Christmas Letter 2009
The highlights from this year (only one a month–surely that will cover it!)
January
We started the year with a 10 month old little girl, full of developing personality, and a talkative 3 and 1/2 year old boy who loves order and routine. Than was (and still is) working as the children’s pastor at Southern Gables Church and I was (and still am) teaching piano and violin lessons and staying home to care for our children.
February
We sadly started saying farewell to our long time pastor Jerry Nelson and our church began the search for a new leader. We are still searching, but hopefully 2010 will bring the man God has for the job!
March
Katya and her almost-twin cousin Rayce turned 1. My sister and I enjoyed working together to put on our “Blink (BLue pINK)” birthday party to celebrate both of them. It was fun to have lots of family visit to celebrate with us. Than’s parents began their move to Denver, staying with us for a few months while they looked for a house nearby.
April
We took a mini spring break vacation to Colorado Springs, making use of a hotel with a pool, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and some time to get away as a family.
May
Katya began walking and her world (and ours) got amazingly bigger and better. Our first camping trip of the season turned out to be her place of choice to finally find her balance and launch off into the great unknown.
June
Than cared for the kids for a week at his grandparent’s condo in Vail, enabling me to attend piano teacher training at the Suzuki Institute in nearby Beaver Creek during the day and hang out with the family each evening. The kids had fun being with Daddy and other extended family members, and I soaked up all the time with inspiring teachers, friendly classmates, talented students, and great ideas about how to improve my music studio. Than’s parents moved into a house only 7 blocks from ours. Nathan turned 4. It was a busy month!
July
We traveled to Idaho Falls to celebrate the 4th of July with my parents. Some good friends from Denver also came up to experience the small town celebration. I think we’ll make it an annual tradition!
August
Throughout the summer I enjoyed spending extra time doing projects and visiting parks with the kids. We made use of our zoo membership quite frequently and had fun exploring new places to play and new things to do at home together. The internet provided ample inspiration for tons of things to try.
September
Music lessons began at the Baylor Music Studio. I began implementing lots of new ideas from my summer training, and Nathan got to begin his official study of the piano. So grown up!
October
Our family took a week long fall vacation. We visited my grandparents and extended family in St. Louis, then traveled to stay with some friends in Naperville, Illinois outside of Chicago. Our highlight was probably the day we spent at the Museum of Science and Industry–amazing! We spent the night in Omaha, Nebraska and visited a friend there before returning to Denver.
November
We were pleased to celebrate Thanksgiving with Than’s parents in their new home. Lots of other family members came too. It was good to be together (and nice that we didn’t have to travel very far.)
December
The month is still young, but we have already enjoyed some holiday celebrations with family and look forward to many more. My parents will come for a visit and there are many happy events planned all month long.
Amazing to see how far a year has taken us! Some things have changed, some things have stayed the same, and we have had many memorable experiences along the way. It is good to look back, reflect on what God has done, rehearse His blessings, and rejoice with others as we celebrate the reality that “Christ has come, always comes, and will come again.”
If you want to keep in touch in the year ahead, feel free to check the blog periodically. You can even sign up for automatic e-mail notifications through the link at the top of sidebar. I post reflections about life, updates on our family, photos, quotes, recipes–whatever strikes my fancy. You can check the archives too for more pictures and details about the events of the past year.
(Credit to Ann Voskamp’s blog, A Holy Experience, for the ending quote and for inspiring many reflections this Advent season)
