See that lovely little Christmas card up there? Keely very thoughtfully put that together for us while we were busy focusing on getting Milayla better. We had hoped to mail them out. We even made sure our address list was updated. It didn't happen. One of these years I will be so organized that I will get Christmas cards out before American Thanksgiving. This year, however, is not that year. Things got a bit busier than I had anticipated and everything that was not related to the present moment/situation was thrown on the back burner until things returned to some semblance of normal. Well, it is now the morning of Christmas Eve that I am writing this and it is the first time that I feel like we are on track of normal, routine days which means it's a little late to get those Christmas cards out (unless I deem them really early 2013 Christmas cards, but that's just cheating :) . To our absolute luck though, Keely came to help us out this past month and brought her camera around and, well, she is uber talented and has been so great about snapping photos of our family. So when we were all ready for church unusually early this past Sunday we snapped up the opportunity to have her take a few family Christmas photos. We absolutely love how they turned out. So, now we will share them with you while we give a few highlights of our 2012 year.
Jason has been busy at work and is really enjoying his current projects (which give him ample time to work on design aspects of engineering). He took some time off during the summer, but not for a vacation like you may think, instead it was for German class. I may be a bit biased, but I think his German is really coming along! Otherwise, he is having fun getting lots of biking in and enjoying the extended warmer weather. He is also starting to get some more practice time in on the piano - and we love listening to him practice.
Atticus is your usual, curious, 3.5 year old. He continuously amazes us with how good his memory is, his jokes, and his patient, loving nature. With the recent events that have been happening with Milayla, Atticus has been a great little helper and has loved helping out at the table with feeding time, singing songs and playing with his sister to help distract her from tests. This past year he has been learning a lot; he knows all of his letters and their sounds (and how to write them - still with a few mistakes here and there but getting better every day!), he can count to 11 (yes, 11, we're working on getting to 12) and has been learning all about how the body works in Joy School. He is so fascinated with the body that we joke around and call him Doctor Atticus to which he responds "Nooooooo, I'm just a boy.". Okay 'Boy Atticus', keep building those incredible train tracks, drawing beautiful pictures, dancing and singing so lovely, reading books with us snuggled up on the couch and being your incredible, wonderful self.
Milayla is making leaps and bounds in her development, especially in the last month when it comes down to eating. She is a happy, sweet and outgoing little girl. She loves music. In fact, love just doesn't seem to quite explain it. She enjoys "playing" the piano, conducting music and reading sheet music and hymn books. Her favorite book is the personal size german hymnbook and her favorite toy is duplo building blocks. She has an infectious smile and loves chatting with new people. And we certainly cannot forget her determination and independence. She has a knack for enjoying the present moment but always pushing herself to learn more. We love her joyful spirit and sweet cuddles and kisses.
And me....well, I'm just trying to keep up with life while focusing on forward movement toward our family vision and goals. We have coined our Family Mission Statement which now hangs in our living room. I've been teaching the Joy School curriculum to the kids and doing my best to bring my focus into making this home a haven with protective walls and lots of love. It is definitely all still a work in progress but at least it is forward progress. On the personal side of things, I have finished another German class and am putting study time in on most days of the week (yet still seem to lack forward momentum on that one), the kids have been my incredible cheer team as I reached my distance (and time!) goal while running with both of them in the stroller, my daily morning gift to myself has been personal scripture study and yoga practice (which has made a huge difference and I rarely miss - though certainly not perfect on that one) and Jason has been patiently letting me practice my singing while he practices his piano skills. Really looking forward to the coming weeks and planning to sit down and focus my vision on where I see myself growing this next year and how I can push myself. Then it's time to focus in on forward movement for our family.
It has been a good year, one of a lot of personal and family growth and even a little bit of travel (check out our road trip posts by going here). There have definitely been hard parts, particularly this last month, but it has helped us to be so much more aware of the goodness and sweetness that exists in our life each and every day. (That being said, you certainly won't find any of us volunteering to head back to the hospital for another stay.) We feel blessed for the experiences and moments of this past year and are so grateful for the kindness and love of our family and friends. We wish we lived much closer to them, particularly to share the joy of the Christmas season. We hope that wherever you are, and whatever your circumstances may be this year that you are blessed with peace and joy that you can carry with out throughout the year.
We are so grateful for our Savior and the sacrifice that he made for us and look forward to celebrating his birth as we spend time together, serve others, and look forward to becoming more like our Savior in the coming year.
Merry Christmas!
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