The cards are finally sent...

Click on Christmas card to enlarge

My family and friends are going to get a little surprise when they receive their Christmas card from us. A book will not be enclosed. :) You see, each year at Christmas time I set out to "briefly" inform people about what is going on with us - and it never fails that an epistle ends up being the end result. Well, this year a few people will be getting a one page letter. One side of one page. Yeah, big change for me. Most people are just getting a small card with the blog address on it along with our photo Christmas card. The amount of tress we have single handedly saved this year is phenomenal. :) Wendi's writing has finally found an outlet, and it is no longer the annual Christmas letter. It is here. To any new blog readers who may have happened to pop in as a result of this years Christmas card - welcome. Explore my blog with low expectations. :)

This is our oh-so-reduced Christmas letter.

The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 This verse became dear to our hearts this year. We needed to know he was with us. Our eyes were opened anew to his mighty hand. We felt our hearts stirred for those who need him. We felt His delight. We learned a little bit more about slowing down and allowing his love to quiet our racing and, at times, burdened hearts (Click here to read about one of our most difficult challenges this past year). I have been told so many times how quickly this stage of life goes. Most of the time the person imparting this little bit of information has been through these busy years that we are in the midst of and has first hand knowledge of the rapid rate at which they pass. Some days I feel stretched in so many different directions that I think this phase of life passing quickly may not be such a bad thing. Then I look at these three boys. Was it not just yesterday that I found out I would be a mother for the first time? It seems a whirl wind came into our lives and suddenly we are preparing to celebrate birthdays again. We will soon be parents to a six year old, four year old, and two year old. I just know that I will blink and suddenly they will be all grown up. That thought changes the course of my thinking and causes me to want to hold on to each day. K is reading now and can’t seem to get enough (Click here for the blog post I wrote about this). He loves any thing that has to do with letters and numbers. He took his first unassisted steps this year (Click here to view some of his first steps). He still prefers his little sit scoot, but has proven that he can walk independently. He has started using a cane some of the time as well. His constant chatter and singing continues to bring us immeasurable joy and point us to the one who is responsible for each breath he takes As for our Jay, he continues to generate such an intense love within us despite his testing us in new and creative ways. :) We see his inquisitive nature as a great thing but channeling all of that energy and extreme stubbornness is a task that, at times, seems bigger than we are. We are learning so much through this process of being parents! Jay has loved being a part of our church’s AWANA program this year. He is so full of life, ready to learn, and take on the next challenge. Noe has grown up considerably this year. We have recently realized that there is not a baby in our house any more. This tender hearted laid-back little guy is doing new things each day. He tries to imitate his brother Jay and exert a grown up stubbornness, but it just doesn’t work. He will stomp his little foot and try to act authoritative, but the moment he gets a disapproving parental look his little “I sorry!” contradicts the attitude he was trying to display. He is the one who loves to cuddle, give out kisses, and comfort. He certainly has his moments of disobedience, but after experiencing stronger wills than his, he seems very mild! We love and appreciate you all. Each one of you means some thing so precious to our family. We wish you a beautiful Christmas and a year that draws you closer to the one we are celebrating.

Love, Dave, Wendi, K, Jay, and Noe