Bill White

I haven't been able to blog about it ...it's been so hard to just talk about it and next week will be even harder. I found out this last Wednesday morning that my brother Billy died. Just like that over night, he had a heart attack and his boss found him on the floor the next morning when he went looking for Bill  because he didn't show up for work.

Mom called to tell me and she was completely distraught and I knew it was bad. It doesn't seem real, every time I think about it or talk about it...it's hard not to cry. The funeral is next Tuesday and I fly out Monday morning to Moncton, NB to be with my family. I am so grateful I can go...it's so far but I would always regret if I wasn't there. It's been hard to write but I was finally able to write some thoughts today and look at some pictures. There are so many regrets when someone dies suddenly, these are mine....

HAPPINESS IS...

I've been wanting to scrap these cute pocketbooth pictures I've been taking on my Iphone. "Pocketbooth" is a super fun app that acts like a photo booth. It takes 4 rapid pictures in a row and has several settings that you can use. You have to warn your models because everyone thinks you are giving them 4 seconds when you count down but you are actually taking their picture 4 times! It can be kind of funny because I usually have to do it a couple of times for them to catch on.

Mel and Kevin had fun making goofy faces and when I found this other one, I knew it would match this pocketbooth set. I decided to make a totally artsy page and used Lynn Grieveson's Madras scrapbooking to embellish it. We are looking forward to this wedding because as you can see, Kevin is as crazy as our Melodie and life is never dull with these two around!!

Happiness truly is... marrying your best friend!!

MISSIONARY HOME

 I was happy to be at the airport when Elder David Armstrong came home from the Ukraine after serving a 2 year mission. His family were waiting anxiously to see the plane touch down and then it was hugs and tears of joy. Having been through this with Melodie a few months ago...I know there is such a feeling of relief, love, joy and amazement as you see this beloved son or daughter come home.

They will have experienced things you can never imagine and it's probably best that you don't know some of it. They will have been through rejection, heartache and lonesomeness but they will have survived to become a stronger person. They will have grown in character, in perseverance, in knowledge and in love. They will have learned to love the people in the country they have served in and will miss them dearly. They will have become disciples of Christ, because they will have taught about Him, prayed to Him and turned their lives over to Him many, many times. They are...missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Elder Armstrong home from the Ukraine!

A very happy Mom and family!

 A little sister who is not so little anymore.

So happy to have their David home safe and sound although a little thinner.

Can still pick up his best friends off the floor!

Wonder what these three will be up to now? Sorry no rooming together says Vanessa!

The welcoming home committee at the airport!

Elder David Armstrong ... welcome home!

I SHOT THAT

Thought I would include a few more pictures that I've been taking with my Iphone for my IShotThat class. I've been learning how to use different apps and it sure opens your world to what your camera can do with pictures! There are all kinds of different filters, borders and edits you can use to really make your pictures pop!

Rebecca's favourite place to eat.

Family game night....

Mitchell is so happy to be able to take peanut butter sandwiches to school again now that he is in middle school! And that's what this is: "a peanut butter sandwich", no jam, no butter just dry old bread with peanut butter! If I try to sneak anything else in it to make it more palatable he calls me on it and won't eat it!!

Okay this is what Rebecca does in Seminary, using pretzels! What's worse is that her mother has to whip out her phone and take pictures of it! I think my Seminary kids think I'm a little whacked and they're right when it comes to pictures....

Had to take a picture of this cute card I made at a Stamping Up class. Nice to just get my hands on paper sometimes.....and sorry none of you are going to get this because I just make these  and can't bear to part with them! 

So there you go....having fun with my Iphone! Will keep you updated....

BASKETBALL with REBECCA

This page took me a long time...probably the most difficult from Jana Morton's Creative Composite class. I had to redo the sequence pictures over and over because I wasn't liking how they matched up but after leaving it for a few weeks and coming back to it, I like it better now!

The title comes from Katie Pertiet at Designer Digitals where it's a type inspiration challenge and I was happy to use it on my page.

Rebecca loved basketball and faithfully made it to every practice and game that she could. We could see real improvement from last year and noticed that she was playing better and working harder. She loved her coaches Rachel and Mac even though they were pretty tough and appreciated their willingness to put so much time into making their team better. We're glad that Rebecca loves sports, we know that she is learning a lot from the teams she plays on.

FEBRUARY COLLAGES

Finally finished my February month in photos! This collage is thanks to Rebecca Cooper's month in photos on her blog, Simple As That and I'm happy to go simple and have them all in one glance. I used my February Round Up pictures and it made it so easy. I'm liking Aperture for that reason, as soon as I download my pictures I rate them. Then I know which ones to use and can access them quickly. We had some fun moments in February but I have to admit, I am looking forward to some non-snow pictures coming up!!

February Collage with some of my favourite pictures!

My second page with my February moments....

BOWLING FUN

We had a great time bowling last Monday night, it has been such a long time since we went! It's hard to get the form right when you don't go very often but the kids solved that problem in the second game by devising all kinds of crazy ways to bowl, on your stomach, with your left hand, through your legs, etc. Can't say I was real fond of it, hard enough to bowl regularly but they sure had a blast. I used my Photoshop CS3 on these pictures and put some actions on them from Pioneer Woman's free set. I love how they brighten and change the pictures!

Had fun with this pose!!

Everett had a blast...throwing balls all over,  just too bad you have to take turns.

Mitchell putting up with annoying sisters!

FEBRUARY ROUND UP

Decided I better get my February Roundup done before it gets too late into March. It's always fun to go through the month of pictures and realize that a lot more happened than I thought. This idea comes from Katie Nelson's Roundup but at this point I just do my pictures! I'm also hoping to scrap them into my monthly template but that will be next! Right now I'm still working on Melodie's wedding invitations which are going out this week!

So here is our Mathieson February 2012 in pictures:

My food budget has started to sky rocket, I wonder why!!!

Mitchell's creation, ice cream sandwich with home made cookies!

My favourite picture of the month because considering the hundreds of pictures I take of my kids playing sports it's pretty sweet to finally get one that you really love. Mitchell dunking the ball in the first five minutes of one of his first play off games!

Mitchell's Brocklehurst Grade 7 basketball team...hoping that they win cities !

Scott surprising us with a new hair do...thank goodness it only lasted a day!

Nothing like a good wrestle with your Dad! Don better take advantage of this because it's not going to last long!

Having fun watching our Tyler Hansen play hockey, we were able to make it to one of his games.   It was on Valentine's Day and unfortunately Don and I were caught on the videocam kissing, so we heard a lot about that.

Grandma having fun with Everett...discovering that he likes coloured marshmallows!

Big snowfall at our house=Calvin snowman!

Best chocolates in the world from my sweetie on Valentine's Day!

My Melodie who is engaged to her sweetheart, Kevin Smith.

They are getting married on April 21st and it's coming up fast!

I had a lot of fun taking pictures...

Trying to take pictures of my Rebecca skating in Kelowna at a Youth Activity, but I still need to work on the lighting of my inside shots. A big thank you to Jonathan Edis who gave me some camera tips that day...

We are always so grateful to have the missionaries in our home and try to get a picture of them before they go. Here is Elder Latimer off to Vanderhoof and Elder Mathews who is staying. They are some pretty wonderful young men!!

So that's my month in pictures narrowed down....hope you have fun looking! Please feel free to leave a comment at the bottom!