We hope our holiday newsletter finds you in good health and happiness. We pray you remember the true reason for the season, and that you had a very Merry Christmas with your loved ones.
Our 2010 was definitely a blessed year filled with many surprises and new experiences for us. From surprise family visits, health issues, new jobs and new places. God guided us through it all and we look forward to the new year!
Aniah,(our healthiest child this year) will be turning 4 in March of the new year and has grown so much. We continuously hear how she is tall for her age. This comes as a surprise because she has always been our little "short stuff" and now she is growing like crazy! She is obsessed with the color purple and ponies, (um, she would like a real one she says). Even though she is the youngest in the house she is definitely the boss. She loves to help and was my little assistant for Girl Scouts. Aniah is very smart and learns quickly. She can't wait to start school!
Ania turned 7 in October of this year. She is in first grade where spelling and lunch are her favorite subjects. We were surprised this summer by Ania being diagnosed with a skin disease called lichen planus. We went through alot of tests, biopsies, surgeries, etc with Ania this year. She was on oral steroids for 3 weeks and a topical cream as well...the oral steroids did work but didn't cure the disease. We recently found that tee tree oil is helping to clear up her remaining spots(see our previous blog entry "Tea Tree"). Ania was our child that had us in and out of the hospital and Dr.'s office this year. The day after her birthday Ania had a seizure. Further testing was done to determine the cause and nothing was found. That was her first and last seizure to date, thank the Lord! My mother in law informed us that Big Alton use to have seizures as a baby and no reason was found either, and he just grew out of them. We were concerned about Ania's happiness and self esteem because of all the medical issues she was experiencing and decided she should become a Girl Scout. Ania is a girly girl, very sweet, very giving, loves crafts and trying new things and making new friends... so this was perfect for her. She was happy to find out that her Nana and Mom were also Girl Scouts as little girls. She earned all of her badges and petals required before us leaving the troop to move. Besides the common cold, pink eye and ear aches this winter...she is very happy and healthy again!
Alston is 8 years old and in the 3rd grade. His favorite subject is Math and he's reading at a 4th/5th grade level. He will turn 9 in February of the new year. He played basketball for "Team Storm" and did very well as one of the top scorers. He also, briefly played basketball for "Lincoln Cats." He chose number 5, just like his Daddy. While sitting in the crowd you could frequently hear fans admiring his crossover for his age. Alston is growing very fast and is already in a size 6 and half shoe. He dreams of being very tall, so he eats a snack of steamed vegies and milk 3 times a day. He is very focused and determined to walk in his Daddy's shoes as a Professional Basketball player and practices at home all the time.We had no major health issues with Alston besides a strange rash under his arm that had to be removed with liquid nitrogen. Needless to say this was very uncomfortable for him and we are currently using tea tree oil to continue to clear the area.
Alton aka AJ turned 14 in November of this year. He's a Freshman in High school this year. He played basketball for his school and also took up drama class. In October he broke his right wrist by slipping in the kitchen via a spill made by Aniah. Mom freaked out, but AJ was very proud and he and Daddy thought it was cool because Daddy had the same fracture back in the day. AJ requested a red cast and had all of his friends and family sign it. Since it was his right hand, writing hand, it was difficult for him in the beginning but he soon adapted. His cast was removed just in time for the basketball season which he was really worried about. Big Alton has never pushed the issue for his boys to play basketball like him, but his secret desire is coming to life. AJ also wants to be a Professional baller like Daddy. He still enjoys gymnastics but is no longer training for the Olympics as his focus is academics, basketball and music.
Big Alton signed a 1 year contract with Ostrava, Czech Republic in July of this year. He is currently in his 10th year as a Professional Basketball Player. As the Vet of the team he earned MVP for pre-season tournaments. He also received a Eurobasket recognition of player of the week in October. Ostrava is currently in 5th place in the league and the team is playing great. Big Alton chose number 5 (Anita's favorite number) for this season and is averaging 13.8 points per game.
Anita's many endeavors continue. A couple new experiences she most enjoyed this year was taking on the roll of Ania's Girl Scout troop leader and volunteering as a "greeter/usher" at church. Anita and her co-leader Serena (also originally from Nebraska) led a troop of twelve, 6 year old girls. From writing, to wine consulting and everything in between, she is happy with her life as a virtuous woman. Besides taking care of family and managing her home, she herself experienced some health issues. She is very grateful that God has blessed her with a very supportive and loving Husband,the best kids ever, great friends and family who prayed with her and for her during those times. She was blessed with a job as a Professional fundraiser in July of this year and was just recently approached by Wines for Humanity for a career opportunity . She has always enjoyed charity work, volunteering and giving back. This job allowed her to work from home and travel with her Hubby as well. Anita traveled internationally solo for the first time in November. Being that we are a large family, the team Manager was having a very difficult time in finding accommodations for the Masons. The team owns only studio flats for the players and has never had a large family on the team before. So, the Manager called and offered her a trip to Ostrava to assist the team with this. Anita made arrangements with her Mother to keep the kids for 6 weeks and traveled to the Czech Republic alone. Anita and Alton missed their kids terribly and were surprised and disappointed at how slow the time went with their seperation. Although she accomplished her goal and found a very nice house, and the couple enjoyed some alone time....at the end of the day the time went by too slow and would've rather had the kids in the small studio. Anita and Alton are very happy to have the whole family back together again, in Arizona, for the Holidays. They look forward to the whole family moving into their new house, in a new country, in January!
~Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
God bless,
The Masons: Alton, Anita, AJ, Alston, Ania and Aniah.
*The kids really enjoyed creating "elf yourselves" last year, so we just had to do it again. Enjoy!:)
.jpg)
