Sorry and a Christmas Letter

Wow guys, I just noticed I lost a follower! Terrible thing to do at Christmas, where's your sense of giving?! Whatever.

So I've been a terrible blogger/reader/commenter AGAIN, and I have to apologize AGAIN because my life is just seriously in upheaval. Its a little bit rough, if I do admit. But I miss you guys and I think of blog posts all the time and then forget them. (I haven't been sleeping well, and I'm pregnant, my mind is mush.) So I'm going to add the Christmas letter I sent out for you all to read, yes it has my kids' and my husband's names and probably more info. than I should share but I'm going to do it! And just so you know, Queen inspired me to write my letter this year because I wasn't going to do it until I read her post about Christmas letters. :)




Christmas Letter 2009

Its that time of the year again, which means I need to write a Christmas letter. Now over the years I’ve written many a Christmas letter (and by many, I mean approximately seven), some were just fine, some not so good (like the one I did as a poem, except it didn’t rhyme so good-like), and my personal favorite was last year’s “scriptural” letter; but this year I’m going in a different direction. I read the other day that people don’t like Christmas letter’s, I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t so I read on, and the reason was because they felt like it wasn’t “real”, that people built up their lives into sounding much better than they actually were! “Well”, I thought, “I don’t make things up, I just look at the positive…right?” So in an effort to ‘keep it real’ I’m going to be completely honest in this letter. I’ve really held back in years’ past, just so you know.

Starting with David…well lets see…we found out recently that Dave’s a genius (although colorblind) and got excepted into a highly acclaimed school (I’m not telling you which but it might rhyme with Hamford…). We are a little disappointed its not a better school, to be honest. And since he’s so smart, he’ll graduate in only five months! He’ll be going the end of January and coming home the end of June of next year. Hopefully he’ll come home even more toned than he already is (seems impossible really now that I say it), and full of persistence, dedication and army green clothes.

Then there’s Bethany, she finished up kindergarten and started 1st grade, kind of the way things go, unless you’re a genius of course. She also learned how to ride a bike without training wheels this past summer and can do flips off the roof and other phenomenal tricks you couldn’t possibly imagine. She loves to make art masterpieces and is really starting to read some big books, I caught her with the encyclopedia the other day almost finished.

Madelyn just recently turned four and is as girly as can be, she loves dresses and dolls and princess stuff and algebra and designing clothes. She’s still a tiny little thing, weighing only a few pounds more than her brother and wearing clothes almost two years smaller than her age, but we like her that way. Fun size.

Samuel is one and a half right now, he’ll turn two in May (I had to put May because last Christmas letter I said he was born in June! Woopsy!), he’s doing all the normal things 18 month olds’ do. Like reciting the Declaration of Independence and building toy trucks to play with, oh how he loves his trucks! We love all his funny mannerisms and the way he shrugs his shoulders when you ask him a question!

Last but never least, is me! I started out the year as Young Women’s president still, and went on many, many exciting trips without my family of course; to exotic places like Yuba and Heber and such. By the end of the summer we all took a trip up to Washington for Dave’s sister’s wedding and decided we liked it so much we’d move there! So we did that in October (moved to Washington that is), but not before finding out “SURPRISE!” we were expecting our fourth baby (yes, on accident. That’s what the ‘surprise!’ means. You know you were all wondering.). This baby flips and kicks like a champ, I’m positive it will be an athletic prodigy.

So in a nutshell, that’s us and that was our last year! I hope you found it very refreshing and not at all “braggy” or “unrealistic”! And if you read between the lines very carefully, you’ll see what our year was actually like!

Now for the most truthful part of the whole letter: I’ve been feeling very “Cindy Lou Who” lately, as in “Where Are You Christmas?” and all that. I think this time of year its too easy to lose sight of whats really important, and why we actually are celebrating. Is it really about the presents and the decorations and the food and good smells? While I love those things and look forward to them all year, I would trade it all to make Christ the center of Christmas. I hope I can remember Him as we go about this busy time, take a minute and make some changes. Atleast that’s what I’m trying to do, and that’s the honest to goodness truth!
Have a VERY merry Christmas,
Love, The Lassens’
David, Melinda, Bethany, Maddie, Sam & “Surprise”