Drew at Principal's Reception

Drew is having great school year this year. He was awarded Student of the Month for October. This meant that the family attended the principal's reception the first Friday of November. His teacher, Mrs. Hartung, is great and Drew likes her a lot. He loves to go to school and likes math the best. He always thinks it is too easy, but Mrs. Hartung has found ways to challenge him in math and that has been fun. I love going in and helping his group. It is a nice bunch of kids.

Saying his name and teacher's name.

Aw Shucks...

Celebrating with Dad and a donut...

His teacher Mrs. Hartung

Congratulations Drew! We loved how hard you try to do your best in school and always want to get your work done. Any teacher would be lucky to have you. Love ya buddy!

Danielle's Pathfinder Trip

Every year the fifth grades here at all the schools in the valley go to an outdoor science camp at a ranch about an hour away up in the mountains. At our school it is called Pathfinder. Danielle had been anticipating this trip since last year and was so excited the day of departure had finally come. I was so grateful that I was able to go with her and see her experience this amazing adventure. The picture above is Danielle and Indy anxiously waiting for the sign to load up in the cars.
After we got there and got settled, the instructors started off with a game of Bear, Salmon, and Mosquito which was similar to rock, paper, scissors. The difference being that in this game, you had to run away from your partner if you were "lower" than them after turning around and revealing your sign for whatever creature you chose to be. You had to reach the "safe zone" before they tagged you.


Just before the picture above, Danielle said, "Mom, you don't have to take pictures 24/7." Which would explain the almost-teenager-look on her face.
The next activity was called "Predator and Prey." It involved several groups of animals, Danielle ended up in the crickets group (a prey group). The group had to search for containers with the words food, water, and shelter in them. Plus, in Danielle's group's case, you had to watch out for predator groups who might attack and take members of our group who were tagged after 10 seconds back to their group. The only way a member of Danielle's group did not get tagged is if they had found a "death and decay" card, then the predator had to stay with us.
Look at this huge tree! We took this picture shortly after Bailey played the "death and decay" card on one of the predators. YA!

Couldn't have done this without my friend Jenie! Kids and teachers kept getting us mixed up the whole time. I was so complimented! My friend Rachelle came too and I got to know some of the other parents and teachers as well. I hardly saw Jenie and Rachelle after the first day. We each had our own cabin of girls, own table to supervise at meal times, and own groups to stay with for classes. The first night they had an astronomer talk to the kids and then set up these really powerful telescopes. The kids were able look at Jupiter and the moon.

Day 2 started with WATER ECOLOGY:
Looking for bugs to look at under a powerful microscope.

EWWWWWW!

The second class for the day was Forest Ecology. One of the games they played involved two kinds of birds: one was chicks and I can't remember the other one but it stole food (cheerios) from the chicks. As a chick, you had to chirp the loudest at the instructor to get your cheerios and then hide your nest of cheerios. If you were the stealing bird, you tried to find chicks' nests and take their cheerios. Everyone got a chance to be the stealing bird. In the end, Danielle got the most cheerios. She won! She was so excited.

Canoeing class with Indy

Horseback riding on Daisy

Our last class for Day 2 was Animal Ecology. First they played "Camoflage."

Can you see me?

Then we held the animals! This was called something? Dragon.

Then there was the boa constrictor!

I was 17 when I first held a snake. I was excited that Danielle had this opportunity so much younger. She loved holding all the animals which included a couple of other lizards, a turtle, a frog, etc. She never was scared once to hold them and loved it!
Our second night, the instructors held a Mad Science Fair. They all dressed up like mad scientists and then performed cool experiements at several different stations after explaining the scientific concept behind them. I was so excited that Danielle could be doing this! We were tired though...
But no rest for the weary! The last morning we studied geology in a beautiful setting.

Then we rock climbed! This is something that neither of us had done before (outside on a real rock anyway) so I loved it that we could experience it for the first time together!

Almost there!

Yay! She made it!

Coming down...

The picture above was the view from rock climbing class.

I will spare everyone the pictures that Danielle took of my bottom from right below me :) But I did make it to the top, having to rest a couple of times along the way. I loved that I got to do it with Danielle. It was a great trip and I feel so blessed that Danielle was in a situation to be able to do it, and that I was able to go with her. Good times!

Halloween Festivities

Our Halloween festivities really began a few weeks back when we went to the San Diego State game. On the way down we stopped at a farm half way there for a pumpkin festival. We met the Terry family there. It was hot, but fun.

Austin and Brinley

Eat my dust!

Below are some pictures of Brinley's scary Halloween haircut. She told me after that she was "making herself pretty." So, with no time in the week to correct it, she had a bit of a scary haircut to go with her Cinderella costume.

Carving pumpkins! We actually made time to do that this year. The tradition is that I try to cook the pumpkin seeds and then I burn them. But they did not burn this time, so I guess that tradition is ended. What will we do? We have so little traditions as it is! the other tradition is that I make something from the pumpkin meat. This year it was pumpkin bread. It must have been okay because everyone ate it.

The pictures below here are of the Boo Bash at the school on Friday night before Halloween.

