Christmas Letter

The Christmas season is here again—and if there is one thing I like about the Christmas season, it is spending an hour writing a Christmas card that may or may not be read. Please let me know next year if you'd rather receive a chunk of fudge, some stale peanut brittle or some "homemade" wassail mix instead (by the way, for those of you who are guilty of passing out homemade wassail mix, you aren't fooling anyone—we all know you just mixed some leftover Tang from your pantry with dollar store cinnamon... gross). On that merry note, here is a little update on what we have been up to in 2008...

Our two-year-old, Drew, has had a break out year. In addition to following around Emma and copying everything she says and does, he spends most of his time eating and requesting peach-flavored yogurt, playing with trains, and trying to keep his pants up around his waist as opposed to his ankles (sadly, the boy inherited his dad's lack of a sturdy and robust posterior). Potty training is on the horizon as he already "did his doodie" for the first time about a week ago. Also worthy of note is that his gravity-defying hair refuses to be tamed by any so called "maximum strength" hair gel. Seriously, though, if anyone knows of an effective hair product we would appreciate a heads-up...

Emma is now four and has had a busy year. After months of grueling rehearsals, she dazzled the crowd with her first ballet and tap dance performance. Talent scouts from Juilliard were whispering excitedly after her artistic tap interpretation of "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth." She has also excelled academically having recently mastered counting from one to 100 and writing her letters in upper and lower case. Emma can also read simple words and, as a side note, continues to run into walls and fall off of chairs on a semi-frequent basis.

Kelsey continues to be active in the community having recently completed the training for our city's Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T.), where she has learned everything from emergency medical procedures and firefighting techniques, to crisis management processes. Word on the street is that next week she'll learn how to disarm a nuclear bomb with a rubber band and a bottle of Sprite, and then be trained on the infamous Vulcan death grip. And in addition to teaching and caring for the kids around the clock, Kelsey also serves as a teacher and advisor to ten young women (ages 12 to 14) in our LDS Church community. Kelsey also enjoys humming along to the instrumental theme song of Law and Order (this is not a joke). You can frequently hear her "livin' the rhythm" of that creepy tune throughout the day. As different instruments are featured throughout the song, her voice changes to imitate the guitar, clarinet, and a rich-sounding bassoon.

Andy is still the same black-haired and pasty-yet-mysteriously-dashing fellow whose physical appeal had a huge boost this year with the emergence of the wildly popular vampire love story series, Twilight. Kelsey has purchased a whole new wardrobe of black clothes for him and refers to him as "Edward"—Andy is not sure where she is headed with this. He will be finishing up his MBA in six months, at which time he will dedicate more attention to staring blankly at home improvement projects he has no intention of attempting to work on. Andy's personal hygiene continues to be top notch.

Finally, our most exciting Christmas announcement is that we are expecting another child (due in May)! So as not to leave him or her out of the letter, some behavioral highlights exhibited thus far include a strong heartbeat and a mischievous ability to keep Kelsey vomiting for nearly 20 weeks straight. Ah, good times ...

That's about it! We wish you a very merry Christmas full of love, happiness and delicious holiday meats and cheeses.