Dear Family and Friends, We have been married for seven years now!! This past year was incredibly exiting for us as Serenity grew from a tiny baby to a talking, climbing, sweet little girl. As the multitude of web entries can attest, we have been chronicling her development thoroughly. I say we, it’s mostly Chrissie, the webmistress =) Keeping this journal of Serenity’s life was Chrissie’s one goal and project she was determined to manage even with the busy life a newborn baby brings. Recently, Chrissie created lists of Serenity’s favorite books, toys, activities (front carrier, water, outdoors/nature, motion, snuggles and games), words, food, pictures and music to summarize her first year.
Besides watching Serenity grow, this was a year of big changes for us. Eric lost his job as Symphoniq did not survive the economic troubles. So it was time to leave California. We miss everyone there so much. We are happy that so many of our college friends have moved back to the Oklahoma area though, and we do enjoy seeing Chrissie’s family more. Serenity just loves running around after her cousins!
Eric is still job hunting and he has some hopeful prospects, and Chrissie is working part time at a flower shop in Tulsa.
We had tons of help with the moving process, especially Alan Mello, who drove Chrissie’s car back to Oklahoma in a fun road trip across the country. Alan and Eric took it slow, catching a number of sites along the way of their five day trip, and Eric even caught a foul ball at the Albuquerque Isotopes minor league baseball game they attended. Before that, all our dear Cali friends helped us move. Jack and Patricia threw us a “not going away” party, where we finally created our own personal Epic Duels characters, which we call the Cali Expansion. We often play this awesome game online on Wednesdays. Yes, Dotahoe is still a big activity for us even though we can’t go to Henry’s house, we still play online using the webcam Ann bought us.
Speaking of Epic Duels, we held the Fifth Annual Epic Duels tournament in January. We ended up sweeping the first two spots this year, with Chrissie playing Luminara and Eric playing Jango. This was the first time Chrissie and Eric played at the same table. Eric also spent a good deal of time playtesting the Lord of the Rings Epic Duels expansion online. Eric is addicted to Magic Online, and enjoys playing it frequently. Other games we enjoyed this year include Descent (thanks Johnny, Robert, and John!!!!) and Galaxy Quest. Except for the game is actually called, “Race for the Galaxy”, Chrissie just can’t remember the name even though we play it a lot. We also call Battlestar Galactica Galaxy Quest. Juan and Veronica got us hooked on this show, and we love it! Other great shows include Big Bang Theory (you should see Serenity during the theme song), SYTYCD, The Daily Show, and Dollhouse. Great authors Chrissie found this year to recommend include Julia Quinn for romance, and Patricia Briggs and Charlaine Harris for paranormal romance. Eric continued to play Ultimate Frisbee and Softball. The last softball game we were able to attend in Cali was one of the best attended games ever! Johnny has taken over coordinating softball, and it continues even though we’ve moved. Thanks guys!
We were very lucky to have several visitors this year. Grandma and Grandpa came to Cali to see Serenity. Alex, Chrissie’s nephew, also surprised us by visiting. Aisha was in Napa so we saw her too! For Tina’s graduation from law school Eric’s parents planned a big party, and a lot of Wainrights came out and got to meet the baby as well. Lydia came for a visit and really enjoyed Serenity. Gavin and Jennie came by around Thanksgiving to meet Serenity on their way to Hawaii. (just in time for an extremely drooly baby getting her first teeth.) Chrissie bravely took Serenity on an airplane to Oklahoma several times. (Yes, nursing on the airplane next to a twenty year old guy on the first flight was fun. =) ) Mostly it was nice though because Serenity was so friendly to everyone. Christmas was especially fun with a new baby enjoying the beauty of her first Christmas, and the wonderful chaos that is her family.
In sad news, Chrissie’s grandma Mimi passed away. We did get to go to her funeral, and celebrate her wonderful 92 years and her special love for her family.
This year we got to attend just one wedding, Andy Huizenga! It was a beautiful wedding and a great chance to see all our college friends. Chrissie is over the moon about the birth of lots of babies. Allie Bean, Samantha Vo, Henry Lo, Liam Snowberger, and any day now Abbey’s baby will be born.
Chrissie’s projects for the year include two blankets, one for Henry and one for Abbey’s baby girl, two patchwork stuffed animals (a sheep for Aidan and an elephant for Henry) and of course some scrapbooking. She has branched into digital scrapbooking and is obsessed with photoshop. But the biggest project of the year was for Serenity’s first birthday party!!! It had a farm theme to celebrate Serenity’s favorite book, Barnyard Dance! Chrissie got to paint, scrapbook, make goody bags and decorate like a madwoman. Lots of friends and family took the time to read books to Serenity on video for her birthday dvd. It was such a special project, much thanks to everyone that participated! Serenity loves her dvd, and we watch it often. It’s teaching her lots of new words, like “dvd” “jama” (Pajama Time) “penguin” and “hungry”!
We love you all!
Chrissie, Eric and Serenity
