Henry George Mathis Reunion

I had the opportunity to go to St. George for the Henry George Mathis Reunion. It was so much fun! I got to meet a lot of relatives I didn't know. Unfortunately, I don't remember their names. The good news is we are having another reunion in June 2020. That will be held in Price, UT.

On Thursday we drove down. We were suppose to get there for the 4pm Temple session, but we didn't make it. We had some other obligations come up. Once in St. George we spent some time chatting with Aunt Ann, Uncle Lee, and Anna. Later, Mandy. Mary, and I went swimming. The water wasn't very warm but the hot tub felt great. Funny story from swimming: There was a little boy, I would guess to be around 3. I don't think he realized how wet he was going to get while swimming. Pretty soon he was trying to strip off his swimming trunks and underwear. I could here a family member of his telling him, "Well they're suppose to get wet." They ended up taking off his swim trunks, but left his underwear on. Aunt Mary and Uncle Boyd joined the party while we were swimming.

Friday was a busy day. We started out at the cemetery, where we learned about our ancestors and visited their graves. We then went and visited the pioneer homes of Casper Bryner and Wallace Brigham Mathis. We could only visit the outside because the homes are no longer in the family.

We had a break for lunch. The Murray Mathis Family went to Icebergs for lunch. My family was the only ones who had heard and been to Icebergs before. Uncle Wayne couldn't get over how big the shakes and his onion rings were.

After lunch we went to the St. George Tabernacle for a tour. It was really interesting. John Menzies MacFarlane held a Catholic Mass their in it's early years for the early catholic settlers because they did not have a place to worship. The organist also played a hymn for us so we could see the pipe/shutter movement. We requested Dearest Children, God is Near You. At first I don't think they thought it was a hymn until we told her the page number and she was able to turn to it and play it. At the end of our tour we got to listen to a piano/organ duet. It sounded fun!

We had some more free time after the tour. My family went back to the hotel. Mandy, Mary, and I went swimming. The water was still cold. It needed to be just a few degrees warmer. The hot tub still felt nice.

We then went for the dinner/party at Mathis Park. Wallace Brigham Mathis donated part of his land for this park. We got to here some more about our relatives and what life was like for them. I chatted with a cousin (I can't remember her name either) who is currently in a French immersion school. We had a fun time chatting in Franglais. Someone brought photo albums and there were several pictures of Grandpa Mathis and his brothers. It was fun to see them! Another funny story was there was this really cute photo of one of my grandpa's brothers and a girl hugging. It was a really cute photo. The daughter looked at the photo and said, "Well, that's my dad, but that's not my mom."

On Saturday we were suppose to go to Brigham Young's winter home, but due to the Iron Man Race, it was cancelled. Many of us went to Silver Reef and visited the museum there. H.G. Mathis was a teamster there. I even learned that Joseph Ellis Johnson had a pharmacy there. He is the brother to George Washington Johnson, my Great, Great, Great Grandpa . Aunt Mary, Uncle Boyd, Mandy and I did the walking tour. We got to see the sites were buildings and houses were, including the pharmacy.

On our way home we stopped in Beaver at this little Mexican Taco place that was tasty for great prices. We then went to the creamery and bought cheese, honey and ice cream. Mom accidentally got a coffee flavored ice cream called the Jolted Cow. Aunt Ann and I enjoyed ourselves finishing it for her.

It was a great trip and I can't wait for next year's reunion.

The St. George Pioneer Cemetery 

 John Menzies MacFarlane's Headstone

 Casper Bryner Home

 Wallace Brigham Mathis Home, he is actually the youngest

 Giant Beehive at the W.B. Mathis Home

 St. George Tabernacle

 Mathis Park

Photo Credit to the internet because I forgot to take pictures at Silver Reef

 Jail House at Silver Reef

Graduation from BYU

I did it! I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Therapeutic Recreation and Management from the Marriott School of Business. It was a lot of hard work, but definitely worth it. Thank you to my classmates, professors, family, and friends who helped and supported me in this journey!

My sweet roommates decorated the apartment and gave me flowers.

My classmates on our way to the commencement ceremonies.

All of us graduating in Therapeutic Recreation

I tried uploading a video of me walking across the stage and receiving my diploma, but it is too big of a file. Just know half of us used our TR names. I was Classy Cassy Gardner.  

More of my class with our Professor Dr. Z

I ran into my mission companion Allissa Gonzalez

My Family

Easter 2019

This year I ended up working through the family Easter party. I was sad to miss it but I did have Easter Sunday off the the following two days after that. I went up to Green River. I spent Easter Sunday with Mom, Mandy, Mary, Aunt Ann, Uncle Lee, Avan, Anna, Nathan, Amy, and Dallas (Amy's son). We enjoyed our Easter Dinner together and then went up to Uncle Lee's Pickle Ball court and played for several hours. It was a lot of fun and a much needed relaxing day!

