MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas to all. What a wonderful time of year Christmas is. It is an opportunity to reflect on the past year, to show friends and family how much we appreciate and love them. And most importantly to show love and appreciation to our Heavenly Father for the gift of his Son. Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior, and Redeemer. How thankful we are for opportunity we have to worship Him and to follow Him.



We have been so blessed this year. We frequently look around at our situation and smile. According to the world's standards we are in pretty bad shape.



Money is very tight as Dave finishes up his last semester's of school until he graduates in April. We have one car to share between a busy student and a busy mom. We live in a 500 foot square apartment with a VERY active 19 month old. Most of our furniture are hand-me-downs with "character." The rest of our furniture is plastic shelves and drawers. Our kids are dressed in all passed down clothes from generous friends and neighbors. The government helps us survive by subsidised housing and food stamps.



But we smile because we feel so blessed. In April, when Dave graduates, he has a job offer in Huston, Texas, with an oil company. We have two great kids. We have very supportive family. We have good friends, and a great ward. Our future is so bright we gotta wear shades.

Dave had a very successful year. He landed a great internship on an oil rig for the summer. It was pretty hard on all of us. Dave lived on the rig with only the Internet and satellite TV to keep him company. He learned a lot identifying samples and working with rig hands. He was happy to come home to confront a semester of Calculus and Physics and other "fun" classes. He did well and is pumped for his last semester of "ologyies." He has Paleontology, Ecology, and Hydrology. He is a great dad. Jensen has a ball growling and wrestling with Dave, and Lily lights up every time dad comes to play with her.



Danica's year has been a year of ups and downs- mostly ups. She had to watch her husband suffer through 12 hour days of studying Calculus and Physics. She was alone much of the year with Dave being home only 15 days over the course of 5 months. She was gripped with fear that the week buffer between Dave coming home from his internship, and when Lily was due would be eliminated by an early birth. Her ups included the birth of BEAUTIFUL Lily ( Dave was there, thankfully), being able to teach Sunday School with Dave, starting new crafts like card making and pottery, and "being the sole reason for her husbands success" (as quoted by Dave.) She feels incredibly blessed to be healthy and be able to stay at home and play with the kids. Her only wish would be to never do dishes again.



Jensen is a very busy 19 month old. He is dense. Not in a slow to learn way, more like a little cannon ball of pure muscle. He ate 4.5 hot dogs for lunch the other day. He climbs as high and as often as he can. He loves to pour water from one container to another. He has about ten words he uses consistently. Mom means "I want that, get it for me", and dad means "Let's wrestle." He entered nursery last month and loves it. He seems to enjoy bonking his head based on how often and how hard he hits it.



Lily is pure joy in an adorable little baby package. She is so kissable with her dark skin and sparkling brown eyes. She is quick to flash a huge grin and coo whenever you smile at her. She eats well and sleeps even better. We are so blessed to have this good natured adorable 3 month old in our family.



Merry Christmas to you. Jesus is the Christ- the giver of peace,love, and happiness.

The McDonalds
Dave, Danica, Jensen and Lily