Are you ready for this? MONSTER BLOG UPDATE!!!

Alright, so much has gone on lately - I could chop it up into different posts, but heck - I'm throwing it all into one! We have had a great past week - really an awesome past YEAR - but before I get to that, we'll start with Halloween! Matthew was a little blue monster, and what a cute monster he was. He was such a champ - he was dressed in the costume Thursday & Friday evenings, and didn't seem to mind at all. We had a costume party with our Growth Group on Thursday, all the kids were adorable. Then Friday we went trick or treating - a few houses in our neighborhood, a few houses in my old neighborhood, a few in Josh's old neighborhood, visited Josh's brother & fiancee and Matthew's great aunt & uncle. A lot of driving around -but Matthew seemed to have a good time :-)

NEXT was Matthew's 1st birthday party! Josh and I slaved away the day before, prepping the house, making electric guitar cookies, hanging streamers, making a cake and cupcakes - then the day arrived and we had so much fun. We are blessed with our friends; they made Matthew's day so special. There are just a few pics here - we were too busy enjoying the party, but Grandpa & friends got pics that I'm sure I'll see soon - I might have to update the post later ;-) One of the pictures, however, is of Matthew's dedication, performed by JD Larson at North Coast Church. It was really special.
Finally - Matthew turned one this past Monday, on November 3rd, a day full of fun and reminiscing over the past year. Each day has been full of surprises - most of them fun, some challenging, but all a wonderful. It's amazing how much he's grown and developed, astonishing that only a year ago he was brand spankin' new. I love being Matthew's mom! Okay, enough gushing - we celebrated by taking Matthew to the zoo. He really seemed to enjoy the animals, and we really enjoyed being with him. Here are the highlights:

My brother, Matthew's Uncle Greg, flew in yesterday to be here for Matthew's birthday. We're celebrating with family later this week. It's been great to see him again - it's been awhile, and Matthew has changed so much. I feel so blessed to have the family and friends I have - I love you all! It's been an awesome past week, and year - I can't see what is in store for the year to come!

PS - to make a long post even longer, here's a cute video to share :-)