Meet Mat

Picture taken with Little Man and Kiwi last summer at a splash park

Spells his name with just one t (named after our Great Grandpa Mathews)

Is the only member of my family who I could potentially share a hat with (although Mason and Little Man are well on their way to joining us in the elite big headed group)

Is adored (borderline idolized in Little Man's case) by my children

Reminds me a lot of myself except for the cooler male version

Is my second to youngest baby brother

Used to cry when he lost board games

Is a state champion

Has just been called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Vladivostok, Russia!

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, my parents and all the siblings were able to witness him opening his call with Skype. Have you ever tried doing Skype with twelve people on, one person on speaker phone (Mike calling from work) and a freshman apartment plus a couple of friends who were hanging out on Mat's end? We had about fifteen minutes where we were all on before he opened it (he was waiting for a friend to get there). The result was a lot of talking, noise, excitement, and Little Man putting his face right up to our web cam yelling "Best Skype EVER!!!" Which it was. My dad was giving instructions to the grandkids here and in DC via web cam about the importance of being absolutely silent when the call was read. I kept thinking it was time and putting Mike on and off of speaker phone while he was working and waiting to hear. And finally it was the moment. He opened it up, read the words and we heard a "You are hereby called to serve in Vla mumble mumble Russia. Then everyone was cheering and trying to ask where in Russia he was going, but the reason we had heard mumble mumble is because he wasn't sure how to say it (soon enough Matty-O, soon enough). And then about two minutes after he opened it, Skype dropped all of our video feeds. I'm not sure why, but I'm glad it wasn't five minutes earlier because that might have given my mom a heart attack.

Anyways, we are all very excited and proud of him and I know wikipedia and google earth got a couple extra hits last night as we all tried to figure out where exactly he would be spending the next two years.

Love you Mat!!!