Our Little Corner

Becca

2012-01-25T19:14:00.004-05:00

Some indications that my baby girl is growing up:

Deodorant
Facial cleansing products
Body spray
The need for more frequent showering
So many outgrown clothes
A definite opinion about what she wants to wear
A budding interest in boys
Periodic requests for a cell phone

Some indications that my big girl is still my baby:

Playing dress up
Playing with dolls
Lots of snuggles and kisses at bedtime

Nine years has passed so quickly!

Here are some of my favorite pix of Becca over the years:

3 months old

14 months old

2 years old with Isak

3 years old - I have several pictures of her crashed mid-play

4 years old - at her first dance class

4 years old - another hard day of play

5 years old - at Disney World

6 years old - with our dear friend and kindergarten teacher

7 years old - at her fashion show birthday party

almost 8 years old - in Hawaii

8 years old - giving a report on Elizabeth Blackwell

What a sweet, bright and silly girl! I can't believe she's 9.

Holiday Letter

2012-01-18T08:18:00.002-05:00

Isak
I am 7. I am in 1st grade. My favorite subject is math. I was born on Tuesday, November 11, 2004 (no, it wasn’t actually a Tuesday, it was a Thursday). I do taekwondo. I am a blue belt. I go to Guion Creek Elementary. My teacher’s name is Mrs. Carol Crider. I do choir in room 113 (this is the room his choir meets in at a local university. He and Becca are both in the Indianapolis Children’s Choir). In school I am in room 1. My favorite thing to do is read. My favorite food is spaghetti.

Becca
I turned 8 in January. I’ve met lots of new friends, like Hannah (I have no idea who Hannah is, but apparently she is important enough to mention in the holiday letter). When I turned 8 I got baptized at my church. After that I went home and got gifts, cake and play time. (Since Becca didn’t share much about herself, I’ll add just a bit. She is in 3rd grade this year and loves her teacher and classmates. She is still taking dance lessons and this year is participating in her dance studio’s production of The Nutcracker. Between school work, choir, dance, church activities, and a couple of extra-curricular clubs at school – scrabble and quilting – she is a busy girl. We frequently talk about cutting back, but she is just like her mama and wants to do EVERYTHING!)

Tricia
I continue to stay busy keeping the family on track. I am amazed at how much more time I have with both of the kids in school all day. I enjoy the flexibility in my schedule and the uninterrupted time to get things done, but I’m always happy when 3:30 rolls around and the kids walk through the door. I have thought frequently over the past few months that my life has the perfect balance of calm and crazy.
I have been serving at church as the Primary president, which I thoroughly enjoy. I have been teaching a scripture study class for women for the past year and a half, and it has been such a blessing to me. I love preparing the lessons and I enjoy the discussions we have in class.
I have become more active in the PTO at the kids’ school, serving this year as treasurer and also assigned to a couple of special projects. Volunteering at the school is so rewarding! It is an honor to work with the children and to get to know the adults who have such an impact on the lives of my kids.

Jeremy
This has been a fun and busy year. Most notably, I have been accepted into the AEGD (Advanced Education in General Dentistry) of the US Air Force and report to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in August. It adds a year commitment to what I already owe the Air Force, but it will be great from a practice standpoint, because it will introduce me to many specialties and allow me to become a more independent dentist. I am working hard to complete the graduation requirements of Dental school and anticipate gradating in May. I am constantly amazed at how awesome my wife and children are. (If you have time, I have many stories I can share.) We are hoping to have an addition to our family soon, but the waiting process for adopting within the US is very long and slow. We’ve been approved for adoption, but have yet to be selected.

We have received many blessings throughout the year and count ourselves lucky to have you in our lives. We wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Wonderful New Year!

I'm back!

2012-01-18T08:06:00.002-05:00

So, a month after my last post, I'm back! The last week before the Matis reunion got a little crazy. For those of you who don't know, Jeremy and I were in charge of plannng a reunion for his family. We held the reunion for a week over Christmas, and all 25 members of his family were able to be there. We had a lot of fun planning and being at the reunion, but WOW! It was a lot of work! Preparing for Christmas, the reunion and a trip all in one was a challenge. Everything went smoothly, but I worked hard to prepare and it will take me a while to feel caught up again.

We tried to get letters out to as many people as possible, but with all of the planning and preparations going on here, we didn't have time to track down addresses for those who have moved that we wanted to send letters to. If you have moved and did not receive a letter from us, would you please send me an email with your address? I love to send and receive holiday letters!

For those of you who did not receive our letter, I will post it here. I decided to have everyone write their own part of the letter this year (partially because I thought it would be fun to see what the kids would write about and partially to save myself time!), so I will post each of our sections under our names.

I truly hope that everyone had a beautiful Christmas and that the New Year has gotten off to a great start!

Gratitude

2011-12-15T13:50:00.011-05:00

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

2011-12-12T20:42:00.002-05:00

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

2011-12-10T22:48:00.004-05:00

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

2011-12-10T22:41:00.003-05:00

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

2011-12-04T20:18:00.003-05:00

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

2011-11-30T21:02:00.002-05:00

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

2011-11-29T08:02:00.001-05:00

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

2011-11-28T11:24:00.002-05:00

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

2011-11-26T10:14:00.002-05:00

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

2011-11-16T14:11:00.004-05:00

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

2011-10-12T08:48:00.002-04:00

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

2011-06-24T15:12:00.003-04:00

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?

2011-06-24T15:00:00.003-04:00

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

2011-06-23T21:33:00.003-04:00

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

2011-04-30T12:37:00.002-04:00

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

2011-04-25T16:07:00.003-04:00

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?

2011-04-10T11:29:00.004-04:00

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

2011-04-03T17:01:00.003-04:00

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

2011-04-03T10:29:00.001-04:00

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

2011-03-31T20:51:00.003-04:00

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

2011-03-22T13:22:00.007-04:00

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!!!

2011-03-20T21:41:00.003-04:00

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:
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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

2011-03-20T19:58:00.008-04:00

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?

2011-03-06T09:59:00.005-05:00

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 :).

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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.

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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

2011-02-06T10:28:00.001-05:00

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

2011-01-28T20:46:00.000-05:00

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!

