Christmas Card and Newsletter

 Last year was my first year ever sending out Christmas cards.

I sent out 40. It wasn't enough.

This year I sent out 60. It wasn't enough.

We are just so blessed to have so much family and so many friends.

Here's a picture of our Christmas card.
(I know this is an awful picture of it. Sorry. My scanner is having issue.
But if you look at my blog regularly, you've probably seen all these pictures.)

And here's the Christmas card Lexi gave to her friends and cousins.

And here's our Christmas newsletter...

Merry Christmas from the Christensens

Our family continues to be healthy and blessed. We’ll look back at 2013 as a year we trusted in the Lord. We started out the year in a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment that was feeling smaller every minute. In July, we decided to take a look at the houses on the market in our area. There wasn’t much out there but we did find a few houses that we liked. We put offers on them but keep getting out bid. Finally, we got a counter off. But we didn’t feel good about it. In fact, after praying about it and thinking about it, we didn’t feel good about buying a house at all. We felt very strongly that it was not the right time for us to buy a house. So we walked away, we never even asked to see the counter offer. A few weeks later we moved within our complex into a three bedroom, two bathroom apartment with 1400 square feet. It’s a great size for our small family and feels like home.

This summer Sean was furloughed as part of the government budget cuts and then in October the government shutdown. We were grateful that we didn’t buy a house. Then last month, all of the apartments in our complex were put together to create a brand new branch (small “ward” or congregation). Sean was called to be the second counselor in the branch presidency. We know that the Lord needs us here to help grow this branch. And we’re excited to be a part of the work. Now, we know why we weren’t supposed to buy a house. We feel so happy and content in our home. And even though it’s not a house, its home.

Sean has had a busy year. He started off the year helping out his old office in Albuquerque with a few audits, which meant lots of traveling. Now he’s done with that and now very busy with his new calling. When the branch was created, the only people who had callings (assignments) were the branch president (like a bishop) and his two counselors. So, the branch presidency has been very busy getting to know everyone and extended callings. In his spare time, Sean still loves playing his ukulele. Now he’s teaching himself to play the mandolin. Sean also loves reading and playing with the kids and of course, watching BYU football. He even made it to a few games this year.

Not too much has changed for Sam this year. She’s still happy being a stay-at-home mom. The biggest difference is she now a chauffeur as well now that she has two kids in school and other activities. Sam still loves blogging. Our family blog is updated frequently. The address is fairiesandfootball.blogspot.com. Sam just bought a digital SLR camera and is so excited to learn how to use it. She’s going to take a class at a local community college starting next month.

In May, Lexi graduated from preschool and then she started kindergarten in August. She continues to love school. She and her friends spend their recesses “chasing the boys.” Lexi still hasn’t caught one; she says they are really fast. Lexi loves arts and crafts more than ever. And she’s getting so good at recognize and writing several sight words and she’s even reading some books for beginning readers. Lexi did her second season of soccer this year. She was more confident and started attempting to kick the ball when it was close to her. She also started taking a dance class with some friends from church. They are learning tap and ballet.

Avery made us the happiest parents this year by getting potty trained!!! In April, she turned three and she’s getting smarter every day. She’s now in preschool. She can recognize the letters of the alphabet and knows their sounds and can write some letters now. She loves to color and draw pictures. Avery played on a soccer team this fall with her cousin Halle. Avery usually didn’t know where the ball was or seem to care but she liked going out on the field and loved getting treats at the end of every game. Avery also started taking a dance class with her cousin Halle. Their first recital was this month.

We started off the year with Eli’s baby blessing. And from there we watched Eli learn to roll over, sit up, stand and now he walks with help. Eli is now 14- months old. He wears 2T clothes and loves to eat anything we are eating but his favorite food is fruit. Eli loves balls and cars and playing with his daddy. Eli continues to be a laid back and happy little boy. And we’re all still wrapped around his chubby little fingers.

May God Bless you and your family! Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!