred dollars in it. This was a blessing indeed, since the Santa stuff didn't seem to be quite even. . . I was 'on top of it' this year! : ) Normally, we make lists, but for some reason, things just weren't matching up. Consequently, Charlie and I did a rare thing, something we've never done before. . We ran out to buy last minute Christmas presents, in a moderately enthusiastic snowstorm. : ) We drove carefully through the neighborhood to the traditional 'corner drugstore', Wal-Green's, on the corner of Redwood and 78^th. It was a lot of fun, and quite entertaining. Funny how all 15 cars that were actually out on the streets at this hour, seemed to be heading in the same direction. . After all, there was only one store left open. . .  : ) Ha ha! Hilarious! We had a good time searching for appropriate gifts among all the varied and sundry items traditionally displayed there. Light bulbs, grout tools. . toenail clippers. . just what kids want to see under the tree Christmas morning! Snicker. : ) Thankfully, they had somewhat of a . . diverse selection. . .

December 30^th, there was a special Youth Activity held at the Stake Center. All our big kids went over. . . They had dinner, 'a whole lot of pizza' and salad, and watched the program that had been recorded at the Conference Center back in November. I'm so glad that there is something put together to entertain teenagers!

New Year's Eve, Charlie came home with red and white roses, a small box of chocolates, and 3 large pizzas from Papa Murphy's : )

Wow. . . It was soooo nice to see him! Such a relief to have a 'grown up' to talk to!

I hadn't been feeling very well, and had spent the afternoon at the zoo with Eric and the little kids. It was a perfect day to be at the zoo. . mild, sunny, no wind to speak of. . . but after dealing with the children all day, I was so glad to see my man! : ) We had a nice peaceful New Year's Eve, munching pizza, watching movies, and trying to stay up till midnight. . I didn't quite make it. : ) Aleia was excited to see The Jonas Brothers perform at Times Square. Laena spent the day with Diego, and for whatever reason, decided to dye her hair a dark red for the evening's festivities. Why not? She wants to get 'extensions' so as to make her hair long again. : ) Such fun!

On a different note, Charlie's come up with a great plan to get the kids to want to read scriptures! We read every night for a month, and if we get up to 60 pages, we get to go out to dinner to some nice place at the end of that month! We'll take turns deciding where. : ) What a great idea! : ) What a great plan. What a great guy! I've been blessed to have Charlie as my husband. The Sunday before Christmas, we took the family down to Provo, and Springville, to see my Grandpa Tanner, and then my Grandma June Bartholomew. They're both hanging in there. . . Grandpa seemed happy to see us. He's in a wheelchair most of the time now. I don't know if he'll make it to another Christmas. Sigh. Grandma's in better health. She's always taken fantastic care of herself. She's now the only one left, of her immediate family, her little sister Carol having passed away in October a couple of years back. . . Probably has something to do with the fact that Grandma never eats red meat, and always does her exercises! : ) Jean's family planned to pick her up Christmas Eve for a surprise treat. : ) I think they were heading down to Natalie's, in Spanish Fork, for a evening with Santa Claus! Pretty cute. : ) Jean and Richard are currently on a service mission up here in Salt Lake City. Jean's such an amazing woman. . so dedicated and hard working. . . On the 'other side', my cousin Jessica took Grandpa out to Paul's in Duchesne, for a Tanner Family Christmas!

Seems like we had a pretty good Christmas. . Now, to start off the New Year. . .

"I . . must blog!" : )

Wrapping It Up. . .

Well. . . this last month has been really interesting, somewhat traditional, and definitely insane. We've had so many activity, concerts, events to attend to, that I think it's probably good that Christmas comes only once a year!

Charlie's brother Clinton and his wife Michelle renewed their vows the Saturday before Thanksgiving. It was more of a full fledged, pull-out-all-the-stops wedding. Everyone was there but our son, 'little Clint', (who is really not so little), and who couldn't get out of work. Lame! 

