Travellers

Hey everybody.  Reese here.  Why Reese, you ask?  Well, the truth is that while I'm usually an avid dish doer, I just couldn't get excited about it tonight.  So, I thought and thought about what I could do for Kat that she genuinely dislikes more than doing dishes, such that she'd be happy to wash if I took the "other" task.  Well, I nailed it - to Kat, writing the blog ranks somewhere between the chicken pox and getting hit by a car.  So here I am doing my duty, and she is happily doing dishes, knowing she just bought herself at least another few weeks before she has to post again.

So, what to update you on.  Well, as she mentioned we did go to San Francisco which was a hoot.  For all those who have a money tree growing in their back yard, I highly recommend moving there (make sure to bring and transplant the tree).  If you don't have a $ tree, a visit is about all you should risk.  It is beautiful and a blast, make no mistake.  We saw all the basic stuff one is meant to see there - Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, etc., and we also snuck across the bridge to see a Redwood forest, which was fantastic; I always love to go to places like Seattle or San Francisco that are completely metropolitan but have nonetheless shown the foresight to preserve some natural sanctuaries.  We loved hiking through Muir Woods - it was probably our favorite part of the trip.

Alcatraz!!

Muir Woods

We were also lucky enough to get out to Utah to attend the sealing/wedding of my little sis MaShay.  She is the youngest of six siblings in my family, and the only girl, so it was quite an affair.  She was also the last of the lot of us to be married, which added to the meaningfulness of the occasion.  I can't remember a more spiritual time in quite a while than standing in the temple with all my siblings and our spouses, seeing the last of us sealed for time and eternity.  My mom was of course a blubbering mess and pops wasn't much better.  I can't blame them, though.  Who could imagine anything better than standing with all of your kids and their spouses in the temple.  What an overwhelming, indescribable blessing it was to be there. 

In classic form, the five brothers stayed up playing basketball till 4:00am the night before the wedding proving to each other yet again that while we may not have moves, we'll not leave the court till somebody is injured beyond the ability to continue.  I love those stinkin' brothers and sister of mine.  Jessica - (Cody's wife and the last woman to marry into the Reynolds cult) had the hardest time understanding why we just stay up, and stay up, and stay up, coming up with the absolute lamest reasons imaginable to keep awake.  And then, when we can't physically stand any longer, rather than deliberately turning in, we just decide to "watch a movie"; that is actually unspoken code for, "let's start a movie; that way we all fall asleep and spend the night in the same room."  We just love each other, and when we get to be together it's just hard to waste time sleeping.  I think we did however reach an all time low at Christmas when the idea well had run completely dry so we just started smacking each other in the face - I wish I could explain how it is that this was so hysterical, but I cannot - just take my word for it: smacking people you love in the face - very, very funny.  

Wedding went swimmingly, MaShay found herself a winner of an eternal best buddy.  Trust me, the brothers were not going to be easy on this one, but Jason (the husband) really is the whole package (yes, of course that means he can play soccer).

We were grateful to be able to spend a lot of time with Kat's sister Ashley and her husband Mike.  They're great, and their kids are a blast, not to mention that mammoth of a dog that they call a pet, most would call a . . . well, a horse.  It's a 110 pound black great dane that bounds about, leveling whatever might be foolish enough to stand in her way - sweet as she is, she's just huge!  I loved wrestling her, and the kids liked riding her.  Our kids also had a great time playing with theirs in the snow in the back yard.  For Tay and Payte it's been years since they've played in snow, and they were beside themselves.  We were grateful to have Mike and Ashley there - they provided nice respite from the madness and mayhem of the Reynolds tornado.  They are also good at living life the right way - we sure love those guys.  It's also so much fun to see our kids building relationships with their cousins - times like those you just wish it wasn't so hard to get together.  However, the time apart sure does make you appreciate the time together.

Snowman

Dancing with Livi

Smoothie Time!

Kat and the girls were able to get to the open house of the new Draper Temple that is set to be dedicated shortly.  They went with our coolio cousin Katherine (sp? hope she's not reading this).  They loved it; I'm so glad my kids now have some perspective on where we're going when we say we're headed to the temple.  All you Utah folks are pretty dang lucky to have such great temple access!  

Anywho, as you can see all is quite well, kiddies are great, life is fantastic, and well, the dishes look to be done so I'll be signing off.  Take 'er easy cluck cluck.