Matsons and Memories

Rise and Shout...the Cougars are Out!

2010-09-06T22:57:00.003-06:00

Josh, Erin and Jason
with the Cougar
at the BYU Sports Museum

The 1984 National Championship Coaches Trophy

Our family with Grandpa Matson and cousin Spencer
before the opening game of the 2010 Season
BYU vs. the University of Washington

At half time a special presentation...
LaVell Edwards and his eight
All-Star Quarterbacks....
this is Steve Young and Robby Bosco.

All smiles after a great win!
BYU 23
U of W 17

It has been a long time since our whole family
attended a BYU Game.
It was a lot of fun and something we enjoy doing ~
Thanks Grandpa!

Pictures....What would we do without them!

2010-07-08T20:40:00.021-06:00

Our boys at the Jazz Playoff Game..they had a ton of fun!

Aren't they soooo CUTE! I love this picture!!

Mark and I at the "Day of the Dank"

Every year on the anniversary of my brother's death,

Rita and his friends put together a golf tournament. It was a lot of fun!

Jeremy, Mark and Jason

Holding University of Utah golf balls. They would only do this

for their Uncle Brian!

Jeremy and Jason ready to tee off!

Erin and Josh showed up and joined the party!

The Ladies....

Erin, Dixie (Mom), Sherri and Nancy (Sister)

The BIG WHITE ENVELOPE is in the mail!
Where will I be spending the next two years?

Dear Elder Matson,

You are called to serve as a missionary in the

Brazil Belo Horizonte Mission

October 27, 2010

Jaime (Erin's sister), Erin and Josh

Marathon Runners

26.2 Miles

Congratulations!!

Over the finish line....hand in hand!

Coming into the mall parking lot....

"Where is the FINISH line? My legs are killing me!"

I could never do this...Way to go!

I am a High School Graduate!!

Jason tossing his cap into the air!

Class of 2010....He's outta there!!

Our Family!

Erin, Josh, Mark, Jason, Sherri and Jeremy

Love them All!

The beautiful casket flowers at Glenis' funeral.

We love her and miss her so much!

Scott, Brenda, Kirk, Shemay, Steve, Jennifer, Garry, Sherri, Mark, Debbie and Richard

Mark's Family at the Rockland Cemetery.

The sun came out for the dedication of the grave, just as if

Glenis was smiling on the day and letting us know she is okay.

Jeremy's cow had twins on February 5th...a heifer and a bull!

I watched it all....couldn't believe my eyes when she had the second one!!
Everyone left after the first calf was born.....good thing Mother Nature knows
what to do because I had NO CLUE!!

The Start of a New Year....and more problems....

2010-07-08T20:17:00.005-06:00

January: Jeremy's surgery did not solve his problem and so he decided to just get on with life. He went to Rexburg and completed a semester at BYU-I. He hobbled around and loved his handicap tag (well his roommates did anyway). He did great and got straight A's. Pretty good for a cripple and someone who couldn't sleep because of the pain.

February: Started out just awful! Mark's mom passed away on the 6th and it was a shock to everyone. It was unexpected, but she was able to go the way she wanted to....quietly in her sleep. We sure miss her and it is hard to think that she is not just in the other room. I asked her while she was "sleeping" to please help us find the answer to Jeremy's problem. I know she loves Jeremy and would do anything she could on the other side.

Well, two weeks later Jeremy was riding a horse with snow boots on. His boots did not fit in the stirrups and the horse threw him off. He landed on his back. He was in horrible pain and needed some pain pills. Jason and I took them up to him, but they did not help. He finally said he needed to see a doctor and he could not make it home to see McRoberts. We still had not gone in and saw him after his December surgery. We were referred to a Dr. Stromberg in Idaho Falls. We took all of Jeremy's x-rays with us and in two minutes he told us what was wrong with him. We found out in August that Jeremy had a ruptured disc, but the doctors just kept telling us that was the least of his problems. Dr. Stromberg said it is rare for a L-5, S-1 Disc to cause groin pain, but he has seen it. WHAT A RELIEF!!

Our nights were consumed with basketball games and we enjoyed the season. Jason's team did not do very well...they only won their first game. We came so very close so many times and went into overtime all the time. They could never pull it out, but they kept fighting!! It was a heartbreaker of a season, and especially hard knowing our "sporting parents days" were coming to an end.

