Now you may be asking yourself: Is this some newfangled attempt to reduce waste, save trees, and defeat commercialism by forgoing conventional Christmas cards, or is it just Jenni's way of getting out of having to address 50 envelopes?
Well, I like to think of it as both. There are few things as valuable, in our modern, fast-paced lifestyle, as efficiency.
This year has been a very eventful one for our little family. So here's a brief recap:
Ariel turned 1 on February 19th.
Since then, she has become a proficient walker, talker, jumper, counter, and ABC sayer. And she makes us both laugh out loud multiple times a day.
Felicity Ann was born on August 9th. She weighed 7 lb. 5 oz. The addition has been a joy and a challenge, between the sleepless nights, dairy allergy, and complete lack of spare time that comes with having two babies that nap at different times. But she is a beautiful little girl with a killer smile, and she's been more than worth it so far!
Dan has continued to go to school full-time and work part-time. This has been a great time of self-exploration for him, as he discovers what he's good at and shapes his career path accordingly. It has also been wonderful for our family, since he is home a lot between classes and can take a very active role as a parent. He has changed more diapers this year than most men in the United States probably have, as well as done more tickling and chasing and reading aloud, and all of his ladies feel very blessed to have him in their lives.
I spent half of the year pregnant, which made it hard to really interact with and enjoy Ariel. Which is part of why I have relished the past few months so much. I feel like I'm just now discovering on a whole new level what an amazing person she is, and I absolutely adore her. The past few months have been some of the hardest and most rewarding of my life, and I am finishing this year so very, very grateful to Jesus for pulling me through the hard times and for giving me such wonderful blessings.
Well that's our year in a nutshell! Please leave a comment telling us how you're doing! And if you want to be able to see what's going on with us throughout the year, here is my blog's main page.
Merry Christmas!
3 comments:
What a great Christmas letter! I wandered in via Pioneer Woman, so this was a perfect post to read first!
You have a beautiful family!
Dan and Jenni, I love your Christmas blog-- very cool! And I got to go and check out the ABCs video, etc. as well-- wow, if only all the kindergartners here knew their ABCs when they were one... hmmm... ;)
It's great to hear and see how you all are doing-- I wish I could be in Portland more often to see these little treasures you two are raising grow up into the women God has created them to be. But I can see what an awesome job you two are doing. :)
Love you much!
In His Grace,
Käthlin
MERRY CHRISTMAS back! Love to you all! It was soo good to talk to you the other night, Jenni - you said some things that I needed to hear. So thank you :)
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