BIG UPDATE: Sorry to bore those who don't care, but this is kind of like a journal for me, so I put on pictures and videos above this. =)
To start off, isn't it crazy that it is 2010 tomorrow? I mean, I remember as a kid not being able to imagine 2003 when I would graduate high school, and now it's 2010. Crazy crazy!
December has been a super busy month for us. Derek's calling at church is the activities director and he planned the ward Christmas party, which was December 5th. The party turned out to be a success and had a HUGE turn out. Santa even showed up, unfortunately Kael and I missed it, but maybe next year Kael will get to meet Santa.
My grandma had surgery on a broken arm again the day before Thanksgiving so I went to Phoenix to help out for the first week in December. My sister Shannon watched Kael during the day while I helped out at my Grandma's. My brother Jacob set it up so I could work from my Grandma's house and I think everything turned out pretty good. Kael and I even got to see my Mom during that week who took some time off the mission to help out too. Stupid me, didn't bring the camera and didn't get any pictures. I'm glad my Grandma is recovering well and am glad I was able to visit, but next time we decided it would be under better circumstances.
While down in Phoenix my sister Shannon and I had lots of fun! I watched her kids one night while her husband took her flying over Phoenix. Then we had lots of girl nights. One night we watched Twilight and then the next night we went to see New Moon! It was awesome! We got to the theatre right as it was starting and it was EMPTY! All you people who went to the midnight showing should know I think it was worth the wait! Seats to ourselves and no wait! The only sad part was I wished Derek was there the whole time. Oh well. We went to a Relief Society Christmas dinner one night too. Another night we waxed eyebrows and tinted them, and yes I have the blondest of blonde eyelashes and I dye them. So worth it, but super scary doing it on your own!
When Kael and I got back to St. George the next day we recovered and had family pictures taken! I am so excited to have pictures of Kael finally! I neglected getting 1 yr pictures, and I am glad I did it! He is getting so big!
Derek had finals a week later and did AWESOME! Straight A's! Not bad for having to miss school for interviews and being SUPER busy! I'm so proud of him! We took a break and just relaxed as a family for a while, still worked unfortunately, but it was just nice to have some time with just Derek and Kael.
We spent Christmas in SLC with Derek's family. We had a super nice time and got really spoiled. Kael was visited by Santa Clause and this was probably my favorite Christmas of all time just seeing his face on Christmas morning.
Derek grew up getting one special gift from Santa Clause that is sitting in the open waiting for you, and the rest were from parents, friends, and family all wrapped up. I totally LOVE this idea. It turned out great. Kael got a dump truck he can sit on and makes noise that came with big legos. He ran straight to his presents Christmas morning and bypassed everything else!!! He even got to play in the snow one day, which was so funny!
We got home and got back to the groove of working again and spending tons of time tickling Kael!
2009 has been full of blessings, and we are on to the new year and are so excited to see what is in store for us. We are getting more and more excited to meet little miss Eden in March. It seems like time sure is flying and she will be here sooner than I can imagine, but that is ok because I can't wait to see what she looks like!
For those who didn't receive one, here is our 2009 Christmas letter to friends and family:
Dear Friends and Family,
It is very exciting to sit and write about our year! I love being able to look back and see the joy and changes in our lives.
In January Derek started a rigorous school schedule of 24 credits and studying for the MCAT in April. He was able to maintain A’s in all of his classes and do very well on the MCAT. He has been working very hard for our family to make sure he gets accepted into medical school. He took several classes over the summer as well and submitted his medical school application. He has had a couple of interviews and hopefully by March we should have an idea where we will be moving to for the next several years. This semester as well as the next will continue to be very rigorous for him so that he can graduate with a bachelor in Biology in May. On top of all of his schooling Derek has been cleaning at the Callahan Clinic every morning and tutoring at the schools tutoring center and on the side as well. This has been such a learning experience for us, but through it all we can see the joy of following what Heavenly Father wants us to do, and it has blessed our lives so much! I’m so proud of how hard Derek works to keep good grades and provide for our family.
In July we moved from Bloomington over to Washington. Not too far, but it was a good move for us financially. This was the first move of many for our family. I’m certain I will never get used to it!
As for myself, I started working from home off of my computer in the mornings for my brothers. We are so blessed to have such wonderful families who help us anyway they can. This has really helped so that Derek can focus on school completely.
We are very excited to announce that we are expecting a baby girl due March 29th. We are thrilled to have one of each in our home. Her name is Eden Marie Bradley. I know Kael will be an amazing big brother.
Kael has been doing his job of growing every day! He is such a joy and radiates his love in our home! If anyone needs a smile feel welcome at our home and this boy will cheer you up! As of Christmas he will be 16 ½ months old. He started walking consistently at 15 months and started running around the next day. He loves his Dad and they are best friends. If Kael ever gets sad, just show him a picture of his Dad and a smile instantly comes on his face. Kael has been watching Signing Time and can now sign several words: eat, apple, banana, grass, tree, dad, up, all done, airplane, and milk. He can say a few words as well, such as dad, up, ball, bubble, thank you, apple, and all done. However, they sound more like da, uh, eh, and ah done. We love him more and more each day and he continues to surprise us.
We are so grateful for all of our friends and family! We love and miss you all so much! We think of you often and pray for your well being. We want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love,
The Bradley Family
Derek, Sharice, Kael, and baby Eden
No comments:
Post a Comment