Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Feliz Navidad and Happy Holidays!We blinked and we now have a kindergartener, a preschooler and a one-year-old. An older woman I met at the grocery store told me a saying about raising kids that has really stuck with me: “The days are long, but the years are short.” That pretty much sums up the daunting, yet thrilling task of having three little people growing in our family.
Os is still with Pax Wine Cellars and has, in my opinion, done an excellent job of balancing a demanding work schedule with family time. While he has been on the road a lot and had the standard long harvest hours he has managed to get in plenty of backyard baseball, countless rounds of tickle monster and a number of nights out for the two of us. (The previous sentence may be a little unclear. I meant the former two items to indicate playing with the kids, though I suppose all three could just be Os and me. )
I had the amazing opportunity of doing the Alcatraz Sharkfest Swim this year. It was a bit surreal to complete a race I have been wanting to do for more than five years. I feel so blessed to have had the ability to do this swim physically, geographically, economically and time-wise. In case you’re curious, I didn’t see a single shark, though the San Francisco Bay only has 2 varieties that are both harmless bottom feeders.
We almost bought our first house this year. We’ve decided that buying a home has many uncanny similarities to romantic relationships. You have your eye out, you get a crush, you make an offer; there is lots of waiting and nail biting and ups and downs, etc. Let’s just say that we proposed, the other party called off the long engagement and we are in the post-breakup regrouping phase licking our wounds.
The kids continue to keep us young and, in the paradox of parenting, age us beyond our years. One night when Os was going in to kiss the boys after they were in bed he cracked the door a bit and waited to see what would happen. After a long pause Moose whispered to BiggiE, “I think it’s God.” A beat or two later BiggiE piped up, “God, is that you?”
Moose began Kindergarten this year at a dual immersion school. Ninety percent of the instruction is in Spanish the first year and they slowly add more English with each year. The school has an excellent reputation and a great track record of producing students who are not just biliterate, but far exceed their peers in test scores at both the county and state level. Moose is doing really well and it is so fun to watch him be excited about learning new things. His confidence and curiosity are so much fun.
BiggiE has preschool two mornings a week, which he refers to as “going to work”. He has made many new friends, which made one of our friends comment that perhaps BiggiE should be called The Mayor instead of his old nickname, The Professor. BiggiE has been working through finding his footing as the middle kid: not quite able to do all that his older brother does and not sure he really wanted to relinquish his spot as the baby of the family. His quirkiness and fun-loving sweetness leave no doubt he will hold his own just fine.
Jelly Belly might be pint-sized (she weighs less than 16 lbs. at a year), but she has us all smitten. It is truly amazing how many people can be wrapped around such a small pinky finger. She delighted us all by taking her first steps to Os on her birthday. She definitely likes to be in on the action, whether being designated the kitty or the leopard-jaguar-bat in her brothers’ games. She also knows how to get a smile. Just the other day she put a cracker on her head and started giggling knowing that someone in the room would find her hilarious. We may have missed out on our hat trick of redheads, but we can’t think of a better complement to our family than our sweet girl.
As always, we would love to hear about you and yours. We know that these holiday letters can often gloss over life and we realize that life isn’t always a Kodak moment. For us, we faced the monster of cancer again when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months back. Her prognosis is good, but it is never an easy road. If there is anything we could pray for you about we would be honored to do so. Have a blessed holiday season and 2010!
God’s love, joy and peace,
Os, Odelia,
Moose, BiggiE and Jelly Belly
Favorites of 2009
Music: Half-Handed Cloud, Danielson Familie,
Books: The Prodigal God by Tim Keller, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique
Bauby, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, and Letters and Papers from Prison by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“For [Jesus] Himself is our peace…” - Ephesians 2:14
