Christmas Letters

Christmas 2011

02.23.2017 by Nicole Kristin Twedt //

Originally from December 2011

Merry Christmas everyone! I can’t believe how fast this year has flown by. Like many of you, 2011 was filled to the brim with mountain top highs but also heartbreaking lows.

As for the highs, boy were they high! We welcomed the fifth member of our family this summer. Lauren Anna Elise was born in the early morning hours of July 13. Daddy and Auntie Julea almost missed her appearance because she came faster than anticipated. You would think I would know what labor feels like by now…

Lauren is our little love. Her personality has emerged as sweet and very social, much like Grandpa Steve. Out of all of our children, she is the one who reminds me of him the most. Our time with Lauren is a treasure, a rare glimpse into heaven. In honor of my dad, we chose the name Lauren which literally means “crowned with laurel.” His meant “crowned.” A few months back I came across a verse in Isaiah that reminds me of their names. “Those who have been ransomed by the LORD will return. They will enter Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness” (Isaiah 35:10). Talk about hope! How my heart leaps inside me each time I ponder those precious words. We are blessed to have Lauren. We pray that she will have the love of the Lord in her heart at a young age and that her gentleness and sweet disposition will be a light in this very dark world.

As for Uno and Dos, as we refer to Emily and Steven when we don’t want them to know we’re talking about them, Emily is on the brink of turning 5, while Steven is quickly approaching 3. Emily is in her second year of preschool at Westgate and Teacher Pasi is her beloved teacher. Greg and I met back in the day when I taught with Pasi. I’m sure most of you know the story of how I met and married my student Bradley’s uncle through a certain “matchmaker” named Julea. Anyway, having Emily in my dear friend’s class is a blessing and brings back many fond memories. Although my little go-getter is as fiery as ever, there is a growing tenderness about Emily, especially when it comes to her baby sister. According to my sweet big girl, “Lauren is a present from God.” Yes she is, Emily, and so are you.

Steven’s great milestone of 2011 is that he no longer thinks he’s a dog. That’s right, he has stopped growling at most people. It occurred to me around Thanksgiving that maybe Steven was growling because he desperately wanted to interact with others but didn’t know how. We’ve had ourselves a little talk about manners and proper salutations and now Steven mostly says “hi” to people and is quick to give out hugs and kisses. Hopefully this means we will no longer have to leave restaurants due to all of the growling coming from our table. We’re still working on not growling at babies, especially baby boys. But Steven is starting to warm up to Lauren, especially now that she rolls over. Perhaps he thinks she’s a dog.

Steven’s eyes are constantly changing. The right eye, the one touched by Morning Glory Syndrome, is getting better and better with each visit. And the left is starting to catch up. There’s been only the slightest change in that eye, but it’s been enough improvement to need a new lens. All praise and glory to Steven’s Healer! We’re thankful for all of Dr. P.’s help, too. We press on, not knowing what’s ahead, but claiming victory and hope for the day when Steven’s eyes are perfect in structure, strength and vision.

As for Greg and me, honestly we are so exhausted most of the time. A scene from the movie Marley And Me comes to mind when I think of this season in life. Remember the scene where Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson’s characters are lamenting on how HARD parenting is? Everyone tried to warn them about the challenges of parenting, but they just didn’t listen. Kinda how we’re feeling these days. But the scene ends in affirmation. Aniston and Wilson’s characters wouldn’t do anything different. They love their children, they love each other, they love their life. They even love their unruly canine Marley (and we love Steven). I must be wired for struggle because even though my sanity is in question most days, this has been my very favorite season, challenges and all. Our three children are a constant reminder of all that is tender in life.

I almost didn’t write a Christmas letter this year. As I’ve said, this year’s been filled with extreme highs but also devastating lows. I need to be real about that. Yet I am compelled to write. With a joyful heart I want you to know that we are hanging in there, not just surviving, but thriving because Hope has come! Hallelujah, Hope has come! He came as a tiny, helpless baby, much like baby Lauren. And because He came and dwells with us, our hope cannot be shaken. Merry Christmas.

Love,

Greg, Nicole, Emily, Steven & Lauren

Christmas 2010

02.23.2017 by Nicole Kristin Twedt //

Originally from December, 2010

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our dear ones from the Twedt family! I thought I would start this year’s letter with an experience I had this summer in Florida at the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Convention.