Whiner Nightmares

2010-11-19T08:55:00.000-05:00

At about 4:00 this morning Isak came into our bedroom cyring. He'd had a nightmare. Typically when he has a bad dream he will come tell us, and maybe cry a little bit, but is easily calmed and will go back to bed.

This nightmare was different. He was near hysterics - crying, shaking and absolutely refusing to go back to his bed. I let him climb into bed with us and tried to comfort him. He calmed down a bit and after several minutes said, "Mom, do you know what a whiner is?"

"Yes"

"What is it?"

"A person who whines a lot." And, being confused about the randomness of this conversation asked, "Why?"

"Because there was a whiner in my nightmare. It was coming after me!" And then he burst into tears again.

So there you go. Whiners are SCARY!

I want my baby back, baby back, baby back

2010-11-12T13:06:00.000-05:00

As Isak grew out of his clothes as a baby, we would box them up and take them out to Jeremy's parents' house to be stored and saved for Jer's brother, Jason and his wife, Megan. Jason and Megan have had two girls, and thus have not yet needed boy clothes. Recently Jer's parents have started redecorating their home and needed to empty out closets. They asked us if we would take the tubs of stored baby clothes off their hands. And so it is that I am hauling around about six tubs of baby boy clothes in the back of my van.

Today I decided to go through the clothes and see what is there and try to determine what to do with them. There's nothing like going through your kids' baby clothes to fill your heart with the joy of sweet memories and a longing for time to slow down just a little bit.

Isak turned six yesterday. I am simply amazed. I even asked him yesterday, "Isak, how can you be six when you've only been alive for like two years?!" He thinks I'm crazy. I think that time goes by too fast.

Thankfully he still snuggles with me (by the way, if you've read earlier posts about Isak, he loves me again) and doesn't complain too much when I smother him with kisses and call him "doodle bug". I can't imagine my life without this boy who is one of the greatest miracles of my life and who makes me laugh everyday.

In My Daughter's Eyes

2010-10-19T22:53:00.000-04:00

Last week I went to Becca's classroom to be a "mystery reader". I showed up while the class was at lunch, and before they returned to the classroom, covered myself with a large sheet. The children were allowed to ask me "yes" or "no" questions to which I could respond by nodding my head. Once they figured out who I was, I took off the sheet and was prepared to read a couple of books to them.

However, before I started reading, the teacher asked me to tell the class about myself. "Hmmmm...what would twenty-two 7 & 8 year-olds be interested in knowing about me?" I wondered. I simply stated, "My name is Tricia Matis. I am Rebecca's mom. I also have a son named Isak who is 5. (thoughtful pause ) Ummm...do you have any questions for me?"

For a brief moment I thought, "Wow. This is depressing. I can't think of anything interesting to say about my life!" Then, a hand went up. "Yes," I aksed.

"What do you do?"

"Well, I'm a mom."

Another hand went up. "Um...I think she meant, what kind of work do you do?"

"Well, I work at home, as a mom," To which sweet Becca added, "She does a lot of work at home."

Then, Becca leaned over to me and said, "Tell them about the food you make."

"What?" I whispered back, confused.

"You know, the food that you make to take to people who need help."

"Oh."

And then I realized. I am more than the woman who cleans the house and does the laundry. I am more than the person who keeps everyone on schedule and makes sure that homework gets done. I am more than the chauffer who ensures that everyone is where they need to be.

I am a heroine. I comfort. I serve. I love. I take meals to people!

At least, I realized in that moment, that's what my daughter sees in me.

So, I turned to the class, with Becca smiling proudly at my side, and explained, "You see, because I am able to be a stay-at-home mom, and don't have to work outside the home, I have time to do things like prepare meals for people who are sick, have just had a baby or have lost a loved one."

I knew in that moment that I am being exactly the kind of mom I want to be. No, I'm not perfect, but in spite of my imperfections, my daughter is learning how heroic it is to be a mom who not only serves her family, but blesses the lives of those around her. I'm grateful for what she sees in me, for it inspires me to better - to measure up to what she sees in me.

A New Favorite

2010-09-02T14:42:00.000-04:00

I am a huge fan of the movie Anne of Green Gables. In my post-mission, pre-marriage days, I had roomates who introduced me to the Anne movies. Whenever one of us was sick, or just having a really horrible day, we would have an Anne marathon.

There is some controversy over when this specifically happened, but around the time that Jeremy and I got married we found the Anne books in a little bookstore for not much money. I had never read the books and decided that I would like to. Jeremy bought them for me.

That was 11 1/2 years ago.

I don't know why I never actually read them. I started the first one and only got a couple of chapters in before I stopped. Every once in a while Jeremy would harrass me about not reading the books.

For Mothers' Day this year Jeremy got me the set of dvd's . It had been on my wishlist FOREVER and I was super excited. What is even more exciting is that I now have a daughter old enough to appreciate them with me. So the day after Becca broke her collar bone this past summer, when she was in a lot of pain and couldn't really do more than just sit, I asked her if she wanted to watch the first one. She LOVED it! Within 24 hours we had watched all 3 movies! I was in heaven.

That sparked my interest once again in reading the books.

Well, with the craziness of summer (kids at home, YW camp, pioneer trek...) I didn't get to read much, but finally, last night, I finished reading Anne of Green Gables.

The point of this post isn't to tell you a long, boring story about reading a book that I bought almost 12 years ago. The point is to share with you my new favorite quote. It inspired me to a feeling of gratitude for my life, that isn't exactly what I dreamed of, but suits me perfectly.

"...but if the path set before her feet was to be narrow she knew that flowers of quiet happiness would bloom along it. The joys of sincere work and worthy aspiration and congenial friendship were to be hers; nothing could rob her of her birthright of fancy or her ideal world of dreams. And there was always the bend in the road!"

"'God's in his heaven, all's right with the world,'" whispered Anne softly.

Like Anne, I am a dreamer. And though the dreams that I hold dear don't always come true in the way that I dream them, "flowers of quiet happiness" bloom along my path, "the joys of sincere work, and worthy aspiration and congenial friendship" are mine, and there always is a "bend in the road!"

Indeed, "God's in his heaven, all's right with the world."

