Outside My Window..: I'd say we're pretty cute..

I love my family. Especially when I get to come home and visit them for a night. It's one of the perks to going to school close to home.

About a month ago my sister got married. This whole situation and experience brought a new member into the family. Very exciting. It made me think about families and how important mine is to me. Let's take a look..

Daddy.

My dad is my pal. While he might call everyone "pal," I am the original. It came from the scene in "The Lion King" where Mufasa is getting mad at Simba for being stupid and going to the elephant graveyard..

Simba: We're pals, right?
Mufasa: Right.
Simba: And we'll always be together, right?

From that came the pal bonding between me and my dad.

My dad is the smartest man I know, especially when it comes to the gospel and life lessons. He is always very positive and is so supportive of everyone, especially his family. He hardly ever gets upset or raises his voice. Everyone loves him, especially hearing him speak. He is incredible at motivating and inspiring people.

Mommy.
My mom is one of the most talented people I know. Among other things she can sew, cook, and sing. I don't think I've ever met anyone who can do all three of those as well as she can. She made both of my prom dresses in high school, the bridesmaids' dresses for my sister's wedding, and occasionally wakes up on the morning of a big day and decides to make herself a new skirt. She is crazy. Not to mention she makes killer rolls, bread, and amazing desserts. She is fun to talk to and has always been very concerned about her family and how they're doing. She'll always listen to what's going on in life.

The next two I have to kind of do together..

Rachel.

Rachel is my only older sibling. She recently got married in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple to her now-husband named Jeff Hawks. While I haven't seen her or talked to her a whole lot in the past few years, She's continued to be a pretty awesome example to me and I hope that someday I'll follow her example to be married in the Temple to some great guy. So now she has a husband..

..named...

Jeff.

Jeff is the new addition to the family. For the longest time I called him "boy" and that kinda stayed until they got engaged. Then I told him he'd earned the right to be called his actual name. Actually I told him that a few months before they got engaged..anyway..he's still in my phone as "boy." I should probably change that. He's a great guy--perfect for Rachel and so awesome with my family, especially my brothers who have never had much of an older-male influence besides my dad.

Sarah.

This girl can sing, play the piano, works out like a mad woman, and is also on student council. I always hated that our dad called her "Angel" cuz that is so not what she is. But she is an adorable, sassy little thing who I am very lucky to be 4 years older than or I would've never gotten any dates in high school. We have very similar taste in a lot of things and have talked many times about our plans and how our lives are gonna turn out. The chances of those plans coming true? Not good. But hey, it's fun to dream, right? I keep telling her (and the rest of my family) that she'll definitely get married before I do. I mean look at that face..can someone say gorgeous?

McKay.
We've made fun of McKay since he was seven that he still looks like he's seven. But in the last year he has grown up so much and is now a Teacher after having been Deacon's president in my home ward. He is definitely going to become quite the ladies' man. (Not exactly sure how I was supposed to punctuate that..) He is super smart and has gotten into video editing and animation and he is actually really good at it. Very impressive. He'll probably be rich someday.

Will.

Baby of the family. And probably the most loved, let's be honest. There are seven years between him and McKay and it was definitely such a blessing to have him when he came. He is a little fire ball of energy, especially when older girls are around. I can also see him growing up to be quite the flirt/charmer with the girls. Hopefully he gets into sports and can be the one successful athlete in the Matheson family. Don't let us down, Master William!