Merry Christmas, Darlings

For all those friends and family who don't make the "cut" to have me spend money on stamps, I thought I wanted to post our Christmas letter for this year so that you can also read my end-of-the-year wrap-up. 

Christmas 2011

Dear Family & Friends,

          Merry Christmas!  We hope this letter finds you happy, peaceful, and ready for Christmas!  It seems like each year we think we’ll be done with everything by this time, but it just doesn’t quite happen that way.  That doesn’t mean we aren’t enjoying every minute of this season, just that we have learned to savor the season, even with a handful of craziness mixed in. 

          This year has flown by!  Brennon is 4½ & Gavin is 2½, and they are on the go all the time!  In the fall, Brennon started going to pre-k three days a week at Grace Academy Preschool.  He has made some great friends there, and we are so proud of his hard work.  He also played soccer for the first time, which may have been even more fun for us to watch than it was for him to play!  Brennon loves Batman, Legos, doing art projects, and playing Wii.  Gavin loves Disney Cars, singing and dancing, and playing outside.  Gavin also likes to spend most of this time going from Brennon’s best friend to worst enemy and back again about one thousand times a day.  I guess that’s brothers being brothers. 

         

         Ryan and I have been very blessed to be able to be the ones raising our kids full-time this year.  I’m still teaching second grade here in Coffeyville, but what I mean by that is that our sons very rarely have to go to a sitter.  We have been able to coordinate our schedules so that Brennon and Gavin are home with us most days, except when Brennon is at school.  Ryan is Super-Dad, and he stays home with the boys during the day, and then he is able to work in the evenings so that I can be home with them.  This has been quite a transition for us, but we are so thankful that we are not only saving money, but raising our children ourselves.  We get to enjoy all the little joys and make use of all the teachable moments that crop up day to day. 

As I said earlier, we are enjoying our life, albeit a little crazy.  After all, the craziness doesn’t matter.  It’s all about living in the moment.  I’m not trying to be profound, and I’m certainly not saying anything new.  In fact, we see the same thing in the Bible when Jesus visits Mary and Martha.  Mary sits with Jesus and takes in the moment, while Martha is the Type A hostess who is making sure that the ornaments are spaced correctly on the tree or that the wreath is hanging straight on the door.  I’m comfortable saying this, because I am a Martha.  I work on it constantly, but it’s true, I have to remind myself to be more like Mary.  She wasn’t stressed.  I think that if she was here today, she would be having a very merry Christmas, and as the song says, she would ‘let her heart be light’.  She didn’t miss the blessing that came from stopping everything to sit and take in the presence of her Savior.  Isn’t that truly what this season is all about, after all?  May you get all you wish for in this season of miracles.  We pray peace and blessings for all of you in the New Year.  Merry Christmas!