Christmas Letter 2014

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.

1 Corinthians 2:9

We hope this letter finds you and your family well. We are blessed to call you friends and family. Thank you for your love, support, and friendship.

Emery: At the end of February, our little Emery Annabelle turned two! We enjoyed dinner and cupcakes with a few friends and family. She can spell her name, recite our address and mommy's phone number, and sing a lot of songs. She loves playing pretend and making us laugh! 

This summer, Emery started going to daycare at an in-home daycare of a family friend, Mrs. Diana. Emery loves playing with her friends: a three-year-old girl and twin one-year-old boys. The girls do preschool together and all of them walk to the playground every day. Emery has learned memory verses, songs and poems, letter sounds, and Bible stories. She can also count to 10 in French and Spanish. She is thriving! 

When she's at home, Emery likes to build puzzles (which include princesses, puppy dogs, farm scenes, and Minnie & Daisy), pretends she is a doctor, makes us dinner in her play kitchen, and creates imaginative adventures with her princess & superhero dolls. She also reads a lot of books and enjoys trips to the library.

This summer we went to the pool and enjoyed walks to the local playgrounds. There are two main playgrounds near our house, which Emery refers to as either the "purple slides" or the "blue slides." A truly fun day is when we have time to do both. On July 4^th, we went to the National Zoo. Emery loved seeing all of the animals, particularly the elephants, lions, and pandas. In the evening, we saw fireworks in downtown Fairfax, and she thought they were very colorful and fun (and loud!). In July, Emery attended her first professional sporting event, a very warm and sticky Washington Nationals baseball game. This fall, we took trips to the pumpkin patch, to the Smithsonian museums in downtown D.C., and went on walks at Burke Lake Park. She often likes to RUN when we're outside, and she even ran a whole lap around the high school track with cheerleaders. Some day soon, she'll be ready to run with her daddy.

Tiffanie: Tiffanie started the year looking forward to the winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. We watched a lot of figure skating and skiing, and possibly managed to understand the sport of curling. In March, Tiffanie went on a weekend getaway to a cold Lake Michigan beach with some college friends while Blake and Emery enjoyed a daddy-daughter weekend together. And in June, Tiffanie went to San Diego to attend the wedding of a college friend. After two years working from home while caring for Emery, Tiffanie returned to working in the office part-time this summer. 

In August, Tiffanie began her 10th and final year coaching West Springfield cheerleading. This season, the former JV coach took over as the head coach, and Tiffanie joined her on varsity as her assistant. However, about halfway through the season, Tiffanie was needed on the JV team to finish out the year. It was fitting to have spent time coaching all three teams (9 seasons on freshman, a 1/2 season on each varsity and JV). Tiffanie will now have more time to spend with her sweeties. Also, as soon as the cheer season ended, Tiffanie returned to work full-time, and Emery extended her time at Mrs. Diana's from four to five days a week. 

Blake: Blake continues to work for the Pathway to the Baccalaureate program at NOVA, advising students and teaching courses. Blake teaches a student development course at NOVA where students explore learning and adulthood as they try to set a foundation for the rest of their college program. His class includes career counseling, and topics like learning styles, test anxiety, financial planning, diversity, and résumé writing. Outside of class, he also coordinates a large scholarship program and leads workshops on a variety of topics. 

In October, Blake traveled to Minneapolis to speak at a conference on academic advising and parenting. He loves Minnesota in the fall and enjoyed running on the Stone Arch Bridge. He got to see some friends from college and took a tour of the ever-expanding Mall of America.

In November, Blake ran a half-marathon in Annapolis, MD. The girls enjoyed cheering him on, and he enjoyed running in 25 degree weather! Then we spent Thanksgiving at home with Tiffanie's folks, and Blake cooked the whole meal: turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, sausage dressing, gravy, cornbread, and homemade pumpkin cinnamon rolls. It was all so delicious! The following week, we tried our hand at pumpkin waffles, and those were wonderful as well.

We are looking forward to being off of work for two weeks for Christmas break and celebrating Christmas together. 

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O Little Town of Bethlehem... the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

Love, Blake, Tiffanie, & Emery