The Christmas Letter

So here's our family Christmas letter. I promised Ben this was the last year we'd mail them out. We're moving to e-mail next year. I have to admit it sounds appealing. It's a lot of work! Enjoy!!

Merry Christmas, Dec. 2008

It's amazing to think that this year has flown by so fast. It has been such a whirlwind year for us! We hope you have all had a wonderful year and are doing well.

We were blessed with a new baby girl on September 20th of this year. Her name is Alexis Camille Jordan. She was very eager to get here and arrived a few weeks early. She weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 19 1/4 inches long. She looks like her mom and has big blue eyes. Alexis is such a sweet baby. She always has a big smile and has started cooing and talking to us. She has fit right into the family and we are very happy she is here.

McKade is 2 ½ and remains our bundle of energy. He wears both himself and his mom out and luckily still takes two naps a day. He loves to play with the big kids and especially wants to do everything with his big brother. He is learning his ABC's and 123's right along with Nickolas. He is very compassionate and never wants to see anyone hurt or sad and is such an attentive big brother to his baby sister.

Nickolas is 4½ now and is in both Joy School and preschool this year and loves being around all of his friends. He took swimming lessons this summer and a sports skills class and enjoyed both a lot. Nick loves his dog, Koda, and has taken over feeding him every day, which is a great help to his mom. Nick is a really sweet kid. Sometimes he just comes and gives us a big hug for no reason at all. He is also very funny and loves to make us laugh.

Skylar, age 7, graduated from kindergarten and moved onto the first grade. She really loves school and was very disappointed that there was such a thing as summer break. She insisted on staying busy and spent the summer taking T-ball, swimming, piano, and craft classes and of course, drawing. She is in the Mini Stars Company at a local dance studio and was excited to go to Lagoon to compete, where her group won first place.

As for Ben and Cyndi we have had a fun and exciting year. In May we were able to go on a cruise to Baja Mexico with a large group of friends. Cyndi's parents were kind enough to watch the kids for us while we were gone. It was such a fun trip! We went to the beach in San Diego, snorkeling in Catalina, bought fun trinkets in Ensenada, Mexico, and we had a really good time with our friends. We can't wait to go on another one! We took another family trip to Yellowstone with Cyndi's family. We went fishing and all of the kids caught their own fish with the help of Grandpa. Skylar caught her first fish all by herself. We also went to a ghost town, the Lewis & Clark caverns, and over to Jackson and the Tetons. It was a great trip.

Cyndi is staying home and is happy staying busy with the baby and three other crazy active kids. She takes great care of the kids and tries to take them to the library once a week as well as many other fun activities. She enjoys keeping up her blog and connecting with friends through their blogs.

Ben is currently working at OrangeSoda as the Creative Design Manager. He enjoys his job and co-workers and is working hard to help build the company. He is working as a language missionary in the Spanish ward and is also helping the 11 year old Scouts in that ward.

We feel very fortunate to have been blessed so much throughout our lives and especially this last year. Although we all have our trials, we are our grateful for the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all of the joy that it brings to us. We know you have all had your own struggles as well and our hearts and prayers are with you. We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We love you all!

Love,

The Jordans