Indy, Molly, Danielle and Bailey. This is Danielle's little group of friends at school.

"Binny and Avey"

Halloween night we went to the church for a Trunk or Treat. After we came back to the neighborhood and trick-or-treated with the Slaughter Family and met some new neighbors along the way. We stopped by the Deans and took more pictures. Danielle and Bailey had matching costumes this year. They were supposed to be gangsters from the 1920's but they were so cute, it's hard to believe. They had the idea of switching their converse to have one pink and one black. It turned out super cute. The kids had a blast trick-or-treating, especially Drew, "D" is his best friend here.

Fall = Football

At the same time that Brinley and I went to Disneyland, Dean drove with Danielle and Drew up to Utah for the BYU vs. FSU game. Ya, the game was bad, but the drive there and back seemed to go well. Plus, the kids got to see some family. There are no pictures of Ty and Tad, but they saw them too.

The Shoe Tree!

Uncle Marc and Aunt Ra'Chelle
Grandpa

A few weeks later, we went as a family with some other families in the ward to the BYU vs. San Diego State game in San Diego. We enjoyed the outcome of this game much more and the company was fun too! Dallin and Drew - They moved the next week so it was great for Drew and Dallin to have one last good time together. Here below are Austin and Brinley having a good time.

The kids love anything that involves going to a hotel. Brinley asks all the time if we can "go back to the hotel" after our trip to Hawaii. I guess she likes to travel after all :) Drew especially likes going for breakfast, as do I. Danielle always makes sure she brings a good book along, as she is our early riser.

Brinley News

A lot has been happening to the Binster lately. First, she started pre-school, and loves it! Her teacher is Miss Karley. Brinley feels very grown up and takes her "homework" very seriously. Here are some pictures from the first few days:First Day of Itsy Bitsy Pre-school started with breakfast of a blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese. She had to wear red the first day because that was the color of the week.

For her show and tell she took a red purse filled with all her rings that she likes to wear. Mom was lame and did not get her a cute backpack in time for her first day. She is wearing a Danielle hand-me-down. But it was pink so we were saved. The picture below is her and her teacher, Miss Karley, who lives just around the corner!
A few days later I got it together and got her this cute one. She loved it immediately. The Disney princesses are totally what she is into now. Her favorite movie is Cinderella. She will be her for Halloween. At first she insisted on having a water bottle in her back pack on the side like Danielle and Drew do for school. Then one day the water bottle leaked, and her folder got wet. That put an end to the water bottle fettish.
This was the week she was "star of the week." She loved it!


The next big event was that she and I went to Disneyland just the two of us! Dean took the older two kids to the BYU vs FSU game (let's not talk about it) in UT so Brinley and I took our opportunity to go, just us. We had so much fun! It has been so long since I went to Disneyland and really had to seek out the characters again and go on all the little kids rides. Brinley loved it! She was so good in line while waiting an hour to see 3 princesses. It was so worth it though because she really believed that Belle, Cinderella, and Mulan were REAL. I miss these days with Danielle and Drew. She loved the Buzz Lightyear ride the best. She liked the Winnie the Pooh ride and Autopia too. It was a great day.

Taking a break...

This was the Toy Story ride. It is so cute. I think that was my favorite!

Ofcourse we had to ride both of the carousels. Did we seriously come to Disneyland to ride Merry-Go-Rounds? I guess that is what mom gets when she is not willing to wait for any of the other rides with 45 minute waits! Poor Brinley...
Brinley loves to play all the mini games on the Super Mario Brothers game for Danielle's DS. She knows how to play most of them pretty good. She loves them even more when she plays them well. She has been spending a lot of time doing this lately.
A past time that Brinley is particularly fond of is painting and drawing. She expects all her artwork to be displayed and freaks at the suggestion that maybe its time to throw away some. So, we are kind of running out of room. Here is a sampling:In case you were wondering, most of these are refered to as "rivers." Here is one she put on Dean's pillow to "scare" him.In case you are wondering some more, this is a picture of a "monkey pooping." Ya...so...anyway, if you know Dean, you know that nothing would scare him more than a monkey pooping on his pillow.

Nana's Visit: Aug 29-Sept 9

Here are some thoughts from Nana on her visit:

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Sunday is a family day. There were naps for a few, a little TV, quiet time and then dinner. After dinner Brinley and Nana started a game of keeping the balloon in the air. She laughed so hard and jumped up and down—very coordinated little one. She would pull her long red curls back away from her face and say, “I’m having fun!”

The night before the first day of school calls up the tradition of Father’s Blessings for the coming year. Dean was prepared. Each blessing was insightfully specific for what each child was to learn and be aware of. Tears were shed and, again, the Spirit was strong--the end of a perfect day.

Brinley ended her day by popping the balloon she and Nana had been playing with. Pop! Wow! We’ll buy some more tomorrow!

Monday, August 31, 2009

Today was the first day of school for Drew and Danielle. New backpacks, pencils and tablets along with unexpected lunches piled in the car. Dayna had her camera already to take a picture but, Drew and Danielle were so anxious to get on with their first day, they barely would stop for a click of the camera.

