2012

This will probably take a little getting used to.  I don’t think I ever got used to writing 2011 so I’m not sure how I am going to transition into the 2012……

Last year I posted our Christmas letter and I haven’t done that yet.  So here is 2011’s letter.  Some of you may have read this in the mail while others……well you follow my blog so may know most of it.

Take your coffee cup…..its long

ABCDE News

December 2011

Merry Christmas to you! Tis the Season of Joy and Thankfulness! We pray that God has blessed each and every one of you and will continue to do this in 2012. We were blessed this year and would love to share some stories from 2011. It was an eventful year again. Not everything was what we had planned, but none the less it was God’s plan and so it was good!

A is 5 years old now! She loves the new routine of going to school Tuesday and Thursday and sometimes on Friday. She comes home every time with some sort of story about her friends. She does well in school and her mom and dad are enjoying learning all about it right alongside her. She also has been busy entertaining her siblings on the days she is home. She continues to love bossing around her sister in any activity and is still very willing to help out with her brother. She is proud of learning to ride her bike with no training wheels this summer.

B is our vivacious 3 year old. The more we laugh with her at anything the happier she seems to be. On days A goes to school she is always asking where we are going, who is coming over to play, or saying “I have no one to play with!” She has learned that E can be fun to boss around when A isn’t home. They seem to get along really well. B loves to tell us stories and give people hugs if they need them. She has just completed her first swimming lessons without mom or dad in the pool with her. She enjoys going to story hour once a week at church especially when her friends are there.

C is also getting used to the new routine of waking up “early” every morning. 3 out 5 weekday mornings are made up of working out with a friend (neighbour) and our good friend Jillian. She also attempted running this summer on the nearby track. She is hoping by next summer she’ll be able to do 10 laps in one shot. C also continues to love working on her photography. With 3 little kids to take care of she doesn’t get to take her camera out as often as she’d like, but she did manage to pull off one photography challenge in making a book for her Dad. She joined the church choir this year and also is a part of a book club again this year. She loves being challenged with reading a book she’d never usually pick out.

D has been very busy with church life and work life. Currently our church doesn’t have a pastor and so D has been busy working on the calling committee as council liaison. This means a few more nights away a month, but we pray that God will soon provide our church with a pastor. D has traveled a few places this year for work (mostly to the USA). The most exciting was going to Peru where he managed to fit a day of enjoyment into a week full of work.

E is our spunky little one year old who loves to get into everything. It is amazing how one can forget this stage of opening cupboards and tossing everything in sight all over the floor. E began walking about 1 week before his birthday but now is really just running around the house. Often he gets into some sort of trouble and is found with a smile on his face until someone says “NO”. Then the bottom lip comes out along with a howl and a few tears… He is always happy if he can get outdoors but of course it’s difficult to get back into the house again. Hopefully this lasts for a long time and we can send him outdoors in the spring again. He also adores animals and every time our neighbour’s dog barks he’s sure to stop what he is doing and give a bark back!

So what has happened with our whole family throughout the past year? In January we headed up to Sun Peaks with friends for 4 nights. This was a great adventure as we put A in a pair of skis and took her down the mountain. She loved it and was soon asking “Daddy go faster”. We loved it so much we’re looking forward to hitting the slopes again this winter.

In February A, E and C headed to Calgary to introduce E to C’s sisters. That is one not so nice thing about having sisters living far away since it takes a while to meet your new nieces and nephews. But thankfully WestJet and Abbotsford airport have been great for all of us all these years. While those 3 were out in the cold D had to travel to work in Peru were it was nice and warm. He managed to even have one relaxing day while there and then 4 full and long days of work after that. B had a great time at Grandma’s while the rest of us were away.

In March D and C and E went on a little get-a-way to Anacortes, Washington, a dainty little town that is great for Antique hunters, quilters, and those in search of photography props.

In April there was a turn of events in our lives. While enjoying a concert we were called by a family member to get over to the hospital as fast as we could since C’s Dad had a stroke. At first things were looking bad; then they were looking better that night. But the next morning things didn’t look so good again. After a few weeks in the hospital he was sent to a home in Abbotsford and then to Surrey for therapy and recuperation. Thankfully he was able to join C’s Mom back at home in August and we can say that home is the best therapy as he has being improving in mobility since coming back there.

With C’s dad being sick we got to host some guests this year. C’s sisters managed to squeeze in with all their kids and still came out of the house with smiles and full tummy’s. Or so we hope, they didn’t complain anyways???

In July D hit the big 30! C decided a big surprise party was a good idea. So after telling some fibs she managed to pull off a whole car rally through Chilliwack. The final location was our home where more guests joined in on the fun. Somehow we fed 75 people! Thankfully we pulled out our hedge a few weeks before so we could take over a part of ‘our’ park, leaving lots of room for people to sit and kids to play.

In July we also enjoyed a family/friend camping trip to Shuswap. It was a little bittersweet as C’s parents were supposed to be there…praying that next year will be better. In September we took a personal family holiday to Parksville. The kids loved building sand sculptures and getting full of sand (perhaps C might’ve liked it even more!)

That led into more of a routine life with school, work, bible study and consistory. Now we are also involved in the Christmas season and look forward to it all! We hope God will bless us once again with many experiences and family enjoyment as we’ve had in 2011. We pray this for all of you too.