Goodrich Greetings!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

2008-12-23T22:45:00.000-08:00

Greetings to you this Christmas! For many of you this may be the only communication we've had this year, and we hope this serves to update you on our goings-on. Hopefully in the New Year we'll be able to truly connect the old fashioned way (you know, in person!).

Nathaniel turned 2 back in February and one of his favorite things to do now is tell everyone what to do. He is extremely curious about how things work and is becoming quite independent. He loves helping Daddy fix things around the house and helps Mama cook in the kitchen. He has not mastered the art of the potty (arg...) but hopefully he'll have a change of heart about that soon. (Why bother taking the time to stop the fun things you're doing when you can just take it with you.) :) Nate is a very sensitive kid who loves being around people and watching over his brother. He loves to color and has recently taken up water painting. He has also begun to identify what letter starts a word by the sound it makes, and loves playing the ABC car game.

Jacob turned 1 in March and has definitely transitioned from a baby to a toddler. :( This makes Mama miss baby things! Jacob's favorite word now is, "no." Thankfully, he poses his answer in the form of a question so he sounds really cute when he responds negatively. Jake is our snugly lover. If Mama is around he still wants to come sit on her lap and then take off after his brother. Nana says he doesn't have enough sense for as smart as he is~ he'll try anything if Nate is doing it, regardless of his current abilities. Jacob is our courageous little man who loves getting dirty. The kid is built like a tank too. He weighs as much as Nate does and is almost as tall. When we take them out people always ask if they're twins. (Maybe that's because Mama dresses them alike?!) Jake has begun coloring, although he still finds eating the crayons more enjoyable than their intended purpose. He loves to run around the house and do "big jumps" off the couch like his brother. Jacob has the sweetest smile and cutest giggle (can we say that) when he's having a good time, but boy... you'll know if he's upset. Bapa has nicknamed him, "Howler Monkey!"

Amy had a fun 30th birthday back in September at the Palisade Restaurant. She loves being a full time mommy. Her favorite part of being a mom is seeing Nate and Jake learn new things whether it be intellectual or physical. It's amazing to watch them grow. She also enjoys getting out of the house every once in a while to work for the Highline School District.

John had his 30th birthday just a week & 1/2 ago. We held a birthday/Christmas party for friends and family. What a magical night... it snowed! He still works for Alaska Airlines as a Manager of Customer Operations and loves it. We are so thankful that his schedule will be more regular next year with predictable days off. Thank you, Lord!

We are involved in our church, Highline Christian, and love it. Pastor Tim Knight and his wife Jane have been such a blessing. Currently they lead a small group in our home for young married couples. It's been wonderful gleaning from their insights and wisdom. From the pulpit, Pastor Tim is truly gifted and a joy to sit under. Please come visit if you don't have a church home! :) Amy is teaching Nate's Sunday school class and is able to muster enough energy once a week to handle 10 toddlers (with help). She does need an afternoon nap on Sundays though!

Our hope this Christmas is that you will come to recognize the true meaning of Christmas and live for Him in this New Year. What a joy it is to be a servant of the King! Many blessings to you in 2009.

With love,

The Goodrich Family

Our trip to Paradise (Jake got car sick the way up... and down!)

Nate loves a good party! And blowing out candles (sorry Lukas)!

One of the few times we were all able to get together!
(No one called in sick for this gathering!) :)

Jacob walking against the wind in the snow

Nate and Daddy posing in the snow

Happy Birthday Amy!

2008-10-01T18:35:00.000-07:00

Amy turned the big "three-oh" back on September 29th. We dined with some friends at the Palisade Restaurant down on the waterfront. Thanks to all who could celebrate with us! (and to those who couldn't make it) - John

Train Trip

2008-09-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

The family just recently took a trip along the Mt. Rainier foothills on a scenic railroad trip. It was so much fun and the boys loved it (when they weren't sleeping). We also drove up to Paradise and had a picnic along the side of the road. A hungry wild fox came boldly to eat our scraps so we left in a hurry. :) One other note about this trip... Jacob threw up 3 times because he was car sick. Poor baby! I forgot how windy the road to Paradise was.