March: Jeremy had an injection in his back and it relieved some of the pain, but in a few days it was back. The doctor was then pretty sure that it was the disc causing him problems, so we scheduled his surgery for April. (We had to go to physical therapy to prove to the insurance company that it would not help him. That was pure TORTURE and a waste of money!!)

April: Jeremy finished his semester at BYU-I and that afternoon had surgery (again) and after a week of recovery he was feeling WONDERFUL!! What a relief it was to see him stand up straight, walk without dragging his leg and feeling great. He was sleeping again and he had the spark in his eye again. He had to be careful for six weeks and he did great. The doctor told him to "act like it never happened" and so he did. Two weeks later he started having the pain again. We will be having another MRI in the near future and we think he has probably blown out his disc again. He just loves life and works really hard, something that he will probably have to change.

May: I really don't know what happened to May. We had Seminary Graduation and High School Graduation. Can't believe that our kids are finished with high school. We really feel old! We helped with the all-night party and had a lot of fun with that.

June: The mission call arrived and Jason will be going to the Brazil Belo Horizonte Mission and be speaking Portuguese. He will leave the end of October and fly straight to Sao Paulo. We took Jason to the temple and what a "pay day" for us. Josh and Erin were able to come up and as I looked over in the Creation Room, there was Mark, Jason, Jeremy and Josh. My heart was so full and I was very thankful for the great kids that we were blessed with. That was the first time we were all together in the Celestial Room. My emotions were overflowing with gratitude. It was a bitter-sweet moment. Had Jeremy not come home, that day would still be a couple of years away.

Josh and Erin have been training since January to run in the Provo Marathon. I sure take my hat off to them because that is something I would never even think about let alone do. We were able to see them at the finish line and for a little while after the run. It was so fun to see them finish the race together hand-in-hand! They seem to be very happy and they keep VERY busy with their lives as students at BYU. We love them a ton!

Here it is July and the year is half gone. Mark and I were alone last week as Jason and Jeremy were off playing. It was lonely and quiet. Yes, my house stayed clean and the laundry wasn't too bad, but it was a taste of what life is going to be like in the not-to-distant future. We had our three boys within four years and one month and now they are all leaving at the same time. Time goes by too quickly!

We are doing a little better. We are thankful that we know the root of Jeremy's problem and we are not playing the guessing game anymore. That was so hard to handle. We are keeping busy with church callings and the few things happening this summer. We hope to be able to do something fun this year before Jason leaves.

Again, we appreciate our family, friends and neighbors who have been there for us. It has been rough and we would not have made it through without you! Thanks for your prayers and your thoughtfulness. We love you all!

Let the trials begin.....

2010-01-12T09:46:00.011-07:00

Well as you can tell, it's been a long time since I last posted on the blog. A lot has happened over the last year and it has been 12 of the hardest months we have gone through. Emotionally and mentally I have turned into a mess and who knows how long it will be before I can feel normal again. But to bring everyone up to speed, I'll share a little what has gone on.....

July: Jeremy came home and we started with doctor visits and tests. Went to Dr. Vargo in Salt Lake and he pretty much blew us off and told us to go to pain management. He is the doctor that did the last surgery. We also went and saw a doctor in Idaho Falls. He suggested we go to pain management too and gave us a name of another doctor there in town. We went to her and Jeremy was the youngest person in the waiting room and decided that this was not the way he wanted to go, she wanted to do lots of injections for pain. We also had two CT scans done and a MRI.

August: Jason started his senior year and began counting down the days until basketball would start. He had been practicing all year and he was excited to be a senior on the varsity team. He wasn't at all excited about school, but basketball was worth going to school for. He spent a lot of time in August on the lake and had tons of fun with friends and their boats.

We took Jeremy back to Dr. McRoberts who did Jeremy's initial surgery and he said that a nerve needed to be cut. So, on the 27th, he had his third surgery done on the same site. He was down a couple of weeks, but the pain was still there.

Josh and Erin began another semester at BYU and ended up moving three times in three months. They are now in a great apartment and one where they can live and grow over the next three years. They kept their jobs and are enjoying the student life while being married!

