Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you’re all having a lovely day; we certainly are. I thought I’d post our Christmas letter and some pictures . . .

Happy Christmas!!!!

This year has brought some changes to our family, as the years always seem to. Our favorite change is our newest little daughter, Alyssa Suzanne, who was born just a few months ago. Another little one definitely makes for a busier household, but she’s a lovely baby and a delight to us all!

We ladies are staying busy at home with our first *official* year of homeschooling. We pray and read, write letters, memorize Bible verses, learn phonics, play games, make some crafts, bake some cookies, and read some more.  I love reading aloud and thankfully the girls love to be read to!

Isabelle has become quite the little reader herself. She’s thrilled that she can take books to bed now, and actually read through them instead of just looking at the pictures! She’s a great “babysitter” for her little sisters, and a big help to mommy. I think her favorite accomplishment at the moment is being able to stand up while holding her baby sister.  She’s also thoroughly enjoying her first little ballet/Irish dance class  (mommy’s loving her own Irish dance class as well!)

Hannah brings us much joy and laughter with the goofy little things she says – we wonder how she thinks them up! She is a self-proclaimed “foodie”, meaning she loves food and drinks (as she will tell anyone she meets). She’s always the first to point out a picture of a cookie or candy in a book!  She’s looking like she wants to catch up with Isabelle in school, as she’s learning to write  letters and remember their sounds.  Her favorite thing to do (aside from have a cookie!) is to hold Alyssa.

Naomi has learned to speak so much more lately – we love being able to understand her words!  While she loves to hold baby sister, too, I think her very favorite thing of all is to be mommy’s “dinner helper”. She loves pretending to cook, helping me with dishes, and all such things! She’s become the sweetest mommy to her dolly lately and always loves a good snuggle.

Juliette is another little silly goose who keeps us chuckling. She is quite tiny, and doesn’t say too many words yet (even though she tries with all her might!), so she’s just extraordinarily cute (though we probably let her get away with a bit too much because of that!) She loves ducklings, riding around on mommy’s back in the baby backpack, and helping to “set the table” (we can end up with a million plates on the table when she’s dinner helper!) Most of all she loves to be snuggled while having a good book read aloud to her.

Miss Alyssa seems to have many opinions of her own for a little four month old baby – and she tries to squawk each one of them to us! She loves to chew on her “Sophie La Giraffe” toy, be entertained by her sisters, and ride around on mommy in a peanut shell baby carrier. Best of all she likes it when we look into her eyes and talk to her – tell her anything, she loves to listen!

Matt’s been busy painting and refinishing much of our furniture – and in so doing he’s made our home all the more beautiful! Though it’s not easy to stay up all night for his job, the hours at work give him some extra reading time when it’s not busy.  I’m enjoying the bicycle he bought me last summer – I had forgotten how lovely it is to ride a bike! And I love that we now live in a town small enough for me to run many of my errands via bicycle.  Matt and I are both so thankful for our new little home here in town (did I mention we moved?), being closer to church and good friends, and being able to enjoy the extra snow!

Hmm, the more babies God sends us, the longer these letters seem to get! Oh well, we wanted to share what we are up to, and we do so wish we could have you all into our home this season! We’d love to rejoice together with you in the celebration of the birth of the King! May you know His peace and joy this Christmas season, and may His blessings be upon you!

All Our Love, Matthew, Melissa, Isabelle, Hannah, Naomi, Juliette and Alyssa