bill and rosi

Hello Family

Hope you have had a good day.  President's Day...   a day to recoup for me.

My Concerts are over.  Hurray!   They went well.   Only thing missing was that not all of my family was there to see it.   Luke's family has been very sick...   sore throats, head aches, fevers... even little Parker.  Nick. Deb. Claire and Matthew made it down.  We sure love having them, but it was a really quick trip.  My Big Bill was at every performance....  sitting right in the center of the auditorium.  He told me he cried all the way through the second and third performances.  I think he must have like it.  

Stephen was our boarder from Denton Tx. who was here to conduct the orchestra for Utah Lyric Opera's production of La Traviata.   He is a really neat guy and is a professor at North Texas University.  He tells us that his school has the largest music department in the nation.  Stephen used the word "fantastic" over and over.   Now I am beginning to use it.  He would say it differently all of the time...   like fanTAStic   or FANtastic   or fantasTIC   well not really the last one.  But it made me smile.  I asked him if he had any clout in the vocal area as it crossed my mind I might like to do some adjunct teaching there.

Kloey, your mom sent us a picture of your beautiful hair before you had it cut for Locks of Love.   You are a very special person to think of others and sacrifice for them.  I am proud of you.   Today we drove to Salt Lake City to the Huntsman Cancer Center to visit one of my childhood friends.  She has cancer and is now having her third chemo treatment.   She has lost all of her hair.   I believe that your beautiful blonde hair will be used to create hair for other children who are sick like my friend.  You are a champion, Klo!!!

I spoke with Becky today.  Adam is in Mesa at the Botanical Gardens.  He has a huge show there and is very busy.  Adam, we wish you the best and hope that all goes well.

Dad has managed to catch the Luke Mathews' family bug.  (It is a big black creepy thing with 25 legs...  Ho Ho)  He has been sick the past couple of days.  I made him some chicken soup.  He just finished his second bowl.  I am sure he will be healed by morning. 

 

The Jazz just lost in the last minute to San Antonio.   Dang.  

Well, back to the grind for me tomorrow.  Time for solo/ensemble, festivals and tour preparation.  We are going to San Diego this year.   Should be fun.

Luke leaves for China in the next little while.  He stopped by recently and told us the places he will visit.  it should be amazing.  Amy plans to go to Deeming NM and see her family there while he is gone.  That is so nice for her.

Love you guys!   Have a great week.

Mom

luke and amy

Hi Everyone!!

We sure had a great time on Super Bowl Sunday with those of you who were at the Clifford's for the Super Bowl! Thank you Linc and Jennifer for a great evening!! You are wonderul hosts!  We always enjoy your company and getting the kiddos together to play.

For those who haven't heard.  We are having Parker blessed on March 4. Our ward meets at 11 am (the most perfect time for having a new baby! LOL)  We are inviting all of you and realize that is not really possible.  If you are able to come, we would love to have you!  If you are a Melchizedek Priesthood holder - you are invited to be in the circle. The chapel is right across the street from our house.

We love you all and hope you are happy and healthy!

Love, 

The Mathews Family

Luke, Amy, Tyler, Emma, Quincey and Parker

If I have missed anyone that should be sent this - these were the only family emails I have.  So, please pass this on to anyone you think would be interested to know! :)

marlies

Ok Family

I guess it is my turn…….

Greetings from the “City of Sin”.  The state of Nevada has decided not to secede from the Union, but instead, refused to let President Obama stay in any of our hotels on his recent trip to Nevada.  It really was quite funny, as he wanted to stay on the Strip, but after finding out they would have to close three floors off, no one would take him.  He ended up in a Westin off of Sahara….Tee hee.  Serves him right for his comment about people wasting their money in Vegas.

Things are going well here.  My new  boss (Howard) is a nice guy.  He is very different from Tom, in management style as well as in experience.  This has been a good transition for me.  I miss Tom, but this change seems to be good.  Outside of that, our work moves forward.

Roderick is doing great!!!! He just got his senior pictures taken.  You can check them out on Melissa or my facebook page.  He looked awesome, but was a total pill.  He was not happy with the clothes he had to wear and so he barely cracked a grin.  Regardless, he looks awesome and is doing great!.  He passed all his proficiencies and it looks like he will be graduating in June!  He is still thinking about going on a mission and recently signed at Eastern Arizona.  It is a junior college and I think he is in heaven.  He was so nervous about the expectations of school at a Div. 1 school.  I think the pressure was at times - overwhelming for him.  The BYU coach was great and actually got him the scholarship to EA. He talked with him about his grades and really said that if he does well there, BYU is in line to move him up.  He is going to be a Gila Monster!!!!!  He is very excited.  I just wish Becky and Adam were still there. 

