Matthews Family Reunion: Auburn CA

Wow!  Reunion Trip to CA?  All Right!!

We are ready to go!  And Aunt Lyn made an awesome scavenger hunt game to help us pass the time driving!  Here are our "crazy" hats!

Who's ready for a wild good time?

Well, here is flat #1 (that there even is a number associated with that statement is bad right?)

about 100 to get to Reno on a spare tire....

that was a slow 100 miles!

We turned Ella around so she could see the TV!  Happy girl! (for a moment anyway!)

FREEZE OUT!  (They are growing on Ella...I think this is her first one ever!)

We stopped in Reno at Circus Circus!  The boys were sure surprised!  We told them the hotel we were staying at didn't have a pool and they were bummed...till they saw the game room!

Dad took the tram to our room and we "ran" to beat him....

but we had to look like we had been waiting forever!!

 Happy Ella!  We got to do LOTS of arcade/game experiences!

Mom and Dad want a major break from them!

Yikes, we were so bad about pics this year.  No group shots and lots of blurry ones.  Must have been having lots of fun!

Dancing with cousins!

Favorite picture of the trip!

Ella didn't want to say good bye to Uncle Tom.

 Ride home:

2nd flat tire!  (No picture this time)

It was a long trip home!

Thanks to Uncle Tom for hosting!

We love you all!

EFY at Southern Virginia University

Oh my!  What an adventure!  EFY is such an amazing experience, no matter where it is located!  There are so many things I didn't get great pictures of.  The fireflies!  I've never seen one in person.  We got to stay in this really cute house on campus with a wrap around porch.  It rained most afternoons and the knats were annoying!  What a beautiful place!  So small we drove right through the town and had to turn around and find campus!

Our team was amazing.  They all worked really hard....

it makes me laugh that this is the only picture I have of us...

They worked so hard that finally we had to get everyone to lay down and Allen played soothing piano!

The Youth, as always, were awesome.  Love love love that EFY allows youth to strengthen their testimonies in the Gospel of Jesus Christ by doing things that they can do when they go home...scripture reading, journal writing, etc...Love to see their testimonies grow.  It's amazing!

We had to take this picture for Quincy...

Our awesome Coordinators...

(got to work with Andrew last year too!)

So so grateful for wonderful Grandparents who helped out while we were gone.  We know how much work it is to take care of our precious family and we knew they would be in good hands.  Thanks for taking care of our kiddos!  We owe you so much more than we could ever repay!  The kids love their grandparents and we are so happy they get lots of time to spend with them.  

We love EFY!  

Washington DC on the 4th of July

We still can't believe this could even happen, but our EFY session this year was in Virginia the week after the 4th of July so we flew out early so we could spend some days in DC.  

What an adventure to be on the National Mall on the 4th of July.  You think the airport is good for people watching :)

Waiting for the fireworks!

National Gallery

Impressionists are my favorite...

Also Matisse...

The Capital building is behind us...I promise!

Love love love modern technology.  It was so fun to txt pictures to grandma for the boys.  We asked them what movie this one was from.  Honestly, the whole time in the Natural History Museum we really were waiting for this to come alive!

Did I mention it was really really hot and humid?...

and we didn't get our rental till later...

so we took the Metro everywhere!  It was AWESOME!

(but more awesome once we found the 7-11 for Slurpees!)

Love the Smithsonian: Air and Space

 Vietnam Memorial

Lincoln is one of my favorites!

 Arlington...

everyone is so reverent there.  It's very peaceful.

This photo doesn't even seem real.  Wow, what a beautiful temple.  So thankful for eternal families.  So sorry the temple was closed.  Loved that this temple was naturally landscaped.  Not a lot of manicured area.  All natural forest.  Beautiful!

ON TO EFY IN Buena Vista, Virginia!

UVCC Choir Tour Trip

Allen took the 3 boys on an amazing adventure for 10 days!  The Utah Valley Children's Choir went to Oregon and California for their choir/bus tour this year.  Allen directed the choir and the boys came along for the adventure.  Miles even sang a little bit!  

(I will try to get Allen on here to describe the trip)

They took awesome pictures of their adventures...

LOTS of bus time...

Outside their hotel in Oregon

Seaside, Oregon

Portland Oregon Temple

Redwood Forest

 What a wonderful daddy!  The boys had a wonderful time.  Where I would think it would be too crazy to take them, Dad thought it would be a great adventure!  

Summertime fun

Yikes, I realize I am way behind in blogging...

too much going on...

Summertime MADNESS!  but lots of fun too.

The hammock came out...

We are soooo excited that dad's new seminary assignment is less than 2 miles from home.  We have biked it this summer!

Ella has LOVED the turtle pool.  So glad I kept it!
Love this stare down...it looks like Ella knows what Porter is thinking
(spitting water on her)

The Slip N Slide, which lasted 45 minutes but was so much fun!

Quincy had his first real dentist appointment for a cavity.  He was a champ!  Nice prize too, Sir Quincy!

Trip Pictures coming up...