The Dreaded Christmas Letter #3

Andrew wrote our Christmas letter for this year and in an attempt to simplify (already putting a 2008 goal into practice), our 2007 letter appears here.

Following the creation of last years dreaded Christmas letter, I vowed to keep a list of all the amazing things my children, my wife, and I did during the year so as to include them in this years volume and impress the pants off ya’ll. Now, as my eyes gaze at the empty list, not for want of a pen mind you, I come to terms with our simple and slightly less than glorious lives.

Simon, now nearly 2, helped us ring in 2007 by perfecting a screech so piercing that it actually made the journey to that place in his father’s mind, long hypothesized by scientists and defense attorneys, that immediately induces the hearer to commit mindless acts of brutality on the emitter thereof. He lives only by the grace of having outgrown the ability and his mother’s recognition of homicidal ideations in my eyes. At this point he has moved on to ignoring us and imitating his sister’s best nose picking pose. We anticipate great things from the boy.

Sydney, nearly 4, remains the long awaited answer to all of my siblings’ prayers. I only wish I had written down all the advice I had for them when their children were so awful. Big events for the little kahuna were her trip to “D Washington” and beginning preschool. Although she could never get the name of our nation’s capital right, she had no problem mapping in her mind the exact location of the carousel on the mall and directing us to it anytime she saw the “monument” (Washington). A teacher tells us that an experience exemplary of her preschool persona is Sydney standing in the middle of a playground and with her hands stretched heavenward exclaiming “I have so many friends. And it’s all because of lovely me!” Hard to deny my paternity with such an ego.

Andrea and I have muddled through another year. She was a trooper in D.C. She adapted readily to the tiny grocery carts and travel by foot of Dupont Circle by attaching bags to places and body parts that only a vagabond could truly appreciate. So capable is she that she was given a calling in the inner city ward to lead singing time in the nursery for the 4 Sundays we visited. This fall she organized a babysitting co-op that is uniformly hailed as life saving by the women in our congregation. And one must not forget her ever-expanding culinary expertise with a newly acquired whole wheat bread to die for (Thank you Gillespies). Now you must ask yourself how does a man cope with being so outclassed and overshadowed by his wife. Easy, grandiose delusions. I continue in my last year of radiology residency. Every time I show up at a hospital after a short absence the staff say “Are you still here?” Nice to know my presence is so cherished. They’re relieved when I tell them I graduate in June. We’ll be headed to Madison, Wisconsin for a fellowship next summer and have been reading some Wallace Stegner in preparation. We did manage to spruce up our back yard a bit, with new plants and a stone pathway. Of course, my 70-year-old parents did most of the work, but it’s only fitting since they put in the fence and swing set last year.

All in all, it’s been a very enjoyable year with lots of days filled with laughter and nights laying tired bodies down into bed. We have felt our Father in Heaven’s love for us in multiple ways, but most often through loving family and thoughtful friends. We’re grateful to have you and pray for your joy and well-being. May you feel of our Savior’s love this Christmas and always.

Love, the Hills

*Yes, this is the best we could do in the picture department!!