During Convention, I was lucky enough to hear Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz and A Million Miles In A Thousand Years speak on leading better lives for ourselves, our families, our communities, the world and for God. Don spoke about daring to dream bigger dreams and challenged us to go home and play the What If? game with our families. Basically, we were asked to write What if…? in the middle of a giant piece of paper and dare our family members to fill in the blank.

Immediately I thought of the possibilities. What if Greg and I took our children to the camp I worked at in Romania? What if we took our children to visit our friends in Tanzania or China? What if we applied for international adoption? But the more I listened to Don speak, the more I was certain God was saying something entirely different about the immediate future. One single question kept coming back to me. What if….?

I couldn’t wait to tell Greg about the What If? game! Unfortunately, he thought it was pretty lame, especially after I filled in the blank. Greg doesn’t find Donald Miller very funny or even inspiring. I think he fell asleep watching the free DVD lecture that came with Blue Like Jazz. Then again, maybe Greg’s just jealous of the picture I have of Don and me from when I met him in Florida, except my sweet husband doesn’t have a jealous bone in his body.

After much praying, tons of confirmation, a slow change of Greg’s heart, and a semi-surprise, we are pleased to announce that our What If? is in the works and will come to pass this July. It may seem little and insignificant to some, this What If? of ours, but for us, it dares us to dream beyond what’s comfortable and prompts our hearts to trust God more by taking a giant leap of faith. By the way, our What If? is this: What if we had another baby?

I realize that being pregnant with #3 is hardly a surprise to many of you. Yet the drama queen in me couldn’t resist setting it up like that. I suppose it makes for a top-heavy Christmas letter, but I’m totally okay with it this year.

Moving on to each family member: Greg turned the big 4-0 this August and does’t look a day past his early 30s. Even though I’m eight years younger I’m insanely jealous of his youthful looks and boyish charm. Much like years past he is involved with the Men of Hunger Bible Study and is still plucking away at the garage. I think the stainless countertop for his workbench is all that’s left. Then again, I tend to avoid any and all conversation about the garage so there’s probably a lot to do that I either don’t know or conveniently blocked out.

Right after Greg’s 40th we became uncle and auntie to Amelia Dean Andrews, compliments of my stepbrother Ben and his wife Jennifer in Tennessee. The following month I returned to MOPS, but this time to a new volunteer position in leadership. I’m loving every minute of it, or most moments anyway. Last year I wrote about how God was teaching me not to wait for courage but to trust Him and rely on His strength. Little did I know that He was preparing me for something to come. A few months later I had the opportunity to share my life story with about 75 women at MOPS. God is so good! I actually liked speaking in front of everyone, which was a shocker since I dread public speaking. I believe God was glorified when I shared my experience of how he brought me through an eating disorder in college and taught me to love Him with my whole heart. He loves each of us so very much and all He wants from us is our heart willing to love Him and follow him.

But enough about Greg and me. It’s time to spice this letter up and play the What If? game to talk about the kids.

What if Steven is healed? What if his vision is fully restored and his eye muscles stabilize? What if?…These are the dreams dearest to our hearts and what we’re hoping for, praying for and waiting for. My heart hurts thinking of the last year and a half and all we’ve been through with Steven. In January we received a 3rd opinion, which we were certain would be positive, only to find out Steven really does have Morning Glory Syndrome. Less than 1 in 5 million folks in the US have MGS, and our little guy has a rare form of it. Nice. Then sometime around the beginning of the year, a spot on Steven’s optic nerve was discovered. Now the word cancer was never spoken aloud, but after loosing my dad to cancer that’s exactly where my mind went. Turns out everything is fine, and we’re praising God for it, but under doctor’s orders we had to put our boy under anesthesia for a MRI to make sure nothing was wrong with his brain, which sometimes happens with MGS.

