Our Annual Matthew Day

I never thought this day would come to mean what it does to me.  I mean, I always knew May 5th would be special for the rest of my life - it's the day our stillborn baby Matthew was delivered.  Of course it would be an anniversary forever.  But I didn't realize just how much I would come to love and appreciate this day over the seven years that have passed.  What has happened is that our family takes this special day and uses it to celebrate us, The Preslars.  It's a holiday for just us and it affects the kids immensely.  They can feel what it means to be a family, and they are able to put aside the day-to-day squabbles between siblings, at least for the most part.  They are sweeter to each other, kinder to each other, they sacrifice their own wants for each other.   Every May 5th we have a family outing where we do little else besides enjoy being together.  Last night at our favorite quiet park as we ate cake and played ball and sent messages to Matthew on our balloons, I realized how much I hope that our children continue celebrating May 5th for the rest of their lives, with their own families some day.  Take this one day to set aside other cares and plans and just go be together.  Of course I hope that families get many chances to do this throughout the year with vacations and outings and game nights, but to take a day and specifically have a celebration of your own family holiday is something different.

Matthew, thank you for bringing us faith, for bringing us light and an extra measure of appreciation for having our family.  We love you.  Troy and I talk about you often, making guesses as to what you'd be up to these days besides getting ready to finish 1st grade.  We wish you were here, especially for our Stomper boy who longs for his brother.  Your sisters love you so much too.  You bring us closer to heaven.

Who doesn't love Korean Kim-Bap for dinner?  No need for forks or plates or side dishes or anything!

Much Frolicking:

Much Snuggling (it got cold!):

Writing Notes:

Sending them to the sky:

Eating Blue Birthday Cake:
(Stomper's contribution: it had to be lemon flavored.  Bitty's contribution: it had to have strawberries. Bundle's contribution: it had to have an unappetizing color to the frosting; in this case, blue.  There were lots more strawberries than this, but were spooned on top after serving.

We always get an extra balloon or two for some helium-sucking fun: