Friday, December 25, 2009

Our Family Christmas Letter

Dear friends and family:

This year has been an interesting one for us. By the grace of God, we walked through a very difficult situation with David's last job, and we joyfully watched God provide new work in a very bad economic climate for David and many others who stood for integrity. Though the specifics of what happened remain heart-breaking, we are truly grateful for how God has worked through the situation and in our lives. David is now back working in the Capitol building and is happy to be there.

At the same time, Christina's dad had some health issues that resulted in him having an emergency bypass surgery. He's been recovering well, but this has been a poignant reminder of how precious and fleeting life is, and how difficult it is to be so physically far away from loved ones.

On May 5, we welcomed Samuel Joseph, a whopping 8 lbs 10 ounces baby boy, into our family. He has been a delightful, sweet, joyful gift.

Eliana turned five in August and we entered the realm of parents with school-aged children (which makes us feel really old, by the way!) We're home-schooling Eliana with the assistance of a local charter school program, and we're loving the opportunity. Eliana LOVES doing her schoolwork and Mikey (4) and Danny (3) love "helping" her. It's so much fun to see them all learning in this way. Selah, who will be two in January, even exuberantly states that, "'A' says 'a, a, apple'!" Then again, she says that about "B," too.

We were able to make it out to Colorado in September to see much of Christina's family -- this was a delightful time for all, especially since the trip was a surprise for Christina's mom and we got to watch her squeal and jump up and down. One set of Christina's grandparents was there at the time, as well, and it was certainly wonderful to see them. David's sister, Danelle, came out for a visit in the beginning of November, and we really enjoyed our time with her, too.

We hope that 2009 has been a wonderful year for you, and that 2010 is an even better one!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

All our love,

David, Christina, Eliana, Michael, Daniel, Selah, Samuel, and the wee little one on the way


And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy--the Son of God.

Luke 1:30-35

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