We'll Have a Green Christmas Without You (aka The Christmas Letter)

In the spirit of saving paper, we didn't send our annual letter with our Christmas cards this year. I truly love a good Christmas letter, even from people I see all year round. It's fun to see what people think is important enough to include in a year-end wrap-up. We've done poems and changed the words to Christmas songs, made the letter from one of our tiny children, and written pretty traditional-style letters as well. This year, it's an Electronic Christmas.

You can read through my blog to get some REALLY detailed snapshots of our adventures. Or you can just read this, consider yourself informed, and move on to the egg nog.

We started 2008 by moving into our house in Lakeland. It's amazing how you can spread out to fill whatever space you've got--what seemed like a cavernous blank canvas is now furnished, decorated and messy. Our neighborhood is quiet and has lots of kids. We have a backyard full of trees and a porch with a swing. Peter's brother and his family live around the corner. My parents live only about 25 minutes away. It's blissful.

Molly changed schools when we moved, finished Kindergarten in May and is now a first grader. She's an eager student, likes math, reading and art. She likes to write and illustrate stories and made the Citizenship honor roll at school. Molly's in her second year of Girl Scouts. This summer, she took swimming lessons and played t-ball and had a great time at theater camp. Now that she's 7, she relishes her role as Biggest Sister. When she grows up, she wants to be an artist or an art teacher.

Rebecca is 4 years old and is half-way through her Pre-K year at a Montessori preschool. The Montessori philosophy allows children to explore their environments and learn at their own pace--this is perfect for Becca. She is curious, patient, kind and loves to learn. She's reading now and likes to call out Molly's spelling words to her! Rebecca takes gymnastics and spent her favorite weeks of summer at Zoo Camp. Rebecca might be a stand-up comic some day--her timing is awesome and she KNOWS when she's being funny--however, she has said for some time that she will be an animal surgeon when she grows up. She loves both animals and blood-and-guts, so that seems like a good match! She plans to name her firstborn daughter Bella Santamaria Nina Pinta Rosa.

Amelia turned 1 in October and keeps us on our toes! She started walking at 10 months and has been a little Speed Racer ever since. She adores her sisters, loves to blow kisses and play "Where's Amelia!?" Our daily refrain includes "what's in Amelia's mouth?" and "don't eat that!" She is in daycare fulltime and has adjusted well to that, reaching happily for her teacher each morning. She's small for her age but moves quite well, so we call her "The Elf"--such a tiny fun-filled package! Amelia loves our dog Quincy, and that feeling is mutual. He protects her and snuggles with her often!

I (Courtney) am still practicing midwifery in Jackson, TN, in a practice that serves mostly low-income women and families. With the economy's depressed state, the challenges of the poor and working poor are magnified--and more and more people are falling into this category. Still, for me, the joys of welcoming babies and caring for women far outweigh the tough parts, and the strength of women continues to amaze me. When I am not midwifin', I am doing mom stuff, helping out in the girls' schools when possible, trying to keep up the blog and the scrapbooks, and always planning family trips and adventures!

Peter is adjusting to working from home for Interactive Technologies. He travels regularly--to the DC office, back to Davenport, or to St. Louis. Their management retreat this year was in Virginia Beach--a nice backdrop as they made plans for the fiscal year to come. With any change in Washington, government contractors have adjustments to make, so they are all working together to serve where they can. He is enjoying being close to friends and family again, is able to volunteer at the girls' schools as well, and played softball last summer.

We enjoyed a Spring Break trip to Washington, DC, and a few weekend road trips here and there to see friends. We all did some volunteer work throughout the year through our church and my parents' church; had season tickets for a community theater; played on a winning trivia team; and frequented Memphis Redbirds baseball games, the Pink Palace Museum and the Memphis Zoo. Our neighborhood is a great place to take evening walks and watch our eight-member herd of deer.

Peter and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary this week with a trip to New York City. As we look back on a decade, we are reminded how blessed we have been. We have 3 beautiful, healthy and happy daughters; careers that make us happy and make a difference in the world; a strong and nurturing family network; abiding faith in Christ and an ever-growing spiritual life; and friends to walk with us on our journey. Thank you! As always, we strive to keep the spirit of Christmas alive all year, remembering to love one another and to love and serve God. It is our sincere prayer that you and your family are richly blessed in 2009!