Mark also started school again, only two more classes after this one! It was a great class and he learned a lot. He liked his teacher, although the class was tough it was a good one.

September/October: Jeremy continued to see Dr. McRoberts and he referred us to another doctor. We had a bone scan done, another MRI and an ultrasound with nothing definite shown, except he had a lot of scar tissue. The good thing about all these tests, we know there is nothing wrong with his hip or his back, YEA RIGHT! We were all getting more and more frustrated and Jeremy was walking worse and worse. He was not sleeping and he looked like a zombie all the time. Emotions were everywhere for everyone!!

To make things even better, Jason came home sick on his birthday, which was October 7th. He was not getting better and was not eating. I thought he just had the flu bug and finally figured out there was something wrong. We made an appointment with the doctor, had an ultrasound and a HIDA Scan and found out that his gallbladder was only functioning 16 percent. He was in a ton of pain and had lost a ton of weight. Basketball tryouts were right around the corner and he was worried about the time needed to recover. Finally on October 27th, he had his gallbladder removed and he did really well. He was back to the gym on day four! He has recovered very well and now can eat anything he wants, which makes him so happy, since his favorite food is hamburgers and pizza!

November: Jason was doing great at his follow-up appointment with the surgeon.....Now to ask about Jeremy. The question was finally asked, "will you remove the mesh?" we had tried everything, had every test and seen everyone we could. He agreed and we began the pre-op process with Jeremy again. This time he would go in and remove all the mesh. It was going to be a rough surgery and the doctor tried to prepare Jeremy to be ready.

We had Thanksgiving in Utah this year and it was nice to spend it with my family. Josh and Erin spent it with her family, but they came and visited us on Saturday. My sister and her family were with us and it is still hard not having Grandma and Grandpa and our dear brother there with us. I don't know if the holidays will ever be the same again or if it will get any easier.

I put up our tree early in November, knowing that a surgery was coming and that basketball season gets crazy. Yes, Jason made the team and we started attending the games. We love basketball season and it is hard to believe that in a couple of months it will all be over. We have spent many years in the gym during the winter, I'm not sure what we will do next year.

December: On the 8th, Jeremy finally got scheduled and the surgery was done. The doctor removed the mesh and eight lymph nodes that were extremely enlarged. He was surprised to find the nodes in that area, so hopefully that has been some of Jeremy's pain. He stayed overnight in the hospital and the first night home was horrible. He was in so much pain, doubled over and he just kept saying, "I don't think it is supposed to hurt this bad." We made it through the night, but it was a very long one. The doctor gave him morphine and Oxycontin, but they didn't help much with the pain and only made him woozy, so he decided to just "live with the pain." He has been very swollen and bruised. It took about three weeks for the incision to finally close.

We had a great Christmas with all our kids here. Something that was unexpected this year, but a blessing I won't complain about. Our year ended with a surprising turn of events and tons of worries, but it was fun to have Jeremy home. He went to many BYU games with his brothers and other family members. It has been nice to see Jeremy and Jason getting to spend some unexpected time together before Jason leaves. He will put his mission papers in July, so who knows what will happen this year and what 2010 will bring.

We are thankful for all the kind words and prayers offered on our family's behalf this year. It has been a tough one and one I am glad is over with! I don't think I have ever cried as much as I have this year. Mark probably wants to send me to the mental hospital!!

We are looking forward to a new year, a high school graduation, a mission, a college graduation (Mark), and hopefully healthy children!!

A Little "Pit Stop"

2009-07-27T22:07:00.002-06:00

Last Thursday our missionary, Starsi Matson, returned home for a little "pit stop." He has been having problems with his previous surgery and so the mission president sent him home to take care of it. We are hoping we can find the answer to his problems and get him feeling better quickly! He is still a missionary and we are hoping that he will be able to return to the Czech Republic very soon.

It was certainly wonderful to see him again, although he is very disappointed in the turn of events. We have missed him and his laugh and smile. He has lost probably 25 pounds and he looked so pale! We enjoyed the hug...it was wonderful! Keep praying for him!

At least we get a family picture!

An Independence Day to Remember!

2009-07-17T20:09:00.000-06:00

On July 4, 2009, we had Mark's family over for a BBQ and is looking like a gorgeous day. After we finished eating and commenting how good our garden looked, these storm clouds came in over the horizon....

