Christmas Letter

Now that the Christmas season is over and I am sure that the letters I sent have arrived, I thought I would share my letter and picture with those who did not receive it.  This years letter was challenging to write because I felt strongly that I needed to be vulnerable and open up more. Sending out a letter this personal is really nerve wracking.  Crazily, I even dared to give it to both my daughters' teachers at school.  I am glad I did though because Mrs. Elliott, Reese's teacher, had an excellent idea.  Every Christmas season her family takes Christmas letters and cards they receive and puts them into a basket.  At dinner they draw one out and pray for that family.  This is such a good idea to pray for those families to have a good next and to be able to be stregthened in their current struggles.  I am going to make that a new Christmas tradition for our house.

Side note: Family pictures really are torturous.  Getting everyone to smile at the same time, cooperate, want to be there, not blink, not touch their face, look happy, etc.  That is a lot of work and seems almost impossible.  The sad thing is that I only have two kids; I don't know how my mother did it with seven.  

All year we have been praying for another baby to join our family. Sitting down to write this letter has been a challenge because I kept hoping that I could announce that our dream had been realized.  Sadly it has not. As I bemoaned this to John, he mentioned that we have so much to be grateful for (he can be pretty smart sometimes). In light of that idea, here is our top ten list for 2014 in no particular order.

    1.       Reese scoring a goal at her last soccer game.

    2.       Getting Celia a guinea pig we all love (Cutie).

    3.       Going to Kyla Duggan and Daniel Embry’s Baptisms.

    4.       Watching friends be reunited after long deployments.

    5.       Being able to spend Thanksgiving with family.

    6.       Jenny’s workout group – Fort Knox Beauty Hunters

    7.       John being able to have a job he loves – Army Flight Paramedic

    8.       The girls being able to see Georgia family and friends in June

    9.       John being able to visit family in Utah

  10.       Jenny starting a new blog -  http://imperfectlymormon.blogspot.com/

We hope that you have had a wonderful year.  If not, we hope that you can at least come up with your own top ten list for the year.  There is always something to be grateful for.  The Lord gives us so much and we need only focus on what we have to remember that.  At this time of year we are especially grateful for the gift of his son, Jesus Christ!  Jesus has truly given all.  Our prayer is that we will all look upward this year and that no matter what comes we may find the peace that only God can provide.

Merry Christmas