This is my first year writing a family Christmas letter. The letter that I mailed out to people is so cute and has tons of photos on it. I wanted to load it on here but it is just too large so you get just the text. Sorry!
Another year has come and gone; what a year it has been! We have all been so blessed. We started our Christmas season last year by moving across the country to Smithfield Utah. It was a pretty uneventful trip, aside from a flat on I-80 with the van. We arrived at our new home (Brittney’s brother’s basement) on December 8th. The winter there was interesting. Winters in Utah are a little short on snow for our tastes.
We were only able to build one snowman during our winter in Utah. Nathan was enrolled in preschool. He did very well there. Nora and Brittney stayed home most days enjoying our time with the Caley's, our neighbors upstairs. Brittney also stayed pretty busy setting up house downstairs and starting a new craft of making hair bows. Dan was on the job search and kept himself busy with that as well as doing some photography jobs on the side. In the spring, Brittney’s parents Chris and Marianne came for a visit from Iowa. We had a very nice two weeks with them. Upon their departure back to Iowa, Brittney and the kids joined in the caravan and visited with her sister Amanda for two weeks in Colorado. Dan joined later and we all had fun exploring what Colorado Springs had to offer. Upon our return to Utah Dan was offered a job at TAG Lending. It was so exciting to be starting a new chapter in our lives. We enrolled Nathan in T-Ball with high hopes that he might actually play and enjoy himself. Much to our delight, he did! It was great to be able to see him enjoy such a social sport.
We really enjoyed every game he had. At the end of summer, Nora turned four and Nathan turned six. In the fall, Nathan started kindergarten and Nora started preschool. She had the very same teacher that Nathan had for his preschool. They were both doing very well in school. Nora was able to join a dance class that her Aunt Lori taught and she really enjoyed it. At the beginning of August we made a quick trip to Iowa for Dan’s parents 50th wedding anniversary. It was great to have almost all of his brothers and sisters together again. Shortly after arriving back in Utah we received the unfortunate news that Dan was being let go from his job. TAG Lending couldn’t afford to keep him on during the winter. After much prayer and a trip to the temple we made the decision to move back to Iowa. Within two weeks we were on our way. We are currently living with Brittney’s parents in a little town named McCausland, just north of Davenport, IA. Brittney’s Grandparents also live here. It has been a blessing to be able to have four generations under one roof. Dan continues to job search and to develop his photography skills.
Nathan and Nora go to a very small elementary school and even get to ride the bus! Nathan is reading, doing some math and even participated in a choir concert for school.
Nora loves her new preschool and is flying through her workbooks at home. She has become quite the singer, dancer, whistler, and piano player. Nathan, on the other hand has requested that he take a karate class. Brittney has been involved in a wellness challenge for the past 12 weeks and has lost almost 20 pounds. We have recently found a local park full of trails that the whole family has been enjoying. This year has been a year of self discovery and blessings. Through it all we have learned that it does not matter where you live, as long as you have your family. We are so grateful for our Heavenly Father and for the peace that his gospel brings into our lives. And for his greatest gift, His Son Jesus Christ.
God Bless and Merry Christmas!
~ The Hanselmann Family
