Happy Thanksgiving, Friends and Family!
Well, do we win? Are we the first holiday greetings you are receiving this season? :) The fall colors of our family photos and our planned vacation to San Diego this December have prompted me to post our letter sooner rather than later this year. And for this special blog-edition of the Christmas letter, you can click on the colored letters to link to the fuller story.
I was recently rereading some of our old Christmas letters and realizing how we proclaim God’s blessings year after year. We’ve celebrated our new home, announced pregnancies, described big vacations and bragged about our achievements. In 2008 we’ve felt no less blessed, but don’t have as much big news. I’ll do my best to quickly regale you with the highlights. Remember, you can always keep up with our day-to-day by visiting us here at our blog.
As our life revolves around our kids, I’ll start there. Ella (3 years) continues to grow up too fast and bring us joy each day. The Precocious Princess of our home, she provides lots of laughs. This year she's had numerous big girl moments: mastering the potty, moving to a bunk bed, getting her first hair cut, etc. She also began preschool. The academic and social environment completely suits her friendly and excited-to-learn personality. Her favorites include reading, imagining, making crafts and dressing up.
Delia (1 year) is our Spunky Gal. She’s an entertaining combination of whirlwind and will. We’ve always loved the passion Delia lives with and while it makes some days difficult (bad moods are INTENSE!), mostly it makes us smile. She loves to dance, swing, cuddle and climb anything. She works hard to keep up with her imitatable big sister. She’s fearless about most things physical, but surprisingly shy and remains my Mama’s Girl. Lately, we've been eating up her linguistic attempts and advances. Her vocabulary boasts about 30 words already!
Dave and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage this May. We were reflecting on how life before the girls seems outdated-- almost forgotten. Dave has always been a fantastic Daddy, but has grown even more this year. His girls adore him! He dedicates every moment he is not working (and even finds ways to insert them into his working moments!) to deepening his relationship with them. Dave is as consumed as ever with church, but not with anything new you haven’t heard before.
This year we took a spring break trip to Monterey. The coast was amazing and we enjoyed visiting the ocean every day, hiking and experiencing the very hands-on, kid-friendly aquarium.
Our family had a very busy summer as we headed in different directions. Dave’s ministry took him on a mission trip to a part of tornado-destroyed Iowa with his youth group. I was able to road trip with the girls to visit some friends who live south of us. Then, once again, Dave was a counselor at Hi Camp. Instead of sitting home without him, Ella, Delia and I were blessed to “escape” ourselves to Mt. Hermon, a renowned Christian camp. The girls attended day camp while I heard speakers and worship leaders. We swam, boated, and sang goofy songs around the campfire, spent a day away in Santa Cruz, hit the beach and treasured meals and fellowship with great friends. We loved it so much we are already pre-registered for next summer.
The only new family addition we have to report is nephew, Cole Jacob Jayden-- a son to Dave’s sister Kristen and her husband Eric. Cole’s adoption story was a lesson in God’s faithfulness for our entire family. Dave got to meet baby Cole on a trip he took to Chicago this summer, I’ll look forward to meeting him on a whole VM family vacation planned for Summer of 2009. Flying with constant-mover Delia is just too tricky right now, so unfortunately, I’ve not made it to the Midwest at all this year. Our family has been just as cool as ever about trekking out to California, though. We took pleasure in hosting Dad in January, Heather in January, Mom and Dad in May and Heather and Anna in August.
Well, as I indent yet another paragraph of this supposedly brief update, I'm urged to conclude. Another year of love, fun and family is what we have to testify. Once again we pray God’s blessings on all you this Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year!
Love,
Dave, Jen, Ella and Delia
Well, do we win? Are we the first holiday greetings you are receiving this season? :) The fall colors of our family photos and our planned vacation to San Diego this December have prompted me to post our letter sooner rather than later this year. And for this special blog-edition of the Christmas letter, you can click on the colored letters to link to the fuller story.
I was recently rereading some of our old Christmas letters and realizing how we proclaim God’s blessings year after year. We’ve celebrated our new home, announced pregnancies, described big vacations and bragged about our achievements. In 2008 we’ve felt no less blessed, but don’t have as much big news. I’ll do my best to quickly regale you with the highlights. Remember, you can always keep up with our day-to-day by visiting us here at our blog.
As our life revolves around our kids, I’ll start there. Ella (3 years) continues to grow up too fast and bring us joy each day. The Precocious Princess of our home, she provides lots of laughs. This year she's had numerous big girl moments: mastering the potty, moving to a bunk bed, getting her first hair cut, etc. She also began preschool. The academic and social environment completely suits her friendly and excited-to-learn personality. Her favorites include reading, imagining, making crafts and dressing up.
Delia (1 year) is our Spunky Gal. She’s an entertaining combination of whirlwind and will. We’ve always loved the passion Delia lives with and while it makes some days difficult (bad moods are INTENSE!), mostly it makes us smile. She loves to dance, swing, cuddle and climb anything. She works hard to keep up with her imitatable big sister. She’s fearless about most things physical, but surprisingly shy and remains my Mama’s Girl. Lately, we've been eating up her linguistic attempts and advances. Her vocabulary boasts about 30 words already!
Dave and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage this May. We were reflecting on how life before the girls seems outdated-- almost forgotten. Dave has always been a fantastic Daddy, but has grown even more this year. His girls adore him! He dedicates every moment he is not working (and even finds ways to insert them into his working moments!) to deepening his relationship with them. Dave is as consumed as ever with church, but not with anything new you haven’t heard before.
This year we took a spring break trip to Monterey. The coast was amazing and we enjoyed visiting the ocean every day, hiking and experiencing the very hands-on, kid-friendly aquarium.
Our family had a very busy summer as we headed in different directions. Dave’s ministry took him on a mission trip to a part of tornado-destroyed Iowa with his youth group. I was able to road trip with the girls to visit some friends who live south of us. Then, once again, Dave was a counselor at Hi Camp. Instead of sitting home without him, Ella, Delia and I were blessed to “escape” ourselves to Mt. Hermon, a renowned Christian camp. The girls attended day camp while I heard speakers and worship leaders. We swam, boated, and sang goofy songs around the campfire, spent a day away in Santa Cruz, hit the beach and treasured meals and fellowship with great friends. We loved it so much we are already pre-registered for next summer.
The only new family addition we have to report is nephew, Cole Jacob Jayden-- a son to Dave’s sister Kristen and her husband Eric. Cole’s adoption story was a lesson in God’s faithfulness for our entire family. Dave got to meet baby Cole on a trip he took to Chicago this summer, I’ll look forward to meeting him on a whole VM family vacation planned for Summer of 2009. Flying with constant-mover Delia is just too tricky right now, so unfortunately, I’ve not made it to the Midwest at all this year. Our family has been just as cool as ever about trekking out to California, though. We took pleasure in hosting Dad in January, Heather in January, Mom and Dad in May and Heather and Anna in August.
Well, as I indent yet another paragraph of this supposedly brief update, I'm urged to conclude. Another year of love, fun and family is what we have to testify. Once again we pray God’s blessings on all you this Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year!
Love,
Dave, Jen, Ella and Delia
2 comments:
I love your family pics. The fall colors are beautiful. Where did you have them taken? I didn't know we had fall colors like that around here. What a beautiful family!
Just for the record....you win! You were definitely the first letter we received! Congratulations!!! What beautiful pictures! Sounds like you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Nikki
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