It began to lightening, thunder and rain....then it began to hail!

Take a look at the hail accumulated on our neighbors house. It hailed for a good 30 minutes!

The hail beginning to accumulate on the lawn.

After the storm stopped, we went outside to see what damage was left behind. The storm drains were slow taking in all the water. This is what it looked like out front.

Cars driving through the water were fun to watch!

The water from lawn-to-lawn across the street.

Boy is that COLD!

The hail knocked down leaves that were on our front tree. The hail filled the rain gutters and piled up all around the house. Many people in the neighborhood have to replace their roofs and had water damage in their basements. Jason and Mark went around the neighborhood and used ice cream buckets to bail water out of window wells. Mark finally came in around 1 am.

Mark with a handful of hail! Never seen anything like that before in our lives! It was quite the storm.....our lovely garden.....destroyed!

Jason having fun on a scooter....yep....it is COLD!

Well here is proof that the earth will not flood (totally)....

even a double rainbow!

Off to Disneyland!

2009-07-17T20:00:00.001-06:00

Erin's brothers-in-law and sisters did a great job on the old Honda....

The car was stuffed with papers. Josh and Erin did not want to clean it up, so when they came out, they emptied everything out on to the parking lot so we had to clean it up....

As the newlyweds came out of the church to head off on to their honeymoon, we were all blowing bubbles to wish them well!

Their reaction when they saw the car.....

Even though they emptied the contents of the car out on to the parking lot, they were not expecting this surprise. Glitter and confetti was placed in the air vents with the air turned on high. When Josh started the car....you guessed it....glitter was everywhere.

After they returned home, they got the oil changed and the air filter was full of glitter and the technician was wondering where they had been.

We are ready to go....we're off to the Black Swan for a couple of nights and then on to the "Happiest Place on Earth.....Disneyland!"

Thumbs Up and So Happy!

A Wedding!

2009-07-17T19:29:00.022-06:00

We all had been praying for the rain to stop, or at least just be cloudy on June 12, 2009, but we were blessed with the brightest sunshine!

Our family, minus Elder Jeremy.

This is a picture of the whole crowd! Thank you all for your sharing this day with Josh and Erin!

Some guy drove into the parking lot and asked the kids if they wanted their picture taken with his car. Apparently, this car belonged to Gold Medalist Rulon Gardner, or so he said....

Aren't they just the perfect couple!

This is my favorite!

This one is kinda cute too!

The bridesmaids and groomsmen...

Brothers-in law David Garcia and Aaron Kirkland, Sam Voyles (Josh's MTC buddy),

Jason Matson (Josh's brother)

Josh and Erin

Kaitlyn (Erin's best friend) and Erin's sisters Kimberly, Jamie and Kelly

The parents

Mark and Sherri Matson and Bob and Connie Barnes

Our Family...without Jeremy again!

Josh's side of the family

Uncle Steve, Aunt Jenn, Grandpa and Grandma Matson, Mark and Sherri

Josh and Erin

Jason, Grandma and Grandpa Denkers, Aunt Brenda and Uncle Scott

Little cousins Tyler, Connor, Abbie and Spencer

Josh's Grandparents

Grandpa and Grandma Matson and Grandma and Grandpa Denkers

One of my very favorite pictures..

Brothers

Josh and Jason

Cutting the Cake!

A Visitor

2009-05-19T08:22:00.006-06:00

Yesterday Mark was working in the yard repairing sprinkler heads and he heard a strange noise on the fence. There was a bird on the fence and so he though that we had a cat in the backyard. Mark looked over the fence and then this "thing" ran into the backyard. He ran under the gas grill. Mark knocked on the windows to get my attention and I looked outside and saw this "thing." We couldn't figure out what it was. I said it was a gopher, Mark told me that gophers don't get that big, but I said he had long teeth like a gopher! I could see them very well!!

I called animal control and they asked me if it had a tail, I said yes, so they said it was a muscrat and they were nasty to stay away from it....so I had been face level with this thing and now she tells me to stay away from it. Mark stays in the backyard to keep it from running away.

