...Merry Christmas from the bruin’s...
We hope that you have had a wonderful year and
are enjoying this joyous season. With 4
littles in the house things can be crazy at times all the time, so we are trying hard to slow down and focus on
advent and the birth of Jesus. That
means we have given up some things (like baking!), but our annual letter is
something that did not get cut! We do so
enjoy hearing from everyone around Christmas and wanted to be able to share
with you too.
(family photos in no particular order!!)
God has
certainly blessed us in 2012!
January: Carsten turned 3, and we spent the
month staying in and snuggling tiny baby Henry.
February: Steve was ordained as a deacon at church.
We drove to Edgerton for Henry’s first visit to the farm over a long
President’s Day weekend. Grace learned
how to knit from Cary’s mom!
March: We
enjoyed the first signs of spring and being able to play outside more. Henry
was rolling over easily now(4 months)!
April: The chicken pox outbreak of 2012
- Grace came down with it first mid month and had to miss a week of school.
May: Willem and Carsten got the pox 2
weeks later, then Henry got it one week after that. After a month of being quarantined, we really
enjoyed our trip to Willmar for Mother’s Day! Also, we finally got a playset for the
backyard (Best. Purchase. Ever.).
June: Summer break began! Cary’s mom came to stay for a
week during VBS and we made (LOTS of) strawberry jam. Henry started crawling first and then sitting
up (7 months). Willem turned 5, and Cary
and the kids enjoyed a road trip to both grandparents at the end of the month.
July: It was a busy month of kid
activities! 3 weeks of soccer for Grace
and Willem, 3 weeks of swimming lessons for Grace, and 1 week of swimming for
Willem. Went camping at Sibley State Park with all of Steve’s
family. Carsten learned to pump on the
swings.
August: We
went to the farm for a big hog roast celebrating Cary’s dad’s 60th
birthday and her Uncle Jim and Aunt Marcia’s 50th wedding
anniversary. Henry signs his first word
(“fan” at 9 months)! Grace turned 7, and
we made our annual trip to the state fair.
September: School started for Grace (2nd
grade) and Willem (Kindergarten!!!). Cary started teaching
Carsten’s Sunday School class. We had
fun attending neighbor Katie and Tyler’s wedding. Henry says his first word (“bye” at 10 months)!
October: We participated in the annual CCS bike
marathon. Sister-in-law Amy and niece
Evelyn visited us for a super fun week. We
also made applesauce with Steve’s mom.
November: Henry turned 1 & took his first
steps! We celebrated Thanksgiving in Willmar by Steve’s parents. Willem learned to tie shoes!
December: We are focusing on Jesus daily with a special
advent calendar. We enjoyed our annual
outing to the Holidazzle parade. The
kids’ Christmas programs have been wonderful!
And we are looking forward to celebrating Christmas in Edgerton with Cary’s family.
Henry
is such a sweet little boy. Crazy to
think he is already a year old, that went really fast! He loves his siblings and is in the stage
where he is trying to mimic whatever they do and follow them wherever they
go. He takes a few steps at a time now,
but reverts back to crawling because he can crawl like lightning and get around
much faster. He has a determined spirit
and cannot be distracted easily from something he wants. He is saying and signing more and more words
each day including: hi, bye, ball, da,
ma, yeah, no, more, puppy, fan, light, and all done.
Carsten still loves to play with
Willem and Grace, but now that they are both in school he has really grown a
lot in being able to decide and do things for himself. It was a big adjustment for him, and he still
loves the days that Willem is home from Kindergarten, too. Carsten loves to play with trucks and cars
and balls, and swing outside. He likes
to be read to, and loves to count everything (might be our math boy?!!). He feeds our 2 goldfish every day, and loves
to help momma with Henry.
Willem is an official Kindergartener
and he loves it. He loves school and is
doing very well! He has known how to
read for quite some time now, so academically school is not a challenge, but it
took some getting used to the routines and social aspects as well as going for
3 full days a week. He is always excited
to come home and tell us all about his days.
He reads a lot (even some chapter books!!), loves to play outside with
his brothers and sister, likes to pretend play inside as well as play with cars
and legos and balls (my serving spoons are never in the drawer as the boys use
them for “hockey spoons”).
Grace is growing way too fast for
her momma and dadda, and is becoming such a beautiful girl. She loves school yet, although now that there
are a few more responsibilities and tasks to complete for school there is a bit
more grumbling than we have heard before.
She loves to play with her friends, but her brothers are still her
favorite playmates. She loves to read as
well, loves art and crafting, and music (sings all the time!). She also loves to play outside. She is such a great helper with Henry and
really dotes on him like a second mom.
Grace was also old enough this year to start with the GEMS program at
Faith CRC near us. This has been a fun activity
for her and she loves going to meetings 3 times a month on Wednesday evenings.
Steve continues his job as a
pharmacist at Costco, and is blessed to be busy in today’s economy. His hours are going to be increased as of
2013, but it hopefully won’t be too much of a change as he has been putting in
extra hours for a while already since they have been so busy. He is also busy as a deacon at church and is
enjoying serving on Consistory. Cary is noticeably
busier at home with four kids (imagine that!), but found time to enjoy being
part of a small group at church this year, and is teaching Sunday School and also
is a room mom at school for the Kindergarten class as well.
While there are times that we think
life can’t get crazier or busier, we are so blessed to have so much joy and
love and laughter in our home. We wish
the same for your home in this upcoming year!
God bless you and yours!
Much love,
Steve, Cary, Grace
Willem, Carsten & Henry
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