If I were going to write a Christmas letter this year....

Since starting the blog almost two years ago, I stopped our annual Christmas letter.  It just seemed redundant to blog about our lives and then sum it up in a tidy letter at the end of the year to send out to family and friends. This year is no different except that I am writing what would have been my 2010 Christmas letter here:

How can I describe 2010? I cannot say this has been a banner year. However, it has not been all bad.  While I normally try to make my Christmas letter newsy without any proud mama bragging, this year will be different on that front.  I will unashamedly brag on my beautiful and wonderful children.  This is the year in review.

Andy- After long desiring to do so, Andy started his novel this year.  His writing impresses me. (Why am I the one blogging?)While his writing has been interrupted by the demands of work (which included a trip to China this year), his service at church, and life in general.  He has a good start to what should be an amazing novel, and he hopes to complete it in 2011.

Tamara- My year has been one full of tough decisions, tough stuff and uncertainty. I picked up a second job. I only work there one day a week, and it is a fun place to work, but the hassle of being away from the family and an unknown commitment time and date from week to week make this less than fun.  My full-time job is in turmoil, and of course, I have continued to try and make home fun for the kids, but there are just a lot of stressors.

Zachary- (currently 15 years old in 9th grade) Zachary took fifth in state in wrestling this year which led us to a difficult decision.  His school has no wrestling team, and while we have never made a school decision about sports, his preparation to transition to high school left us pondering our choice. Zachary narrowed the field to two schools - my school and the school he has attended since kindergarten.  I was completely torn between the two and let him make the choice.  He finally decided to give up wrestling and stay put.  I can't say I miss the constant demands of wrestling on Zach and on the family, and he does not really miss it either.

Zach went on to make it into three varsity football games this fall as a freshman.  He enjoyed the season, and we are all grateful for the break we now have (well, except for our resident night owl who has to get up very early in the morning to get Zach to football conditioning every day- that would be Andy, and Zach is his father's son in this regard).

Savannah- (currently 12 years old, in 7th grade) Savannah was delighted and surprised to find two blue ribbons on the artwork she entered in the state fair this year.  We were all happy to see this affirmation of her talent.

Just this past Saturday, she took the ACT as she was invited to participate in the Duke TIP program.  We are anxious to see her score which will arrive in a few weeks.  Savannah loves puzzles and math, and it was her math score on a standardized test that won her this honor.

Savannah also continued to play field hockey this year.  We have learned of another team that we can consider in the spring to give her more experience in this sport she loves.

Wyatt - (currently 7 years old, until Friday, that is and in the 2nd grade)  He talked all year about his desire to play baseball, and he joined a team in the spring.  Wyatt needs some work on his skills, but he had very good coaches and enjoyed the season.
When the pool opened this summer, Wyatt spent his time practicing swimming across the pool to earn Andy's approval to jump off the diving board. Wow! Within a day of his first jump, Wyatt was hamming it up for the camera and jumping with style.
This fall he started Taekwondo, and we may just have found his niche with this sport.  We love to see his award-winning grin as we watch his class through the window.

Julia- (currently 6 years old and attending 1st grade)  Julia graduated from kindergarten on the same day that Zach graduated from 8th grade.  As part of her celebration, she recited the 23rd Psalm in its entirety.  We love our school.  When tuition skyrocketed for us, we felt certain that Julia would be joining Wyatt in the public school system.  However, through prayer and some things that spoke to us in sermons and teachings, we decided to keep her in the Christian school system.  This has come with big financial challenges, but we feel that she is in the right place.

Julia now does gymnastics at level 2.  This keeps us running but truly appears to be her gift. She also continues to make us laugh daily, and she loves glitz and glam.  She really comes up with some doozies when left to dress herself.

As a family we enjoyed one of our best vacations ever on St. George Island in Florida.  We try to get away annually and leave behind the phones and constant interruptions to enjoy time together as a family.  The gulf oil spill threatened our trip, but as it did not reach the shore in St. George, we had a beautiful and peaceful place to hang out in group of 17 people this summer.  We laughed our way through a couple of games of Quelf...definitely a side-splitter.

We then welcomed our new niece Regan in September. 

The hardest experience of our year and one that Andy refers to as "the most horrific" he has experienced has been my mom's battle with pancreatic cancer.  We all know that pancreatic cancer is the deadliest of cancers, and if we didn't already know that, I certainly had a few people who felt strongly the need to tell me that along with every gruesome and painful detail of what they have seen people with it experience.  We have had the hope of surgery (the only known cure for pancreatic cancer) dashed by the reality that it could not be done.  That has been the nature of cancer, hope followed by despair and then hope again in a vicious wrenching cycle. Mom has fought this cancer valiantly and with peace.  She continues the fight as we all continue to hope and pray that God will grant us a miracle, and the doctors will declare that she is in remission and ultimately declare her cured of this awful beast. 

I close my letter with some of my favorite pictures from the year.

made in China

spunky and beautiful



the artist at work



honest Abe in Washington DC on his 8th grade trip



our one year old pooch Shiloh who loves the water



Mary treasured up these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19

Immanuel - God is with us.

Merry Christmas to all!