Palmer Family Christmas 2009
Good news: We’re writing our annual Christmas letter. Bad News: Jon’s in charge of writing it. That’s right it may be considered the miracle of all miracles--Lani handed over the task of writing our family’s Christmas letter to me-so hang on this may hurt a little. j/k
My first idea was to make a giant Madlib- which I still think was a great idea, however Lani used her one veto to kill that idea right away. Just imagine how this letter would have looked. (ex. This was a/an _(adjective)_ year. Jon___(verb)___ed at church with the __(noun)___. Lani _(verb)__ed on the _(-ing adverb)__ ___(noun)____. We saw a lot of __(action verb)__ from Haven. The ___________ news with Evan is that he __(action verb)__ and __(action verb)__ for the first time this ___(noun)___.
I’m interested to see how you filled in the blanks!
Then I thought, “Maybe a song? Nah. A poem? (GAG) No way!” This isn’t going so well for me. I tried letting the kids write something. But all I got from Evan is that he “played good soccer” this year (He doesn’t play soccer, btw.) And Haven just looked at me in only the way a daughter can look at her daddy and said, “Hi-ya Dad!”
Here is another idea that I actually think is pretty stinking sweet. I present our year in words (aka a WORDLE):
I should probably just stop there, but I have many more interesting ideas to share our ye… “Hey…Lani, why are you looking at me like that? What’s the rope for? “OUCH” “NO, YOU SAID I COULD DO IT! STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? SERIOUSLY THIS IS RIDDONCULOUS!”
here.> Well…since Jon is unavailable to continue this letter, I suppose I’ll take it from here so you can actually understand what’s been going on with the Palmers in 2009.
Most of 2009 is a bit of a daze for us. We started the year living with my parents as we waited for our house in Minnesota to sell. February brought the birth of our daughter, Haven Marie. Our house sold in March. (Praise the Lord!). Our stuff got moved to storage. Jon took the kids on a mission trip to FL. Lani braved TWO trips to WI by herself with the kids. We went on vacation WAY “up-nort” the week before we closed on our new house in Saint Louis in August. We painted almost the entire house, including the kitchen cabinets, before we moved all of our stuff in (that’s a LOT of painting in one week!). When we moved into our new house, our daughter stopped sleeping through the night (as she had done since we brought her home from the hospital) and we began living the sleep-deprived, chaotic life of new parents. Jon led our church’s confirmation camp with ONE HUNDRED KIDS. We snuck away for a quick vacation with Jon’s parents right before Thanksgiving. Last week alone we took a trip to the urgent care (Jon nearly broke his ankle stepping onto our patio), we found a paperclip in Haven’s dirty diaper, and had to remove a popcorn kernel from Evan’s ear. It’s always exciting at our house! (For more detailed accounts of our happenings, visit our blog at www.jonandlani.blogspot.com . And leave us some comments! We’d love to hear from you!!) And now here it is already Christmastime. God is good!
Jon is loving his job as Pastor of Student Ministries at Faith. Attendance is up, leaders are encouraged, small groups are back on track, and community connections are growing. As if that wasn’t enough to keep him busy, he’s also been published in YouthWorker Journal (a magazine) for reviewing materials for youth ministries. We’re so proud of him and excited for the doors God is opening! J Check out what he’s up to by visiting his blog at www.keepingitplainandsimple.wordpress.com . (Jon would love to hear from you too! Leave him a comment!)
I just celebrated one year with my photography business this November. It’s amazing how much I’ve learned and grown in just one year. I’d love for you to check out my work at www.lmtphotography.wordpress.com ! I’d love to have you leave comments—it would help my clients earn some free prints! J I’m trying to regain order in our household…with each full night of sleep I get, that day gets closer. I love being a stay-at-home mom…playing with the kids, reading to them, watching their milestones, cooking for the kids and with them, and having the flexibility to pick up and take the kids with me to WI for a mini-vacation just about whenever I want. J
Evan turned three in October. We thought we might never see the day, but potty training is well-underway thanks to some great advice we got from a wonderful family at church. Evan loves all things cars, drums, trains, puzzles, cooking, games, balls, outside, Wii, music, and whatever his sister is playing with. J He loves introducing himself, his sister, and his parents to just about anyone who will listen. He loves listening to music, reading books, playing sports, playing board games, and watching his favorite PBS kids shows. He’s very in tune with his emotions and never hesitates to let us know when he’s mad or ask us if something he did made us “so happy” or “so sad.” He’s pretty familiar with the time-out spot by our stairs, but he’s quick to say he’s sorry for whatever he did wrong. He’s so smart and fun and silly. We sure do enjoy him every day!
Haven will be 10 months old on Christmas (already!). She got her first teeth at 6 months, took her first steps at 8 months, and is now cra-walking (a strange looking 3-legged crawl and walk attempt) all over the house. Tonight she mastered the step that separates our living room from our kitchen. We’re in trouble now! I’m happy to say that her first word was MOMMA at 6 months (sure beats waiting 2 ½ years and months of being called “dad!” to hear that precious word!). She loves singing and dancing. She loves her brother. She loves saying “hiya dad” every time she sees Jon. Her hugs and kisses will melt your heart, but this girl sure can scream! We’ve just gotten into good routines for the first time since she was born. It feels good. Hopefully the sleep-deprivation era is nearing an end. She seems to learn things 5 times faster than Evan did. It is a joy to watch her grow and learn each day!
Well, thanks for hanging in until the end. Guess I can untie Jon now. J We pray God’s richest blessings for you in this coming year. May the joy and peace of Christmas be yours now and throughout the new year!