ALOHA!

2008-04-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

OK, so John and I want to find a way to move permanently to paradise. It was so hard to leave Kauai. Oh, my gosh, Hawaii was incredible! We swam, hiked, kayaked, snorkeled, and most importantly... laid out in the sun. What was that? Oh, yeah. THE SUN!!!!!!! It's the big, orange warm thing up in the sky. (That was for those of you that have forgotten. I had!). Here are some pics. Mom and dad went with us and it was part business so we didn't get the full 7 days to play, but it was enough to make us want to go back. Kinda like those chocolate-covered Macadamia nuts, once you've eaten one you just mow down the whole box of yummy goodness. :) The kids stayed with Auntie Rachel. "Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

~Eme and Keoni

Cara, this one's for you!!! :)

2008-03-04T16:54:00.000-08:00

Because we share an undying love of Easter candy, I had to blog about it for Cara.
Seriously, it's the best! It tragically only comes around once a year. But now's the time to enjoy. So go ahead...
Eat all you want because you won't see it again for another 12 months.

Hello!

2008-02-28T15:32:00.000-08:00

Yeah, it's been a while again. I won't post pictures today, but I'll be back. I was too busy during nap time reading my other friends' blogs that I'm not going to have time to do anything fancy to mine and get any laundry done today. :) As an update, my part time job with the Highline School District is going really well. We are really thankful for that job just because of how incredibly flexible it is around the kids' and John's schedule.
We love our church, Highline Christian, and we're finishing up soccer season with them in the next few weeks. A young adults (25-35- Isn't that just adults? I don't consider myself young anymore!!!) group is starting up called WALK and we should be able to fellowship with people our age provided we can get babysitting for TUE Bible study, biweekly THUR night WALK Bible study, FRI soccer games, and then of course any other babysitting for Mommy Daddy dates.
Nate just had his second birthday on Saturday and I'll post pics when I get them off my camera. Jake turns 1 next month. And I'm getting gray hairs! :)
All right, time to figure out what's for dinner and fold laundry.

~Amy

New Year's Day Open House

2008-01-04T15:20:00.000-08:00

We had a fun time hosting a New Year's Day open house. Here are a couple photos of the guys watching football while the girls are playing with all the kids. A bunch of us also played Apples to Apples which dad Cowden got for Christmas.

Some pictures of Christmas at the Cowden's

2008-01-04T15:05:00.000-08:00

Nate's Big Present from Santa

2008-01-04T14:58:00.000-08:00

Nate took his big present from Santa out for a spin the day after Christmas. Jake wasn't too confident with Nate's driving capabilities, but went along for the ride anyway. It was pretty funny watching him run into the curb and almost into other cars!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2007-12-15T12:20:00.000-08:00

Thank you for visiting our blog. We thought we'd send you all a virtual Christmas letter instead of using paper to help save the planet. Yeah, you know us better than that! We are not "PC" (although we should be good stewards), we actually just needed to save money on colored ink and paper! :) Our New Year's resolution is to actually post on this once in a while. Wish us good luck. Hopefully we'll be more successful with this blog than our last.

What an amazing year 2007 has been! Can you believe it's almost over? WOW! We would love to share with you what a blessing this year has been for us. Please accept this as a heartfelt hello if we were unable to see you this year with hope that next year our paths may cross.

Nathaniel had his first birthday back in February. It was so much fun watching him eat his first bite (okay, fistful) of cake!

We now have a very active nearly 22 month old on our hands. Nate is growing so tall and is speaking two and three word sentences. He loves to identify letters and numbers. Nathaniel has definitely become our little boy~ playing with trucks and getting as dirty as Mommy will let him.

He loves to dance as his Auntie Rachel and Great Aunties know. He also loves his Mommy and Daddy to sing and read to him about Jesus. It is so precious that he can identify Jesus in his books and asks us to pray "more" at bedtime. He pointed to "baby Jesus" at Cousin Steve and Jen's outdoor display on Thanksgiving. We are praying that this early identification and curiosity will one day lead to a real relationship with his Savior.

