As this magical time of year has come upon us in full force,
I have felt positively inspired to send out a Christmas letter. This will be the second letter I have ever
sent out in the course of David and I’s 9 years of marriage. Look for another in about 5 years.
Well, what has this year brought the David and Lora Sullivan
family?
For Ben. It has
brought his continued existence which was no easy feat at times. He turned 2 in February and though I love him
dearly, it has brought its own unique set of challenges. Ben has learned that it is in fact not okay
to run around naked even though he is so proud of himself for being able to
de-diaper his cute little bum all by himself. He has learned the meaning of time-out much
to his chagrin and momma’s delight. He
has learned to work the television and the dvd player on his own (I’m still not
sure if I should be proud of this fact) but thankfully Netflix still remains a
mystery of buttons to him else the mind numbing sounds of George’s Halloween
Boofest would be haunting me even more than it does already… oh the horror!
All is not discouraging though. He is talking up a storm and has also learned
the sheer delight that it is to sneak up on someone to give them a good fright
which makes this momma’s heart melt. He
also has a healthy grasp on the letter “W” and knows that if you turn an “M”
upside down it too becomes a “W”!! Which
is why he so often turns the hymnbook upside down during church as well as
looks at some signs with his head tilted.
For me this year has been full of changes and I sometimes
marvel that we have all survived. Or
rather that everyone has survived me! I
am expecting our second child which we received through the miracle of modern
medicine. Say what you will about it,
but IVF has brought both our children into our home and I’m truly grateful for
the doctors and nurses who make it all possible as well as the angel that
blessed us financially to be able to pursue it once again. That being said, if any of you have gone
through this process… wowza! One of
David’s accomplishments this year really is surviving his hormone hyped up wife
and that was all just to get pregnant. I’m
not sure how he handles things now, though he does spend a lot of time in his
office. Hmmm.
So my accomplishments this year include: surviving
injections with flying colors, not killing anyone close to me during the
process, and making it out of bed every day to at least get my son dressed. Dressing
myself seems to be optional these days. I have also mopped my floor at least a
dozen times, dusted the entire house all at once, and I even thought really
hard about planting a garden.
Now for David. The saint.
I mentioned his survival of me earlier which earns him a plethora of
brownie points in heaven I’m sure. He
still enjoys his job and even got a raise this year, woo-hoo! It was just enough to cover the upcoming raise
in our insurance rates! He survived his
3-year stint in scouts and is now enjoying his new calling as High Priest Group
Secretary and I enjoy having him home more often. He is still working part time at CAPSA which
he also enjoys for more than just the work.
Since his regular job has him working from home his outings to CAPSA
give him a chance to get out of the house which is also nice.
That pretty much sums up our lives at this point. However I would be remiss in not mentioning
my love for this time of year and the reason that it is so special. I know that Christmas has been commercialized
to death and that part is not my favorite.
But I do love that it is a chance to show each other that you care. The chance to find the gift that will
delight. The chance to share with a gift
the love that we feel. I know that it is
something we should do all year and some are better at it than others. But still, even if this is the only time we
put someone else above ourselves I am grateful for the one time. The one time that most people around us are
feeling the magic of the season just the same as we are.
May God bless you all this season and this coming year. May we all do a little better and love each
other a little more.
With love,
David, Lora, and Ben
