birthday at the park

We have two February birthdays in our family: Melody and John.  We all got together to have a joint celebration tonight at Red Mountain park for FHE.  

 Melody loves Papa

 The birthday boy

 Barbara

 While John was opening up some of his gifts he said, "That is not what I wanted."  Little stinker!  So rude! However, he loved the silly string and Mr. Freeze toy he picked out and got from Grandma, and my Plants vs. Zombies figures.  Aunt Cheryl for the win!

rootstech 2015

I was able, this year, to go up to Utah for the annual Rootstech Family History conference.  Kristy and I made plans to attend last year and it was a really fun weekend!  We managed to fit a lot into the three days we had together.

Wednesday (February 11th) I went to my biology lab and lecture, then straight to the airport.  On the way to the airport I got the phone call that I had gotten the second job I had applied for at LDS Family Service.  But more about that later...

I got into Prove about 5pm.  Kristy and her roommate Alicia were there to pick me up.  Then we went to dinner at Zaxby's - a really good fast food chicken place.  When we got back to Kristy's condo, we spent a little bit of time planning which of the classes at the conference we want to go to each day, and then we rented and watched the Backstreet Boys movie.  It was a little ridiculous, but of course we had to watch it.  We both thought there was a lot about their history as a group that was left out and found that kind of interesting.

Day one of the conference: Thursday.  

We decided to take the Frontrunner train from Lehi up to Salt Lake because we thought it would be cheaper.  But it wasn't.  However, by the time we figured that out, it was too late and we were committed.  It was an experience and just added to the adventure of the weekend. 

Neither of us were really interested in the opening keynote speakers for day one, so we didn't rush to get up there for that.  When we got to the Salt Palace, we checked in and got our name badges, then went to our first class.  It was an interesting class about learning how to search for information on how old people had to be to do certain things in history by looking at the laws of the time and place.  This is helpful when you come across documents that mention someone doing something (witnessing a will, being a guardian, holding a government office, etc) but there is no mention of how old he or she was.  You can look at the laws to figure out an age range which is really helpful in determining if the person in question is your relative.  

After that first class it was lunch time and we walked across the street to City Creek and went to The Cheesecake Factory.  It was really yummy!  As it always is.  I got the BBQ Chicken pizza (my usual) and we share a piece of the Adams' peanut butter cup cheesecake.  YUM!! 

The second class we decided to go to was all about tips on using Google to search for family history information.  

As part of the conference there was a large Expo Hall set up with tons of vendors with booths.  We spent a lot of time walking around, trying things out, getting information, and looking at all the cool things people had. 

By this time we were so tired that we sat down in the area they had set up as a demo area.  Every 10-15 minutes a different vendor would get up and give a little demo about their product or service.  We sat through a couple different demos.  At each one they would pass out raffle tickets and at the end of each presentation the vendor would have something to give away.  During the second presentation I won!  I got an Anniversary Plaque showing two family crests.

Since my parents' anniversary is coming up I got McLaws and Matsen.

Now.  Here's the thing.  I don't think this is real and right.  Because #1) They had to use "Madsen" for anything to come up and we're not really from that lineage.  And #2) I don't believe the McLaws one because that line is so muddled up right now.   Nevertheless, it's still kind of fun to have.  The two family mottos are fun and we've decided to adopt them, whether or not they're really true, or not.

Matsen motto: Woe to the timid
McLaws motto: Let us be judged by our actions

After spending some more time wandering around the Expo Hall we went to the opening concert they had.  The performers were Alex Boye and The One Voice Children's Choir.  They were both really good and it was a fun time.  Finally, we left and made our way back to Lehi on the train.  By this time it was almost 9 o'clock at night and we were both starving!  Luckily there is a Cafe Rio close to Kristy's condo, and we went and got salads.

So good!  But we both ended up having really weird dreams and decided that maybe eating Cafe Rio that late at night wasn't such a good idea...

Day Two: Friday

We got ready early and drove up to Salt Lake.  The train yesterday had cost us both almost $9.  Parking was only $10-$12.  It was cheaper to drive up and split the parking cost than to ride the train again.  We both ended up wearing grey jeans and a maroon shirt without coordinating with each other!  Great minds think alike :)

We caught the tail end of the opening speakers (Laura and Jenna Bush) then went to a class about the myheritage.com site.  It was really interesting and I think it might be a good resource for my researching because they specialize in British (including some Scottish) and Irish records and documents.

Lunch today was at the Olive Garden.  Yummy soup and salad!  After lunch we went to a couple more classes that were kind of boring and not really about the things we thought they were about according to the written descriptions they had.

