This is our Christmas Letter

 Dear Sweet Friends,

What a year, right?! 2020 will always be associated with some strange things-toilet paper, zoom, and tigers. Masks are required but pants are optional now. People who used to be busy now make sourdough starters, homemade tortillas, and so much banana bread. Puzzles and sidewalk chalk were sold out. It was an all out sci-fi movie. 

But, as I put together my boys' yearly Shutterfly picture books, I realized this year was so much more than a series of Netflix binges. 

It actually started out pretty exciting for us. Last Christmas we purchased tickets to take the boys to Universal Studios Hollywood specifically to see Hogwarts and Diagon Alley.

 We left town New Year's Eve, and rang in the New Year in a hotel room in Blythe. We joined everyone in the entire world in Hollywood for Christmas break. And despite the crowds (which feel like something from ancient history right now),we made some really great memories. 

We did the Hollywood walk of fame and Chinese Theater

But our favorite might have been the planetarium. We actually went twice. And I might have head all the songs from La La Land on repeat in my head.

Back at home we had a little more fun.

Trips to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum with friends.

Two trips up to Camp Pinerock, one for Children's Winter Retreat, and one for Women's retreat. 

On Valentine's Day, Daniel got braces.

There was a quiz meet, an Asian night market, and, on the first day of spring break, a trip on the Desert Belle river boat at Saguaro Lake.

And then...a day or two later...the world kind of broke. COVID19 had hit the state, and started spreading quickly, triggering a full-out lock down. No school. No in-person church meetings. No museums or baseball games. BUT, we rolled with it and over the months that followed we learned to make lemons out of lemonade.

We created...

We celebrated...

Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween, and Thanksgiving...sometimes in very different ways. 

We celebrated birthdays! Daniel's 13th!

Moses' 10th...at our favorite staycation resort!

I turned 40...

And Dan turned older than 40.

We celebrated lots of made-up stuff too. We had silly theme nights almost every week. There was Mandalorian Pancake night, Christmas in July, Clue Party, and nights themed around just about every Disney movie we could think of.

But our favorite was recreating the show, Chopped.

We explored...as far as Bearizona...

And as near as the Superstitions.

Dan and Daniel took a deep sea fishing trip in San Diego as Daniel's belated 13th birthday gift.

We started the "pajama academy" choosing to continue school virtually this year. Meanwhile, I (mom) received my first District Pastor's License in the AZ District Church of the Nazarene, and then jumped right back into some more classes on John Wesley's theology. 

We found the safest ways possible to be with those we love... 

Some days we may have felt like we were loosing our minds..

And I'm pretty sure other people were loosing their minds too.

But we realized that some years don't have to be perfect, or thrilling, or crammed full. We're learning to enjoy simple again. And that "for everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). 

We've had seasons of plane flights across oceans before, of singing along with Bono and 60,000 of our new best friends at a U2 concert, seasons for boisterous birthday parties, and planning Vacation Bible School week and Kids' Camp. This year was not one of those seasons. This was a season for simple. For quiet, and reflection, and sometimes even lament. It's a season for prioritizing the elderly and the medically fragile. For supporting small and local business. For quality of relationships over quantity. A season where we realize that each day we have with each other is a gift.

And you, my sweet family and friends, you are a gift as well. Thank you for sticking with us through the ups and downs. I pray you have a beautiful Christmas, and, I mean this with all of my heart, A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

With Much Love,

Christy, along with Dan, Daniel, and Moses