2010 Christmas Letter

(I had intended to send this letter with our Christmas cards, but our printer ran out of ink the night I was sealing envelopes. And, not wanting to brave Wal-Mart in the few days preceding Christmas, I decided to cut my losses and post our letter here instead. :)

Dear Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas! Where to begin when it feels like I was just writing last year’s letter?! There were many highlights in 2010 for our (not so) little family including trips to the mountains and to the beach, visits from family (we can never have enough of those!), and most importantly the late summer arrival of our newest family member!

Justin continues to work hard and loves nothing more than to come home and wrestle with our little superhero’s, Iron Man Jack and Eddie the Hulk. He’s still completely wrapped around Norah’s finger (and she knows it!) and he spends quality time with Beckett by napping with him on the couch on Sunday afternoons. J Justin is currently serving with the 11 year old scouts.

Jessi continues to work hard being a stay-at-home-mom and spent the first eight months of the year working on the latest addition to the family (but more on him later) J. Her days are filled with lizard catching, bug identifying, cleaning, reading, cooking, refereeing fights, grocery shopping, taxi driving, arts & crafts, and answering questions, questions, questions! (And she wouldn’t have it any other way!) She is still serving as the 2^nd councilor in the Primary and cannot imagine serving anywhere else!

Jackson (5 ½ years old) is in his second year of preschool and is eagerly anticipating kindergarten next fall. His love for all creatures endures (though he has a particular affinity for bugs, sharks, snakes, and other reptiles). He loves to find new ‘creatures’ and brings them inside so we can look them up on the computer to try to identify them. Jack is an amazing big brother and a true ladies man… He has proposed to several young women over the past year (including various waitresses, babysitters, and the nurse from his surgery), but the highlight of his year was going to the beach for his 5^th birthday. Jackson had his first (and hopefully last!) surgery this past July when he had to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. The recovery was a little rough (on everyone!), but he championed through like we knew he would.

Eddison (3 ¾ years old) has almost made it through his 3^rd year (barely) without being sold to the gypsies J. He’s full of energy and loves to play with (and/or annoy) Jack and as Norah has gotten older he’s also found a willing accomplice to his various schemes. Eddie started preschool for 10 hours a week this fall and has made many new friends in Miss Debbie and Miss Sheri’s class. We were very proud to learn that he’s one of the only kids who plays with a mentally/physically disabled boy in his class by helping to make him smile and laugh. Eddison loves reading books, playing outside, and is our little fish – content to spend hours in the bath (if we’d let him!), the swimming pool, or the ocean.

Eleanor (almost 2 years old!) has changed so much this year! She started walking and celebrated her first birthday at the beginning of the year and has been racing to keep up with her older brothers ever since! Norah loves animals, babies, swinging, playing outside, putting on Mommy’s shoes, singing, and bending Daddy to her will J. She loves to talk and every day brings more words and phrases that just crack us up. (i.e. calling Mommy, “Jess!”, saying what sounds like, “Go away!”, instead of ‘thank you’, and calling Eddie, “Eddie-o!”) Our little Norah June brings a gentle but energetic sweetness to our family and she’s an amazing little Mommy to Beckett. J

Beckett Michael Wilde (4 months) was born au natural on August 14^th at 1:12 am and was our first ‘gender surprise’ baby. He attempted to arrive at 34 wks., but was persuaded to wait until 35 wks. with the help of modern medicine (typical Wilde – just wanted to get the party started! J). He is our very first brown-eyed baby (finally! One that has Mommy’s eyes! J) and has a smile, laugh, and dimples that are simply heart-melting. He’s a champion at nursing and though he prefers to be snuggled, is as laid back and happy as his siblings were. (Jackson would say, “He’s just ‘chill’, mom.”) Beckett is a ray of sunshine and we are all completely in love with him!

As you can see we are truly blessed! We are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for our family and friends and we hope to see more of you in the coming year. Until then we wish you a very merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

All our love,

Justin, Jessica, Jackson, Eddison, Eleanor & Beckett