My family left for home while I stayed in Green River. I wanted a vacation, so I was taking one. We watch Aquamarine and Aquaman. We chatted and just enjoyed each other's company. Thanks for letting me stay. I appreciate it!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. I would like to share a video of what I feel is important to remember and give thanks for at this Easter time.

Maple Lake Acadmey

This past semester I was able to do my internship at Maple Lake Academy with Karie Swenson. This was one of the hardest, but very rewarding experiences of my life. Karie is an amazing Recreation Therapist and I was so lucky to get to learn from her. I learned a lot from the girls too. They have so much potential and I hope that one day they will see that and believe that they are amazing women. My last bit of advice to them is to see the good, find the good, and be the good. I think this something we all could do a little more on. Imagine how much better our world would be if we looked for the good and also did some of that good to help our friends, family, neighbors, and even strangers.

I will never forget this experience. Thanks Karie, staff and girls for all you support in helping me in this step of becoming a recreation therapist.

Senior Peek Experience

The Experience Design (EXDM) Department, which houses Experience Design and Management and Therapeutic Recreation and Management, put on an event for the seniors. It was an all day event. The morning started at Dr. Brian Hill's house for some lawn games and lunch consisting of JDawgs. They brought in a rock wall to climb. We went repelling in Battle Creek Falls, which is right next to a waterfall. We had 2 ropes you could repel down. I went down the one right next to the waterfall.

This is only the second time I've gone repelling. The first time I went, I was living in Price and I went with Tain and Lanan Curtis. This time it wasn't as scary, but it was cold. It snowed on our hike up to the falls. Luckily they were just little flakes and it didn't last very long.

After repelling we went back to Dr. Brian Hill's house. I climbed the rock wall there and chatted with my cohort and some other seniors from the Experience Design Major. After rock climbing and some snacks we went on another hike. I'm not sure what the trail was called but they turned it into a representation of Y Mountain. I definitely prefer hiking this "Y Mountain". There was a Y up there for everyone to put their signatures on. Then we took some group photos, heard words of wisdom from our professors, and learned the secret location of our evening gala.

When they were announcing the place for the event Dr. Lundberg first said it was in Vegas, so we better start driving. We all just laughed and waited for the real location, which was in the MOA (Museum of Arts) on campus. We had a few hours before the event to shower and get get into our semi-formal outfit.

We had the MOA to ourselves. We got to see a train exhibit (for the Golden Spike Anniversary) before it opened to the public, had a private tour of another exhibit made from Willow Branches, paint dots on a picture (which later turned to be a picture of the world), visit with friends, and hear some final words from our professors.

After the event was over, Shalie, Brittany, Meagan, Baily, and I went to IHOP for a late dinner. We chatted and laughed and enjoyed each other's company.

All in all it was a great day!

On a side note, the next day, which is today,  I went home and surprised my family at church. It was fun to see the look of surprise on their faces. This has also been a great day!

Meagan Michael

Shalie Taylor

Me

Me

Paige Lopez

Paige Lopez

Paige Lopez

I can't tell who this is, but it's a fellow classmate. Sorry 

Katelyn Lewis

Katelyn Lewis

Harrison Lutz

I know this picture will have the repeat, but I wanted you to see more of the willows.

Back Row L-R: Katelyn Lewis, Baily Lundberg, Harrison Lutz, Hailey Mann, Shalie Taylor, Meagan Michael, Cassy Gardner, Paige Lopez
Front Row L-R: Lexi Findlay, Brittany Armstrong, Emily Sorensen, Laurie Lounsbury, Sasha Smith, Dani Chapdelaine, Michele Taylor

L-R: Harrison Lutz, Leah Benson, Katelyn Lewis, Hailey Mann, Laurie Lounsburry, Brittany Armstrong, Emily Sorenson, Bailey Lundberg, Dr. Lundberg, Dr. Zabriskie, Paige Lopez, Dani Chapdelaine, Shalie Taylor, Lexi Findlay, Meagan Michael, Cassy Gardner

Wicked/Wonder/Living Legends

On March 1, my family and I went to see Wicked at the Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City. It was amazing! This was my second time seeing it and I still absolutely love it! My favorite scenes/songs are Loathing, Defying Gravity, and For Good. I highly recommend it! Thanks Dad and John for the family tickets!





On March 2, Mom, Mandy, Mary, Meg, Carol and I traveled to Price for family book club (which we are so late in having). It was our family's turn and I picked the book Wonder. Book club went well and we had a great discussion. Thanks family for a great time! From Amazon, "I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse. 

August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. WONDER, now a #1 New York Times bestseller and included on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list, begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance." 

It was snowing most of the day and we made the decision not to travel home. We stayed at Aunt Mary and Uncle Boyd's house. BYU's Living Legends were doing a performance that night, so I decided to go. It was a great performance. Afterward, I ran into several friends from Price: Kara Palmer, Cassie Cunningham, Jackie Shorts, and Arthella Williams. When I got back into the car with my Aunt Mary and Uncle Boyd, they remarked about how I still new quite a few people in Price. It's true, I still do have a lot of friends in Price and it was so good to see just a few of them!