Christmas Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

Every year I commit to sending Christmas cards out in the mail (the preferred way of receiving sentimental things I think) but every year I wait until the last minute and by then my energy has been depleted from other yuletide merriment. (Just preparing kids to exit the house in winter conditions leaves me feeling like a sugar cookie with the frosting licked off!)

Even though it is not nearly as classy to sneak our holiday greetings to you through the Internet I am doing it anyway simply to make myself feel better. (Self improvement can be delayed until the New Year...)

I may be a procrastinator, but I really do want to send love and appreciation out to all of our friends. Since we seem to be relocation hobbyists, we really have come to value the people that we have connected with at every place we have called home. When I reflect back on my memories and the growth our family has had over the past year I really feel blessed by the quality people we have been able to learn from.

Now, for the obligatory year-at-a-glance that some people adore and others despise. To accommodate both parties I will let you choose your version.

Short Version
(Should not offend anyone, appear to be bragging, or divulge any embarrassing information)

We lived in Hawaii.
We had a baby.
We moved to Maryland.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Long Juicy Version

2010 began with a bang (literally). Apparently Hawaii has a long standing tradition for fireworks on the New Year. We spent the first couple of months of the year enjoying the beaches and complaining about the heat.

Jason really enjoyed his job and was able to do some neat things like running tests on centrifugal force in his office chair and taking a fun work trip to Japan.

In April we celebrated the birth of the sweetest, most-kissable, baby boy that we named Jadon. He gets to brag that he was born in Hawaii, but he will always have to omit that sad detail that we moved a month later.

Between jobs we were able to visit family in Utah and take a family trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons. It was good for family bonding and adding gray hairs to our heads.

We settled into life in Maryland quickly, due much to the fact that we had lived there before. We were able to take advantage of our location and visit Niagara Falls and Palmyra, New York. Again, it was great family bonding and a quick lesson in being adaptable when traveling with a newborn.

Noelle turned three on Thanksgiving of this year. In her own words, "My name is Noelle and I can do it myself!" (That is a direct quote and pretty much summarizes her perspective on life.) She is spunky and loves to be a comedian. She is also a very loving and patient sister. (Otherwise: "Baby Jadon will get big and thump on me!")

Jadon has a smile that will turn your heart into love soup and his face is so kissable his cheeks are usually chappy. He has two teeth that look innocent enough, but are always at the ready if someones toes are obstructing his path to the computer cords.

Jason and I are enjoying being parents, even though we can't figure out how our kids got complete users manuals on us and yet we didn't even get a set of directions on them.

Again, we wish you all a Merry Christmas and truly hope that this next year brings you super-apparent blessings and just enough trials to keep you human and humble.


Love,

The Maughan Family