I knew enough.

The other day I read a talk in the Ensign, "You Know Enough", by Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Presidency of the Seventy. In the talk Elder Andersen spoke an impression that he received while giving a blessing to a friend who was struggling because he had recently lost a young daughter in a tragic accident. He said, "The impression that came to me was: Faith is not only a feeling. It is a decision. He would need to choose faith. My friend did not know everything, but he knew enough. He chose the road of faith and obedience."

As I read this I was transported back almost five years ago. Only a year before I had experienced the most wonderful and the most frightening moments of my life. I had given birth to Becca and within a few days nearly died as my body failed to endure the stresses of child bearing and birth.

Pregnancy and child birth had been glorious to me. I treasured every part of the experience. Even more I treasured our sweet child and the tender mercies of the Lord that allowed me to continue to live so that I could be a witness of her life. I knew without a doubt that I wanted to have this experience again. Even more, I knew that my Heavenly Father wanted me to have this experience again.

Just weeks before we found out that I was pregnant again, I had been taken completely off of heart medications and given a clean bill of health. However, I had been warned that pregnancy would be a great risk.

Once my pregnancy had been confirmed, my doctor suggested that I call the cardiologist and find out from him if there were any preventative measures that I should take to help decrease the risk of reoccurence. The answer was straight forward, simple and bold. "Have an abortion. The risk to your health is too great." Fortunately when we had prayed to know whether or not our decision to have another child was right, the answer was equally straight forward, simple and bold. "Yes."

I was all too aware, though, that even when the answer is "Yes", it doesn't necessarily mean that everything will turn out as hoped. I was overwhelmingly aware of the possibility that the Lord's plan for me could have been to give birth to this child and then leave mortality and the life and family that I treasured so much. I did not know what the outcome of my pregnancy would be, but I knew that it was my Father's will that I have another child.

Throughout the nine months of pregnancy, child birth, and the few weeks following Isak's birth I did not always feel full of faith. Many moments of many days I had to, as Elder Andersen said, "choose faith". I "did not know everything, but [I] knew enough".

This has been the single most faith building experience of my life.

Last month Isak turned four. He is healthy, sweet, silly, energetic, fun and smart. I am so thankful to be his mom. He fills my life with joy.

But, without a doubt, the greatest blessing that I have received as a result of his birth, is the assurance that even when trials come, when the outcome of a situation is frightening and unknown, we can rely on our Father to guide us and we can choose to have faith in His plan for us. This knowledge has helped me through difficult times that have come in the past four years, and I'm sure will help me through many more.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you have been able to reflect on the multitude of blessings that our Father gives us.

Loads of Leaves

Earlier this week I recruited the kids to help me rake the leaves. Well, actually I told them that we were going out to "play" in the leaves, and they were eager to help me get the leaves into a pile so that they could jump in them. Once we got our huge pile made (we even raked our neighbors leaves so that we could have a super huge pile) we all enjoyed some time jumping and playing in the leaves. And then, alas, the leaves had to go into bags. Oh well...we have next fall to look forward to.

Zoo Boo

We must have chosen the wrong day and/or time to go to Zoo Boo this year, because it was way more crowded and unenjoyable than I remember it being in the past. Still any day that I can hang out with my mom and sister while the kids have a great time is a good day. And, of course, getting to dress up in costumes and run around the zoo in search of candy is a blast for the kids!

October Traditions

There are so many fun things to do in the fall. I absolutely love it! Some of the fall traditions that I enjoy are going to the pumpkin patch, Zoo Boo, the Children's Musuem Haunted House, our Halloween party, and just being outside and enjoying the great weather.

This year my mom and step dad had arrived in Indy for a visit the day that we planned to go to the pumpkin patch. It was fun to have them and other family members and friends join us for one of our favorite expeditions of the season.

Here are Becca, Isak and Emma (my niece) with their pumpkins.

