2007 Christmas Letter

Here is our Christmas letter for this year - enjoy!

Greetings family and friends! Another year has passed, and as always there is so much to tell you about. Many of you have shared some of these exciting adventures with us, but for those of you who we don’t get to see as much as we would like, know that you are often in our thoughts, and we wish the very best for you this holiday season.

When we left off with last years letter we were preparing to head to Florida for Christmas. A December Blizzard threatened to impact our travel plans, but fortune smiled on us and the weather cleared just in time. We escaped the snow and spent Christmas playing in “Florida Grandma and Grandpa’s” new swimming pool!

The new year started off with Lily becoming a “real soccer player” (as she says), when she began taking classes at Soccer Buddies, an indoor soccer program here for kids. It was her first “extra-curricular activity”, and Jaime says she is now a Soccer Mom. Later in the year we would add Dancing class to our weekly schedule – that one was a hit too!

In March, our church (High Plains Unitarian Universalist) began the exciting but arduous task of converting the Mountasia Family Fun Center into our new church home. There was painting to be done, carpet and tile to be laid, and many other tasks beyond our comprehension. We spent many weekends laboring away, but it would all be worth it to not be a “church in a box” anymore, as we had been meeting in a school cafeteria. In March we also took a weekend getaway to Breckenridge, where we met up with Jaime’s parents and sister Ashley from Florida. Lily spent a day at Kids Ski School, and we also enjoyed some time on the slopes, as well as trying out cross-country skiing and snow-mobiling.

In April our family grew by two when we took on two new pets – the Guinea Pigs “Heffalump” and “Woozle”. Yes, someone has been reading too much Winnie the Pooh! They are a pretty skittish little pair, but do enjoy attention and are very vocal when they don’t get what they want. As the weather warmed up, we were able to get out more often to go hiking at some of our favorite places, such as Garden of the Gods and North Cheyenne Canyon. In May, it was time to plant the garden. Last year Nala ate most of the vegetables we grew, so this year (with the help of Brian’s Dad), we managed to put up a short fence around that part of the yard.

June is Summer Vacation time – and this year’s destination was Puerto Vallarta, Mexico! We spent 5 days relaxing in the pool or on the beach, and generally enjoying the benefits of an All-Inclusive Resort. (i.e. – lots of food!) We even went on a Pirate Ship adventure, which took us to a secret, uncivilized beach, where the kids got to dig for buried treasure! It was awesome to get the chance to expose Lily to the different culture and language – and I don’t think we will ever see her with such a tan again!

But the month wasn’t even over yet – we also went hiking at the Cheyenne Mountain State Park – where we saw a rattlesnake in our path! And later in the month we made a trip down to Naples, Fl to visit Jaime’s family for Father’s Day. Lily was very glad to see that Grandma and Grandpa’s swimming pool was still there ☺

We have made it a tradition now to camp out in our back yard the night before the 4th of July, so this was our “3rd Annual 3rd of July Campout in the Backyard”. Brian’s parent’s joined us again, and we went on the traditional morning after hike. Later in July we joined many others from our church in the Annual Pride Fest Parade downtown. Marching in the parade was very exciting, and there was lots of fun to be had afterwards. Near the end of the month we explored Castlewood Canyon State Park (near Castle Rock.) Brian and Lily even waded in the creek to cool off.
August brought the start of school for Jaime (and of course with it the end of much free time!) We did sneak up to Green Mountain Falls one weekend though – even with as many times as we had been there before, we had never taken the hike to see the actual Falls. It was a pretty strenuous walk up a very steep hill just to get to the trailhead, but Lily seemed to have a will of steel and was practically leaving us in the dust most of the time! We couldn’t do the whole trail (got a little too treacherous for our comfort) but it is a very pretty area.

Also in August, the long awaited Sunday arrived - our new church building was finally ready! There was a major delay with the installation of the portable buildings for the children’s classes though, so the excitement over the move was mixed with a bit of nervous anticipation over how we would accommodate the kids for the next few months. It took some creativity and persistence, but week by week we would plunge ahead as best we could, with kids in the kitchen, in the office, in the nursery, and even at nearby buildings! We hadn’t managed to make our summer hiking trip to Rocky Mountain National Park yet, so we went on a Saturday at the end of the month, just in time to collect water for the church’s water ceremony. It is always such a breathtaking adventure – a place we could never tire of for sure!

In September we went to the Colorado Springs Balloon Classic, another beautiful and successful launch! September also brings Lily’s Birthday, and this year she had her party at the park, along with 12 of her friends! All 4 of her grandparents and Aunt Ashley were there for the event as well. Any outdoor party brings some nervous moments worrying if the weather will cooperate, but we were fortunate to have a beautiful day, and everyone seemed to have a good time. Lily was also very excited at getting promoted at school to “4K”, where she even gets to wear a uniform! She thinks she is so big now…

In October we continued another recently started tradition with our trip to Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta. We stayed at the same campground as last year, and also went to the Zoo and Botanical Gardens while we were there. The weather forecast did not look promising before the weekend, but again we lucked out and had two wonderful sunny days and a beautiful balloon launch! Once home, we set about redoing Lily’s room. She decided to paint her walls light blue and light green to match her new rug, and got her long wanted “ladder bed”, which she decided to have painted yellow. It actually came out really cute, and now she has a cozy little “library” underneath her bed. And she hasn’t fallen out yet ☺.

At the end of the month we went on a Night Hike (guided of course) at the Bear Creek Nature Center. It is amazing the things you don’t notice when your sight has taken over. In the dark we could hear and smell so much more! Definitely do one of these sometime if you get the chance. The slightly spooky night hike was just in time for Halloween – Lily was torn between a costume that would scare her friends, and her “true identity” as a fairy, so she compromised with a Spider Fairy costume.

We spent Thanksgiving in Florida with Jaime’s Family, and Lily got over her fear of swimming in the ocean! Once she was out there she thought it was very cool. We also went to the Cole Brothers Circus that was in town – a memorable experience for sure!

We will be home for Christmas this year. Two years ago we commented on how the next time we had Christmas at home, Lily would be FOUR!!! We couldn’t even imagine her being that old – it seemed so far away. And now, after what seems like only a few blinks of the eye, here we are. Time sure does fly when you are having fun! And we certainly have a year filled with fun and adventure.

Well this brings us to the end of our letter, we hope your year has been filled with as many memories as ours has been. Who knows what next year will bring, but we will be sending warm thoughts and lots of love all the way through! Have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year!

P.S Don’t forget to check out our website http://www.delaneyweb.com for Photos and Updates!