A Farewell/Birthday Celebration

The Sunday before David left our family got together to celebrate with of course, great food. We were also celebrating all of the birthdays within our families (the ones geographically close: Mata, Hayes, Yount, and Hanselmann Families). Britt made an army cake at the request of the Hayes boys and it was appropriate for David's upcoming departure as well. We had a good time and it will be great to get together with all of the family at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The fun Army Cake (checkerboard inside):



Here are some of those celebrating birthdays recently (July, August, September): Row 1- Johnathan Hayes, Andrew Hayes, Row 2- Alex Hayes, Adam Hayes, David Mata, Row 3- Marianne Yount (my mom), Deanne Hayes (my aunt) holding Nora Hanselmann, Row 4- Eric Hayes (Deanne's husband- they are the parents of all those Hayes kids!)



We realized afterward that Malia, Nathan, and Chris were also August birthdays. Oops! In addition, David and Adam have February birthdays! We should have just taken a picture of everyone just to be sure. Oh, well. Happy belated birthday to all!

Hold back, Amanda! Two days of consecutive posting? Settle down! Here are some pictures of when David swore into the National Guard/Army back in September. The day all the fun began! I think I mentioned this before but David signed up through a program called "Active First". The way it works is that he is Active Duty with the Army for the next four years. After those four years, he can either go with the National Guard for four more years or he can continue in the Army. It all just depends on how well he and we like Army life. So far he is liking it. He does wish all the young punks would just learn to shut up and do as they are told! It's been interesting having our communication limited to letters. He is supposed to get to call on Sunday mornings but that is one of the privileges that can be taken away if his platoon doesn't behave. Not to mention the time set aside to call is also the time he can go to church. As much as I want to talk to him, I also want him to be able to go to church. It's been 10 days since we got to talk on the phone to each other. Hopefully soon. I do get letters from him, which is great. I love hearing how hard he is working and that he misses us so much. I must admit that I do get frustrated sometimes doing the parenting thing solo (I know, it's just the beginning!) However, I realize how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to be with Mali every day. David misses her something fierce and I do my best to keep him up to date on her. David loves getting mail so if anyone wants his address just let me know. He'd love to hear from you. It's great to hear the support of those that realize what he is doing is a great thing. You wouldn't believe some of the negative reactions we get. People can be so dumb. Regardless, I am grateful I have a husband who is so willing to serve his country and will do my best to support him.

Here is David getting sworn in...



Here is Malia supporting the National Guard...



Here is David and his recruiter, Klimack...

Seeing Sparks a Decade Later

Hello friends! I am slowly getting things together and that means pulling all the pictures off of my camera. In the middle of August I took my cousin down to Provo. Alyssa is studying at the Paul Mitchell Hair Academy and what better place to reside than Sparks II: Townhouses for Men and Women? It dawned on me as I was helping her unpack that I started my Sparks adventure exactly a DECADE prior!! Where does the time go??? I lived on campus my freshman year at BYU and spent that following spring semester in some apartments just south of campus (for the life of me I can't remember the name of them!). I started my sophomore year at Sparks and stayed there until I graduated. Good times!They've done a lot of updates to the place and I am sure that Aly will have a blast. Hopefully not too much fun... you need to study and work girly! By the way, Apartment #19 now has a reduced rate to compensate for the decreased square footage! The injustice! Aly is in apartment 20. It was great to visit and reminded me of all the great times I had there. Not to mention all of the great people I met! So there you go, a shout out to Sparks.




First is Malia terrorizing in the living room. Note the new couches and carpet.

Next is beautiful Aly putting her groceries away in the remodeled kitchen. Nice cabinets, huh?

I hate "good-byes" and "short hellos", so I avoid them!

So I am "settled" in Farley, Iowa now. Malia and I are living at my mom's house. Thanks, Mom! Britt helped me get unpacked and organized these last couple days. It sure is nice being by my sister. We have lots of fun together and our kids keep us busy. Nothing like a 3, 2, and 1 year old running around!
David and I left Lewiston last Tuesday. Sorry to all of those that I didn't say an official good-bye to. Truth be told I HATE good-byes. I'd rather just avoid them. To me I know I will see you all again SOMETIME so it's just easier to pretend mentally that I'm just going away for "a bit".
We left Lewiston on Tuesday and headed to Phoenix. We spent two very short days with David's family. We managed to squeeze in a trip to the Mesa Temple. David's mom and sister took Mali on a shopping trip. Good times! Then we began the arduous trek to Iowa and arrived Saturday afternoon. I realized I passed lots of you on my way around the country. I would have loved to stopped and spent time with everyone. Just not enough time! I would rather wait to see you all when we actually have time to spend with each other, instead of just a "short hello".
We were able to attend Dubuque Ward on Sunday as a family. For the last time for awhile. It was nice. I was hoping since Dubuque's sacrament is first, unlike Lewiston's being last, that it would somehow improve Malia's behavior. No such luck! Can't wait to wrestle her all on my own!
We met a family that just moved into the ward. The dad had just got back from Ft. Sill, OK where David is going! What a coincidence! We invited them out to our big family dinner that night. It was nice to have Bro. Fountain share his experiences at Ft. Sill and he also gave David a blessing before he left. It was fun to have dinner with all the family, Hayes' included! Britt even made an army cake for David and the Hayes boys' birthdays.
On Monday we tried to get everything done that we could and enjoy our last day together. We went to lunch at the old "Annie's", my mom's restaurant sold and is under new management, new name. It was...not good. I could go off all about it, but the point is that it just made me sad. It was sad to see something that my mom worked so long and hard for be changed into something not so good. Oh, well. Mom likes her job at the bank. We went and visited her at work so she could show off Malia.
David left the next morning from the Dubuque Airport for SLC. Yesterday he flew from SLC to New Mexico to Dallas to Oklahoma City. Then he had to take a bus from OK City to Fort Sill. What a long day of traveling! No thank you. I spoke to him on the phone several times yesterday and he just amazes me! I would have been super cranky given all the traveling. He was just pumped about starting Basic Training! I hope everything goes well for him. I know he will be great. I'm glad Mali and I are here with my family, it will make being away from David somewhat bearable. I'll miss my other families and friends in Phoenix, Logan, and Lewiston tons. Thanks to everyone again so much for all of your help and support. Sorry again for the lack of goodbyes. I'll post some pictures later.