We took Brinley on an outing and received a donated balloon at Henry’s, the local grocery store and on the way home stopped for some Jack in the Box tacos. Somehow Nana got it in her head that this was the day to clean out the kitchen junk drawer.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Dayna and I cleaned out the game closet in the loft. We started around 10:00am and ended around 4:30 pm. We took bags to the thrift store, created a box for the church nursery and one for library donations. We organized books, games, costumes and Lincoln Logs!

Side note from Dayna: Here are some of the interesting outfits Brinley came up with while rummaging through all the junk...


Returning to Nana's thoughts:
We got showered and ready for a girls’ night out--the movie “Julie and Julia.” Both of us loved it. Then we went for nachos and ended the evening at Baskin Robbins for some baseball-nut (cashews) raspberry ice cream! To die for. What a fun day!!!

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Brinley and Nana hung out while Mom took the kids to school. Nana told her we had to get dressed because we were going to go to Target. She got a funny look on her face and then, in her most direct language and volume of voice replied, “You are not in charge!” So glad Nana found that out!
After Mom returned home, we did go to Target and bought curtain rods, shower curtain rods, shower curtain, waste basket, Brinley’s desires and on and on.. The most exciting purchase was Brinley’s new bookcase! After cleaning out the loft closet we realized we had to have book shelves!!! After making another trip to the thrift store for a drop-off via a trip to Walgreens, we got home and proceeded to assemble the bookcase. With our best helper—Brinley-- we organized the books and some cute stuffed animals in between before collapsing for a nap.

Cleaning out the pantry seemed like a bright idea and counting seven oatmeal crunch cereal boxes that Dean had bought and which now reflect past-due dates seemed amusing. So to the garbage! Dayna prepared for Young Women’s and the spaghetti dinner prepared Drew for his first Cub Scout meeting!

The climax of the week was trimming Brinley’s hair. Danielle was a big-time helper! Brinley said she thought it was beautiful and that it was like Danielle’s. All of a sudden she became older: her hand on her hip, her voice saying, “Dad said I was in big trouble; am I in trouble?” The mere trim was a transformation.
Thursday, September 3, 2009

Danielle had a school project due Friday so, when she returned home from school, we began working on it. She was a bit stressed at first, but then she came up with a great creative idea. She had a large office clip and she had to create an imaginary product and an advertising poster. She used the theme of looking through the triangle of the clip, seeing a reflection, and selling her clip/product as a five-hour eye refresher for people who want to drive a long way, read a book longer, or older people who have weak eyes. Her poster was a huge triangle with two smaller triangles as eyes and the larger triangle for describing her product and what it could do. Very fun! We were excited for her as she left for school Friday morning.Friday, September 04, 2009

Brinley and I began our day with puzzles. I sleep in her room with her and after we read books at night, she says, “What do you want to do talk about?” So we talk about whatever she is thinking about. Last night she said, “I don’t know why Drew chose those songs for his baptism. He chose one girl song and one boy song and I don’t know why he did that.” I assume the girl song was “Jesus Came to John the Baptist,” and the boy song was “Called to Serve.” She is a kick!

Later in the morning Dayna and I took her to Jo Ann Fabrics with us. She heads straight for the card section, which she does frequently, and picks out princess cards—with envelopes—and carries them around with her as if she is shopping for herself. We found some Dora fabric to make her a nightie even though I had made her a pink and red striped one earlier. She “wants a Dora nightie!” Okay, so we are going to make a Dora nightie this weekend.

I have been doing some mending for Dayna and fixing a couple pair of Danielle’s jeans--cutting them off and hemming them up. She is so easy to please. Tonight while I was sewing the kids and I watched ‘Chicken Little.” Drew laughs so hard and so deep that I can’t help laughing at him—forget the movie! I made some brownies and we had ice cream and brownies after the movie. Dayna and Dean had a nice date.

Side note from Dayna: Nana took some Sunday pictures her second Sunday here...

Drew's Baptism: August 29, 2009

We had a great evening for Drew's baptism. The Spirit was strong and you could really feel the love from everyone there. We invited his primary class with their families and Nana was able to come as well. Brother Sutton, his primary teacher, and Brother Stevens were the witnesses. I loved seeing Dean baptize and confirm him. Drew is so sweet and you could tell felt special and humble at the same time. I am so glad that he made the choice to get baptized. He was already very sensitive to the Spirit and I know that now he has the Holy Ghost, he will do wondrous things. We love you Drew. Here is a list of who was there: The Dean family (thanks Jenie for playing the piano!), the Barney family, the Jackman family, the James family, the Stevens family, the Sutton family, the Risenmay family, Bishop Caress (he conducted), and Nana. It was so intimate and the room was radiating with love and friendship and I loved it! Afterwards, we went out just our family to Drew's favorite restaurant: Island's Bar and Grill. It was a perfect day.

