New Year Letter

I can't bear to write a Year-End letter. I hate endings. The song that says "endings always come to fast; they come to fast and they pass too slow" has always struck a chord with me, therefore, this is the New Year Letter. We have a New Year ahead of us. A new year that we pray will be as full of God's grace and mercy, as full of joys, as full of growth and excitement as this past year has been. We're so grateful for all He has done in the last 50some odd weeks.

January brought Quinn's diploma, certifying his Bachelor's in Natural Arts and Sciences, his 25th birthday, as well as massive boxes of hot pockets and stacks of canned soup while we dealt with 8 weeks of morning sickness that was the expected result of the pregnancy we announced on Christmas Day.

In February we combined our birthday budgets that we had for each other and bought our dream from the summer before- a 16 foot Buffalo canoe that we strapped on top of our little 1993 Mazda and drug home to our 1 bedroom apartment until we could take it to the Finley and chain it up. After trying to fit it through the door, then trying to drag it over our balcony rail into our living room, it ended up standing on the ground a floor below us and leaning on our balcony. It was an adventure.

March brought a trip to Rockford to see the Grandparents and a day trip into Chicago to stand in the SkyDeck Ledge in the Sears (now Willis) Tower and eat the biggest, yummiest pizza we'd ever had. My 20th birthday came a few days after we got home and we celebrated by going to an ultrasound where we discovered that our sweet little somebody was a sweet little BOY, then walking to the next building to visit our brand new niece, Ella Kinzy, who was born to Becca and Nathan that morning. 

In April Quinn was on his bicycle, riding to MSU for some classes while I was in Branson shopping with my Mom, Gramma and sisters/sisters-in-law, when an SUV decided to take a turn into his path. He made a pretty good impression on their door, took a ride in the ambulance, and now, after 7 months of constant back pain, has finally been released from physical therapy and the chiropractor and we might actually get an insurance settlement. It was also an adventure, though one that we could have skipped.

May brought a rather odd, and spontaneous adventure that we got to add to our list. It was insane, but one afternoon we decided that we should take a 22 mile float trip, just the two of us, with nothing but a one man tent, a blanket, enough food for 4 meals and some sunscreen. We had the time of our lives. We lost a pile of stuff when we swamped the canoe trying to get under a log,  and I didn't hardly sleep at all (6 months pregnant on the ground isn't as easy as it seemed like it was going to be) but that's a memory that we will laugh at for the rest of time.

In June we got to go on another float- this one as an addition to the bachelor party camping trip of Quinn's best friend, Rann. The guys finished hanging out and most of them headed home, but Rann and Quinn decided another night would be fun, so they called Jenn and I and we headed out to spend the night on a gravel bar. The end of the month brought their beautiful wedding, with Quinn as a groomsman and marked our 1st wedding anniversary and we celebrated with a trip to Eureka Springs, AR and yet another short float.

July was a bit of a blur as we packed up everything in our first apartment and storage unit moved into our newer, twice as big, 2 bedroom apartment. My Sister-In-Law Becca threw a beautiful baby shower for Gavin and we were hugely blessed by all the wonderful gifts from family and friends.

August brought the most precious gift imaginable. Our beautiful Gavin was born on the 17th at 8 pounds, 12 ounces and 22.5 inches long. He was a big boy and it took a lot of work to get him here, but every day brings a new reason to be grateful that we chose to let the Lord bless us with our little person. We spent Quinn's 2 weeks of maternity leave soaking up every single detail about his little self. He's four months old now and so very grown up. It's hard to believe it's already been that long...

September sent Quinn back to work, and found us spending a couple of nights in N AR at my Gramma's house for Labor Day. My Mom also hosted a beautiful baby blessing where many of the women and girls that I've known all my life came together to fellowship and pray over our baby boy. We topped the month off by finding a retired school piano that we had delivered to our house and spent a week sanding, painting and polyurethaning so that I could start teaching. 

October sent us to Dallas so that I could be a bridesmaid in the wedding of dear friends Ashley and Daniel. It was the first real roadtrip for Gavin and he did beautifully. After the pre-wedding festivities in Dallas, we caravanned up to the SE corner of OK for the actual ceremony at a bead and breakfast.

November brought Thanksgiving and all the family events that tend to go along with it. We got our tree that weekend and we've been delighted to watch it slowly grow heavier with special ornaments from family and friends, as well as all the dear decorations from last year's tree.

This month has been a bit of a marathon, but we've enjoyed every bit of it. We've had endless events, including a 3 day roadtrip back to Rockford to let Gavin meet his great grandparents and three Christmas parties so far. As a result of the crazyness, this letter and the cards it will accompany are actually a bit late, but we hope you can forgive us and enjoy it as much as if it had arrived at your homes a couple weeks ago. We're looking forward to the next two days of festivities with our families and are so grateful that the Lord has given us such a precious year of fellowship and blessing.

May you find this coming year to be as full of the grace and love of the Lord as the past has been! Please remember us in your prayers as we continue to live our lives for the glory of Christ Jesus.

God bless and keep you all.
-Quinn, Joanna and Gavin
December, 2010