2013 Christmas Card & Letter

I think I have finally mailed out our final Christmas cards this year... better late than never.   If you didn't get one this year and would like to receive one next time, please update me with your address & I'll add you to my next mailing list (...or you can just blame the postman...).   ;)

Here's our Christmas card:

And here's the letter we included with it:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Medals!

     We hope you have been having a joyful Christmas season. During the last several weeks we have enjoyed reading through John Piper's Good News of Great Joy, a series of advent readings. It has been encouraging to read of the good news of Christmas: that the Son of God became man, lived a perfect life, died an atoning death, and rose again after three days. On the eve of Christmas we used Enoch's toy Nativity Set to re-enact the birth of Jesus from chapter 2 of Luke's gospel; one thing that stuck out to us was how Mary “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” After that we sang O Holy Night, which reminded us that it is the “King of Kings” who was laid in a lowly manger. Truly the Christmas season is a good time to be reminded of the gospel.

     We have also been reminded of how gracious God was to us in 2013. The fall semester down in Starkville was a pleasant and busy one, and we are now enjoying the Christmas break. Hugh is working on finishing up a few grant proposals as well as prepping for a new class for this coming spring: Stochastic Optimization (you can wikipedia that one if necessary). ;) He and Enoch (now 2 years old) have both been enjoying the warm weather down South this fall/winter by playing outside as often as they can. Their favorite outdoor activities are swinging, stump-jumping, riding in Enoch's plastic push car, and playing hide-and-seek. When inside, they enjoy wrestling, playing the guitar, learning to count, and reading. Little Man is also talking nonstop these days and loves learning new phrases as well as building towers and playing with toy construction equipment.

     The girls have also been doing well lately. Karis is 7 months old now and growing well. She is so sweet and snuggly yet also very determined and adventurous when playing. Right now she enjoys putting everything into her mouth as well as grabbing faces and giving kisses. She and Leanna go to therapy twice per week these days (physical, occupational, and speech), which is aiding us in helping her develop important skills. Leanna is thankful for the daily joys (and challenges) of being a stay-at-home mom and is relishing this stage with both kiddos – a sweet, snuggly infant and an ever-learning, active toddler. She has also already begun planning her spring garden and is looking forward to beginning another round of reading through the Bible in a year, chronologically this time.

     A few of our favorite memories from the past semester include: playing outside, watching Karis grow and develop, picking pecans in our backyard, growing closer to our church family, seeing Enoch engage with the world around him, spending time with our family (in person and on the phone/Skype), raking leaves together, hearing Karis laugh, having a friend move in with us, eating around our dinner table, swinging on the front porch, listening to Enoch learn to sing, cooking together, becoming members of our new church, Redeemer, and meeting with our church small group on Thursday nights.

As we look forward to the coming semester, here are a few things we are anticipating: a spring garden, a trip to Arkansas/Oklahoma/North Dakota/Minnesota, more learning and fun with the kids, raising chickens (possibly?), continued therapy for Karis, a short get-away to a marriage conference (based on Ted Tripp's book What did you expect?, which we would highly recommend!!), and many more memories. We will also continue to be involved with our church, worshiping together, studying the Bible together, praying together, and serving together.

      May the joy of Immanuel – God with us – dwell within you,

          Hugh, Leanna, Enoch, and Karis

Also, Google+ made this video for us using a random selection of photos and videos that I had uploaded from my phone.  I think it's a great snapshot of some of the year's happenings.  Hope you enjoy!