Gratitude

December 14

Becca is grateful for medicine so that she can get better.

Isak is grateful for the roof because it protects us from the rain.

Dad is grateful for our heated mattress pad.

Mom is grateful for the Children's Museum.

The Children's Museum of Indinapolis is amazing! Each year since 2005 we have bought an annual pass because we love to go often, and it is so worth it! Even now that the kids are both in school all day during the week, I will sometimes pick them up from school and head straight to the museum and get in a couple of hours of play time before it closes. We also enjoy the times that the museum opens early or stays open late just for members. We have been so lucky to have this amazing museum so close to us.

Here are a couple of photos from over the years...

May 2005 - Becca playing in the Playscape kitchen and Isak admiring himself in Babyscape





September 2006 - at the museum with friends





December 2006 - enjoying Jolly Days with cousins







March 2008 - Isak playing at the Curious George exhibit and Becca in the race car





November 2011 - serving up a delicious buffet with Emma and riding on the carousel





December 14, 2011

Getting Froggy in the Frog Exhibit


A Chat with Santa


A Snowball Fight with Bumblebee


Another Ride Down the Yule Slide


I love spending time with my kids at the Children's Museum! By the way, if any of you have photos that I don't have, can you send them to me?

Gratitude

December 11

Becca is grateful that we have cousins who love us.

Isak is grateful for his birth.

Daddy is grateful for the fireplace (we had a cozy fire last night).

Mommy is grateful for family time.


December 12

Mommy is grateful for our stake (we had stake conference this past weekend and I love that I know almost everyone there - I've lived in Indy a long time. It will be strange when we start moving around with the Air Force to not know so many people. So many of the people here have had such an impact on me. I think of them as a giant extended family).

Isak is grateful for the United States.

Daddy is grateful that he still has a whole semester to finish his graduation requirements (he's had a lot of set backs lately...patients not showing up to appointments, lab work gone wrong, etc.).

Becca is grateful that she gets to be with family over Christmas break.

Gratitude

My gratitude post tonight may take a little more explanation than I have given in other posts. There have been a couple of things that have profoundly affected me the last couple of days that I want to write about.

Today, Jeremy is grateful for video cameras. Jeremy and I are in charge of planning a Matis family reunion this year, which is coming up in a couple of weeks. For the reunion we have asked each family unit to work on a family history project of their choosing and then present what they have worked on at the reunion. The project Jeremy chose was to transfer all of his parents' family videos to digital format (which he ended up not having to do, but that's another story completely) and organize the files and burn them onto dvd's for each family. He has really enjoyed going through the old family videos and hopes that the rest of the family enjoys having easily accessible copies in their own homes.

Isak is grateful for our bodies, because we we wouldn't be alive if we didn't have one.

Becca is grateful for everything she has, because some people don't have the stuff she has. Now this may seem like an over generalized statement, but because I had the privilege of being in her classroom at school on Thursday, I know exactly why she said this tonight.

I walked into Becca's classroom the other day for my weekly afternoon of volunteering just as the teacher was starting to read a book to the class. The kids were teasing the teacher, asking her if she was going to cry this time. Apparently she is a little tender hearted and has gotten teary when reading certain books to them. She told them that she wouln't cry this time, and started to read The Little Match Girl.

If you have not heard this story before, it is about a young girl, living in poverty, who is out on New Year's Eve trying to sell matches to make a meager living. She is cold, hungry and afraid to return home for fear that she will be beaten for not having sold any matches. By the time the teacher reached the end of the story, she had managed to control her tears, but I hadn't. I was impressed as she began to talk to the children about how fortunate they are and how grateful they should feel for the blessings in their lives. She explained that, like the little match girl, there are many children without adequate food, clothing, shelter, warmth, love. She encouraged them to be grateful during the holidays, rather than getting caught up in thinking just about the presents they hope to receive.

I was so grateful that day that Becca has a teacher who not only teaches her math, reading and science, but also reinforces lessons that we teach at home and at church. I was even more grateful tonight, as Becca said that she is grateful for "everything [she has], because some people don't have the stuff [she has], because I realized that the lesson that her wonderful teacher taught that day made an impact on her.

Finally, I am grateful that I got to go out on a fun date last night with Jeremy and my niece, Angela and her husband, Nick. We celebrated Angela's birthday by going out to dinner and then to Yuletide Celebration, which is the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's Christmas concert.

Yuletide Celebration was beautiful in every way. The music, the dancers, the scenery...it was all quite magical. What touched me most though, is that amidst the acting out of Twas the Night Befor Christmas and the tap dancing Santas, there were moments of profound spirituality as the musicians expressed testimony of the divinity of Jesus Christ. Too often in today's society, we are made to feel that it is inappropriate to express devotion to our Savior. It is wonderful to me that, during the Christmas season, music that testifies of Jesus is everywhere - in the stores, on the radio and in concert halls - and very few question it. I am so grateful for this. I am grateful for these rare opportunities for the divinity and mission of Jesus Christ to be sang from the rooftops! What a glorious time of year!

Gratitude

December 6

Mom is grateful for the washer and the dryer. (I already spend so much time doing laundry, I can't imagine what it would be like to do it all by hand!)

Isak is grateful for our house.

Becca is grateful to have family members that love and care about her.

Dad is grateful for phones and the ability to stay in touch with family.


December 7

Becca is thankful that there are biographies to read so that we can learn about history. (She has been reading a biography on Amelia Earhart.)

Isak is thankful for books.

I can't remember why Jeremy and I didn't record ours that night, or why we missed the next couple of days after that...oh well.

Gratitude

December 1st rolled around and the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season was set in motion. We were surprised when we opened our gratitude journal tonight to see that we last recorded what we are grateful for on November 30th.

This isn't unusual...often during this time of year our schedule is thrown off by all of the extra activities we try to fit in. We had a really busy and fun weekend, and while we had much to feel thankful for, we didn't get a chance to talk about it and write it down.

Here is what we are feelig thankful for today...

Isak is grateful for his school.

Becca is grateful for her parents.

Jeremy is grateful for electricity (I asked him why and he said, "Because it gives us light". But Becca, who apparently knows her father really well, said, "because it gives him TV").

