Matthew and Nadia dancing at Lotus & JT's wedding

First Halloween!

First Marine Ball together.

Matthew brings Natalia to meet the family for the first time right before Christmas!

NYE Campout 2019

Natalia's "Bobo", Nadia Baslaski, passes from our lives

Alisha comes to visit in San Diego and meets Matt for the first time

While visiting Matthew's dad, James, in Florida, the couple heads to Wakiva Springs for a relaxing day kayaking and nature watching. Little did she know that he had much bigger plans...!

During a trip to Seaworld, where James was working, they meet a dolphin named Kyla. She's a crack up! Her favorite thing to do is make fart noises from her blowhole.

COVID Valentine's means photos in the park!

A week before their planned Engagement Party, the COVID-19 crisis had just begun. Workplaces were shutting down, quarantine was beginning. Natalia had a bad feeling that she and Matt would be separated for who knows how long, and did the most sponatneous thing of her life - asked Matt if they wanted to get married on March 15, 2020, as to ensure they'd be quarantined together as Matt was not allowed to live off base unless married. Instead of a Engagement Party, the couple had a small ceremony on Sunset Cliffs with a few of their closest friends - though with the full intention of still hosting a larger ceremony once the pandemic had passed.

Happy (COVID) New Year 2020, in the same spot they were recently married!

Matthew and Natalia close on their first house in Santee, California! Matt is currently going to school and working towards his degree, while Natalia is working at the County of San Diego's Solid Waste Planning & Recycling section as a Recycling Specialist.

The couple visits Niki and Ray for the first time since they moved to Florida!

Since moving to their new house, Kyla has been acting lonely. She seems to miss having roommates and canine brother Kytus around. In response, the couple sets out with the intention of bringing home a black cat sibling... but instead stumbles upon a bonded pair of two one-eyed "torbie" kittens. It's love at first sight, and Toph and Panther Lily are welcomed into the family!

Matt sweetly commissions their first family "portrait". Art by the talented Raven Monroe.

New Years' Day 2022

Matt and Natalia visit his sister Elizabeth and her husband Derek at their new ten acre home for the first time. While there, they fall in love with the place, and Liz and Derek offer for them to move onto an acre!

Matt and Natalia get their first tattoos together, as she had promised him that they would the next time they went to Portland. He forgot this promise from two years before and was so surprised, and couldn't wait! They visit Lotus and friends at Fopopoplis in Portland. While there, they have their tattoos created by the world's first Tibetan tattoo artist, Tamding (that rascal!).

Their four year wedding anniversary was celebrated with a night's stay at the Catamaran and a visit to the Carlsbad Flower Fields.