Grandpa Mason

My Grandpa Lawrence Mason died on May 5th. His health had been deteriorating for quite some time and I think only hung on as long as he did for my Grandma who was devastated even at 88 years to let him go. We were able to go up for the funeral and see cousins (mostly Diana and Rogers family) who I haven't seen in years. It was really neat to see them all. All the kids learned and song an arrangement of I need thee every hour and it was awesome! Its amazing what can happen when you get a group of people that know how to sing and how quickly they can learn something. It was really neat!
My grandpa and I weren't super close. He was kind of a background figure to my grandma while I knew him, but it was fun for me to hear how my dad and his brothers and sister spoke of him growing up. He loved his fishing, war stories, the news, Jazz games and teaching Sunday school. But what made the service neat for me was, my dad had a dream the night before the funeral service that he saw my grandpa in the church in Aurora where the service was held and my dad asked him if he could sit down and talk, and my Grandpa told my dad that "he'd love to son, but there is so much work to do." Isn't that cool? Even when they leave this life old and barely moving, their spirits are quick to get to work on the other side. His grave yard service of course had a military salute with guns, trumpets the whole bit, and it was really cool. I mourn for my Grandma, but she's in a good rest home now where her and Grandpa were before he died and its close to Marlin and Cynthia. And she's a strong woman. I love you Grandpa and the legacy you left.

Mark is home from Hungary!!

On April 28th we went up north to pick up my little brother Mark from his mission to Hungary. It was really fun to see him. I had stayed up with Krista all week and Neal and Cordelle drove up together to meet us for the event. Mark looked great and skinny and tired and a lot like our cousin Jeff Jeppesen. It was crazy. We didn't get to talk much, but he seemed glad to be home and yet you could tell he was really going to miss people in Hungary. He even started tearing up when he talked about them at lunch. It was cute. I remember he didn't shave and he needed a hair cut bad when he got home, so much in fact my mom cut his hair before he was released with the stake president! Ha. Just amusing to me. Only Mark. It will be fun to see what his life brings. He's so talented in so many things I hope he makes the best of them.

My little brother Neal.

This past year my little brother Neal has been living with us, while he goes to SUU. I have seriously loved him being here. Its been so fun living vicariously through his college life, his relationship with Brittlyn and just to talk to someone about our family, politics or whatever comes up. I have always felt a deep connection to Neal and even since we were young, I have kind of looked out for him or over him. (Not that he really needs looking out for now) but I still will miss him asking for my advice or opinions on things, or talking to me about stuff he learns in school and pretending I still remember all that stuff. He'd better stay in good contact even though he's all grown up and married. :) This past weekend was his wedding and although everything was so beautiful and seriously amazing at his wedding and reception, I have really one regret. At the wedding dinner everyone was supposed to go around and tell people something about Brittlyn and Neal or offer them advice. And I was so wrapped up in trying to say something funny or clever that I feel like I really missed an opportunity to tell him what he's meant to me. It sucks that you can't get those moments back. I wish I would've just not cared at all what anyone thought I'd say or tried to be funny (which I wasn't) and just tell Neal thanks and that I loved doing his curly little hair when he was younger, or making him get me pb&j's in the middle of the night, going to his soccer/basketball games, scaring the pants off him as he came running down the stairs in the middle of the night singing the elements in the periodic table. :) He was my little buddy growing up and now I hope that he knows that I love him and he's really become a treasured friend.
Anyways, along with me, my kids learned to love him and here's a picture of him with Jaquelle and Seth one night that he was babysitting for us.