I am grateful that Becca, Isak and Jeremy fasted today. Today was fast Sunday, but we actually forgot until after we had eaten breakfast. Apparently, after I left for church, Jeremy and the kids talked and decided that even though we had forgotten to do a full fast, they would fast one meal, so they skipped lunch. I was so proud of the kids. Even after we got home from church and were waiting for dinner to cook, they didn't complain at all and waited patiently for dinner to be served.

More importantly than going for a few hours (about 9) without food, they decided to fast for the purpose of asking Heavenly Father to bless our family with a baby to adopt. I think that it is so precious that Becca and Isak hope for this blessing every bit as much as Jeremy and I do - even to the extent that they will sacrifice lunch and snacks to show Heavenly Father how important it is to them. They will be a great big sister and big brother...someday.

Gratitude

Tuesday, November 29

Becca is grateful that she has a good mommy and daddy who want to take care of her.

Mom is grateful for good books.

Isak is grateful for our bodies.

Dad is grateful that we all brush our teeth (apparently he saw a couple of patients who don't have good dental hygeine habits).

Wednesday, November 30

Mom is grateful that my trip to the Louisville temple today went smoothly (took a day trip to the temple today with my mom).

Isak is grateful for our family.

Becca is grateful for food.

Dad is grateful for Becca and Isak.

Gratitude

Monday, November 28

Isak is thankful for school because he loves "to do math and stuff".

Becca is thankful that she has a mom who does stuff with her.

Mom is thankful that she gets to teach the Book of Mormon class at church. (I teach an "institute" class for women on Monday mornings. Children are welcome, which makes it nice for mom's who don't have many opportunities to go to scripture study classes. Even with many children running around, the discussion is wonderful and I love that I get to be a part of it!)

Dad (shared via phone as he was driving home from school after staying late to study for a test) is thankful for Christmas music.

Gratitude

Saturday, November 26

Dad is grateful for his two wonderful children.

Mom is grateful that we were able to help Grandma Judy and Dan put up their Christmas tree.

Becca is grateful for a loving dad.

Isak is grateful for how the sun warms us.


Sunday, November 27

Becca is grateful for a warm house and a warm school to keep us safe.

Dad is grateful for his biscuit (a term that we lovingly use for our bed, taken from a tv show that was on several years ago).

Isak is grateful for the temple and the Church. (When I asked him why, he said that he is grateful for the Church because without it we wouldn't know that we have a Savior).

Gratitude

I have enjoyed reading everyone's posts this month on the things that they are grateful for. What a wonderful tradition to devote not just one day, but an entire month, to thinking about and sharing with one another the precious gifts in our lives.

Our family has had a similar tradition for the past few years. On Thanksgiving we pull our gratitude journal out of hiding. Each night between Thanksgiving and Christmas, as part of our bedtime ritual, we record one thing that each of us is grateful for.

I started this tradition hoping that by focusing on our blessings, we would be less inclined to come down with a case of the "I wants" leading up to Christmas. By keeping our focus on what we have instead of what we want, we don't lose sight of the spirit of Christmas (or at least that is the goal, and it seems to work pretty well!)

We started this practice in 2008, when Isak had just turned 4 and Becca was about to turn 6. It is fun to go back through and read the things that we have been grateful for. I have the sweetest memories of Isak, with his fingers in his mouth, expressing his gratitude for candy, gum, cookies, snacks...you get the idea. Becca, with stars in her eyes, would give thanks for Barbies, sparkling Christmas lights, her favorite tree ornaments, etc. For Jeremy and I, our greatest treasures don't seem to change that much from year to year - home, family, friends, sleep, warmth, cooperative children...

Because I truly have the desire to blog more frequently, I have decided that taking a few minutes each day, or a couple time a week, to post what we have recorded in our gratitude journal, would be a simple way to contribute to our blog more regularly, at least for a few weeks (then maybe I'll be in the habit and keep it up!)

So, here is what we recorded last night...

Isak is grateful for the planets, because Earth is one of them.

Becca is grateful for Adam and Eve, because without them, we wouldn't be here. She is also thankful for the Church.

Mom is grateful for relaxing and productive days like today.

Dad is grateful for the DVR.

We have had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! We spent Thanksgiving day at our house with my extended family. Yesterday we had just the right combination of relaxation, fun and work, and today is turning out just as nicely. Today we are going to help Grandma Judy and Dan put up their Christmas tree and then we are going to spend some time with Jeremy's extended family. Hope everyone else (at least the handful of you who read our blog) has had a Happy Thanksgiving as well, and that we can all look forward to Christmas with an attitude of gratitude.

Isakisms

It's no secret that Isak makes me laugh. Here are a couple of his recent homework assignments to demonstrate why he both amazes and amuses me.

He was given a list of words with the long O sound. He had to choose a few of them to use in sentences. Here are his sentences (I am doing no editing as I type these):

1. The batter stole second base.
2. The rose is in a garden with zinias and marigolds and daisys and a lot of veggies such as tomatoes and potatoes and elephant ears.
3. The north pole is on the opposite side of the south pole.
4. I chose the Ritz (here he wrote in a registered trademark sign, which I can't figure out how to do in blogger) for a snack.
5. Those choirs are in Butler University.

The registered trademark sign is what truly cracked me up. It's funnier to see it as he wrote it.

For another assignment he had to write a letter. Here is what he wrote:

Dear grandparents,

It is 100% awesome to spend time with you. I like it more when you come to my house to spend time. My favorite game to play with you is Monopoly. Another one is Life. (the game not how you live)

Sincerely,

Isak

The kid's a hoot!

A Favorite Fall Recipe

I recently posted on Facebook that I had made pumpkin pancakes and apple cider syrup for breakfast and a few people expressed interest in the recipes. Here they are! They are not difficult and they are so yummy!

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 Cups flour
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon cinnmon
1/4 teaspoon allspice (I don't always have this on hand and eliminate it)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 Cups milk
1/2 Cup canned pumpkin
1 large egg
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Combine dry ingredients with a wire whisk and set aside. In a large bowl, beat milk, pumpkin, egg and oil. Gradually add dry ingredients. Mix only until wet. Batter will be lumpy.

Heat griddle and brush with oil (or spray). Make pancakes using 1/4 cup batter. Cook until top is bubbled and edges are dry. Turn and cook for another minute or so.