A Much Needed Update

So...things have been quite crazy for us these last few weeks. So much has happened and is going to happen that I don't even know where to start! Here is a rough update...

1. To begin with... probably the most exciting news... I am with child. 12 weeks today. David and I went last week and got an ultrasound and everything looks perfect. So much better results than my last trip to the OB! I'm due March 24th. I am very excited and will be even more excited when the "24 hours a day sickness" is over. I was sick with Malia until about 5 months. I am hoping this one will be kinder to me.

2. Probably the most life changing (although one could argue an addition to the family if definitely life changing!)... David is joining the Army. He gets sworn in this week and will be off to boot camp before the end of the month. After that he has job training that we hope will finish up before the baby is due to arrive. I am very excited for David. He has always wanted to serve in the military and we felt now was the right time. A challenging time, believe me, we know. However, we have prayed seriously about this and feel it is right. In many ways it will be great for our family. Of course, not without challenges. Malia and I can't join him during boot camp or job training. Which leads me to number three...

3. Malia and I are moving to Iowa until the baby is born. My parents have graciously invited Malia and I to stay with them while David is gone. We considered lots of options and felt this was the best for everyone. It is going to be so hard with out David. I will miss him terribly. My only small consolation is to be with my family while he is away. Sometimes a girl just needs her mom and sister. Especially when pregnant with a toddler and without a husband!

4. I eluded to this in my last post... our big scare with Miss Malia. Two weeks ago the doctor had prescribed me Zofran- an anti nausea medication (which by the way seemingly does nothing for me). I had just gotten it on Monday and Wednesday we were all at home. I was upstairs cleaning and David was downstairs cleaning. We each assumed Malia was with the other person. I had my bag sitting up on our chest freezer. Somehow Malia got to the Zofran in the bag and opened it. She came up to David with a fistful of pills and said, "Candy, Papa?". There were only 10 left! I had 7 of them... leaving 13 consumed by Malia. They were the quick dissolving type, so instantly in the blood stream. We rushed her to the ER and they got my little baby hooked up to all types of machines. They didn't have any records of someone this young taking so many, so really had no idea what to do. Since it was already in her bloodstream, they couldn't pump her stomach. They also couldn't give her ANYTHING, because they weren't sure how she would react. Bart, Patrick, and Koby came and gave her a blessing. All we could do is wait and watch her. She was so scared and just couldn't settle down. More than anything she was mad that they had me monitor attached to her feet! She started hallucinating, in Spanish of all things! Talking about monsters and worms. Around 12:30 (5 hours later) she completely settled down and you could tell the medicine had worked it's way out. They wanted to keep her over night, just in case. She woke up that morning, perfectly normal. The doctor assured us that she was fine and there was no damage done. I think I can safely say it was the scariest moments of my life. I definitely am not up for "Mom of the Year" for 2008! I felt horrible and am so grateful that she was okay. Thanks to everyone who helped out.

5. My grandpa George passed away. George was the father of my step-dad, Chris. He was a great man and I admired him in many ways. He was 88 and died in his sleep. Bart, Malia, Aly (my cousin), and I all drove back to Iowa last Wednesday to attend the funeral. 20 hour drives and being pregnant- not a good combination. The funeral went well and it was great to see family. It even worked out that we got to attend my cousin Ashley's (on my dad's side)wedding. We packed a lot into a few days and got back into town on Sunday.

So there you have it. The major events in the Mata home. Some scary, some happy, some sad. We got it all! These next few weeks will be crazy hectic while we hurry and pack up our home. A task I am not looking forward too! Thanks to all of you who have been so supportive during all of this. I am so grateful to family and friends who are so good to us.

An "Agua" Video

Here is a video from our trip to Lagoon a couple of weeks ago. It's of Malia playing in the water fountain at the entrance of the park. It is about 2 minutes and nothing terribly exciting happens. Maybe only the grandma's will have patience to watch it in it's entirety. Nonetheless, I love watching her and thought it was adorable. We have had a challenging week in the Mata home and are just grateful to have Malia in our lives. It I feel up to it later, I may fill you all in on the Mata drama. Just know she is doing okay. She is an amazing little girl and I love her with all of my heart.

A Day at Lagoon

Last week David's company party was a day for the whole family at Lagoon (an amusement park near Salt Lake City). There were lots of rides for Malia. We spent most of the day hanging out with the Caley Family. Bart and David took off for a bit to ride the bigger stuff. I think the definite highlight for Malia was playing in the water at the end. They also provided free dinner. Good Times! Thanks Alpine!