Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Our 2008 Christmas Card!

Dear Family and Friends,

Every year as we write our holiday greetings, we think of the wonderful friends and family with which we have been blessed. If only time and distance did not matter and we could reunite with each of you, but as it is, this digital greeting will have to suffice. We want you to know how grateful we are for all the love and support during this past year. As we were reading last
year's Christmas letter, we laughed at how completely unaware we were of all the changes that lay ahead. Here is to the unpredictable future. We are excited for this Christmas season in our home in New Canaan, Connecticut. It will be the first Christmas without any extended family or longtime friends nearby, but we are excited to experience new traditions with new friends. So may your upcoming days be merry and bright and maybe, just maybe our Christmas will be white. (Enjoy the photos -- longer, detailed, boring letter below with links to highlights if you are interested)







We started the year with a trip to Disney world in Florida. We had a great time; much of Jamie's family was there with us. We returned back to our home in Katy and returned back to the normal swing of things. In February, we found out we were expecting our 5th child, due sometime in Oct. At the beginning of March, we celebrated our 1st year anniversary in that home, but by the end of March Trent had decided to transfer with Ernst & Young to their National Office in Manhattan. We took our first trip out here in April and placed our home for rent. At the end of April we excitedly went in for our ultrasound to see what we were having only to get very sad news when they could not find a heartbeat. So many of you helped us through that difficult time-- thanks again! In June we had a lot of family gather with us for Julianne's baptism. We finished out June with another house hunting trip where we found a house! The first 2 weeks of July we were packed up and moved out and we went to Utah for a vacation. We flew to New York on the 30th of July and thanks to a lot of help from Trent's mom who made the trip with us and stayed for 2 weeks-- we quickly got settled. We have since been busy enjoying the visitors who find us way out here!
Julianne (8 years) is fun and happy. She loved swim team this summer, loves playing with friends, and thinks playing the piano is OK. She is the best helper. This year she got glasses and was baptized. She enjoys her new school (her 3rd elem. school in 4 years) and loves to read.Catherine (6 years) is happy and silly. She too loved swim team . Catherine graduated from Kindergarten, lost her first tooth and is the first child of ours to go to the ER for stitches. She loves to read and play and can make friends with anyone.
Madelyn (4 years) still has us wrapped tightly around her finger. She has eyes that will melt any resolve. She is still in speech and improving daily, but what she lacks in enunciation she makes up for in vocabulary. She says some of the funniest things.
Adam (2 years) is all about trains, balls, cars, and puzzles. He keeps right up with the girls and will not miss out on anything. He still is mischievous and good at making messes, but he is also so loving and tender.

Trent (34 years) is all about trains (commuter ones), balls (juggling life), cars, and puzzles (the accounting kind). He keeps right up with the girls. He still is
mischievous and good at cleaning messes, and he is a loving and tender husband and father.

Jamie (32 years) just jogs behind trying to keep up with the family and her projects. She loves being a mom and loves any hobby (she is trying to learn them all).

Come visit us!



2 comments:

The Nixon Family said...

Loved the card. Your fam looks great- I love the girls' dresses. Looks like you had a blast with the fam over Turkey Day. What fun to be at the parade. Andrew loved all the floats.

erica said...

You are all so beautiful. I haven't even thought about my card yet. How many more days do I have? I'm too busy picking nits! My e-mail is bebsjhyland@suddenlink.net