Our Family Christmas Letter

This year we decided to post a family Christmas letter on our blog instead of including it in the cards we're sending out. We're doing this for a few reasons:

1. It's the 21st century! We're trend-setters. Mark my words.

2. It's easier than printing off a bunch of letters. And cheaper.

3. It saves paper. The earth will thank us.

4. It gets people to check out our blog.

So, let's get on with the letter. Our hi-tech, eco-friendly, modern Christmas letter.

It's been a pretty busy year for our family. That's what really comes to mind when I stop to think about it. First of all, Sadie turned five and started kindergarten. When we ask her about it, she says she loves school, but I think it's been a bit tough for her. She's had to do a lot of growing up, and she's still just trying to take it all in. The good news is that she's learning a ton, and she constantly amazes us with her reading and writing skills. They've really taken off since she started kindergarten. She spends a lot of time at home just writing notes (often lengthy love letters to each of us) and reading books. And she also loves to draw and color. Anyway, Sadie starting school has been trying for all of us at times but we're so proud of her and she brings so much humor and energy to our home.

Dallin turned two last month, and seems to have the job description down pretty well. That kid is just non-stop action from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to sleep. He seems to have developed a healthy love of trucks, trains, and buses, all without any particular encouragement from us. He has his mom's sweet tooth, and his dad's charm (I love writing the family letter because I can just make this stuff up). He's on the verge of speaking in phrases and sentences. He's been able to understand everything we say to him for months and months, and in just the last month or two he's been using new words every day. But like I said, the kid plays hard every day. When he's tired of his toys, he'll search the kitchen or bathroom for interesting items. You can always tell when he's on the prowl. He gets this look in his eye. Dallin is a delight to have in our home and a continual source of entertainment. And exercise.

Carrie is liking the bit of freedom that Sadie going to school has provided. I think she has more time for things like working out at the YMCA or doing things with friends. She continues to make some pretty cool crafts, mostly baby stuff, and has sold them at a couple local festivals. She's become an avid reader - like, sometimes I think she has an addiction. She was recently called to be a gospel doctrine teacher at church. I think she enjoys it. I went to her class recently and was ticked that people weren't more participatory. But she says it's usually better than that day. I asked her tonight what she wanted me to say, and she just said that there's not much to say because her life is her kids. That's really true. Carrie is the glue of our little family. She has our kids' needs and wants at the forefront of her mind every moment. She's a great mom.

It's been a pretty busy year for me. First of all, many of you know that I've lost over 80 pounds since the spring (oh, and I forgot to mention that Carrie's lost about 30 pounds - go us!). I started mountain biking in the spring and got really serious about it. I absolutely love it. I go as often as I can, even now in the winter. Central Pennsylvania is a wonderful place for mountain biking, and I'm having fun finding new trails and beautiful places to go. Other than the mountain biking, I've just been eating better. And it's really worked. The only downside to losing so much weight is that I've had to replace my entire wardrobe, which is tough on a little income like mine. Oh, and people not recognizing me when they see me is a bit weird. It actually happens with some regularity.

I defended my master's thesis this fall and presented it at a scholarly meeting in Louisville, KY. I just wrapped up a couple classes this semester - a racial residential segregation seminar and a social movements seminar. I now have about three papers, including my thesis, that I'd like to get polished and ready to send off to a journal here pretty soon. I've also got to decide on a dissertation topic in the next 6 months or so. It will definitely have to do with religion, which is my main interest, but I'm still narrowing it down. In all, I'm happy to be at Penn State and happy that I'm studying sociology. It's just what I love to do.

We like life here in State College. We try to take advantage of all the great things central PA has to offer, like its natural beauty, its great local restaurants and businesses, its arts and culture, and, of course, Penn State. We were happy in our home to see a certain junior Senator get elected as our next President. No matter what your political views, it was an exciting and important election, and we can all agree that we have a lot to do to make our keep our great country great and to solve some big problems.

So, our little family here in Pennsylvania just chugs along. Having a family is probably tougher but better than Carrie or I could have ever imagined. Nothing prepares you for the highest ups and the lowest downs of family life. It's messy, noisy, crazy work, every day of the year. But we wouldn't have it any other way.

So, Merry Chrismas and Happy New Year! And thanks for reading our letter.

Thanks, whoever you are!

So, I'm minding my own business, watching In Bruges, when I start hearing noises outside the door. All of a sudden, something hits the window screen. At first I think it's the wind, then my imagination gets active and I start imagining something far more sinister (hey, I was watching a movie about assassins).

Anyway, I decide to peek out the window to see what's going on and I see a little Christmas tree with cash rolled up and tied to the branches with bows. We've been money tree'd!


So, if the giver of this bit of holiday love is out there somewhere reading this, we'd like to give you a big, fat thanks. We really appreciate it.

It warmed the heart.

Did we miss it?

I realize that it has been almost an entire month since Dallin's birthday. Instead of having a blog post about his birthday I thought I would steal a friend's birthday idea and list the top ten reasons we love Dallin.

1. He is the fruit of my loins.
2. The whole unconditional love thing
3. He still loves to snuggle
4. He precedes almost every word with "n-"
(example: ball = nnnball)
5. He is our human alarm clock . . . 7am even on weekends
6. He can already sit through a full length movie. Do you know many 2-year-olds that can do that?
7. He copies everything that Sadie does -- good and bad
8. He is cute (Sadie's reason)
9. He loves us. . . especially mom (Oedipus complex -- sometimes I think Freud was onto something there)
10. He just does goofy things.

So to answer my question: No, we didn't miss Dallin's birthday, I just didn't blog about it. It's hard to believe that it has been two years since his birth. It has all gone by so quickly. He is still the world's best baby, just a little more difficult to keep track of. (the whole perpetual motion thing.)