We went to my brother Hyrum's for Thanksgiving. . It was nice to see the little cousins, and uncles Nathaniel, Matthew and Benj. Nathaniel and Benj had flown up from Phoenix a couple of days earlier. Charlie ran and picked them up from the airport. . . It was nice to see family, people who understand and accept you, people who like to play Ricochet Robo! : ) It was so nice to be among friends! The big kids had fun playing games with my brothers, and he little ones romped around with cousins Zealan and Caz. (Caslea) Nathaniel is sort of a Godfather to them. The first weekend in December, Charlie and I dressed up and went to the Coca-Cola Christmas party downtown! Just minutes after Charlie and Aleia had gone caroling with the Achievement/Activity Days girls. It was nice to see half the neighborhood out in our front yard, singing. : ) Again, you can't buy entertainment like that!  : ) The second weekend in December, Charlie and I flew off to New York City, to see the sights, and to visit my Cousin Daniel Bartholomew, who was kind enough to us stay with him and his wife in their upper west side apartment! : ) Yay! We had a great time in New York, but naturally didn't get to see everything, because unfortunately, there simply is not enough TIME crammed into one weekend. We did see some amazing things, though, like the museums, the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, and a guy on the bridge, in Central Park, who was proposing to his girlfriend. : ) So romantic! : ) When we got home, after a looooong flight, and another taxi ride, Aleia had left us a welcome home letter and picture. : ) What a sweet little Angel! We had thought about driving out to Missouri for Christmas. . We debated on whether or not it would be a good idea. . Could we afford it, what would the weather be like, and so on. . . Charlie's friend Bruce even offered to lend us his Yukon. In the end, we decided to stay home. It was a good thing, too, because the weekend before Christmas, when we would have been traveling, the west was hit with a big snowstorm. And we didn't have to worry about packing for 9 people! That's my least favorite part of traveling. I do enjoy the adventure, though. . . ; ) We got my mother's big box of Christmas presents in the mail, the Thursday before Christmas. The kids are always excited to see what she sends. : ) The week before Christmas, we had Choir Concerts at the high school Wednesday and Thursday, and the Majestic Elementary Christmas sing-along Thursday as well. It's always 'fun' to try to juggle these family activities when they fall on the same night. Usually, Charlie goes to one, and I go to the other. Thankfully, I made the last half hour of Laena's Choir gig. I have to take pictures, you know. : ) Thursday, December 18th, was my Grandpa Tanner's 91st birthday. . Friday, the nineteenth, was our ward Christmas party. Laena's choir sang, Santa Claus came, and ham and potatoes were enjoyed by all! December 19^th was also my parents' 40^th wedding anniversary. Wow!

I can't believe how fast the time is going by. . . It seems like just yesterday I was doing Christmas cards for 2007. . And now here we are, welcoming in 2009!

Unabridged Holiday Letter 2008/Happy New Year 2009!

Christmas 2008

For those of you who would prefer a direct, 'to the point' approach, just skip on down to the 'summary' version of our annual Family Christmas letter at the bottom of this post. : ) For those of you who would rather kick back, take your time, and drink in the more Grandma-friendly edition, along with some hot cocoa, here you go! Enjoy!

Mason Family Christmas Letter 2008

Well, another year over, and here we are again. . . Trying to remember all the amazing things that transpired/happened this past year. . . I have a feeling that the first part of the year is going to get  less than it's fair share of the spotlight again. : ) Considering how fast time is speeding by, and how crazy it is around here most days, it's not too surprising that the spring and summer memories tend to be a little bit hazy, come December. . . I can hardly keep up with all the kids' shenanigans.

Anyway,

To start off,

Our eldest child, Laena, is a senior in high school this year. I can't believe it either! Who can tell where the time has gone! Laena spent the first part of 2008 juggling school, work, friends, her part time job at McDonald's, babysitting, cello practicing, Choir gigs, and of course BOYS. We could tell ya some stories! : ) Laena enjoyed her 'field trip' to Southern California with the West Jordan High School Choir in the Spring. . . just before she got another part time job at the Classic Family Fun Center, just across the way in Sandy. The Fun Center is a glorified roller rink, with a lot of added . . benefits. Water slides, bouncy jungle play land, etc. Our baby girl had a great time playing lifeguard, and hanging out with friends. : ) It was almost like working on the set of High School Musical 2! Except not quite so glamorous. They don't call it the Family Fun Center for nothing! : ) Toward the end of the summer, we got sick of driving across town in rush hour traffic, and somehow convinced the Boogsie to find employment closer to home. Now she's back at MickeyD's, which is thankfully within walking distance. Whew! This fall, Laena was chosen, a second time, to work as a tutor in the Special Ed Seminary. I was very touched by this. We're so proud of our Laenabug! : ) Also this year, Laena has been serving as VP of Belles Voix, the girls' choir at the high school, and President of her Laurel Class at church. Pretty cool! : ) In addition, she's recently been dating Diego "King Julian" Guzman, a nice young man from Bolivia who plays Classical Spanish guitar. : )

