Taking Matthew to the MTC

Our Uncle Matthew is going into the MTC. (That is short for Missionary Training Center). He will stay for two months, learning Spanish and how to be a great missionary!!! Then he will fly to Mexico for two years!!! We will miss him but we know that he is doing the Lord's work.
But first we went to visit our Great Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen in Manti, Utah. Their house is over 80 years old and Great Grandpa was born in the back bedroom!!! It has lots of great places to discover!!
We hadn't seen snow before. It was really cold!!! Uncle Matthew threw snowballs at us, but believe me we got him back!!!

It was so cold that some days we just played inside!!!

Grandpa Sorensen and Uncle Matthew tried to find the pond in Great Grandpa Sorensen's backyard. I hope the fish are still alive under all of that ice and snow!!!
We went bowling for the first time!!! The balls were kind of heavy so we let Uncle Matthew win. (I guess Mom won once too.)
We went walking in the snow one day. We have never worn so many clothes at the same time!!! It was COOL!!
We had to leave Great Grandma and Grandpa's house so we could take Uncle Matthew to the MTC. Doesn't Uncle Matthew look handsome!!!

The MTC is so organized!!! We had forgotten to open Uncle Matthew's suit pockets. But no problem they had seam rippers!! They think of everything!!!!
Mom was with us too but someone had to take the picture. (Look on Mom's BLOG to see a great picture of Mom and Uncle Matthew)
Uncle Matthew went through one door and we went through the "Parents" door.
Thanks Uncle Matthew for being such a great example for us to follow!!! Good luck in Mexico!! Work hard and have fun. We would give you more advise but we are cold and just want to go back to sunny California!!! Love you, Merrick and Berkleigh!!!

Mardi Gras is starting a bit early this year!!!

But nobody seemed to mind starting "Twelfth Night" early!!! It usually starts on January 6 (12 days after Christmas) but it falls on Sunday this year so January 3rd seems the next best day!!!
This picture is a bit dark but Chris and Jen, Matthew, RaeAnn and Susan and Don Duplantis (Jen's Mom and Dad) are in the center of this "Kostumed Krewe". We had a great time starting out a new season of Mardi Gras by viewing all of last years Kings and Queens.
Alligators are always part of any great celebration. Barney has nothing in comparison to this "Gator".
Kings and Queens ruled the night!!!

Even the backs of these three, 12 foot costumes were exquisite!!!

New Year's Day Wedding Reception

"The Fam" is always excited to help when I decorate for a wedding:) :) This took all day on New Year's Eve day to set up, but it turned out beautiful and the bride and groom looked really happy. Thanks Wayne, Matthew, Chris and Jen for all of your hard work!!!

I entered this costume I made to GuildWars.com and I placed in the Fianalists. I won a few prizes they will send me and some item I can use in the game.

The first picture is Halloween 2006, and the second is at the same party in 2007. We won first place both times. We won a plastic knife, 20$, and a DVD in '06, and a framed 100 Dollar Bill in '07. Whoopee!

Yea Matthew! We love you. We are proud of you. We are super excited for you! It looks like it is kinda by Puerto Vallarta were we went on our honeymoon. Matthew... (I mean Elder Sorensen) it looks pretty nice there... well you know for Mexico. We are so excited for you and we love you Matthew.