HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY MATTHEW!!

Today is my hubby's 30th birthday!! I am married to an old man now! I should be careful of what I say...I only have 1 more year myself. I had a big Angels baseball surprise party planned for a couple of weeks ago, but Matthew decided to go to a racquetball tournament in Coos Bay, OR that same weekend I had it planned. I tried to keep him from going, but knew he would have rather gone to the tournament than had a big surprise party...if you know Matthew, he is not one that likes all the attention on himself:) There was no other available weekend to have it, so instead I had to settle with a small family surprise party yesterday. Thankfully Matthew had no idea and when he came home from work yesterday, we surprised him pretty good. He was blessed and had a great time with family. He got an XBox 360 which he was excited and surprised to get. I always told him no way in the past, but I thought for his 30th birthday he can be spoiled. So today he took the day off work and we will be spending the day in our pajamas learning to play XBox!
I am so thankful to the Lord for bringing Matthew into my life. He is the love of my life and my best friend. I am so proud to be his wife and appreciate all that he does for our family. He is a wonderful husband and the best Daddy to our boys. He loves the Lord with all his heart and leads our family in the ways of the Lord...I couldn't ask for anything more! I am blessed by you Matthew and pray that the Lord would continue to reveal Himself to you this year. May you draw closer to Him and more in love with Him.
I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART!! HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY!!
SURPRISE!!
Matthew opening his new XBOX 360
His birthday cheesecake
Dadda and his boys

Racquetball Weekend

Well, this is how we spent our Valentine's Day this weekend...at a racquetball tournament! Matthew played in a racquetball tournament in Grants Pass, OR. Since Grants Pass is only half an hour away from my parents, we stayed with them all weekend, which was a blessing. Matthew's father, Chuck, and our brother-in-law Levi also played in the tournament. Saturday, Matthew had a big break in his schedule, so we were able to go out to lunch and spend some good time with each other and the boys, so our Valentine's Day was very nice. Because of the boys, I was only able to watch a few of Matthew's games, but he played very well and ended up with third place in the Open division. Good job Baby!
I wasn't able to get great pictures of Matthew playing because we were not allowed to take pictures with the flash during the games, so I had to settle for pictures of him warming up before he played

Here is Jake just dying to get out there and play on the courts
The gym in Grants Pass is the nicest gym I have ever seen. They have this huge Kids Zone for the kids to play in. It is like a big Chuck E Cheese with balls and slides. So the boys had a good time playing in there. Here is Benjamin playing in the balls.
We woke up Saturday morning to snow at my parent's house. Jake and I went out in our pajamas and played in the snow. Here is a picture of Jake and our baby snowman we made.

God's Beautiful Creation

Today we decided to go on a nature walk through the redwoods on one of the trails here in Crescent City. We are definentley spoiled here with the beauty of God's creation! March will be 3 years that we have been up here now and sometimes I have to just stop and look at the beautiful creation around me because it is easy to get used to it and take it for granted. We have the beautiful ocean 2 minutes from us and the awesome redwoods just about 10 minutes from us.

We were on our way home last night from my parent's home in Cave Junction and Matthew's parents were with us. We were talking about how it was totally the Lord who had to work on my heart for a few years before I was able to be obedient to Him and move up here. Whenever Matthew and I would come up here for vacation to visit his parents, I would be so afraid that he would want to move up here that I did not enjoy the beauty of this place. I would never admit to him that it was such a beautiful place. I would only tell him how awful it would be to live here because there is nothing here. It made us all laugh last night talking about it. How silly I was. The Lord is good though and I am so glad I was obedient to His calling us up here. Looking at the redwoods today just reminded me of His handiwork and His absolute beautiful creation! Here are a few pictures of the sights around us here...maybe it will get some of you Southern California people up here...at least to visit us!
This was today on our walk in the redwoods. Can you believe the size of this redwood trunk?
This is the Smith River after it had snowed. We had to stop and take a picture on Christmas when we were on the way to my parents in Cave Junction because it was just too pretty!
This is a picture at Pebble Beach with the lighthouse in the background near our home
This is a natural bridge in Brookings, Oregon about half an hour from our home. This spot looks fake it is so clear and beautiful!