State Send Off

We are so proud of the tremendous wrestling season he has had this year.  He fought some tough matches and came out on top.  He faced the toughest competition in the state at Regionals and placed 4th qualifying him for a state alternate position.  I know he was disappointed but in any other district he would have placed top 3 for sure.  Many of the kids he had beat during the season went to state because they came from different districts so it was very frustrating for him.  But he should be proud. He had a lot of wins, served as a team captain, dropped from 170 to 160 while on Christmas vacation (NOT AN EASY THING TO DO), and is well beloved by his team and coaches.  The season and his whole wrestling career is packed with good friends and memories and good times he will never forget.  This kid is amazing.
At the high school when a team goes to a State competition they have a little parade before they go where they walk the halls as the band plays and all the kids line the halls.  Then they head to the bus, take pictures and then the fire trucks and police escort them out of town with their sirens on.  Its pretty awesome!

He Got In!

The big day came that we have all been anxiously awaiting.  Brayden got the BYU admission email on Saturday but didn't look at it until Sunday because of his wrestling tournament... so we were all excited to open it Sunday morning and learn that HE IS IN!  Brayden is officially going to BYU and we are all so excited for him!

We created this classic little Brayden picture- all decked out in his BYU shirt!

And to add to the excitement some of his best friends- Adam, Gunnar and Ammon also got in.  So Brayden made them a cookie cake to celebrate!

Matkin Family Olympics at the Park

Grandma and Grandpa Matkin came into town for a visit and planned a fun day of games at the park. We had egg relays, dress up relays, an egg toss, balloon smashing and many other fun games.  The younger kids particularly enjoyed it and requested that it become a tradition.

Makennas First Lacrosse Tournament

This past weekend Makennas lacrosse team had its first traveling tournament to College Station Texas.  I drove her down.  Kevin stayed home to attend Braydens wrestling tournament.  Thats pretty much our life- kids sports- and we love it.  Makenna had a lot of fun staying at the hotel with her team.  The games didn't go the way they would have liked but they still had a good time and looked good doing it!

Makenna and Ashley having the hotel breakfast

An awesome picture of Makenna playing lacrosse

And a picture of Braydens team at his tournament that same weekend.

Go Brandvold!

Grandma Clara's Funeral

I was able to attend my grandma Matkins funeral.  It was held January 13, 2020.  She died just a couple days before her 96th birthday.  She lived a long full life and was busy and active right up until the end. While it was sad for her to pass, it was a happy reunion for her on the other side.  It was a really special and treasured experience that I was able to reunite with so many cousins and share memories and catch up with people I hadn't seen in a very long time.  It reminded me how grateful I am to be part of the Matkin family.  It is a wonderful legacy.

It was a freezing cold day.  We all huddled together and had the quickest but yet sweet and beautiful graveside prayer before we all raced back in to our cars.  I think it was -30 Celcius.

This is from the program- it shows just how big her legacy is.

This was taken at the dinner after the funeral

We were going through Grandmas things an we all tried on her lipstick and then took this photo.

Brielle gets her Personal Progress award

Because of the changes to the youth program where they are phasing out personal program and the change which allowed her to join the Young women's program when she was only 11- she only had a year and a half ish to complete the program.  She put her mind to it and worked and worked and worked at it.  It takes a lot of time and a lot of goal setting and she should be very proud of the accomplishment!

Christmas Break Trip

This year we are really trying to pack in the memories.  So we left the day after Christmas and headed for PA to spend a couple of days with Oma and Opa.  We visited, we ate, we went to Hershypark- we had a great time.  Then we went to New York City where we met Jeff and Chloe.  Jeff gave us a fabulous tour of the city and we had a great time and saw so much!
And after that we drove from NYC to Boston to spend a few days with Jeff and his family.  They were so wonderful to stay with.  We played lots of games and saw lots of sights.  Jeff tried to give us a tour of the city but it was so cold that we didn't make it very far.  We still saw some great sights- like a really old cemetery and the house of Paul Revere and we ate some delicious authentic Italian food and of course fabulous cannolis!  What a trip it was!

Our favorite (and Omas) ice cream place is Oregon Dairy so Emmitt had to take a picture with the cow there

After a cold day at Hersheypark we enjoyed some of the many treats Chocolate World has to offer.

And then on to New York

Time Square- we had just arrived and were taking it all in- the sights, sounds SMELLS and CROWDS.  Boy were there ever CROWDS!

After walking through Times Square and Central Park we arrived at the temple. 

The kids were excited to see in real life these Giving Machines we had heard about.  We bought 100 polio vaccines and 3 chickens.  What a fun way to do some good!

Rockefeller Center.  Emmitt was upset because he had really been hoping to go ice skating there.  As it turns out the wait was so long we would've had to say in line until 8pm, so sadly no ice skating -hence Emmitts sad face.

Emmitt was really excited to see his favorite store in NYC.  Finally something he was excited to see (to him it was all downhill after Central Park)


Lunch was the yummiest pizza ever- at Majestic Pizza

This picture in the subway could be entitled -"Brandvolds: Lost in NYC". The subway was quite an adventure.  Ultimately we did get to where we needed to go.  We may have hopped on and off a train or two, jumped over turnstiles we couldn't make work and come up on the wrong side of the street- but hey- we eventually made it to where we needed to go- even if a lot more walking than necessary was involved ;)

These pancakes may have been the reason Emmitt stopped saying "I hate New York"

Here is Emmitt enjoying the bunk beds in our ridicuously expensive NYC hotel room.  It was nice to have a place to crash after a long day of walking and walking and walking.

And then we were on to Boston...

This is a beach by Jeffs house which I am sure is lovely when it isn't freezing cold and stormy.

Such yummy food- La Famiglia

Paul Reveres house

Poor Brayden was cutting weight this trip.  He showed incredible self control.  He ate steamed veggies while we had homemade pesto pasta and while we feasted on cannolis he pulled out his baggie of nuts and seeds.  But for him it paid off- he was able to lose weight on a vacation to Chocolate World and NYC- who does that?!?

 All in all a great trip with lots of good memories.  We saw family and incredible sights.  We may have been freezing but we can't complain when you plan a trip to the East Coast in December ;)