EASTER 2011

So this year we went back to Little Egypt for Easter. We were excited for this year, our kids were getting older and I wasn't pregnant so we figured this would be a good year to just hang out....and hang out is what we did, because....the weather did not really cooperate with out great outdoor plans. Day one: was SO windy there were gust up to 50 mph winds!! And it didn't stop that whole day. Apparently it was like that for almost 48 hours straight. There was NO way we could set up a tent when we could barely stand on our own two feet ourselves. Seriously it was windy.....and I live in what I thought was the windiest place I've ever been. We stayed in my mom's trailer for all afternoon and then just before dark it was still windy, but at least enough that we could walk around a bit and go exploring with the kids. Needless to say though, because we weren't able to set up our tent my dad got my sister and I a hotel for the night. LAME, I know. But it was WINDAYY! And it meant one more showered day. :) Okay so Day 2 was by far the best weather day. It was warm and nice and easter baskets were a hit! We got some kite flying in, a little hiking, quite a bit of horseshoeing and some good old fun. We did Easter baskets Friday and were glad that Brett and Tiffany were there. Neal and Brittlyn and Tallie and Jim didn't show up till Saturday.
Lets see here's some other event's I remember from the trip. I left my pillow at the hotel and couldn't ever find it when I went back for it. Tallie got a ticket for riding their four wheelers right in front of camp with Gavin having a helmet on and she gave the poor rangers heck for it. She was ridiculously in the wrong and they were just enforcing the law with kids under the age of 16, but man she was SOOOOO mad and upset. And of course us being the ultimate, paranoid parents we are, completely sided with the " what if..." argument made by the rangers and then I later learned that I too was in the wrong for that one because I "should have had my sisters back" instead of "sticking up for some officers I didn't even know." Ahh, I guess sometimes you can't win. And that's where I smiled to myself, shook my head and walked away. Wouldn't be Easter without a little family drama. Love her.
Brittlyn experienced her first of many Easter campouts and did well, rigid wind elements considered. We even took her on one extreme hiking session and she did great! I'm pretty sure she'll enjoy it when she can actually sleep WITH Neal in the tent and not by herself. I like her. I'm glad they're getting married.
Okay, so the very last day was Sunday and we woke up to rain and rain all night long. THen in the morning we walked out into what might as well of been a lake of mud. Okay, it was a lake of mud. Endless rainstorms in a desert of red dirt made for a HUGE mess! Everywhere you walked you sunk it about 2 inches and everything and I do mean EVERYTHING was covered in this lovely red mud. We were in no hurry to leave so we kind of just chilled waiting for it to stop raining and eventually dry up which it did, a tiny bit. But we sure did love listening to communication going on between my parents. It really was hillarious. For anyone who knows my father, situations like that cause stress, and stress causes ridiculously rationalized arguments which almost always leads too the intense need to hurry. And in this case, since their destination was home by the end of that day, it was a need to hurry home. In the mean time my mother could care less about a storm, the mud or onery people. She just wants tradition to continue as planned. So my dad would enter frustrated and impatient, snapping at people to start packing up cause we have got to get out of here this instant, then leave, and in the exact moment my mom picks up her walkie talkie and calls my aunts letting them know that she is starting "putting the ham on" for our family luncheon. It was hilarious. Really.

We did end up going home a little early, but it was still a great Easter outing as always. Here's some pics! SHould've gotten more of the mud, but wasn't really thinking, "yes. picture." Mostly, "kids dont step in th....too late."

So the pictures are a little out of order...but once you upload, its really a pain to fix them all in chronological order....sorry!

Playing with the cousins in Grannie's trailer with the head lamps they all got for Christmas

The hunt

.....crack and all

Cordelle and Seth every night at the campfire. Finally snapped a pic.

Flying those kites....certainly had the wind for it. And my dollar walmart kite did pretty well.

The Evidence

Following the trail

Jaq's basket


Seth and his basket

the loot

focused.

just us

The fam...or at least who was there Friday morning.

My little brother Scotty

Kids from camp that first day the wind finally died down. Love that smirk Seth.

Don't let me fool you, it was freezing.

Lake to Lake Relay

This last weekend I ran in a 52 miler relay with some friends. Relays are simply so much more fun than other races. You get to be silly and have fun and psych yourself up for your next leg. I dont know it was cool. And the best part was, my knee did pretty good. I restrained my IT band so I was MEGA worried about doing this race. But Cordelle gave me a blessing and my entire first leg was fantastic! My second leg I could feel it about 3 miles in, but I had to end on a hill and as long as I was going up, my knee quit hurting. (Good thing too, cause my lungs were about to explode as it was). I have some really fun running friends so it made the whole trip way worth it.Team: What the hill? :)

Shannon (Krista's friend from work)

LISA

TAWNA
(ran first so she was all dressed by the time we finished)

ME!