When animal control showed up, they said it was a rock chuck. Where in the world did he come from? They tried to catch him under the gas grill, but he ran around the side of the house and fell into the window well.

Here they caught him at the end of their stick and are bringing him up. It was a pretty big thing.

They caught him and were taking him over to the greenbelt and then going to release him. You can't see the size of his teeth because the cage is in the way, but they were huge! A little bit of excitement for the day!

Wedding Shower

2009-05-19T07:51:00.008-06:00

With the wedding only four weeks away, parties have begun! Erin's aunt and best friend hosted a shower in Rupert for their family and friends. Another one will be held in Utah on the 30th. First off, Erin had to describe Josh as we all drew a picture of him.

Erin looking through the pictures to find the two that look most like Josh.

This must have been a good one! I was one of the winners...I think because Erin said Josh was a huge Red Sox fan and so I drew a baseball cap on him. He always wears one, but not everyone knew that. I know I didn't win because of my artistic ability!

It was an Alphabet Shower. Everyone was assigned a letter of the alphabet and we had to find a gift that began with that letter. It was so fun to see what people came up with, very creative! One of the biggest laughs was when Erin came to H. "H" is for a hamper (from Aunt Brenda) and inside Ho-Hos and Handcuffs (from Uncle Scott with a note not to use them while driving!!!) A huge joke....ask someone for the whole story!

"J" was for things used in July, a cooler, flag, red, white and blue table cloth and dishes, tons of Jello and J candies. Josh was so excited to see all the Jello inside....he loves it!

This one was "L"...a laundry basket and laundry soap, but what could be inside the bag? Any guesses......Lingerie. You can't have a bridal shower without that gift showing up! Good thing her mom had "L."

Half of the loot. They got some very nice things to start decorating their home. Erin can move in on Thursday...so she will have a few things to put away. Thanks to everyone who came...we had a great time driving to Rupert together!

A New Member of the Family......

2009-03-16T08:25:00.007-06:00

The long anticipated arrival of the new baby calf finally came....in the daylight I might add... YEA! After church on Sunday, March 15th, Jeremy said it was going to happen today! So he and I waited for about four hours for the birth. Kelly Wright and Jeremy had to help deliver the little one and Jeremy was a trooper! Jeremy had a dream a couple of weeks ago that the calf would be a red angus and a bull....he woke up pretty mad!

So, we were really wondering what this new little one would be.....

As you can tell, it is a BLACK angus.....but not a heffer. It is a cute little (BIG) bull calf! It was so fun to be there...a new experience for me! I was glad that I could share that with Jeremy and the Wright family. Thanks for your help!

Jeremy trying to help the new little one get on his feet.

Helping him get steady.

Mamma and the new baby!

It is amazing that they know just what to do after just arriving!

It was such a celebrated event that Grandma and Grandpa Matson, Uncle Scott, Aunt Brenda and Cousin Tanner came to see the little one....not even up on his feet yet!

Debbie Wright made brownies and had ice cream. We ate it right there in the barn!

So much fun! Congrats to Jeremy!

Fun and a Heartbreak in Boise

2009-03-16T07:58:00.011-06:00

We spent the first weekend in March in Boise for the State Boys Basketball Tournament. Poky's team ended up winning the District Championship and earned their spot in the braket. Thursday night we played Hillcrest and won by three points. Friday we played Sandpoint and won by eight. Saturday we were in the championship game and were to play the undefeated team of Skyview from Nampa. I told everyone that the game would be a complete blowout or a really good game. It ended up being a very, very good game and unfortunately ended in a total heartbreak for the boys and the Poky fans. We hit a buzzer beater and ended up in overtime! Then we lost by one at the very end 59-58. It was a great game and the boys played their hearts out! So exciting! We have never gone to the tournament before and it was so much fun! We took our nephew Devin with us and the Rhoades family came for Friday and Saturday's games! What a lot of energy during the whole three days! Here are some pictures from the championship game at the Idaho Center in Nampa.

This one is of the boys warming up before the BIG game! There sure were a lot of people there...including the whole town of Nampa!

Jason waiting for a dead ball to get into the game.

Jason playing his heart out!

Jason receiving his medal after the game.

Jason with the Runner-Up Trophey and his biggest fan, Jeremy, at his side!

