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