MERRY CHRISTMAS 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2010

Here's a brief little summary of our lives in the year 2010. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. How grateful we are for the birth of our Savior to this world, and for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. We have so enjoyed the opportunity to share the true meaning of Christmas with our children this year, especially as LucyMae is old enough to pay attention and feel the Spirit of the Season. We love you all, and miss those we don't get to see often enough. Remember, if you haven't been to Mt. Rushmore...YOU SHOULD! Come visit us before we move outta here.

 

• Our last year of grad school.
• Hoping it’s our last year of renting.
• Our one and only year of being a family of 4.
• Our last year of saying “the girls” when referring to all our children. 
• Our last year of fitting in a car that seats 5…we’re going to have to be a mini-van family for a while with 3 kids in car-seats, and I'm sure we'll need room to expand....it just seems like the most logical and comfortable decision.
• Our last year in a 2-bedroom house (I’m hoping that we will somehow get a separate room for this baby…meaning I hope we move soon:)…but we’ll make due for now).
• My last year of juggling teaching a violin/viola studio with being the mother my kids need me to be!!!! Someday I’ll find a way to get back into teaching, but this moment in life needs to be about MY kids.
• Our last year of summer-break, Christmas-break, Spring-break for Sam….there are definitely some pros of living the poor-student life.
• Our FIRST of many years of planting and harvesting our own garden. It was a success on almost every level, and we thoroughly enjoyed eating those garden vegetables.
• Our FIRST of many years to come of enjoying the peace of mind that comes with having a food storage supply. We’re not done yet, but we at least have 3 months worth.

Sam - has finished his coursework for his master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He will finish his thesis over the next few months and officially graduate come spring. We have been blessed with a job here in South Dakota for now. Sam is an engineering consultant for Thubrikar Aortic Valve, Inc., working on developing a transcatheter aortic valve. This is a start-up company with a lot of potential for the future, so we are just hoping for the best for now:)

Chelsia - recovered from the c-section delivery of Samantha and finally got to feeling active again, when I found out I was pregnant again. Although definitely an unexpected and unplanned turn of events, I have felt very blessed to have such a healthy and easy pregnancy thus far. We were especially excited to find out that this will be a BOY joining us in February 2011. I am sad to say goodbye to violin-teaching for now, but am really looking forward to having a few extra hours each week to spend focusing on my kids. I am a little nervous about figuring out how to balance 3 kids ages 2 and under, but I’m sure we’ll survive.

LucyMae - is still growing up way too fast. She is getting taller every day it seems. She is a fantastic big sister. She has her occasional moments of the “terrible twos”, but for the most part is quite pleasant. She is a child beyond her years in maturity and wisdom I think….she is really going to keep us on our toes. She is already setting such a good example for her younger sibling(s). I think she will be raising the other kids more than we do.

Samantha - we have enjoyed all the steps that come in the first year….starting on solids and table-foods, rolling-over, sitting-up, crawling, walking (which she can do, but currently chooses not to most of the time), etc. She has been a pure joy. LucyMae and Samantha are already great little playmates, and are going to be the best of friends as Samantha becomes more mobile and interactive. Samantha is tall, somewhat skinny, and has the huge Evans head according to the doctor’s measurements:)

Baby Ben - we know his name will be Ben in some way. We both really like Benjamin, but Bennion is Sam’s middle name and we’d like that too….so we’re just waiting to see who this little guy is. He’s been a somewhat calmer baby in the womb than our girls were. We sure are excited to meet this little guy! And we are trying to acquire SOME boy items…no prissy boys around our house:)