Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

As I write this, I hear the boys talking to Grandpa and Grandma N. Now that they are here, our snowman Christmas countdown is counting the days until Christmas rather than Gpa & Gma's arrival. We also look forward to spending time with Jill and her family over Christmas and New Years. What a joy it is to have family around us at the holidays! To the rest of our family members celebrating this season, we will miss you!

I know the traditional Christmas letter includes looking back over the year, but since you are reading this post, you have a pretty good idea of what we have been up to in 2010. In case you don't want to go back over all the entries, here's a quick recap of this year's highlights:

January: basketball coaching for Paul and many games attended by the boys and me; worship symposium in Grand Rapids (yep, I stepped onto Calvin's campus which I admit was beautiful); visit from Gma B. who watched the boys while I was gone

February: more basketball for all of us; a visit from D's sister and nephew

March: visit to the emergency room for Isaac to get a staple in his head; visit from Gpa and Vicki

April: nothing too exciting to report besides regular life

May: birthdays for both boys; playing violin in the high school musical for D

June: basketball camp for P; quick midwest trip for D to deliver the boys for their extended stay with the grandparents; Hawaii for D & P with friends

July: quick midwest trip for P to pick up the boys; Camp Dunamis and Hollywood Bowl for D; camping with friends; and a road trip to the midwest to vacation

August: vacation with family; B & W's wedding; study skills class for D; preparing for and starting school for P

September: the start of preschool for Isaac

October: youth workers' convention for D; visit from Beav & Denise; Ephesians life group (through December)

November: Thanksgiving with D's cousin and family; baking holiday goodies with the boys

December: a weekend with the girls; learning about Jesus' birth and what that means for our lives today through Bible readings, picture books, and reviewing the story of the first Christmas with our Advent calendar each day with the boys; visit from Gpa & Gma N.; Christmas with Jill and all

Once again it is a joy to see the evidence of God's working in our lives this past year. We are blessed to have wonderful families whom we love, and we have been blessed richly with good friends in our lives. We pray that God will be foremost in our hearts this Christmas season and that we will continue to grow in him on a daily basis in 2011.