Seasons
Greetings!
We hope this letter finds you
and your family doing well this Christmas season. We are looking forward to
spending another Christmas in California in our new house! We have had one heck
of a year with a lot of wonderful things happening, and we are so blessed to
see the Lord working in our lives and in our family. Our most exciting news is
that we will be welcoming a 3rd baby BOY into our family in April! I
am about 5 months pregnant, and we are all anxiously awaiting his arrival! Also
this year, we bought a new house with a huge backyard! It was a whirlwind of a
move because we put our townhome on the market, sold it, moved into a rental
condo, purchased our house and moved in all within a two month span! It was
crazy, but we are SO thankful to have a house and a yard for the boys (and
Molly) to enjoy. They NEED to be outside and it is so nice for it to be so
convenient!
We
all enjoyed a trip to South Lake Tahoe, CA with some friends in February. It
was great to relax and play in the snow! We took a trip to Memphis in October
to see friends and family. We took a trip to AZ for Thanksgiving to see
William’s sister and brother-in-law. At home we’ve enjoyed many fun activities
as well. We’ve taken a few trips to the beach in Malibu, gone to the farm with
friends, gone to the LA zoo, visited the Simi Valley Fire Station, went to the
Simi Valley Fair, and went crawfish trapping with some friends. Apparently, we
like to stay busy!
Arden
is now almost 4 ½ and growing up so fast. He started going to a preschool class
once a week this year. Porter and I go with him, and we all enjoy the
activities and learning and meeting new friends. We also trade off with some
friends doing a preschool lesson at home once a week. He is excited about
learning and is doing well with his letters and numbers and much more. He has
started racing his bike on the BMX track here in town. He loves riding his bike
and has really enjoyed the track. He had his first real dentist appointment
this year and had to have a few cavities filled – eek! He was really brave
though, and did great. He still enjoys running, and competed in a fun “mud run”
this year. He was only supposed to do the course for 5 laps, but ended up doing
about 25 laps instead because he was having so much fun. Other than that, he’s
been enjoying our backyard, cruising in his power wheels jeep, taking care of
his baby (toy), playing with Porter, learning new things, doing crafts, and
just being a boy.
Porter
turned 2 in October and has grown up so much this year. He is talking so much
now and running all over the place. He pretty much follows Arden step for step
and loves being a “big boy.” He started riding his balance bike and has gotten
really good at it. He enjoys taking it on the BMX track as well. It won’t be
long before he’s on a pedal bike! He recently switched to a big boy bed and has
done well staying in it at night. He’s not potty trained yet, but we are
working on it, and hope to have it down before the new baby comes! He loves
building things, coloring, playing with trains, trucks and cars, jumping,
sleeping, taking baths, and doing anything that Arden is doing! It is so fun to
see the brothers loving each other and becoming such good friends and play mates.
William
continues to serve as a deacon at our church and is enjoying his many duties
with that. He is also doing a lot of awesome things at work. He has been busy
with projects around our house (or planning projects, at least – it’s hard to
get a lot done with the kiddos running around!) He is working on a patio cover
for our backyard and hopes to build a tree house and bunk beds for the boys
very soon. Our boys adore him, and everyone is always thrilled when Daddy is
home from work. His sister got married this summer in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, and
we had the privilege to attend! My parents came to stay with the boys while we
took a 9-day vacation to Mexico ALL BY OURSELVES! It was amazing, and the
wedding was beautiful and so much fun! We were really blessed and excited to
have the opportunity to take a trip like that!
When
I’m not doing my normal activities of being a mom, wife, housekeeper, and chef,
I’ve enjoyed some other things here and there. I was in charge of our church’s
VBS this summer and enjoyed planning and organizing all that was involved with
that. We had a great week with the kids and I “might” be willing to do it
again! I was really, really sick the first few months of pregnancy, so I had to
take a step back from being too busy and just survive! I did, however, manage
to run a glow-in-the-dark 5K with a couple of friends in September, which was a
lot of fun (and I actually finished even though I hadn’t exercised in weeks!)
Since feeling better though, I have enjoyed some projects around the house. I
made some wooden chairs for the kids’ play room and am planning to make a table
soon as well. I also reupholstered a chair for our living room and am making
some pillows and cushions for some patio furniture a friend gave us. It’s fun
to make things for the house and it lets me be creative in a practical way.
Other than that I, have just enjoyed getting settled in our new home, spending
time with our little family, spending time with friends, and just doing our
every day things!
We
have had a lot going on this year, but have enjoyed the ride along the way. We
pray that you are doing well, and that the Lord will bless you in the coming
year. May we all remember the One who came to make His blessings flow as far as
the curse is found this Christmas season and throughout the new year!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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