a dream realized-a doctorate achieved

I still can't believe I am writing about this monumental event in our lives. Josh finished school and is officially Dr. Mathews! First of all we want to give praise to the Lord as it is only by His grace that we are finished. And second I cannot describe to you the feeling of joy and pride towards my husband as he crossed the stage to receive his hood and become officially graduated. It was a weekend of remembering the past 4 and half years of our life here in SF. With all of the highs and lows of Josh balancing life and babies with a  commitment towards school and his degree.
The feeling I would use to describe this weekend was a sense of reality of what this means and a sense of unity that Josh and I have walked together towards a long term goal and seen the Lord grow us as a couple and family in the midst of it. I felt a part of the degree in a way. Don't get me wrong, Josh has done all of the academic work and writing to be at this point and I am so proud of his tenacity and faith in God to work so hard at something for so long with such quality. I truly admire your desire to do all things well and with excellence, Josh.
It was so special to have so many of Josh's family here celebrating with us and cheering him on. It was great for me to think how they have seen the journey from the start when he first went to Multnomah Bible College then Wheaton and then Golden Gate. I think my favorite picture in my mind that will stay with me is the HUGE smile on Josh's face as he shook Dr. Iorg and Dr. Melick's hand  with a true look of joy and excitement to be done.
It is good to celebrate this amazing event with family and close friends. We are so thankful for God's faithfulness!
Josh, Jon, and Drew--friends we have grown close to through the years and 7 kids among us

 family pic--i love how distinguished Josh is with his blue and yellow and Scottish style hat

 Trying to get Hallel to crack a smile

 The celebrators

 My dear friend Shannon (Drew's wife) who moved in the same time as us after coming from their honeymoon

 "Dr. Joshua George Mathews"

 Josh with one of his mentors and boss Dr. Melick, an amazing man of God

 Sleepy kids after graduation and excited parents

 Sara, Christy, Elizabeth, Mom and Dad Mathews all here to support and celebrate

Job well done Josh! We are so proud of you!!!!!

oh November, how we remember...

November was definitely one of those months that was jammed packed with excitement and flew by in a flash. Here are just a few highlights in picture.
Playing with glow sticks, they are a blast in the bathtub!

 Josh trying out his ETS bag after a week of intense lectures and meetings in downtown SF

 Cutest books I've ever seen

 Time to break out the warm jammies (thanks Grandma)!

 Thanksgiving friends

 The kids had a blast

 And so did the adults (my good friend Elizabeth is due 10 days before me with a girl too)

 LuLu and her sweet girls joined the Thanksgiving day festivities

Peppermint cheesecake to die for

 A quick date and piece of cheesecake to split snuck in one night

 Tree decorations

 The kids are having soooo much fun this Christmas with all the hoopla

 A concentrated little decorater

 Helping momma

 Check out that baby belly

 Final product! Sorry Josh no pics. He gets all the credit for picking out this perfect tree

 Laundry basket fun

 Here we come December! Much more fun to be had and celebrated!

10 weeks and counting....

What do you do when you are really pregnant and can't sleep much? Of course, get up and write a blog about it. Ha! 

This Wednesday I will make the 30 week mark. So thankful this process is getting closer. Nine months of life is a very long time. Honestly, this pregnancy seems quite similar to the other two so far. I was so proud of myself for making it a month longer than with Simeon before hearing the "you're gonna pop" comment. I definitely feel like i'm gonna pop most days but since my babies like to hibernate I doubt it.

It is great to have the Holidays as a distraction. There is nothing like a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to make me stop and realize how blessed I am and how my family is truly a gift from God and one that I don't deserve. 

It will be so fun to see how baby #3 fits into this little family. 

Here are some pictures of my little blessings goofing off as usual.

Aunt Sara

About a week ago now our family was blessed by a special trip from Aunt Sara (Josh's sister) to our little home. It was a great time and of course went way to fast. The kids loved every minute of it from the anticipation of her coming to the moment we drive her back to the airport.
It is becoming a tradition to make a "countdown" for special events in our family. So we certainly had one this time. The first day and a half the kids had Aunt Sara all to themselves while Josh and I were able to attend a Love & Respect Marriage video conference.
Side note: this conference was sooo good and if you live in the bay area they are doing a live conference in SF (Castro Valley) on February 3-4 (loveandrespect.com). It very affordable and is worth every penny at any stage of marriage!!!! So there is my plug and I really mean it:)
Thank you Aunt Sara!
It was so wonderful to have her here for almost a week of sunshine. We took a huge walk to the spit, went to the Discovery Museum, went to Half Day Cafe for breakfast, shopped Trader's and Safeway in one morning with both kids and no meltdown's:), read TONS of books, and played and played. I don't know if the kids were more spoiled having so much extra attention or if I was just having a sweet sister to help with the kids and do stuff with.
One of my favs was Simeon bonding with his Aunt and yelling Sarra, Sarra, just to get her attention and then say, HI! And Hallel making up a song and singing SAN FRANSISCO on the way to the airport for Sara.
The best news is that we will see her and more family in less than a month!!!

The "countdown"

 the book "playground"

 reading stories together

 1st In n out experience for Sara

 french fry groupie

 breakfast fun

 being silly at the playground

we love you Aunt Sara

costumes and carvings

Last year the kids were crying their eyes out because they didn't want to be dressed up in cute, adorable, stuffy, hot costumes. Seriously, I would have probably cried too.

But this year the kids were so excited and loved it. Although, I am not sure if Simeon had more fun wearing his costume or Josh had more fun getting him ready. Hard to say:)
Hallel had her nails and toes painted for the first time and hair curled and Simeon had egg cartons and socks for padding. He just kept saying, "football" the whole night.
The next night Josh decided to carve the pumpkin for them. It was good times this October.