Water Works

2010-05-27T06:38:00.000-04:00

Those who know me really well know that I am very emotional. I cry at the drop of hat, often for reasons that I can't really explain. Often it seems that the situation doesn't warrant my extreme reaction. For example...

Recently I went to see Wicked with my mom and sister. This was my third time seeing Wicked on the stage and probably my bazillionth time hearing the song Defying Gravity. I cry almost every time, if not every time, that I hear that song. I can't control it. I'm listening to the song, singing along and BOOM - my throat starts constricting, my voice cracks and on go the water works.

So, I was sitting in the theatre in Louisville, watching the most outstanding performance of Defying Gravity that I have seen, and the process began - throat constricting, tears flowing. And this time it wasn't pretty. I knew that if I let it out it could very well be a distraction to the people sitting around me, so I tried to control the emotion I was feeling. Suddenly my body could no longer contain the emotion it was feeling and my whole body shuddered and some strange noise emitted from my throat that probably sounded something like a grunt. How embarrassing!!!

As the first act ended and the lights came on, I was grateful to see that Jill had also been crying (I can usually count on her to "get" why something affects me that way that it does). Even so, I felt a little goofy knowing that a song that I've heard so many times nearly made me come completely unglued!

Such unexplained drainages of my tear ducts happen on a regualar basis. Last night I was at the dance studio where my daughter takes ballet. I dropped her off and made my way down the hallway to the waiting room. As I walked by one of the classrooms I noticed a class that was in session. It was a class of preschool aged girls preparing for their upcoming recital. Kneeling next to each little girl, holding a hand up to support her as she twirled, was who I could only assume was her dad. It was by far one of the sweetest things I have ever seen. On went the water works.

A little later, I was invited along with all of the other parents, to go into Becca's class to watch them perform their recital piece. It is a ballet class, and they are doing a sweet little dance to Goodnight My Angel by Billy Joel. Well, at least I know my tear glands are working poperly! Maybe I'd better take a box of Kleenex to the recital and sit in the back by myself!

Another Funny Isak Conversation

2010-05-19T08:01:00.000-04:00

I don't know, maybe you have to know Isak to find this funny, but I laughed...a lot. One thing that you have to know is that Isak proclaims, on pretty much a daily basis, that he does not love me.

Last night, at bedtime, Isak came into the living room and asked me, "Will you get me a sippy cup of water to take to bed with me?"

Thinking that I had found an opportunity to trick him into saying that he loves me, I said, "Maybe. Do you love me?"

He thought for a moment, "Ummmmmmmmm......yes."

But then, as I was internally congratulating myself for having extracted his confession of love for me, he said, "Well, not really."

"Oh" I said, "I may not get you a drink then."

And then he spoke the truth that I have so carefully tried to teach my children. "Yes you will, because YOU love me."

In my mind I thought, "Yes. You are right, little dude. Even if you won't tell me that you love me, I will always try to let you know in every way I can that I love you unconditionally - I'm so glad that you are confident in my love for you."

But, so as not to bore him with my long-winded response (remember the "blah blah blah" conversation?) I simply said, "That's true. I DO love you."

To which he replied, "Well, you freak ME out!"

"Well" I said, laughing, "you freak ME out!"

Then came his retort, which caused us both to laugh uncontrollably, "Well, you freak DAD out!"

Oh, so many truths spoken in one short conversation from the mouth of my 5 year-old.

I think I'm broken

2010-05-17T13:21:00.000-04:00

I know this will come off as seeming very whiney, pathetic and attention seeking. I promise that is not my intention. I'm just feeling a little thoughtful today and have come to the conclusion that I may be broken.

I'm pretty happy, and it's no wonder! I have a wonderful husband who is fun, understanding and supportive. He loves to make me happy, and he does. My kids are healthy, fun-loving and obedient (for the most part). I have extended family members who are a big part of my life. I have a comfortable enough home and lifestyle. I am confident in who I am and in my beliefs and I find a great deal of joy in being a member of my church and all of the opportunites to serve that come with that. Life is busy, fulfilling, and good.

Sometimes, though, I overhear conversations or read things in blogs about things that people do together - friends who spend time together on a regular basis. It makes me blaringly aware that I don't really have many friends. Oh, don't get me wrong. According to Facebook I have almost 400 friends. And there are so many people that I love and who I know love me. I actually feel quite blessed to know so many wonderful people - but what I think I'm missing is that comfortable kind of relationship that comes from knowing things about each other and spending time together.

I've had friends like this in the past. In high school, in college, and as a young single adult I always had at least a small group of friends that I enjoyed doing things with made up of individuals that I spoke to on nearly a daily basis. Many of those people are still a part of my life in a long distance sort of way.

Since I've been married these types of friendships have become fewer and farther between. In the past 11 years I can only think of 2 friends who really fit into this category (and they live too far away now to see on a regualar basis) and maybe 2 or 3 more who kind of come close. I tend to go through my life thinking this is pretty normal. I'm busy keeping up with my family, home and church responsibilities and I figure everyone else is too. But then I hear or read about friends who exercise, go out to lunch, go to the zoo, go to the childrens' museum, take trips together, etc. and I can't help but wonder what I am missing.

Perhaps my perception of myself is way off base. I think of myself as a kind, interested, thoughtful and fun person. I like people. I try to be the kind of person that people will like (you know, I don't put people down or walk around with a frown on my face). I don't think I make it hard to get to know me - I'm pretty much an open book.

Whenever I talk to Jeremy about this he tells me that I should start inviting people to do stuff with me. Let me tell you. I've done it! So many times I've invited someone to do something with me and had a terrific time never to hear from them again. Or we talk about getting together again, but it never works out (and not just because of me) and all the while I'm hearing of things that they are doing with other people.

I'm not necessarily asking for advice here. I know that if I had some fatal flaw that noone would want to be so unkind as to tell me - but honestly, even if it hurt a little, I would probably welcome the answer to my quandry. And if it's something as simple as needing to put on a little more deodorant or eating a mint, by all means, let me know!

