Im sorry if we werent able to get a card to you this year.
But here is the next best thing! Here is the letter we sent out with the cards....
The most anticipated time of the year is once again here. Everything is just better at Christmas. The smells, the mood and the look. I love seeing the way people come together and do everything they can to help others and keep the spirit alive. I love how bright the world becomes. While most try to hang lights and decorations before the dreaded winter weather sets in, I’m always impressed with those late few that head outside in freezing temperatures making their house shine amongst the rest. During this season hours upon hours are dedicated to Christmas decorations, good cheer, baking, present making, card creating, letter writing, singing, and making sure the people we love feel loved. This season, is by far my favorite.
We have once again ‘boycotted’ the malls this year. I don’t think there is a single thing I will be buying this year, with the exceptions of the kids. But still we have a small budget for that too. I’d like to think of this year as my ‘recycling’ Christmas. Everything I’m making for people is made only with the supplies I already have. We have opted to buy ‘used’ gifts for the kids rather than spending more than double the amount on a newer version. I’m trying to keep Christmas as ‘handmade’ as possible.
The Jevne Update;
Evan has started another new job. It seems every time I write one of these letters he has a new job but times were tough this year and it needed to be done. As much as Evan enjoyed working for Amaritech he needed to find something a little more stable as the recent recession hit the company hard. Hours were cut, pays were cut and that was followed by lay-offs. It was a difficult decision for Evan to leave the company. He is now with a company called Magnaflo Systems. For the most part it’s the same thing he’s been doing for the past few years, building the ‘brain’ of the Rigs. This coming year though will be bringing a new challenge his way. Evan was hired into this company to be ‘that guy’ that travels with the rig and sets its up –In Russia! He will be having to learn new techniques and programs and has only a few months to do it. This trip could be 4-6weeks long! It will be a hard time without him around but it’s also a huge leap in his career. When Evan isn’t working he’s still working. He only gets one day off a week and that day is filled with his regular routine. Running around doing his errands, cleaning his truck, and ticking off anything I have on his ‘honey-do’ list. He loves spending time with the kids on the weekends and has no problem having them tag along with him while I stay home and get some ‘me’ time.
Myself. I have been the busiest I think I’ve ever been this year. My new year’s resolution last year was to handmake all presents. And I’ve stuck to it! I didn’t buy a single present this year and had a lot more fun doing it this way. I’ve also been fixing up the house and moving things around. For those of you that know me well know that this is something that happens on a regular basis. I’ve been busy snapping pictures, painting, crafting, playing, cleaning, teaching, disciplining and laughing. The list could go on for miles. My most recent projects have been renovating the Master Suite. We’ve been in this house nearly two years and I’ve finally decided it’s time for us to have our own little ‘retreat’ that we can comfortably retire to every night. My next project, after Christmas, will be finishing Kael’s room and then working my way through the house until its perfect. To which I will probably want to start all over again or move. But in the mean time I’ll be finishing Christmas presents, decorating my house and tree, baking and all of that stuff that goes along with Christmas.
Kael. We’ve had our challenges with him this year. The tantrums. I remember the day it started. Evan and I were so shocked we could do nothing but laugh. Kael, our perfect, well mannered and obedient little boy suddenly transformed into this little ball of rage. Where was this coming from!? Suddenly “no” was the only word in his little vocabulary. But through months of frustration, patience, exhaustion, and accomplishments we seemed to have gotten the ‘fits’ under control. He has grown so much this year. How fun it has been to watch him grow and learn. He went from never talking to never not talking. He is a very affectionate little boy. He is always trying to make everyone and everything feel better. If someone is hurt he will go up and kiss the ‘owee’ and say “Kael kiss it better” to which he says “see Kael make it better. See Happy!” When Naveah is crying he runs up to her, gives her a big hug and says “see Aya’s all better”. He is always trying to cuddle with Lazuli, our cat, although sometimes he cuddles a little too hard. He is still a man obsessed with the mode of transportation and has recently taken a liking to Spaceships and Astro Boy. Trains and Airplanes are a close runner up. The other day he watched the Astro Boy movie trailer for over an hour. “wachit ahden!?” “more Astro Boy?”…this led to my decision to download a ‘bad’ copy of Astro Boy just to keep him happy until the ‘good’ version comes out. He is also really into his building blocks, constantly building spaceships and rockets over and over again. I love sitting back and watching him sometimes. He can build almost anything to a ‘T’. I stared in upmost fascination one day as he built a pirate ship almost dead on! Included the crowsnest, masts, and a place for the captain to steer the boat! His rockets/spaceships are simple yet amazing. As I watched him animate his spaceship one afternoon I wondered what he was doing as he would make the ‘take off’ noise, lift the rocket into the air and then split it in two. Kael would then say “see spaceship broken!”. It only took me a minute to realize he was recreating what a real life spaceship would do in space. Parts of the spaceship ‘brake off’ as its makes it way further into space. What more can I say about Kael except he is absolutely amazing!
