Sunday, February 7, 2010

Hancock Memorable Memories

I’ll be posting some fun videos from our past periodically.  Enjoy!!!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Hi everyone, I hope all you survived the holidays and are getting back to normal. I am so proud of Brittany/Jason and Kaylie/LJ for posting on the blog. I'm hoping everyone else will get with it and keep in touch. We really enjoy reading about the happenings in the family.

Since it's been a while since we wrote we thought we'd mention some of the highlights of the past few month. November was one of the best and busiest months we've had in a long time. It was so sad that Grandma Hancock passed away, but it was also a blessing. She would say, " I'm so tired." She wanted to go home. It made us so happy that all of you were able to come to her funeral. It meant a lot to Dad/Grandpa. Every day we say how blessed we are to have all of you in our family.

We were excited for Tyson to turn 12 and receive the priesthood. He is doing a good job passing the sacrament. It was a fantastic experience to be in the temple together for Kaylie and Zach's endowment session. When Brittany and Jason came in, it made it even more special. The wedding was also fantastic. To be in the temple with all the families was so wonderful. It is the thing parents dream of. All of you made our dreams come true. The reception was so much fun. Steve and Lynette and everyone made everything so special.

It is hard to believe that we have two grandsons entering the mission field. They both did a fantastic job on their talks in sacrament meeting. I know they will make great missionaries. We are so proud of them.

Thanksgiving was great with most of the family here. We had a houseful, but it was really fantastic. We are grateful that our house will hold everyone. It was really fun.

We enjoyed a traditional Christmas Eve with the family, and a quiet Christmas morning with Dona and Jared. It was nice having them here with us. They keep asking us where the hiding place is for the Christmas presents. We aren't going to tell!! Jared fixed a really nice Christmas dinner with Prime Rib, garlic mashed potatoes, and spinach salad. It was really good, but we all ate too much.

Our trip to Portland was memorable because we got in a hugh snowstorm just as we got to Portland. It was horrible. After driving seven hours, we spent three more hours trying to get to one of the kid's houses. Finally on our second attempt we were able to get to Mike's. There were cars off the road everywhere. No one could get up the hills. We had to turn around a couple of times and go in a different direction. It is amaziang that we didn't get lost. We had lots of fun with the families there. We ate dinner at everyone's house, and played a lot of games. We had a New Year's Eve party at Chad's. The kids had a great time making noise. When the New Year approached we watched the ball drop in New York. The kids went outside and celebrated with an air horn. There were a lot of fireworks going off also. We couldn't see them but we could hear them. We had a great time.

It was special to see Ryan baptized. He was very excited, and he only had to go down once. We are so grateful that you parents are teaching your children to do what's right.

When we got home life got pretty busy. We had to prepare an Arrow of Light ceremony for Cub Scouts. I got Dad/Grandpa to dress up as Chief Akela. He borrowed an Indian headdress from a friend. The ceremony was pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. The Scouts were very quiet throughout the ceremony. That is how you know if it's any good.

This has been way too long. We hope all of you will post your Blog's. We need to keep in touch. If we don't hear from you, you'll be getting a reminder from us. We love all of you and miss you. Love, Mom and Dad/Grandma and Grandpa.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Libby's Post

Hey, Everyone--

This'll be quick, I promise! In fact, I'll use a list to make it easier--


IT WAS WONDERFUL to be at Kaylie and LJ's wedding dinner and sealing and reception: the two of you were so happy and just glowed--CONGRATULATIONS again! I know how much it meant to Brittany to have the Oregonians at her wedding, so I do understand how much it meant to have them come again for yours--it's been a banner travel year for them! A strange connection occurred: LJ's mom's cousin is MY cousin, Jolyn Heder! (The look on his face in the sealing room when I mentioned I was related to Jo was priceless. =) She assured me that LJ is as great as Kaylie says he is, and I assured her that Kaylie is as great as LJ says SHE is, so they'll be great together! It's a small world, isn't it?

Attending Nate's and Zach's Missionary Farewells was a wonderful experience. How GRATEFUL I am for the example they are setting for their younger cousins, and for the people in their ward. They are AMAZING young men, and I know their mission locations will be well-served. Some of you know that Zach will be in my parent's mission in Ecuador--I'm excited to have that extra link in place, and know that my parents are looking forward to getting to know another Hancock and serve with him! Steve and Lynette: after the past few month's milestones, it is EXTREMELY clear that you are wonderful parents and have reared your children "in righteousness"...you both also serve as humble but exemplary examples of parenting to all of us. Thank you for all you've done and do.

