New York, New York!!

We took a trip with some friends to Palmyra and Niagara Falls a few weeks ago. It was the best trip we have ever taken. We enjoyed every part of it. It was especially nice to be in Palmyra, New York. There is a special feeling in that village. The
Sacred Grove, the Smith Farm, the Grandin Printing Press (where they first printed the Book of Mormon), the Palmyra Temple, and the Hill Cumorah were the highlights of the trip. I hope our boys will be able to remember the special feelings they had there. My testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon has increased tenfold. I knew it was true before, but learning more about the sacrifices and experiences has deepened my feelings and conviction for its truthfulness. Every member of the church should have the experience of visiting the birth place of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.




Niagara Falls was impressive. It was amazing to see the power of the falls and very enjoyable to ride the maid of the mist boat tour right into the falls. It was beautiful there. We almost got stuck in limbo because we didn't have proper documentation to cross the Rainbow Bridge that crosses the falls between the U.S. and Canada. Thankfully we had asked the guards to open the gate for the stollers and they remembered us going through just a few minutes prior to returning to the United States or we would have been in serious trouble. I've never enjoyed my brief visits to Canada. Great trip. I highly recommend staying in the Palmyra Inn. Go as soon as possible. And if you go in May, take jackets.

Back to Normal

My life is finally back to normal. I have been able to thoroughly enjoy every cold, flu, and disease that has ripped through our family the past month, because I am no longer the proud owner of Treasure Gift Enterprises. I sold my business. I can now totally focus on taking care of my family, and myself. So many things have happened and I haven't been able to even take a moment to document them. My parents were here in January. The only thing that would have made it better is if they could have stayed longer.
For Matt's spring break we took a trip with some friends to Maryland and stayed in their relatives beautiful home. We spent some time in D.C. seeing a lot of the sights that we hadn't seen before. The Jefferson Memorial is my new favorite. He is directly facing the White House so that he can keep an eye on what goes on there. It gave me chills just to stand there and read the quotes. It was amazing.
The boys have fun no matter where we go. This was taken in D.C. with our friends, Tan and Angela Jones. That is their little girl, Samantha. How perfect would it be to add a cute little girl face to our team of boys? Maybe some day. Hopefully I'll be writing more now that I am actually home some days. The business was such a blessing, but it got to be more of a burden towards the end. I was too busy, and not able to be who I really wanted to be. I'm sure many of you can relate.
This week has been perfect. James had spring break, so the boys and I have had such a good time playing games, going outside, exploring nature, relaxing, telling stories, and enjoying one another's company.
Wish all weeks could be spring break weeks.

The Wonder (of Christmas) Years

I have heard many people say that these will be the greatest years of my life. This Christmas was the first time that I actually began to understand what they were talking about. I have never had so much fun in my whole life as I did this Christmas. I was a little bit lonely for extended family, but watching the magic of Christmas come over my children's faces was a joy I can't describe in words. We had a very special program on Christmas Eve. We were each able to share our feelings about the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and there was such a feeling of reverence and peace in our home. And then we did something really fun. We went on a Santa walk outside where we gazed into the sky for any signs of Rudolph's nose. We knew that as soon as his nose was visible that Santa would be coming to our house very shortly, and since Santa doesn't visit kids who are out of their beds...As soon as we spotted that blinking red nose in the sky James and Joseph ran back to the house so fast that by the time I finally reached them they had already stripped off their shoes and coats and were hopping into bed. It was a great motivator for bedtime on Christmas Eve. Matt and I were both so excited about Christmas that we woke up before the boys and ended up having to wake each of them at 5 o'clock. Naps were a definite must Christmas Day.

Another goal accomplished

One of Matt's goals for his Christmas break was to teach James how to ride his bike without training wheels. James is a natural athlete and with very little effort, but a lot of running on Matt's part, James was riding all over the place in no time. My two athletes have even been out running and biking together. Joseph is looking forward to getting his bike for his birthday this summer so that he can bike around with them. Isaac is content to just be outside....for now.

Goals, goals, and more goals

Last year I accomplished an unknown lifelong goal. I say unknown because I never even thought I could be capable of running a 5K X-Country Race. I know that 3.3 miles may not seem like much to many people, but for me that was an extraordinary accomplishment. Matt supported me through the whole process. He made my training possible, and he also made the actual race possible by sticking with me and encouraging me through the whole thing. It was so much harder than I could have ever dreamed, but I never quit, I never gave up, and it was the first time in my life that I just kept going even though every part of me was screaming to STOP. It was a life changing experience for me to realize that I am not a quitter. This year I have new goals about fitness, and I plan on beating last year's time in the 5K this year.

boys will be boys

Thank goodness for little boys. I never knew life could be such an adventure. Each day brings something new. I am the luckiest woman in the world to have the protection of three brave warriors such as these. The third warrior is a little under the weather today and doesn't feel much like flexing his muscles. I am sure that his illness will not keep him down for very long. Nothing ever does.