The only logical conclusion that I can come to is that I am broken. Maybe we all have some kind of friendship output that lets other people know that we would like to be their friend, or some kind of receptor that lets us know when someone wants to be our friend - and mine are out of order. I don't know. But until I figure it out, I will continue on in joy and gratitude for the meaningful relationships that I do have and hope that someday I can figure out how to fix my friendship malfunction.

Blah, blah, blah

2010-05-13T22:57:00.001-04:00

Isak has done some extremely cute things lately. He doesn't always intend to be funny, and when he does intend to be funny it always seems to come when I am least expecting it. For example...

Isak thinks that the percentages on food packaging are very important. He believes that if something says 100% that it is good for you. It could say "100% carcinogenic" and he would say, "Hey mom! We should get this. It's 100%!"

Today we were shopping at Wal Mart and he picked up a movie-size box of Whoppers and asked if he could have them. I told them that he could carry them and, if he made good choices while we were at the store, I would buy them. As he carried them, he inspected the packaging and was surprised to find that it said, "25%". He said, "Mom, this says it's 25%, which means that it's a little healthy, right? But it's chocolate, and chocolate isn't healthy."

I looked at the box and saw that it read, "25% less fat", so I explained to him that in this case the percentage didn't indicate that the food was healthy, just that it was less unhealthy than other kinds of candy. When I was done with my explanation, I said, "Does that make sense?" Isak looked at me with a straight face and said, "No, not really. You were talking but all I heard was 'blah, blah, blah'".

I, of course, laughed.

Life In Fast Forward

2010-03-03T15:26:00.001-05:00

Life seems to go by at the speed of sound.

Jeremy's 34th birthday ~ 9/12/09
I can't seem to find any photos and I can't remember what we did! I hope I did something special for him!

Carving pumpkins ~ October 09

Pumpkin patch/Joe's 50th birthday celebration

YMCA football

Isak's 5th birthday ~ 11/11/09

Christmas ~ 2009

Becca's 7th birthday ~ 1/21/10

My 38th birthday ~ 2/20/10
I don't have any pictures from my 38th birthday, but Jeremy made it special by organizing a night out with friends, a night out with my family, and Sunday dinner with his family!

Throw in a lot of time spent at school and many hours spent planning for youth activities, and that's life ~ at the speed of sound!

Matis Reunion - Phase III: Freedom of the Seas

2009-11-01T09:12:00.000-05:00

The ship we sailed on was "Freedom of the Seas", which until RC's new ship "Oasis of the Seas" is completed, is the largest cruise ship in the world. Some of the amenities included: Pools and a splash zone, a rock climbing wall, a wave simulator for surfing and boogie boarding, a gym, a game room, an ice-skating rink, etc. We could have never gone ashore at the ports of call and still had plenty to keep us busy!

A highlight of the trip for the kids was Adventure Ocean, the kids program. They had programs and activities for kids going on around the clock and we could drop off the kids and pick them up at our convenience. They (and we) absolutely LOVED it!

On our first full day at sea, Adventure Ocean put on a parade and circus. Isak was a clown and Becca was a butterfly.

Here is cousin, Jayden, marching in the parade.

Becca and her fellow butterflies

Cousin, Katelyn, as the magician's assistant

Cousin, Ryan, with kidsitter and friend extraordinaire, Jannah

Becca and the butterflies

Becca's turn being interviewed

Isak's age-group wasn't in the parade and circus, but they did circus activities in their room. Isak was a clown. We took these pictures in our stateroom before we washed off their make-up. Isak cracks me up.

Matis Reunion - Phase III - CocoCay, Bahamas

2009-10-29T21:35:00.000-04:00

Our first port of call was CocoCay, Bahamas - RC's privately owned island. We headed straight for the beach and stayed all day. We actually did use sunscreen, but as you will see in all of the pictures in upcoming posts, we apparently didn't use enough!

After our day at the beach, we returned to the ship to rest and dress for our first formal night.

Matis Reunion - Phase III: Bon Voyage!

2009-10-29T21:26:00.001-04:00

Matis Reunion - Phase II

2009-10-28T22:25:00.000-04:00

So there we were, four weary travelers who had nowhere to go. The hotel, of course, was full due to the scheduled shuttle launch. And not just our hotel, but every single hotel room in the area was in use. We were given permission, though, to camp out in our van in one of the hotels' parking lots. Well, it was the best option we had at the time, so we tried it.

Now, Cape Canaveral, Florida in June is rather sticky and hot...and mosquito infested! We couldn't sleep with the van windows up because it was simply too hot. We couldn't sleep with the van windows down because we were under constant attack by mosquitos. Combine these conditions with two children who have been sitting in car seats for the majority of the day, and sleep was clearly not an option.

So, what do you do in the wee hours of the morning when you are 18 hours from home and have nowhere to go? We went to WalMart! We used the bathrooms, we walked around, we played with toys and we even bought a couple of things. After we had outstayed our welcome at WalMart we took some donuts and milk to the beach and waited for the sun to rise.

And then, about 10 minutes before the sun was to be up, the kids decided that they had to go potty...immediately.

Matis Reunion - Phase I

2009-10-28T11:30:00.000-04:00

In June we joined Jeremy's family on a Royal Caribbean Cruise for a family reunion. We sailed from Port Canaveral. On day one (Thursday) of our trip we drove to Atlanta and spent the night in a hotel. Day two of our trip was a little more...exciting.

Friday morning we left Atlanta headed for Cape Canaveral. We had tickets to attend a shuttle launch in Cape Canaveral early on Saturday morning. We were to arrive at the shuttle launch viewing area between midnight and 3:00 am on Saturday morning. So, we decided that it would be a good idea to NOT book a hotel for Friday night and time our arrival in Cape Canaveral so that we could go straight to the viewing area. After the shuttle launch we would return to the hotel where we were booked to stay Saturday night and hope for an early check-in.

The drive from Atlanta to Cape Canaveral is about 9 hours and goes right through Orlando. Because we didn't have anywhere to go in Cape Canaveral until after midnight, we decided that a stop at Downtown Disney was in order. At about 10:00 pm on Friday we went to the Rain Forest Cafe at Downtown Disney to get some dinner.

We were all a little loopy, but it was a fun way to pass the time before we drove that last hour to Cape Canaveral.

