Christmas newsletter '08

I am adding my Christmas newsletters to this year's blog entries so I can print them off in my annual blog book printing.  Here is the version I sent out in 2008.

Hello family and friends!
Another year draws to a close and what a crazy year it has been.  It’s time to take a step back and just be amazed at the turns life takes. 

Several big events graced our lives this past year.  Ryan and I took a week long trip without any children to Maui with some friends of ours in July.  It was wonderful to do all sorts of activities without reference to questions like, “Does it interfere with nap/bed time?” “Will the kids behave?” “Are there child-friendly activities?”  We went snorkeling, drove the Road to Hana, made sand castles, went to the top of Haleakala, took in a luau and were out after 8 pm!  Perhaps after another 7 years of marriage, we’ll do something crazy like this again!

We traded in our car for a Kia minivan.  When you get the news that you are expecting twins, there are some big changes and adjustments you need to make.  That is, once the shock wears off in a month or two.  We had to shuffle all the stuff in our computer/craft/it-doesn’t-fit-anywhere-else room into other areas of the house to make a room for the babies, paint the room, and then accumulate enough stuff for two babies.  Two cribs, swings, bouncers, high chairs, diapers and more diapers and more diapers…  Our house, which we once thought was the perfect size for us, has begun to feel a little cramped at times. 

Ryan is on his 5^th year teaching at Sunnyside High School.  He still does FFA and detention and all other Ag teacher activities.  He also is still the 2^nd counselor in the bishopric, which has given us the opportunity to get to know more people in the ward.  In fact, we’ve been more or less adopted into a couple families, which has been a real lifesaver lately.  Ryan was the garden master this year, responsible for the great garden produce we enjoyed.  We had more tomatoes and zucchini than we knew what to do with, as well as beets, cantaloupe, corn, and two kinds of beans.  He even started a remodeling project in our house that will hopefully be finished sometime next year.  Ever the joker, he keeps things lively and interesting at our house.

Danae keeps busy with all the usual mom-type jobs and activities.  She perhaps should have been grateful for the periods of enforced rest (meaning bed rest), but it actually drove her crazy.  Aside from those times, she goes to a book club, play group, story time at the library and likes to hang out with her mom friends.  She also enjoys blogging, (is way behind in) scrapbooking, baking, taking walks, reading and laughing at episodes of the Bachelor with friends.

Emma started full-day kindergarten this year.  Her teacher says she is a wonderful and smart student (which of course we knew already).  She is learning how to read and has an amazing memory.  She is in the dual language program, and dazzles us with her budding Spanish skills daily.  She loves her Primary class. 

Elizabeth is one very active 3-year-old.  She literally talks all day long and loves to be the center of attention.  She discovered dress up this year, and will layer many different items over one another for some very unique looks.  She is attending a preschool class one day a week.  Elizabeth was potty trained earlier this year, and we enjoyed a few diaper-free months.

Anne and Madeline joined our family November 3^rd at 8:45 pm and 8:54 pm respectively.  It was the easiest labor and delivery a mother of twins could ever hope for.  They were beautiful and healthy and weighing in at 5 and ½ lbs each.  The last 6 weeks have been a rough journey in balancing and newborn care, all the while being sleep-deprived and blurry-eyed, but we are surviving.  We look forward to 5 or 6, or even (gasp) 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep someday.  I hear that’s normal for some people.

 We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.