Homemade Crawfish Boil

As you've likely read by now, Matt and I like cooking special foods every few weeks.

So for the first time, I bought live crawfish at my local market and we had a good old-fashioned crawfish boil on our kitchen table

I really enjoy most seafood, and I really really enjoy eating crawfish! I've eaten it a few times before and enjoy how interactive it is. I think Josiah might have wanted to play with the crawdads too :)  

San Antonio!

Matt and I recently went to San Antonio to help Matt's Dad at a car auction.

Matt Josiah and I had a good time looking at the unique vehicles!

What we didn't realize....FIESTA was going on at the same time in San Antonio. So to the Riverwalk we went!

Josiah continues to do well on all of our short trips...as long as he gets a heavy does of playtime!

Saturday morning we had brunch at the botanical gardens of San Antonio and the view was gorgeous!

Little man was amused at the table...staring at his arms apparently :)

In other news, I would like to recommend some of the most solid Bible teaching I have ever heard. If you click on Truth for Life by Alistair Begg, it will take you to a website where you can listen to teachings on bible passages. Having listened to these teachings for sometime, I can highly recommend them to you. The preacher/pastor himself is not what is special (though his humor does make listening enjoyable), but its the power and simplicity of the gospel that is prevalent in his messages. I hope you will check it out and start listening.

One last thing that I had to share...

Matt is chewing gum! In all the time that we've dated and been married, I have never seen him chew gum. Picture worthy....oh yeah.

Pictures

Nobody can deny that he's his father's son!

When I see this picture, it makes me think of the Godfather :)

We took a rest stop on one of our recent trips and tried to put sunglasses on the boy.

Josiah has quite the personality and loves being played with and talked to

It's all Greek to me!

Matt loves different kinds of food and one of his favorites is Greek cuisine. So a few Mondays ago we made an entire Greek meal, complete with chicken/veggie kabobs, hummus, homemade pita bread, and for dessert.... baklava.

This is baklava. Which is what Matt calls his new favorite dessert!

Baklava is a Mediterranean dessert made with phyllo dough, honey and pecans. So Yummy!

Homemade Hummus Dip! (What's not pictured is also the homemade pita bread!)

This was the veggie kabob, Matt was busy preparing the chicken kabob.

Success! Matt and I try to make an extra special meal at least every other week. So be looking for more posts about upcoming food nights.


In other news: Matt caught 2 baby cottontails in our back-yard while mowing the weekend before Easter, but sadly we let them go back into the wild :)

How does your garden grow?

Spring is here and we are super excited to start our garden.

Matt and I found a neat gardening technique in our local coop magazine called "Keyhole Gardening" and we wanted to try it this year. It was developed for South African climate to help conserve water, use leftover kitchen scraps and is supposed to be a very efficient garden type.

Matt and a few helpers have contributed to building the structure of the garden, made from recycled concrete chunks and mortar.

I have started our seedlings in the house and some of them have grown so much already! I planted spinach, squash, peppers and green beans so far. Look at how they have grown!

Not only have my plants grown, but little man is also growing at a fast pace. At Josiah's last Dr's appointment (2 months old), I found out he was a whopping 12 lbs already. Dr was quite impressed at how alert he is---as are we! He has been so much fun. Here are some recent snapshots of him.

J's first ride in a swing!

Josiah loves his jumper at home. Thank you Aguirre family!

In other news, Matt and I went for a mini vacation to the Texas State Railroad, and Josiah did so well on the trip! He enjoyed looking out the windows and trying to focus on the trees as they whizzed by.

More than anything...I've experienced growth this past year. Matt and I celebrated our one year anniversary over a week ago and already I have seen the Lord do amazing things in me, in Matt and for His Glory. Watching things grow is so rewarding!

El Sol

El Sol De Mexico is one of our favorite restaurants in Bryan. You can't beat the value. $2.75 for a full Breakfast plate that is traditional Mexican food. Scramble eggs and bacon, beans, tortillas and hash browns. If Matt and I weren't trying to lose the added 'baby weight', we'd eat here every Saturday.

Matt and I enjoy finding local mom-and-pop restaurants.

Josiah is here!

That's right. We are parents. Josiah was born January 6, 2012, 7lbs 9oz and 20.5" long. And as the one carrying him, I was happy to find out as a first time parent, that babies do, in fact, come out. I was beginning to wonder if he was just going to stay in there. A great lesson in patience, eh?

As you all know, we are very excited to be blessed with this child. The chance to be parents, and have the joy of this little one being here is something the Lord himself has put within us. Maybe we're naive (we haven't gotten to the walking stage yet, or the dreaded teenage years), yet we trust the Lord to know that His plans for us are good. Good and challenging, but always good. His word says that "Children are a gift of the Lord" (Psalm 127:3) and "blessed is the man (and woman) whose quiver is full of them" (Psalm 127:5). We are seeking the Lord how to raise him to be pleasing to God, and though we may have many nights without sleep, frustrations with crying and whining, and difficulties disciplining him, we look forward to it, knowing "that the testing of our faith produces endurance" (James 1:3).

I love the question that most people ask around a newborn, "Who does he look like?", trying to see the resemblances the child bears of either parent. Some have very definitive opinions of which parent the child looks the most like, some may not, but almost everyone is thinking this. So much so like the truth of how we, even as adults, look like our father. 

We have resemblances of our father. Which one is yours? 

Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word."You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8: 42-44

"The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked." I John 2:4-6

Children of God are to walk accordingly. Now don't get me wrong. I thought I was a believer for many years, because I knew the right answers and walked according to my own self-righteous deeds, but since coming to faith in Christ---Christ himself has made me to look more and more like him. He has done the work, I am just supposed to be obedient to what His word says. And why do I do it? Am I trying to look more like my father? Well yes, but I'm not trying to earn it. It's because I love Him. When Matt and I were dating, I remember him serving me in so many ways. I once came out to find him washing my car--why?---because he loved me. 

I pray that as someone who has been found by God, rescued in his grace, that I would daily look more like him. And not just in appearance to appease my pride. But that as he grows grace in my heart as a wife and mom, as a neighbor, as so many other positions...  that I would be conformed into his likeness (Romans 8:29).

Josiah is being used by the Lord to teach me biblical truths already. But sadly, even though Josiah has two parents that the Lord has redeemed by his grace, that does not automatically make him a christian. Yes, he will come to church with us, already has in fact. Will he grow up knowing the bible? Yes, as well, as memorizing many hymns and christian worship songs. But as great as it is with him growing up in a home that is seeking the Lord, the Lord himself will have to make his heart new just like he did with Matt and I. I am already having to remember that he is the "cutest little sinner I know". 

Please be praying for us as we transition to this new stage of our lives. For Matt and I as husband and wife, to walk in unity and for the glory of God in our marriage. For us as parents and being humbled in this responsibility, For Josiah, that he would grow to be a man that walks with God, and loves the Lord with all his heart, soul and mind. 

Here are just some recent snap shots that we've taken. They grow so fast so you have to take pictures practically everyday right?

Thank you friends and family for being apart of our new life :)