NANA'S THOUGHTS ON DREW'S BAPTISM:

Saturday, August 29, 2009-08-30

Drew Mattsson’s Baptism

Dayna, Danielle, Drew and Brinley picked Nana up from the airport Saturday morning and we drove home (via a place for Dayna to relieve her bladder). In spite of temperatures reaching118 degrees, we were excited to see each other and arrived home safely, opened some surprises from Nana including Drew’s birthday and baptism gifts and enjoyed our afternoon. We felt blessed to be inside with air conditioning.

We drove to the ward around 4:00 pm, put out the programs, got the picture Dayna wanted and a little easel. Dean filled the font with water and tried to “shovel” out the mouse droppings and roaches that had infested the area. Bishop Caress arrived and several families—The Deans, Suttons, Risenmays and Stevens. Brother Stevens and Brother Sutton were the witnesses to the Baptism as Drew requested. Everyone seemed so happy to be there. The spirit was strong and love filled the room.

The opening song was “Baptism.” “Jesus came to John the Baptist…” and Nana (accompanied by Brinley Kate) came to the front and opened the meeting with prayer. Brinley felt she was a very important part of the entire Baptism. Dayna gave a talk on Baptism focusing on Drew and his potential as a son of God, which was perfect, ending with her testimony of eternal life in the Celestial Kingdom as a family.

As Dean accompanied Drew into the font, he brushed aside some floating bugs with a smile on his face and a few snickers from onlookers who know the problems of Bermude Dune’s building along with Dean’s germ-phobic temperament. He performed the Baptism ordinance with the spirit, Drew smiling, Danielle standing close and Brinley’s little face pressed to the glass. “Drew is being baptized,” she kept saying.

Following the Baptism, those who had gathered watched the video, “Come Thou Font of Every Blessing.” Beautiful video! We were anxious to witness the Confirmation Ordinance. Danielle was ready for her talk on the Holy Ghost! She called Drew to stand up, put a blind fold on him and nodded a signal to Dean. Dean said, “Drew, Drewbee.” Danielle asked Drew who had said his name. He replied, “Dad.” She took the blind fold off and told him he would be able to recognize the voice of the Holy Ghost just as he recognized Dad’s voice. She then bore her testimony and quote scripture like an adult--such a precious, happy presentation.

Each one of the Priesthood brothers present came to the front where Drew was sitting and placed their hands on his head as Dean confirmed him a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and gave him the Holy Ghost.

The program was topped off so perfectly with all of us singing Drew’s favorite song, “Called to Serve.” What a blessed event!

Drew chose his favorite restaurant for dinner—Islands.

What a happy, happy day!

Last Days of Summer

Here are some fun days that we had the last half of the summer:

Luckily Brinley has an amazing older sister, who saw the photo opportunities with this "make-up exploration" and not the mess that would have to be cleaned up.

We spent a lot of time on the trampoline this summer, surprisingly. The kids and their friends would get the tramp wet with the hose and jump over the spray of water. Or jump and make the standing water splash up. They loved it and it seemed to be a good way to cool off. Drew also re-visited his back flip this summer.

Also, #4 and Drew had some wrestling matches on the tramp.


Here's Brinley watching the fun. Here's Drew and Ty feeling manly after their match.
The kids did a lot of "summer party sleep overs" this summer. Especially Danielle and Brinley. They would get out the blankets and put in a movie and sleep on the floor that night. Danielle and Brinley did it a lot in Danielle's room. Brinley figured out that she did not like being downstairs all alone any more and so now she sleeps in Danielle's room at night on her trundle. It acutally works out pretty well. Her room is still downstairs and she still takes her naps in there. In this picture, the kids were watching "I Survived a Japanese Game Show." Another favorite this summer was "Wipeout."We got a annual pass to Knott's Soak City this summer. The kids loved it. Brinley was happy on the one baby slide and being in the shallow end of the wave pool at first. Dean finally got her to go on a bigger slide at one of our last visits. We all loved the slides. Drew, Dean and I especially liked the yellow and dark pink one.


Drew and Dean both went on the steep, steep one. Drew went on it several times in fact. One of our times there, he went on it 5 times in a row so that Dean could get the best video. The lifeguard could not believe it and asked how old Drew was.

Dean took the kids golfing this summer a few times. The kids still like to golf and are having fun practicing their new interest.


Dean had some of the guys over with their kids to watch one of the UFC fights this summer. It was fun for the kids and fun for Drew and Dean to up tick the testosterone a little since most days they are outnumbered :)
We spent a lot of time with the Deans this summer. We love having them close and the older girls had several sleep overs. Here are some pictures of the other kiddos, their responsible parents are probably playing cards :)
I am not really sure what to say about this picture except RANDOM. Is she getting ready for a local rave for three-year-olds? I don't know.
This I can explain: The girls in our house have a bit of a peanut butter obsession and have been known to dip a spoon in the jar, take a big chunk, and indulge.We had a great summer. I was sad that it was over and was a little mournful that school was starting and it would be back to the rat race. Although, towards the end of the summer they were digging out old Gamecube games that had been left over from Uncle Scott which were banned, and I thought still were? They also came up with this game during commercials on TV where they raced each other to see who knew what product the commercial was for first. By the end of the summer, they would basically scream out over each other after only half a second. So, I guess it was time.