So, we arrived in Cape Canaveral and headed to the hotel that we would be staying in on Saturday to see if we could put our luggage in the luggage check. We pulled up to the hotel and hanging on the hotel doors was a sign that said, "Shuttle launch scrubbed".

Dear Blog

2009-10-28T11:09:00.000-04:00

Dear Blog,

I haven't visited in a long time. I'm sorry, but it seems that I just don't need you as much as I once did. You truly are a useful tool for writing about thoughts and experiences and for sharing photos. However, I find that with my busy life I rarely take the time to put my experiences into written words, and I have found a much more user friendly forum for sharing photos.

Before you become offended, let me tell you that the reason for my visit today is that...I miss you. I miss taking the time to write and I miss reading what others have written about what is going on in their lives. I regret that it has taken being sick to make me slow down enough to take the time to check in.

I thank you for your constancy. When I showed up today I found you completely unchanged from the last time I visited. I can't promise that my visits will be regular, but I will try to visit more often.

Today I will leave you with one short post about the vacation that we took this past summer, along with a promise to return soon and share more about the vacation.

Your friend,

Tricia

On the Good Ship Lollipop

2009-07-26T18:57:00.001-04:00

For a couple of years Becca has been looking forward to dancing on the "big stage" at her dance studio's annual recital. This is the first year that she has gotten to dance in the recital and it was very exciting for her.

Grandma Judy arrived early to sit with Isak while I went backstage with Becca and helped her get into costume.

Here is Becca in costume with her teacher, Miss Julie, and the other girls in her class.

My niece, Angela, and her husband, Nick, also came to watch the recital. Angela and I both got flowers for Becca for her special day. Becca felt like a star!

The girls danced to On the Good Ship Lollipop and did an excellent job. Becca was delighted with whole experience and can't wait to do it again. I love that I can share my love of dancing with her.

Becca was also recognized for outstanding attendance for the year. I was very proud of her, but I have to say that I think attendace awards should be given to the parents!

City of Beautiful

2009-07-26T09:09:00.000-04:00

The last weekend in May, Becca, Isak and I visited the City of Beautiful, Nauvoo, with my family. We camped at the state park across the street from Historic Nauvoo for two nights. The timing was perfect because it was early enough in the summer that the weather was nice and Nauvoo was uncrowded, but late enough that the summer schedule had just started.

We enjoyed the shows. This one was Just Plain Anna Amanda, the children's show.

In the evening they did a variety show on the outdoor stage. Before the show began children were invited to arrive early and make hats to wear in a parade. The performers were all there to interact with the children and help them decorate their hats.

When the parade began Isak suddenly decided that he wasn't interested in participating.

Instead he sat on my lap and watched the parade. Within minutes he was asleep in my lap. Poor guy was exhausted! Here are Becca and her cousin, Emma right at the front of the parade.

We hit the hightlights in Historic Nauvoo - the places that would be most interesting for our little ones. Here are Becca, Isak and Emma at the well behind the bakery and some of us enjoying the rope making demonstration.

And here is my brother, Joe, putting our rope to good use. There was a pretty steep hill up to our campsite. None of us were able to manage riding up the hill on our bikes. Joe had the clever idea to have us tow him up the hill.

On our last day we packed up camp and headed to the temple to take some pictures.

At the risk of making this post too long and losing my audience, I want to share a story from our weekend. It is a cute, and kind of silly story of a child's faith.

Early in the weekend the kids were playing around the campsite, and for whatever reason Isak took off one of his shoes. Yes, just one. He walked around for a couple of hours with one shoe on and the other off. As we were preparing to leave the campsite that day I asked Isak to put on his other shoe. He couldn't find it. In the interest of time, I pulled out his other pair of shoes and decided that we would find the missing shoe later.

Over the course of the weekend the missing shoe never appeared. I was particularly frustrated because we had just purchased the pair of shoes a week or so earlier. So as we were packing up to leave on the last day I gave Isak, Becca and Emma the task of finding Isak's shoe.

After I got some of my things packed up I went to take a shower. When I returned from showering the shoe had been found, but not without a prayer and a bit of a surprise.

My sister-in-law, Claire had taken the kids into "the forest" (the trees surrounding our camp site) to look for the shoe. After looking for a while the kids were a little distraught that they hadn't found the shoe, so Becca suggested that they say a prayer (that's my girl!). Becca said the prayer and they all went back to the tent area to continue the search for the shoe. At about that time my sister's family was taking down their tent. As they folded it up they discovered, smack dab in the middle of where their tent had been pitched, Isak's shoe!

Becca was thrilled that her prayer had worked and I too was grateful to Heavenly Father for answering her sweet prayer in such a simple way. I know that Becca felt her Heavenly Father's love for her that day and it was a lesson on faith that she will not soon forget.

I was, of course, happy that the shoe had been found. But, most of all, we were all a little confused as to how the shoe ended up so far underneath the Schroering's tent and found it a little curious that none of the Schroering family were bothered by the big lump under their tent as they slept!

It was a fun weekend, but it wasn't without it's problems. Isak, who got a little over-tired and who struggles a little bit with using public restrooms, had several potty accidents. Because he has been potty trained for...well, a long time, he was quite frustrated over the situation, and each time he had an accident he screamed and cried and completely stressed his mommy out! By the end of the trip he was out of clean clothes and had to ride home in underwear that we stopped and bought at WalMart and one of Emma's shirts, sitting atop garbage bags and paper towels that we aquired from a kind and helpful gas station attendant. It took a while to recover from that trip as I had a lot of laundry to do, including taking the urine-soaked sleeping bags to the laundromat. Not fun!

But, we survived, and for the most part had a very enjoyable weekend. We missed Jeremy, who was unable to go with us because he left that same weekend to meet his dad in Hong Kong. I will invite him to share his travel experiences. He was gone for about 10 days and visited Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan. I remind him frequently that he owes me big time for letting him take that trip!

Kindergarten Program

2009-05-21T21:40:00.000-04:00

Tonight we went to Becca's kindergarten program. The class worked so hard to prepare for their show and they did a great job! They have been learning the last few weeks about the ocean, so most of the songs they sang were about ocean related things. They even had t-shirts that they had designed themselves. So cute!

