Family Christmas Letter 2019

 

Dear Family & Friends,

Merry Christmas! 2019 started out with our sweet Lily baby learning to crawl and ended with a little girl with brown curls bouncing as she runs after her brother (or Bro, as she often calls him now).

 

 

Highlights of the year were our trips to North Carolina for Spring break, several trips to the North Woods and the Great Lakes during the summer, and Lily’s first flight to Arizona for Christmas and the New Year.

 

 

We survived a very cold winter with -25 degrees (-50 windchill), the closing of our Anglican church plant in Milwaukee, and the death of Evan’s Grandpa Lattea. And we are very grateful for our new Anglican church a half hour away, new neighborhood friends with three little boys, a lovely new living room window and kitchen faucet, not being selected for jury duty, and very few doctor’s appointments or illnesses.

 

 

Jackson.

Jackson just turned a big four over Thanksgiving Break.

 

 

His current life plan is to be a forest ranger, a soccer player, and an artist. His favorite books these day are Charlotte’s Web, the Alfie books, Little Blue Truck books, and anything Disney Cars related. He loves running, races, kicking balls, dancing, singing, and playing at the park (especially with friends, a number of whom are named Eli). He has recently fallen in love with board and card games: CandyLand, Uno, and Blink.

 

 

He says some pretty great things on a regular basis: “The only thing I worry about is if the guacamole is going to be a little too spicy!” “Let’s have hugs, cuddles, and huggles!” “Let’s talk about something…hmmm…let’s talk about trees!” His plans for next year include: his balance bike, a scooter, swim lessons, and beginning some home school 4K.

 

 

Liliana.

Lily is now our big 19 month old.

 

 

Her dearest ambition is to do everything Jackson does, to take down every board book off the shelf, and wear all the shoes in the house. If we had to guess what Lily would want to be when she grew up, we would guess a gymnast, a vet, and a chef. Her favorite books are Moo, Baa, La La La; The Foot Book; Hand, Hand, Fingers Thumb; and Go Dog Go. (This love of reading is a newish development; for most of the year girlfriend was too busy to sit and listen to even part of book.)

 

 

She recently fell head over heals in love with a baby doll named “Baby.” Baby was originally made for Jackson by her Auntie Candace as big brother prep. Jackson has graciously given up all claim to Baby. For the most part Jackson and Lily are very sweet to each other, but do seem to double the mischief they both get into as well as the bumps and bruises they cry over.  Lily’s favorite words these days are “ruff ruff,” and “dog,” “mama,” (currently applied to all members of the family with an accompanying double tap on our sternums), “no,no,no,” “bye,” and “down.” Lily’s plans for next year include: learning to talk, ditching diapers, stealing Jackson’s balance bike, and taking Baby everywhere.

 

 

Evan.

Evan got to spend his 35th birthday in Durham, North Carolina with his childhood best friend Jake.

 

 

Evan’s year has been marked with his soccer team Liverpool winning the Champions League, a reunion of a few college roommates on a beautiful day on the beach of Lake Michigan, teaching eighth grade English for the first time (in addition to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade social studies at his same school), and getting to be a part of a JRR Tolkien oral history project at Marquette University.

 

 

His favorite books from his year are The Sparrow, Bandersnatch, Beren and Luthien, City of Thieves, and Blue Latitudes. His plans for next year include: hopefully cheering Liverpool to their premier league title in 30 years, our first family camping trips, and seeing Maryland family at Spring break.

 

 

Amy.

I spent my 35th birthday in Tubac, AZ with my parents, sunshine, beautiful mountains, and a celebratory shrimp dinner.

 

 

Highlights of this year for me were getting to preach part of our church’s Good Friday Sermon, being interviewed on a podcast about Lily’s birth story, and writing a guest post about our devotional shelf.

 

 

While this year has been light on writing and heavy on chasing toddlers, I did capture a few snapshots of this season of life on the blog including “You’ll Miss These Days” : Remembering the Joy, Delight, & Drudgery of Parenting Little Kids // Travels with Two: Making Memories with Friends in the Craziness of the Toddler Years // Like A Leaf Falling to the Ground: Saying Goodbye to our Milwaukee Parish. My favorite reads of the year were Circe, When Life Gives You Pears, Being Mortal, The Blue Sword, The Blue Castle, and Spark. My plans for next year include reading books for my new neighborhood Christian Moms’ book club, teaching Lily to walk on the sidewalk and stop before the street, and hopefully more writing time during naptime.

 

 

Whether we saw you in person or connected from a distance, you made our year richer and we are so thankful for you. Blessings on Your Christmastide and New Year, and we pray that we can connect soon!

 

 

Love,

 

Amy, Evan, Jackson & Lily

 

PS. Extra Photos from the Year