Wednesday, May 4, 2011

nick and deb sorensen

Wow, I really appreciate Tamme for keeping us all together. It has been CRAZY over here for the last month. Mostly with Nick's work. The kids took off to go to Amy's house for a week and Nick and I left of Washington DC to do some work for the University.

Our first day consisted of waking at 330am, driving to the airport with a crazy driver not to be named (AHHHH!!!), flying to Detroit, layover, flying into Allentown, PA, driving four hours to Bethesda, MA. With the time difference, etc, I think we had 3 hours of sleep before we got up to go to a USU aluminus' home right of Dupoint Circle in DC during the Cherry Blossom Festive. This man was donating anything he possibly could to the university. He is 94 and had determined that he was dying in 2 weeks time and wanted to get us stuff so his kids wouldn't give it away to places he didn't want it to go to. He has a HUGE collection of antique rugs from Asia that he donated and we were just rounding up the last bits of those and any other odds and ends he wanted us to take. Very interesting man.

At the end of the day we met up with a tour group of USU alumni to tour the Civil War Battlefields. It was a nonstop ride of every historical site (not really, but it felt like it) in 90 miles. Gettysburg, Fredricksburg, Antietam, Manassass, Harper's Ferry, Valley Forge, Fort McHenry, Richmond, the Confederate Whitehouse, Amish Country, Montecello, Shanandoah, and those were just the ones I can remember right now. Very wonderful experience.

Nick was meeting some of the top donors on this trip and he did very well. We even had one man comment to us that "the best thing that could happen to USU would be if I were hit by a truck" because he has so much money going to the University due to accidental death insurance. His boss, who technically isn't his boss anymore but still is, had him doing a lot as well and Nick loved being that busy. We came home exhausted.

Matthew suffered and ear infection while staying with Amy (poor Amy!) and Claire suffered cheering for BYU. When we called her one day, Amy warned us about...oh goodness, I can't remember very well, but it was a warning...then Claire gets on and says, "go BYU!" The girls were pretending to be cheerleaders for BYU! AH! Pretty hilarious. Amy got Matthew's eczema almost completely cleared up with her humidifier and water softener. He's been suffering ever since.

Now we're home and boy did I miss my kids. Enough to be grumpy with Claire about something trivial the same day I got home!

Yesterday in the store, Claire was WHINING! I put her in time out and she just screamed and screamed...in the store. I walked away for a few minutes (still within sight for you paranoid siblings) and she continued to scream. Finally, she calmed down and we chatted about not screaming and whining or we need to go to time out...anyway, she didn't want to get back in the cart, so I put her on my shoulders and within five minutes, I feel wet and Claire is SCREAMING on my head. Yeah, she barfed all over me and herself, and the floor. I took her to the bathroom, stripped her down and wrapped her in Matthew's coat and her shirt. 5 minutes later, she warns me that she needs to barf and I catch....some....of it in a store plastic bag...the rest is on my shoes and hers and her sort of clean shirt and Matthew's coat...we get home and she barfs and barfs...poor kid. Took her to the doctor today...she has an ear infection, too. Just a fun story to remember next time you're out shopping!

Love you all,
-deb

adam and becky frus

Wow it really is amazing to hear all about the Texas Mathews family. They are all growing up and it seems so long ago that we were able to see them all. We here in AZ love you all of you guys so much and want you to know that we think of you often.

The Frus's have made some big decisions over the last month and the biggest decision is that we are moving to New Mexico. I have accepted the offer to get a PhD at the University of New Mexico and I will be working with Dr. Laura Crossey on a water quality management project. I am very excited about the opportunity, but also a bit overwhelmed about the fact that I am STILL IN SCHOOL. I guess once this is over I will be officially done, but WOW it seems like it has been a long time since I haven't had homework.

We put in a lot of thought and prayers to make this decision and I appreciate everyone's prayers for us. We know that we will have to make quite a few sacrifices to complete the PhD, but once it is done...watch out! Our hope is to have me find a tenured faculty position at a small university or community college and feel that it will afford us stability and flexibility. Otherwise working for the government (federal or state) will also be a good option where I can again find some good stability and flexibility. We will see, but first I have to finish.

I am excited about working with Dr. Crossey. In all of my school experiences, she is the only woman scientist that was able to have both children and a faculty position. I have had a hard time finding mentors that understand my primary focus is on my family and it is really nice to know that she understands it. We were in Albuquerque two weeks ago looking at the campus and getting introduced to the city. Dr. Crossey had us stay with her and I was really glad to have her meet Adam and Elizabeth and let her see how important my family is. She and I had some very good conversations about balancing school and home and she seems ready to be flexible. We even went so far as to talk about what my project will be and the great news is that my field area will be a 30 minute drive from the house. This means that I won't have to be away overnight and that Elizabeth will be able to come into the field with me!! I will be super busy over the next three semesters trying to get my course work completed, but after that it is focusing on research and being able to work from home for quite a bit of it.

The move for Adam is going to be a bit different. The city does not have anything like the Mesa Arts Center, which will be very hard. He has been the artist in residence at the MAC for the last 3 years and it will be difficult to not have the facilities. He is being really positive about the move. He is currently building his own studio that we will install in the backyard, where ever we move. This will allow him to work from home. There will be limitations to the new studio, but I know he can make it work. While in ABQ we did head up to Santa Fe (the artist community of New Mexico) and met several big name glass blowers. The entire glass community was very welcoming and excited to have our family moving into the area. One of the studios has already offered a space for Adam to come and blow glass and work for them. It is not a paid position, but it allows him to work for trade. He makes product for them and then gets free time in the studio to make his own work. It is also a good opportunity to meet and work with fellow glass blowers.

It is also a chance to expand the frus glass market. We have become well known here in AZ and will now get to widen our market. The southwest is going to be Frus glass territory soon! This is very exciting for us. Adam will have a lot of work ahead of him, but I know he can do it. I will hopefully be able to help with some of the marketing and will also plan to be his assistant in the studio on the weekends.

He also has been accepted into the Pilchuck glass school for the July session. This is a very prestigous school that he applied to at the end of last year. It is highly regarded and he is one of seven that was accepted. He will be in Washington State for most of July. While we will miss him here, it is a totally awesome opportunity. He will be learning from one of the great sculptural glass workers and is really excited to be surrounded by the glass community.

As for Elizabeth she is just so great! I call her my little party girl because she loves to be around people. The mobile hotshop had a private party over the weekend and Elizabeth and I were invited to attend the party. Of course once we got there I was put to work, but the baby girl was SO good. She was passed around from person to person and just sat and smiled and talked to everyone. She was the hit of the party and even got a tip of $50 at the end of the gig because she was such a pleasure to have around. Everyone was so sad to see her put down for the night, they wanted her to stay awake with all of us.

She is so strong. She just started turning from her back onto her belly and is getting really good at it. She loves to sing and suck on anything she can get her hands on. No teeth yet and still not sleeping through the night, but hopefully soon. She loves to stand and she loves to smile.

We hope everyone is doing well and miss all of you. Because of the move to ABQ I will not be able to attend the July 24th party in Utah. I do plan to be in Utah between the 17th to the 22nd. So if any of you are planning to come to the reunion, try to plan to get there early rather than late. That way we will be able to spend some time together.

We love all of you so much! Hope everyone had a nice easter.
love the Frus's

ben and tamme mathews

We haven't sent out an update in a while and I thought it was time. This past few months have been busy. Kloey's birthday in March kicked off the parade of birthdays in our household. I'll start with her.

Kloey turned eight in March. She has been waiting, mostly patiently, for her BIG friend birthday party for years. I had been thinking about it for months. I don't really want to admit how long, but lets just say pumpkins and costumes were around. She invited 11 friends and they had a lot of fun. We decorated flip flops, painted nails, had cake and ice cream and opened presents. She received so many Barbies from her friends. By the end, I was ready for them to go. I think Kloey really had fun and I hope she knew how much she was thought of on her special day.

Two weeks later she was baptized. Rosi and Bill were able to come and it was very special to have them there. Kloey planned the whole thing. She decided who would do what and even asked people to bring treats. It was a wonderful day. My whole family came and after the baptism we took pictures in the Texas Blue Bonnets. I capped the day off with running out of gas, but my knight in a golden big truck came to my rescue.

Next on our list, was Sadee and Galilee's birthdays. Sadee turned one and the 11th and Galilee turned three on the 12th. We had a fun little party for them with Bill and Rosi. Galilee is a hoot. Every present she opened was the best thing ever! Sadee didn't really care for the presents, but she loved the cake. We didn't need to coax her into eating it. I realized it will be difficult to make their birthdays special and make them feel like they are loved on their day.

Sadee is our small fry. At her one year check up she was only in the 50%, but she is so sweet and fun. She is not walking, but is starting to straighten her legs when she is playing and stood up on her own once. I know she will do it on her own time, just like she has done everything on her own time. She still loves to wear shoes on her hands and I find them all over the house. If we can't find one shoe, its usually because she has crawled off with it somewhere and ditched it when she found another one.

Galilee is a riot. I love her animation. She has a little boyfriend at church and they are great buddies. He prays for her to come over and she says she loves him all the time. His name is Cooper, but she says Pooper. Kloey and Kael think its great fun to have her say his name. She is not shy and loves to befriend new people. At the store she will find new friends all the time and tells me they are her friend. Love that about her.

Last weekend, we celebrated Kael's 6th birthday. It happened to be Good Friday on his birthday, so he got the day off from school. For his day, we went to the movie Rio, he got to choose where to eat dinner and then got a surprise. We took him to pick out a new bike. He was really excited about that. He is playing baseball and really likes it. I think its great how he loves every sport he has played. He really tries hard and does a good job. Its fun to watch him learn and grow in each one.

Ben is working hard as usual. If its not in his office, its out in the yard. He has really made the yard look great this year. We added concert to our back porch and driveway. I am loving the porch, it is actually usable. Ben is loving the driveway, because it gives him more room to play on his new basketball hoop. He planted some seeds over Spring Break and its been fun watching them grow. The other day a horse ran through the garden, hopefull he didn't hurt to many plants. Ben is still working with the young men in the branch and really tries to give them the opportunity to grow and lead. He has helped them lead some service project in the community lately. I am constantly amazed at all he does.

As for me, I was asked to be in charge of girls camp this year. I am excited. I always LOVED girls camp and hope my girls will too. I am almost done with seminary for the year and I am glad. I might be running a 5k this Saturday for the Onion Festival. It will be my first one and I am excited about it.

I guess that is it for us Mathews in Texas. Hope you all are well and happy.
Love Tamme