Becca has been so excited about her program and it was great to have a lot of people that she loves there to see her. Grandma Matis, Grandma & Grandpa Ferguson and Uncle Joe & Aunt Claire...thanks for being there and making it a special experience for Becca!

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

2009-05-21T20:57:00.000-04:00

Today was a free family day at the track, so we decided to take the kids to see what the noise at our house is all about (we can hear the cars at our house). We got there just in time to see the last few minutes of a practice. It was just enough for the kids to be thrilled by the speed of the cars without getting too bent out of shape over the noise.

Some drivers were posing with their cars for a photo shoot. We have no idea who they are, but the cars are cool.

Jeremy hopes to one day take the kids to a monster truck rally. They thought this truck was pretty amazing, so I guess his wish will come true. But not before we purchase some good noise reduction ear plugs!

This is our tribute to Uncle Rich, who works for Indiana Oxygen.

Jeremy thought he rocked at "driving" this Indy Car simulator.

Bumblebee, a favorite of Jeremy and Isak (in fact, he happens to be on the underwear that Isak has on today).

This is the only picture that I made it into, and I don't think you can even tell that it is me. But it is, with my kiddos!

The Official 2009 Pace Car

Jeremy's dream car (keep dreaming!)

Becca Loses a Tooth

2009-05-11T21:51:00.000-04:00

Becca lost her first tooth! It has been loose for a couple of weeks, but we have been hesitant to pull it because Becca has a very low tolerance for pain. Tonight she came out of the bathroom after brushing her teeth and very nonchalantly told me that her tooth had come out. No big deal! Now we can't wait to see what a visit from the tooth fairy will bring!

Easter Sunday

2009-05-11T15:34:00.001-04:00

Ten Wonderful Years

2009-05-11T14:02:00.000-04:00

On March 5th Jeremy and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary. To celebrate we compiled a list of the Top Ten places in Indianapolis that have special significance to us and visited each location on the list. It was a lot of fun to share our memories of each place. Ready for the countdown?

NUMBER 10 - St. Maur Monastary

This monastary on the north side of Indy has (or had) a lodge that they rented out. This is where we had our wedding reception. We were married in the St. Louis temple on March 5th, stayed overnight in St. Louis, and then drove back to Indianapolis on the 6th for our reception. Many wonderful family and friends helped decorate, prepare food, provide music, etc. to make our reception the fun event that we had envisioned.

NUMBER 9 - Mariners Village Apartments

I lived in an apartment in this complex with my friends Christine and Monica. It was when I lived here that Jeremy and I first really became friends. We, along with many other great friends spent a lot of time together in that apartment.

Now, at this point I am a little unsure of the order. I had written down our TOP TEN list, but lost the notebook that I had written it in. I will do the best I can, but I'm sure I will get some of them mixed up.

NUMBER 8 - Oaknoll Drive

My parents lived in this house on Oaknoll Drive when Jeremy and I got to be good friends, when we dated and when we got married. We spent a lot of time hanging out here with my mom and dad and this is where he met with my parents, unbeknownst to me, to tell them that he was going to propose to me. My mom had never seen Jeremy act so serious and laughed out loud when he told her that he was going to propose to me.

NUMBER 7 - Creekwood Estates

This is Jeremy's parents' home in Brownsburg. Jeremy lived here until we got married. We spent a lot of time together here, but most importantly, this is where he proposed to me. He had invited me over after the performance of a play that I was in. He had prepared dinner (chinese take-out on his mom's nice china) and set the table with roses and candles. We sat down and before we started eating he gave me a phone and told me to call my house. He had recorded his proposal as an outgoing message on my answering machine. As I listened he came around the table and knelt beside me and held out the engagement ring. I was quite surprised, and, well...said YES!

NUMBER 6 - Capitol Street Building

This building was the home of the LDS Institute and also the Indianpolis 4th Branch (singles branch) that Jeremy and I attended. Our first memories of each other are at this building and we spent a great deal of time here. For a while I was the IRC (Institue of Religion Coucil) President and Jeremy was the LDSSA (Latter-Day Saint Student Association) President, positions in which we spent a lot of time working together.

NUMBER 5 - Marian College

When Jeremy and I first became friends we both attended IUPUI, which at the time did not have any choirs. Jeremy had signed up, through an inter-college agreement, to sing in the choirs at Marian College. I joined the Marian Choirs as well, and after we got married, I transferred to Marian, started studying full-time and finished my degree in Vocal Performance shortly after Becca was born. We were associated with Marian College (now University) for a big portion of our life together and enjoyed performing in plays, musicals and choral events together.

NUMBER 4 - Bertha Street

After I moved from the apartment in Mariners Village, Christine and I moved into this house. By this time Jeremy and I were very good friends and he practically lived here with us! We continued to live here (Jeremy and I, not Christine) for about 3 years after we got married.

NUMBER 3 - St. Vincent Hospital

NUMBER 2 - Women's Hospital

Number 3 and Number 2 are kind of interchangeable, as they are where our children were born. Isak was born at St. Vincent and Becca was born at Women's. I can't even begin to describe the tender feelings that I have about my experiences with pregnancy, giving birth and becoming a mom. If this physical body of mine would let me, I would do it over and over again!

NUMBER 1 - Rotterdam Drive

I don't know why we didn't take a picture of this one. Maybe it was because we were tired after a long evening of driving and were just happy to be home. Rotterdam Drive is the location of our current house. We moved here almost 7 years ago. The changes that have come about in our lives while we have lived here are so significant that I don't even know where to begin. Children, loss of jobs, graduation from school, returning to school, etc. It will be difficult to leave this place when our time here is up. It is our home.

I am amazed at the experiences that Jeremy and I have had togther. We have certainly had our ups and downs, but all have shaped us into the family that we are today, and I would not trade that for anything.

Snow Fun

2009-05-11T13:43:00.000-04:00

Well, at least Becca was having fun.

Becca's Sixth Birthday

2009-05-11T13:16:00.001-04:00

I was recently told that I am lame because I haven't posted on my blog since November. So, in an effort to make up for my lameness, I am going to do some marathon blogging!

