Dave & I were very fortunate in having lots of happy Christmas moments in both the Metheny & the Cox familys. In our almost 40 years of being a family . WE have celebrated Christmas all over different parts of the world. Our first one was spent in Lewistown, Montana. We started off as a military family. So our family for Christmas the year of 1960 was spent with Air Force friends who happened to be male twins who were married to sisters. It was never a dull moment with those twins around, because they both were practical jokers.

Our next Christmas we were in Kapakasing, Ontario, Canada. We decided we wanted to go to our parents that year. So we and another Air Force couple we were friends with, drove to Indiana, and they went on to Missouri. Never thinking about the return trip weather. WE must have thought cause we were so young we were indestructable.. No, maybe I should put it this way, when you are young, you are more adventurous. Returning to Canada in late December were driving on the King's highway and drove for miles, following a semi truck driver ahead of us. I mean we were in a REAL snow storm, a REAL Canadian blizzard I might add. . When he turned to get off the road we turned right off behind him. So surely if he ended in a ditch so would we. But it was a truck stop, thank goodness, and when we went in to the restuarant everyone whooped & hollered. They could not believe we had driven the King's highway, because it had been closed for hours. I know today, that I am not as adventurous. We leave that to our son his wife. Illinois was the next Christmas I remember. It was going to be our first child's First Birthday. So we wanted the grandparents to help celebrate with us, so we traveled to Indiana so they could share Birthday cake with their grandaugter. We didn't make it the day we were supposed to.We hit a snow storm an hour from home and another two hours from our Indiana homes. . It was only 150 miles to Washington, IN. from O'Fallon, IL. But the snow came in so fast, the roads were closed ahead of us AND behind us. We got run off the road by some woman who was very apologetic, so we had to stay in a motel (In Salem,IL) untill the next day, when the roads were clear enough to travel on. Let me tell you... 19" of snow in less than 6 hours messes up travel ANYWHERE. But we all were ok and finished our trip the next day.

The next Christmas we were transferred to Calumet-Larium ,MI and Dave's sister (Mary Ann) & her husband came to visit us from Wisconsin. She really doted on our first child & was the greatest Aunt. We spent two Christmas's there .Our second Christmas there we had an addition to our family. Our son, who was about 6 months by then & the vietnam war was on everyones minds. When our first two children were about 4&2 we decided we wanted them to be able to know their grandparents. So Dave had been out of the service for about a year& a half. So we made the big move back to our hometown . So we could have some great memories with both our family's. So we stayed in Indiana for 8 years, it was the longest we had lived in any one place since we had gotten married. There were great memories of our family's Christmas's. We were so fortunate that our parents all lived long into our adult life & our children's adult lives. I am fortunate to still have my Mother. Our children's memories are I know of both their grandma's persimon pudding.Their Grandpa Metheny always playing practical jokes & his horhound candy. Their Grandma & Grandpa Cox going to all our family's houses early Christmas morning so they could watch their grandchildren eyes when they opened their presents Christmas morning. Our oldest daughter had her "buddy - old pal" which she called my father affectionately. Our Youngest who likes to be called Chris but will always be our little Tina, when only about 6 years old made everyone their Christmas present & how excited she was. How much she has always loved Christmas. Our Son and his wife who are always so generious with Dave & I at Christmas . Now we have three beautiful grandchildren that they share with us, and we get to share with them. Yes, Christmas brings back alot of great memories to us. So for all of you, have a very Merry Christmas, and a safe one too. Memories - By Rita Metheny

View some of our past Christmas's PICTURES

What we know today as the Hope Grant is actually only a portion of the seventeenth-century patent. A deed describes the boundaries as beginning at the mouth of Hope Creek (Willow Landing) and running westward to Jackson's Branch, northward on Jackson's Branch to Austin's Run, eastward to Aquia Creek, and back to Hope Creek. Jackson's Branch is the little stream which runs through the old Wayside Park between the divided U.S. Route 1 north of the court house. The name of the missing grant was discovered recently when a deed was located detailing the early history of the property. On May 9, 1780, Alexander Doyle and his wife Eliza sold to William Hewitt for 25,000 pounds of tobacco "a certain tract of Land called the Hope, situate on Aquia River supposed to contain 500 acres, and bounded as in said deed being part of a Patent for 600 acres granted to Robert Hubbert the 12th Dec. 1654." Hubbert had sold the property to Solomon Day and Daniel Matheny on March 10, 1684, the deed having been duly recorded in the Stafford court:

Solomon Day and Daniel Matheny by their Deed of Partition did divide the said track of 500 acres in manner following Vizt. That Daniel Matheny and heirs, should hold 300 acres to begin at the upper end of the said Tract, and to extend to the back line, and along the back line, thence parallel with the first side line North east down to Aquia river up river to the beginning, the said 300 acres, and that Solomon Day and heirs, should hold the lower part of the said track, being the residue of the same, supposed to contain 200 acres and whereas the 200 acres, Solomon Day's divident, by several Descents and Conveyances, descended and came to be vested in Cleam Slye of the State of Maryland in fee simple. Who sold the same (as well as another tract of land in County of Stafford) by deed.. .and afterwards surrendered to Alexander Doyle by Deed of Surrender...

--From THEY CALLED STAFFORD HOME-The Development of Stafford County, Virginia, from 1600 until 1865, p119, Jerrilynn Eby, Heritage Books, 1997

December is a Holiday month, not as many birthdays as November, but for the MRR Members who wish to share the Month and Day of their Birthdays, we will post them here!! So Have a Happy one to:

Dawn McCasland, Dec 3rd (JohnnyDLs Dau)
Lance McCasland, Dec 7th (JohnnyDs G-son)
Kerry Dollins, Dec 19th. (JohnnyDLs Wife)
John Metheny (My Brother) who passed
away Jan 8, 1994. - 24th.

The MRR Group is still growing, with a count of 82 on the email list. I am working on a new script for the email list. It will have a page interface on the MRR Central Site, and you will be able to go there, and just put in your email address, and press a 'subscribe' or 'unsubscribe' button. Should make it much easier to remember and to operate. Also with that, there will be a way to 'display' the name, and email address of the members. Hopefully, that will work better than before. Thanks for listening!

The GW site houses the MRR Central Site, but it is open to all of the Internet, for a FREE membership. I did this to get more traffic for the MRR, and for genealogy researchers in general. But for those who haven't visited for awhile.. check it out. As time permits, I will be adding some new things there, and many new features. including a real "FREE" Email address for anyone who wants one, and is a member. Check out the Site!