Biting off what we can chew

I am a bit impetuous. When I decide that I want to do something I want to do it all the way and I want to do it right now. Because of this I often get into new projects way over my head. Such was the case last year when I decided that I wanted to start gardening. Some friends of ours had been renting a plot at the Mayor's garden (a communal garden owned by Indy Parks) and enjoyed it, so I thought I would give it a try too.

I don't remember the official plot size of our garden last year, but I quickly realized that I was in over my head...again. By mid-summer our plants that had acutally grown were dwarfed by weeds and barely producing fruit. I let nature take its course and chalked it up to experience.

I wasn't about to give up though. This year I decided that we would create a small garden at home that would not overwhelm me (hopefully).

Here is a photo of our tiny garden. It was 2' x 3', which seemed almost pointless, but it was a much better experience for us than last year. And, as was last year, it was a great learning experience.



One fun thing that we grew in our garden this year was cotton. The owner of the garden shop where we bought our plants (that was one thing we learned - it is so much easier to plant plants than grow plants from seed) gave the kids a cotton plant - just for fun. This is a picture of one of the pods before it opened. I have to admit, I kept expecting it to say "feed me, Seymour", but it didn't. Eventually the pods did open, though, and we had cotton. I was going to take a picture of the cotton, but I never did and eventually got tired of it sitting around the house and threw it away. But it was kind of cool to see how cotton grows.



This last picture is of some mums that I planted last year. They bloomed so beautifully this year that I actually would walk out to the sunroom and look out the back door for no other reason than to see my gorgeous mums. They made me happy.

Catching Up

In spite of my promises to do so, I never got around to posting more about our summer. Now with fall in full swing and going into the holidays, I've decided to give up on posting about summer for now and move right into fall.

One part of our summer that carried over into fall was our visits to Kings Island. Our good friends live in Cincinnati and have season passes to Kings Island. Last fall we went to visit them and to go to Kings Island and ended up buying season passes. We went to Kings Island several times this year and went one last time during their Halloween celebration.





Of course, we loved the opportunities that our trips to Kings Island gave us to visit with our friends, the Hudsons. They were generous hosts and our kids absolutely loved playing together! Becca especially loved playing "mommy" to baby Tate.

I can't believe I'm having this conversation!

Not too long ago Isak, Becca and I were out on one of our daily roadtrips when, from her seat behind me, Becca asks, "Mom, who can I marry?"

My response was that of probably any mother of a five-year-old. "Becca, you don't really need to worry about that yet. It will be a lot of years before you get married."

She responded, "I know, but I just want to know WHO I can marry."

Deciding to play along I said, "Well, do you know any boys your age?"

She and I both began to list boys that we know who are her age. Being a five-year-old, her world is still quite small, so the list was only about five or six boys long. She considered some of them more seriously than others, but was generally not pleased with the selection.

In an effort to ease her mind I told her that because it will be a lot of years before she gets married, she is bound to meet many more boys that she can choose from.

The conversation ended, but she was still clearly unsatisfied with her marriage possibilities.

I couldn't believe I had just carried on a conversation with my five-year-old daughter about her marriage prospects.

I was reminded of this conversation tonight when, once again, Becca found a topic of conversation that I was just not prepared for.

"Mom, who is the cutest of the Jonas Brothers? Nick?"

"I really don't know, Becca. Who do you think is the cutest?"

"Is Nick the middle one?"

"I really don't know, honey."

"Yeah, I think Nick is the cutest."

So now I'm wondering, what kinds of questions is she going to ask me when she is 15?

Blessings

Several months ago I was called into the stake Young Women's presidency of the newly formed Indianapolis West Stake. As part of that responsibility I was involved in planning and was able to attend Young Women's Camp and Youth Conference this summer. I can't even begin to explain the blessing that this has been in my life, but I will try.

The greatest blessing has been just simply spending time with the youth and feeling their enthusiasm and witnessing their susceptibility to the Spirit when they are all together. I am constantly amazed with their openness to their leaders, to one another and to the gospel. I hope they realize how incredibly amazing they are!

