Christmas Card 2012

I usually put a note about our doings during the last year in my Christmas cards. After writing about the decline of the Christmas card in the 21st century, I thought I'd experiment with a new image-laden format. I'm using blog names, but I imagine you can break the code. Froehliche Weihnachten!

My husband and I began the year waiting to hear about a referral after starting the adoption process the previous February. Our social worker was scanning the list of special needs children from China each month, and in April, just as we were thinking this wasn't going to happen, we got the call to open the email and see her little face.

Since then we've gotten to know cheerful "Ruby" (2). She loves to give herself little chores, like putting away bowls and throwing things in the trash for us. She's a bit territorial about my lap, but more and more we see instances of her giggling with her sisters. When she first arrived she didn't smile very much, but now a silly look will draw a smile from her, and she seems perfectly at home and attached.  She's celebrated some new holidays and helped us mourn her great-grandmother, my Mom-mom, who passed away shortly after we returned from China. Last week Ruby's four month anniversary with us passed by quietly; it all feels pretty normal.

In addition to entertaining his daughters, my husband continues working on his Doctorate of Ministry, and now he is in the writing phase of a dissertation about junior sermons. He celebrated the 10th anniversary of his karate school in January, and in June our oldest daughter started training with his great group of students. "Jasper" has rebuilt our basement steps with a friend and tinkers on the upper story of our barn--formerly a tobacco factory--as he turns it into a club house for the girls.  He thoroughly enjoyed our two week trip to China, where he brushed up on his Mandarin (I was very impressed) and convinced me we could wander about huge cities on our own, without a facilitator. He tells me his favorite parts of the year were the three trips with his girls. We continue to be thankful for our loving church family as we await our re-affiliation with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church sometime in 2013, a process toward which God has gracefully guided us.

"Pearl," (6) our oldest, delights us with her sweet, nurturing personality that makes her a treasure of a big sister.  She accompanied her daddy on a trip to Boston and came home able to read.  Now she's entered the first grade, and after a rough few weeks in September, she and I have developed into a productive team. She enjoys her co-op opportunities, playing with her friends, visiting shut-ins with her daddy, and spending whole afternoons engaged in complicated imaginative play that her sisters try to join.  Probably my favorite part of homeschooling is our chance to go on field trips all together, including Washington DC Natural History Museum & Zoo, Indian Echo Cavern, a maple sugar operation, Chocolate World, Sheep & Wool Day, the Renaissance Fair, a ceramics studio, a pretzel factory, and nature walks.

"Sapphire" (3) did not escape from our yard at all this summer, which was a blessing after the previous summer's adrenalin-fueled neighborhood searches (not that she got very far). She still loves to climb and jump, and she's the type of child who flings herself right into the creek no matter what the temperature.  Over the summer, even before our big trip, she developed a habit of rejecting her daddy's help and hugs, so in September he took her on a mini vacation, and things have gradually improved 100%. She's experienced the biggest change from becoming a big sister, but she's developed some sweet compassion and self-control as a result. When asked what the best thing in her life is, she answered, "Playing with my two sisters...and playing outside berry nicely." She puts people under her spell very quickly, as you can imagine.

As a lover of quiet, I struggle with the added noise of three children in our house, but since we can't build a sound-proof annex, I'll  have to make do. Much of the adoption paperwork fell to me, and I have to say it is very freeing not to be impatiently waiting for the next form or approval to arrive. The two-church Bible School I directed allowed me to used my super-powers of organization (all God-given, of course!), though it was hard to miss the last three days because of our trip to China.  It is such a joy to see the kids learning the song motions and singing their hearts out each day.

After sixteen months of writing and revising, I've recently submitted my manuscript about the global Christmas to my UK publisher, so hopefully I haven't made any insulting mistakes about Father Christmas! With the manuscript out of the house, I teach the girls, work on my two courses, read Nordic noir, and occasionally practice piano, which I'm learning along with Pearl for the first time.

And thus ends our annual newsletter. We pray that your family will find blessings within this Christmas season and experience joy and surprises in the New Year!