Christmas Letter

Unfortunately, I have far more friends than I have stamps.  As I think most of us are in the same boat, I won't feel too guilty in posting my Christmas letter here for all my friends and family who would like to know the lastest news in our world.  

December 2008

 

Dear Friends and Family,

 

It may have seemed like we dropped off the face of the Earth when we moved to Texas five years ago.  We didn’t.  We are alive and well and living in a place called Mansfield, Texas just outside of Ft. Worth.  We bought a house this month last year and this will be our first Christmas in our new place.

 

Ben is working as a project manager in Dallas for a company called Traveling Coaches.  Traveling Coaches offers software solutions and training for law firms.  Each new client Traveling Coaches sells a product or service to opens a new project for Ben to manage.  When Ben first started, he had small and medium sized projects to manage.  It was fairly easy for him.  This year his projects are much larger and more complex with clients who are very demanding.  It has stretched him professionally in many ways.  It is not uncommon for him to go to sleep after midnight working on his laptop and be up before five in the morning to get an early start the next day.  Although his job can be quite stressful, he loves a good challenge and handles stress well.  In his spare time, he loves to take pictures.  He dreams of starting up his own photography business called Sweet Snaps Photography.  Last year we took pictures for a friend’s wedding and with the money we earned, we invested in a Nikon D-70 digital SLR.  That camera has really changed the way we take pictures.  When we go to the Ft. Worth zoo, he morphs into a wild-life photographer on safari.  We love you Ben!

 

Bridgette enjoys being a stay-at-home mom, especially when she is reading a good book, visiting a friend, or playing in her garden.  Finding the motivation to clean is always a challenge, but that is no surprise with two active little boys running around carving twin paths of destruction.  With the new house has come a backyard with plenty of room to grow flowers of all shapes and sizes.  Bridgette has found that gardening is something she really enjoys.  Ever since she first saw dozens of rose bushes growing in her Grandma Henrie’s backyard, she has always wanted a big rose garden of her own.  Her dream became a reality last Spring when we bought five little rose bushes from Home Depot for five dollars a piece.  One died from disease and another perished in the hot summer sun.  We bought two more bare-root roses online to replace them.  With a lot of hard work and hundreds of gallons of fertilizer water, they are now beautiful, healthy plants.  They are still blooming well into December.  She also has three tropical hibiscus plants that are over-wintering in the house right now.  We are still getting the occasional blossom from them as well, so that is fun. 

She also likes to take pictures, like Ben.  She has a couple of blogs that she posts her pictures and stories to:  thecornergarden.blogspot.com and bandbburbank.blogspot.com. 

 

Devin is getting so big and smart.  Sometimes it is hard to believe that just three short years ago, he was a little baby.  He is now going to preschool once a week.  Mom rotates with two of her friends in the ward with children Devin’s age, so she teaches about once a month.  He now knows almost every letter of the alphabet.  In the stores he will shout, “Look Momma, there is a baby e!” or “Momma, I see an H.”  We have a large collection of wooden train tracks and we love to make elaborate designs snaking under and over each other.  Now that we have a big house, Devin can build train tracks all over.  He has become very good at it and can build them all by himself now.  He is potty trained (only a few accidents), can dress himself (usually with everything backwards), and cleans up his toys (when sufficiently motivated or threatened).  He loves his brother Layne.  Frequently he will say, “Layne, do you know I love you?”  That doesn’t keep him from being Layne’s biggest pest.  Each day is an everlasting toy squabble usually featuring Devin holding a toy just out of reach of a screaming Layne.

 

Layne’s vocabulary is exploding right now.  He talks all the time.  Thomas the Train is his favorite toy.  Cars is his favorite movie.  Every night, he sleeps with a pile of “bee, bee, beers” (baby bears).  He pee-peed on the potty for the first time this week.  We are so proud of him!  He loves his brother and is always planting kisses on whatever part of him he can catch.  He is a very affectionate child and asks for kisses a lot.  He says, “I wanna tiss!”  Frequently, he will climb up into Momma’s lap with a book for her to read to him although he seldom has the patience to listen to the whole thing.  The other day I found him with the Webster’s Dictionary in his lap.  He looked at me and pointed to the book and said, “story!”  We love our little “Layne-bug.”

 

We have been so blessed of the Lord these past five years.  We came to Texas as a young couple with dreams of making enough money over the summer to pay for school.  Now Ben has his degree, we have a house, two beautiful children, a steady income, and a wonderful ward full of supportive friends.  Life seldom turns out the way we plan, but the Lord usually finds a way to bless us if we will let Him.

 

 

We love you all and hope you have a Merry Christmas!

 

Ben, Bridgette, Devin, and Layne

There!  Now you don' t have to worry about whether to hang my letter on your already overcrowded fridge, or throw it away despite the gnawing guilt.  (Okay, maybe I am just a packrat.)