Clinton is a junior this year. . He's spent the better part of 2008 working at Pizza Hut, and was pretty good at it, too! Clint's always been good at picking up/learning new computer skills, so they had him up front quite a bit. . . But he also makes a pretty mean pizza! We were excited to sample his brilliant culinary experiments when he would bring them home. : ) Ya can't get enough pizza out here in Utah, as everyone knows. . . ; ) Clint had fun down at Lake Powell, with the neighborhood crew, in June. It was a bit too hot for his taste, but Charlie and the twins got some great pictures! Clinton was disappointed, later on this fall, to see is good friend Morgan Burr move away, down south to the Fillmore area. . . But he got to visit the their new home in November, and ended up spending  Thanksgiving with Morgan and the Burr family. Clint's been studying 3D Animation at the Tech Center this school year. He's always shown great proficiency when dealing with computer related art, and matters that require technical skill. In 10th grade, he played several instruments in the HS Percussion Ensemble. We're excited to see what Clint will do with his many talents in the future!

Eric is also in the eleventh grade. He's developed quite an avid interest in photography these last few years, and recently bought himself a digital camera. We've gone the zoo a few times, and he's putting together quite the collection of interesting animal pictures, 3 of which were entered, and received attention in, an art contest last February. I still think it's awesome that Eric was named Artist of the Year in 9th grade! : ) Eric Charles ran Track again this year in the spring, following quite literally in the footsteps of his Dad, and continues to be ever concerned about all things health-related. Blinking kid still won't eat dairy. . . but I guess that's a good thing, right? : ) It's rabbit food all around! : ) If only we could convince the rest of the Clan! Eric had fun with his twin brother Clint, and Dad, down at Lake Powell this past summer, and all 3 of them somehow managed NOT to get sunburned, or injured. . . Truly a miracle! Eric got on at the local movie theater, Carmike Cinemas, back in March, and has adjusted brilliantly. He has a great time down there, and everybody loves him! Eric's currently working on his Eagle Scout project, a massive food drive, and as always, is doing well in school.

Tommy is having a great old time, loving middle school, and learning to work with his hands. He played cello in the spring, almost went to a charter school this fall, and continues to discover new interests and abilities. Tommy has had a lot of fun with his Dad being Scoutmaster these last couple of years. . . At Camp Tomahawk, (East fork of the Bear River), they learned about archery, fire safety, "dry wood is good for burning", (ha ha), rifle shooting, swimming in cold mountain rivers, ("like, negative 40 degrees"), and enjoyed all of those joyful activities that stress a Mama out.  : ) Thankfully, Tommy usually has the sense to walk away if the proposed activity is too dangerous. What a relief! Our Tominator had fun tearing apart Charlie's 'parts truck' this summer. If fact he's accumulated quite the bizarre collection of . . metal. Twisted truck parts, rusted screws he's found on the way home from school, fascinating childhood treasures of the traditional All-American boy. . . Love it!  : ) All the boys have a great time playing catch, Frisbee, football, etc at the field behind the school. This year, Tommy's earned his Life Rank in Scouting, and has taken up piano lessons again. He's looking forward to spring semester at school.

Aleia is the life of the party, full of energy and sparkle. She is growing up way too fast, always on a voyage of some type of discovery, and constantly rivaling her sister for 'most dramatic teenage personality', when she's still only eight! Not even a tweeny bopper yet, and she's taking over with all her big plans! : ) This is what she wrote down when I asked what she had done this year: "I became a great student on Tuesday. I fell out of a boat! I had my. . ." Earlier this week, we learned that Aleia is going to be presented with some sort of an award celebrating her accomplishments at the elementary school. She was sort of taken by surprise. : ) Earlier this month, she was picked to help lead the 3rd grade, as a chorister, in the annual Majestic Elementary Christmas Sing-Along! She was so excited! Lea is always eager to learn, and consequently, always does well in school. She and her sister seem to be above-average go-getters! And we're not complaining. : ) Must be a girl thing. ; ) Lea and Jeffy had bunches of fun at Aunt Sarah's cabin in August. Aleia was slightly shaken when she was out on a canoe ride with Uncle Nathaniel, and the boat tipped over! Cool as always, he set her on the riverbank, and swam for the oars. Thankfully, it was only about 4 feet deep. : ) Aleia loves to plan parties and play with her friends! She had her birthday party at the Fun Center back in April. She and Jeffy wanted a puppy for Christmas, but sadly our backyard isn't completely fenced in. Santa will have to be notified.