Another great blessing has been the opportunity that my preparation for these events has given me to experience the power of the Spirit in my own life. I have become increasingly aware that when I try to do things on my own, I struggle, and often fail. But when I allow the Spirit to guide me, the path before me is clear and I am able to fulfill my assignments successfully.

Also among the many blessings that I have received this summer through my association with the youth is the association that I have had with other leaders. I am continually impressed by the desire of the leaders of our stake to help the youth understand how truly special they are and the Spirit with which our activities and events are organized. I am constantly being lifted to higher ground by the examples of those I work with.

As I have seen the blssings flow into my life over the past few months I am in awe that I have been given this opporunity and that my Heavenly Father loves me enough to bless me in so many significant ways. With the blessings that I experiece as a wife, mother, daughter, friend and servant of the Lord I find that very often my heart if full to the point of overflowing.

More Ear Tubes and No More Tonsils

On August 8th Isak went in for surgery to have ear tubes put in and his tonsils taken out. Do you remember that Becca just had this done a couple of months ago? Becca is always such a trooper when she doesn't feel well and she handled the recovery from her surgery remarkably. I didn't expect the same from Isak, and rightfully so. Not only is he two years younger than Becca, but he is also a little less tolerant of pain and discomfort.

The day of the surgery he did quite well, but only because he had an allergic reaction to the morphine that they routinely give to help patients as the wake up, so they gave him Benedryl. Loaded up with morphine and Benedryl, he was pretty at ease for the rest of that day.

The day following the surgery the story changed. Tylenol with codeine (which we didn't use with Becca at all) became ever so important in our home over the next few days. I felt a little uncomfortable giving it to him so much, but they gave us a huge bottle of it, so they must have been expecting that he would need it, right?

After the first week he started to improve noticeably each day and by the end of two weeks he was back to being his fun, silly, active self. It takes experiences like these to help me really appreciate having healthy and happy children.

Besides gaining perspective and appreciation for good health, the other benefit of having a child have surgery is lots of snuggle time. And Isak is the snuggliest snuggle bug I know.

Kindergarten

A highlight of our life lately has been Becca's transition to being in kindergarten. The Saturday before school started our family went on the traditional school shopping trip, purchasing new uniform outfits and the requisite items on the supply list.

The day before school started we carefully packed her backpack with all of the supplies that she would need to deliver to her teacher the next day.

After lunch on Tuesday, August 12, I drove Becca to school. We arrived early and Becca sat watching the clock waiting for "1-2-1-5" to appear so that she could go into school. Much to her disappointment the teacher didn't appear until "1-2-2-0". She eagerly jumped out of the van and lined up with the rest of her class to go to kindergarten for the very first time.

At "1-2-2-1" I pulled away from the curb at the school and started to cry. My baby - my long awaited, miraculous, angel baby - was starting a new chapter of her life. At "1-2-2-2" I called her daddy to tell him what a big girl she was and to share my joy with the one person who loves her as completely as I do.

At "3-2-0" I walked to the bus stop. When I was still a few houses down from the bus stop the bus arrived. Becca appeared and broke into the fastest run I'd ever seen her run, squealing "mommy" the whole way. When she reached me she threw her arms around me and my heart swelled with love for her and with appreciation that, although she has grown so much so fast, I am still her safety net, the one she runs to with delight.

Summer - In Retrospect

Due to a camera glitch I can't yet access photos taken earlier this summer. Hopefully we will get that glitch figured out, but until then, I'm going to begin blogging our summer in reverse. Otherwise, I will get so far behind that there will be no cathcing up!

Husband Tag

This is exciting! It's the first time I've been tagged! Here goes!

1. What is your husband's full name?
Jeremy Isak Matis. The spelling of Isak is a shortened version of the Finnish name Isakus. He is named after a great, great, great (I don't know how many greats) grandfather who was credited with introducing Christianity to Finland.

2. How long have you been together?
10 Years. Jeremy proposed in July 1998.

3. How long did you date?
We officially dated for only 3 weeks before he proposed, but we had been friends for 3 years prior to that.

4. Who eats more?
Probably me. Jeremy has his bad days when he eats a lot, and I have my good days when I don't eat a lot, but I think that I consistently eat more than he does.

5. Who said "I Love You" first?
I thought it first, but I'm not sure I said it first. That would have been way too bold for me. I'm pretty sure that I waited for him to say it before I went out on that limb.

6. Who is taller?
He is...I always had issues with the thought of dating someone shorter than me. But then again, Jeremy always had issues with dating someone older than him, so I guess those things don't really matter when you fall in love with someone. I guess I just got lucky that he is taller than me.

7. Who sings better?
He is better at reading music than I am and has a nice voice, but I think I have a better voice. I'm also more humble. :)

8. Who is smarter?
Jeremy knows more than I do. Does that make him smarter?

9. Who does the laundry?
Me

10. Who does the dishes?
Me

11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
As you sit on the bed, Jeremy sleeps on the right side. We tried switching one time, just for the heck of it, and neither one of us could sleep.

12. Who pays the bills?
Me

13. Who mows the lawn?
Me. Jeremy used to do it, but when he started dental school, I took over.

14. Who cooks dinner?
Me. But honestly, we eat out a lot too. Eating out is my coping mechanism since Jeremy has been in dental school.

15. Who drives when you are together?
We take turns, but he drives more than I do when we are together.

16. Who is more stubborn?
Me, I think. But he can be awfully stubborn too.

17. Who kissed who first?
He kissed me, but I asked him to. Kissing him would have been way too bold for me.

18. Who asked who out first?
It's hard to say. I think that by the time we actually started dating we were so comfortable with each other that we just did everything by mutual agreement.

19. Who proposed?
Jeremy proposed and it was totally unexpected. As I mentioned before, we had only been dating officially for 3 weeks. I was sure that we would get married, I just didn't expect the proposal to come as quickly as it did.

20. Who is more sensitive?
Absolutely me, but Jeremy does have a sensitive side that he keeps well hidden.

21. Who has more friends?
Probably me. Being a woman I just need a lot more people to share my life with. Men are just more independent, I guess.

22. Who has more siblings?
Jeremy has 2 sisters and 2 brothers. I have 1 sister and 1 brother.

23. Who wears the pants in the family?
I keep things going from day to day and make a lot of the minor decisions, but when it is something big it really is a collaborative effort. And sometimes I just get tired of making decisions and refuse to do it.


Okay, I tag Jill, Monica and Cynthia. You're it!

I really am a princess

You Are Jasmine!

Independent and adventurous. You don't want much; just to break out of the guilded cage society has put you in and experience life to the fullest. Following orders isn't really one of your strong points, and you would rather live a life of poverty than being forced into something that you hate.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Prom

The LDS Prom, hosted by the Indianpolis North Stake was held two weeks ago. As a member of the Stake Young Women Presidency in the Indianapolis West Stake I seized the opportunity to chaperone and arranged for a babysitter so that Jeremy could go with me.

A friend from our ward called Jeremy and offered to make a corsage for him to give to me. So, all dressed up and with corsage on wrist, I was escorted to dinner and prom by my handsome husband.

Flashback about 15 years ago (okay, 19, but who's counting?!), a couple of weeks before my junior prom

I am not really interested in any boys at school right now, and I'm pretty certain that there aren't any boys that will ask me to prom (at least not any that I want to go to prom with). I have started crushing a little bit on George, a guy at church. Maybe I should ask him to be my date to prom.

A couple of weeks minus one day before my junior prom

Oh my gosh! I was totally nervous, but tonight at mutual I got up the nerve to ask George to prom. He said yes! It will be so cool having a date that nobody knows! He'll be...like...the mysterious guy that came to prom with Tricia.

About a week before my junior prom

Okay, I am really head over heels for this guy, Rich. He just came into my life out of nowhere and I am so in love! I so wish that I was going to prom with him. Of course, he has a date, but they are just friends. If I were going stag to prom I could totally hang out with Rich all night! Why did I have to ask George!