Sunday Evening

I love Sundays. It is so wonderful to be able to just spend the day together. Sunday always begins a little crazy with the hustle and bustle of getting ready for church and it is a complete miracle when we all make it to church with our hair combed. (Unfortunately I am included in that). But I love being with the children in primary and each Sunday I am so proud of my boys. They are so good and are so well behaved. Yes they have their moments, but don't we all? I can hardly write this because Isaac is making us laugh so hard. The boys have been taking turns telling stories with their daddy, and Isaac likes to take everyone's turn. He keeps shushing his daddy and saying, "once upon a time....." And then he does a crazy little dance. He loves an audience.

Rebecah's Darker Side

Okay, I admit it. I love to get dressed up for Halloween. I love Halloween. I love decorating, I love dressing up, I love scary sounds CD's, and I love waiting on the door step and talking to all of the trick-or-treaters. I went to Matt's school and he even made me a set of Vampire fangs. You can't see them very well in the pictures but they looked great. We had a great time at the Trunk or Treat party at the church. And all of the kids (mine included) loved the fact that I got dressed up. I think vampiress is a good look for me. And the gray streak is not too far off. I would have paid good money to have captured Isaac's reaction to my costume on camera.

Pumpkin Carving

What is so much fun about scooping the guts out of the pumpkin? Everyone loves to do it. Isaac was a bit apprehensive at first and then got right in there and had a blast. I roasted the pumpkin seeds and they were really good. At least Matt and I thought so. The boys did not like them. But it was such a fun night. There is nothing better than playing and laughing with my boys. (All FOUR of them):>) James and Joseph tell me what they want and I do the carving. That's my favorite part.

Bats, Ghouls, and .....

...kids too cold to wear costumes. Joseph decided to be Batman. James wanted to be something scary and ended up with a "Cool Ghoul" costume. And Isaac, well he couldn't decide between pumpkin, dragon, or Batman, and ended up with a Blues Clues coat covering Batman pajamas. He refused to wear the cape or the mask, so he was basically just ready for bed after trick-or-treating was done. It was a great night for all, and the leftover candy has been good for those extremely weak moments I seem to be having all too frequently.

White Coat Ceremony

On September 29, 2006 we had a major family event. As you all know, Matt is in dental school and will be doing less and less book and class work and more and more practical patient care. So they have what is called the White Coat Ceremony. It's quite a big deal. All of the students receive their white doctors' coats and take the dental oath. It was a very proud day for all of us. I was very emotional (shocking, I know). We had several people there. Matt's mom and sister, Jayleen, and our nephew, Ian came to help us celebrate Matt's big day. And of course, Sammy and James were there too. My friend watched Isaac and Joseph. The ceremony was a little lengthy for James even. As you can tell by how thrilled he is in the pictures. Matt has worked so hard and has been so successful. We can't help but recognize the tremendous blessings we have received and see the Lord's hand in our
lives daily. (I'm still trying to figure out how to use this program. I can't seem to get the pictures to go where I want them to).

Figuring it Out!

I may actually be figuring out how to use this thing, so here are the rest of the pictures I wanted to put with "James' first day of school." His bus driver is such a nice lady. She likes to give all the kids a hug. The other picture is of James with our neighbor Isaac. He goes to kindergarten too. It's nice to have good friends close by.

James' First Day of School

It has been absolutely wonderful to have Sammy here with us for some eventful and extremely uneventful last few months. I dreaded James' first day of school for at least a whole year. But it came and went and was fairly uneventful. Except for the fact that I had to go pick him up because they wouldn't let him go to class. Apparently Virginia is very rigid about immunizations. He was missing one, so we made a quick trip to the doctor's office and he was back in time for lunch. James loves school and does very well, as we expected. He loves his teacher and he has made many friends. Every time I go to the school someone stops me and tells me what an amazing child we have. Matt even had a teacher ask him if we would write a parenting book. (HA, HA!) We can only attribute his goodness and obedience to his nature. He just came that way.

About Time

I'm not a great writer, but I just found out about my beautiful and talented cousin Beth's blog spot and thought it was such a great idea that I wanted to do the same. My children just keep growing and changing (hopefully we all are). I figured it's just about time I keep my friends and family informed about our family clear out here in Virginia. So here goes nothing. I guess I've always been afraid to start something like this for fear I wouldn't stick with it. I'll give it my very best shot.