Now that all of the handmade Christmas cards are made and mailed, I had to sit back and think about our list of card receivers to ensure that we didn't miss anyone. It was at this time that I realized how many people have been blessings to our family over this past year and we had not sent them a card!! Realistically, if we sent a card to ever person though, we would be making cards for an entire year and the postage to send them would create a need for Mark to take on yet another job!
Thanks to the world of technology, we can deliver our Christmas greeting to each of you via the internet! This card, although just a single one, is being sent electronically to all of you that have brought happiness and joy into our lives with a very strong "Merry Christmas" to you message!!
This year has been one of great blessing for our family. A few highlights come to mind that I would like to share with you.
My husband Mark has been a strength in our family this year, as he has been in many years past. He's been working as a Fireman/Paramedic in Sarasota County, and also teaching at two local institutes for Fireman and paramedics. He participated in our churches Christmas production which just had 5 shows and was a great success! Mark was blessed with a new motorcycle this year which has been a dream come true for him! During his spare time he’s been studying hard as he’ll be taking the Lieutenant’s test for the fire department in January, 2010!
Our two daughters, Michele and Ashlee have been blessed (and have blessed our family!) with the birth of their first children. Michele gave birth to Giavonna on July 27th and Ashlee gave birth to Adam
on October 3rd. Can you imagine the excitement in becoming grandparents for two babies within one year? Our family loves our new additions and their parents very much!
Ryan turned 16 this year and as entered young adulthood. He is in the 11th grade and is doing extremely well with his studies. We have to recognize that he's a charmer with the girls but his most beautiful quality is his simple love for people and for life. He is thinking about being a history teacher or a psychologist which means college is definitely in his future!
Jessica entered into the 9th grade this year at 15 years old. She's joined the JROTC and has excelled with this. She can spin that rifle so good that you can't help but sit and watch her talent in action! She participated in the Veterans Day Memorial program as well as a JROTC competition in which they came in first place! Yeah! Jessica is doing well in school and talks about attending college one day, entering the military and possibly becoming a Sheriff. She has tall dreams but with her drive and determinations, we don't question her ability to be all that she can be!
2009 has been a year of great change for me. I had the opportunity to work with wonderful people and to make new friends. I obtained my Associates degree and am continuing on in school to obtain my degree in Psychology! My family has been such a blessing to me, each and every day I thank God for each of them. I've had the opportunity to spend considerable time examining my life and how I can become a stronger servant for God's ministry. One of my biggest and most wonderful blessings just came to life, although i can't just yet share with you all what this is!! Don't worry; I'm sure I'll be sharing with you more about this exciting opportunity in the upcoming days! I continue to craft, as you can see by the postings on this website. I've also begun another blog (look to the left column, its listed there) which allows me further opportunity to share one of my other great passions which is writing. Life is good, and continues to get better by the day!
How blessed we are with all the advantages that life has provided to us as well as the gift of friends and families. Each of you has been a blessing to us and we want to thank you for all of your support and love during this past year. We look forward to keeping in touch with all of you and sharing in many more get-togethers and communications in the upcoming year. Thank you for all that you do and for being such wonderful people! We love you all!
It is by the grace of God that we are so blessed and must never forget that it is because of God's love for us that we have all that we do. God has shown is love and grace for our family, many times reminding us of how much he loves us through the kindnesses of many of you. May God's love shine on you this Christmas season, the season that is in place to remind us of the gift of Christ's Son Jesus who was sent to earth so many years ago as the one who would ultimately deliver us from our sins and provide to us the opportunity for eternal life. To God be the glory, great things He has done!!
Merry Christmas, from our family to yours! A Happy New year blessing for 2010!
Theresa, Mark, Ryan, Jessica, Ashlee, Adam, Michele and Giavonna