2012 Christmas Letter

2012 Christmas Letter

Meaning: Every year I get “wrapped up” in getting just the right gifts for everyone, or getting the decorations in the all the right places. But I hope that I can keep my focus on the true meaning of Christmas.  Jesus is the most precious gift any of us could receive and is the true Reason for the season.

Embrace: Travis has been working at Embrace Church in Sioux Falls as the Executive Pastor for the past year and a half. He keeps very busy with a growing church and loves working with the staff.  I work part-time as the dietitian at the Avera McKennan Fitness Center, while being blessed to be able to stay at home most of the week with our boys.

Rowdy Boys: Our two boys (Ayin, 3 and Jhett, 15 months) are becoming more rowdy every day. Ayin is definitely a talker and is rarely without something to say. Jhett just started walking and loves to climb on chairs, tables, and anything he can reach.

Red Cars: We had to say goodbye to our red Jeep this year, but welcomed a red Dodge Neon to our car family shortly after.

Yuletide: I couldn’t think of a word that started with “Y,” but Yuletide seemed like a good “Christmasy” word…except I didn’t know what it meant. So I looked it up. Yuletide: the Christmas season, the period extending from December 24^th to January 6^th. There, now you learned something new.

Cleaning:  Between our 3 year-old who dumps out every bin, box or bag of toys he comes across and our 1 year-old who chucks his food from the high chair as far as he can, my job as house cleaner is never finished. And there was a period of 4 months where we had an in-door dog who shed more white hair than I could ever keep up with. Poor Shelby, she never had a chance. I learned that I am a little more particular about keeping a clean (not necessarily tidy) house than I thought I was.
H: The missing letter. For those of you who got our Christmas letter in the mail, you may or may not have noticed I missed the "H". How embarrassing! I blame my editor, Travis. :)

Radical: Is the title of the book by David Platt that Travis has read recently. This challenging book focuses on taking back your faith from the American Dream.

International Adoption:  We are very excited to be starting the adoption process for a little girl in Uganda, Africa. Please pray for us as we continue on this journey to bringing our daughter home! I will be updating friends and family on our journey through our blog at bringingafricahome@blogspot.com.

Sewing:  I was given a sewing machine from my mom for Christmas two years ago and am finally going to put it to good use! I am going to be making and selling baby blankets as an adoption fundraiser. It’s also something that can keep my mind and hands busy while we wait for our little girl to come home.

Thankful: Travis and I are so thankful for our all of our family and friends this year. It’s been a busy year but when we take a moment to slow down and look around, we realize how truly blessed we are. Thank you Jesus.

Marriage: My sister Olivia was married in June to Kyle. Travis’s brother Derek was married in September to Whitney. We are so excited for the new brother and sister-in-law in our family and couldn’t have picked better mates for either of them!

An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess: is the subtitle for my most recent kindle download. The book is called “Seven” by Jen Hatmaker, and I would highly recommend it if you want to be challenged in your faith and in your life as an American.

Snow: Is this going to be a white Christmas? Ayin is excited to be able to put his new Spider Man boots to use!

Have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!                           The Waltner Family
Travis, Jessica, Ayin and Jhett