Alex and Tim's Summer Adventure

Chrystal complained that I haven't put anything in our blog about Alex and my visit to Idaho and Utah, specifically our visit with Chrystal and Chris.

Our first stop was in Des Moine, IA to have breakfast with Joe, Tracy, and Corbin Lowery and Toni Frame.  Breakfast was good but the company was awesome.  It had been too many years since we saw them and it was so good to see how well they were doing.  I'm the fat guy in brown.  Alex is standing next the largest ear of corn he's ever seen.

 On the way through Nebraska we hit 200,000 miles on our Blazer.  Since Alex put many of those miles on, he was given the honor of driving it when it rolled over.  Mile marker 23 in Nebraska.

 Our next stop was at Chrystal and Chris' for a couple of days before heading to Boise.  On the way to Boise we had a great visit with Karl and Linda Henderson in Farr West and spent time in their pool cooling off.  Then we were off to Boise.

The main reason to go to Boise was to deliver a Tree of Life mailbox that my sister-in-law, Kirsten, ordered.  One of my students made it for a project.  It really turned out great.

Our work began on Mom's (Joyce Mast) "Honey-Do-List".  It started with only 3 on the list, but it grew to 15 by the time we got done.  The biggest project was cleaning Dad's (George Mast) garage.  This was a 2 1/2 day project cleaning out "treasure" from years of collecting.  We started by moving all the large shop equipment to Neil's.  Next was putting up shelves to get the hundreds of canning jars, thanks Neil, off the floor.  We were able to put most of the food storage stuff on the shelves with plenty of room for more.  With all the cleaning we actually found a work bench there.

We did a lot of painting on the window frames and front door.  Neil fixed the in ground water sprinklers and tried to soak me while I was fixing the front steps.  It was very rewarding to do all this work for Nancy's parents.  I love them very much.


We had a good time at Neil and Kirsten's, BBQing on a wonderful summer night

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Ok.  Now the fun part of our trip.  Alex and I spent 5 days with Chrystal and Chris.  We went to Mt. Timpanogos National Park.  Alex and I tried to hike the trail, but the altitude and being old was too much for me.  We took pictures instead.

Of course we played with Ridik and Mogie, their cats.

Tall mountain, short daughter

Alex almost fell in the river.

Chrystal

 My last visit was with Claire Everson and her family.  They are soooo cute.

Alex and I made it home safely and it was a great road trip with my son.  He is a senior this year and that may have been the only time he and I get to take a trip like that before he serves his mission as he turns 19 next August.  We will see where that adventure takes us.

The New Arrival

I'm not a good blog updater and too much has happened since Chrystal updated our blog last year.  Since the update we are now very proud grandparents of Jonathan Otto Dillivan III, who was born March 27th.  We call him LJ for Little John.  He is so precious and such a good baby.  He is now 6 months old and almost crawling.  He likes to rock back and forth until he lunges forward.  He gets where he wants to, just not very fast yet.  LJ and Grandpa are great buddies.  They laugh at each other which is very contagious for everyone else.  Unfortunately LJ live in Memphis with Mom and Dad, so we don't see him as often as we would like.

A lot has happen this year. The most exciting news was that Beth was married to John Dillivan on March 28^th. It was a beautiful, small wedding in Logan, Utah. It was a quick change in the date as they were planning on getting married in June, but because they were moving to Mississippi in April they moved it up. Of course, they called us on March 1^st to tell us the date was changed. The wedding was during our Spring Break, which would be fine except Nancy and Alex were going to New York for a choir trip. I was able to get Nancy a ticket at the last minute, but she didn’t arrive until the night before the wedding. I told Beth I couldn’t make it because we couldn’t afford it at the time. I lied and surprised her a few days before the wedding at her work. She called me a “Jerk”. The thanks I get. It was a fun surprise. We are excited to have John as part of our family.

If you hadn’t noticed the baby count down, Beth is due with our first grandchild in March. This Spring Break we will be prepared for this blessing. We are sooooo excited about this little blessing. Beth and John now live near Memphis, TN so getting there is easier by car than when she lived in Utah.

Now about the rest of the family.

