Time and All Eternity

This Saturday we woke up VERY early to drive 3 hours to Spokane....

We were able to drop off the kiddo's at Melanie's new house which was just 20 minutes up the same road the temple was on. Yippee! Our friends the Byington's who have 5 wonderful little boys all under the age of 10 were married and sealed together. We had the incredible opportunity to witness and be apart of it all. I can't explain the amazing experience to watch this amazing family kneel together and be sealed for time and all eternity. It is an experience I will never forget.

Reuniting the boys was bitter sweet. We dropped off the kids at 10am and headed to the temple and some shopping and then we came back for dinner and stayed until 10pm, and they still couldn't believe we were leaving so soon. We love the Andersons, and we hope to be able to visit them and the temple lots (seeing they are so close!)

They bought their dream home, a home on 12 acres free to romp and tromp around. No Wii was played, no t.v. was watched...just exploring, treasure finding and 4 wheel riding for hours.

12 Years

Yesterday was our 12th wedding anniversary. Wow. It has just flown by. Each year gets better and better...really.

I woke up this morning to breakfast in bed, made by Hunter and Logan. My sister Shauna had called and left a message our machine wishing us a Happy Anniversary, he had heard it and got busy making us breakfast. So sweet. We EACH got 3 pieces of toast a tall glass of milk and 2 sugar cookies.

I planned a romantic evening at home and set up a small table for two with candles and fancy plates. Once the kids saw the set up...

Logan asked why there were only 2 chairs and where were the rest?

Jessica said in a sing song voice and a squeal, "Ooo! Are you romancing?!?"

Hunter barely noticed.

.

Camilla planned a sleepover at her house so that we could have our dinner. What a sweetheart...except Jess has had a tough time with sleepover anxiety and we didn't want to push her in this sensitive subject. So we had a wonderful dinner for three. No worries, it was a wonderful night nevertheless.

I got Matt a special grapefruit tree to celebrate our happy 12. It even has 3 large grapefruits on it! He was tickled by his new tree.

Good Sports

The girls had a tea party.
They invited the boys.
The boys wanted cookies, so they came.
.

Such good sports.

Drive In Movies

I love our town. For 15 dollars you can take a truck load of people and sit under the stars (which you can actually see in this small town) and watch movie on an emormous screen. How fun. This drive-in has probably been here since my parents time, which makes it that much more special. We met up the Rose's and hunkerd down in our big ol pickups, had our popcorn all popped and watched Night at the Museum 2. (good movie) They play 2 movies back to back. The next movie was Star Trek (not good movie for kids) so we left after the first 15 minutes of the second movie. Fun night!!

Do you ever?

Do you ever get DISCOURAGED that....

...you aren't putting your kids in enough "extra-curricular" activities.

...you are over scheduling your kids.

...you can never seem to keep the house clean in all the places at all the same time.

...you eat too much.

..you don't exercise enough.

...you don't call your friends enough.

...you don't go on enough dates with your hubby.

...you yell too much.

...your meals aren't healthy enough.

...your food storage isn't big enough.

...your savings account isn't big enough.

...your house isn't cute enough.

...you don't rely on the Lord enough.

...your kids aren't learning all that they should.

...your house doesn't quite STAY organized like you hoped.

...your too hard on your kids.

...your too easy on your kids.

...time runs out on you.

..you don't tell your sisters how great you think they both are.

...your house has more projects left to do then has been completed.

.

sometimes....I do.

Another Logo...Yes Again....

Okay...I know we have been here before...but through blood sweat and tears we have worked at deciding what our brand and "look" would look like. All the others just weren't quite right. It is very important to us to have a logo that reflects what we are, and where we are going. We love this one...this is IT!!!

(the thin border around it isn't part of it)

Okay once again...what do YOU think?

Family Reunion 2009

WHISTLER, CANADA

A week long stay at one of the most luxurious resort hotels at Whistler was beyond wonderful. My parents time share at Whister hasn't been used much, but no longer! We have officially started our Matkin Family Reunions. The 7 cousins LOVE being together, and they all play so well together. We all headed up, (making it flawlessly through the border) on Monday. Decisions for the next week became, should we go to the pool first, then head to the video game room, follow up with a movie at the private Resort movie theater. We only left the resort once to go to the Lake. I can't wait for next year! Thanks everyone for the fabulous time!

Here are some of our highlights....

The POOL was taken over this week by the Matkin Family.
* Water Football * Swimming Races (I won't mention who won) * Tubing in the Waterslide

Hanging Out was wonderful...video game room, resort movie theater each night (we took over that place too), painting our nails, running to the club market for sweets, swimming in the bathtub, playing wii, watching t.v., EATING!!!









We left the resort once to go to the LAKE...
On our way there, a massive fire broke out in the mountain ranges right above us. It was eerie and became entertainment for all those at the lake.








Hunter's BIRTHDAY was this week. I wanted to make it extra special so I planned a scavenger hunt throughout the resort. I put clues on paper plates that led him to places like the front desk, the market, waterslides, etc. He had to ask people for the clues, his cousins helped him out. Each clue had a word on it which spelt out...
YOU ARE HAVING A SHOPPING SPREE AT THE LEGO STORE IN SEATTLE
(well not really a spree, but he got to choose something really cool)

On our last day we headed to the VILLAGE to check out the Olympic 2010 scene and chow down on Canadian favorite COWS ice cream.