The Christmas Newsletter

This weekend, I mailed the majority of our Christmas cards with only a few local relatives still left on the list.  Shutterfly did a beautiful job creating a card with a big picture of our kids on the outside and a small one of each of them on the inside.  I had room to write a private message, and the cards looked both professional and personal.  The only thing that was missing was the Christmas newsletter.  I ran out of time, but below is the newsletter that I had intended to send:

Wow!  Another year has flown by right before our eyes.  We definitely have stayed busy and learned a lot about our family in the course of this year.

Caleb had an interesting opportunity this year.  After his teachers saw his amazing ability in putting together puzzles and building towers, he was entered in a ‘Future Architects of the World’ contest and won.  His design for a building was selected and was to be built in Tokyo, Japan.  Unfortunately, when Caleb consulted with the real architects, he became enraged at the changes he observed on the blueprints and shouted, “That’s not how I made it!’ ripping them to shreds.  He was immediately fired from any future consultations.

Hannah Grace has also made us proud with the use of her talents.  She tested off the charts for her ‘strong will’ and was recruited by the C.I.A. for one of their spy programs.  They needed someone who was able to do what she wanted to do without a fear of consequences, and that description fit Hannah Grace perfectly.  I can’t go into all of the details of her work, as I do not know them myself, but I know she was picked because the C.I.A said she couldn’t be worn down.  Ain’t that the truth!

Chloe is doing well and growing and progressing as she should.  In the last year, she has learned to walk and run and say many words.  In fact, she has perfected one word so well that Webster’s online dictionary hired Chloe for the audio pronunciation part of their entries.  If you look up the word ‘no’ online and click on the audio link, you will hear Chloe’s voice coming in loud and clear.

Matt and I have stayed busy with the day-to-day, and for the most part, we don’t have anything exciting to report.  However, Matt was a finalist for the Guinness Book of World Records for saying an instruction to his kids the most times without the desired result.  I, also, had my own mini claim to fame when a talent agent spotted me at IKEA making a flying leap to grab Hannah Grace off of one of the suspended in mid-air couches.  I am now the face of Hanes stretch underwear ‘for women on the move.’

We hope this newsletter finds you and your family well and that you have a prosperous and joyous 2011!

What?  Did I not do it right?