Matthews Family Herald

(I am working on getting the videos uploaded of Jacob smiling and laughing.  Check back periodically!)

We are so thrilled that Jacob smiled and laughed tonight!  It all started when Nathan and I went into his room in order to play cards.  We all try to do everything that we can in his room instead of elsewhere in the house so that he can be with us and we with him.  It's good for his recovery and good for us too.

So we were in his room and before we got started, we decided to go say hello to him.  I opened his eyes and Nathan decided to make ridiculous noises and silly faces to Jacob; something that none of us had done before.  He broke into a large smile!  Whoah!  Nathan did it some more and Jacob laughed.  Oh my gosh.  We were stunned and amazed!  I started calling out to Heather and the kids to come quick!  I didn't know how long this window would last.  As it turned out, the window went from 5 p.m. until his bedtime at 10 p.m. and never really ended.  We just moved on to getting him ready for bed, doing physical therapy, and then family devotion.

We had him laughing to funny videos he had done in the past both alone and with the other kids, funny videos Micah did, and even to Tim Hawkins videos.  Now with the Tim Hawkins videos he laughed when he could only hear the audio, and he laughed when Heather opened his eyes to see Tim Hawkins.  Jacob laughs at the right parts and at the right times.  His absolute favorite videos are the ones where he is aggravating his younger brother, Nathan.  Hannah says he laughs hard now at the very same parts that he once laughed hard at and enjoyed the most before the accident.  He laughs before any of us do, most times, and especially on the first time that we showed them to him.  Another thing, he smiled really big whenever I sat in front of him and started talking to him.  He did the same thing when Gabriel was put in front of him and he did the same thing when Hannah sat down in front of him.  We had the most fun tonight!  We laughed, we cried, and we did both at the same time.  We needed this.  We really, really needed this.  We needed to connect with him and are so glad to know he is still a stinker!  He still has his great sense of humor and still gets pleasure out of frustrating his brother.  More importantly, he remembers making the videos, he anticipates his favorite parts as they come up, and he comprehends English and can process what he is seeing and hearing and can show it emotionally.  It's amazing!  We knew it!  We knew it!  We are so grateful to God and look forward to his continued progress!  Now for the videos.  The following videos are only of few of the moments within the hours of fun we had amusing Jacob and relishing his reactions. Enjoy!

This video shows Jacob briefly smiling at something Hannah shares with him:

Good evening,

It's time to pick up where I've left off and get this family history going again on our family blog site.

I miss Jacob so much, we all do.  He's here and we thank God above for that!  We thank Him so much.  There is Hope.  There is a living Hope that we place all of our faith onto and are so glad.  We miss being able to interact with, talk with Jacob; laugh with him.

We are leaning upon God to bring us closer together as a couple; Heather and I.  Even more than "as a couple."  We are not a couple; we are one flesh.  We are leaning upon God to make us closer as a family and to restore the joy of our salvation amongst one another.  And He is doing that.  He really is.

Today was such a relaxed day at the house.  First of all, Heather let me sleep for over nine hours; something I haven't done in over two months since that tragic day . . .  I also had a two hour nap in the midst of the day.  That was also amazing.

Church family brought over a Taco Bell family pack of burritos and tacos and this was such a treat for lunch.  Folks from church bring us meals every other day and this has been a HUGE blessing.  God has blessed and cared for us all so much exceeding beyond all we could ask for during this time.  In the end, we all want Jacob back and this is our heart's cry.  Having him in this way puts a gray cast over just about any joy but God is using this in our hearts for good.  

Heather made an amazing gumbo and rice dish that was so tasty!  Nathan and I rode together to the store and back today just talking about the important stuff, like what three wishes we would make if we found a box we could make wishes come true in.  We both agreed that we'd want Jacob's total healing, a limitless bank account, and to live staying young forever.  We also discussed which super hero we would be if we could be one of them.  He said Superman because he can fly, stays young forever, can't be killed (well, almost can't be).  I played Charlotte Church in the car the whole time to try and have him develop a love and taste for higher culture.  Not uppity culture but fine or quality.  I joked with him that we are now "upper crust" peeps when we listen to that stuff. lol.

Heather's sister sent Eden a bead kit and she made me an awesome warrior necklace that I enjoy wearing.  Deree has enjoyed this so much!  Hannah did some decorative finger nails on her own fingers that looks amazing,  Heather worked on Ironman T-shirts to honor Jacob with.  Gabriel is sitting in my lap as I type and has the chicken pox.  :(  He's still very happy though!

                                     Click the pictures below to see them in greater detail!
                               Hannah and Eden are showing off the finger nail artwork Hannah did!

We had a family meeting and devotion tonight and we prayed all together in Jacob's room with him.  Tomorrow we plan to go trail hiking and have a picnic lunch at the end.