The day of my junior prom

George is such a dork! I wish there was some way that I could get out of going to prom with him! But that would be so rude. So I'll just have to deal with it. Maybe I can make Rich jealous by being with another date. That would be cool.

The night of my junior prom

This is humiliating! I never realized before what a geek George is! Because I asked him to prom I think he thinks that I really like him and he keeps holding my hand and stuff! And, because he doesn't know anyone but me he is following me around like a lost puppy! So much for getting to hang out with Rich. I even asked my mom and dad, who are here as chaperones, if there is some way that I can get out of spending the rest of the night with George, but they told me "no way"! Oh man! Maybe I can ditch him before post prom...tell him that I am sick or something.

Later that night

Okay, I couldn't ditch George, so we went to post prom. Missy was able to talk her date, Stephen, into babysitting him for a while so that I could try to have some fun, but it didn't last nearly long enough. When we got home, I really thought that he was going to kiss me! I would have died. What was I thinking to ever have a crush on him?! On a positive note, Steph, Chris, Rich and I are going to Eagle Creek tomorrow for a picnic and to hang out. This will totally make up for the nightmare that was tonight. Oh Rich, I love you!

Flash forward to May 24, 2008

Going to LDS Prom tonight really brought back a lot of memories. I can't believe what a dork I was! How could I have been so rude to George. Poor guy. He was just trying to be a good date and I completely blew him off.

It was really fun getting to go to prom with Jeremy. Wow! Dating really wasn't fun. I really like going on dates with someone who already knows and loves me. What a blessing.

Flash forward to today, June 9, 2008

I just had to share this. It has been really fun to think about my memories of junior prom, even though I have had to face the harsh reality that I really was a fickle, silly, and yes, a little rude, girl.

By the way, the names here were not changed to protect the innocent, so if any of the people mentioned in this story happen, by some strange twist of fate, to read this post...

George, I'm sorry. You really were very sweet...

Steph and Chris, thanks for inviting me and Rich to go to Eagle Creek with you the day after prom. It was definitely the highlight of my junior prom experience...

Rich, so you ended up dating one of my best friends instead of me. It all worked out for the best...

Missy, thanks for helping me through one of the most horrible nights of my high school career. You were and are a true friend indeed.

Stephen, thanks for hanging out with some guy you didn't know so that I could fawn all over some other guy. In other words, thanks for facilitating my misconduct. I really appreciated it at the time....

mom and dad, thanks for being my conscience. No matter how mortifying it may have been at the time, I'm glad that you were at my junior prom.

Jeremy, thanks for being my date to the LDS Prom. It was unforgettable, but in a much nicer way than my junior prom.

Blog readers, thanks for letting me reminisce. If you are still reading, you too are true friends indeed.

This past Friday Jeremy was commissioned into the Air Force.

His dad was able to commission him.

Jeremy taking the oath

Lieutenant Matis saluting Colonel Matis

The plaque (no pun intended) handed down from father to son
Jeremy with Sgt. Potts, the Air Force recruiter who has held our hand throughout this process

Jeremy signing his life away
Jeremy with mom and dad
Our family
Jer with his best dental school buds, Adam and Dave (plus Dave's wife, Nicole)

Thanks to all of the family and friends who were there to support Jeremy. We are excited about this step that we have taken in our lives!

We did it again!

Jeremy and I walked in the mini-marathon again this year! We finished in 12 minutes less than we did last year. That doesn't seem like that much of an improvement, but we feel good about it. The fact is that our time is kind of embarrassing when compared to the times of friends and family who participated in the mini also, but when I consider my progress over the past year and a half, I am proud of myself.

Now Jeremy, on the other hand, could probably finish much quicker than I do, but he stays with me to provide moral support, which I appreciate. He also provides much entertainment as he joins the groups that are there to entertain in clogging, chearleading, dancing, etc. As with most things in my life, he makes walking 13.1 miles a lot more fun!

