Meeko Passes On

        The only sad note to our Christmas holiday was the death of our 13 1/2 year old faithful pug, Meeko (March 20, 1997-December  28, 2010).  Always with Pam wherevere she was in the house, his unconditional love was felt by all who knew him, but especially Pam. 

Christmas 2010

Dear Friends:


        Christmas 2010 brings family and memories for another wonderful year full of the tender mercies from the Lord.

        On February 6 a new addition to the grandchildren, Susanna, entered the world with David and Melissa.

So happy to be here!

Yes, I know I look wonderful.....

Happy grandma!

        On May 29, Lisa graduated from Granite Bay High School with a Gold Medal recognition for her high GPA.  After four years of Marching Band, being co-section leader and participating in more honor bands that we can recall, she started BYU Provo in September.  She loves school, especially swing dance club.

Can you tell me how to turn this picture around?

Proud parents.

Real proud parents.

Lisa and Gary

        Gary passed his motorcycle test and between Sac State and Sierra College he prepared and sat for the state license exam for becoming a water treatment plant operator.  He will get his results toward the end of the year.  He is a blessing to have at home, with his quick wit, smile and always helpful attitude.

       

        On June 5 we had a wedding!  Richard married Amy Ostvig in the St. Paul, Minnesota Temple.  They are studying at BYU Provo, where Amy will graduate next year. 

Minnesota is a beautiful state.  So much water and green.

A wonderful couple!

Smiles all around!

The gangs all here!

       On July 21, another granddaughter!  Halle joined Steven and Heather in Arizona. 

Wow, I hope I don't have to do that again!

The best present under anyone's tree!

Happy mom.

Happy dad.

         Steven will finish his Ph.D. dissertation and gradutate this Spring. He is looking for work.  (Having run out of degrees for staying in school.....)

        On August 14 we had another wedding!  Sherry married Doug Nevers at the Idaho Falls, Idaho Temple.  She choose Idaho Falls so her 95 year old grandfather, who lives there, could attend.

Traditional, beautiful shot with Temple.

Just right for each other!

Beautiful day!

Yep, that's Granpa on the right.

Families are forever.

        Thanksgiving found us all at David's house in Eagle Mountain, Utah, where the adventure was in the journey.   We left in a snow storm and had the transmission in our wonderful van go out in Truckee.   We had friends bring up our Honda Accord to finish the journey.  On the way, a block of ice took out our front bumper.  It took us twelve hours to get to Reno (usually a two hour drive maximum) and another eleven hours to Utah.  When we arrived, we were surprised by Steven's family, who had driven up for the holiday without telling us.  We had a wonderful time with all of our children and grandchildren, and Pam's father and friend.

        Pam is as busy as ever, having received another church calling as a Sacramento Temple worker in addition to her being the Relief Society President.  She also joined the community band that Doug has been in.  She was a part of the success in this year's Nativity Exhibit at the church, once again arranging for the musical performances for the three day event.

       Doug is still practicing law, going on 22 years now.  He loves musical organizations, and was selected for two paid gigs, one in Napa celebrating John Phillip Sousa's birthday, and one for the holidays, as part of the orchestra for  an elite choir known as the River City Chorale.  He also continues to referee high school soccer, both boys and girls seasons, and club soccer on Saturdays.

         Wishing you the best for the holidays and a happy and wonderful new year.

       Doug and Pam

       

New family car

Answer to Prayer----a new addition to our family fleet of vehicles.

As a Dad I was worried that Richard would not have auto transportation for his wonderful new bride.  I always felt the need to have some kind of automobile as a married person.  (Being a guy, I wanted one anyway and felt justified in the expense.)   This led to a married life of more than 25 years experiencing a lot of used cars before actually buying a new one.  Once we were even given two cars because we were so broke.  I would have a mechanic friend or client work on them. One finally said that there was no mechanical reason for any of my cars to continue working.  He wasn't a member of the church and so he did not understand the power of desperate, sincere prayer. 

