2014 Christmas Letter and Update

Well, it's been awhile. This summer was crazy in a good way. My computer got hijacked by hubby for awhile as his quit and then I was out of the blogging mode and felt so far behind that it was hard to convince myself to start back up. 

So, I will be posting our Christmas letter (after I edit names--or as my SIL says "dragnet it"!) Also I’ll add a few things that didn’t make it into the letter and then we’ll close the books on 2014 and start over with 2015!

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope you have had a wonderful 2014. We had a good year. We didn’t do many “exciting” things, but our year was filled with many moments. We had everything from scary moments to happy joy-filled moments.

Buddy struggled all year with eczema, we discovered some of the triggers but there were times when we had no idea why he was having a problem. The last couple months have been better so maybe some of it was seasonal. We hope that next year will not be as rough on him.

April brought many moments. Hubby took a short business trip and we all missed him a lot. Then a couple weeks later Buddy’s doctor sent us to Iowa City as she was concerned about the shape of his head. She thought that the plates in his head were fusing. That was a very scary couple weeks with all the possible scenarios running through our minds and thinking he might need surgery with months of recovery. We are very thankful to God that it turned out to be a false alarm. Turns out his odd head shape was caused by my thyroid problem and he is fine. His head is looking more normal all the time and he should have no problems in this regard. J Even during all this there were happy moments as Princess and Buddy played together and learned new things.

Also, in April Hubby received official word that he had been granted Tenure. He worked long and hard for this.

In June we participated in a parade to promote the Vacation Bible School program at our Church. Hubby was the VBS director this year. This was Princess’s first parade and she got to be in it! She enjoyed riding in a wagon with a little friend of hers and throwing candy to people. Buddy wasn’t very impressed though he did like his stroller ride. The VBS was held in July and was a very busy yet fun week for us.

The week after VBS my sister and her daughters visited from FL. We went to the zoo with them and enjoyed spending time with them; though we missed the last half of their visit as we headed off to Montana to see Hubby’s brother and his family. It was a long trip for the kids but overall they did very well. While there we enjoyed hanging out with them, watching our niece participate in a race, watching a parade (Princess thought receiving candy was pretty neat), going to Yellowstone and seeing Old Faithful erupt twice, swimming at the lake, and watching all the cousins have fun together.

In August Hubby, my two brothers, and my dad built a playset, that Hubby designed with help from my brothers, for Princess & Buddy’s birthdays. Princess really liked “supervising” and watching her ship being built. Both Princess & Buddy enjoyed the swings and slides a lot. Though we took the swings down for winter they were using the slides this past weekend! Yes, it was 50+ degrees out, but even with snow on the ground Princess wants to play!

In September Princess turned 3 and we had a big party with many friends. She enjoyed playing on her playset with everyone. Buddy liked the swing and one little girl who wasn’t quite 3 liked to give him underdog pushes. It was very cute.

October brought Buddy’s 1^st birthday! He loved his homemade chocolate cake, pizza, and ice cream! The gifts were pretty great too. J

Shortly after Buddy’s birthday we found out that we are expecting! We will be welcoming another blessing into our home in June of 2015. J At first Princess didn’t have much of a reaction, but lately she has been telling us which kind of sibling she wants. We won’t find out what we are having until January (if the baby cooperates!)

October also saw another visit from Granny & Grandpa B. While they were in the area we went up to MN to see Hubby’s grandfather who turned 102 in November! This was the first time Great-Grandpa had seen Buddy. Princess & Buddy enjoyed exploring his apartment and entertaining everyone.

We are looking forward to spending time with many family members over Christmas and New Year’s.

We wish all of you a Happy New Year and a very Merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Who went from the manger to the cross. Died, was buried and rose again on the third day paying the penalty for our sin.

Merry Christmas! 

In Sunday School this summer Princess learned about creation. She loved taking the little picture cards out and saying “God made the birds, and the fish, and the dolphins…and it was ALL GOOD!!” She had another card with land animals on it including a zebra. Somehow this summer she got mixed up in how to say zebra, she now calls it a breezza. A couple weeks ago she found one of the cards and started saying all this again. She always says it the same way every time no matter how much time has passed! J

Our Church has a kids program called Kids 4 Truth (K4T) that teaches them doctrines and some of the verses that teach each doctrine. It is for children 4 yo thru 6^th grade. This fall they decided to tryout a level for 2-3 yo, whose parents work in the K4T program and are ready to learn verses. Hubby is the game leader this year and I have been helping out in the nursery. We decided to put Princess in the class. She loves it!! She has learned several verses and asks a couple times a week if she can go to K4T. The last few weeks have been a break and she hasn’t liked that she can’t go to K4T. Though we knew that she knew the verses we didn’t know if she would actually say them to her teaches. One Wednesday night toward the beginning of November we were surprised when her teacher told us that Princess got right up in front of the other kids and helped the teacher lead them in the verse. She said that Princess knew the whole verse and did very well. J

The second Sunday of December was the SS Christmas Program at Church. Princess had been excitedly singing the songs at home and asking when she got to do the program. (Later I was told that she always sang really loud in practice downstairs every Sunday.) The day before the program Hubby took her to the dress rehearsal. He said that she was terrified when she got on the stage. The night of the program she marched in with her class and got up on stage with all the other kids. Her class had three songs. She didn’t sing the first one though she did do a few of the actions. We could tell that she was very intimidated by all the people. The second song they rang little hand bells. She was very enthusiastic with her bell ringing, but didn’t sing at all. I couldn’t see her well during the third song but I don’t think she sand it either. Overall she did very well. The next day she was singing the songs at the top of her lungs and talking about being in the program. J Last year she stuck her fingers in her mouth and watched the other kids, so she improved a lot! Wonder what next year will be like. I bet she is still scared as that is her personality in large groups. That’s okay I am the same way.

This Christmas Hubby’s brother and family came to visit. It was neat to see the kids playing together and how much they had all grown from August. Buddy was a little intimidated by all the kids running around but he enjoyed chasing after them. Originally Hubby’s parents were going to join us the 26^th but they got sick so were unable to come. We are looking forward to seeing them in February if all goes as planned.

A few funny things we had posted to fb and I am reposting here:

October 4, 2014

Shortly before my parents and sisters left this evening:
Hubby: Buddy, can you tell everyone thank you for the presents you got?
Princess: Thanks everybody for the presents we got!!

December 10, 2014 (from Hubby’s FB)

Background: Princess went shopping with mommy a couple of days ago to buy a Christmas present for daddy. 
On the way to church tonight
Princess: "I went shopping with mommy and I got you a present. It's a water bottle & caramel corn." 
Me: "Is it a surprise?"
Princess: "Yeah, it's a surprise."
Oh well, at least she kept the secret for 2 days.

     (Also, that same night):

Emily on the way home from church tonight thought that all of the cars heading the opposite direction from us were going the wrong way and needed to turn around.