We decided not to stay for the closing performers and instead cut out early afternoon to do some other things we wanted to do.  We went to a small little Parisian bakery close to where we were.  We bought a couple different things and shared them: macaroons, shortbread, and a nutella muffin thing.  The nutella one was the winner as best tasting.

 Then we went and got pedicures, and went and saw the movie "Jupiter Ascending" on the IMAX screen at Thanksgiving Point.  We got a mammoth sized popcorn to match the mammoth screen we were watching the movie on!  The movie was fun and we both really liked it.  When we got back to Kristy's house, we ate some of the Valentine's Day chocolates Kristy had gotten from her students at school (her roommate brought home the valentines from the school parties).

Day Three: Saturday

We got up even earlier today and drove up to Salt Lake again.  We wanted to be there for the keynote speaker: Donny Osmond!

It was a good opening session.  Donny spoke and sang a few songs.  Noelle Pikus-Pace (olympic skeleton racer) spoke as well.  After the opening session, we left and walked over to the City Creek mall again.  We walked around, and went into a few stores, then met up with Aunt Jeri for lunch at Blue Lemon.

After lunch we went to another general session with Elder Anderson as the speaker.  He issued an extended challenge to everyone to focus on this year when it comes to family history and temple work.

We didn't go to any classes today because there weren't any that we were really intersted in.  So, after Elder Anderson's presentation we went back to the Expo Hall for a little while because Kristy was interested in getting some information on getting a Master's degree in Family History.  We got some information and then left.

There were so many people there today because it was Family Day.  The closing session was with Elder Cook.  Today was probably my favorite day at the conference because it was more LDS focused and we got to hear from two apostles.

The closing ceremonies were with the cast of Studio C (who were kind of lame and just sat up on the stage answering questions from twitter) and David Archuleta!

He's so cute.  I love him.

For dinner we went and got sushi.  This was my first experience with real sushi and I really liked it!  The funny thing was: today was Valentine's day and I'm pretty sure everyone at the restaurant thought Kristy and I were there together on a date.  When the bill came I offered to pay it because I owed Kristy for my part of the parking the last couple days and, I said, "Everyone here thinks we're on a date and I'm the butch one so I'd be paying anyway."

We both laughed, but it was also kind of sad, that that's the way our society is.  And even though not everyone was probably thinking that about us, there was probably at least one, and it makes me sad.

Sunday we were able to sleep in a little, then we got dressed and ready and I packed up.  Kristy drove me to the airport then went to church.

It was a really fun trip and I learned a lot of great tips for continuing my family  history search.  I wish we'd had a little more time so I could have gone over to the family history library and spent some time talking to someone and getting some help with my McLaws line.

I love having a best friend that will go to family history conferences with me, who will watch silly Backstreet Boys movies with me, who will eat yummy food and not judge me for how much chocolate I eat and how much Diet Dr. Pepper I drink.  I wish we lived closer so we could hang out more, but it just makes the time we DO get together more fun and special.

aunt christine

This is a hard post to write.

Last Monday we received a call that changed our lives.  Aunt Christine had passed away.  Even now, a week later, it still feels so unreal and part of me can't believe it really happened.

Sunday afternoon she went into cardiac arrest in the middle of Relief Society.  There were two nurses who were there and began CPR while the paramedics were coming.  They were able to get her heart started again before taking her to the hospital, but she never regained consciousness.  Once at the hospital it was touch and go all night.  Then, her kidneys shut down.  The doctors tried to get dialysis going to get rid of all the toxins in her body, but they had a hard time getting it going without lowering the amount of medication needed for her heart to stay going.  Eventually, however, it all became too much.  She flat-lined a couple times and finally passed.  An autopsy was performed because there was no medical reason why she died.  The doctors did everything they could for her, but weren't able to save her.  The autopsy came back "inconclusive."  The only explanation that has come out was that she was in the middle of training to run the Phoenix marathon later this month and her electrolytes were out of whack because of that.  Her potassium was just too low and it affected her heart.  Although we would like for there to be a concrete reason why, it was confirmed to us all that it was her time to go.  Heavenly Father needed her home, and she has work she needs to do on the other side.

We got the call Monday afternoon and were all in a state of shock all week.  Emotions fluctuated and life was reevaluated.  Prayer became our refuge and I'm so grateful for good friends and so many family members who sent so many prayers to me and my family.  We felt each one as we were given the strength to continue on with our lives and make it through the funeral on Saturday.

Though we were all very sad, and lots of tears were shed, it was really nice being with my family.  I love my siblings and I'm so thankful for the gospel in my life and the knowledge we have of the Plan of Salvation.  It is such a comfort in times of grief, to know there is a plan, and that life doesn't end with death.

cheryl and julia's crazy adventure

Let me tell you a crazy story...

