Working hard while the weather is good...

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We've had an exciting past month that I've wanted to chronicle, but it has been too crazy to sit down and actually write anything down. Our Thanksgiving was quieter than some years, with time to just hang out and enjoy each other while celebrating two birthdays (Darren's and Andrew's), enjoying friends, parks, two family visitors, a bit of Black Friday and lots of food--much of which I made (which gave us all some hope that I was becoming me again! :))

December always has plenty to keep us hopping, though I kept scaling things back, being more choosy about which events we participated in, and putting off things I'd planned to do. The twins had a fun and busy birthday turning nine. They are so flexible and happy about celebrating simply with family on a weekday in December!

We attempted many times to get Christmas cards sent out, but between picture fiascos, writers' block, lack of time, missing stamps (someone thought they were great Christmas stickers to place on bedroom furniture), and the overload of sickness we experienced after staying healthy for such a blessed long time (not including my lovely bouts of hormones), it still has not happened.

We did enjoy great times with lots of family beginning when Nate, Alisa and Karly arrived the weekend before Christmas clear up until New Year's Day when my parents, Mel, and Suzie left. Interestingly, we began dropping like flies as soon as our gatherings began. Almost every single member of the family ended up getting some sort of malady of the three types that kept creeping in, and some of us got more than one. It made for some distress and fatigue, but we are glad that we got to be with everyone who visited and we appreciate the memories!

We are sorry that we didn't get to spend time with all of our family, but look forward to chances to be with the others, perhaps after we've added another member to our family! Speaking of which, two days before Christmas, I had an ultrasound, and a few of us got to say hello to our wiggly tiny baby girl! We feel excited and blessed for the opportunity to round out our family with a bit more femininity, though we would have been thrilled to be anticipating a boy too!

Thank you to everyone who sent us pictures, cards, updates, etc. I love seeing them, displaying them and treasuring into a little book that we keep each year! I'm sorry that we didn't send anything to reciprocate! We hope you are all safe, healthy, warm and resolved to do a little something extra in this exciting new year! Happy 2010!