Apple Cider Syrup

1/2 Cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 Teaspoon cinnamon
1 Cup apple cider
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons butter

In a medium pot mix sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon with a whisk. Add apple cider and lemon juice. Bring mixture to a boil. Boil until thickened (takes just a few minutes). Remove from heat and add butter.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

June 24

Today was wild. I had breakfast at 4AM (the flight offered both a dinner and a breakfast, both of which were about as big as my hand). We landed in Rio De Janeiro at 5:20AM, worked our way through Immigration and Customs, walked over to where we could transfer our luggage and saw that our flight to Curitiba had been cancelled. We were mystified, but continued in the luggage transfer line. When we got up to the counter, we were told that the flight had not been cancelled. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:15AM and we re-checked out luggage in at 7:05AM. We rushed through security and got to the gate... only to find out that our flight had been delayed because of fog at Curitiba. So, we waited for 2 hours for the plane to leave. Luckily, we were in the airport waiting. We got to Curitiba and met the people we'd be staying with. I am staying with Felipe, who is awesome. We got money exchanged and bags loaded (oh - we had no issues with our 8 55-70lb bags) and went out to eat at a Brazilian steakhouse. Man did I get stuffed. That made up for the small meals we got on the plane. I got to sit and talk about Steven Covey because both he and I are Mormon and the husband of one of the people here has a boss that had rcently worked for S. Covey. It was glorious... -ish.

So, we went to our place of residence and I showered and took a short nap. We then went to my the apartment of my hosts aunt and watched some TV and made conversation. I also had some Coke from a 6oz glass. It was a far cry from my usual 44oz beverage. :( We went out to eat at an Italian Restaurant, which was served like a Brazilian Steakhouse. That was fun... and the food was good, too. I'l be going to sleep at about midnight. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight.

To my kids and wife, I love you and hope you had fun in Ohio. Also, one more day is complete. Wahoo. :)

Aren't my kids cute?

So, since my kids are posting their days, I figured I'd post mine here as well. It'll mean more posts, but EVERYONE loves to read Matis posts...

So, for yesterday:

1. I saw Becca's teacher, Mrs Brown, checking in at American Airlines the same time I was. I thought that was an oddity.

2. My group got on the airplane and we were then told (after they shut the doors) that they had been told that our flight was going to be delayed for about an hour. So they moved us to an airplane parking lot. Why couldn't they just let us sit in the airport for a little longer?

3. We got to JFK with about 1.5 hours before they were going to start boarding our next flight. We rushed through the terminals, cut in line at the TAM airline counter for our boarding passes and arrived at our gate with about 10 min before they started boarding. So we got on the plane... and waited for an hour before the plane took off. I WAS HUNGRY and didn't get anything to eat.

4. I had a n aisle seat with the other three guys on this trip in my row. It took the enitre middle row of the aircraft. I offered my seat to Bob, because he is of a larger size than anybody else on the trip. Therefore, I was sitting between Bob and one of the Chris-i -es(? - what ever the plural of "Chris" is). One of the flight attendants came over to us after the doors were closed and asked me if I wanted to move across the aisle and share a row with someone else. I told her I was okay and she then informed me that I was sitting next to a rather large gentleman and asked Bob to move and made me switch seats. So, we were sitting across from the lav. Now I was sitting in front of it... with a stranger.

5. The seat I was in couldn't recline because I had a wall behind me. Lucky for the guy in front of me, his seat reclined about 8 inches. Therefore, I had a headrest in my lap for most of the flight.

6. The airline had individual movies that I could choose from to watch, including Rango and The Green Hornet. I watched both of them. Well, I watched the first half of both of them. The "entertainment" system kept shorting out and would stop working for hours at a time. Also, when they dimmed the cabin, my chair light stopped working, so I couldn't even read.

I love my wife and kids. I miss them and look forward to seeing them in 12 days. I already have a gift for each of my kids.

Missing Daddy

Jeremy left today for his service trip to Brazil, where he will be working in a dental clinic for one week. With travel time and a little time for sightseeing, he will be gone a total of 12 days.

Our kids aren't new to having mommy and/or daddy gone for several days, but for some reason they are taking this time very hard - especially Becca. As we were driving home from the airport, I turned to look at Becca and saw that she was crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I don't want daddy to go". My heart broke. So, just minutes after we had dropped Jeremy off, I called him and asked if he could talk to Becca for a minute.

He told Becca that he would keep notes of his trip(like the ones from his trip to Hong Kong and Korea that he posted here not too long ago) and suggested that she do the same. So, tonight at bedtime I pulled out a notebook and told the kids to write at least one sentence about their day for daddy to read later.

Dear Dad,

I had a sad day since you left. I had a bad day at tennis.

Love,
Becca

*********************************************************************

Dear Dad,

I am sad that you left. I had a good day. I miss you. Have fun in New York City and Brasil. Bye.

From: Isak

*********************************************************************

Man, I love them!

Adoption Update

Family and friends,

Thank you so much for your overwhelmingly supportive responses to the email we sent in March. We are grateful for your thoughts and prayers on our behalf. We are also grateful for LDS Family Services and for the work that they do to unite families and help join children to parents who can offer them the blessings of the gospel.

This month we share a special message and extend an invitation. The LDS Family Services caseworker who is currently handling Indiana adoptions has set an agressive but inspired goal for all Indiana couples seeking to adopt through Family Services to have a child place with them before the end of 2011. She and others believe that if we unite our prayers in faith, this goal can be achieved.

Here is a letter that was composed by the staff at Family Services inviting family and friends to join with us in prayer and fasting for the purpose of petitioning the Lord to help us achieve this goal.


Dear Friends and Families,

As Families Supporting Adoption unites with the staff of LDS Family Services we work intimately with those seeking to adopt children and birth mothers considering adoption and other alternatives. Much prayer and fasting has gone into how we might move this work forward. As stewards over all within our state we feel the responsibility to make certain every child born in Indiana has the promises made clear in the Proclamation of the Family, where every child has the right to be afforded the blessing of being in a covenant home with a mother and father to teach them the principles of the gospel. This is our missionary work and stewardship and we invite all who would unify with us to join with us in dedicating this next month’s fast to focus on the birth mothers in our state and the adoptive couples seeking to provide those eternal promises to these children. We believe as we unite with our brothers and sisters we can petition the Lord to soften our hearts to the prompting of how best we can support birth mothers and soften the hearts of these birth mothers so the children can enjoy the blessings and covenants of eternal families. As we invite wards and members to join in our prayers and temple service our hope is that unifying will bring power and strength to these efforts.

