Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah to all. In the past we have written a year end letter to friends and family sharing details about our lives over the past twelve months. One year ago the Boulden Family blog was born, with the first posting serving as the 2008 letter.

Over the course of this year we've updated the blog consistently. It would seem redundant to rehash those events in the 2009 letter as those posts already exist. Erick's graduation, Hannah's successes at regional ballroom competitions and Gavin's twentieth birthday can be found in previous posts on this blog.

Rather, we would like to extend our heartfelt holiday wishes to you and yours. At this festive time of year, it is easy to get caught up in details and loose sight of the bigger picture. Making sure your shopping is done, the house is clean, travel arrangements have been made, and Christmas dinner is a big success blurs our focus.

Little more than 2,000 years ago, our heavenly father sent his son, Jesus Christ, to us through the Virgin Mary. In his short time here Jesus delivered a consistent message of peace on earth and love for all. While you're opening gifts, visiting with family and enjoying a long holiday weekend, please take the time to reflect on that message and the blessings you have received.

In closing, we'd like to ask for your prayers of comfort for Arlene Oakley as she makes this difficult journey. We'd also like to recognize Owen Simmons; we are truly blessed to have him with us.

Peace be unto you. Enjoy a great performance of Handel's Messiah.

The First Snow & Getting the Christmas Tree

Earlier this week we had our first real snowfall of the year, the kind where the flakes are small and driving. It arrived overnight with no warning and put down about 6 inches just in time for the morning rush hour. What fun.

Before leaving for work, Susan and I let Sadie outside to "see" the snow for the first time. She ran several laps around the back yard, jumping into the snow and flipping it up with her nose. It was a little like watching a kid at Christmas.

She tried to engage me in a little game of pounce as you can see from the before and after photos in this post. I guess that I was a bit of curmudgeon that day and didn't want to play. It was Monday morning though, if that makes any difference.

Yesterday, we drove up to Southwick, Massachusetts to cut down our Christmas tree. A cold wet rain was falling, soaking us the bone. Our first pass through the farm yielded no "perfect trees." A perusal of pre-cut trees was disappointing as well.

Everyone was soaked through to the bone. Finally, we all decided on a couple of trees with a few holes in them - one for Erick's apartment and one for our home. Cutting them down was an adventure in itself because the trunk was completely frozen and steamed up glasses prevented me from seeing what I was doing.

Later we slogged through the muck up to the farm house to pay for them and get a little hot chocolate. It was so warm inside, and the hot chocolate so good, that we didn't want to go back outside. Ah Christmas in Connecticut.

Tonight, we'll post the photos of the decorated tree.

A Few Photos and a Story or Two

Susan is working date night this evening at the clubhouse, Gavin's at work and Hannah's sleeping over at Sarah's house. I find myself dinking around on the computer and looking at photos.

Here's an old photo, taken in the summer of 2000 - I think. Erick and Hannah are sitting on the front steps of Bill and Marisue's home on Drexmore Road in Shaker Heights, Ohio. The other children with them are TJ, Rachel and Christian Heist. That was the summer that we moved back to Cleveland from Grayslake, Illinois. We had put our house on the market in June or July, hoping to sell it before the school year started. After a week or two of no offers, Marisue and Bill graciously offered their home to us during the transition. So, we packed everyone up and moved into Drexmore, enrolling the kids in school: Erick and Hannah at Boulevard Elementary and Gavin at Woodbury. In December our home finally sold and we were able to purchase our new home at 3316 Aberdeen Road in Shaker.

In the four or five months we lived on Drexmore, we enjoyed meshing our families together. Here's a photo of Gavin getting his pumpkin ready to carve that October. My apologies to all of the children for showing these photos; they were so cute I just had to share. Other memories that stick out that fall were picking apples and making apple betty. Marisue loved apple betty and would often sneak down in the middle of the night to grab a spoonful or two. After about the third time I made, she told me that I had to stop. Her waistline couldn't take another tray. Ah good times.

Speaking of good times. This last photo is current. Sadie had her first bath a few weeks ago. She's growing so fast, I can hardly believe how little she was just a few weeks. For the record she loved the bath. Splashing around and playing with the suds. Tonight it snowed, a wet heavy snow. Sadie had a great time outside chasing snow flakes and generally being a little nut. I think she's about 55-60 pounds now and five months old. A little large for a lap dog, but don't tell her that. I hear Susan pulling in the driveway, so I'm going to sign off now.