Over the last few weeks I had been thinking about Richard getting the use of a car.  He never asked for one.  He is good about trying to provide for all of his own needs.  On the other hand, we had provided a family car for other kids when they were first married until they had the ability to purchase one of their own.

Earlier this week I looked at a BMW and was very excited because it was so cheap.  It was a faded black 325 two door model and had large dents. (An "experienced" car.)  Additionally, where the black paint was scraped, the owner (tatoo boy) used a can of flat black paint to "cover up" the blemish.  It had a torn bumper and damaged front seat.  The owner said he did not know if the heater or the air conditioner worked, but it ran just fine for him.  I took over a client who is a mechanic to check it out.  It had over 250,000 miles on it, had a leaking thermostat, needed a new water pump, and had oil leaks all over the place.  The oil leaking at the head gasket meant that the gasket was bad, or more likely, that the head itself was warped.  He said he could fix all of those problems, but it would be expensive and not worth the cost as it would still be an uncertain, unrelaible car.  I had checked with Earl Schide for the cheap paint job, which would last for several car washes.....  We did not buy it.

My dreams at night (not inspiration) had me finding a little old lady with a beautiful used Lexus for $1500.00 where everything worked and very low miles.  It would, of course, be prestigious and appropriate for broke newlyweds.  As usual, telling the Lord what to provide is not the best solution.

Today I left work early to watch Granite Bay High School's girls soccer begin the playoffs.  On the way to the game, I saw a BMW that looked really good and had a reasonable price on the windshield.  I thought "go buy that"  right then.  But, I had a soccer game to watch, so I thought I would check it out on the way back from the game if it was still there.  After seeing Granite Bay play miserable soccer and win (when they deserved to lose) on an unfortunate penalty kick at around the 70th minute, I went home.  There was the car.  My heart went pitter patter.  (It usaully does around BMW's.)  I stopped and checked it out.  One door was unlocked, so I opened it up and checked the inside out.  It was okay.  (Nothing is perfect in a used car.)  The outside had a few minor dents and some molding missing on one side.  (Not bad for a student car.)  I locked it up (to prevent others from looking too closely) and called the number to have the owner come out and let me test drive it.

I went home and waited.  Soon the call came.  (No, not as exciting as a mission call, but still okay.)  I tried not to act too excited and the owner said he would be glad to show me the car, but had no transportation to get there.  I said I would pick him up at his house.  Turns out he lived around the corner from LDS families we have known for twenty years.  After Gary and I picked him up, we talked about the neighbors who were mutual acquaintences.  Pretty soon he said "You must be a Mormon"  which was a missionary opportunity.  I said yes and then we went over all of the LDS youth he had grown up with.  I knew most of them.  He said one of his neighbors, Jerry Manzer, was someone he was impressed with.  He liked his chickens and the service he saw Jerry do for the nighbors.   I naturally told him I would have Jerry talk with him about chickens.  (Jerry will work the conversation around to the church without any difficulty.)  He talked about the car.  It was a 1988 BMW 735i with an odometer that read 125,000 miles on it.  (This was hard to believe on a 22 year old car.)  The engine was spotless and he mentioned that he maintained it regularly.  I mentioned that it would need to go to Utah and be there for my children to use while in college.  He said it would work fine.  Although there are minor things to fix, I purchased the car on the spot with the peaceful feeling that the Lord had provided better than I dreamed of.

I am not sure why, but the Lord is in the details of our lives.  This may not be a big deal for many people, but it was for me.  I hope the car will be useful to Richard and Amy and present few, if any, problems.  While it is not perfect, it is an answer to my prayer.  And who knows, maybe a one of the Lord's tender mercies for Richard and Amy too.

Now I am dreaming of him finding work......

Doug Hoffman

Starting the New YEar

This week saw the culmination of two events in our family. Lisa performed in the Capital Section High School Honor Band. They sounded terrific. The conducter, from the Univeristy of Oregon, gave them hig accolades. He used music that was difficult and required "life experience" for the emotional content. He applauded the performers and the audience gave them a well deserved standing ovation. Their intonation and playing as one in each section was phenominal.