My aircast came off and a strong brace went on December 22, 2009--it was great to wear BOTH shoes for a change, although there are only two pairs that have enough "give" to handle the extra space that the brace takes up. By the time school started, I was pronounced "able to walk without it" so that's what I've been doing for the past two weeks. On Mondays my ankle looks and feels pretty good, but by the end of the day--and week, especially--it's not so great. I guess this is just one of those things that I'll be dealing with forever--at least in this life. Movement in my ankle is okay, though not at 100%, and may never be--I don't know about physical therapy yet; my last appointment is supposed to be February 2nd. Maybe we'll get some money from Worker's Comp to make up for the lifetime "loss" of full movement (Dad's idea)?
School has been crazy. Most of you know Dave didn't get the director position: a management company run by a former businessman (he's been in Charter Schools for 5 years) got the job. As he is the current f/t principal for his own school, he won't even be at ours more than once a week or so, which raises other questions. Mr. Muhlestein (new director) has spent one week--parts of it, really--at our school and has done the following: cut one f/t teacher to p/t; cut one f/t teacher to 1/4 time; fired the entire counseling dept. and the librarian; moved one teacher to 1/2 time teaching and made him an asst. principal; moved Dave to 3/4 teaching and 1/4 time administration duty (with no prep); moved me to 1/2 time teaching and 1/2 time administration; and we'll probably find out about more changes on Tuesday. Dave doesn't know yet what his 1/4 time admin duties are; I have been asked to handle communication within/out the school, public relations/marketing, and recruiting, as well as be a "sounding board" to the new director. (He said that's because he gets the impression that I'm not afraid to say what I think, and he's right--what he doesn't know is that I'm so frustrated I simply don't care if what I say gets me fired or not. [This attitude does concern Dave, so I just don't tell him ahead of time what I'm going to say--or to whom it will be said.] Along with all the other teachers, I'm thoroughly fed up with the lack of communication, honesty, and integrity within administration--not to mention ridiculous financial decisions--so I'm really just say what everyone else is thinking.) I'm a little overwhelmed by what I think Mr. M wants me to do, but as Dave said, at least we have jobs through May. We should be able to get our official licenses (level 1) by then, and if we lose our jobs, we'll be able to look at "real" school districts, so that's good.
Dave gets to teach a Chess class as an elective, and also a Creative Writing (grades 10-12) so he's happy with those. James is in the Chess club and class and excited about his improvements as he plays. Isaac is now playing chess as well: he knows which way each piece can move, and plays with Katie and his Dad and really enjoys the game. (Dave is happy he finally has James and Isaac to play at home, although the level of competition isn't very high.=)
Dave was just released from YM and is now a co-teacher of Isaac's Primary class; I'm still doing the Ward Choir Director and Sacrament Chorister callings. We both start attending school again, Wednesday nights, beginning on January 20, 2010: the class will go through May, and then we'll still have one more to take in the summer.

Audrey was just asked to serve on the Stake Youth Council with 12 others; she'll be helping plan TREK for the 1300 youth in our stake. She's okay with the job, but annoyed that everyone thinks she'll be going, as she doesn't plan to: she went with our stake in CA and needs to work and/or attend school somewhere this summer...we'll see. She was just asked to join the high school's Madrigals, so she's excited about that, and is considering trying out for the drama dept.'s musical this semester, too--wow!

Isaac said just last week that he still misses our "real home" (in California), and so do I. Katie still misses her friends there as much as I miss mine, but everyone else seems settled in well enough, and thoroughly enjoy seeing their cousins more often than in the past.
Sorry that wasn't exactly short, but at least it's finally IN!

Libby

Friday, January 15, 2010

This post is a long time coming...

Okay, okay, so I haven't been so faithful with my Hancock Herald blog posts (or any blog posts for that matter); but I, like Brittany, miss the Hancock Herald. Let's get some updates up in here, people. :)

First, I don't know if I've done this on here, yet, but I want to thank everyone for coming down and supporting LJ and me on our special day. It really meant so much to have all of you there-- I can't possibly express how much it meant to us.

Since that fateful day, we've been busy being newlyweds, and doing typical newlywed things. We spent a week in Jersey after the wedding for Thanksgiving and our reception out there, and then headed back to Provo to take finals and get back into the swing of things. About a week after returning home, I got in a car accident. Yes, I know. Again. Totaled the Prizm, which was tragic because I loved that car. (I am severely understating here. I was extremely upset at the time.) We worked things out with one car, though, until last week, after repacing tires and a catalytic converter (which I called a cadillac converter for a week before LJ corrected me), the Jetta clearly told us that it did not want to drive another mile. This week has been interesting-- my work and school schedule is so bizarre that I thought there was no way anyone could give me lifts to and from-- But it all worked out really nicely. We looked and looked and looked for cars all week, and finally found a 1998 Hyundai Tiburon in really good shape for $1800. It was such a blessing, and definitely an answer to prayer.

