Merry Christmas!

We hope you all have a wonderful, Merry Christmas! May it be full of laughter, music, happiness and lots of remembering.

If you should feel so inclined to read a little something today, this is what we sent out in our Christmas cards this year. Enjoy!

We would like to share what our 2010 has been like. It has been a busy, eventful year and we have so much to be thankful for!

After doing a lot of house shopping, looking, and praying, we bought our first home and we love it. It’s a ranch style home converted into a duplex; it was built in 1960 so it has a lot of fun character. We moved in during my third trimester. Dan and his family, as well as our home teachers in our student ward, did most of the cleaning, painting and moving. There was so much to do and we were all exhausted by the time we were in! But we love it and are glad to have a nice place. We rent out the basement and live on the main floor.

It has been so fun to have Olivia Faith as part of our family. She was born on July 23 and has been our pride and joy since the moment she entered this world – or perhaps even before! It is so fun to realize that even though we went 4+ years without a child in the family, once she’s here we feel like she’s always been a part of us. She’s a happy baby who loves to talk and squeal. Her personality is so much fun and she loves to laugh. She also loves to jump if you hold her up or put her in her Jumperoo. Another favorite activity is rolling around on the floor. At four months old, she sleeps at least 6-7 hours at night and has had her first taste of rice cereal. She also loves her uncles and daddy and reading books with mommy.

Daniel stays busy with his work at AMX International. In September he took two business trips to Cape Coral, Florida, where he helped a client out there with their software. He is also busy with our duplex, always finding more projects that need to be done. He is a Sunday School teacher in our ward, teaching gospel doctrine. Right now his favorite toy is his new iPhone. He enjoys finding cool new apps to put on it and every once in a while, he and I have competitions playing Dots or the Moron Game. :) Dan always looks forward to the monthly hikes he goes on with his dad and brothers as he doesn’t often get to do things like that. He also enjoys playing with his daughter and it is so fun to watch them together! Livie sure loves her daddy!

I am staying busy being a wife and mother . . . among many other things! I am trying to learn how to manage a house with a baby and less sleep, which sometimes doesn’t work very well, but I guess that’s why it’s called learning! Currently, I clean house for an elderly couple once a week and I also teach voice lessons. I am also a Sunday School teacher in our ward. Shortly after having Livie, and after saving up for a long time, I finally purchased a DSLR and now I get to practice photography with a nice camera, which I love! I always look forward to the monthly lunch date with Dan’s mom and sisters and a monthly card group, where we have a card exchange and learn new techniques. I also enjoy blogging, reading a good book, baking & cooking, and, of course, singing.

It has been a good year for us. Looking back, we can see so many times the Lord’s hand was in our lives, so many ways we have been blessed. We hope your year was just as good and wish you a wonderful 2011! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!