Happy Christmas!

We have had yet another exciting year full of joy and change.  The biggest being the addition of Ferdinand Oliver to our family and coming in a close second, moving across the country to the DC metro area!  We had no idea at the beginning of last year that either blessing would occur :)  

Most of the year was spent in Sacramento, enjoying our close knit group of moms, kiddos and their dads. We also went hiking and exploring quite often in CA, we went to Texas for the MS 150 (Dad's bike race) and got to go to Disney World with the Jones side of the family.  After we found out we were moving, we took some last minute trips to Tahoe and the coast and then Orson and I headed for TX and Nathan's wedding, while Matt wrapped up the packing of our house and then drove cross country with his Dad and everything we owned.

The move has been wonderful for Matt and his work.  He stayed with the same company but is now working out of their headquarters in Fairfax, VA.  He is lucky to be working with his old boss and coworkers from when we lived in Louisiana. 

Orson is slowly settling in but still constantly asks where his friends from CA are and when we are going to see them.  He is in love with his baby brother and calls him his best friend all the time.  Orson starts preschool next week which I think will go a long way to help him find new friends and get settled in. We have also met up with one of Matt's old neighbors who (along with her three kids and husband) is proving to be an awesome new friend.

 Celebrating his second birthday and hanging out with friends

 So much change in one year.  He has turned into a wonderful, challenging, adventurous, loving kid.

I've been busy packing and unpacking, preparing for and having baby, and trying to make some friends of my own.  We were blessed to find midwives who were willing to take us at the last minute and we were thus able to have the home birth we originally planned.  I am so thankful for the ability to be home for Ferdinand's birth and my recovery. He arrived on the 2nd of Nov weighing in at 9lbs, 22 inches about a month after we moved into our house.  He has been a talkative and alert baby from the start and we are overjoyed to have him.  Mothering two boys is going to keep me busy but I'm sure it will be fun. 

 

Mother's Day in Monterey

 Pregnant in DC

 Ferdinand Oliver

We were also blessed by the relatively quick short sale our house in CA, with minimum issues and bank demands, we are so thankful to have the house off of our hands in this down economy.  The place we are renting here in VA is beautiful and has enough room for all of us, plus Matt's Dad who joined us out here.  The car accident and all the legal mayhem that went along with that is also finally over and we are all thankful to be able to regulate that to the past.  We are enjoying having 4 seasons (with the first snow fall already happening in October!) and all the educational and recreational experiences that the DC area has to offer are keeping us all busy.  As is the steady and welcome stream of visitors that have come out to meet Ferdinand and see our new home.

Grandpa Jones and Tia Sofie

 

Orson's best friend Lucy

 Grandma and Grandpa Pat

 

Auntie Annie

Even though our life seems to be constantly changing and taking unexpected turns, the blessings and experiences that those turns give us truly awe and amaze us each year.  We love never knowing quite what to expect next in life and we also love knowing that the love of our family and friends is with us where ever we end up.  God is truly good in all of his ways and doubt and worry should have no place in our hearts. 

Wishing everyone a blessed and merry Christmas and a truly joyous and adventurous New Year.

The Ewalts

Matt, Kim, Orson and Ferdinand.