Matheson Reunion

My Grandma Matheson passed away last February after a long battle with cancer.  Grandma was an amazing seamstress and quilter and had collected an enormous collection of fabric.  About a month ago it was announced that a reunion was going to be held and as part of the reunion the fabric would be divided to those who wanted it.  Grandma had a plethora of tricot (nightgown fabric) that I really wanted for nightgowns for my girls, and I wanted to see my family, and we were going to Las Vegas for the next week so the stars aligned and we were able to go.  Saturday morning (after a LONG drive Friday -- did you know it takes about as long to drive from Albuquerque to Cedar City, UT as it takes to drive from Albuquerque to Salt Lake thanks to the national parks, giant lakes, and indian reservations?) we arrived at Grandpa's house to this:

And this:

There was so much that several people mistook it for a yard sale so some of our cousins made a sign:

It was kind of humorous watching people stop and get out of the cars, read the sign and get back in.

Let's just say I got a lot of fabric and now am working on plans to use it.  We all joked that if we weren't careful, when we died our children and grandchildren would be sorting through the same fabric.  Some of the pieces I got were from things my grandmother made me like the back to my bear blanket, others were just great prints and skirt fabric and all sorts of other stuff.  I am kind of excited to start creating -- as soon as my sewing room is cleared out enough to actually sew.

Later in the day the kids participated in the Enoch city Pioneer Day parade.  The float represented a story told us by my Aunt about my great-great grandpa Matheson.  When Panguitch, UT was first settled their crops didn't do well and in the middle of winter they were running out of food.  It was decided to send some men through the pass to Parowan, UT to get supplies.  On the way the snow was so deep they couldn't go through the pass.  They got out a quilt to kneel on to pray asking for help.  When they were done they noticed that if they stood on the quilts they could walk on top of the snow.  So they gathered the quilts from the wagon and placed them ahead of them and walked on the quilts all the way to Parowan.

The kids loved being on the float with my Grandpa.

Karissa with my cousin Scott's daughter.

Alexis in front of one of the quilts on the float.

Andrew sat in the back and helped throw candy.

We had fun watching the parade.  Spencer enjoyed playing with a Frisbee thrown at us

My brother-in-law and my niece had fun getting squirted by one of the floats squirting water guns.  Let's just say it felt really good.

It was a fun day to be with family.  Towards the end of the day we packed up and headed to Las Vegas since Brandon had a conference to attend there.