Sincerely,

David L. Pitcher
Marcia French

We invite you to join us in dedicating our fasts, not just to seeking a blessing for the Matis family to have a child placed with us, but for many other couples to receive this blessing and for many children to have the blessing of being place in a home where they can receive the blessings of the gospel. May 1st, August 7th and November 6th are the dates that have been designated for this purpose.

Have a beautiful weekend and fast Sunday!

Love,

Jeremy, Tricia, Rebecca and Isak Matis

A Short Story

I have so much to blog about, but not a lot of time right now. So, for now I will leave you with this short conversation that I had with Isak just a few minutes ago that empitomizes Isak conversations that I have everyday.

I walk into the kitchen and see a container of yogurt (Yoplait light) sitting on the table with just one bite out of it.

"Isak, why is there an open container of yogurt on the table that hasn't been eaten?"

"Because I don't want to eat it."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to lose 5 pounds."

Chuckling I say, "Isak, you aren't going to lose 5 pounds just because you eat a container of yogurt."

"That's what the container says."

The container does indeed say that "you could lose 5 pounds in 2 weeks!"

Hmm...how can I explain to him the concept of creative advertising? Regardless, I am now eating the yogurt, secretly hoping that it actually does cause me to lose 5 pounds in 2 weeks!

What is this? Frequent posting?

I've only been a publisher on this blog for about a month, and I think I've already surpassed Tricia's word count. :) As such, I think I need a more imposing presence. I say, enough with the girly backgrounds. I say, let's have come Colts themes, or hand tools... or even like an Indianapolis theme. Whatever... just, enough with the love... and the diamonds... and pink. ugh.

Anyways, as I was avoiding doing anything productive yesterday, I went through my patients and calculated their "points". I know that patients are people and I do NOT look at patients as points. However, we need points to graduate and so it is something that most students monitor. For those unfamiliar with dental school, students need 270 restorative points in order to graduate. These points are earned by filling cavities, placing dentures, basically anything a dentist does, except we don't get points for doing cleanings or extractions. I think everything else counts. I currently have about 65 points (which is about the class average. I added up everything I currently have planned on my patients and I came up with my having 260 points after I complete all of their work. These points include completing all of my requirements for complete dentures, partial dentures, crowns, fillings and bridges. It was very encouraging. I know that some of these patients will fail, and treatment will change as finances change and lifestyles change... but, I currently have planned almost enough points to graduate. WAHOO!!! Now, I just need to plan my 7 remaining root canals for Endo, and the remaining assists and oral surgeries... but I am encouraged. I think there is an end in sight.

My travels

One thing I mentioned in a previous post of mine was that I've had a great opportunity to explore the world based on traveling with my father. Notably, I've lived in Germany for three years and my father has traveled the world lecturing on tooth whitening. So, here is a brief run down on places I've been able to visit.

• London, England - I had the opportunity to see Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables while in London. I got to see the tower for Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Hard Rock Cafe, Madame Tussauds and spent extensive time on the London Underground.


• Paris, France - We "walked on water" at the Louvre, stood at the base of the Eiffel Tower (I don't remember why we didn't go up) and stood on top of the Arc de Triomphe.


• Normandy, France - I walked along Normandy Beach (Utah Beach sector), saw the cemetary, and even had the opportunity to "Retire the Colors" at the cemetary (perform the flag ceremony to take the flag down).


• San Marino, San Marino (Independant country within Italy) - We arrived at San Marino in the middle of the night. It is a mountian top country, and we decided to drive up as high as we could. We parked and slept in the car. We woke that morning and walked around the area. When we returned to the car, we interrupted a police officer writing a ticket for our car. There is no automobile traffic allowed in San Marino. We got out of the ticket, but it was difficult to drive back down the mountian due to the merchants wares that had been placed in the streets. San Marino was cool, though. We saw the fortress of the country, which was monumental.


• Rome, Italy - Saw the Vatican (I know... it is another independant country within Italy), St Peter's Basilica and Square, almost died in the Roman Colosseum, and saw many, many ruins (man, they should clean that place up).


• Venice, Italy and Piza, Italy - Saw the canals of Venice and the leaning Tower of Piza.


• East Berlin, East Germany - My family was touring East Berlin and decided to go to a restaurant. We chose one and went in. We were the most underdressed people there, but we were allowed in because we were Americans. It seemed to be a nice place, but... you probably know my family... we are not quiet people. We were loud-ish (comparetively speaking)... but MAN did we eat a lot. I am sure that is why were were allowed in. I remember the food being awesome. Earlier that day, we were waiting to pass through Checkpoint Charlie and my dad was videoing the Berlin Wall. We have him on tape saying that the Berlin Wall would fall within the next few years. It fell one month later.


• Copenhagen, Denmark - We went to Tivoli Gardens, which was fun.


• Finland (multiple trips) - We went to see family and friends. We went to a great uncle's 100th birthday. He was celebrating, but we were the attraction... again, because we were Americans. That was awkward. We spent a few days in a summer cabin, and my little brother ended up with a rusty dart in his back. We had vehicle troubles and ended up fitting 8 adults in a station wagon made for 5.


• Russia (multiple trips) - During the school trip when I went, we toured much of the country, including Omsk (so cold that my bugars froze when I walked outside and visited a Russian school), Tomsk, St Petersburg, Moscow and places in between. We traveled by bus, train and air plane. The Trans-siberian railroad was cool, Aeroflot was weird (there were no "classes" on the airplane, but there was a definate seperation of the people into classes) and the bus ride was uncomfortable (weird tour guide). For the trip with my dad and brother, we stayed at "bed and breakfasts" - essentially people letting us pay them to stay in their apartments. That was weird. One really funny thing happened though. We stayed with one family, where the wife worked in a pan factory. As a gift, they gave us one of the pans. The pan was defective and they had to drill a hole in the handle in order to attach the handle to the pan. Another story, My dad wanted to buy something nice for my mom that he didn't have enough Ruples for. He went with someone we had hired as a tour guide to get money. The strange man came back to the car with my brother and I in it and threw in a grocery bag of money into the car and ran off. We were concerned.


• Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - We drove for many hours on gravel roads. I almost got a speeding ticket, but got out of it by paying a bribe of 110 ruples (about $1.10). I almost flipped the car by taking a turn too fast in a rural area.


