A Christmas Letter

I have never done a formal Christmas letter before, and this is as close as it is going to get for now. We have been really blessed this year. I finished my first year and a half of law school, and since it only takes three years, that means I am half way done! It is a really great feeling to know that I am now closer to graduation than I am to orientation on my law school time-line. I was really fortunate to make such great friends at law school, and they are a joy in my life. I also really enjoy my job. I work in a great office with a dream schedule (I set it).

Jess has transferred to a different department at Nelnet. It is a much better position because the work is less tolling, and he gets to set his own schedule. He has been able to take most Friday afternoons off to spend with Jack because of the schedule and he barely ever has to work a Saturday!!!

Jack is turning into a real big boy. Sometimes I look at him and can't see baby at all. It makes me sad to think that those baby days are almost gone, but happy to see him growing so strong. He had surgery this summer and recovered in about three days. He's really been on the move since then. We are always wondering what he will climb on next.

We have had a wonderful year spending time with family and friends. We had two visits from Nonnie this year. We welcomed a new niece into Bill's family and she is so lucky to have such awesome big sisters. We are so excited that Jack has Anna and Cori as cousins so close in age. We never imagined that Bill, Steph, and I would have kids this close together considering our age difference. We were sad to lose our dear friend Dave to lukemia, but are amazed to see his spirit within our lives today. We were very fortunate to have Jessi move to Omaha so she is now only an hour away!!! We're excited to have one of my other best friends, Drew, and her family right here in Lincoln too.

We love to go to the zoo, parks, and noodles and co. and want all of you to join us sometime. We are anxiously waiting for baseball season, because that really is one of our favorite past-times. We are blessed to see God working in our lives. We have had a wonderful year of health and happiness and look forward to another wonderful year. We pray that your new year brings you the same and we look forward to celebrating this special time of year with our friends and family.

Merry Christmas!!!
Love, Abby, Jess, and Jack
(oh, and Blackie too, she is still the best dog anyone could ask for)

Getting ready for Christmas.

My friend Kim, from Law School, and her husband had a finished with finals/Christmas party the other night. We went and Jack went as my friend Amanda's date. Jack was well behaved and we were relieved. Here are a few of my friends at the party.
(Ryan, Kim Stamp, Javier, and Amanda's nose - from left to right)

We took Jack to see Santa. His friend Thea came with us to go see the big scary guy in red. Jack was not a fan of Santa, so there is no cute picture of him in Santa's lap. Thea liked Santa just enough to have a cute picture.

Jack and Thea were very interested in the decorations surrounding Santa though. They really loved this reindeer.

Jack helped me make holly clusters today. He did not think they were cool at all when we began.

Then he took a bite...

we are still trying to get all the green off him. He really loved them once he tasted them. He even wanted to share them with me.

and the rest of it.

I am finished with finals, and assuming I haven't flunked out, am half way through law school!!
AND I have a life again, for at least a month!

Jack has really enjoyed wearing his Halloween jammies. I figure since they still fit and are so darn cute, he should show them off a bit more. So we had a fashion show one night so we could get a picture of them for Grandpa Rod.

He thinks he has pretty cool parents because they let him wear these p.j's in November and maybe even into December (I don't remember if we are still wearing them, and thankfully, Jess has been keeping up with the laundry.)

We have had a couple of really fun visits from Grammy and Papa. They spent one night with us, and then went on to Red Oak before Thanksgiving, and then they stayed with us last weekend. Jess and I had tickets to the "Christmas Carol" in Omaha. Jessi and her friend Kaitlin went with us. It was a lot of fun, and a great break from finals.

We have been progressively cutting Jack's hair. It has been progressive for two reasons 1) I couldn't quite bring myself to cut off that sweet little mullett, and 2) he won't hold still long enough for me to do it all at once. So I did the front because that needed to be done. Then I worked on the back, and after a few tries, I think we are finished.
We put up our tree a couple weeks ago. Blackie really got into the spirit of things by wearing her festive sweater. She doesn't mind that it is a hand-me-down from Gus.


Jack was really "helpful" while Jess was putting up the tree. I was busy studying for my exams so I didn't really help, I just took the pictures.
Jack has really enjoyed exploring the tree and figuring out what it is. We have moved all furniture away from the banister now, so it will look a little bare after Christmas, but we'll figure things out then. We took our time decorating the tree to see how curious Jack would be, and so far, nothing has happened. Much better than last yer when Blackie ate all the popcorn garland she could reach.

*****Disclaimer ******

These next pictures have been known to make people cry.
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I took a picture of Jack in March when we bought this outfit, and took one mid-December the last day he wore it. It is strange/sad/exciting to see how he has changed in just a few months.

Thanksgiving was when?

We had a nice trip home for Thanksgiving weekend. When we arrived Wednesday, we went out to Bryan's to help Ward celebrate his 90th birthday! It was a lot of fun because almost everyone was home.

Jack enjoyed using Ward's walker to get around.

Thursday was a really nice day, except for the fact that Mom and Dad left to go to Arizona.

Blackie looked so pretty laying in the yard, I thought I'd include her picture too.

Jack really enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner...Phyllis makes great turkey gravy!

After all that turkey, Jack needed a nap.

Thursday afternoon and evening were spent with friends who seem like family. We went to see Jimi and Nicki at his mom's so we could say hi to their family. We were able to spend a lot of time at Lawrence's house too. It was a lot of fun to see Jack, Grant, and Quincy play together.
Friday we visited our friends in Kearney. It was a busy day at Kearney Floral, but I was soooooo glad to get to stop by. It was nice that I wasn't working there, so we could go watch the Husker game though. It makes me sad every time I leave a visit there because I miss it so much!We went to our friends Mark and Shannon's house to watch the game. Cannon (above) and Jack used to be belly buddies. We were sad to move away because we knew they could be such good friends. It was really fun to see them play together.

Friday evening we spent some time at Trevor's house. Jack thought Xena was really funny!
Saturday we had lunch with Barwicks and then went to the YMCA to swim. Jack really liked the pool, but it is always cold.
Not as cold as it was when we went to feed the ducks afterward.

Jack thought it was a lot of fun though. I got bit by a swan...he thought my shoe was bread.

It was too cold out to take Jack for a wagon ride, but Blackie got a little wagon action.

Saturday night, we went out to eat with our friends Becky and Sean. Jack stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa. He really enjoyed looking at their Christmas lights on the tree outside. Although it was a nice weekend, Jack (and Jess and I) was happy to come home.

I only have time for a little HOORAY!

Hooray!

We finally found a new daycare... actually we found two. I called a few places in and close to downtown and we toured two of them. One said we'd be on a waiting list and thought we'd have a spot in June, and the other wasn't sure how many spots they'd be able to create.
So we felt a little dazed. The second day care is really great, the only downside is that it is a little farther from downtown, while Jess' parking garage is on top of the other one. So we didn't have a spot at either yet, and then I found out that there may be a spot for Jack at the second one. This is the one we really liked. We also liked it because two of the teachers submitted applications right away when our center announced they were closing.

Magically, the other center called and said they had a spot for Jack! I'm not sure what happened to the June waiting list, but I was relieved that there was a spot for him... but we were still wishing we could get in at the other center. I really like the director at Trinity, and she kept trying and trying to work it out so there would be a spot for Jack.

Every time I talked to her she said, let me try this, if it works out, there'll be a spot. Time after time, the things didn't work out, and Jack was still in limbo. She just kept trying and trying to figure out how she could take in as many YWCA kids as possible, and finally after probably 6 or 7 "last chances" Jack had a spot!

Jack's lead teacher got a position at Trinity and at least two of his friends will be going there, so there will be some consistency in his transition. There is also a possibility that Jack's other teacher Jamie will be able to get a position there. She and I go way back as her parents own a cabin at our lake, and we have even shared a dock over the years.

So in going from no daycare, to one day care we weren't crazy about, to two daycares, we have finally settled on one day care we are really excited about...and it is in a church we are really excited about. I am reluctant not to make the First Presbyterian our church home in Lincoln, because it is sooo beautiful, but we have been to Trinity and really liked it.

This is a picture from Jack's school b-day.
Who knew frosting worked like hair gel?

I needed a break from studying but I don't have time to do a full Thanksgiving post. After finals are over I'll do a massive upate, the kind of blog I have promised not to do again. I have one final finished, a paper almost finished and only another 40+ pages of paper writing and one exam left. Wish me luck!

Jack's daycare.

Jack has been having a great time at school lately. They had a birthday party for all 5 kids with October birthdays one day last month. He had a great time and smelled really sweet when he came home (like cupcakes and frosting). He was a wild boy with all that sugar, but I can handle that if it only happens once a year. He loved cleaning everyone's plate...I guess he pays too much attention to Blackie. He ended up with a frosting mo-hawk and I'll hopefully have pictures soon.

He is eating his cake with his friend Shamar.

***Updated photos***

Jack loves playing in the kitchen at school. He talks on the phone to mom and da. He loves to sort the "ice cube" shapes on the fridge. He must be following after his Grammy's love of ice.
On Halloween, the kids went trick-or-treating around the building at the YWCA and to see a few of the parents who work downtown. Jack was the only doctor, I think all of the girls were pink leopards.


Last Friday we received sad news from the daycare. They are going to sell the YWCA building and close the day-care. It was not an easy thing to handle, but I did make the evening news. Two of our favorite teachers have already put in applications at another center that is only a mile from my work, so we are going to try and move to that daycare or to another one downtown. Jack really loves his school, friends, and teachers, so it will be a sad transition for us. One of the other moms described it as similar to losing a job, and I think that is a good description of the feeling we had last week.

Hopefully we can keep Jack with as many of the same people as he sees now, so the transition won't be so strange. We're sure everything will be fine and have until New Years Eve to find a new place to go. So I'll probably have only one more update from the YWCA.

We are having lots of fun and hopefully I can add a few pictures from the birthday party to this post.