Merry Christmas

 

Dearest Family & Friends,                                                                                                       December 13, 2008              Wow!  Here we are again, Christmas is upon us, and another year has almost come and gone.  We are all a year older, but of course, we all are wiser!  Ha! Ha!  Melanie certainly thinks she is! And I must say my parenting abilities are being finely tuned every day!  Some days, I think of myself as the master of manipulation!  Of course, manipulating a two-year old is not as easy as one may think it should be.

            As I sit here reminiscing all the wonderful blessings our Lord has given us this year, I am thankful to report we are all enjoying good health.  Jason welcomed his 5-year anniversary of being cancer free in June.  Praise God!!  Last year, Melanie had been suffering from ear-infections due to negative pressure inside her Eustachian tubes, so in February, she had tubes inserted to equal out the pressure and hasn’t had an ear infection since!!  God has seen us through so much and we are grateful for these wonderful blessings. 

Due to busy schedules, I am so thankful that God provides opportunities for us to visit people and places.  It isn’t always easy, but boy oh boy it is worth it. In February, our mountains were blessed with some much needed snowfall (we are in such a drought – we pray we get more rain and snowfall this winter for our crops) so we headed out the mountains with friends, Carrie and Haylie Rose, and Grandma and Uncle Dave for a long weekend!  What a blast we had sledding and playing in the snow!  Note to self – Grandma should NOT go down Suicide Hill!  In April, we were able to visit my family in Iowa for my niece’s 1^st communion.  Everyone enjoyed seeing Melanie and we were thankful for the opportunity to share in Kaylee’s special day. We miss them so much, so it is wonderful when we all can be together.  In August, after the busy summer produce season, we headed out to Mammoth Lakes, CA for some much needed rest and relaxation with nothing around but God’s wonderful creation!  Rest for the mind and the soul – not for the body though…Melanie keeps us hopping no matter where we are!  Melanie was able to see several black bears and a coyote while we were hiking around.  One day, we went on a long hike, and Melanie was such a trooper until we had to hike out!  Carrying a sleeping child for 2 miles up hill almost did us in and no matter where you are a child will take a nap!  But the highlight of her trip was discovering - as she calls them - “Whoohoo Chipmunks!”  Melanie and Jason were riding on the bicycle when she shouts “Whoohoo Chipmunks!” as they scurried along the side of the road!  Jason still gets a good chuckle at that story and she still calls them that. In October, we visited with friends, Joe and Mary Humphreus in Santa Barbara, CA and took Melanie to the Santa Barbara Zoo, where she fed the giraffes and saw the flamingos, and then a few weeks later we were able to visit with my dear friend, Joanie at the Pumpkin Patch in Avila Beach. Chris and Joanie have two beautiful girls, Sedona and Marissa.  What a blessing it is to see our daughters playing and laughing together and being able to push that huge wheel barrow, loaded with pumpkins all by themselves (Sedona lifted and Melanie and Marissa pushed!). 

Melanie is growing up so quickly (I know I say it all the time).  She has such a sweet fun-loving personality. She has a few favorite activities that she looks forward to.  She loves for us to read to her, every night she brings books to read, she loves to mow the lawn with Daddy – this is quite a sight to see – Melanie pushing her bubble mower right along-side Jason with the real lawn mower.  She absolutely loves hanging out with Grandma “RA,” (Lynda) and going to pre-school and church.  This year she has even developed friendships with 2 darling sweet girls, Sabine and Haylie Rose.  She looks forward to seeing them every chance she gets! And yep, Melanie still loves to go to ice hockey games (she is quite the Condors fan!).  She has been able to enjoy several activities this year, such as gymnastics, swimming, and dance.  I think her favorite was swimming.  This fall, she was able to be in the pool with just the instructor and 5 other kids ranging in ages from 4 to 6.  For the first few lessons, I sat on the edge of my seat waiting to spring into action and grab her if she let go of the side of the pool, but she never did.  My muscles get tense just thinking of it. Melanie has even learned that she can talk to “Grandma Kaffy, Pappa Craig and Auntie Kerri and Johnny” on the phone!  She brings me the phone every couple days and asks me to call them so she can talk.  It is quite cute to see her walking all over the house talking on the phone (probably won’t be so cute when she is a teenager!). My greatest joy has come in hearing Melanie sing – it truly touches my heart to hear her sing of the love of Jesus!  Her favorites are “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” “Jesus Loves Me,” “If Your Happy and You Know It,” “Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes,” “Jingle Bells” and just recently she learned “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” We often hear her singing a combination of “Jingle Bells” and “Jesus Love Me” – it goes something like this “Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, for the Bible tells me so, little children to him belong, they are weak but he is strong!” Too cute!

I hope this letter catches you up on what’s been happening at The Haught Residence and this letter finds you well and enjoying the holidays!  We pray that you will be blessed in the year to come and that the joy, Jesus Christ, our Savior brings will be yours to celebrate this Christmas!

Love,

Brenda