Jefferson Wilder Mason . . is starting to live up to his name! : ) He was ever calm, cool, collected . . relaxed, well behaved. . . up until last spring. This past summer, a fair amount of that baby boy sweetness must've run out. : ) All of that bottled up 'snips, and snails, and puppy dog's tails' . . must've caught up with him. What a little ball of . . BOY he has turned out to be! Energetic, mischievous, pretty much always covered in dirt, and sometimes downright naughty! Who knew preschool, and Kindergarten, would turn our little angel into a . . (sigh) sweet little stinker.  : ) The other day, Jeffy asked big brother Clinton if he could take him and his friend Evan sledding at the "tire swing park". I pointed out that his sled was broken. Intensely, hopefully, he whined to Clint with his be-mittened hands clasped. "We could use Hope's sled. . . You could bring Richard. . . Then you guys could hang out and talk!" : ) He was workin' it as best he could. Cute little guy! Just now, he burst in the door from sledding with his dad, yelling: "Mommy! It was totally wicked! It was wicked out there!" Lea tattled that he had "gone on the big jump", something I probably would've forbidden. Without missing a beat, he validated her claims. . "I didn't even bonk my head! It didn't go up off the sled! The rest of my body did, huh Tommy. ." I guess all we can do is chuckle and sigh. : ) Jefferson is as good as gold during church. . . His Primary teacher adores him. : ) He's the only boy in her class.

Lincoln is our baby. : ) He's such a cutie! Recently, he's been learning how to talk, and climb, and make messes. : ) Just in the past couple of weeks, he's figured out how to open the front door, climb up the ladder onto Aleia's top bunk, whine for a bath, and chat a bit on the phone. Well. . . he says 'hi' to Daddy, but hey, you've gotta start somewhere!  : ) Lincoln, fondly known as 'The Binky', can throw a baseball like a pro. He loves to throw things, pretty much anything, as far and as hard as he can. : ) He prefers to play with balls, however, and if he ever sees one, he immediately, and urgently, yells "Ball! Ball!" and reaches for it. . . until we figure it out, and deliver said glorious toy into his chubby little hands. We've learned to put traditional hard balls, and other such painful things, out of his reach. : ) Binky discovered snow this year, is learning how to push 'the gate' down, (so as to explore parts of the house which are off limits to babies), and continues to charm and captivate everyone with his strawberry blond cuteness! : ) Recently, he's dubbed Jeffy - Vuffy/Juchy, and Eric - Ricky/Rocky/Rooky. It's probably Rocky that's gonna stick. It's fun to watch our Binky 'get big'!

Looking back, we are grateful for all that we have been blessed with this year, time with family and friends, memories made, and lessons learned. Sadly, this year we lost Amy's grandma, Elena DeSantis Tanner, and close family friend, Charles Eugene Loper. We will always treasure the time that we had with them. It has now been a year and a half since we said goodbye to Charlie's dad, Jay. We will continue to 'forge on', to move forward together in our efforts to 'hold down the fort', in more ways than one. I plan on taking some classes in the spring, and Charlie plans to take a small break. Best wishes, and a Happy New Year to all those in our circle of friends! We think of you often!

Happy Holidays!

Love,

The Mason Family : )

 

Short version:

To sum up. . .

Laena's a senior in high school, vice president of the girl's choir, and looking forward to college. Working again at MickeyD's, and dating King Julian.

Clinton is a junior this year, working at Pizza Hut, and studying 3D Animation at the Tech Center.

Eric is also in eleventh grade. He's working on his Eagle Scout project, a massive food drive, and enjoying his job at the local movie theater.

Tommy's over at the middle school. (I can't believe we have all these big kids!) He's been having fun tearing Charlie's 'parts truck' a-part, got his Life Scout rank, and started up piano lessons again.

Aleia is the life of the party, full of energy and excitement. She was recently picked to help lead the 3rd grade, as a chorister, in the Majestic Elementary Christmas Sing-Along! : )

Jefferson has started Kindergarten, loves to play with his friend Evan, and digs cars.

Lincoln, (aka The Binky), is growing up fast, learning how to talk, and climb, and make messes. : ) We love our Binky! What a cutie!

Charlie's finishing up school, for now, and Amy is ever holding down the fort here at home.

I'm thinking about taking a class or two in the spring, and Charlie's thinking about taking a break. : )

Between Scout Master responsibilities, the 7 kidlets, Coca-Cola, school, church, and household stuff, we would have to agree that we do have our hands full.

Happy Holidays! Love, The Mason Family