Christmas Letter

It is with great joy that I present you (those of you not on our mailing list for whatever reason) with our family Christmas card and letter (written by Nick every year)!




Hello Readers,


It’s that time of year again - time for Christmas letters. YES!!! 2008 was a busy but awesome year for the XXXXX 5! It’s hard to believe the changes that have happened in our family in the last year. Here are a few highlights.

In January Jackson, Tyler, & Chase slept through the night for the first time (I think cried that first morning). Two months later in March we attended church together for the first time and sat together in the sanctuary. During the service at least 2 of us fell asleep. (I’m not telling which 2) During the month May at around 9:30 p.m. the XXXXXX tornado sirens sounded and we went to the basement of the house for the first time. We spent about 30 minutes down there and then Gary Lezak said it was safe to return upstairs.

July was a big month! We took our first family vacation! We traveled to Maine & Vermont to visit A LOT of family & friends. Two people ended up in the emergency room (Once again I’m not telling which 2). September we got to eat out for the first time as a family. We went to Bob Evans and had a blast down on the farm! Finally in December we attended our first KiDS COR Event - family advent night. We enjoyed pancakes, sausage, tang and checked out a Christmas musical!!

For those of you who follow my Christmas musings on a regular basis, you’ll know that each year I close my letter with the annual top 10 list. However this year I’m changing it up and giving 12 somewhat interesting facts about our life and I am dedicating this list to the holiday classic the 12 days of Christmas. Please enjoy.

12-The minimum number of diapers we go through in a day. (I think we hit this number once)
11-Average Gallons of Whole Milk the boys drink in a month
10-The number of times a day the boys ask to watch Baby Signing Time
9-The number of sippy cups currently in use
8-The number of kids Jon & Kate have on the hit tv show…which coincidentally is the most popular question we get asked as parents of multiples (“Do you watch the show Jon & Kate Plus 8?”)
7-How many months old the boys were when we first had to buy diapers (Thanks you friends, family & strangers!)
6-The number of wins the Kansas City Chiefs have in the boys lifetime (6-24)
5-The number of times Chase has been put on antibiotics this year (he leads by 1!)
4-The number of Furniture Reconfigurations we’ve done in our living room this year
3-The number of movies Helen & I watched alone in 2008 (Bee Movie, Meet the Robinsons, Hallmark Hall of Fame Front of the Class. Go ahead and laugh it up; we are watching Hallmark movies!)
2-Two most popular movies in our house-Baby Einstein & Baby Signing Time
1-Number one song in the XXXXX House….Itsy Bitsy Spider…Let's sing it right now…The itsy bitsy spider went up….

I hope your 2008 has been as awesome as ours!! Merry Christmas Everyone!! See you in 2009 for the 5th annual Christmas letter!!

Love,
Nick, Helen, Jackson, Tyler & Chase
http://threetimesthegiggles.blogspot.com