THE Mathai Family

I am so excited to start a new decade.  Here's a quick review of what our family was up to this past decade:

2000

• Proposed to Ninit, thereby taking a 7-year dating (mainly long-distance) relationship to the next level
• Finished my Masters

2001

• Got my first "real" job
• Got married
• Bought our first place

2002

• Went to India for a month to prove to folks back home that we were indeed married
• Hung out with other married couples...funtimes were had
• Learned a lot more about my wife in one year of marriage than 7 years of dating

2003

• Did a Mexico Vacation with some close friends
• Started a consulting business

2004

• Sold our condo and moved in with the in-laws for a few months while searching for a home
• Decided to expand the family

2005

• Bought our first home
• Had our first child and fell COMPLETELY in love at first sight
• Bought my first Mac
• Left my first job for another

2006

• Started & ended an investment club (AKOM)
• Lost a significant amount of weight & still trying to keep it off
• Began to see a lot of firsts through my child's eye
• Started a vacation tradition with close friends at St. Joes, MI
• Realized the importance and difficulty of being a godly husband and father

2007

• Went to India again to display the first GrandChild on either side
• Reconnected with a lot of friends
• Attended a great deal of engagements and weddings
• Decided to expand the family yet again

2008

• Became a family of 4 with the addition of our second daughter
• Realized how hard it is to have 2 kids under 4 especially for the Stay-At-Home-Mom
• First of three siblings got married
• Our three-year old had her first day of school
• Did I mention that we are now a family of four?

2009

• Started the year with a short get-a-way for me and Ninit in San Diego
• Celebrated our youngest child's first birthday
• Spent a lot of time hanging out with the family in the best city in the world...CHICAGO
• Second of three siblings got married
• Spent the last quarter of the year playing tag with the flu amongst the four of us
• Grateful for a God who has IMMENSELY blessed us this past decade

  

 Looking forward to another great decade with our family, friends, community, church and most of all God.  Thanks to all who have been part of our life and doing life with us this past decade.  

HAPPY NEW DECADE!

It’s Thanksgiving, which marks in my mind the official start to a mood I’m in until the end of the year.  I can’t explain it, but I know I love it.  A huge emphasis gets put on family and friends.  No matter what has happened in the past year, I know that the new year brings hope and new beginnings.  This feeling of the “holidays” makes me appreciate the people that God has placed in my life...family, friends, co-workers, and the community which surrounds me in general.  So in the tradition of Thanksgiving, I’m just going to list a few things/people I’m thankful for.

• An awesome wife and two beautiful daughters are everything a man could ask for and more

• Having both sets of grandparents available for my kids is something neither Ninit nor I were able to enjoy.  I’m glad that our parents are a huge part of our kids’ lives

• Then there are our siblings.  I realize how thankful I am that they are in our lives.  Our kids  are so excited to visit them or better yet have sleepovers.  They love being babysat by them

• Friends who we are doing life with...they are practically family

• Conference calls with a group of friends on a weekly basis...support structure

• Bi-weekly breakfasts with my brothers...relationships are hard work

• In these times...thankful for a job that I LOVE to do and an employer who appreciates my hard work

• For a wife who has dedicated this season of her life to staying home and raising our kids...priceless...absolutely priceless

• For partners who work hard and do their best to make things work

• For a church that tries to do everything according to the WORD

• For a school where I know my kids will, at the very least be taught to be Christ-like

• For a house that we could call home

• For a community of believers that surround us

• For friendships that continue to flourish after 27 years

• For technology that has improved my life and allowed new kinds of relationships to begin(Thanks Twitter & iPhone)

 

 

And so much more...