Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas! In anticipation of sending out baby announcements in the next few weeks, we've decided not to also send out Christmas cards, but to post our "Christmas" pictures on our blog. Our friend Val took them and you can check out more of her stunningly creative work on her website at http://lgracephotos.blogspot.com.

It's truly hard to believe that another year has gone by and that it's time to reflect back on 2008. Aside from realizing that the 2000's are quickly coming to a close and that we are both quickly approaching our 30's, we also celebrated our 4th anniversary, our 3rd summer in Lancaster, our 2nd trip to Disney, and of course our 1st pregnancy!

The year started on a super high note and we wondered if the rest of the year was going to be able to keep up. Less than 5 weeks apart in February and March, I (Brian) took two trips to Florida! (which doesn't even count being in Tallahassee the previous December for a wedding!) The first was my Christmas present from Brynne's dad and her grandfather, and included staying at Pap Pap's condo in Bradenton, 4 beautiful days of golf with her dad, her uncle Pat, and family friend Mick, a visit to the Pittsburgh Pirates' Spring Training facility, and the best orange juice I've ever tasted from Mixon's Fruit Farm. While we were suffering in Florida, Brynne got to spend some good, quality time in cold, snowy Pittsburgh with her family and friends.

The second trip to Florida was strictly business. Brynne and I were "hired" by my parents to "baby sit" my then 15 year-old sister, Kathryn at Walt Disney World, while they toured Israel with some of their best friends. It was extremely taxing, hard work for us, but we fought to see the silver lining in it all :) In all seriousness, I'm not sure we even had as much fun in Lake Tahoe on our honeymoon! We jumped on the beds of our Polynesian Resort hotel room, stayed out at the theme parks until 3 am (you can do that when you stay at a Disney resort and don't have parents with you!), lounged by the volcano pool, ate huge buckets of ice cream, and had the time of our lives with Kate.

In May, my brother Chris joined us for a 5-mile race in and around Lancaster City, and then celebrated with us the very next morning when we found out that we were pregnant. While the last 8 months have had their share of challenges, the excitement and joy of bringing a new life into our families have overshadowed them all. Brynne's pregnancy was made a little bit easier by sharing the experience with our pregnant sister-in-law, Bethany, and our pregnant friends Allison, Betsy, Sharon, Yolanda, Julie, and Sarah, just to name a few.

Another significant change for us came at the end of July when I decided to go back to teaching high school math. Unlike my first 3 years of teaching freshmen and Algebra 1, I now have juniors and seniors and Precalculus and Calculus!!! This has provided a fun new challenge that I see myself doing for quite a while.

In between leaving the bank and starting the new school year, Brynne and I squeezed in a trip with her family and our good friend, Molly, to the Outer Banks. Finally, the fall was punctuated with a few visits to Pittsburgh and New Jersey, and a couple of baby showers. We realize that we have undeservedly been blessed this year by the Giver of all good things, and awaiting the arrival of our son has given us a heightened awareness of the miracle of Jesus' birth. May the Lord bless you this Christmas season by his grace and mercy.