Merry Christmas from the Lewis's

Looking back at my last several Christmas letters I almost always start with something like “it’s been a big year”.  I’m realizing that they are all going to be big years.  Life is filled with terror, adventure, change, overwhelming love, laughter and growth.  Every year.

This year has been no different.  Maybe when my Christmas letters start getting boring is when I'll finally consent to getting a dog.   (maybe)

If you are a regular blog follower most of this will be a recap.  If you followed the web address at the bottom of your Christmas card and are here for the first time… WELCOME!!

Over all our little family is doing great. 

Here are some highlights of our year.

We moved.  We felt strongly led to sell our little 1922 Bungalow that we painstakingly remodeled from the top down over the last 7 years.  And sell it did.  We got a good price which was a miracle given the market.  We tried to buy another house in SW Portland.  Two actually.  Both fell through, one days before we needed to vacate our old house.  We were actually packed up and had the movers scheduled when we found out the seller refused to meet the appraised price.  That left no option other than a rental.  Thankfully, we found a great house quickly that was available for immediate move in.  We are pretty sure that whole thing was orchestrated by God and therefore, we look forward to seeing where He moves us next.

Darren started a MBA program at George Fox University.  It is a 26 month program and so far he’s got straight A’s!  Go Darren.  As you can imagine adding a master’s program on top of his full time job and husband / father duties keeps him busy.  We are fortunate to have him all to ourselves Sundays.  And we look forward to seeing what doors open for him in the future.  He is still with HDR Inc.  He no longer does architectural design in a traditional sense.  He’s evolved as more of an “architect” in a theoretical sense in that he assists in evaluating and implementing the specific architectural design software used by the staff architects in his firm. 
He loves this nontraditional architect role. 

Oscar (newly 7) started 1^st grade this year!  He is doing fantastic.  He also joined the chess club and takes Martial Arts lessons.  That keeps him busy.  He loves reading and I am thrilled to watch the world open up to him because he can read so well.  He played tee ball for the first time this summer and we found out he has quite an arm and talent for baseball.  We can’t wait to see him play next summer.  In the last month we found out that he is very sensitive to wheat, rye, spelt and gluten.  So we’ve been attempting to go Gluten Free. 

See my other blog: www.joyfully-domestic.blogspot.com for more about that journey.

Calvin (almost 5) started a Pre-Kindergarten program this year.  It is such a joy to watch him spread his wings all on his own.  Make his own friends, learn and take pride in doing well.  Calvin also takes Martial Arts lessons.  And he got to take a soccer sports camp (his favorite sport) all by himself this summer!

Jack (almost 3) gave us quite a scare this year.  He fell out of our 2^nd story window 20 feet onto the concrete driveway.  He spent 5 days at OHSU.  He suffered 9 injuries, 7 of which were compression fractures in his spine.  When they discharged us they said he “might START walking in a week or two”.  They sent us home with a tiny wheelchair and a tiny walker.  3 days after we arrived home he was walking all on his own.   Jack’s survival and recovery is nothing short of a miracle.  Our community supported us in prayer.  Our family was brought closer together.  If you want more details click here and here (links to blogs I posted after his fall). 

Jack is fully recovered and whole. He is our real life superman. 

As for Me.  I just try to keep up and hold down the fort as a SAHM who is home less and less.  I am blessed with an amazing family and some great friends.   I get to volunteer in the boys classrooms.  I co-lead a Bible study at my church.  I do my best to create a home the kids and husband love.  I post family type stuff on our Lewis Family Blog.  And as I mentioned, recently I'm doing a lot of learning about a GF life.  I write about that and other "domestic type stuff" on my Joyfully Domestic Blog.

Now go &  have a very merry Christmas!

Love, Darren, Jennifer, Oscar, Calvin & Jack