Merry Christmas!

The house is quiet as my family enjoys a few more winks of sleep before we rouse ourselves and head out to spend the day with family. The last few touches on the holiday goodies are almost complete and the wrapping of packages is almost finished. I feel like I can finally sit back and reflect on the wonder of Advent. Here are a few lines from some Christmas songs that always make me stop and go, "Wow!" One king held the frankincense, one king held the myrrh, one king held the purest gold, and one King held the hope of the world. -One King sung by Point of Grace And . . . Mary did you know . . . when you kissed your little baby you kissed the face of God? -Mary did you Know (Buddy Greene/Mark Lowry) Below is a copy of our family Christmas letter- Merry Christmas! Dear Friends and Family, The construction of the annual Christmas letter gives us opportunity again to glance backward and be astounded by all that can take place in twelve short months. Beginning with the littlest guy in the house, Seth has had a busy year of firsts. First birthday, first haircut, first steps, first teeth, first flu shot . . . you get the point. The little fellow has been a trooper and hardly ever complains. He continues to warm our household with his sweet mannerisms and contagious giggles. Not to be outdone by her little brother, Eliana has had her share of firsts as well. These included her first trip to the dentist (she had a great time riding in the mechanical chair) and her first trip to the optometrist. The eye doctor confirmed our suspicion that she needed glasses which she received a few weeks later. The transition to wearing glasses went quite smoothly for her, and we now fondly refer to her as our bespectacled little lady. With Eliana approaching preschool age, we are slowly transitioning into homeschool mode. It seems strange to say because we’ve actually been intent on educating our children since day one through songs, games, and stories, but in the past few months the educating has taken on a little more structure as we try to get everyone (Mom and Dad included) accustomed to having a set school time each day. School time consists mostly of reading, counting, and crafts. Eliana is doing quite well with her reading, and Seth loves to study letters and numbers. It’s always exciting and amazing to see these little ones develop and eagerly learn new skills. Chris is in his 10th year at General Mills and has been diligently working on a project to implement new software in all the company’s plants. This role has led to a slight increase in travel over the past year which has taken him to Ontario, California, Florida, and a handful of other states. He likes to take the family with him when possible and was able to arrange for Lacinda and the kids to join him for a week in Cedar Rapids earlier in the year. It was fun for us all to get away together and enjoy a change of scenery. Lacinda also enjoyed getting to see her grandma, aunt, and some cousins who live in the area. Other family excursions included a camping trip, a visit to a Wisconsin dairy farm, and a day helping out at a CSA (community-supported agriculture) farm which we participated in over the summer. In July, Lacinda was able to help organize the biennial family reunion for extended relatives on her mother’s side of the family. It was a great honor to take on this task and so wonderful to spend time with aunts, uncles, and cousins, some of whom she hadn’t seen for over 10 years. On the heels of our family reunion came a weeklong Back Yard Bible Club which we hosted (along with the help of several friends) in August for the kids in our neighborhood. We had around 10 neighborhood children come each day for songs, lessons, games, and crafts. We were very happy to get to know more of our neighbors and share Christ with the ones who came. One of the great highlights of the year came in September when Chris and Lacinda were able to take a weekend away to visit Disney World. Thanks to a very generous lady and Disney employee whom Chris had met on a previous flight to Orlando, we were able to get some free passes into the parks and had two wonderful days of thrilling roller coaster rides, 3-D screens, and many educational experiences. Thanks also to Chris’s parents who kept our kids for the weekend, we had a very relaxing time and were able to get to all the rides and sites that we really wanted to visit. Looking back, it’s easy to see that we have so much to be thankful to the Lord for. Our prayer for the coming year is that through hardships or ease, we will remain faithful to the One who has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. This Christmas, may you also see clearly the light of Christ and the beauty of God sending His Son to bring salvation to a hopeless world. Merry Christmas from the Damsgards!