Christmas Letter

Dear All,

Do you remember living at home and your parents getting the Christmas letter from friends and family? Some were hilarious, some were short and sweet, and some were an enormous list of accomplishments (like one child acing astro-physics, another being an accomplished musician, while the whole family does humanitarian work in Vietnam and vacations in Paris, then still have time for who knows what else). I swear no one's life is really perfect, and I tend to error on the brutally honest end, but here goes our family version of the "Christmas letter."

This year we probably changed enough diapers to fill half a land fill, though we can happily report that Katie has been potty trained for almost a year, at least during the day (night time is another story). Most of our time goes to work for Jeremy (and studying), then feeding, changing, cleaning, loving, playing with, feeding again, and chasing our girls, with occasional vomit clean up (though not as much as the year before!). Highlights of this year included a trip to DC, Jeremy and I going to Vegas for a couple of days for a conference while my mom watched the girls, Pele killing some chickens and me getting thrown out of court by the judge because I had the girls with me, we planted a garden with our neighbors that we fought desperately for and in the end it was overcome by mold (though we still had a good harvest), I started getting out more and more with the girls which included some trips to Vermont, Lake Winnipesauki, and Hampton Beach, my awesome neighbor gave me two days I needed to get to Newport Beach to see my friend get married, we learned how to can applesauce, Jeremy fixed the lawnmower and the toilet, I auditioned for and got into the Handel Society, Jeremy was offered and accepted a fellowship position here, we took a long trip to Utah to visit family, Katie got stitches while we were there, then glasses when we got back, all three of the girls can go through, around, or over our three gates in the house, open the fridge, oven, and toilet, and we have counted ourselves very lucky that we have two very reliable cars for the snowy weather. We have had many, many tears from all of the girls in this house (that includes me) as we work our way through tantrums, sleep deprivation, destructo-kids, the bi-weekly colds, and trying to make our grocery budget work. It has been through continuous little miracles of the Lord, the mercy and generosity of others, that we have been able to keep going. Life is so precious, but not easy.

I have never been given such an opportunity to learn compassion and understanding before for so many different types of people. Parenting three toddlers seems to do that to you. I suddenly understand how people may lose their patience so easily, burst into tears over anything, and how different limitations give people a completely different life than what they had planned. Basically, I have been learning how often we just can't judge, that we don't know what's going on. I have been learning the power of endurance, hope, patience, faith, forgiveness, and how much we all need the Savior's Atonement. Christmas has grown more and more meaningful to me as I think of the wonder and amazement of God's Son coming to earth to give us all another chance, hope for all of our trials, a higher purpose, healing, and peace. There are so many hurts both my own and of others close and not so close I wish I could do something for. But all I can do is love them and trust the Lord. Turning my heart to Him really does lift burdens and gives light into parts of life that may feel so dark. So in this Christmas note to everyone, I am hoping, not that you have a perfect year, but that the joys that come are deeper, the trials you overcome give strength and perspective, you draw closer to the Savior, and that you get the chance to walk outside somewhere and appreciate this beautiful world.