Jason with Ryan Pearson #11 (and his third cousin) and Joshua Pollard #25.

The team and the trophey....they are trying to smile among all the tears.

They were so much fun to watch! Great Job to the Poky Indians!!

An Engagement....

2009-02-17T07:17:00.012-07:00

Valentine's Day....a day full of surprises!

Since everyone wants to know the details....here goes, but first off, we are very proud of Josh for putting so much thought into this proposal....it was very special and romantic and Erin will never forget it.

On Friday, Josh gave Erin a single rose at work then on Saturday morning, Erin's roommates cooperated with Josh and he fixed Erin breakfast at her apartment. Along with breakfast came a new journal, Time Out for Women Devotional quotes, and ten more roses. That makes 11, but what about the 12th...you will find out later.

Josh and Erin then met us in Salt Lake. We went with them, Grandma and Grandpa Denkers, and, of course, Jeremy to buy his mission suits and shoes at Mr. Mac.

Then we all went out to dinner to Applebees.

Towards evening, we headed to Temple Square. This was all part of the plan, but to confuse Erin we said that Jeremy wanted to go there.

While we were outside of the North Visitor's Center, one of the Sister Missionaries headed over to Erin and gave her a book with the long awaited 12th Rose. There was a card on the book, which was actually a photo album, that read "Erin, Happy Valentine's Day." She untied the photo album and then they sat down and began to read the book and look at the pictures.

On each page, there was a picture of the two of them and then Josh wrote on each page... "Day One, I fell in love with Erin....." and he told a reason why he loved her. This continued up until Day 31, which read, "February 14th, Valentine's Day. Our first Valentine's Day together and the day I asked her to be my wife." There was no picture on this page but on the opposite page was a picture of the Salt Lake Temple.

When she got to that page, Josh dropped to one knee and gave her the ring. She was very surprised. Way to go Josh...all your planning came together!

We are very excited to have Erin join our family. She is a sweetheart and we think she is just awesome! Josh and Erin are perfect together and make a very cute couple! They are calling the temple today and want to make plans for a June 12th Wedding....we'll keep you posted.

2009-01-20T19:51:00.003-07:00

January 9th is my brother's birthday. We so wish we could have celebrated it with him this year, but Heavenly Father had other plans. In honor of him, I bought him a "Matilda Cake." For those of you who are familiar with the show Matilda, there is a part in the movie where one of the kids has to eat a gigantic chocolate cake and the whole student body cheers him on. Brian always wanted a Matilda Cake for his birthday, so this year we got him one. We sang Happy Birthday to him and hope he had a great day. He would have been 37.

Mom and Dad blew out the candles for him.

We love and miss you TONS!

Merry Christmas

2009-01-06T08:20:00.030-07:00

Well Christmas has come and gone and I am finally posting some pictures of our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Since I am so late posting these, you can probably guess that my trees are still up too! Hope you enjoy sharing with us.

Our family's custom (like everyone else's) is to open jammies on Christmas Eve. This year we were given strict instructions to open my sister's presents on Christmas Eve. So, we did and we all had matching "Grinch and Max" jammies and a new, bigger tradition has begun.

Last year my brother and sister and their spouses got matching jammies for Christmas. That night my parents were in a car accident and everyone went to the hospital. Both Brian and Nancy had not changed their clothes and were at the hospital in their matching jammies. Everyone thought that they were married, but no...just crazy siblings.

Before Brian passed away, Nancy promised him that on Christmas Eve all of us (12 of us) would have matching jammies. She kept her promise.

Nancy and Vance, Grandma and Grandpa Denkers

Tanner, Austin and Rita

Christmas morning....Santa has arrived!

On Christmas morning, someone (I won't say who so they get in trouble with the Bishop) slipped Lottery tickets into our stockings....unfortunately no one won. We were hoping to pay for Christmas! Jason got a gatorade because he is not 18 yet. Check out those jammies!

Josh isn't surprised at this gift...pillows. Among other things, he got things for his new apartment at BYU.

Jeremy gets loaded down with white shirts and ties....getting prepared for that mission!

Jason was the only one who sent Santa a list. He got a bunch of Nike and Jordan stuff.

Cassie enjoys Christmas as well. Santa left a toy and two packages of kitty treats in her stocking.