On a less remarkable note, Doug participated in the "Second Annual Lou Gehrig Roseville 10K Walk/Run". The exercise group from the gym that he is in voted to do the race. Doug voted against it, but was in the minority. He turned up and performed, finishing 13th out of 13 in his age group (50-59 men) and 176 out of 182 overall. His pace was 16:26M. Considering his condition, it was a miracle that he finished at all. He now has a sore troat, probalby due to the heavy breathing on the course....

We are looking forward to Steve and Heather's family for a week. It will be fun to see them this close to Christmas.

Love to you all,

Doug and Pam

2009 Christmas Update

Wow! Time flies. Our last entry was in November. Much has happened this year.

Doug has continued in the Sacamento Symphonic Winds. He purchased a used professional model clarinet and is having a wonderful time. (Early Christmas gift.) Pam played with the group during one rehearsal, but decided that she did not have time for it this year. In spite of this, when the band was notified by one of the flute players that they could not attend our Christmas Concert, they asked Pam to sit in. She did so and did a wonderful job. Doug also continues with the 11 year old Scouts, a high school soccer referee and the latest, ham radio. His new call sign is KJ6AQU. His law practice has the same struggles everyone else does in this economy.

Pam has continued as Relief Society President, member of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, mother, and continuing student at BYU. She has her sights set on graduating with her bachelors degree and is on target to do so. She was in charge of scheduling over 25 musical performances for the 4th annual Granite Bay Nativity Exhibit at our church. Over 400 nativities from around the world were displayed for three days in our church. She feels very blessed to have so many opportunities to grow in life. Her family (including all her darling grandchildren)bring her great joy.

All the children are doing fine:
David and Melissa continuing in Eagle Mountain, Utah, and expecting another girl in February. David is the Bishop's Executibve Secretary.
Steve and Heather are still in Gilbert, Arizona, where he is working on his Ph.D.. He was just made Elders Quorum President.
Sherry is still at BYU and loving it. She is something like an exercise science major and should finish up in about one and one-half years. She still loves harp, serving in the temple and enjoys running.
Richard is also at BYU. He has continued to work at BYU catering, so he is busy and well fed most weeks. He also got his ham radio license this year, at the same time as Doug. (He got a more advanced license.)
Gary has returned from the Cape Town South Africa Mission with an honrable medical release. He will start at Sierra college in January and is looking for employment so he can save the money necessary to attend a four year school.
Lisa has had another year of music and school. She scored well on the ACT and is hoping to attend BYU next fall. Besides the Marching Band, the Sacramento Youth Symphony, School Choir, Honor Bands, Honor Choir, and solo work, she is busy as can be.

Hope you and your family are well and are enjoying the blessings of this season. We are so thankful for the gospel and the real reason for this season - Jesus Christ.

Love,

Doug and Pam

Amatuer musician strikes again

Wow - it's been twenty-five years since your favorite father, Doug, has played in organized musical groups other than church functions. Having sold my professional model clarinets when in law school to pay for tuition, I am now reduced to using the plastic student model that was purchased for the kids to use. At any rate, I auditioned and was accepted into the Sacrmaento Symphonic Winds, a conmmunity wind ensemble. (Band.) I am thrilled. My first concert is attached, along with the concert program. Definitely an amatuer production, but not bad after all is said and done.... (I had only one rehearsal with them before performance.) I am now looking for professional model clarinets again so I can play better. Pam sat in with the band in rehearsal and they are interested in having her become a member also, but she is too busy right now with all of the family and church callings she is doing.

Next concert is December 13.

WHOA

Today Lisa came into church and looked at my hair and said, "Whoa!" "What?" I said. "What's wrong?" Then Lisa said that Gary's mission must really be hard on me because I'm really turning gray. Time to highlight!