• Poland - We saw a car that the hood flipped to the right, instead of flipping back like a normal car. Aditionally, going from Poland to West Germany, there was a two week wait for cars to cross the border. My dad walked to the front of the line, came back with an escort and we crossed the border after about 3 hours.


• Turkey (two trips) - My brother and I ruined the alignment of a golf cart by driving over embankments on a golf course. My dad lost a camera in a cab because he was too worried about spending too much on the cab ride, as I had paid about $100 on a cab ride the day earlier.


• South Africa - We went to a wildlife preserve, where we were almost attacked by rhinos, saw elephants, giraffes, monkeys, warthogs, kudoo, gnus, and a host of other animals. We went to the sourthen-most tip of Africa. I found out that I DO have a heart.


• Greece - I saw the Parthenon, Thesselonia and Mt Olympus.


• Asia - This trip is explored in detail in an earlier post.

I have seen much of the world. I plan on seeing more areas that I have yet to see. However, I would be very ungrateful if I didn't recognize the efforts and ability that my father has gone through in order to help his children see the world.

Thanks, Dad!

Spring Break

Swimming
Sleeping in
Staying up late
Going out to eat
Time with family & friends
Crazy baboons at the zoo
Miles of walking at IKEA
Spring break

A Good Laugh

I laughed harder today than I have in a long time and thought I would share my new-found side-splitting infomation.

From time to time, when I need to give my weight loss efforts a boost, I count calories using the Livestrong app on my phone. Today while I was having lunch with some of my family I was entering the food I had eaten and some exercise I had done this morning into the program. I typed in "walking" and was amazed, and humored, by the myriad of walking options that were listed. Here is an abbreviated list of what I found:

Walking (briskly) - 11.9 calories per minute

Walking, pushing a stroller - 8.9 calories per minute

Walking, with the dog - 8.9 calories per minute

Okay, so up to this point they seem reasonable enough, maybe with just a little more detail than is necessary. And then there is...

Operate snow blower: walking - 12.4 calories per minute

Yard: applying seed or fertilizer - 7.0 calories per minute

Yard: watering by hand, standing/walking - 4.3 calories per minute

Child Care: walking with children - 5.1 calories per minute

Okay, really?! This is stretching it a bit, but it gets better!

Baton twirling: walking - 8.2 calories per minute

Church: walking in church - 4.1 calories per minute

Walking: for social reasons - 5.1 calories per minute

Walking: on grass - 10.2 calories per minute

Walking: inside at work gathering things - 6.1 calories per minute

And my personal favorites...

Farming: chasing livestock, walking - 7.1 calories per minute

Fishing: from river bank, walking - 8.2 calories per minute

Walking: to and from outhouse - 5.1 calories per minute (which we decided had to be an average, because certainly you would burn more calories on your way to the outhouse than returning from the outhouse)

I never imagined that reading the exercise entries on my calorie counter app could be so entertaining. It made me wonder how many calories I burned laughing - there wasn't an entry for that.

LOVE

When February rolls around I start thinking about LOVE! As the Christmas decorations come down, the world starts pumping out the hearts in anticipation of Valentine's Day. Even my toenails got a "hearty" makeover this year!

Not only is February the time to celebrate LOVE, it is also my birth month - and everyone knows that I LOVE to be showered with attention! And then, just a few short days after February ends, I get to celebrate the anniversary of my marriage to the LOVE of my life. So, what's not to LOVE about this wonderful time of year!

Here is a little glimpse of some of our celebrating.

I was excited that Valentine's Day was on Monday because that is the one night of the week that our family is usually all home together. I decked out the table with red and pink, gifts for the kids and a heart healthy dinner of salad and baked potatoes (if you ignore the cheese and bacon that we piled on top of both).

After dinner we had a Family Home Evening lesson centered on...you guessed it! LOVE! And for an activity we taught the kids to play Hearts (a very elementary version). And that box of chocolates you see on the table, that was dessert! Yum!




On the first weekend of March, Jeremy and I celebrated our 12th anniversary. We went to a fabulous bed & breakfast in Batesville, IN. I know...it doesn't seem like it would be the location of a top notch inn, but this place was spectacular!



It was a beautiful house, the inn keepers went out of their way to make us feel at home and they seriously thought of everything! I had packed this basket of snacks, candles, sparkling cider, chocolates, etc. We hardly used any of it because the inn did so much for us that we didn't need it! Although they really couldn't provide the candles from the night we got engaged, the glasses from our wedding or what I know to be our favorite snacks and treats, they sure came awfully close to creating the perfect retreat for a couple celebrating an anniversary! We had massages, sat in the sauna, and just relaxed. It was great!




And while we're on the topic of LOVE, do you know what I am LOVING?! That Jeremy is now contributing to the blog! Now maybe I won't be so behind on posting all the time, and we all get to hear about things from his perpective. LOVE that!

We have been approved for adoption!!!

For those of you who aren't aware, we have never felt like our family was finished growing. Unfortunately, due to medical reasons, we stopped at two children. We have been approved by the LDS Family Services to adopt through their agency and wanted to share that information with you. Since you are reading our blog, you are probably interested in our happenings, so we wanted to share with you some informaton and things you can do to help us (if you feel so inclined. Below is an excerpt from a letter we recently sent out:
==============================

As many of you know, our family was recently approved for adoption. We are so excited to be taking this step. Adoption is something that we have considered at various stages in our marriage, and we know that this is the right path for our family.

Many of you have asked us what the next step in the process is, so we would like to briefly explain how the process works. We are adopting through LDS Family Services, an adoption agency affiliated with our church. Their services are available to any couple wishing to adopt and to any birth parent, whether they are members of our church or not. To learn more about LDS Family Services, you can visit the website – www.itsaboutlove.org.

On this website, birth mothers considering placing their child for adoption can search through family profiles to find the family that they would like for their child to go to. The opportunity of choosing a family for their child is given to the birth parents. This means that, in a way, we are simply waiting for a birth mother to choose us!

However, families hoping to adopt are encouraged to be proactive about finding the child that is meant to join their family. Often through the network of family and friends couples are able to meet birth parents who have decided to place their child for adoption. We believe that the Lord often puts people in one another’s path for a reason. It is possible that through mutual friends and family, we could be introduced to the birth mom who is bringing our child into this world.
We would like to ask for you help in three ways:

1. Please pray for us. Pray that we will be directed to the child that is to come to our home. Pray for the birth family of that child, that they will be comforted at what is surely a very frightening and difficult time and that they will be guided to make the best choices for their child.