Jeremy gave Josh the Joseph Smith Papers book....the first of many volumes.

A Jordan shirt.....notice the logo Mama Rhoades?

A sweatshirt with the country and flag of the Czech Republic.

Something besides apartment stuff....YEA!

Jeremy gave Jason a TF 1000....Jason was really excited...even if it doesn't look like it!

Santa left Jeremy a Czech Book of Mormon.....click on the picture and see if you can read it.

Mark gets a camcorder!

After we have our Christmas morning, we head over to Grandma and Grandpa Matson's house and have freshly squeezed orange juice and open the presents from Grandma and Grandpa.

Jason got a gift card attached to some Sour Patch Kids from Aunt Jenn and Uncle Steve and some slippers, sweats and an I-Tunes card from Grandma and Grandpa.

Jeremy got new LaBron shoes and his temple clothes.

Josh got more bedding and a book from his favorite apostle...Jeffrey R. Holland.

Our niece Abby and her "twin".

We think Garry liked his Texas shirt...hey they won the Fiesta Bowl last night!

I wanted an oven mit and got two - thanks Jenn and Steve!

Grandpa was happy with his camera.

We hope your Christmas was very special too!

Mission Call Arrives

2008-12-20T20:52:00.005-07:00

Well it finally came! Jeremy received his mission call today and he will be going to the Czech Republic. He will be serving in the Prague Mission and he enters the MTC on April 8th. We wish we could send the video of him opening up the call, but it is too large. He was very surprised and shocked to say the least. I think we were all expecting him to stay in the states, boy were we WRONG! We are excited for him!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T13:40:00.039-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends! It is hard to believe the day has come and gone and now we are into the Christmas Season. Boy, where does the time go?

This year Thanksgiving was at our home and we had a great time with the Matson side of the family. There was 23 of us here for dinner. We were missing Kirk's family as they live in California and our two missionaries, John (Argentina) and Matt (Arkansas).

The day was one of happiness and sorrow for me. I was happy that Josh was home and back around for the holidays. Sad because it will be another four years before we will have "our" small family together again for the holiday. Jeremy will be leaving in a few months and before he returns home Jason will be out on his mission.

Another sadness filled my heart as this was the first Thanksgiving without my brother. I thought alot about him during the day and especially while we enjoyed some of his favorite foods, namely the fruit coctail (a recipe that my great grandma used to make). I thought alot of what we were doing one year ago at Thanksgiving. We were still mourning the loss of my Grandma and Grandpa Killian and Brian was struggling with pain as he sat and ate his meal. I was hoping that Brian would still be here this year to enjoy another Thanksgiving....I was wrong.

The year has been a hard one to say the least, but as I sat at the table, I reflected on my many blessings, a couple of them are...I am thankful that the gospel gives me hope that my loved ones are okay on the other side of the veil, that they are watching over us and still a huge part of our lives. I am also thankful for the love of family and friends and the strength that we gain from one another as we all "endure to the end."

We hope your day was filled with love and your tummies were full of food as you celebrated all that you have been blessed with. Here are some pictures from our day.......

This is Abbie, our niece. She came dressed for the occasion. How cute!

This was our Thanksgiving table. All 23 of us gathered around it.

If you know me at all, you know that I am a "detail" person. Here are some pictures of my "personality" coming out. I was hoping for a beautiful table, I think we got it. Thanks to Holli and her talents on the centerpiece!

The table setting, yes, I even learned how to fold napkins!

This was our name place cards. I tried for over three hours to figure out how to make that end turn up on those stupid cones and it still didn't happen. I was giving up, but thanks to Julie and Martha Stewart, we figured it out. They are incredibly easy....now I can say that!

The whole Matson clan ready to eat!!

Josh waiting his turn at the buffet table. I think he was just taking it all in. He was thankful that he wasn't eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as he was on Thanksgiving two years ago.

Brenda and little Tanner. (Sorry some of these are a little dark, my flash was not working.)

Jennifer and Tyler and Abbie.

Jason and Devin.

Dinner is over and Jason pulled out Rock Band and the whole family joined in. This is Josh helping Abbie with the words.

The real drummer in Jason comes out.

Richard is giving tips to Katie.

Josh and Garry playing the guitars.

