Christmas Letter 2009

December 2009
Dear family and friends,

We hope this letter finds you and yours in good health and spirits at this time of year. The year 2009 has been quite eventful for our family. We’d like to share just a few highlights with you.

One of the most exciting events of the year was the birth of our first daughter, Mary, on March 15. The boys have loved having a little sister to play with and tease. They are constantly watching what she is doing and are always willing to bring her toys or entertain her. It’s hard to believe that Mary is 9 months old now and is crawling all over, babbling non-stop and growing bigger each day.

This summer we enjoyed a three-week vacation to California. We made lots of stops along the way and were able to visit friends and family in Fort Bragg, CA, Tracy, CA, The Bay Area, Reno, NV, and Elko, NV, just to name a few. The kids had a blast playing with friends and family, camping, hanging out at the beach and parks, and seeing lots of new places.

Another exciting development this year was our decision to complete an addition to our house. We added on a 600 square-foot apartment that shares one wall with our house. In August Juliette’s mom and aunt moved in. The kids love having Grandma and Aunt Helen close by, and we love having them nearby, too.

Benjamin, who will be 4 next March, has had many milestones this year. This fall he began attending the West Linn Community Preschool. He has enjoyed making lots of new friends and learning all sorts of new things at preschool, which he attends two mornings each week. Benjamin continues to love reading, dressing up, playing with his “space rangers” and snuggling with his favorite blankie. He has loved our frequent outings this year to the Oregon Zoo, the Portland Children’s Museum, the library, and more.

Nathaniel (“Nate”) is now 2½ and he is talking up a storm. He wants to do everything his older brother does (except get pottie trained). He is such a happy little guy – and he loves to interact with his sister, Mary. Both Nathan and Benjamin enjoy playing their own 1/8-size violin.

Toby has continued teaching orchestra in Vancouver, WA. For the 2009-2010 school year, he is no longer teaching at the high school level, but instead focuses on middle school and elementary strings programs. This fall he enjoyed assisting with music and playing cello for our stake’s musical production of “A Christmas Carol.” He and Juliette ran a half-marathon together in August.

Juliette has been busy this year trying to keep up with our three small children and all the housework that entails. In addition, this fall Juliette ran her first full marathon in Leavenworth, WA, and was excited to finish in just over five hours. Juliette is no longer teaching at Marylhurst University, but has instead taken on two other part-time jobs. Her first job is working for Portland State University supervising students who are doing their practicums (field experience) for special education. Her second job is working as a teaching assistant for an online university. This job mainly consists of providing feedback on and grading writing assignments.

We are so grateful for the many blessings the Lord has given us this year. We would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Love,
The Westons
Toby, Juliette, Benjamin, Nathan, and Mary

On October 3, 2009 Juliette ran and finished her first marathon! It was the culmination of 5 1/2 months of training and a lot of effort ... but she finished in 5 hours, 13 minutes. What an accomplishment!




Afterwards, Ben wanted to run his own marathon -- so he put on Juliette's race number and medal, ran around the park with Daddy, and came down over the finish line.

Trip to California

We had a wonderful trip to California in August -- we headed down the coast on Highway 101, stopping in Arcata (near Eureka), then Ft. Bragg, and then into the Bay Area. We spent four nights camping, and then also hung out in the Central Valley for about a week visiting lots of family and friends. Our final leg of the trip took us to Reno and then Elko, NV to see family and pick up Juliette's mom's things. Toby drove a U-Haul filled with her things all the way back to Portland. It was 2 1/2 weeks of fun but it was sure nice to come home and sleep in our own beds at the end!

Trip to the coast

We took a trip to the Oregon Coast this weekend and had a great time! We camped at Cannon Beach and enjoyed beautiful weather, gorgeous beaches, and fun sites to see. We toured the Tillamook Cheese Factory and also went to the Seaside Aquarium. The kids had a great time but we decided to come home a day early because everyone was tired from camping and missed home. We hope to make this an annual family vacation.

Spring 2009

We have kept busy this spring doing all sorts of fun outings. We took the kids to the Portland Children's Museum, the Oregon Zoo, to the beach, and to lots of parks. Baby Mary was blessed in early May and she is growing and changing so much. She loves to smile now and is starting to learn how her hands and legs work. We are looking forward to warm weather and lots of outdoor outings this summer. Below are a mix of pictures from this spring that we haven't gotten around to posting for a while.

Happy 3rd birthday Benjamin

Benjamin celebrated his third birthday this week. Since we were barely home from the hospital with baby Mary, we decided to just have a small family party this year. He still had a lot of fun decorating his own cake (he called it the "Buzz Lightyear lion dinosaur cake") and opening his gifts. (Batman and iron man action figures). Ben's birthday is one day apart from Akane, our foreign exchange student. So they had fun blowing out the candles together. Benjamin also received a new 1/16 size violin. Toby is starting to teach him violin, and we hope to enroll Ben in Suzuki lessons starting this summer. He loves his violin and tells us that he is now a teacher, just like daddy, because daddy plays the violin and teaches, too.