Our 2010 Family Christmas Letter: Our Hard-Workin' Daddy, January 2010

From R-L: Matt, Ryan, Alan

There was a group of promotions to various positions and all their wives came out for the badge pinning.

Which means all their wives got pictures of them standing there fidgeting- except me. Alan doesn't really fidget much.

In the middle of January, we had the opportunity (really, just mom did -- the kids had the opportunity to hang out with grandma) to watch Alan formally accept his promotion to Engineer with the fire department. They had a badge pinning ceremony that he was super glad I didn't a) take pictures of or b) poke him with the pin because those badges are pretty sharp.

He has worked so hard at the fire department and the flight agency, always studying and practicing, taking classes, setting goals and always trying to find a way to be better. He approaches his job with humility, respect for his co-workers (not to say that he doesn't have a comfortable brotherhood there, because they are all totally troublemakers), and constant excitement. His love of his job is a really fun thing to watch, and his jobs are a huge part of his life. We consider all of his co-workers family and we are so grateful to be part of this crazy world that has changed our whole life. It makes a huge difference and a happy family when dad is happy at work - as old-fashioned as that may sound.

Plus, we aren't entirely sure Mason realizes that it's a special thing he gets to see fire engines and helicopters when he visits dad at work. Both of Alan's jobs are a little bit of boy heaven, regardless of the age of the boy.

Our 2010 Family Christmas Letter: Snowmobiling trip, January 2010

We started off the year right (well, at least according to the boys): we went with Alan's side of the family to a little cabin for some snowmobiling and hanging out. Alan's cousin Corby is a HUGE outdoorsman (like the word 'huge' doesn't do him justice, seriously-- he is way into any manner of outdoor activity; being that he is a dad of four little ones, he is also really good at planning for kids during all these activities) and brought a small snowmobile along so Mason could drive it himself. Big hit.

We played games, ate tons of food and enjoyed quality family time before everyone went their separate ways--which we'll get to in subsequent posts. Here are the pictures! (In random order because I still am not sure how blogger uploads this junk.)

The frosty view from upstairs of our cabin.

Baby Claire, all bundled up and ready to go.

Hey look! We were all sitting still and looking at the same camera.... almost.

Alan being...himself. Paul being a fun uncle.

Mason was a little skeptical on the first go--grandma and grandpa had to help convince him it was okay.

Mason and his dad, all ready to go.

Mason was not necessarily excited. In the end, he loved it so much he napped ON THE SNOWMOBILE.

Mason got the camera; mom fed the baby. The trip summed up in two sentences.

Mason got the camera. Again. Sorry, Paul and Leah.

Corby and the kid-sized snowmobile were a huge hit.

Our 2010 Family Christmas Letter

So I made two executive decisions. The first was that I'm not going to stuff our Christmas cards with Christmas letters like I normally do. I am far too lazy to try condensing this crazy year down to one page, find the paper, print it, fold it, and yada yada yada.

The second was that I'm going to actually post on the blog and utilize it as our Christmas letter.

So starting from now until Christmas, I'm going to use each day in December to catch you up to speed on what we've done this year. I'm going to leave a link to this post at the very tip-top of the blog so if you're new here and you were referred here by the note in our Christmas cards, you'll know where to look first. If I get really ambitious with this goal, I'll come back and link to every day I post in this spot so it's like a one-stop sort of deal. Don't hold you breath on the last one. As you can tell I have not been blog-ambitious in a long, long time.

So tomorrow's post will just start in January 2010 with the things I've meant to post but haven't done and will go chronologically through the year. I hope you all enjoy it and I hope I keep up with it.

18 months and counting!

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Length/Height: 32.7 inches (80th percentile)

Weight: 21.31 lbs. (1oth percentile)

Likes: stuffed animals, hugs and kisses, watching movies, iced tea and ice water, her Piglet blanket, her brother, shoving her fingers up your nose, her Five Ladybugs book, dogs and cats, bubble baths, singing songs, dolls and anything doll-related, food

Dislikes: when the yogurt is gone, meat, not getting her way, her carseat

Commonly Spoken Words/Phrases: "Go, go, go!", "What is it?", "Outside", "Snack", "Uh-oh!", "Oh, no!", "Mmmm" (when she wants a kiss or wants you to kiss an animal), "Where's the ninja?", "Thank you", "Holy cow!"

This string bean is still a sweet little firecracker. She sleeps and eats on a tight schedule. Within her waking hours, she shows absolutely no fear. She plays hard, she laughs hard, and she picks up new things every day. She sings songs (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Rock-a-Bye Baby are the recognizable ones -- but she almost always sings and dances to the radio in the car or otherwise). She tries to jump but hasn't quite gone airborne yet. She will happily chatter your ear off with a new and recognizable word thrown in when you least expect it. She's currently learning colors. I've been told she says "Purple" quite clearly and with near-perfect accuracy, but I haven't witnessed it yet.

Halloween Preview Continued

Introducing the sweetest puppy dog in the world.

Not Dead Yet

And I even remembered the password to get in and post. I've got some catching up to do. First, though, a Halloween preview....