Happy Holidays 2008!
The 2008 year seems to have slipped by more quickly than anticipated. It seemed that every time we flipped the calendar page that we had just done it moments before. Truth be told, 2008 was a killer year for our family, and we had a blast.
The year started off with a bang. In February, after a decade battle with intestinal problems, Jared finally bit the bullet and underwent a surgery to handle the problem. He is pretty much back to normal now and is FAT (at least comparatively). He's able to keep up with his non-stop, wife and our seriously active daughter, while still keeping up with his expanding computer business and actually having a little time for friends and fun activities like rafting all day in August!
And expand his business has. Jared has had to seek outside help because he was getting more work than one sane person could handle. He has many opportunities in the coming year that have us all excited. And as always, his trusty side-kick, Flaff, can be found snoring and sleeping at his feet on any given day.
Chris spent the entire summer photographing weddings and having a good time. She is spending the next few months reevaluating her business direction, but will no doubt spend lots of time in the new year with a camera at her side.
Last winter Daphne and Chris stayed inside and learned how to sew. Chris really got the sewing bug and started sewing diapers with her friend Julie. Since then, Chris has kept Daphne in homemade diapers and skirts and other fun things and has continued to sew almost non-stop.
Daphne celebrated her first birthday on March 5th. We stayed home, opened presents and ate some delicious pineapple upside down cake. She is making amazing progress in growing up. She walks, or rather runs, everywhere and has been working hard on her climbing skills. She started talking toward the end of last year and has picked up an amazing vocabulary. One of our favorite things that she does now is talk while moving her palms face up. We keep joking that she MUST be Italian.
Daphne was old enough and mobile enough this year for us to do all kinds of fun things. In March, we were able to go on an Easter Egg hunt at the local museum. In June, the entire family flew to New York for a lovely visit with our friend George. He showed us around the city, and we had all kinds of magical experiences in the Big Apple. The 4th of July had us sliding down the Delphi hill on cardboard boxes. Halloween got us decorating pumpkins and going trick or treating around the neighborhood. We even made it over to Chris’ family in Eastern Oregon for a nice Thanksgiving feast.
Chris got busy this year, and got started on some sustainable agriculture projects. She turned our 1/10 of an acre lot into a huge garden that produced quite a few vegetables for our table and our freezer. Chris and Daphne spent the summer months picking strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes and anything else they could think of. Once home they got to work canning and preserving all kinds of foods for use year round. Many of our friends and families got the benefits of this work in the form of strawberry preserves for holiday gifts.
Chris also jumped in head first with the animals. We are the proud owners of 7 egg laying chickens that live outside our window, entertain us and provide us with farm fresh eggs daily. She even ventured so far as to raise some meat chickens that were very successful. We have plenty of home grown meat in out freezer. Chris also managed to find someone who was willing to board her goat for her, so she spent the spring, summer and fall driving up, playing with all the goats and returning home with fresh, raw goats’ milk. Daphne really enjoys spending time with the animals. We even have 8 rabbits that live out our back door. Four of them provide wool for Chris to spin, another hobby she picked up this year.
Chris worked hard this year on her college degree, and hopes to graduate in the spring of 2009 with a Bachelor of Science!
Perhaps the biggest news of the year is that we are expecting a new baby in the summer of 2009. We are spending the time preparing and are as excited as ever to add another wonderful member to the Anderson family.
Christmas 2008 promises to be exciting for us this year. We are currently trapped under 2 feet of snow that will ensure that we will have a quiet day at home enjoying each other’s company.
We hope that your holiday season is happy and bright, and we enjoy hearing from all of our dear friends and family during this time of year.
Warmly,
Jared, Christine and Daphne
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