2. Remember us. If you hear of someone who is considering placing a child for adoption, tell them about our family.

3. Read our monthly adoption blog posts. It is our goal to post a monthly blog letting you know the status of our adoption, telling you more about our family and sharing information about adoption in general. We have come to recognize what a blessing adoption can be, not only in the lives of families like us who want to have children but aren’t able, but also in the lives of birth families who need a second chance.

Feel free to contact us, or to give our contact information to a potential birth parent.

• Our family profile: https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/22783800/ourMessage.jsf

• Our family blog: http://matisfamily.blogspot.com

• Our adoption email address: matisfam@att.net

Thank you so much to all of you for your support and friendship. We are so blessed to have such a strong network of family and friends and believe that a child would be blessed to be a part of our family, not just because of the love that we have to offer, but because of the amazing people who are a part of our lives!

Last week

Tricia and I decided that we don't blog enough and so we are going to share more with you guys.... because, it is what we do. So... memorable events from this past week (and earlier):

1. I was a mystery reader for my daughter's 2nd grade class on Friday. I had the day off school, so I thought I'd like to get involved in my kid's lives. So, I go to their school, go to her classroom while the class is out at lunch and sit in a designated chair and cover up with a blanket. When the kids come back from lunch, they sit in front of me and start asking questions that can be answered with a nod yes or a head shake no. Memorable ones are, "Are you black?", "Are you Mrs Brown's husband [the teacher]?"... it was funny. So, they finally found out I was Becca's daddy, and I read two of Becca's favorite books to the class. After reading, the kids were allowed to ask me questions. One of my favorite questions asked, and one which made Tricia laugh very hard was, "Do you have touch of gray?" I answered that I do have some gray hair. The child then clarified, "Do you USE touch of gray?" I said, "Nope, this is all natural." I thought it was an amusing question.

2. Tricia made St Patty's day dinner for us. We had green Hawaiian Punch, pistachio pudding, fish sticks, french fries and cole slaw. The rationale for the fish sticks and french fries was that they are, "pub food [fish and chips] and I'm sure they eat it in Ireland." Tricia was going for fast and easy. Regardless, after dinner, we watched the clip from VeggieTales about St Patrick. That makes us laugh.


3. Isak was tested to move from a yellow belt to a yellow/green belt today. He passed, but it was funny watching him. He and his one-step partner argued the whole time, with her pouting at the end of the demostration. I asked him afterwards why they had been fighting and he said, "She was doing the white belt one-steps and I kept telling her that she was wrong." He is classic. Before they started, the red, red/black and black belts were being tested. I saw someone jump about 5ft off the ground (over two of the red belts) in a flying jump kick and break "boards". It was awesome. Here is video footage of Isak doing his white belt form. The kids were asked to do it at their own pace... (Isak is in the front row, 4th from the right and 5th from the left)


4. Tricia and I celebrated out 12th wedding anniversary on 05 Mar 2011. I'll ask Tricia to post about it because she will do a better job.

5. Tricia and I had a hot date with some friends (Hi Dave and Nicole!!!) and we were talking about something that made me want to post here about it. And now they'll have access to the picture I was telling them about. As you might have read in my last post, I get to travel with my dad to places where he is lecturing. I've been to
South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Greece and Turkey. One one of the trips, Tricia was able to go as well, and we went to South Africa (SA). While there, we had the opportunity to go to a wildlife preserve and have an awesome experience. First of all, there were a lot of us (Mom and Dad, Kevin and Heidi, Tricia and I) and we had to drive to this place. Dad got two cars and he drove one and I the other. One interesting tidbit is that they drive on the wrong side of the road in SA. What was fiunny about it is that, everytime Dad wanted to turn, he would activate the windshield wipers. Mom, Tricia and I laughed every time. Regardless, we made it to the preserve, found our hotel (which was in the preserve) and the next day, we drove around. We saw some really fun stuff on our individual drive... the most interesting was this:




This troop of rhinos decided to walk between our two cars. We felt very exposed. Tricia, very worriedly, asked me to roll up my window. I told her that a rolled up window wouldn't help if the rhino decided to charge us. This picture was taken by my brother from one car. You can see me leaning out the window taking a picture from the other car. BTW - check out that rhino's horn... we were worried it would spear us... not ram into us. :)

That is all. Thanks for reading my much less interesting than Tricia's posts.

What is traveling to China like?

A long time ago, Tricia said she would allow me access to post on this FAMILY blog. Well, she finally gave me the permissions needed to do so, so I'll do something I was going to do back then. A few years ago, my dad invited me to join him on a lecture trip to Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan. When I left, I didn't have an opportunity to see or talk to Tricia as she was on a trip with her family in Nauvoo, IL. As a result, I started and kept a diary of my travels so I could share my experiences with her. I'll share those notes now (and maybe some pictures as well). Remember, this was about 2 years ago... and I was travel weary for most of it :).

==============================================================

I am sans phone or internet use so... paper and pen. I was sad as to the outcome of our last phone call... I had hoped to hve a conversation because I was lonely and missing you. It was very frustrating to call Joe, Rich, Jill, Ang, Nick and you at least twice each and the outcome being Isak barking like a dog, Becca telling me that you guys were going to be an a parade and our short exchange. Regardless, I don't write this to complain, I have a lot I wanted to share with you.

1. So, I weighed my bag last night and it came to like 55 lbs. I got online (this was at midnight) to confirm that this was okay. Well, I saw that I could take two bags, but both had to be less than 50lbs each and have a linear measurement of 62" (length + width). The big bag was 65" according to my measurements. So I panicked. I went back to the computer to verify the 62" and discovered that, in my travels in Asia, my bags had to have a COMBINED weight of 44lbs. Wonderful, so I am using the wheeled duffel bag and got rid of some stuff. It weighs 40lbs, including my pillow. I decided to change backpacks as well, due to size (and I got rid of some stuff there).

2. I mowed, weedwacked, cleaned, did dishes, watched a movie, played some games but was very alone last night. I missed you and Becca and Isak.

3. So, the flight to Chicago was short and uneventful. I had a drink that I brought and read. It was.

(Editor's note: This is when I made the phone calls. It was a very frustrating 30 min. BTW - all comments that I am currently adding will be inticated with brackets and in red text.)

