Willard Family Christmas Letter

When our printer died in mid-November, I didn't think much of it, since we don't need to print often. And then I remembered our Christmas letters... uh-oh. And instead of coming up with a good solution, I just sort of ignored the problem until "suddenly" it was December 17th, and there was no way I was going to spend an evening at the local Kinko's printing out our letters. Instead, I decided we would just simplify this year - one less thing to check off the to-do list. No Christmas letters, just cards. Done.

But, of course, the letter was already (mostly) written. And since we have gotten compliments on our letter in the past (someone actually told me they look forward to our letter every year. Wow!), I decided I'd post it here. If you are a regular reader of our blog, you've heard all this before. But for posterity sake, here is the 2010 Willard Family Christmas letter, complete with the pictures I would have included:

Seasons Greetings from Woodbury!

When I look back at the year we’ve had, it’s hard to look past the obvious: 2010 was the year we welcomed our second son. But I suppose we had a few other adventures too…

· Curling! Despite being very pregnant at the end of last season, I curled in our Friday night league. Our mixed (gender) team even won a bonspiel in March, although by the end I wasn’t much help - sweeping was beyond my abilities. Scott and some friends won another bonspiel, by beating a team that competed at the 2006 Olympics and then a team who later won the 2010 nationals. Not bad!

· Our “baby-moon” – I’m not a huge fan of the term, but that’s what we took in March. We went to the Florida Keys, just the two of us; a chance to get away together before that became even more challenging. The weather was unseasonably cool, but we spent some time kayaking among the mangroves, sitting by the pool, and walking on the few beaches in the Keys. I wouldn’t put Key West at the top of my “places to see while pregnant” list, but that is one interesting city, with some fascinating people-watching. I can say the same for South Beach, where we spent a day.

· Our baby boy was due on May 9th, so imagine our shock when I woke up around midnight on April 17th to discover my water had broken. One of my favorite memories of our early-hour scramble will always be my mom’s response when I called her to ask if they could come a little earlier than planned to watch Zach for us… “But I’m not ready!!!” Neither was I, but our baby was!

Charles William (Charlie) was born a little before noon on April 17th. He was officially premature, at three weeks and one day early, but showed no signs of prematurity other than his size – 6 lbs 2 oz, 18.5 inches. We were home two days later, where my parents greatly eased Zach’s transition out of only-childhood by keeping him very occupied. Months later, I can honestly say that Zach has handled becoming a big brother extremely well – he’s as interested as we are in making Charlie laugh, and handles his moments of jealousy pretty darn well. And Charlie could not be more fascinated with his brother. Nothing makes us smile like watching those two together.

· Summer: The summer months went by in a blur, as we continued our bocce night tradition with our friends, spent time at our friends’ pool (Zach can swim!), and played endless games of baseball in our backyard with Zach. In August we spent 12 days in Montana with Scott’s family, where Zach hiked his first mountain (he was amazing!), caught his first fish, and had an absolute blast with his cousins.

· Fall and beyond: in September Zach started preschool two days per week, and he absolutely loves it. And we love hearing what he’s learning and all of his stories. What Zach loved less was the approach of winter; he was quite confused and saddened by the early sunset. This boy spent a big part of every day outside, often playing with the neighbor kids. It may be a long winter…!

We recently celebrated Thanksgiving in Boise with Scott’s family. I confess I don’t always use the holiday to really pause and be thankful for all that I have, all that we have. But as I look back at our year, I’m amazed at all the wonderful moments that won’t fit into this letter. I haven’t mentioned all the visits we had from both our parents, who despite the distance make every possible effort to spend time with their grandsons. And who go out of their way to help us when they are here. And our friends, who have become like family in many ways; we are so enjoying raising our kids alongside our friends’ wonderful children. And we have two healthy, happy boys who are growing way too fast… so very much to celebrate.

We hope 2011 brings you much joy,
Liz, Scott, Zach, and Charlie