Let’s see – Melissa is good.  She is doing well in her school.  Her principal is still a pain, but they seem to have worked out a way to mutually deal with each other.  Melissa ignores her and she ignores Melissa.  For the time being it is working great!

I sure love you guys and hope you are all doing well.

Marlies

becky and adam

Hello Family,

It has been nice to see so many responses to this email.  I love to hear how each of you and your families are doing.  

We here in Albuquerque are doing fine.  The city has turned cold this February and we had actual snow accumulate on the ground on Saturday morning (gone by 11am).  It was fun to watch the big flakes falling while I fed Elizabeth.  very nice and somewhat unusual for us as we had lived in AZ for so long.

Adam is doing great!  Since Christmas he has been preparing for a big show that is happening at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix starting this Sunday.  This is a show that he and his partner, Josh Dopp, have been doing for 3 years.  They take the mobile studio and give glass blowing demonstrations and teach lessons.  It is a lot of work but they have  great time and always have successful sales.  But to get prepared he has been working continuously for months.  There is a bunch of product and materials that they make and fabricate along with getting the studio working...so it has been busy for him.  On top of all of that he has also been with Elizabeth full time and working on my car.  In fact he just changed out my entire electrical system in my car with a part from the junk yard for $20.  It was so awesome that he was able to get all of the work done and get my car running.  He is amazing!!  He leaves for Phoenix this Wednesday (tomorrow night!!!!) and will be gone for two weeks.

Luckily we are having Shae (sister-in-law) and cousin Violet (under 2 years old) is going to come and stay with us while he is gone.  It will be so fun to have Shae here and to see how the cousins interact with each other.  We always love to come and see each of you with your kid-o's and have Elizabeth have so much fun with them.  It was amazing how many changes  happened right after coming back from Christmas.  She had the chance to watch so many of her older cousins and see how they did things.  Not only am I grateful that the Violet and EJ will get to play, but it is also a relief that I will be able to get to classes and such while Adam is not here.  I know Shae will be a big help and I really appreciate her coming.

EJ is also doing wonderful.  She is running and laughing and smiling all of the time.  She has started to throw little tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants.  She will sit down and start to cry, but she is easily distracted and doesn't get too upset most of the time.  It is amazing to see her beginning to communicate with us.  She is understanding so many words and is beginning to listen.  She has a few words like mom, dad, hi that she says but she uses a lot of sounds for things like dog, cat, milk and hippopotamus.  It is very cute.  She is healthy and strong!

I am doing good in school.  It is a struggle to balance my time between school and home and there is always a lurking feeling that I could have done more (in either place), but I am just doing my best.  I am enjoying my classes and feel like I am understanding and applying my knowledge.  My research questions are slow in being formed and a lot of that is due to my inexperience in the chemistry...but I continue to work and learn and believe that it will all come out right on time.

We love all of you and think of you often.  Happy Valentines Day!

becky

ben and tamme

Family, 

In Texas there is still talk of seceding from the Nation.  I am torn on whether or not to support.  I figure if we do secede, not only will we get a tax break but we might get more financial support from the Federal government than we will if we remain :)

On a more serious note, we are really good.  We are staying busy.  We have healthy kids and we have a good job.  We really enjoy the letters and talking with each of you.

Tamme was released from prison yesterday in a surprise move by the judge, Bishop Marble, who opted for her early parole.  No more 5 AM mornings with 13 youth and 2 foreign-language adults followed by long days in which the lesson for the following day must be prepared.  It is really a great relief.  Seminary has been a wonderful blessing.  Tamme was able to immerse herself in the scriptures much like she would have had she served a mission.  She has made lasting impressions on each of the youth and they were all terribly sad to hear of her release.  We don't grow unless we are stretched and I am thankful that we were stretched through seminary rather than other trials these past few years.

Kloey was nominated by her peers to run for the 3rd grade class president. She gave her platform speech this afternoon which consisted of "Hi, I would like to be your president, I hope enjoy your cookies."  She then passed out the vote bribe which was a chocolate chip cookie with a note that said:

VOTE FOR KLOEY AND HAVE A KOOKIE!

I thought her platform was foolproof!  In the end, the cookies were not passed out until after the vote and she was a runner-up.  Many of of her peers told her they would have voted for her if they knew they would get such yummy cookies.

Kael is playing basketball.  He is focusing on being more aggressive.  He is very good.  This past week he was asked to guard the "Michael Jordan" in his league for the entire game.  In the first half, Jordan scored about 12 field goals which is a lot but many fewer than he usually gets.  We talked to Kael about guarding his strong dribbling hand and in the second half Mr. Jordan was held to 2 field goals and Kael forced about 7 turn-overs!  We were really excited for Kael.