Nancy – She is just amazing, but I’m bias. Not only is she beautiful, a great mother, wonderful wife and friend, she is also a full-time student while working full-time. Of course she gets A’s (makes me sick). Nancy is working on her teaching degree, K-3 with Special Ed. She can’t stand that I am off during the summers and now with a grand-baby coming, she is really jealous that I can take off and see the baby. Nancy teaches 8 year olds at church. Currently she just has one student and he’s her favorite. She is so excited to become a grandmother and join her sisters in the “Grandmother Club”, finally.

Chrystal and Chris – These two love birds now live in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Chris now works for Ebay and Chrystal transferred with her company there. They are still very happy and enjoy life together. Chris is finishing up school and they hope to start their family soon. Chrystal came to Wisconsin in June to surprise her grandparents for their 50^th anniversary. She loves the humidity, not. It was fun having her home and keeping her up at night with our snoring.

Alex – He is now a junior in high school. Holy Cow, where did the time go? He was in the school’s musical “Footloose” as Principal Clark. Alex did a good job at pointing the finger and lecturing. I wonder where he may have seen that before? Alex attends seminary every morning at 6:00 am before school. He gets up on his own, picks up another person and gets there to study the scriptures. This year he is studying Church History. Alex loves going to seminary each morning, mostly because he has an awesome teacher in Sister Shearer. The kids love her and she loves them back. It’s like having another mother watching over your kid. Alex loves teasing his cat Kiki and putting things high on the shelf for his mom to sputter about. He’s a Momma’s Boy.

Tim – What can I say about myself without sounding boastful? I love my family and friends, love serving in the Young Men’s presidency and working with some exceptional young men, enjoys summers off from school, enjoys teaching and challenging students to be better, and just loves life. I am working at two different schools and school districts this year. This keeps me busy as the schools are 16 miles apart. I was nervous about teaching at Beloit at first, but it has been fun. I teach a pre-engineering class (Digital Electronics) at Beloit. At Clinton I teach all the metals and welding classes. I also am an advisor for our SkillsUSA chapter, coach cross-country and girl’s softball, and am working to get my classes in line with Blackhawk Technical College. I hope to get started on my masters in Tech Ed during the summer. I know I’m not as smart as my wife, so don’t expect A’s. Maybe I am smarter than her since I did marry her.

We had a busy year. Tim’s parents, Dan and Phyllis, celebrated their 50^th anniversary in June. It was a wonderful weekend. The party was shared with Harlan and Robert Thieding for their 40^th. We did this so more people could attend both parties. There were about 300 in attendance. It was great seeing cousins, aunts, uncles, and many friends.

I would like to take this time to list what we are thankful for. I am going to list them all and if I leave someone out I apologize now. If we know you, we are thankful for your friendship. Here goes.

• For Heavenly Father’s love and patience for us

• Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice for us

• For each other and being an eternal family

• Our parents – Dan & Phyllis Thieding and George & Joyce Mast

• Our grandparents who have all gone on before us but left great memories

• Our brothers and sisters even though you may have been a pain in the rear when we were younger

• Our daughters and their husbands

• Our handsome son – loves his momma

• Becoming a grandparent

• Karl and Linda Henderson for sharing the gospel with us and changing our lives forever

• Robin Shearer for teaching seminary

• Scott Shearer for having such a wonder family and sharing them with us

• Dave and Kathy Reynolds and rekindling a friendship

• Robert and Tammy Blotter for their great example to the youth of Marquette, MI

• Sheree and Art Ontto for being good friends

• All of our friends in the U.P.

• Our great friends in the Janesville Ward

• Our jobs even when they stress us out

• Our education

• A warm home to live in even though Nancy complains about being cold

• Working vehicles to get us where we want to go

• Good health and good insurance

• Steve Merrill for being my first Home Teaching companion

• Mike, Kristen, Danielle (AKA George), Joe, Samantha, David, Abby, and Madison Nelson for being a great family we loved to home teach and miss very much

• The ability to make people laugh

• Anyone who we did not list as you are in our hearts

• The Green Bay Packers whipping the Vikings and Brett Favre
  

We hope you enjoyed this update. May you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy “Safe” New Year. We are so blessed and grateful for all we have, most importantly great friends and family.