Wednesday morning (December 31, 2014) Julia and I set out bright and early to drive up to Utah.  Julia has been accepted to do a service abroad program starting in February where she will be teaching English to school kids in China.  As part of the program she needed to attend a two day training up in Orem, UT.  We figured it would be easy and cheaper to drive up there, and since Mom & Dad couldn't do it because of Grandpa, I offered to go up with her. 

We left our house at 6am, excited and ready to go, with plans of being up in Kaysville/Farmington in time to go to the Matsen family New Year's Eve party.  However, things quickly escalated and our plans were foiled.

Because of "Winter Storm Frona" I decided that driving through Vegas was going to be our safest bet.  I knew Flagstaff was already kind of a mess because of snow they'd already received and more in the forecast.  Plus, I didn't feel comfortable driving the pass between Panquitch and Beaver.  So we decided to drive through Las Vegas and up the I-15.

We made really good time to Wickenberg, but that's when the snow started.  It began snowing about 20 minutes west of Wickenberg and kept snowing and getting heavier and heavier the farther west we drove.  We didn't even make it to Wickieup (halfway between Wickenberg and Kingman) before we were stopped on the highway.  We sat for about and hour before we moved.  I had to pee so bad at this point!  Normally Kingman is about an hour from Wickenberg and my bladder doesn't have a problem going that distance.  However, after being stopped for an hour and a half, I really had to go.  Problem was, we were out in the middle of nowhere with no idea how long it was going to take us to reach Kingman because of the snow and road conditions.  I finally reached my breaking (or should I say peeing) point and had to pull over to the side of the road.  Luckily we had a plastic tub along with us for the ride that was holding our snacks and other various items.  I quickly dumped all of the contents out of the tub, made Julia stand in front of me so the other cars passing us on the snowy freeway wouldn't see my naked bum, and popped a squat on the backseat of my car using the bucket as a toilet!  The snow was still falling, it was windy, freezing cold, people were driving past us, and there I was peeing in a bucket on the side of highway 93!  But desperate times call for desperate measures!!  I was glad I'd done it because once we got back on the highway we finally made it to Wikieup, but as soon as we were through town we were stopped once again.  This time for TWO AND A HALF HOURS!

We were not amused. 

We had no idea what the problem was - if there was an accident somewhere, or if the roads were closed because of the snow.  Luckily we were able to call Mom and Dad and see if they were able to figure out what was wrong.  Dad said the only thing that had been reported was that the I-40 (which the 93 feeds into and which we were headed for) was closed because of snow and they were plowing the roads to get them reopened.  While we were sitting, not going anywhere, one giant tow truck drove by, but we never saw who, or what he picked up.  The roads weren't icy, just snowy and I guess a lot of the big semi's were having a hard time going up and down the hills.

It took us TEN HOURS to drive from Mesa to Kingman.  That's usually only a 3-3.5 hour drive.  It was so crazy!  I was hungy, thirsty, had a killer headache, and sick of being in the car.  After our two and a half hour stop, we drove for a while, but everyone was driving VERY SLOW because of the snowy roads.  We were stopped a third time for about an hour and a half in sight of, but unable to reach, the I-40.  Julia turned to me at that point and said, "If we get stranded out here over night...I've eaten all the food."

Hahaha!

Thanks for the confession!  It made me laugh.  We hadn't had that much food to begin with because we'd been planning on being to Kingman in a few hours and then to Vegas in time for lunch.  Luckily we finally made it to Kigman by about 4pm.  We stopped and got something to eat, used the bathroom, and made the decision to try and make to to Vegas.  Once we were past Kingman the road cleared up and we made pretty good time to Vegas.  The roads stayed clear and we decided to keep going to St. George.  We pulled into St. George at about 8:30pm - FOURTEEN AND A HALF HOURS on the road!!  I made the decision to stop and get a hotel room for the night because the temps had really dropped and the roads were starting to get icy.  I knew that the stretch of highway between Cedar City and Fillmore (through Beaver) was going to be bad and I didn't want to do it in the dark.

We got a room at the Hilton Garden Inn in St. George.  The hotel was very nice and clean.  I was very impressed.  It wasn't exactly the way were were planning, or wanting, to spend New Year's Eve, but at least we were safe and we'd made it through that crazy, ridiculous drive!!

We got up early Thursday morning and drove the rest of the way up to Kaysville.  Julia was a very good copilot.  Except for when she was taking a nap.  LOL!

The stretch of highway I had been nervous about the night before was the worst part of the drive and I was glad we hadn't done it at night.  It was scary enough during the day!   We made it up to Kaysville by noon.  We were both hungry and didn't want to show up at Jeri and Chad's house needing to be fed, so we stopped at TacoTime for lunch.  I miss and crave their crispy bean burritos all the time!  This restaurant is only up in Utah, so whenever we go we have to stop and get some.

