Reunion day 2

The kids were really excited about today's plans, I however wasn't. We were going horseback riding. Horses and I don't get along very well. I remember a time when I was little (maybe 10 or so) when I was with my friend Angela. Her dad was taking care of a horse and he took us down for a little ride. The horse backed into a wire fence and kicked us off. Then 2nd event with horses was when I was a senior in HS. My friend Gayeline had horses. One day she convinced me to go for a ride with her. The horse decided to run and I fell off. So I've gotten along very well since then staying off horses. But I knew Cord would enjoy the ride on the "e-he" so I decided to take him. As we were sitting there waiting to go, I just about got off and made my dad take him. We had divided the group into 2, the slow and the fast. Mason, Cord and I were in the slow group. Our horse was named "happy". For the most part it was OK. A couple of times the horse tried to trot until I learned how to control it. Cord loved the trot, I did not. I was impressed that Cord was happy to sit with me the whole hour ride. He kept singing "dudt de dudt" and he almost fell asleep because he was so relaxed. I was also impressed that Mason was able to control his own horse. Chelsea and Brianna went with the fast group where they went trotting all they wanted. They LOVED it!

After the horse adventure we headed back to the cabin where some of the lucky ones got naps. I however went with my dad and took my kids exploring around Brianhead. We climbed down an ice cave, got eaten by bugs at a fishing lake, and went on a couple short hikes. That night we did what we love to do most, gather around and play games. Mason really enjoyed the pool table in the loft. It's the best part of being together. Here are some of my favorite moments of the day.

Mathews Family Reunion

This week was our Mathews family reunion in Brianhead. The Great Grandma Mathews had paid for a couple of cabins up there for us to be together. Most of the family was up there the whole week, but because I had to work and Mason & Chelsea had school (mason is on year round while chelsea is taking an extra class to get ahead) we drove up there Wed. night to join in the festivities. Today we spent time in the cabins doing crafts with the kids, making sock puppets and putting on various shows, doing skits, trying to hike to the tallest point in Brianhead but the road was blocked because of snow (yes, I know it's june - go figure), and having a wienee roast at Yankee Meadow by a lake. Of course I took a million pictures, but here are the highlights for today.

Tie dye

So after we took the pics of the kids looking all clean and innocent we had a little fun with dye. I was impressed with how creative they were with their colors. It's fun now that they are older and you can do projects like this. They all turned out so different, just like each of the kids. The next day we had a fun photo shoot with our new shirts. It was also fun to take the shirts to the family reunion the following week and have a common bond.

Talent show

Whenever we get the cousins together, somehow we end up with some kind of a play or talent show. This weekend was no different. Here's the contributions from Cord and Brianna.

Photo shoot for Grandma

For Mother's day my mom wanted an updated pic of all her precious grandchildren. Since my sister was up from San Diego this weekend, we headed to st. george to get this done. It's so much easier now that most of them are older. We have done this every 2 years for her. They all looked so cute and innocent. That afternoon we took the nice white shirts and let them tie dye them. I think they had more fun with that one and they turned out really cute. I'll get a pic of all them posted in a little while. Sorry about the black lining, this is how the pics were on the disk.

Father's and Sons

We missed our own ward's Father's and sons but thats OK because Mike and Mason were invited to go with his brother to their's this weekend. And that was even better because they got to stay in his brother's tent trailer instead of having to mess with setting up a tent. Mason was in heaven because he loves spending time with his dad and his cousin. Cord was not old enough this year so he got to hang with the girls this weekend. Where is dad's sense of adventure?????



The girls and I also enjoyed our weekend. Brianna was invited to a sleepover to celebrate the ending of school (for the girls, mason still has school until Aug 7th). On Friday night we rented movies and hung out in our pj's. Saturday Chelsea got to go to a movie with her cousins Kayla and Rachel. But we did miss the boys and were happy to see them saturday night.

OHHHH who live in a pineappple under the sea...

Lately Cord loves to sing, and he loves spongebob.

Book recommendation

I just finished a very moving book that I would recommend to you. My mom actually sent it for Chelsea to read because she loves reading stories about the holocost but I got to it first. After a couple slow nights at work I was able to zip through it. It really made an impression on me.

De Rosnay has created a work of fiction which imagines a child caught in the round-up and how that one moment in history can have repercussions far into the future.

Sarah is a ten year old girl who is awakened on the night of July 16, 1942 to French policemen pounding on her family’s door. In an attempt to save her four year old brother, she locks him in a closet - their secret hiding place - and promises to return later.

Julia Jarmond is an American married to a French man and living in Paris in 2002. A journalist, she is given the assignment to write about the Vel’ d’ Hiv’ for the 60 year remembrance of this tragic event.

The novel alternates between Sarah’s POV after her arrest with that of present-day Julia as she begins to unravel not only the historical significance of the 1942 Jewish round-up, but discovers a connection to her own life.

Brianna the fashion designer

At young women tonight the girls used their designer talents to make each other outfits out of creative material. Brianna wore her's home so I could take a picture of it. Chelsea helped make another girls dress. Chelsea said she even helped make boots out of tin foil. I told her that would be a useful skill when she was a mother. If her daughter wanted boots and they didn't have any money, she could say, "I know just what to do".

Another visit from an Elder

We had the pleasure of having another missionary from Mass come visit us. Kris Koerper came through Vegas with his brother. They were headed to California to play baseball all summer and spent the night at our house. Unfortunately I only got to see them for a little bit because I had to work but the kids really enjoyed their visit. We hope they come back through and stay again when they head back home.