Surprise from Drew.

Drew did a really sweet thing this week. I woke up one morning to Brinley climbing on me (which is typical) and Drew came in and said, please don't come out yet, I am working on a surprise for you and Dad. But Dean had to go to work, and so was let in on the surprise, as Drew was not done when it was time for Dean to go. I waited in my room with Brinley watching one of her favorite shows, I can't remember which. (She is into Dora, Max & Ruby, and Dragon Tales right now, with a new favorite: Word World). Finally, Drew said we could come out. He had cleaned up the whole loft! If you have never been to my house, this is the game room/snack room (what food?)wrestling room/fort room/slumber party room in my house. It is hardly ever totally put together and is one of the hardest rooms to clean, with all the moving parts. But Drew did it and it made my whole week! Thank you Drew. I love you, you bless my life every day so much. I am so excited you are getting baptized and confirmed on Saturday. You are such a great kid and I have no doubt you will do so much good during your life!

Drewbee is Eight!

Happy Birthday Drew! We love you so much! You bring so much joy and love to our family. With the laughter you bring and the love and tenderness that you show, I can't imagine our family without you. You love to play all sports and video games. You also love to sing and dance to music in the car. You love to watch movies and shows as a family. You came up with our family's custom to make a kiss noise when saying good bye or good night. You came up with the saying, "I love you too much." You love to be tucked in every night. You are great at helping and have a caring and concerned attitude about everyone in the family, epsecially your sisters. We love you, Drew! MMMMCCCCHHHHWWWWAAAA!He started out the day with his favorite, blueberry muffins. Then Brinley gave him a birthday tackle.All his friends met at Red Robin for Drew's birthday dinner. They ate and Drew opened the loot! Thank you Dallin, Daniel, Ty, Steven, and McKenna for all the wonderful gifts!After Red Robin we went to see Shorts at the movie theater next door. We ended the night at Baskin Robbins for some ice cream. The kids had fun in the car on the way home where they talked about what they would do if they had a wishing rock. Some said money, some said super powers. Then it changed to who could beat who. In case you were wondering: Superman can beat Spiderman, Incredible Hulk can beat Mr. Thing, and Terminator can beat GI Joe. Important stuff, no?Drew opened a few more presents when he got home. Brinley had made a Transformer coloring book for Drew with the help of her sweet sister, Danielle. She loved giving it to Drew.
Drew said he had a good day and that he felt taller. I can't believe he is 8 and I would do it all over again in a heart beat. Love you Drewbee!

Golf Camp

Danielle and Drew had the opportunity to attend a golf camp at the end of July. It was for 2.5 hours for 5 days in the morning. Their teacher was great. He was so good with the kids and they loved the camp. It made them really like golf and Dean has taken them out a couple of times since. The part I liked about the camp is that when they came home, they were exhausted and actually asked to take a shower. It was a good week :)

Fashion Sense

A few Sundays ago, I made the unfortunate decision to get dressed in my church clothes before I put on my make-up. Being the clutz that I am, this is never a good idea, and I have learned this the hard way. Invariably when I have done this, I drop my mascara wand and it has hit my shirt, skirt, or dress on the way down. Then I am faced with the predicament of finding something else to wear, which usually requires me to drag out the iron and ironing board...you get the idea. I thought I would save myself the hassle of changing into my grubby clothes again and just put on one of Dean's old button-down shirts while I put on my make-up. I had no idea what a stir this would cause. First there was Drew's reaction: "Whoa! Mom, you are not wearing that to church!" After I explained the situation he says, "Okay good, cause that does not go together." It should be noted that when I shop for Drew, I always shop in outfits, anticipating how "cool" (we are not allowed to say cute) he will look in them. Without fail, Drew never pairs up the bottoms with the tops that I planned. But, he definitely certain that what I had on this particular morning would not be getting Stacy London's approval. (He is tortured by What Not to Wear episodes sometimes when Danielle and I watch them).
Now I will give you Brinley's reaction: "Mom! That does NOT look good." Brinley has this fake laugh that undertones her sentences that are meant to be especially patronizing. It is actually really cute and it makes me smile how big and important she thinks she is. "You cannot wear that to church mom," she says with her crooked smile. I explained the situation to her and she seemed satisfied.
I was able to finish my make-up without incident, of course, because I never drop my mascara wand when I prepare like that, and we made it to church. I am also sleeping better now knowing that my children have the strong and firm belief that a men's plaid button-down shirt should not be worn with a women's floral skirt. Oh my, we have come so far...