The latest is that Steven’s right optic nerve is normalizing. We were told that this happens with MGS but that it always goes back. It’s not gone back. Do I dare say miracle? I’m trusting that God fearfully and wonderfully made Steven’s eyes and has an amazing plan for them, a plan that will display His glory, splendor and majesty, along with His goodness, compassion and love. Back to my question: What if Steven is healed? Well then, God will certainly be glorified because it wouldn’t be for any effort on Steven’s part! He’s fully mastered the ability to remove his contacts, he constantly warps the frames of his glasses beyond recognition and damages the lenses from chewing on them. I must say though, Steven’s specialty happens to be ripping off patches with a vengeance It’s all supposed to get easier as he gets older, but frankly at just shy of 2, Steven is stronger and more determined not to cooperate than he was a year ago. Don’t get me wrong, we LOVE the care we receive under Dr. P. She’s the best pediatric optometrist around. “Doctor,” and Miss Rachel the receptionist, are like family and we love them dearly. All of that aside, we’ll be happy for the day when we just bring Steven in once a year for his annual eye exam, as we do Emily.

Speaking of almost 4-year-old Emily, It’s her turn for the What If? game. What if…? What if Emily actually ate dinner without pitching a fit? Now that would be the ultimate miracle, perhaps greater than Steven’s healing! Now I’m the first to admit that I prayed long and hard for boldness and compassion for both of our children when I was pregnant with them. And I know that Emily was also fearfully and wonderfully made without mistake. But the thought has crossed my mind that maybe I should have dropped the boldness and focused a bit more on praying for compassion when praying for Emily, except she’s a very compassionate little girl too. I want to honor our daughter in this Christmas letter, so I will be quick to point out that things are about 90% better than they were in years past. It’s just that Emily is one smart little girl who dearly loves to control things. She’ll make a great CEO one day. Emily loves preschool with Teacher Nicky and Teacher Linda, although she doesn’t tell us much about it. We do hear all about her new friend Audrey at preschool. Whenever Emily says Audrey she says her name with the perfect British accent just like Teacher Nicky’s, which I secretly adore. I mean, really, who hasn’t secretly tried to impersonate the British? Oh, just me? Anyway, Greg and I are amazed that every day at school Emily’s mind is filled with learning and fun and wonder and that her heart is filled with God’s truth and love, often blowing us away with the things she says. Like her brother, Emily is a joy and a delight and we love being her mommy and daddy.

That brings us to the end of this year’s Christmas letter. We love each of you so very much, especially those we don’t get to see often. We pray that 2011 will be the year that God dares you to dream beyond what you know and take comfort in. We can’t wait to hear how you and your family answer the question that rocked our world: What if…?

Love,

Greg, Nicole, Emily, Steven and Baby-to-be

Christmas 2012

02.23.2017 by Nicole Kristin Twedt //

Originally from December, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

The English major in me savors the task of writing our family Christmas letter. If it were a word, I would say my “dorkiness” shines bright, brighter even than the white twinkle lights strung upon our tree, when I admit to you that I think of this very letter for a good part of the year. I ponder what is truly newsworthy, what is humorous or sacred, or at least good enough to write about. Then I spend endless hours plotting and crafting it all together. But “quiet, Mommy’s writing!” isn’t flying well around here these days with an almost 6-year-old, an almost 4-year-old and a 17-month-old in the house. So I’m giving myself permission this year to skip out on one of my favorite of favorite Christmas traditions. Please know that wonderful things have happened to us this year. Everyone is healthy and well. It’s just that we are busy living life and enjoying this special season and each other. We are truly blessed by the Lord and His faithfulness.

Who am I kidding? I left the above paragraph alone for all of 2 days. But really, since I took time to explain why I didn’t write, I might as well add a few details and turn this little note into the real deal. Lauren is napping and Steven is “resting” so now is as good as any.

After 8 years in our neighborhood, Greg and I finished our backyard and set up a play area for the kids. Truthfully, I didn’t do a thing. GREG and a small work crew finished the yard and GREG and Grandpa Dave put together the awesome play structure. I kept Emily, Steven and Lauren out of the yard and kept the dirt out of the house.

Besides working on the yard, Greg went paint-balling for the very first time resulting in a new hobby. For some reason darting through the woods, while being shot at by fast and furious balls of paint, is fun for my husband. I really don’t get paint-balling, especially the camouflage part. Or the pain factor. But my husband loves it and I love him and his hobby provides an opportunity to bond with his brother, Jeff, and our nephew, Brad, as they shoot each other in the great outdoors. Guys are so different from girls!

