Family Reunion

We were able to spend about three weeks in Utah last month. We had a great time with family, friends and family reunions. We always have such a great time being in the outdoors, running in between my mom and grandmas, and spending a lot of time with the cousins.

While we were there the Schofield family had an extended family reunion. All of Tony's brothers and sisters were there along with most of their kids and grandkids. Grandma and Grandpa rented out a lodge in Provo Canyon. We had a great time with all of the family. Ava was just getting over a bad case of Strep throat (we ended up in the ER for dehydration), so Matt took the other kids up a day early and we joined them later. We hiked to Stewart Falls, played games and visited. The boys slept out in their tent with the cousins and the girls thought that they were hot stuff being able to run around with all of the little girls. Papa Tony taught the boys how to make whistles from the willow trees, showed Austin all of the native plants in the area for Austins scout stuff. Times like this really make me appreciate what a great family we have!

Jake slept in the storage bin of the trailer!

Sharing the tall boy coke that Matt brought back from Mexico to share with the brothers!

Hiking to Stewart Falls

Ava loved to wade in the water with Lucy

Of course all of the boys found their way into the freezing cold water!

A "friendly" game of Ultimate Frisbee

Matt and Josh get bored and when that happens, who knows what will come next. This time it was a swing out over the cliff! Good Times!

Golden Nugget AKA Golden Dougnut

For the past three years we have taken a weekend trip to the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas. We can always get super cheap rooms, and the kids LOVE the shark tank pool. This year Matt's mom and dad happened to be in town for a conference, so they were able to join us. Sami was excited because this was the first year that she was tall enough to go on the slide! It was hot as ever, but we still had a great time!

Mexico

We just got back from 10 sun-filled days at the beach. When there are stresses in your life, nothing helps quite like sand, sun and surf! We went to San Felipe Mexico to my grandma and grandpas home there. My mom and dad, Stephanie, Erik and Kambree came as well. My uncle Floyd and aunt Kathryn and their three girls came with some of their friends. It was great to have some other kids there for our kids to hang out with. They were entertained all week with little effort on our part!

We did a whole lot of playing in on the beach, four wheeling, hole digging, shell searching, eating and relaxing. The weather was absolutely perfect the entire time. Matt, my dad, and Erik spent some time doing some fix it projects that Grandma Mary needed done. A new gate was put in, some stairs fixed and a lot of landscaping done. They can only relax so much, so it was good to have something for them to do.

My mom being the huge humanitarian person that she is, came prepared with a lot of clothes, food and blankets so give out. We recruited the local Branch's Relief Society to help. We drove to a few members homes that we in need. We were able to hand out blankets, clothes and food. It was an amazing experience. The kids were a little shocked to see that people actually lived the way that they do. Dirt floors, no running water and very little to eat is a foreign concept to them. After visiting the members we ended up driving down some random street. As soon as the people understood what we were doing, they came running out of their homes. We stopped our cars and started handing out clothing from the back of the trucks. It was a humbling experience to see people in such need. They did not care what the clothing looked like as long as it fit. After we left we all felt a little disheartened that we did not have more to give. The children wanted coloring books and crayons, what little we had we gave them, but it was not nearly enough. Next time we will hit the Dollar Store before we leave.

The boys were able to use their Spanish quite a bit, but church was a little overwhelming for them. The members spoke so fast that it was hard for Austin and Easton to follow them.

We had a great trip and it was so relaxing and fun to be able to spend time with our family. We can not wait until the next time we can get down there again!

(There are a lot of pics to follow, sorry but thats how we roll around here)