Jacob Kenneth was born not a month after Nate's first birthday, on March 21st. Although the labor was fast, only three and a half hours from first contraction, the delivery got a bit hairy with the cord wrapped around his neck and his heart rate dropping. Jake had a rough first couple days in the Neonatal ICU, but thankfully tests showed that he only had an underdeveloped digestive system which happens to be pretty common. We are so thankful to those of you that supported us in prayer during this time. Jacob now loves to babble all sorts of things, but mostly he loves to scream at the top of his lungs when he's happy and sad! Jake is getting so tall and is now officially crawling and pulling himself up to a standing position. What fun he is becoming!

Thankfully, from Jacob's birth Nate has absolutely loved him! He always gives "baby Jake" kisses and lets Mommy know if something is wrong with Jacob by saying, "baby, baby, baby!"

Amy has just been blessed to start a flexible part time job with the Highline School District working a couple hours a day a few days a week while John plays with the boys. She hopes to coach track in the Spring too! Mostly, Amy has been blessed to be able to stay home with our children watching them grow in stature and knowledge. How fulfilling it has been for Amy to be able to teach our children and give John home cooked meals. Her favorite thing to do is to call John at work and tell him what new things the boys can do!

John has been blessed working at Alaska Airlines. He received his five year pin back in July. Currently he works as a Customer Operations Manager and absolutely loves keeping his hands on the heartbeat of daily operations. He loves figuring out the puzzle that is keeping the airline running as smoothly as possible while keeping the most passengers happy.

Living on one income until now has been a challenge as anyone who does it knows. We’ve made many sacrifices including selling John’s beloved car. Although John was sad to see it drive away we were so excited to pay off our debt. This was also made possible by the generosity of John’s mom and Mike who let us live with them for ten months and Amy’s parents for three months saving us thousands in renting costs. During this time of renting from family we searched for a home of our own and waited patiently on the Lord to provide. It must go on record that John was much more patient than Amy. He read the market like a book and she trusted his judgment. Although we’ve been anxious to buy since early summer of 2006, the Lord’s timing was perfect.

After looking from Lacey, Graham and Orting to North Tacoma and Federal Way the Lord brought us home to Des Moines. John’s Dad and Tanya told us that the house next door was getting repossessed so we walked around the property. We thought when the agent put the home on the market it would be way out of our price range, but we prayed about it and left it in God’s hands. The agent kept her word and let us walk through the house the day before she officially put it on the market. It had everything we had wanted in a home, but never thought we’d get in our first house. We made an offer, it was accepted, and we closed in time for Amy’s birthday in September. The home is perfect for us! John only has a ten minute “commute” to work and we get to live in the beautifully quant community of Des Moines backing Salt Water State Park. We love having a yard with no neighbors behind us except for the birds and squirrels. It is amazing how the Lord exceeds your expectations when you are patient and wait for His perfect timing!

Since moving North into King County one thing we have most enjoyed is finding a church home. We visited Mars Hill for a while with Rachel and Phil but have settled at Highline Christian with mom and dad Cowden. We absolutely love it! Pastor Tim is an incredible expositor with such a quick wit and sense of humor. We come home blessed weekly knowing the Lord has spoken through him and enlightened Scripture for us. We look forward to dedicating Jacob to the Lord and getting involved in a Bible study as soon as John's schedule gets nailed down for next year. We are just finishing a Volleyball season with church members on Tuesday nights and look forward to also joining a soccer team. Amy loves getting out of the house and getting some fun exercise!

The Lord has blessed us so richly and we thank Him for His provision of our needs and exceeding our wildest expectations! Yes, money is now officially “tight” but we have a roof over our head and warm clothes to wear and food to eat. We also have the joy of close family and friends and our wonderful new Church home. What more do we need? Nothing~ Nothing but Jesus! Thank you Lord for coming to Earth as a baby to be our Savior, may we live to glorify Your name!

Our hope for you is that as you think back over this past year and remember all the wonderful things, and all the struggles that have allowed you to grow, that you too will glorify God the Father through his son Jesus. May you be thankful for all He has done for you! Happy Birthday, Jesus, and we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Love, the Goodrich Family