Joey meets a dog...

...and yes, it is a dog!

Such a fun wedding!!

The happy couple at their party 2 days before W-Day. Matt's parents hosted a make your own quesadilla party for friends of Aaron and Sarah...after eating we all went out contra dancing (which is the dancing that they had at their wedding).
The best of friends.
Jon Ammons!!
Pretty Bridesmaids! The lovely lady on the left is Layla, Sarah's sister, and on the right, Sarah's matron of honor Allison, who I admire heartily for looking so fantastic in her dress (she has a son the same age as Joey and she looked great!!)

Watching the baby....before the wedding
Matt practices the piano before the ceremony. He wore many hats at this wedding, rotating between pianist, scripture reader, photographer and best man! Check out his website for pictures of the wedding!
Joey was very attentive during the ceremony!
Matt gives the toast at the reception. I did have a video of this but due to my failing computer with no more hard drive space....it was eaten.
It was a really fun time! We are lucky to have such good friends and a great example for our own marriage. I admire so much the way they understand each other's needs and desires. It is very inspirational! Congratulations guys!!

New Years

For some of us...it was hard work staying up for New Year's. But definitely a fun time!

Joey's Buddy

Over the Christmas holiday Matt and I were able to spend New Years with a group of my friends from college. We loved meeting the new babies, Madeline and Kathryn, and Joey had a great time being held, and getting kisses from Kathryn (visit Johnny and Cristen's blog for pictures of that! http://thesinks.blogspot.com/2008/01/kathryn-loves-babies.html)

Joey also enjoyed "playing" pool with my friend Jenny. Oh Jenny....what you really didn't know is that, in fact, Josiah is a pool shark and was just faking being an amateur for the chance to play with a cute girl! If he tries to get you to put money on it next time, watch out!!

Thank you Uncle Rob and Aunt Amanda

These are Joey's new Bobux shoes, made especially for babies feet! You can check them out at http://www.bobuxusa.com/baby_shoes/view_all We think Joey's are so cute!

I love my new Taggie blanket!!

Thank you Becky!

Credit Where Credit is Due

While California has taken some getting used to for Matt and I, there have definitely been some advantages to being here that we are enjoying! I think it's time to highlight some of the positive points of living here!

We've been able to make really great use of Craigslist while we've been here. I know I've mentioned it in many of our blogs. For those of you who are new to craigslist, it is like online classified ads. You can buy or sell a car, or furniture, look for a job, find childcare. Sarah and I even found her wedding dress on it!! (And it was stunning and brand new, might I add) Although all states have craigslist, it originated here in the SF Bay and it is incredible! We have advertised and obtained all of Matt's weddings through the free ads we can put in the events section. We've gotten our furniture and should we need a new car...we'll probably find it on there also.

We have also been lucky enough to find a church home at All Nations Presbyterian Church. Matt has joined the worship team and alternates between playing guitar, keyboard or leading worship. I'm hoping to begin working in the nursery and we've really enjoyed making new friends in the church and enjoying times of good fellowship! Here are some pictures:

We had our friends Mark and Rebecca over Saturday night for dinner. Rebecca is the daughter of our new Pastor, and we have really enjoyed getting to know her and her husband Mark, both teachers. We got to make Matt's famous Sri Lankan curry (our favorite meal to make together!) for the first time in 2 years! mmmmm!
Pineapple curry, Beef curry, Sri Lankan noodles and Roti (bread - not in this picture)
Gotta love the curry!
A picture from our church Christmas party. You can see Joey in the arms of one of our future elders.

California has also brought us closer (although in real distance we still live about as far apart as we did in Santiago) to our friends Jamie and Lexie. It was such a cool thing for God to bless us with a friendship in Chile that we could continue in a place where we didn't know anyone. Jamie and Lexie were/are our first non-family babysitters for Joey (we have gotten to see 2 movies with him in their excellent care!) and we are so blessed by their kindness! They also watched Mocha for us, both in our apartment in Santiago, and here in CA.
(I borrowed this picture of Mocha from their blog. This is from his latest exploration of their house just after Christmas)

And lastly, although I know they'll be more (blessings) to come, we have to give the state some credit for delivering our little CA baby. We had a great hospital, great nurses, great experience. It almost didn't sink in, even after we had a birth certificate that said Berkeley, CA, but our boy will always be from California. Sounds a little wild to a couple of east-coasters, but I'm sure he (and we, in time) will grow to love it.




A little bit more exciting news on the west coast/California front... Matt's brother Rob just was accepted to a residency program at UCLA and he and his wife Amanda will be moving to Los Angeles, where I will be visiting so that Amanda and I can go to Starbucks and wait around for stars to come and get their coffee! Now if that's not exciting than I don't know what is! Congratulations Rob!

Blah Blah California Blah

Granted...I could probably blame anything on California at this point BUT the traffic here is OUT OF CONTROL!! We knew when we arrived that it was going to be insane....people flying by you on the interstate, doing, let's say 95 mph! Seriously, sometimes, seriously!