UTAH TRIP: JUNE 16 to JULY 8, 2009

We had a great time in Utah. I drove the kids alone. I was not worried about the kids doing well, I was worried about me. I had too many long drives as a kid with paper, crayons, a book, and my thoughts I guess. I'm glad that my kids have a TV, DS, and Ipods in this modern age. Incidentally, my ipod saved me, if I had to listen to Dora the whole way, I never would have made it. So, armed with Eddie Vedder and Steve Tyler, I pulled up to Wal-Mart to buy a portable TV for the car, because the one we had broke. As I am paying for it, a $8.00 recycling fee is added to my bill. In these economic times, are you kidding me? And people are wondering why there is a mass exodus out of California, go figure. Anyhow, we took off to Las Vegas where we had a great time visiting with Tina and the kids (and Scott for a second :)). I was so glad to see them one last time because they moved to Pennsylvania at the end of that week. They are going to be there for 5 years and we know visits back and forth will be fewer now. I had decided before I left home that I would go ahead and travel to St. George after the Las Vegas dinner break. I am so glad that I did, because the next day, it was only three hours to my sister's house and we were there! We spent almost two weeks there, and it was so fun. We did steal away two times: Once for Danielle to see her friend Laura and for me to see her mom, Michele, and my friend Laura in Apple Valley. The other time was on Father's Day for a little more Apple Valley fix, there is no better place to be on Father's Day. After church, we made a few stops: the Calverts and Mrs. Cassell, Drew and Danielle's old preschool teacher. She still had the preschool in the downstairs! Drew and Danielle got to go down and reminisce and I cried. I was so glad they got to do that. After a wonderful visit with Mrs. Cassell we went up to Ogden to celebrate with Grandpa Carl. On the way there, we stopped to have lunch with Nana and take her with us. It was a great father's day (except we missed Dean). Other than these few excursions, it was cousin and sister time all day, every day. We went to Spanish Fork pool, and Seven Peaks, and up the canyon and over to Katie's for a BBQ and water balloon fight. It rained other days and that meant making up games inside, saving stray kittens, going to Jumping Jacks, and having to wear a jacket a couple of times when Amber, Paul and I went jogging in the evenings! I loved the cooler weather in June. On the way to pick up Dean at the airport, Brinley and I saw a rainbow! I miss those! Here are some highlights:
It was too funny that when Brinley was up the canyon, she all of a sudden pointed to the mountain in front of us and said, "Mom! Look at that mountain! It has grass all over it!" I have to be honest, it made me a little sad that she thought something was wrong. Such a desert rat!
The day that we were supposed to pick up Dean, Drew wanted to stay one more night and Danielle was at her friend Laura's house for the night. Brinley and I tried to pick up Dean, but his flight was delayed so we headed up to Ogden and Grandpa picked up Dean. Poor Dean, it was a long night for him and Grandpa. But we were able to sleep in and pick up Danielle and meet Drew and my sister's family at Lagoon. First I will give you highlights of Brinley and Zoe's escapades:

Next, here are all the dare-devils and their many adventures:
Here is a video of Drew, Tait and Dean riding the skycoaster. You will have to excuse the rudimentary skills of the videographer...


It was a loooonnnnnggggg day! And it was so fun! We go every year and are never disappointed.The next ten days we spent most of our time in Ogden. Dean and I took one excursion with Nana to go to her early birthday dinner at Log Haven up Millcreek Canyon. We met my other siblings and their spouses. It was great food and fun! Other than that and the fourth of July, we spent the rest of our time up north mostly. Danielle, Drew and Dean went on their annual hike to the cave and Brinley got her first pedicure. It was hilarious how serious she was. She sat so still. They had these cute little chairs there just for kids! We also went swimming at Bri and Mika's a couple of times and Nana's too, which was fun.
Here is Brinley's first pedicure. It was Grandma's treat for the girls and we had a great time.
Our two favorite highlights from staying in Ogden were going to Toads, a go-cart/laser tag/rockwall/arcade/miniature golf place. It was soooo fun. We played two games of laser tag Mattsson vs. Mattsson with Bri and Mika, we played a round of golf, we raced on the go-cart course, and the kids had fun playing in the arcade and climbing the rock wall. We are starving for kid-friendly places like this where we are, so it was fun to experience. I don't have any millionaire friends that I know of, but if you are out there and I just don't know, or if by some strange accident you are a millionaire who has stumbled on our blog, feel free to build one in our area. I think it would do really well, even in these trying economic times. I'm just saying...
Okay, so we are LAME and forgot our camera this day and all we got was this photo from Dean's phone of the kids rock climbing. Thank goodness we did have our camera for our other major highlight for this part of the trip: a trek we took up Inspiration Canyon with with Bri and Mika and their four wheelers and Polaris ranger. It was an incredible ride up to the top and the views were amazing! We were so high that the kids got to play in snow. We loved it!
WE LOVE THE USA!