Galilee Rose is staying busy at home with Mom.  She is getting taller but is still pretty chunky and so CUTE!  She and Sadee are good friends and they play together most of the day.

Sadee is screaming less which we really appreciate.  For a while there we thought she was practicing to join the SIRENS in the Odyssey.  She is our little snuggler.  When you pick her up she leans in and just snuggles on you-it is really nice.  She also loves to go everywhere with Dad, which Dad loves!

We love you.  We hope you are well,
-Ben and Family

nick and deb

Hello Family,

Glad you all are so busy! It means things are going well (or well enough) right now. 

We are a busy family, too:

Nick continues to put 50 hours of work in a week, then comes home to be with kids, go to mutual activities or more work. He's been pretty awesome while I've been so busy.

Deb is teaching, in a musical that ends on Feb 14!, playing with kiddos, doing flashcards with our READER!!!!! or taking walks with Matthew as Claire zooms back and forth on her bike. 

Claire is READING! Her first words are SEE, TEA, ME, KEY. We had a blast putting together her first Valentines for her class party. She's working on getting over her 3rd ear infection of the season.

Matthew DRUGGED up. He has prescription eye drops, ear drops, nose drops, an oral antibiotic, florid and anti acid. His poor breathing is awful and the ENT suggested all this and another check in 2 months. He is adorable and tries to do everything Claire does. Anytime Claire is holding a crayon, he signs Please, help and says "uh uh uh uh" until he has exactly what she has. 

Our family is well and growing.

How is YOURS!?!

We love you,

nick, deb, claire and matthew

tim and jill

Hello Mathews' Family...
Just checking in.  Spent the morning with Ellie as she made each of you a special Valentine!  She wrote each of your names very carefully as well as hers.  Her poor little hand was tired after an hour of writing everyone's names.  Liam joined in too with happy scribbles signed with his love too. Wanted to share this with you because I don't think you will get your cards in time.  We want you to know that we are all thinking of you and miss you lots!  Hope you all have a special Valentines! 
 
Hope you all are doing well...XO
Tim, Jill, Ellie, Liam & Brooks too

bill and rosi

Hi Guys!!

Hope you are having a nice Sabbath morning.  We woke up to rain that is now turned into quite a snow storm.  I am glad that it is not a week day.  I can stay home and enjoy it.

I have forwarded an email to you from Robert (Bob) Trimble.   Most of you are aware that they are some of our good friends from Reno.   She has leukemia and is very ill.  My heart hurts for them.   (Bob is the guy I held hands with in the movie on one side and held hands with Dad on the other side.  Tee hee)

Becky wanted the recipe for the Lorraine Mathews' applesauce cake.  (I thought that I would just ship it to all of you.)  This has been Dad's favorite since he was a little boy.  The problem is that Rosi's effort at making this cake never measures up with Lorraine's.  (even in my own eyes.)  She used wine...  I use egg.  I think that is the difference.

Mathews Applesauce Cake

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cup applesauce (stir in 1 tsp soda.  Let it sit for 5 minutes.   It "sours" the applesauce)

1 cup sugar

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped nuts (if desired)

2 small or 1 large egg

Cloves, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg

     (over a tsp each.   Lorraine used tons...  until the batter turned brown.)

2 cups flour

Stir big time.   Grease an 9 square pan (or equivalent)

Bake at 360 for 40 to 50 minutes    ENJOY

My Concert   "Music from the Movies"   is going well.   I spent all of yesterday (Saturday) putting the technical issues together.  It is a big job.  I am a bit crazy.  But you know what?  It is satisfying and brings me joy.  It also has a profound effect on about 250 kids.  Dad is very patient.  He NEVER complains.  He has come to the school a couple of days this week and just sat in the audience and watched.  I look at him occasionally and he is smiling.  Thank you Big Bill.  That is what I call him when I introduce him to the kids or talk to them about him.  "My Big Bill".  Yesterday he did all of the laundry and when I came home my undies were all carefully folded and in my drawer.  Isn't that nice?

We stopped out at Luke's to wish him a happy birthday this week.  It was so good to be in their home.  They have such a beautiful family.  Little Parker is growing like a week.

Nick came with kiddos Friday night and we went to a Utah State Alumni Sweetheart's Dinner at the old Court house in Provo.  It was so nice.  Great food and awesome program.   A guitar and clarinet ensemble.  Professors from USU.  World Class.  WE LOVED IT or at least Rosi did.

Have a wonderful week.   We sure love you guys.