4. We are currently almost over the North Pole right now... 5 hours into the flight, and 5199 miles left (2872 miles traveled) (about 10.5 hours left).

5. While I was at Mom and Dad's yesterday, I took the liberty of selecting my seat... with Mom's input. We decided on a window seat towards the back of the airplane (row 59 of 62). I'll have to show you a seating chart. the normal [seating] configuration is 3-4-3, I am in a 2-4-2 setup [those are number of seats across a row. The plane started tapering at the tail around the area of row 59, so they couldn't fit as many seats] with about a foot of open space between me and the bulkhead, me and then an empty seat. I don't want to write the whole story so you'll have to remind me about the change in aircraft. [I don't remember the story at this time] However, the flight is almost completely full. A flight attendant came up to me after the doors wre closed and asked if I was in my assigned seat. I told him I was, and he asked if the seat next to me was empty. I said that it was, to the best of my knowledge. He looked at me and said something like, "I like you and you are a big guy, so we'll leav this seat empty. However, until after takeoff, why don't you sit here (in the aisle seat). There is a gentleman up front looking for an aisle seat." Of course I figuratively jumped into the adjacent seat. After take-off he came by and told me that I could move back whenever I wanted to. The 3 guys in front of me, however, have had their seats in the reclining position the ENTIRE flight, 2 of them from before takeoff.

6. I got to see Frost/Nixon. I think you would really like it if we can find it in an edited format (it is rated R, I could tell there were a LOT of edited words).

7. So half-way through movie #2 (Seven Pounds) they are handing out bowls of Ramen noodles w/ an attendant giving out hot water. I think this is very funy (7 hours into the flight).

8. (BTW - starting w/ #7, these are all real time) Seven Pounds just ended. I am not sure you would like it. It is kind of like Enigma, but harder to follow.

9. There is a flight attendant that whacks the row in front of me with her cart EVERY TIME SHE COMES BY. You would think she would be ready for it. No one else does it.

10. So my chair is off-set, right? My fold down tray folds down and slides to the left and right so I am able to center it to my seat. BTW... We are almost over Siberia now (just north of it) 3917 Mi to go, 7:30 elapsed... Movie #3 is getting ready to start. According to my frame of reference, it is 8:00PM. I realized a bit ago that I'll be landing @ 4:30AM, my time. YUCK!

11. We are over Siberia now... almost all the way through. 2870 miles to go and it has been 9:15 in the air... and I gots gas bad. must have been the noodles. We just finished Inkheart. It wasn't good. Brandon Frasier plays a very convincing cavemen. nfortunately, that character was only needed for one movie. So it is 9:45PM my time. I'm gonna try to take a nap. Movie #4 is Bride Wars... and while I am interested, I'd like to get some sleep before I have to pretend I'm wide awake.

12. We are over China now. 11:50 into the flight. That means 2 hours of sleep. Wahoo!

13. I'm in Hong Kong w/ Dad. We ate at McDonalds, which I thought was very funny. We walked around a bit and I was accosted by, what I can only assume were, hookers. Good times. It is 8:20PM here... 8:20AM there. I am going to bed and you are waking up. Jet lag should be a joy to deal with. On a positive note, I lost a day, so I'll need one less pair of garments.
[This is me, just off the plane.]
[This is the Hong Kong McDonalds we stopped at.]

14. I forgot to leave a note from yesterday. Yesterday, Dad and I rode the MTR (subway) to the [Hong Kong] temple, tried to enter the temple (although we were not in sunday clothes and the temple was closed [for cleaning and maintenance]), walked a bit, had a massage (my chick stood on my back and was friendly with my butt), took the Star Ferry to mainland Hong Kong, walked the Avenue of (Chinese) Stars, ate at a chinese place in a mall, watched a light show [all the large shoreline buildings on the Hong Kong island participate in a laser light show set to music], took the Star Ferry back and came back to our room.

[This is what we were wearing when trying to visit the Hong Kong temple. We are in front of the temple.]

15. I forgot to leave a note from 2 days ago (Monday). Dad and I tried to get a Chinese visa; I did an English review while Dad found the Hong Kong church building; we went on a tour to Victoria Park, Aberdean (a fishing village), Dynasty Jewellery shop, Stanley Market (where Dad bought Mom silk PJs and I got Tricia 3 Pashminas) and saw the Man-Mo temple (Literature-Martial Arts); we had a seafood dinner on Monday and rode the city tram back [a series of double-decker tram cars in Hong Kong].

16. Today I went to Macau (Portuguese-owned territory) [like Hong Kong was a British owned territory of China] and saw a Chinese temple, the remains of a Catholic Cathedral, a Portuguese fort, Casino and rode on a hydrofoil. Dad lectured and we had dinner w/ the owner of the Untradent distributor for Hong Kong. He was tipping everybody very well. It was a very authentic Chinese meal.

[This is the coastline of Macau.]

17. We are leaving for Korea tomorrow... after breakfast. I forgot to mention breakfasts. I have eated peppered beef pastries, sharkfin dumplings, pork dumplings, a chicked bun (very pasty) and normal breakfast stuff.

18. I don't know why I am still numbering these things.

19. Today Dad and I traveled to Korea. We flew into Seoul and then on to Kwang Ju. We met up with Dad's friends, the Parks. They took us to a hotel and Dad asked me to get our bags, so I did. We then went to the Restaurant and ate, then we went back to the car and drove to the Park's house. For dinner, I consumed kimshee, pickled duck's egg (it was purple and green), sweet and sour shrimp, some beef thing, some spicy chicken wings, and other stuff... oh, and persimmon jam. And I had a bowl of spicy noodles w/ seafood in it. I don't know what all I ate was, but I had to stop after the 1st two rubbery things. I figure I had eaten enough weird food for one day. We got back to the Park's apartment and, although we had eaten a very large dinner, they put out more food. She cut up a fruit that my father calls, "paz" and I think the Parks are saying, "pears". I don't think they have ever corrected him. I am awefully tired now, and it is only 9:30 (10:30 Korean time and 9:30AM your time). And the Park's don't have central air so I am very hot.
[Dad and I and the Park family.]

