Christmas Letter 2010

Again, I wish I could have sent this out to SO many more people than we actually could afford to. Honestly, I probably shouldn't have sent any out. But I had bought the paper and cards on clearance last year and I had a coupon for the photos. But still. Anyway, the point is, there were so many people we didn't get to send a hard copy to, and as much as I love this digital age, I can't be convinced to go digital with Christmas Cards. It's just not the same. So, here is our just-not-the-same-digital-Christmas Card this year.

Boy do I love Photoshop Elements! Best Mother's Day Present EVER. I also heart free digital scrapbooking kits.


Here's the Letter:

As 2010 draws to a close, we find ourselves once again looking forward with faith into the unknown and back in weary relief! We’re almost done! We still don’t know from where we will be writing next year’s letter but we are grateful for what this place and this year has taught us and brought us.

ERIC has had quite the range of experiences at Minnesota. Besides classes, Eric has done volunteering for Legal Aid, teaching in an inner-city classroom via Street Law, clerking for a small family law firm downtown, and advocating for low-income clients at the Tax clinic. His life has been full of the law. He’s loved it, but he’s ready for it to be full of other things, too. So are his girls who love every minute with him.

MARCEE’s body had a rough year. A possible herniated disc loomed over her pregnancy but she made it through the nine months and delivery with her sanity and discs intact. An MRI this fall showed three bulging discs but no nerve impingement. After lots of gym time and physical therapy, she’s seen less pain and more mobility and is excited at the prospect of being nearly normal soon (knock on wood)! She’s also started swimming for exercise and is on track to swim a mile before 2011 starts.

JANE has been busy this year—she mastered walking and moved on to “fast-ing” (running), dancing, and jumping with both feet off the ground. She grew enough hair to actually have it cut, sleeps in a big-girl bed, is potty-trained, and speaks in complete paragraphs. We laugh daily at what comes out of her mouth. She loves music, the snow, drawing, stories, tools, blocks and legos, pretend, cooking, and her baby sister. It has been an unanticipated joy watching them interact and the love they already have for each other.

EMILINE RHYS joined our family on May 28, a week after her due date. From the beginning, she’s been eager to look at the world around her. At 6+ months she measures 75^th percentile across the board, weighing just over 17 lbs. She is sitting up, sleeping through the night, falling asleep on her own, and just started solids. She loves Peek-A-Boo and Patty Cake, kicking, screeching, anything she can get in her mouth, and watching Jane. She’s such a happy, social baby and so beautiful to us with no teeth, almost no hair, and the best grin. We can’t wait to discover more about her as she learns and grows.

We have missed so many of you these last few years and hope that we’ll see more of you soon. In the meantime, since it’s been so long, get to know us again with these get to know you questions:

Favorite color
ERIC: Blue
MARCEE: Purple
JANE: Orange
EMILINE: Milky

What was the last thing you read?
ERIC: Advocating for Low-Income Tax Payers: A Clinical Studies Casebook
MARCEE: Just Two More Bites: Helping Picky Eaters Say Yes to Food
JANE: Dr. Seuss’s ABC Book
EMILINE: Where’s Spot?

Do you have a nickname?
ERIC: Daddy. Honey. And if Jane gets no response she resorts to “Er-ic!”
MARCEE: Mommy.
JANE: Jane-girl.
EMILINE: Mommy is pushing for Millie but it hasn’t stuck yet.

How do you spend your free time?
ERIC: “Putting my girls to bed.”
MARCEE: “Either writing, sewing, or painting. Or sleeping.”
JANE: Drawing—at the moment lots of balloons, letters, rainbows, and houses.
EMILINE: Emptying a container one item at a time then fussing when it is empty.

What are you best at?
ERIC: Marcee says “thoroughness, caring, silly nerdiness, and relaxing.”
MARCEE: Eric says “being creative in ideas for lessons, presents, and ways to help family.”
JANE: Jane says “twirling in my house! Round and round and round and round!”
EMILINE: Jane says “playing with the circle blocks.”