So, on Tuesday night as Matt and I were enjoying some time together with Joey, driving to a fish store to pick out some accessories for Matt's new tank, we were rear ended. Tell you what, I have been rear-ended before, but this was HARD! The (nice-but irresponsible) offender was lost/visiting in the area, and talking on her cell phone. She must have been looking down or away because she didn't even tap the brakes. Matt saw at the last second in the rear-view mirror as she crashed into us and pushed us into the car in front of us. (We were stopped at a red light)

So aside from being pretty badly shaken up, we are o.k. Matt fared the worst, by unfortunately, seeing the crash a split second before it happened, he thinks he tensed up. His back is hurting now. He stayed home from work yesterday and has tried to take many breaks at work today to rest his back. Joey, it seems is o.k. He cried alot when it happened, and it was scary to look at the backseat, his pacifier was somehow almost wedged under the car seat, and the toys that had been on his lap were all over the car.

Poor Moby (Matt's car) has been better. The bumper is all cracked and the car frame kinda compressed or something. We couldn't close a door at first and all of them now close with difficulty...some with lots of difficulty. State Farm has been great and we're hoping to have it all figured out soon, but please keep us (and especially Matt's back) in your prayers. Accidents are always awful and scary, even when they aren't your fault. We definitely feel very blessed to all be o.k. and to have a safe car that could withstand a serious impact.

(As I was typing this Matt looked over and said "Tell them that lady was going frickin FAST and she never hit the brakes!" It's true, she was. Her airbag even deployed. She plowed right into us!)

And my CA complaint(s) finally... I see so SO many people driving who are talking on the phone or WORSE, texting. So sad. People, come on. People drive WAY too fast, all the time! When we called for help 911 was BUSY, and the police officer gave us a really hard time about exchanging info with the lady who hit us. He practically pushed us off the scene saying "You don't need to do that, all the information will be in the report." Blah Blah Blah report.... did we get a report....oh no! He gave us a little piece of paper with his number and our case number on it, and we get home and read, "To obtain a copy of the report send date, time, officer's i.d. number etc. and $10.00 to the California Highway Patrol! WHAT???!! Someone hits us, and WE have to pay $10 to get the information that the officer wouldn't let us exchange on the scene.

Matt and I are going to go plot our return to civilization now.

I'm 4 Months Old!!

Tuesday Josiah was 4 months old. He is growing so fast and doing so many different things now. He loves to babble and seems like he really thinks we are having conversations. He smiles and laughs easily and is usually in a pretty good mood. He enjoys standing and sitting the most and is starting to tolerate being on his stomach for a little while, (although usually when I look back he has flipped onto his back). He is very good at getting things into his mouth and can often find a thumb to suck, (but more often it is several fingers or a whole fist). He is napping and sleeping well and eating...lots. He has enough hair that I can brush it into a little faux-hawk :-) and that, I think, is very cute!

So...here is a little clip and pictures to celebrate his 4 month milestone. As far as our family celebration, we enjoyed Joey's 1/3 birthday with a car accident!... but that's a story for tomorrow's blog.




Who needs to buy a fancy baby carrier??

Some Christmas Pictures

Matt and I celebrate Christmas together the night before we leave for Asheville.
Mocha celebrates Christmas with us!
Cute new hat from the Beardsley Grandparents!
Proud Grandpa!
Slowly starting to not hate being on my tummy....
Playing with Great-Grandma!
Little friend.....lots of hair!!
Rocking with my great-Grandma!
My newest skill...
Lots of lovely women cooing over me...what more could you ask for?

Well there are many more pictures and some cool videos to come, BUT, these are coming from the Mac, and I don't know how to get to my movies from here, so it'll be another day or two. Happy New Year!

So much excitement....so little time to write about it!

Well Matt and I are enjoying a fun Holiday Season on the east coast! We arrived on the 23rd of December (after 2 delayed flights!)...really we were lucky to have arrived on the right day, so many flights were delayed. The baby was wonderful on the planes and seemed to adjust quickly to the new time zone. We enjoyed a relaxing evening and a fun Christmas Eve and Christmas day filled with showing our cutie off at church, Beardsley family traditions like Christmas eve waffles and the Cajun Night Before Christmas. We visited with Matt's Grandparents who came to Asheville and all worked our way through Christmas Day with baby (open present, feed baby, open present, baby naps, etc....)

In the days following Christmas we have visited friends in Harrisonburg, and Family and Friends in Winchester, VA and Northern Virginia. We enjoyed a great 4 days with my parents (and even got out for an evening to see a movie!). On New Year's eve we went to a get-together with some of my friends from college and got to visit with some more babies! Afterward we visited with my grandparents and more family in Winchester and are now back in Asheville for Aaron and Sarah's wedding. I have so many fun pictures and videos to share but they will have to come a little later!!