Christmas Letter 2015

For years now, I have written an annual Christmas Letter that gets added to our Christmas card and sent out to family and friends near and far. It is usually a summary of our year, highlighting what each of us has been up to.  This year, I wanted to add it to our blog too as it serves as our memory keeper.

2015 has been a year filled with change and up and downs. It began with the decision to move further up North and an unexpected trip to Germany in January. This was one of the hardest trips I ever made back home as I had to say goodbye to my (favorite) uncle and my grandma. Both passed away from illnesses within 5 months of each other. They are missed dearly. While I spent many hours driving to and from and being at the hospitals, the kids loved seeing their Oma and Opa and enjoyed playing in the snow.

Once we made it back from Germany, we took a trip to Mooresville, NC to scope out our new hometown. Since we liked what we saw, Derrick quit his job and we packed up and moved to NC. This was a family decision that has been in the works for over 1.5 years and has been wonderful for us. It meant to trust in God, take some risks, and to downsize, but it is so worth it as we are able to spend plenty of quality time together as a family of 4. Since April, we enjoy getting to know our new surroundings, exploring the outdoors and having fun on the lake all summer long. It has been one of the best summers we had in a long time. This small town living is great and we especially love the weather (we have missed the seasonal changes a lot). Mooresville and surrounding towns have lots to offer from parades, concerts on the lawns to a great library and a fabulous MOPS (Mother of Preschoolers) group where I met some wonderful mommies and made some new friends. Everyone is very friendly and open here. If you can't tell yet but we are loving it here.

After a fun-filled summer, in August Amelia celebrated her 4th birthday with her grandparents and cousins at Chuck Cheese in Summerville. In September, she started her transitional kindergarten class and loves going to preschool every weekday (from 9am to 1pm). She has a great teacher and her 4 classmates are a fun troop to be around. This girl is the life of the party and enjoys learning and exploring new things. Her brother has adjusted well to the change of her being gone all morning and soaks up one-on-one time with mommy or daddy. He is my buddy to tag along when I have to run errands or have my bi-weekly mommy meetings. Elliot celebrated his 2nd birthday just a few days ago and I can't believe that he is growing up way too fast. The kids adjusted very well to the new area and can be found almost daily playing in the big backyard or exploring a new playground around town.

While the kids keep me very busy, I also started focusing a bit more on myself this year: reading books, volunteering at the soup kitchen, going out with the girls once a month, and doing some arts and crafts projects. For the past year, I have been making wooden peg dolls (ranging from princesses to animals, Star Wars, Power Rangers, and everything else in between) and recently started selling them to friends. As you may imagine, this little venture keeps me quite busy now.  

Derrick meanwhile is busy with managing/ researching our investments and applying for some new job opportunities. We hope and pray that we can stay here in that area but are also willing to move if a good job offer becomes available. He also enjoys going on hikes at the State Park or takes his bike out for a spin around town and playing with the kids out back. 

This year truly has been a whirlwind and while there was sadness, teary-eyed goodbyes and pain, we had even more great moments and made so many fond memories by spending time with each other and discovering that less can be more.  We are looking forward to 2016 and hope that it brings us new adventures, joy and peace.  We may never find it, but we will keep pursuing our happiness and pray that you do the same. 

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May peace and happiness be with you always.