The Fourth of July Weekend was one of our best of the trip. After Dean went golfing with his dad and Bri, we went to my family's annual 4th of July picnic. It starts out civilized but always ends up wet! That night we went to Stadium of Fire and on the way down we stopped at the BYU Bookstore, another tradition. It was our debut at the Stadium of Fire however, and what better entertainment than the Jonas Brothers, hosted by Glen Beck! We went with the Erikssons and the kids thought it was awesome. We forgot our camera again, and we were not sitting by the older kids, but we got some pictures of Brinley with Dean's phone. She thought she was one of the teenagers around us and would repeat everything they said like: "Oh my gosh, I love this song!" Brinley actually does know a lot of the songs and was boogeying and singing with the best of them. It was fun to watch her feel so big. We did not have very good seats and the olders kids were not that much better but we know next year to wait and see instead of buying the first day. About 2 weeks before the show all kinds of awesome seats opened up that were not available that first day of ticket sales. FYI. The fireworks show at the end was amazing however, and then we were kind of glad we were not closer because we had ash all over us as it was. It was awesome! The next day we lit some fireworks in Grandma and Grandpa's cul-de-sac with Bri and Mika and the kids. That was good fun too. I was reading John Adams by David McCullough at the time and finished it after we got home. I definitely have a new appreciation for our country and the sacrifices so many made to declare and fight for independence, form our government, and write our constitution. I want my kids to know that the constitution was written with inspiration from our Heavenly Father. That he orchestrated the events under which it occured and brought the people together at that time to write it according to his divine wisdom. I hope one day the citizens of this country will all remember the constitution this way. We love the USA!These are Brinley's cousins her age, Zoie (left) and Anna (middle).

Here is Danielle swinging at the pinata. My family always lets the girls go first for food, and through doors, for pinata swinging, etc. However, when Danielle took a swing at it, my uncles and cousins could not believe how hard she hit it. I think they were worried she would break it before everyone got a turn. That's my girl!

This is Dean after Uncle Bob got him good!Plotting the next victim with Uncle Bob...
Danielle and her new cousin Janessa ready to get someone!

You know what? It's not for everybody...
Stadium of Fire

Brinley is much happier and drier now!
Wrestling with Uncle Brian before lighting fireworks.
Alexa and Binz

Grandma and Grandpa got a scooter for the kids to ride while we were there. It is much more powerful than the ones we have at home. The kids loved it.

Grandma and Grandpa's neighbor and Drew's friend, Jackson, joined the fun.

Dean drove us all home on our 14th anniversary. We did go out a few days before to celebrate at Ruby River, one of my favorite restaurants. We went and saw Wolverine afterwards and we really liked it. But, then we've ended up liking all the Marvel movies. Here are some pictures from on the way home.

We miss our friends and family in Utah, but it was good to come home and sleep in our own beds. It was an awesome trip and we are so fortunate to have family that have enough room for us to stay at their houses for free. Thanks Amber, Paul, Grandma, and Grandpa!

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day one week early because the kids in I would be in Utah for the actual day. The kids each made Dean a cute card and Dean was surprised, he didn't know we were celebrating. Danielle had helped me pick out some plaid shorts for Dad. She is concerned about his fashion. You can see from the picture that Brinley was excited to tell Dad what the present was. I love watching Dean with the kids, it brings me joy that heals and lifts me up to new heights. I don't do a lot of things real well, but I did find a great dad for my kids. I hope they know what it means to have a father like him. He cares so much and loves so much and will never stop. They deserve it. Every kid does, and I am so grateful that they have a father like Dean, a blessing that will give and give their whole lives. Now I just want my girls to find a good dad for their kids. Ya, I know, one step at a time.

Lunches with Dad

During the latter part of the school year, Brinley and I enjoyed going for lunches with Dean, usually on Fridays. She loved going and was always very excited. It was so fun for her to have the two of us all to herself. We especially liked Good Eats and Panera Bread.

Ward Campout - June 12th

Dean, Danielle and Drew headed up to the Ward Campout the last day of school. The kids had a blast playing soccer and sleeping in tents. They even stopped on the way home to take a picture of the valley below. I stayed home with Brinley and watched a chic flick. Good times...It was a great way to wrap up the school year.

HAWAII TRIP JUNE1-6, 2009

Only two more days until we leave for Hawaii. Only one more link left, the night before. Ready? One, Two...

THREE! I give this stinking place one more night and then I'm leaving for Hawaii!We've arrived! Who is the hot mountain man that has bathed in milk?

Throwing the football with Dad at the new slide pool. Dean told me the other day that if he only had 30 minutes left with the kids, he would go out and throw the ball with them. They love it.

Brinley was scared of the water for the first couple of days. The only one "strong" enough to take her out in the water was Dean. Eventually, she let Danielle take her out and they counted all the numbers in the pool. It was very sweet of Danielle.

Drew buried Danielle in the sand.

Danielle and Brinley shared a bed the whole trip. They traded off with Drew between the sofa bed and the king. They loved this big, fluffy, comfy bed. Brinley would come in every day for her nap. She basically would collapse on the couch watching "Barbie: The Prince and the Pauper." That is one of her faves right now.
The other thing we did inside was play this card game called, "Golf" that the Deans taught to us. We had so much fun playing it one night while we watched the sunset from Grandma and Grandpa's porch. We even got a noise complaint! Gasp! Face cards AND loud laughter?! Say it isn't so!

Cliff jumping on the north shore. After this we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant there.

The Lauau! sp? We do this every time we go. This time, just Danielle, Drew and I went down. It is always great food and wonderful entertainment against a beautiful beach sunset. Amazing!

Waiting in line to get tattoos.

Drewbee trying to make fire.

YUMMY!

We went to the tide pools and got some cool shells and saw some HUGE crabs.