We stayed Thursday and Friday night at Jeri and Chad's house.  Friday Julia had to go to her first day of training.  She drove my car down to Orem and I stayed at the house.  I hung out with Bear, Riken, and the kids (Molly, Rachel, and Ben).  I think I watched an entire season of "Worst Cooks in America" (I love that show).  Jeri had to go to work and Chad and the kids left about 3pm to pick her up and head out on their way to Disneyland for a family trip.

After we'd gotten into town on Thursday we went over and said hi to Grandma and Grandpa Matsen.  Sally was over there as well and we made plans to hang out with her on Friday evening.  She came and picked me up at Jeri's house and took me back to her new house (it's adorable!).  We hung out there until Julia was done with her training and met us there.  Then we went and got Crown Burger for dinner (another Utah only restaurant that is a must whenever we're in town).  So yummy! 

 After dinner we went back to Sally's house.  I got acquainted with her two doggies: Scout and Oliver .  They were so cute and loving up on me!

 Then we watched "The Young Victoria" while Sally made chocolate chip cookies.  Yum!!  We were spoiled!

Saturday Julia again took my car down to Orem for her second day of training.  I hung out at Jeri's house until about noon when Kristy came and picked me up.  She had just gotten back into town from being home in Oregon for Christmas.  We went shopping, to the grocery store, then back to her condo in Saratoga Springs.  Julia met us there after she was done.  We had dinner, watched a Hallmark channel movie, and then went to bed.  

We left Kristy's house about 7am Sunday morning and made it back to Mesa by 5:30pm.  Luckily the roads were clear and dry all the way home and we weren't stuck anywhere.  It was a crazy trip, but we were safe and my car did great.  We listened to a couple audiobooks, and now have an awesome story we can tell!

happy new year

I made a committment to be better this year at keeping my blog and my journal up to date.  I need to work on being a better personal historian.  So, here's an update.  The first update of 2015!

Christmas was great this year!  We did things a little differently.  In the past everyone has come over to Mom & Dad's for a Christmas Eve dinner and program, then everyone has come over again Christmas morning to all open presents up together.  However, we're starting to get too big as a family to all fit into Mom & Dad's family room comfortably.  We all end up sitting on top of each other (sometimes literally), and by the end of the day we're all irritated and annoyed with each other.  So to help preserve Mom's sanity and keep everyone in a happy Christmas mood we only did the Christmas Eve dinner and program together this year.  Everyone else did their own things with their own little families on Christmas day.

 I got another hedgehog for my pumpkin patch!  Since I named the other one I got this year Humphrey, it was only fitting that I name this one Bogart.  I love him! 

 It's not Christmas without the boys!

 We used my tree this year and I put up all of the cross-stitch Santa ornaments I've made over the years.  It's quite impressive, if I do say so myself!  

 Mom made a ton of her really awesome M&M cookies!  I ate way too many and gained about 10 pounds over the holiday season. Not good!

 I got really sick two weeks before Christmas (thanks Julia, for sharing your germs).  I tried to kill it quick with chicken soup and OJ, but it stubbornly hung on for a week.

 I couldn't sing in the stake Christmas choir I'd been practicing with for the annual Christmas choir fireside.  I was really bummed!

Steven and Kristen were in charge of the Christmas Eve dinner and program this year.  We had a really yummy ham dinner with funeral potatoes, veggies, and rolls.  The program was a talent show that everyone participated in.  Then we had Christmas punch and cookies, and the kids opened up some of their presents. 

Christmas day at our house was me, Julia, Mom, Dad, and Grandpa McLaws (because he is living with us now.  Stay tuned for a blog update about that).  Grandma McLaws came over for a little while then she and Grandpa left for the rest of the day.  It was a really nice, relaxing day.

 I got so many great things!  Lots of new books, a new journal, and awesome pineapple totebag from my mom, a $50 gift card to Half-price Books from my boss, and a ticket to go to Rootstech up in Salt Lake next month!  

The week after Christmas was really cold!  And I know I say that and people across the country laugh at me because AZ doesn't get as cold as some other places, but people!  Seriously.  When I have to scrape my windows, it's COLD!  I had to scour the valley to find a coat so I wouldn't freeze to death when Julia and I went up to Utah over New Year's. 

The Sunday after Christmas we played Apples to Apples with Grandpa.  Do you love how everything is red and green and apple coordinated??  We're dorks, I know.  But I love it!  

I am...

I did a little rearranging in my room and bought a new little bookcase so I can have some of my favorites close to me.  They've been packed away in the shed for more than a year.  I love how I've changed everything around.  It was time.  :)