Our first Christmas was a lot of fun. We did our own Christmas on Christmas Eve morning, and then spent the rest of the holiday with the fam. We talked to both Nate and Trey, which was wonderful. We spent the week after Christmas with LJ's family.

We're back in school, and it looks as though I am on track to graduate April of '11. I think I can hold out 'til then. LJ is probably going to major in Chinese, but he has a little bit longer than I do. LJ got a job with campus event planning. He plans most all of the events that happen on BYU campus. It's part-time during school, and full-time spring and summer. I'm still doing the orthodontic assisting thing.

Life is good. :)

We love everyone, and can't wait to hear about your lives!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Christmas in CA

I've been waiting for two weeks now for someone else to post so I wouldn't have to post on this blog back-to-back, but I'm excited to write and can't wait any longer. =P

Christmas was absolutely WONDERFUL. =) We spent this Christmas with Jason's side of the family, and it was really fun for me to get to know all the extended family. They are an interesting group. =P We were given a sandwich maker like the one Grandma and Grandpa always used to make us cousins grilled cheese sandwiches as kids, which was super exciting. I'd always thought that sandwich maker was one of Grandma and Grandpa's coolest gadgets, and swore I'd have one someday. =)

Now for my extra-super-exciting news... Jason got me a piano!!! =D !!! It was a complete surprise. Jason and I set a twenty dollar budget for each other to spend on each other this Christmas, so I was completely speechless when I went to turn off the outside Christmas lights (the switch is in the garage) and found a piano sitting there with a bow on it. Though the garage was dim, Jason managed to catch my reaction on camera>



I'll admit I cried. As you all know music has always been a very important part of my life, and the piano especially. I'd been playing on a shaky keyboard that didn't have all the keys (for which I was grateful - it was better than nothing at all - but there's just no denying that it is NOT the same as a real piano) for the past eight months. This piano is a Starck 1921 stand-up grand>



So how did Jason pull off this extraordinary gift? He posted a "Wanted" add on Craig's list for, "a piano for my wife's first Christmas." An older couple in Long Beach (about two hours west of where we live) responded and told Jason he could have the piano for free if he would come and pick it up. One day, Jason went over to his brother's house to baby-sit our nephew. He was going to be back in time for me to leave for work originally, but then something came up (I assumed with his brother's doctor's appointment taking too long) and my mother-in-law had to drive me to work that day. Little did I know that Jason's brother and dad were actually on their way to Long Beach in my father-in-law's truck to haul the piano away and hide it in the garage (which we use for storage, rather than for cars, so it was pretty much guaranteed I wouldn't be in there for the next few days).

I am so blessed to have a husband who is so keenly aware of those things that make my heart happy. Piano is a part of me. And he recognized that and worked to make a piano happen. I am also truly grateful to have in-laws I can not only tolerate (which is more than some of my friends can say) but love! =)

We had a wonderful first Christmas together and are sure Kaylie and LJ did as well (keep us posted! =). We hope all of you enjoyed your not-so-first Christmases (each one gets better-right?). We love you, are thinking of you, and would love to see more blog posts soon!

Love,
Brittany and Jason

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Happy Holidays from CA

It was fun seeing everyone at Kaylie and LJ's wedding! =) Me and Jason are very grateful to have been able to come. Next time we come perhaps we can stay a little longer...

Other than our trip to Utah, November was mostly uneventful. Now, being half way through December, we have some news: Jason has another calling... in the nursery! =D He keeps acting like he's not looking forward to it, but he's so good with our nephew (and kids in general) that I know he'll be good at it and grow to love those kids (even if he denies it). It should be a fun experience. I'm still teaching the CTR 6 class.

Jason is back in work as a substitute teacher for Riverside County, and it's been really good for him. He's not the type that likes to sit still and do nothing all day. So far only one of his substituting experiences has been less than satisfactory (he called it glorified baby-sitting of juvenile delinquents).

I finish my last two classes this week, and Jason is excited to be getting his wife back =). There were many times this semester where our together time pretty much consisted of "snuggling" on the couch while I typed up papers and did research and he watched sports (something he knows won't distract me). I'm looking forward to playing games and going on walks with him again. Maybe we'll even get the Christmas tree put up this weekend!