Naveah is a head strong, independent little girl. She is a world in itself. How much spirit she has makes me envy her. She is 18 months but seems so much older. I love watching her discover new things around her. I remember watching her as she checked out a small flower on a bush. She stared with total fascination and then gently touched every petal, then looked at me and shrieked in excitement. She has come to love all her stuffed animals and has become especially attached to one. A grey tabby cat she calls “Bahboo”. She for a while wouldn’t go anywhere without her. She came along on car rides, shopping trips, anybodies house we visited, any floor of the house we were on and of course had to go to bed with her. Heaven forbid if we ever forgot her. It’s so cute to watch her cuddle her little stuffies. She holds them right close with one arm while the other hand pats or pets the stuffies back. She is also very much into ‘dress up’. She always wants to put on bracelets, hats, mitts, necklaces and purses. She has become quite the guardian over cell phones, house phones, remotes and calculators. Don’t ever try to take one from her if it’s in her possession. You will hear decibels you never thought existed. It’s so much fun listening to her shrieks and shrills as she plays with Kael. There is a pretty good ‘track’ for them to run circles around the house. One of their favorite games consists of Kael dragging a blanket behind him and running and Naveah chases after him trying to get the blanket. She loves playing “boo”. No time is a bad time to play that game. She will run up to one of us, cover her face, peek through her fingers and say “boo!”. If we say it back, it’s even funnier. She enjoys learning the alphabet with Kael although almost every letter to her is “L”. She is talking up a storm these days and it blows me away. Her first word was “downstairs” believe it or not! She is very good at communicating what she wants. We taught her signing for the basics like, milk, more, and all done, but those signs didn’t last long as she took to saying them just as fast as signing! I like to refer to Naveah as the Color in my life. She has brought more into our lives than I could have ever expected.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope you all enjoy the upcoming New Year.
We have once again ‘boycotted’ the malls this year. I don’t think there is a single thing I will be buying this year, with the exceptions of the kids. But still we have a small budget for that too. I’d like to think of this year as my ‘recycling’ Christmas. Everything I’m making for people is made only with the supplies I already have. We have opted to buy ‘used’ gifts for the kids rather than spending more than double the amount on a newer version. I’m trying to keep Christmas as ‘handmade’ as possible.
The Jevne Update;
Evan has started another new job. It seems every time I write one of these letters he has a new job but times were tough this year and it needed to be done. As much as Evan enjoyed working for Amaritech he needed to find something a little more stable as the recent recession hit the company hard. Hours were cut, pays were cut and that was followed by lay-offs. It was a difficult decision for Evan to leave the company. He is now with a company called Magnaflo Systems. For the most part it’s the same thing he’s been doing for the past few years, building the ‘brain’ of the Rigs. This coming year though will be bringing a new challenge his way. Evan was hired into this company to be ‘that guy’ that travels with the rig and sets its up –In Russia! He will be having to learn new techniques and programs and has only a few months to do it. This trip could be 4-6weeks long! It will be a hard time without him around but it’s also a huge leap in his career. When Evan isn’t working he’s still working. He only gets one day off a week and that day is filled with his regular routine. Running around doing his errands, cleaning his truck, and ticking off anything I have on his ‘honey-do’ list. He loves spending time with the kids on the weekends and has no problem having them tag along with him while I stay home and get some ‘me’ time.