The first big event of 2009 was Becca's 6th birthday on January 21st. Despite her efforts to invite her entire kindergarten class, her ballet class, her primary class, our neighbors, and every other person she might have happened to have seen in the weeks preceeding her birthday, I was determined to keep her celebration pretty low key. After providing an explanation that we can't have a HUGE birthday party every year, we agreed that she could invite 3 friends over on her birthday for a "playdate". She invited her cousin, Emma; a school friend, Ariana; and a church friend, Kristiana.

Becca loves to do art and craft projects, and I was overwhelmed by the mess that these projects made in my kitchen. We decided to turn a corner of the sunroom into an art area for the kids. For her birthday we bought her some new art supplies, and unveiled the new art area at her party. The girls had a great time working on art projects.

After spending some time in the art room, the girls were served pizza and cake. Becca had asked for a pink birthday cake - strawberry cake with pink icing. It wasn't the most delicious cake ever, but it certainly was pink!

Becca's favorite gifts were the ones that Isak chose for her from the dollar store - a squishy otcopus who was lovingly named Emily, and a bouquet of flowers.

Everyday I still experience moments of shock that my baby girl is so big.

I knew enough.

2008-11-28T14:56:00.000-05:00

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

2008-11-23T20:32:00.000-05:00

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

2008-11-23T20:25:00.000-05:00

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

2008-11-23T20:13:00.000-05:00

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

2008-11-23T19:42:00.000-05:00

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

2008-11-23T19:39:00.000-05:00

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!

2008-09-29T21:26:00.000-04:00

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

2008-09-01T14:41:00.000-04:00

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

2008-09-01T00:49:00.000-04:00

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

2008-08-23T09:20:00.000-04:00

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

2008-08-23T09:16:00.000-04:00

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

2008-07-19T15:31:00.000-04:00

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

2008-07-19T15:11:00.001-04:00

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

2008-06-09T00:28:00.000-04:00

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.

2008-05-11T23:54:00.000-04:00

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!

2008-05-11T23:08:00.000-04:00

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.

2008-04-30T22:20:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-27T21:02:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-13T20:07:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-13T11:18:00.000-04:00

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.

Mini Me

2008-04-02T08:32:00.001-04:00

While looking at some pictures this morning I came across this one. It seems like a silly picture to have - a basket of laundry? Why would I want to preserve that memory?

Well, those of you who know me and my daughter well know that she is simply a much smaller version of me. Once when my mom was visiting she looked at Becca and said, "Do you have any idea how strange it is to see your grown daughter growing up all over again?"

This basket of laundry illustrates that Becca is, in fact, little Tricia.

Becca and Isak love playing on my bed. They do all sorts of wonderful things up there - fight dragons, escape alligators, build bird nests, etc. The problem is that my bed is also the place where I fold laundry. So, there are times when my bed is covered in folded laundry waiting to be put away. You can imagine my dismay when I have, at times, gone into my bedroom and found my once folded laundry thrown onto the floor as Becca and Isak chant "Two little monkies jumping on the bed..." Let's just say that they have been reminded often that jumping on mom and dad's bed when it is already occupied by folded laundry is not a good choice!

So one morning, after folding laundry and then leaving the room to do something else, I heard that Becca was playing on the bed. I stormed into the room prepared to exile her to time out and found all of the laundry that had been on the bed "neatly" placed in the basket. And thus the transformation of Becca into Mini Me was complete. Now she too will enjoy a life full of compulsive cleaning and frustration over an always-too-messy house.

I threw away a breadstick!

2008-03-24T14:32:00.000-04:00

Okay, please don't judge me, but the fact is that every Monday I take my kids out for lunch. Yes, our budget is tight, but there a few things that I have built into our lives to help me maintain my sanity. One of those things is Monday lunch-out day.

So, today Becca and Isak wanted to go to the spaghetti house, better known to the rest of the world as Fazoli's. Every time they ask to go to the spaghetti house I groan. Some of you know that I have issues with going out for spaghetti. When I go out to eat, I like to enjoy things that I can't easily make at home. Pasta is such an easy thing to make at home, that going out for it just doens't seem like much of a treat. Additionally, I can't get out of the place without eating two meals worth of points (Weight Watchers) due to the incredibly yummy, buttery, salty breadsticks!

Fortunately today was a YMCA workout day for me, because on those days I earn 10 activity points. 10 points is enough to counteract 3 of those yoummy, buttery, salty artery cloggers! And, as we sat down to eat, I was quite happy with the idea of eating only two of them so that I could save some points for some gooey chocolate carmel candy left for us by the Easter bunny.

We each ate our one breadstick that was given to us with our meals, and I went to get more. I had decided to ask for three, one more for each of us. That was it. No more.

The nice lady at the Fazoli's told me that she would go get them for me. She soon returned with a wrapper filled with SIX of the most soft, butter drenched breadsticks I have ever been served at Fazoli's. Again, I groaned. There was no way I was going to eat only one more! I mean, it is very rare to be served such perfect breadsticks!

Well, to keep this story from getting too long, let me just say that I ate two more breadsticks, Becca ate two more breadsticks, and Isak ate one. Those of you who are really good at math and reading comprehension already realize that there was one breadstick left. Part of me just wanted to eat it. I wasn't hungry. In fact, I was very much not hungry. But I just didn't like the idea of throwing something so perfectly tastey away! I found myself wishing that there was some way that I could preserve its tastiness and mail it to my mom (There are no Fazoli's in Washington and my mom is a big fan!), but Fazoli's breadsticks are really only good for about 10 minutes after they are taken from the oven. Ulitmately I realized that I was either going to have to eat it or throw it away.

Well, from the title of this post you already know the outcome. What you don't know is that this is a HUGE milestone for me! And if I could do it once, I know I can do it again. Now, the question is, can I keep myself away from the gooey chocolate treats piled up on the kitchen counter? I'll let you know.

Surgery

2008-03-23T21:06:00.000-04:00

In February Becca had her tonsils and adnoids removed and tubes put in both ears. She was very sweet and grown up while we waited for them to take her back for the procedure, but afterward she very much needed mommy and daddy to calm her down and take care of her.

