christmas greetings

Dave
Last December, I started working as a graphic designer at Janda Design Company. This has allowed me to wear a lot of black clothing and make snooty comments about MySpace and poorly designed brochures. It's been a lot of fun.

Typing seriously though, I give thanks to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to work in a profession that I love, with people that I admire and respect, and especially for allowing me to be a part of such a beautiful family. I love my girls more than anything and I feel so blessed to have them in my life.

Holly
Holly was recently voted the absolute best wife, mother, teacher, chef, nursemaid, entertainer, and all-around awesome person in the free world. Ever. It wasn't even close. Seriously.

It's an understatement to say that the award was well-deserved.

Every day, Holly does an amazing job raising our two little girls. She's patient, nurturing, and always loving with Nezzie and Gwen.

This is Holly now—I will just intervene here... I guess I've fooled Dave. I don't know about "best", but I will accept a few of those titles.

This past year Dave & I turned 30. It wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be and Dave freaked out about turning 30 when we turned 29, so I think it didn't affect him this year. Some of the bigger events of our year include getting my purse stolen at Disneyland, Dave's emergency appendectomy, moving to Provo, Jon's wedding/Kewish reunion and the birth of our second daughter, Gwendolyn Carol Lesue, on September 20th.

Being a mother is so rewarding and I really enjoy staying at home with the girls each day. Between the two of them I'm lucky to get dressed by noon each day. I have a lot of fun with Inez, who is very entertaining. She is so happy when Dave comes home though and loves to play Line Rider with him, or anything really. She is a Daddy's girl through and through. Gwen on the other hand still prefers me over anyone—in which I secretly delight. The fact that Nezzie is a daddy's girl, while Gwen remains a mommy's girl is the principal reason behind their jammies in our Christmas card—our unbridled narcissism is only a secondary reason.

Speaking of our Christmas card, I have recently picked up a little hobby in the area of stamping—hence the card that probably led you here. It's a fun diversion when I can find a free minute to create... The problem is that those "free minutes" are so few and far between. This is why our card is so shamefully late this year.

Ok—back to Dave...

Inez
Holly and I are really getting excited about Christmas this year. Granted, we get excited about Christmas every year, but this is shaping up to be the first Christmas that Nezzie truly "gets it." We enjoyed her first three Chistmases, but this one—so far—has been such a fun experience. She's so full of excitement and wonder.

She comes up with interesting observations about Santa Claus. She'll make bold statements like, "Santa's beard goes up to his mouth," and "Santa and Mrs. Claus got married in the ice temple." Then she'll follow up and expound upon earlier declarations by saying things like "Santa doesn't talk very good. Because of the beard." She routinely asks anyone, "So (insert name), what do you want for Christmas?" When asked in return what she wants, she has consistently answered, "a blue truck." We have NO idea where that came from.

She is such a good sister and is very kind to Gwen. Whenever Gwen is crying Nezzie tries to calm her and will say, "It's okay Gwenie" and then starts right up with "Twinkle little star", which surprisingly works most of the time. She constantly wants to talk or sing to Gwen while she is asleep.

She also takes great pleasure in jumping on primarily beds but also anything with any sort of bounce to it. She has said on a number of occasions that she is a "great jumper". She has lots of energy like most three year olds, and we are trying to think of the best way to take advantage of it.

Gwen
Our little Gwenie (A.K.A. Bubbles McDrooley) continues to grow, developing row after row of car tire-esque fat rings around her thighs. They make very cute accessories for our stylish and increasingly meaty three-month old. Holly and I are entranced by them, often pinching, poking, and proding them in the middle of a diaper change. "Look at that," we'll say, shaking our heads. "So fat, and yet... so adorable." We'll go on like this for some time.

Taking a cue from her parents, Gwen has recently developed an unhealthy obsession of her own—her right hand. She'll hold it out in front of her and stare at it for minutes at a time, which, for a three-month old, quickly adds up to represent a substantial percentage of her total life. It's a problem. We're thinking about staging an intervention.


We are so grateful for our many blessings and thank our Heavenly Father daily. We are especially grateful at this time of year for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We send our love and best wishes to all of our loved ones this holiday season.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!