Mom

 Claire is sitting on my lap.  She just woke up.  She has her frog blankee.  It is pink and green.  She is awesome.  She is sad because when she woke up she accidentely woke up her brother, Matthew.  I am writing this note to my Aunt's and Uncles.  Claire says "HELLO COUSINS.  COME AND SEE ME!!!!!"

Bye bye for now Friends!

Claire

tim and jill

Aloha!
It's always so great to hear how everyone is doing.  I always love reading the Mathews' Familly Newsletters. 

Tomorrow Tim and I celebrate our 8th anniversary!  It's amazing how quickly time flies.  We are hoping to get a moment away this weekend to go out on a date to celebrate while my good friend tends to our little ones.

Ellie and Liam are great!  If we could just keep Liam from bumping his forehead on a daily basis...the poor kid is always getting a goose egg one way or another.  I worry...he is special to me I just don't want him to be "special" from hitting his head too much!  Ellie is such a great sister to him.  She is always helping him and letting him know she cares.  My favorite time of the day is when the kids wake up and they say good morning to each other and sit side by side with their juice cups and enjoy watching an early morning cartoon together on the couch.  The LOVE is so sweet...and I am thankful for that sweetness everyday.

We miss you all!  Rhode Island is treating us well...although it's been cold...its been a very mild winter.  It feels like spring is on it's way.

Deb...I'm getting those clothes together soon.  I have been totally sidetracked.  Remind me...what sizes are you in need of and I imagine you are looking for spring/summer clothing?

Take care...lots of Love...
Tim, Jill, Ellie, Liam

nick and deb

crazy how life just gets away from you! Glad you've tried to keep it up, Mom. It's good to hear how you're doing. Was sad I never heard Marlies was in town though :(

Amy, we have that stuff and Nick's trip will be on Thursday this week. He's going down to Bountiful. Is that far enough or do you want to wait until the next trip? Unknown date on that, though.

Becky, clothes are COMING! I just boxed them Saturday. It'll come down in 2-3 loads but 1 month at a time. I will send the first one on Thurs or Friday.

Marlies! You came to utah and didn't tell me. You might be a bit fired. Claire keeps telling me that she's a peassssant.

Ben, received your package yet?

We are desperately looking for a different job for Nick. We've all been sick. Claire loves school (jill---I've been meaning to ask what you do for a curriculum for preschool...?). We have her primary teachers come to us at the end of every Sunday to tell us what new things she said because apparently she is the funniest thing they've ever heard. Lately, it's "Sister Roxy? Do you enjoy your sleeves?" We've been working on modesty... or upon introduction to others she commonly tells them, "I barfed in my bed last years." as opposed to, "My name is Claire." And it doesn't help that we commonly laugh or others laugh so she's further encouraged. Matthew doesn't like to talk much, but he is into everything! He still signs like crazy and it's hilarious to watch him now make up his own signs (coat is a particular favorite. He mimes putting on a coat, the points to you and mimes putting on a coat and then points to the door and waves 'bye bye' because he wants to go outside).

we love you all,

nick, deb, claire and matthew

bill and rosi

Hello Dear Family,

I wanted to say hi and let you know that Dad and I are thinking about you all.

We had a great surprise this week.  Marlies came on Thursday night and just left today.  It was perfect timing as Dad would have been alone all weekend because I had a District Music performance and I had to be gone to.      I came home from school on Thursday and the minute I walked in the door, Dad yelled "come here, I have some great news".   I said "please let me put my books and purse down".  He wanted me RIGHT NOW.  He then proceeded to tell me that Marlies was coming.   They had such a great time together. I told her that she must have been listening to the spirit as I knew that Dad would be lonely.  They also got to spend quality time with Luke and family.

Parker is such a sweet little girl.  I see her about once a week and I just want to hold her and drink in her sweet spirit.  (It feels like it "seeps" into my body.)    Amy is doing well.  She is such a good Mommie and seems to be on top of things.   

We had a fun weekend with Nick and Deb a couple of weeks ago.  Puzzles, a tea party (with Deb and Claire), shopping, BBQ ribs, German pancakes and more.

It has been fun to follow our two oldest grandsons and their basketball life.   We have seen two of Tyler's games and gotten good reports on Kael's games back there in Texas.  

I am beginning a very busy month of Feb.  Our big show is shaping up and I think that it will be very nice.  Thanks to all of you who have made suggestions. Many are included.  Marlies and Dad came and watched a rehearsal of my A Cappella choir on Friday.  it was fun to have family there.

I think that you know that Laurel is getting married.  The date is May 12th (I told some of you that it was the 18th and that was wrong.)  I am sure that Cristi would love to have all of you come, but since that isn't possible make sure to connect with them.   The Bullochs have supported us in so many ways.

Have a wonderful week.   I love you.

Mom