Overwhelmingly Blessed: Christmas Letter 2008

As I sit here and think about what I can give up this year to make it less stressful (Christmas gift shopping, baking, parties, Christmas letters, Christmas cards, decorating, visiting with family, etc.) I can’t seem to give any of them up, ESPECIALLY not the Christmas letter. I LOVE receiving Christmas letters and cards and that is one of the highlight of this whole season for me, so here I am, 7 days before Christmas (still needing to START on my Christmas shopping – YIKES), writing this letter. Okay – I’m WAY behind! This year Christmas has REALLY snuck up on me . . . . AGAIN!! Maybe I can keep it short, sweet and simple.

Jamie – our little singer just loves, loves, LOVES to sing. Sometimes before any words come out of her mouth in the morning, she’s singing. This is what you’ll find her doing all day - while she’s playing, drawing, coloring, eating (yes, with food in her mouth – we’re really trying to teach her to hum during this time) and yes, she’s even singing when she’s on the potty. She’s our music girl. It will be interesting to see how that all develops as she gets older. It’s such a joy to watch her.

Joshua – our boy, is ALL boy. What can we say? For him it’s all about CARS, CARS, CARS – He LOVES cars. One thing we can’t get over is during our Parent-Teacher conference, two words his teacher used to describe him was “quiet” and “gentle.” People who watch him at church say “He’s sooooooo sweet.” I would SOOOOO love to meet this Joshua. This is so NOT who he is at home which is usually loud and aggressive. Maybe his true self is somewhere between how he is described at school and church and how I see him at home (I’m hopeful).

Julianna – our sweet, sweet girl. She is soooo much fun. She’s really into books and you are her best friend if you read books to her. Her vocabulary is developing nicely and amazingly she recognizes almost the entire alphabet at 19 months of age. It’s fun to watch. Of course she’s growing way too fast. We’re trying to savor every moment of her cuteness and shhhhhhh, don’t tell anyone, she’s our favorite now. And noooooo, it has nothing to do with her lack of whining or demands, something we constantly seem to get from the other two.

We are truly blessed to have these three wonderful children!

Craig and I celebrated 7 happy years of married October 27. Still loving the life!

Wishing you a joyous Christmas and a Blessed New Year!!
Craig, Maria Estella, Jamie, Joshua, Julianna

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given . . . And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Pictures Taken Throughout the Year