Scott, Jenn and Devin all try their voice at singing.

Jeremy at the drums with Josh, Brenda and Tanner looking on.

Steve, Garry and Richard all watch as Ben and Jason are rocking out.

Now it's Ben and Katie's turn. Debbie and Brenda are catching that Kodak moment.

Grandma and Grandpa are just trying to figure out the whole thing.

Ryan gets away from all the noise and watches a movie in the bedroom.

The little ones, Tanner and Tyler, take a break from wrestling!

Jeremy and Abbie looking at the Black Friday ads....find anything worth getting up at 3 AM?

Oh, I am exhausted.....Scott and Jenn did get up at 3 AM!

Steve and Jeremy are still going strong...playing a game of football!

We had a great couple of days full of food and games, food and movies and food and fun!

Go Mighty Cougars!!!

2008-11-11T19:45:00.052-07:00

BYU home football season is over and the boys had a great time at all the games! A BIG thanks to Grandpa Matson for the tickets!! They went with their grandpa, uncles, cousins and friends and had so much fun! This was Josh's first season back and Jeremy's last season for a couple of years.

Getting ready for the big game. Josh pulls out his old face paints and begins the "painting" process.

Now it is Josh's turn.

Jeremy, Brendon Belnap and Tayva Simpson are all ready for the homecoming game kickoff.

Josh and Jesse Barge. Jesse is from Calgary, Canada, and this was his first BYU game experience....hope he had ear plugs!

Looks like Jesse has caught the fever too!

A tradition....

Pizza before the game. Josh and Grandpa enjoying the pepperoni.

Jeremy with Uncle Steve and cousins Spencer and Connor.

Jesse and Josh at the tailgate party.

True Blue through and through!

All together again!!

2008-09-25T16:03:00.000-06:00

How excited we were to have our first missionary come home and be all together again! It has been a long (but short) two years. Elder Joshua Matson returned home on September 25, 2008, after serving in the Canada Calgary Mission. He was surprised to see how much his brothers had grown! Jason is on the left and Jeremy on the right. After picking up Elder Matson, we headed to Mama Inez for dinner (he wanted good Mexican food) and then we had a special family meeting at our home. We started out with "I Am A Child of God" and a prayer. Then each family member was able to share something with Elder Matson and we ended with Elder Matson sharing a few things with us. We knelt in family prayer and then had dessert. Then it was time to head to the Stake Center for Elder Matson's release. President Dye made the release such a special event. He asked Josh what two things he learned on his mission and then he shared a story with us from the scriptures. He then had Mark join him in a blessing and released him from his mission. It was so interesting how the blessing began....first addressing Josh as Elder Matson, then Brother Matson and then Josh. It was a beautiful blessing and something that we will never forget. Thanks President!

Then the fun began....we had a great weekend!

We spent the next morning in the temple with Josh and then we met up with the Dye Family at Jensen's Grove. We spent the evening waterskiing...yes, on the 26th of September, it was a little cold! On Sunday Josh spoke in Sacrament Meeting and then we had a dinner in the park. The weather was beautiful and it was so much fun spending the weekend with family and friends! Thanks to everyone who stopped by to welcome him home!

2008-09-25T15:02:00.000-06:00

Grandma and Grandpa Denkers met Elder Matson in the airport in Salt Lake City.

2008-09-25T14:55:00.000-06:00

Elder Matson with Grandma and Grandpa Matson in Pocatello.

2008-09-25T14:38:00.000-06:00

Elder Matson was welcomed home by a large crowd of family and friends!

2008-09-25T14:37:00.001-06:00

This one is a little dark, but click on it and you can see a close-up and see who was there! Thanks to everyone who came and welcomed him home, and especially everyone who wrote and prayed for him while he was away. You are some of the greatest people we know!

2008-09-25T14:36:00.000-06:00

Elder Matson points to everyone as he steps off the plane! Of course he was the last one off!

2008-09-25T14:35:00.000-06:00

The house was all decked out in yellow. There were ribbons on the lights and in the trees....even along the street!

2008-09-25T14:33:00.000-06:00

Even the rose bush was yellow! This rose bush was given to us by a friend when Sherri's brother passed away. In a way, he was with us too and was smiling in full bloom on the special day!