Initially she did very well and even ate chicken nuggets the day of the surgery! A few days after is when the soreness and discomfort started. It lasted for a week or two and now she is fine. I have been so happy to have my sweet and happy girl back.

The biggest change that we have noticed in her so far is that she doesn't snore anymore. She sleeps so peacefully! Now if I could just find a way to stop Jeremy's snoring!

Becca's Amazing Day

2008-01-23T14:43:00.000-05:00

Becca turned 5 on Monday. Here are some of the highlights of her amazing day.

A whole day with daddy (the school was closed for MLK day, and Jeremy, who had planned on studying/working for a few hours, was easily convinced by Becca to stay home on her special day).

Lunch and gifts at Grandma and Grandpa Matis' house with Aunt Cori, and cousins Ryan, Kimberly and Katelyn.

A makeover at Club Libby Lu with cousin Emma

Dinner at Applebee's finished off with a Barbie birthday cake

A shopping spree at Build-a-Bear and the Disney Store (her gift from Aunt Jill)

Thanks to everyone who made Becca's day so wonderful! It really was an exciting day! Becca is such an exuberant little girl and she LOVES everything! She is so easy to please and it is so fun to do things for her.

The best part of my day was when we got home at night. It was past the kids normal bedtime and they were exhausted - both had fallen asleep in the car on the drive home. We decided to forego scriptures and prayer and just put them in bed. As I was putting Becca in bed she started crying and said "We haven't even said prayer or anything!"

I had her say a prayer and, without prompting from me, she thanked Heavenly Father that she could have such a special birthday. She fell asleep with a big grin on her face. Wow! I love that little girl!

Day Two of Operation Half-Marathon Number Three - Successful

2008-01-08T13:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I officially started training for the Indy 500 Festival Mini Marathon 2008.

Yesterday and today I have thought a lot about my progress over the past year. A year ago I officially started training for the Indy 500 Festival Mini Marathon 2007. I had been walking somewhat regularly since the summer of 2006, but in January I tried to kick it into gear. Many times in the past I had said that I was going to participate in the Mini, but this time I was actually registered and I was more determined than ever before to actually do it!

I didn't follow the training program extremely well. I typcically walked 2 miles a few times a week and as the Mini approached did longer walks on the weekends. I figured that anything I did was an improvement and I was happy with that.

When the day of the Mini arrived my goal was to simply cross the finish line, although I must admit that I was skeptical. I had been averaging 16 minute miles, but the furthest I had walked at one time was 8 miles. I really wasn't sure that I could maintain an 18 minute mile for 13.1 miles. I was horrified at the thought that I might not finish the race! Here is a photo of me, pre-race, on May 5, 2007:

Well, I finished. It was one of the most difficult things I have done in my life, but I did it, and the feeling of accomplishment was amazing! I cried as I approached the finish line, partially because I was miserable, but mostly because I had accomplished something that for so long I had wanted to do, but hadn't had the determination and discipline to do it. I was very emotional.

At that point I resolved to participate in more half-marathons, if nothing else to keep me motiviated to exercise. Jeremy and I registered for the Indianapolis Half-Marathon, held on October 20, 2007. Over the months between the Mini and the Indy Marathon I lost 25 pounds and continued to exercise regularly. I was excited because I expected the 13.1 miles to be much easier considering that I was in better shape, I was a little lighter, and the weather was much more tolerable in October than in May. Here is my pre-race photo from the Indy Half-Marathon:

During the Indianapolis Half I started strong, even jogged a bit, but by mile 10 I was running out of energy. It was discouraging when they started following behind us cleaning up cones and signs - apparently we were bringing up the rear. We did eventually make it to the end and I even drummed up enough energy to run across the finish line! And, we didn't bring up the rear - there were two more walkers behind us! I kept telling myself that I hadn't walked any slower than in the Mini, but that the other participants were just faster than in the Mini! Sadly, we learned that we had actually added over a minute to our mile average.

In spite of my disappointment in my lack of improvement, I was thrilled to have completed my second half-marathon and was even more determined to improve. Since October I have continued to exercise regularly (with a brief hiatus over the holidays). Last week as I looked at the training schedules available online I decided that I am ready for a walk/run schedule and to fully commit to run at least part of the Mini in May.

The training starts with a walk/run 3 times a week for 36 minutes each time (3 minutes of walking followed by 1 minute of running repeated 9 times) and cross-training twice a week. This morning I did my first walk/run. I wasn't sure that I would be able to complete it as suggested. I thought that I might complete the first few cycles and then have to walk out the remaining time. As I practically sailed through the walk/run, even extending it a few minutes, I was amazed as I thought back to last year at this time and the change in my ability. All of the effort is worth it, and I can't wait for May!

Just FYI, my ultimate goal is to run my first marathon in January 2012 in the Disney Marathon at Disney World. Anyone want to plan to join me?

Merry Christmas

2007-12-26T00:33:00.000-05:00

As blogging has become the rage, I have often considered starting a blog of my very own. I couldn't imagine, however, that there would be many people interested in reading about what happens in our "little corner" of the world. I have come to the conclusion that, while there may not be many of you who will read this blog, those of you who will are worth the effort.

So, one of the Christmas presents that I am offering to those who are interested in what happens in my small part of the world is this newly created blog.

Over the next few weeks I will make a solid effort to share some photos and memories from the past year. Many of you have expressed your frutration with me for not sharing my photos with you. I hope that this will help me do a better job. I also desperately want to get some of my thoughts and recollections from this year put down in some way that is more permanant than my memory so that I don't forget them before I have a chance to scrapbook and journal them.

As it is very late and I haven't downloaded today's photos from the camera yet, I have posted some pictures from a few days ago. Two Sunday's ago, December 16th, our church was cancelled due to weather, so we had some quality family time at home. I had purchased a gingerbread house kit and the kids had been begging Jeremy and I to put it together with them. This was one of the many projects that we did that day to keep us all from getting cabin fever.

One thing to notice in the pictures - Isak is wearing a Pull-Up. Don't get excited. It didn't last long. I was so hoping to get him potty trained over the holidays. He has not even a little bit of interest in it.

Things that I'm sure you will notice even though I wish you wouldn't - I am wearing pajamas in the photos and my hair had not even been combed yet! Oh well.