It's a wrap

So this is it. Today is the last day of 2009 and what a year it has been. The most impactful memory of course was the birth of our second son, Ethan Josiah on 07/07 (9 days late). We had our little guy at home, yet still many things did not go according to plan, for one our wonderful midwife did not quite get here in time. Luckily he made his debut before my mom had to fly home again, so that was a huge blessing. Nonetheless, he was born at 8:13am at a healthy 8 pounds 2 ounces and he was beautiful. Life has been wonderfully changed and the last 6 months have been quite the whirlwind. Thank you Jesus for this gift.
It is funny to think back since the pregnancy and arrival of Ethan have overshadowed so much in this past year. Another wonderful happening in 2009 was Zander's accomplishment of being completely potty trained in 2.5 days. Man oh man, I was dreading this for some reason and it turned out to be just fine :)
We have also experienced God's continued promise for our business this past year and he proved to be faithfull every step of the way. We had some times were I was not quite sure how it would turn out, but faith and obedience walked us through those tough times as well. Thank you God for that.
This past year also marked the beginning of Living Waters Lacey Regal Campus, and as a family we decided to serve at this campus. It has been miraculous to watch the campus grow and God move through those movie theater seats.
Well to be honest these are the moments that stick out to me the most. I am 100% certain that I have forgotten some wonderful things and I will most likely remember them as soon as I post this entry, ooh well.
To say the least, 2009 has been a great year for the Matthews Family. A great reminder how awesome our God is as well as how much we truly need Him each and every day.
I can't wait to see what 2010 will have in store and how many of my resolutions I will actually keep! ( yes I have a LOT- but that's the topic for the next post)
I am off now to celebrate with some great friends. Have a happy and wonderful new year. I will see you on the other side.

Love & Blessings

Spontaneity

Spontaneity was the theme for this past weekend. I believe that you either hate it or love it and I have discovered for myself this last weekend that I really do love it.
Two nights in a row we just went with the flow and we had a wonderful time. It ended up being a wonderful time of food, friends, fellowship and of course games.
I have to thank my friend Robin for a wonderful "baked potatoe soup" recipe, it turned out fantastic and we ended up having a full house with 6 adults, 5 kids, one baby and two dogs :)
Dinner turned out phenomenal, and we had some great times playing Settlers of Catan and Scottland Yard. Laughter was abundand and I felt the presence of the Lord as we built relationship with one another and I am grateful for the people that the Lord has placed in our lives.
So what about you?? Do you like to be spontaneous, go on a whim or do you prefer to plan a bit or a lot?? Let me know. I would love to hear from you.

Love & Blessings

Christmas and beyond

So here we are on Monday after this glorious Christmas weekend. We had a great Christmas celebration beginning with a wonderful Christmas Eve service at Living Water followed by a nice family dinner. It is so much fun to watch Zander really get excited about gifts and the whole concept of Christmas. Christmas morning was one of those moments were we wished a camera was rolling at all times to capture every fleeting moment. Zander got up and went to check his stocking and the look on his face was simply priceless. Of course the stocking was full that morning and he excitedly announced that Santa had come to HIS house- it melted our hearts!!!

Opening the stocking and the gifts brought many oooohs and aaaahs from our precious 3 year old. One of Zander's new prized possessions is the movie "Cars" and of course we watched it that very morning.

Later that day we continued the celebration at Grammie and Papas house and the favorite gift ended up being some very cool Spiderman winterboots.

It was truly a magical time for us as we got to watch Zanders amazement and joy. As far as our little Ethan goes, he actually openend a couple of his own gifts and of course he was willing to help anybody he could. He loved his toys and all the new things he got to see and touch.

Eric and I both feel that Christmas has taken on a wonderful new life now that we are able to share this joyous time of the year with our kiddos. Praise the Lord for having sent his son in the form of a precious baby boy who would turn out to be the greates gift of all- OUR SAVIOUR!!!!

Love & Blessings

Spaceneedle here we come

So I have lived in Washington state for about 7.5 years now and I have never been to the observation deck of the Seattle Spaceneedle until today!!

We decided to take a trip up north on this beautiful day and part of the agenda was the top of the needle. I admit the ride up is a bit bumpy and questionable (in my opinion) but oh so worth it once you are there. We had wonderful weather and truly stunning 360 degree views of beautiful Seattle and beyond. To top it all off "Space" Santa was visiting and posing for pictures. We did not get any with the kids but captured him nonetheless.

Then off for a quick stop at the fountain-notice the little guy in the picture; crazy. Seattle Center was then topped off with a ride on a very pretty horse on the carousel.

We had a truly wonderful time and a perfect day out before the christmas celebrating begins and sleeping like our little guy is what we would all like to do now :)

Merry Christmas from the top of the needle.

Love and blessings

Blogging here we go!

Today I have made the decision to start a blog for our family. I figured as I have time this would be a fun place to share memories, events and family stories. As I am building this blog I am faced with the realization that I might not have much time for this but figured at the same time that if I took the time to update this blog instead of hanging out on Facebook, then I will be ok.

Today is Monday and in our house this means "Jammie Day". Zander looks forward to these days all day long, as he is just in love with wearing his pjs for clothes. We will be tackling household chores and the rest of Christmas preparations- well hopefully anyway.

Ethan has now entered the stage of being incredibly interactive and would like to be played with, tickled, snuggled, kissed and talked to ALL the time. What precious gift from the Lord, and housework can wait for the enjoyment of these fleeting moments.

That's it for now. Mmh, considering coming up with a clever way to sign of my posts, well lets see if any creative ideas come to mind.

Love & Blessings