20. The Parks just took us around Kwang Ju. We went to the KJ Christian Hospital, Dr Park's Son's office, ate a traditional Korean lunch [sitting on the floor, 'family style' service], and went to some random Dr's home for fruit and some kind of gross refried bean pastry from Japan. We fly back to Seoul in 2 hrs. Wahoo
[This is lunch and everyone sitting on the floor.]

21. Okay... So I think Kwanju was better. We flew into Seoul, our little guy (incidentally named, Kevin) was about 20 min late picking us up. We got stuck in traffic and had to go directly to our scheduled dinner. We had some fancy schmancy Italian food, which included octopus and steak so tender that I was cutting it with a butter knife. After dinner (with our other lecturer), Kevin took us to a Korean restaurant where we ate dog. Yum. (Not). Kevin is very excitable and wants to please everybody and prove that Korea is the best place ever. When we were checking in, Kevin was very anxious to schedule a tour for me, so he picked one... I'll be the only one on the tour and it ends w/ a sauna and massage. Should be very interesting. I didn't argue w/ him because he is paying for it, but I probably would have picked something different.
[Dad and I eating dog meat.]

22. Something I forgot from a few days ago. We were on our tour of Hong Kong and the tour guide was telling us about a shark attack on one of their beaches. He asked, "If there is a European and Chinaman in the water w/ a shark, who would the shark eat first?" I answered, "The European, because if he ate the Chinaman, he would be hungry two hours later." Everyone on the bus thought it was funny, but the tour guide didn't.

23. In Taiwan now. My tour guide yeaterday [from item #21] suggested that I not do the sauna and massage, so I didn't. Instead, I toured two very [VERY] similar Korean palaces, went to two different tourist stores (ginsing and amythist) and walked along a korean market street. Last night, we ate stinky tofu and rice with pig's blood. Dad, Chris and I were late getting to the airport. We checked in at the time when boarding of the plane was starting. We were very vervous for a bit. I am on my way to a seaside and downtown Taipei tour. I am excited to be leaving in less than 24 hours.

24. So I texted you a bit of this, but I went to a seaside town, finally found gifts for Becca and Isak, saw some natural rock formations (wahoo), went to the China History museum, saw the changing of the guard somewhere and saw a Tawanese temple. I really wish I had gotten a picture of the Korean one for comparison's sake. I have some big dinner tonight that should be fun. I also saw a Coldstone Creamery and Dunkin' Donuts. I am stoked! [This is the Taiwanese temple. It was very much a party atmosphere]

25. Okay, no donuts... I'm bummed. I am in Hong Kong now, awaiting my flight. We got up at 4:00AM. I am also having GI problems, so this flight should be delightful. I am crazy excited to be home soon, though.

26. I just ended texting you. Air guitar guy suddenly started air drums. I chuckled.

27. Okay, I chickened out. I paid for an upgrade to Economy Plus. $150 or $10 per hour. Sorry.

28. So, I am in Economy Plus. I have the entire row (3 seats) all to myself. I have been able to lay across all three seats and sleep... for almost 3 hours. I am glad I spent the money. Unfortunately, as I like to sit in the window seat... the woman in front of me is very irrate because she was hoping to use this row [the one I was in] to sleep in. Sucks to be her.

===============================================================

So, those were my experiences. The thing on the flight home was funny, because I upgraded like 5 min before I got on the plane. I was originally sharing the row with a preteen boy, but he moved over with his parents shortly into the flight. The lady in front of me had looked at the flight before she left and had seen that my row was empty and had been hoping to move to it after the flight started. If I remember correctly, she was in a full row and there were some large people in it with her. I was very lucky.

Becca's three white dresses...two down, one to go

February 9, 2003 - Becca was blessed.

January 22, 2011 - Becca was baptized (in a white jumpsuit, not a dress, much to her chagrin)




I can't express enough how much I love this little girl.

When she was a baby I called her my angel. She changed my life in ways that I could have never imagined.

She was an angel.

She is an angel.

She is a precious daughter of our Father in Heaven and I am so blessed to have her entrusted to my care.

Christmas Letter

We just recently mailed out our holiday letter. Being away from home over Christmas threw us off a bit. Due to the lateness of the letter, we didn't send it to everyone that we normally do, and we didn't have time to get addresses for new friends and family that we've added to our mailing list. I am posting it here, hoping that everyone who would like to read it will be able to do so. We love our friends and family and are so grateful to be able to stay in touch with all of you!

The holidays and the year have come to a close, but we have one last task to check off our list – send our annual letter and well wishes to our beloved family and friends. We hope you all felt the joy of the holiday season, enjoyed peace and happiness in 2010 and look forward to 2011 with hope and gladness!

Like all of you, we have had a busy year.

Jeremy is now in his third year of dental school which means that he spends less time in classrooms and more time in the clinic, which he loves! He enjoys the other students and staff in the clinic as well as his patients. Some days he actually feels like a dentist! In addition to his school work, Jeremy continues to do freelance proofreading and reviewing, and also continues to serve as the ward finance clerk.

Tricia enjoys having both kids in school and has become more involved in helping out in their classrooms and volunteering with the PTO. She helps Jeremy stay on top of his freelance work and does some of her own as well. Tricia was recently released from the stake Young Women’s presidency and is now serving in the ward Primary presidency. Both callings have proven to be challenging but fun!

It is often said of Becca that she is a miniature Tricia. She loves 2nd grade, has started singing in the Indianapolis Children’s Choir and continues to take dance lessons (jazz and tap this year). She is responsible and thoughtful and loves EVERYTHING!

If Becca is a miniature Tricia, then Isak is a miniature Jeremy. He has a fun sense of humor and makes us laugh all the time. He loves being in Kindergarten, but really can’t wait until 1st grade when he can be in school all day. Isak loves to read and will read just about anything he can get his hands on. He also enjoys going to taekwondo classes and playing video games.

We were especially fortunate this year to take a trip to Hawaii over the Christmas holiday. We were there for two weeks, spending 4 days on the island of Oahu and 10 days on the island of Molokai. We had a blast sightseeing, spending time with our friends who travelled with us, snorkeling and playing at the beach!

Those of you who know us well, though, will not be surprised to know that we were grateful to get back to the cool weather in Indianapolis! We loved so much about Hawaii, but not the weather. Well, except for Isak, who claims that he is a full-blooded Hawaiian and tells us every day that he wants to move there.

It was fun to come home from our trip and find cards and letters from so many of you! Thank you for keeping in touch! We send our love and wish you the best in 2011!