From their favorite daughter...

Hi everyone, it's me, Chrystal, Tim and Nancy's favorite daughter (haha). I've been getting on them for months now to update their blog and I've decided to take matters into my own hands. I recently redid their background on their blog to make it more interesting and fun to look at and now I'm leaving a post. This is what they get for giving me their log in and password!

Chris and I have been keeping busy and have been married for almost a year now (June 20th). We are both anxiously awaiting summer and can't wait for the hot weather to get here. We are still living in Logan Utah and for some reason summer has been coming around late the last few years. We are ready for some boating, BBQing and fun in the sun. We've enjoyed our first year of marriage very much and can't wait for many more to come.

Beth was married in March and I'll leave that up to mom and dad to post about, I can't take away all their thunder. It was nice to see Beth so happy and Chris and I wish Beth and John all the best in their new life together. I'll leave the rest of the family updates to my parents now. We love you mom and dad!!! XOXO

The Year Continues

We made it through the wonderful time in Utah and Idaho. On the way to the airport, Beth'sboyfriend John, asked for my consent to marry Beth. After some discussion, I gave my approval. After a couple of weeks John proposed to Beth and she said yes. After changing dates the few times they will be married on June 19th, 2010 in Smithfield, UT. This is 364 days since the last wedding. We are excited to have John Dillivan become part of our family. He really makes Beth happy and he is a great guy. John is a fireman and is teaching Beth how to cook. He is definitely a brave guy, but it is handy having fire fighting skills with Beth in the kitchen.

August 16th was a big day Alex as he turned 16. He got his license in October and now is more independent than ever, but not much of a social life yet. It is nice being able to send him to the store for milk or let him drive to seminary in the morning. Alex is active in his school choir and will be in the musical "Footloose". He has the part of Principal Clark. He doesn't have to dance much.

During the summer Alex worked in the corn field bagging tassels and spent a week at Boundary Waters with Dad and young men from church. Having bears stealing packs and visiting camp the first night are still being talked about. It was a lot of work portaging canoes and packs, but it was work it to see the beautiful country and catch some fish. It was a great time.

I started my 6th year teaching and 3rd year at Clinton High School. I am busy coaching cross country, fast pitch softball, working with Boy Scouts and Young Men from our church, fixing things for Nancy at her daycare, and trying to update this blog. I love teaching and each year my students challenge me to be a better teacher and in-turn I challenge them with tougher projects. They work hard and enjoy my classes, so they say. I get few who just want to "hang-out", but I make them work for their grade.

Nancy is in her 4th year as Program Director at Community Kids Day Care. She is working on getting her bachelors degree in Early Child Care. She loves taking classes on line ( I hate on line classes). Her life is never dull. Between keeping the center going, school, Primary teacher at church, working out with me, and being the glue that hold the family together (we are a little cracked). Nancy is more nervous about Alex driving than I am, it's a mother thing.

We have been doing Jillian Michaels weight loss and fitness program. We started in Oct and have each lost 20-25 pounds (Nancy is the biggest loser so far). Our goal is to be able to play with grandchildren when they come and not be too winded to enjoy them. We are feeling so much better and we still have a long way to go, but we enjoy doing this together. We encourage each other and there is a little competition going on.

December brought us our first snow fall of the year and it was a doosy. 18-24" of heavy, wet snow. It was beautiful, but a lot of work for a snow day.

This brings us the end of 2009. We have really been blessed this year. Our children bring us much joy and we are extremely proud of them and who they have become. We are blessed by the many friends we have. With the use of Facebook, we are able to stay in touch with them and find some we lost track of. We wish each and everyone of our family and friends a very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year. It is our testimony that Jesus Christ lives and is our Savior. We are so grateful for His atonement and giving Himself for us. Our Father in Heaven loves and knows each of us personally. He knows what we need and hears our prayers. May you put your trust in that knowledge and enjoy the blessings that come along your way. We love you guys, ya'll, yous guys, or however you say friends.