In addition to an improved finishing time I was amazed at how much easier this half marathon was for me than the two I did last year. I maintained a good energy level throughout the race, finished strong, didn't feel like I needed to immediately pass out afterward, and recovered much more quickly!

Can't wait until the Indianapolis Half Marathon in October! Who wants to join us? We won't even have our feelings hurt if you finish before us...it's not too hard to do!

You don't have to be doing what you love to love what you are doing.

Every once in a while I get a glimpse into the lives of people that I went to school with who are following their dreams as singers, actors, performers. It always leaves me with a lump in my throat as I realize that the only singing I do on a daily basis is in the car (where I am promptly told by my kids to stop singing because they want to sing), and when I tuck the kids in bed (where they do allow me to sing, but only to delay going to sleep).

My recent acting experience is limited to making up silly voices for The Cat in the Hat, Goldilocks and various other children’s book characters. The things that were once so much a part of my life have been replaced with much less interesting things like washing dishes, doing laundry, cleaning toilets, picking up toys and changing diapers.

I sometimes long for the feeling of fulfillment that came from doing the things that I love to do every day. At those times I ask myself if being a mom is worth the sacrifices that I make. The answer comes when…

• Becca gets up in the morning looking beautiful with her tousled hair and sleepy eyes
• I hear the pitter patter of Isak’s little feet as he runs through the house
• Becca rides her princess bike around the neighborhood (complete with princess elbow pads, knee pads and helmet)
• Isak asks me what time it is (even though he really has no idea what “10:30” means)
• I watch Becca dancing in her ballet class
• Isak sings
• Becca sings
• Isak laughs
• Becca laughs
• Isak prays
• Becca prays
• Becca “reads” books to Isak
• Becca wants me to hold her because she is frightened by the scary character in a movie
• Isak wants me to hold him just because
• we walk through the grocery store saying “I want the tiger book. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha (like Dracula) because the kids think it’s funny…
  

All of these moments remind me that the satisfaction of doing the things that I personally love to do is far overpowered by the fulfillment of using my skills and talents to shape the lives of the two little people who rely primarily on me to show them the way in this world.

So, while washing dishes may not be on my list of things that I love to do, it’s okay because I do love being a mom who washes dishes.

(I posted this on a family blog last fall. I have been thinking about it a lot lately and decided to share it once again. Sometimes I just need these little reminders of how blessed I am to be a mom. It's not easy, but it's worth it.)

American Girls

Twice a year we take a trip to Chicago with our friends, Mark and Kami Starnes. We love these trips! We go every spring and every fall. It has become a tradition that we won't easily break.

This year for our spring trip we decided to take all of our kids with us and take the girls to the American Girl Place. It was amazing! First we went to the little stage production that they do. In the show they introduce the "American Girls" through music and dance. I loved the show because it promoted values that are important to me and that I hope someday will be important to my little girl. I actually cried! I sat there thinking, "Am I the only dork crying?" Of course, I can always count on Kami to get weepy with me. Thanks, Kami!

Of course we did some shopping and Becca picked out a ballerina dress for herself and her Bitty Baby. I had a hard time getting her to settle on what she wanted. She walked into the Bitty Baby section and just started grabbing boxes. I said, "Now Becca, you are going to have to choose just one thing, so why don't you just look at everything there is and then make a decision." With each item we looked at she announced, " I want that!" She even wanted the things that she already has! She was just completely overwhelmed! So much like her mother.
For lunch we had made reservations at the American Girl Cafe. No detail was overlooked in the decorating, service, menu, etc. We felt very special.

Every few minutes Becca would reach over and offer her doll a bite or a drink. I was so darned cute!
We really weren't celebrating a birthday, but we wanted this day to be extra special, so we just pretended. We ordered the birthday package for both girls. It was only a few dollars more and we got a birthday cake and gifts. Very fun! In our defense, Makara's birthday was only a couple of weeks away, so we justified it.
It was such a great day! I loved getting to do this with Becca. Adding to my list of things that I would do if I were rich, I would give as many little girls as possible the opportunity to spend a day at American Girl Place with their moms.
While we were at American Girl, the boys all went to Shedd Aquarium. We met back up in Schaumburg to go to IKEA (of course!) and then we headed home.

