Koosharem, Utah

Reunion time take-two! We celebrated the 4th of July at the Hatch family reunion in Koosharem.


Jordan made a cute friend in the Craig Rupp family. Casi looks sweet but watch when she's driving a 4-wheeler!


Michael jumped into the float decorating.
He LOVES to paint.



The highlight of the gathering was seeing all those cute cousins in the parade.










and seeing all of my mom's siblings together at their parents old home.

Some classic Summer moments

Family Home Evening with Ben and Grandpa Harston.








Tin-foil dinner cookout with the Clarks. Delish!








"Bug!" "Bug!" Jordan loves to hunt for bugs.








And throw rocks in water...









We've been lucky to make it to the cabin a few times before our move. Heartland is a great place for little boys.

Caineville, Utah

Every other year on the second weekend in June, Caineville is our destination of choice. It's time for the Peterson reunion. That's Jared's great-grandpa on his dad's side.

Caineville is on the East side of Capitol Reef National Park. It is a really unique place in the middle of nowhere. There are just a handful of families (3-4) that live there. Half of them are related to us. There is also a motel that fills up with our family during the reunion. Otherwise the area is filled with a few small farmers and ghost-towns. Here are some distant cousins playing horseshoes in Caineville.

We love the mesa above Michael and behind the town. It is the backdrop of the reunion festivities.











This is Stan, Jared's dad, and two of his brothers serving dinner.

We added playing in the water to our usual agenda of exploring, looking for rocks, eating, making crafts, talent show, and raffle....
We are enjoying family reunions even more this year cause we will probably miss some after we move across the country.

Jordan's first injury

That title sounds gruesome! I don't want to think of it as the "first of many." Aunt Susie pointed out that he is the budding athlete though, so we may have a few more ahead.

Our sweet Jordan, sprained his ankle going down the slide with dad last night. (It got caught and twisted.) He doesn't complain much, although he is pretty delicate about putting any weight or pressure on it. I don't want him to walk on it so I'm holding him and trying to keep him occupied in one spot. Hope it heals fast!

Saxophones

Jared has been dusting off his instruments. And he purchased a new-used tenor sax.
He finds every chance he can get to practice, perform or just listen to jazz.

At the Peterson family reunion--after a duet with Cameron on the trumpet. "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole and "Come Thou Fount"

Michael is following in his dad's footsteps. The first music lessons.

Jared found a music stand for his instruments. When they are set up and accessible he picks them up more often to practice. --So this is the "golden calf" in our bedroom.

Law School, i.e. Waiting and Uncertainty...

As an undergraduate student intern I went to meetings with people struggling with addictions. To begin, we introduced ourselves with our name, the substance we wanted to overcome, and how long since our last use.
I participated and chose to refer to my drug of choice as “control.” However, I could never say I stopped my management tendencies for very long. Planning and regulating still seem to be my natural inclination.

Family--getting married and having kids--is supposed to be the divine process of perfecting oneself. So here I am, trying to apply the idea of “letting-go” to the course our life takes as we chose a law school and prepare to move.

The waiting phase during February and March went surprisingly smoothly for me. The first wave of letters came quickly with some reassuring acceptances. Then the last notifications trickled in slowly with a few more positive offers, and the waitlists and rejections. There was one afternoon when we expected the letter from BYU and stalked the postman through the parking lots of our apartment complex. Otherwise, I did fairly well at being patient. The trip to Chicago over spring break helped us hone in on our criteria and eliminate some schools from the running. We said our prayers, deliberated and responded to our preferred schools by the decision days.

So here it is: Ave Maria School of Law is a fairly new, medium-sized law school in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It seems to have excellent and committed faculty. It attracts students who are interested in applying principles of morality and natural law to our established systems. The students we met were very down-to-earth and friendly but also involved with their education. They also display a very family friendly atmosphere. A CES institute class is available at the law school along with the regular Catholic masses. Jared hopes to be able to take advantage of academic leadership opportunities. Next summer the campus will move to the Fort Myers/ Naples area of Florida. Check out the website if you wish. www.avemarialaw.edu

Here is the entry from my journal I wrote about three weeks ago about law school.
"I want to feel confident that we are choosing a law school based on answer to prayer and not just reason and a good feeling--or is that the same thing!
I might like an amazing experience to tell others about our decision, Yet while writing this I know I feel very strongly in my excitement and surety or peace that this is the place for us in the next years.
I want to do it not only for our benefit but I want to believe in the school enough to contribute to its promising development. I want to build contacts with people that are life changing in every aspect. I want to form our family as a unit that values learning, closeness, and the Spirit. And I want to begin on our certain future course as a family with Jared's work and my contributions.
This is my prayer of faith and hope, that we may find its fulfillment."

So here is our leap into another stage of life. Another step in my process of mastery, or was that letting-go....

Michael's and Jordan’s constant party

This is a catchup post..., and I guess I'll recount some of the fun things Michael and Jordan have been doing.

This is Aiden and the boys at our house. He came over to "play" every day during the school year while his mom went to class. Lots of fun!

This is the only USU sports event we made it to. The boys got to watch gymnastics, run around, and shake hands with the Aggie bull mascot.

We went downtown to the 2008 primary theme exhibit at the Church History museum. Riding on TRAX to temple square was our "adventure."

These are two of Michael's favorite girls, Carli and Kimi. He says they are "cute girls" and they live too far away. We got to see them in April.

This is Aunt Rachel in action with the boys at the Fun Center. She came to Logan to see us!!

Michael's friend Hillel invited us to go bowling for his birthday party.

We had an amazing passover feast with Hillel, Noam, Dorit and Yan Landau.

Spring cookouts at the Clarks are great.

The boys are really enjoying both of their new cousins, Becca and Ella.
These are three monkeys and some fun elephants at the Hogle Zoo. (Cousin Tyler is fun too.)

Aunt Renee and Uncle Ben are the best! --While I got to hold baby Ella :)

Our family blog site should probably be called "Michael and Jordan's fun times" or else "Candace's musings."
The musings are unavoidable.... So, here is my disclaimer. Lately, I feel like I am the entertainer or family activity planner. Every once in a while I realize I need to work out of that role and create a new balance.
It seems like we try to have a certain quota of fun everyday and then I can expect to take time for other projects at home when I don't need to entertain the boys.

My new goal however is to use our time better whether it is work or play time.

Elder Ballard talked in conference about not overscheduling our families. "Families need unstructured time when relationships can deepen and real parenting can take place. Take time to listen, to laugh, and to play together."
He quoted an author Anna Quindlen who said, "I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less."

We'll see how this goes. --to make our focus more on each other and not just on the outing or party. --quality and not quantity.