Merry Christmas! We are feeling ever so blessed and grown-up…the combination of which has incited our first ever family Christmas letter! Here is what 2019 looked like for our family:
Clara (1 year old) rang in the New Year with a frightful bout of RSV. Thanks to many prayers and awesome medical staff, she recovered beautifully. (Less important but also notable: we paid off the hospital bills)! Today our baby girl is sporting blonde tufts of hair, two bottom teeth, and a winsome laugh. She’s a great eater, a negligible sleeper, and a really sweet human being.
“I can do hard things.” It’s a family mantra, and something that Lucy (3 years old) embodied in 2019. She potty trained, took swim lessons, learned to climb rope ladders, and courageously visited doctors and dentists. Lucy has a vibrant imagination, and she usually insists on being called by the name of a movie or book character. If you hang out with her long enough, you’ll be cast as a character too (we’re all currently members of the Von Trapp family, with much Do-Re-Mi-ing).
Andy is in his last year of the PhD program! “His major?” you ask. Human Development and Family Studies, with a research focus on adolescent leadership. “And that means…?” you say (we’ve had this conversation before). That means that he knows a lot about human development, research methods, and teenagers. He’s applying for jobs in teaching and research, mostly at universities.
Stay posted for new vocation and location in 2020!
Jenny’s 2019 was blissfully predictable. She taught fitness classes, prepped preschool lessons, and fed two constantly voracious children (a hugely underappreciated feat). She also read some brilliant books and practiced writing on our family blog.
We were introduced to the Great British Baking Show last January, which transformed our evening habits. We’ve watched many seasons of GBBO, and we’re quite fond of the kitchen scale. Andy picked up phrases like “scrummy,” “oreGAHno,” and “soggy bottoms.” He also bakes cakes and breads in greater number and better quality than ever before. Favorable changes, all.
As a family, we traveled to exactly zero exotic places in 2019. But there were cousins and mountains, and we’re secretly pleased to have avoided long car trips with small children.
We know that God is the author of our blessings. We love serving in our local church (Jenny teaches Gospel Doctrine and Andy is the Executive Secretary), and we’re thrilled to claim Jesus as our mentor in this journey.
We are SO thankful to Heavenly Father for our family and friends, and for our beautiful, safe community. Sending prayers to you and yours!
Love, the Harris Family
(Jenny, Andy, Lucy, and Clara)