KRISTA

Finishing Time 7 hrs. 37 min.

Do I really run that awkwardly?

Is that a smile or pain?

silly hair ribbons.

hello? theres a picture being taken here

...and stretch some more

Can I play catch up?

My posts are getting further and further apart. I guess that could mean life is getting busier. Or I'm a slacker. But there are a couple of things I want to remember from January and February. One being that first picture. Isn't that sweet? Jaq kept telling me mom come see, we're being nice. :)


On the 10th was my birthday and my good friend Melissa called me and offered to dye my hair darker as a gift. It was something I've been wanting to do for a long time (no more BLONDE) so it was such a great gift. (Combine that with the new "nerdy/trendy" glasses I got and I feel like a whole different person. But it feels good to do something way out of your comfort zone and just go with it, ya know?) Anyways back to my birthday. My parents and Scotty came down for part of the day and we hung out. Then I headed to bunco (but didn't win) and then my girls took me out to Applebee's for our traditional birthday desert. It was so great! Then the next week we went out for our monthly birthday club and saw some lame drama chick flick called the Dilemma. Blah but most importantly, I have great friends! All in all, I wasn't home very much and it was busy but it was a great birthday! Its great to be 28.
Most of our weekends have been spent getting organized or just taking a break from the week. But on Martin Luther King Day, Cordelle was sweet and created this fun scavenger hunt for the kids around our yard and house. He's so fun with them and they ate it up! It was good for them to spend some good quality time with their dad. And he always comes up with the most creative games for them. Which reminds me, one night I came home from somewhere and found them playing a game called "Jammie Monsters." This includes getting Jammies on of course, then taking their blankets and putting them over their heads so just their faces show and telling silly stories and pretending to stay warm and cook things over a fake fire (flashlight). Both kids were still talking the next day about how Jammie Monsters sing their abc's by plugging their noses and singing in a nasally voice. Cordelle seriously is the most creative dad. Its so much fun watching what he invents for these kids. They don't know how good they have it. What's funny about it is, lately Seth is obsessed with playing games. So much where its like, okay Seth we can play a game but then we HAVE to get dressed or eat dinner or do basic things like that. And Cordelle is like, " Holy cow, this kid wants to play games all day long." And I just laugh, mostly because he has NO IDEA (its me thats with him all day long playing these games) but then again it's funny when he says that cause I'm like HELLO? HE IS HIS FATHERS SON. Seriously, he gets all these crazy game ideas because he watches Cordelle just create things on the fly and so he's stepping up and learning he can make up games too. Its fun though. I have to say Seth is at a hilarious, fun stage.
Oh but that reminds me of something funny that happened the other day. So we're in the little pharmacy waiting room at Smiths waiting to pick up a prescription when we sit next to this black guy. My kids were being uncharacteristly unshy and so we started making small talk with the guy. When out of nowhere Seth says outloud, "mom, does he play basketball?" Uh. Silence. I froze. (Granted in his defence, Cordelle had just taken him and Jaq to an SUU basketball game the night before but how do you explain that on the spot?) So I tried to give him the look that said, "uh sorry sir, this kid has been sheltered his whole life in Utah where the ethnic diversity is minimal." Geesh. The guy was cool and told me not to worry about it, when he saw the look on my face. But the question is out, anyone know where to buy a kid filter?
THen there was our valentines stake dance. LAME. But there was one other couple there from our ward that we hung out with that made it worth it. They were crazy, but fun. They dressed up. Obviously we did not. Halloween's pushing it for us. :) Anyways it was a date. So I can't complain, but seriously Enoch Stake Valentines Dance probably won't be an annual event for us unless they discover that there is indeed music that was created after 1974.