Chrystal and Chris's Wedding

Well the big day had arrived and we were so excited. I think Chrystal and Chris were the calmest people in the family. I know that Tim and I were very emotional the day of the wedding, okay Tim was a big baby. There were many tears of joy shed that day. It all started at the breakfast when Tim read the poem he wrote for them. Here is the poem.

As you begin your journey together in love,

Remember where it began many years ago.

You left your Father from above,

To begin your life, learn and grow.

Your parents loved and cared for you,

Teaching you right from wrong.

You learned and grew,

And found your special song.

The song of peace and joy,

A song of love and life.

You began a little girl and a little boy,

Now you continue as husband and wife.

Now take this journey together in love,

Watching those who have raised you thus far.

Walking in the plan of our Father above,

Building a life, a future, a home with heart.

Chris and Chrystal we give you this day,

Our love and devotion.

To help you walk uprightly in love,

With much heartfelt emotion.

You are no longer our little ones to protect,

But our big ones to watch and adore.

With much love and caring we expect,

Grandchildren to fill our homes, a couple or more.

May you enjoy your journey and finish your Qwest,

Becoming one as you take each other this day.

We love you and wish you the best,

For Time and Eternity is all we can say.

The ceremony at the temple was awesome and Chrystal was so beautiful smiling across the alter at Chris. It was great to see so many there.

The reception was full of laughter, food and good freinds and family getting to know each other better. Thanks for all those who came to make that day so special for Chrystal and us.

There were so many pictures taken that it's hard to choose which ones to put on the blog. But here are a few of my favorite ones.

Guess who caught the bouquet??!!?? It was so funny none of the girls really wanted to caught it because they all had boyfriends. So no one really reached out to get it but it fell right into Beth's hands and she had no choice, more about that later.

Then of course the Daddy - Daughter Dance.

For more on Chrystal and Chris see their blog at chrisandchrystal.blogspot.com

A Year in

Review.

We thought with all the technology at hand we would take advantage of if for a change. This blog starts our "Year in Review". With so much that has happened this year, a Christmas letter would just not do. We hope you enjoy all the pictures and stories from this past year.

It all started last December 19th when a little Christmas surprise showed up. Our daughter, Chrystal, surprised the family with then fiance, Chris McCullough. We knew they were coming since we picked them up from the airport, but not the family. We spent the day at Tom and Pam's celebrating December birthdays. Grandma arrived sputtering about being late (on time for normal people) and was thrilled to see Chrystal and Chris. There was a lot of buzz. In spite of meeting the "Thieding Clan", Chris still married Chrystal on June 20th, 2009. More to come about that day.

As the holidays flew by, the planning of the wedding began. Chrystal chose June 20th as the wedding day. She didn't really think much about the date, just when the temple and reception hall would be available. It turned out to be our anniversary. We were excited about celebrating our anniversary with Chris and Chrystal.

Tim and Nancy, June 20th, 1981

The next biggest event was Nancy's 50th birthday on April 20th. She said she wasn't going to celebrate this birthday, but that would quickly change. Her loving husband and son planned a surprise party. Nancy had "no" clue about the party. She still didn't realize a party was happening when Tom and Pam showed up the day before to say hi. Following them an "old lady" with a cane arrived to wish Nancy a happy birthday. Soon other friends began showing up for the "non-celebration" of Nancy's 50th birthday. Nancy was so surprised and heard throughout the neighborhood was, "Oh Tim, you brat!" She still looks great at 50. (This poster was the one that Tim made to put up at work. It's about 18"X24".)

At the end of April Alex began Driver's Ed. Soooo scary! He was excited to begin and Mom was nervous. We quickly found that Nancy needed to sit in the back and let Tim be the co-pilot. Alex drove throughout the summer and had to wait 6 months from the start of his class before he could try for his license. More to come on that.

It wasn't long before June was here and the wedding was near. Nancy and Phyllis (Tim's Mom) flew out to Utah on June 12th to help Chrystal with the wedding set-up. Grandma Phyllis was excited to see her 1st grandchild get married. Tim and Alex joined them about 5 days later. They arrived in Salt Lake City and took Phyllis on a tour of Temple Square. It had been a long time since Phyllis had visited (1993) and a few things had changed. Phyllis enjoyed the tour through the Conference Center and later the open house at the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple.