cousins reunite in nyc.

You don't realize how much we really miss our family until you see a family member for the first time in seven years. 

This is Jon's youngest cousin. Kenzie was about 16 when we moved from Utah & what a blessing it was for her to have had an audition for opera in NYC & that we live close enough to have been able to see her. She was four when we got married & I'll always picture her with that cute baby face wearing an emerald green dress. Now she is this mature young woman with big goals in becoming an opera singer. She's amazingly talented & I'm so proud of her accomplishments. One thing for sure...talent definitely runs in our families. 

One regret that I have while living in Utah was not seeing 'the Matthews family' very often. Life gets busy for everyone but one thing I'll always remember & treasure are the Thanksgivings & Christmas gatherings we had every year. 

Every other year we'd rotate with Jon's family & Kenzie's family & hold the holidays at their homes. We'd exchange gifts, have dinner, & entertain for hours! It was lovely while it lasted...and then we moved. 

Family is number one in my life & because of their examples I plan on implementing that same tradition with my own children once they have families of their own. It's so important to make effort after effort in finding the time to spend with family. One must never take family for granted. 

I mean...look at how fast these kids grow up & how quick we age as a parent!

It's crazy & if I hear of a family member visiting the east coast within a 300 mile radius I will find the time to see them rain, snow or shine! In our case it snowed.

There was so much we wanted Kenzie to see, so little time & too much snow! One thing we made time for was taking her to see the temple in Manhattan. It was neat for her to see a temple in the middle of the city.

A snow squall hit the city around lunch time, but that didn't stop us from introducing her to Shake Shack on Madison Avenue where we ate outdoors underneath a heated lamp. Yeah...we were hungry and didn't want to wait an hour and a half at Eataly for a table. Eating outdoors in the middle of a snow squall was quite the experience. 

It was so nice to have spent time with her if only for a few hours. It felt as if I had three daughters again, and that is the greatest feeling as a mother...especially since my oldest daughter is out west! Seeing Kenzie again made my entire weekend!

P.S. She nailed the audition! 

Happy Monday everyone!