After spending a weekend with almost-nine-year-old Makara, Becca is now 5 going on 12. Makara is so good to her. Aren't friends great!

Easter

On the Saturday of Easter weekend there was an Easter egg hunt at the church building. It was snowing outside, so the hunt was moved into the cultural hall. There aren't a lot of strategic hiding places in a cultural hall, so the eggs were strewn about on the floor. Here are Becca, Isak and the other children from church waiting for the big race for candy to begin!
Isak was so excited to dig into his candy that once he had a few eggs he just stopped in the middle of everything and started cracking open eggs. As you can see, there were still plenty of eggs to be gathered, but he was more interested in the instant gratification of eating the candy!Becca got run over by a couple of older, over zealous girls right when the egg hunt started and spent most of the time crying. She ended up with very few eggs as a result. As an apology, one of the girls that had been involved in the mishap shared some of her eggs with Becca, so she ended up coming out pretty well. Isak had a nearly empty basket, but a full mouth. He was happy.We have church at 9:00, and the Easter Bunny was thoughtful enough to wait until we were at church to come deliver baskets. When we came home we found Becca and Isak's baskets in the sunroom. They received basketballs, movies, sunglasses and more candy.
The Easter Bunny even remembered mommy and daddy this year! We were surprised to find (well, at least daddy was) a new garage door opener in our garage. The Easter Bunny must have noticed that ours has been broken for the past couple of years and that we have just been too cheap to buy one! One of my favorite parts of our Easter tradition is buying new spring Sunday clothes for everyone. Becca was beautiful and Isak was so handsome. Unfortunately we didn't capture any good pictures of them before we went to church.

Even more wonderful than getting new toys, candy and new clothes was when Becca asked if she could give the family home evening lesson and proceded to tell the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus. She had every detail just right. She was certainly taught well in Primary that day!

Spring Break

For Jeremy's spring break we had made plans to return to Williamsburg, VA (we were there last summer for a Matis family reunion) with Jeremy's brother, Jason, and his family. The Jason Matis family ended up not being able to go, but we love to travel, so we decided to make a go of it anyway. Any doubts that we should follow through with the trip left when I realized that it would be sunny and in the 60's in Virginia the week of spring break and still cold and snowy here in Indianapolis.

Becca and Isak love to take trips as much as Jeremy and I do and behave amazingly well in the car. Of course sometimes you have to get a little creative to make a 12 hour drive fun, but they have no problem with that!
Although we had spent a couple of days at Colonial Williamsburg over the summer, we wanted to return and check out a couple of things that we had missed before. Jeremy got to be on the jury of a mock trial at the courthouse, which was very interesting. One case in particular really made us appreciate the religious freedom that we now enjoy.
I wanted to check out the Yankee Candle store in Williamsburg, which is Yankee's flagship store. The rest of the family wasn't extremely excited about going, but it turned out to be way cool. There was like a little world inside the store with blue sky, fountains, shops, etc. This clock tower opened up every half hour and the mice inside put on a little musical show.

The part that I liked best was the Holiday store where it is perpetually Christmas. It even snows!

We spent one day visiting Jamestown and Yorktown. I'm ashamed to admit that we didn't really know the significance that either one of these places played in the history of our country. It was very enlightening to visit and learn about these important historical landmarks. Both of these pictures were taken at Jamestown. We ended up not getting any pictures at Yorktown, but there was a great self guided driving tour in Yorktown that we loved!

The highlights of the trip for the kids, although not pictured, were swimming and going to the indoor jumping place. It was great to have our family together for so much time! It made it really tough to send Jeremy out the door to school again the next week, but we are grateful to have had the opportunity to get away and have fun.