Have a very Merry Christmas and (since I probably won't write again until next month) a Happy New Year! We love you all and think of you often.

Brittany & Jason

Sunday, November 22, 2009

F-U-N

Congrats LJ and Kaylie! What an amazing day for you (and for all of us to witness)!


The "dance party" was LOTS of fun!





It took a few men to get Steve "lookin' pretty."


Thursday, November 5, 2009

September and October from Lehi by Steve

Things are really getting busy around here, but I thought I would take a few minutes and update everyone. Wedding plans are in full swing. Lynette and her Mom is really working hard to get all the dresses done. Thanks to Libby for helping out. The announcements have gone out, so if you didn't receive one, we may have gotten something wrong. Let us know. Everything else seems to be on schedule. The one thing that makes us nervous now is keeping everyone healthy.

This Sunday Tyson receives the priesthood. The following Sunday Nate is the featured speaker in sacrament meeting. It is hard to believe it is that close. Nate has gone up to Logan a couple of weekends to spend time with Zach. They have had a lot of fun together. Zach is pretty excited about his call. He wanted to go foreign.

Nate went through the temple 2 weeks ago. It was good to have Mom and Dad there with us. Since then he has been to 5 or 6 different temples. He has really been going a lot.

The Lehi girls soccer team won region and then went on to the final four in state. They lost a game they could have easily won. Another team from our region won state, so Kelsey and her team mates feel like it was a lost opportunity.

Anna finished up volleyball this last week. It is amazing to see how good she has gotten at it. It has been fun to watch her matches.

Tyson, Brianna and Max have been going to a new school this year. They are able to walk. No more busses. They enjoy that part. We really like the principal at this school as well. It makes going to school much more fun for the kids.

Well we are on the home stretch for the wedding. I have a hard time believing it is November and Nate is almost leaving and Kaylie and LJ are getting married. A lot of changes will be happening. Things are pretty busy, even at work, but we are going to do our best to enjoy it.

Love to everyone,
The Lehi Hancocks

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Today is not a good day for me. I came home early form work. I won't be running today so I have lots of extra time. All I feel like doing is sitting around so I will do my first posting.

This summer I moved. I'm now is a duplex and don't have a roommate. It has been so great. I love living alone. My old roommate is now engage. I'm so glad that I am out of there and don't have to be trying to find a place to live. Once Sarah got engaged she decided to get married right away. They only had 35 days to plan everything. This makes my November even crazier. We have to squeeze in a prereception and a shower. She is getting married November 25. Yes the day before Thanksgiving. So with our family and my old roommate November is booked up.

I had a good October. It has been very busy. My friend Danielle bought a house right before I moved. It ended up needing a lot more work on it then she had excepted. She was just wanting to do a little painting. It's an older house and the walls are plaster. There has been some fixing of them. We have some friends that like to fix up older houses. Alison was going to help out a lot until she broke her femur. So she can't do much. I have been doing a lot of what she would have done.

The best thing about October was my trip to Las Vegas to see U2. There was 4 of us who went. We had a blast. We stayed at the Stratosphere. We went on one of the rides at the top. I am terrified of heights. Danielle has a picture of my terror. When she gets that to me I will post it. The concert was great. U2 puts on a great show.

For Halloween I was a Lawrence Welk girl. We found a prefect dress that inspired this. I had a bubble machine. I did have to explain my costume a lot. There are tons of people who don't know who Lawrence Welk is. I never watch it that I can remember but I know the show. It was a huge part of music. I will post a picture of my costume when I get it too.

That is all for now. See you all soon
love Dona

Monday, November 2, 2009

October...

October brought much of the same for me and Jason. We did have our sixth-month-iversary and Jason surprised me with me a long-stemmed rose =).

I guess another exciting thing for October would be my promotion. I've been training, so I don't know what the pay raise is yet, but I'm VERY grateful that I'm now guaranteed 40 hours a week, and that once I'm official I'll be eligible for benefits. We're counting our blessings.

On a different note, I am looking forward to January, when I get a new Sunday school class. I taught my class and the class below me this past Sunday, and the younger class is SO much better behaved than my boys (and they participate). I look forward to teaching them. =P

I'm counting down the days until we come see everyone in Utah (though perhaps not as faithfully as Kaylie's counting down the days 'til her wedding ;-).

One last note, Jason and I both have new phone numbers: Jason 951-500-6107, Brittany 951-500-5397.I finally remembered to set up my voice mail, so you can leave messages now. =) See you all soon!