Our 2010 Christmas letter

This past year definitely had its ups and downs, but we pushed on through by the grace of our good Lord!

The majority of the year consisted of grieving the loss of my mom, celebrating the birth of our handsome son, and keeping up with our 3 year old "teenager" in the house.

Our time during the winter season was spent cuddling and loving on the new baby in the house. Alivia did really well with the new baby and loved helping take care of him and making him happy.

In the spring we invited a friend from church, Pam, to come live with us. It was an adjustment having another person in the house at first, but she has been a true blessing to our family and we enjoy having her here. I especially love watching her with our kids, because she loves them so much and I know they love her too. We have had the opportunity to get to know her children and her four year old grand daughter, whom Livie loves playing with. We all have learned so much from each other and I can honestly say that this is definitely a GOD thing.

We had a very good summer which included many trips to Paul and Sally's (Grandpa and Grandma's) lake house. Both of the kids love being in and on the water. Alivia tried her hand at tubing and jet skiing this year which made me a little nervous, but she is so brave that I had to let her try. She does really well and maybe next summer she will be doing even more things that make me nervous!

Fall was spent enjoying the unusually warm weather, the beautiful changing of the leaves, and Alivia starting preschool. We also joined a class that Liv, Weston, and I could all take together. We did these classes with Livie when she was young and they have played a huge role in how we parent, how creative we have become with play, and it allows me to connect with other parents while the kids socialize.

Weston continues to get into everything that he shouldn't be getting into and he is really keeping us on our toes! His favorite thing to do is follow me around, play with his sister, rip up books, torture the dog, eat, and blow raspberries on any tummy that is within his reach. He is practicing his walking skills by taking up to 4-5 steps at a time, but has yet to master them. I don't think it will be much longer before he is having us chase him around!

Alivia is thriving and learning so much in school, it is so neat to see her writing letters and sounding out some words. She just finished up a dance class that she really enjoyed taking. My hope is to try her hand in gymnastics next. She loves reading books to Weston, helping me cook, and being creative with whatever she can find!

Alan is still working at Lino Lakes Prison as a Corrections Officer and leading worship at our church.  I am very proud to announce that Alan has completed his second bachelors degree and hopes to start a career in graphics design and media arts soon. In the mean time he is making websites for friends and perfecting his own. He is a busy guy, but that does not stop him from helping me out when he can and being a playful daddy to the kids. I am truly blessed to have such a great guy.

I am a stay at home mom trying to hold the house and family together. I found a new hobby in photography that I just love and I hope to take it to the next step in the near future. I will be taking a short class that will teach me the basics of my camera, composition, and some other things that will be helpful. I am also teaching Sunday school for the preschoolers at our church, which I enjoy doing. Alivia is in my class and often tells me that I am "the best teacher EVER!". That makes my heart melt and makes me more thankful that I able to be a stay at home mom and do these extra things that I do.

Our trust and faith in God has carried us through this year and that has been a major blessing. It is our hope that the year to come will be even better and God will be present in everything we say and do.

Many blessings to you all!

Love,
The Baertschis

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