arena net bbq

last weekend we went to matt's company bbq at vasa park. every year they have jet skis to ride and every year we don't do it, but this year we did! except i didn't because i wasn't that interested, but beckett went. i was a little nervous, but he did okay... he wasn't in love with the wind blowing in his face, but the super intense dragon he had painted on his face made him braver. plus he knew that i was waiting for him on the beach with gert. gert is the balloon ladybug he got. it was a pretty fun day for beckett, which made it pretty fun for everybody else. having a kid who is old enough to start appreciating balloon animals and face painting is adorable. plus he can pretty much drive his own jet ski. they grow up so fast, don't they?

guild wars 2 release party!

the game matt has been working on for years (years!) released. now real fans (thousands of them) are playing stuff he designed. it's pretty cool. the game was released early to people that had pre-purchased a copy on friday at midnight and as a secret surprise they released it at 9pm... three hours early. this was confusing to me because i didn't understand how anybody would know it was out early, but i guess people just figure it out... and right away tons of people were playing. like really a lot of people. i was shocked. it blows my mind. here are a few pictures of matt and b at the release party. doesn't matt look excited? he is. it's kind of a big deal!

matt's company picnic

last saturday we went to matt's company picnic at vasa park. as a special weekend treat, saige came to visit us! hurray. it was a million degrees at the picnic and i almost melted. the unlimited ben and jerry's ice cream helped a little, but i am seriously over summer. fall where are yoooouuuu? anyways, we hung out for as long as we could bear the heat and beckett loved the bounce house and trying his first ever cotton candy. also, it was around 85 degrees... how did i ever live in vegas?!

arena babies

i am behind in my posting... geez! last weekend, we went to a play date at matt's work. there is a play group that meets at his office once a month for people with babes who are under three. beckett thought that matt's office was pretty much really cool. he especially liked the apple juice (more the bottle than the actual juice), animal crackers, and the ping pong balls. b also did a little work at his dad's desk. he is so efficient. i also noticed while we were there that the only picture matt has of beckett at work is from the day he was born. crazy talk. don't worry... i sent him with a new frame (that saige bought matt as a graduation gift and never gave to him. guess what saige? he has his frame! he loves it, thanks.) and a new picture the very next day. i know, crisis averted.

matt's work partay

we went to matt's company christmas party tonight at the showbox. it was our second time leaving b and we pretty much found another couple with kids and spent a long time talking about beckett, so... yeah... we are those people now. anyways, here are some not so great pictures. 

here is the showbox. there were some casino games, but we didn't play them. the food was really good... i have no pictures of it, i just ate it. 

there was a hypnotist. he made these people so sleepy, apparently.

every year the owner of arena net gives a speech and announces the company holiday gift. we were so excited to see what it was! last year matt got an ipad. matt opening his gift...

a really expensive fancy laser gun!

matt says i can't write about how i felt about this gift...

jon and natasha watched b. thanks guys!

they took him to another christmas party. he loved it.

movin' on up!

yesterday, matt was offered a full time postion at arenanet. yay! if you are confused about how that is different from his contract position at arenanet... let me just tell you. his new position is permanent, so he doesn't have to worry about getting rehired every six months and whether or not his job will be in jeopardy when the game he is working on actually releases. plus, he gets benefits now like paid time off and holidays and profit sharing and what not. his role changed a little bit, but he is still a designer... just a systems designer now instead of content design. i'm not sure if that is even right or what either of those titles mean. matt will inform me, if this needs changing. b and i are so happy and proud of matt, who is consistently working hard and making advancements at work. oh! he was also just interviewed by pc gamer magazine for the game he is working on. sooo fancy, right? i will of course get the article right to you when it comes out! matt is so cool.