Merry Christmas 2010

I wondered if I should put this blog address on our Christmas card or not this year, since I've fallen into a pattern of unfortunately rare updates, but I decided I wanted to keep it if I could, so I guess my New Year's resolution will be to actually get here and get some content up for you!

It's been a good year for our family, for which I am thankful. Andy decided at the beginning of the year that in addition to completing his MDiv through Fuller last year, that he would go ahead and pursue ordination as a "teaching elder" in the EPC as well. In May, he took a series of written exams (you don't even need to ask, of course he aced them); in June, he and I flew out together to Denver for our "regional" presbytery meeting for the oral exams. And this fall, our church had the ordination service and now I'm married to Reverend Andy Cornett. Which makes us both laugh a lot...not because it's funny, but because it is. His job isn't changing, his calling to ministry isn't changing...but now he has a title. It's funny on the one hand, but I will say that I am very proud of him.

The children have thrived as well...we continue to homeschool, and they seem to learn and grow in spite of their teacher. I counted on my fingers and realized that somehow this is my sixth year of homeschooling, which seems like I ought to have a better grasp on it by now than I think I do. But I'm thankful for the opportunity to challenge them where they can take it, help them where they need it, and to watch their minds grow. And, I confess, having the flexibility in our schedule is great, because Andy's work (and mine) don't always quite match up with a public school schedule. We started early because it was too hot outside to play, and spent December with a bit lighter schedule than otherwise because I was designing Christmas cards for clients! They also continue in soccer and ballet, and really enjoy all of it.

My photography business has rolled right along, and I continue to learn new things about running a business, taking pictures, and internet/web stuff, oddly enough. I've met new people this year, and taken new pictures of old clients, and kept myself reasonably busy. I also inadvertently stumbled into helping our friends Mark and Mylissa redesign the Habitat for Hope website, which was both fun and a challenging way to learn a lot in a short period of time.

If I try to say too much more here, I'll never hit publish on this, so I'm just going to leave you with a sequence of images showing what happened on my first attempt to capture the kids for our family Christmas card:




I'm sure that I don't need to explain that we ended up doing a "take two" on our family Christmas card session. I'm really thankful that my clients' children handle this better than my own!

Merry Christmas to any of you who visited our little blog, and a very happy New Year as well!