Speaking of girls, just after last Christmas our eldest, Emily, turned five. My parents have a tradition in our family: When you turn five you get to go to Disneyland. We like this tradition. Mostly because Greg and I, along with Steven and Lauren, were able to tag along when it was Emily’s turn to go to The Happiest Place On Earth in May. We take back everything we ever said about “Disney Freaks,” you know, those families who return to Disneyland time and time again and buy things like lanyards and pins and Disney apparel. We freely admit that Disneyland really is the happiest place, and we may or may not have returned with lanyards, pins, t-shirts, stuffed animals and even a Disney family decal for the back of the van. Emily prefers the hotel swimming pool to Disneyland any day. The little fish taught herself to swim underwater and surprised us by sliding down the big kid water slide her first day out.

This has nothing to do with our trip but our resident kindergartner no longer cares for the nickname Mimi. She also wants you to know that physical education is her favorite school subject. This morning on the way to Mrs. Lee’s AM kindergarten, Emily pointed out her handsome PE teacher. Let’s just say I can see why PE is a favorite.

We have another little one in school this year. We were blessed to find a preschool for Steven that is literally 5 minutes from our home. We are so thankful to God…and Tonya, the mom-friend from ballet who told me about the new preschool. I love how God puts people in our life at just the right moment. I also love that our son’s teacher totally gets him. After all, she is the mother of 8-year-old twin boys. The bad news is Steven still “turns into a dog.” Now he even has names for his alter egos: Buster, Chocolate Chip Mint and Woof Woof. “Where’s Woof Woof going today?” Steven constantly asks. “I don’t know about Woof Woof but Steven is going to preschool” is my usual response. Goodness child, this is getting old. However, just last week I was encouraged by some of my girlfriends to embrace Steven’s inner dog and now we are using it to our advantage. Heard around our home: “Be a good little doggy and pick up all of the dog bones (toys) in your dog house (room).” Never in a million years did we think we’d parent like this. But really, how else do we train a kid who thinks he’s a dog? Obedience school? Clearly we need something. Just yesterday I caught our naughty little puppy dog under his beloved train table, naked, sneaking the last of daddy’s Christmas sugar cookies.

I don’t mean to write more about Steven than the other two. They are loved the same. It’s just that at the present Steven’s antics provide the most writing material.

As for Lauren, our pretty pumpkin is extremely laid back as far as Twedt babies go. She’s a joyful child and we can’t imagine life without her. We wouldn’t want to. Never having a sister, we are both touched by Emily and Lauren’s bond, especially since more than a few years separate them. Some of our littlest girl’s favorite things include carrying random toys around the house in shopping bags and other plastic containers, singing E-I-E-I-O, and studying picture books upside down while sitting in her miniature rocking chair that was mine as a child. Mostly, though, Lauren is fond of her morning and bedtime bottle, which I’m embarrassed to say we are still doing.

As for me, I stepped down from some of my favorite things, such as MOPS and the Thursday Morning Bible Study at church. This has nothing to do with not wanting to be part of them and everything to do with our new school schedules up north and not being able to be in two places at once. But some of my dearest of dear friends are plowing through Beth Moore’s study of Daniel with me and I joined a book club over the summer. Once again my inner nerd shines bright. I’m stinking excited about my book club, something I always wanted to do. For years I’ve been telling myself that I’d join in a heartbeat if I ever had to drop something from my busy schedule. Another new thing is that after nearly 6 years away from the classroom I’m back! Well, sort of…once a week I get to help in Emily’s kindergarten. I’ve only volunteered 4 or 5 times, but I’m already hooked. I simply come alive when teaching, or in this case, just helping out at school. I liken myself to Eric Liddell from Chariots of Fire. I feel His pleasure knowing I’m doing what He created me for.

So much for not writing a family Christmas letter this year. I just couldn’t help myself. The melancholy introvert in me just loves to write. I always have. The one thing I struggle with, however, dating back even to WWU, is that I have a tendency to fall short in the end of a paper and forget to leave the reader hanging on my words. My professors searched for the punch but it was never there. After spending every ounce of all that was in me on the body of an essay, short story or research paper I was DONE. Things are different now. I’m ending abruptly this time around because Lauren’s cries have announced the end of her nap, Steven is standing in his doorway asking “How many more minutes?” and Emily wants her computer time. So Merry Christmas to all! May God bless you and keep you. May His face shine radiant upon you and may you know how very much He loves you this Christmas season and always.

Love,

Greg, Nicole, Emily, Steven and Lauren Twedt