Brinley got used to the water after the first couple of days and would "swim" at the beach pool, her favorite pool. She did not want to go the beach again after our trip to the northshore. "Too much sand!" she would say.

MORE BEACH FUN...

This has been my swim purse for about 6 or 7 years. It has been to Hawaii four times and the Cottonwood Recreation Center a million times and the Spanish Fork pool, Seven Peaks Water Park, Knotts Soak City and countless other private swimming pools. It has served me well and I have always kept my bracelets on the purse left over from the first time Dean and I went to Hawaii together and stayed at Ko'Olina. Finally, the lining was ripping and it was asking for mercy. It has served my well. Farewell, my swim purse, thanks for the memories. Farewell Hawaii and Ko'Olina, our favorite resort. Thanks for all the good times.

BUT THE TRIP WAS NOT OVER! WHAAAAAAAAAT?

Brinley was so ready to go home. She got a fever on the way home from Hawaii. We arrived late in LA and told the kids that since it was so late, we were just going to spend the night in a hotel there and leave in the morning. Brinley's chin started quivering when Danielle explained it to her. Poor thing, she missed home! What the kids did not know is that the Erikssons had been at Disneyland all week staying at the same hotel. We planned to meet down in the lobby the next morning for breakfast and surprise both sets of kids. However, when we were getting ready the next morning, Dean ran out to buy some Children's Motrin for Brinley (it was a rough night), he heard Amber say, "Tait! It is your turn in the shower!" They were right next door! Fourteen floors, and we are right next door. Dean came in to where I was putting on my make-up and mouths the words: "They are right next door!" in the mirror. Too funny. So several texts and secret phone calls later and Drew and I walked out at the appointed time. Who do we see? Aunt Amber. Amber says, "Who are you?" and Drew just stood there in shock. I asked him, "Who is that?" Then Danielle comes out and after saying "What?" She gives Amber a big hug and then Ty came out and he and Drew embraced in a bear hug. Then it was just hugs all around. It was so fun. We had breakfast downstairs and then went to see the LA Dodgers play the Phillies! Tad, Drew and Ty...driving to the game.

Zoie and Brinley - Blankets and thumbs

Brinley took a little nap. How would it be to be able to sleep anywhere like that?

Trying to get on the jumbotron!

Brinley painted her face with red lip balm on the way to Red Lobster.

It was a great game that the Dodgers won with a walk-off home run in the 11th inning. It was so fun! Then we went to Red Lobster for dinner. We will see the Erikssons again when we go to UT next week. Loved the little taste of family! The whole week was a week to remember and treasure. So grateful that we were able to do it. So grateful for each other and our many blessings each day.

Last Games of Baseball/Softball (May 23,26, & 28)

Drew had a great coach again this year and he had three or four assistant coaches that had all coached together, the same group of kids, for the last three years. We were lucky enough to get with this group this year, and Drew learned so much. We had a great time talking with the other parents, some of whom we knew from soccer. On May 28th, the night before we left for Hawaii, we had Drew's baseball party at Good Stuff Pizza. The coaches gave out awards that were homemade trophies that Coach George had made himself. When all the trophies had been given, one was left. It was the coach's award. Coach George said that this award goes to the boy who was always did what he was told, who never talked back, who always had a good attitude and was great at all aspects of the game. He kept saying this kid is such a "good kid." He said this boy was one of the best players on the team. Then he gave it to Drew! Drew was really proud and I was excited for him. He loves playing. One of the other coaches pulled me aside and told me that he thought Drew was the best player on the team and he couldn't get over what a good kid he was. Then, as we were walking out, one of the other coaches pulled Drew over and said some more nice things. It is great when other wonderful people can have an influence in my child's life. It is one of my favorite things in the world to watch. These coaches were strict about playing the game correctly but were never concerned with winning and we were blessed to be on their team. Here are some more highlights.
Danielle had a great team and coaches as well. She learned a lot. She loved it. Her very first game she got the game ball which they gave out each game. She had a bit of a slump mid-way through the season and lost some confidence. Dean showed her some things and after a Saturday practice with the team, she was so much more confident and finished out the season well. Danielle loves to improve and push herself. Her best friend Bailey and her were able to be on the same team. So, we got to see the Deans a ton at all the games and it made the whole season that much more enjoyable. Towards the end of the season one of the girls quit and Danielle's other good friend, Indy came on the team for the last part of the season. It was a great time for Danielle.
A FUNNY STORY ABOUT DANIELLE AND HER COMPETITIVE SPIRIT: A week before we left for Hawaii, the fourth grade did push-ups for Fitness Friday at school. The first round was 20, the second round was for 20 and the third round was until the last person stopped. The teachers told the kids they could do them on their knees if they wanted. The kids were told they were out if they did not do the push-ups correctly. Danielle elected not to do the push-ups the easy way, but the REAL way. She made it to the third round. It was her and 4 boys. She did it until one of the boys left got out and then she went out next. She was so sore for the next three days. I asked her if it was worth it and she immediately said YES! These kind of things inspire me and I realize how much I can learn from her.