Myself. I have been the busiest I think I’ve ever been this year. My new year’s resolution last year was to handmake all presents. And I’ve stuck to it! I didn’t buy a single present this year and had a lot more fun doing it this way. I’ve also been fixing up the house and moving things around. For those of you that know me well know that this is something that happens on a regular basis. I’ve been busy snapping pictures, painting, crafting, playing, cleaning, teaching, disciplining and laughing. The list could go on for miles. My most recent projects have been renovating the Master Suite. We’ve been in this house nearly two years and I’ve finally decided it’s time for us to have our own little ‘retreat’ that we can comfortably retire to every night. My next project, after Christmas, will be finishing Kael’s room and then working my way through the house until its perfect. To which I will probably want to start all over again or move. But in the mean time I’ll be finishing Christmas presents, decorating my house and tree, baking and all of that stuff that goes along with Christmas.
Kael. We’ve had our challenges with him this year. The tantrums. I remember the day it started. Evan and I were so shocked we could do nothing but laugh. Kael, our perfect, well mannered and obedient little boy suddenly transformed into this little ball of rage. Where was this coming from!? Suddenly “no” was the only word in his little vocabulary. But through months of frustration, patience, exhaustion, and accomplishments we seemed to have gotten the ‘fits’ under control. He has grown so much this year. How fun it has been to watch him grow and learn. He went from never talking to never not talking. He is a very affectionate little boy. He is always trying to make everyone and everything feel better. If someone is hurt he will go up and kiss the ‘owee’ and say “Kael kiss it better” to which he says “see Kael make it better. See Happy!” When Naveah is crying he runs up to her, gives her a big hug and says “see Aya’s all better”. He is always trying to cuddle with Lazuli, our cat, although sometimes he cuddles a little too hard. He is still a man obsessed with the mode of transportation and has recently taken a liking to Spaceships and Astro Boy. Trains and Airplanes are a close runner up. The other day he watched the Astro Boy movie trailer for over an hour. “wachit ahden!?” “more Astro Boy?”…this led to my decision to download a ‘bad’ copy of Astro Boy just to keep him happy until the ‘good’ version comes out. He is also really into his building blocks, constantly building spaceships and rockets over and over again. I love sitting back and watching him sometimes. He can build almost anything to a ‘T’. I stared in upmost fascination one day as he built a pirate ship almost dead on! Included the crowsnest, masts, and a place for the captain to steer the boat! His rockets/spaceships are simple yet amazing. As I watched him animate his spaceship one afternoon I wondered what he was doing as he would make the ‘take off’ noise, lift the rocket into the air and then split it in two. Kael would then say “see spaceship broken!”. It only took me a minute to realize he was recreating what a real life spaceship would do in space. Parts of the spaceship ‘brake off’ as its makes it way further into space. What more can I say about Kael except he is absolutely amazing!
Naveah is a head strong, independent little girl. She is a world in itself. How much spirit she has makes me envy her. She is 18 months but seems so much older. I love watching her discover new things around her. I remember watching her as she checked out a small flower on a bush. She stared with total fascination and then gently touched every petal, then looked at me and shrieked in excitement. She has come to love all her stuffed animals and has become especially attached to one. A grey tabby cat she calls “Bahboo”. She for a while wouldn’t go anywhere without her. She came along on car rides, shopping trips, anybodies house we visited, any floor of the house we were on and of course had to go to bed with her. Heaven forbid if we ever forgot her. It’s so cute to watch her cuddle her little stuffies. She holds them right close with one arm while the other hand pats or pets the stuffies back. She is also very much into ‘dress up’. She always wants to put on bracelets, hats, mitts, necklaces and purses. She has become quite the guardian over cell phones, house phones, remotes and calculators. Don’t ever try to take one from her if it’s in her possession. You will hear decibels you never thought existed. It’s so much fun listening to her shrieks and shrills as she plays with Kael. There is a pretty good ‘track’ for them to run circles around the house. One of their favorite games consists of Kael dragging a blanket behind him and running and Naveah chases after him trying to get the blanket. She loves playing “boo”. No time is a bad time to play that game. She will run up to one of us, cover her face, peek through her fingers and say “boo!”. If we say it back, it’s even funnier. She enjoys learning the alphabet with Kael although almost every letter to her is “L”. She is talking up a storm these days and it blows me away. Her first word was “downstairs” believe it or not! She is very good at communicating what she wants. We taught her signing for the basics like, milk, more, and all done, but those signs didn’t last long as she took to saying them just as fast as signing! I like to refer to Naveah as the Color in my life. She has brought more into our lives than I could have ever expected.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope you all enjoy the upcoming New Year.
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