Because Daniel and I are always looking for ways to save money and be efficient (or in other words pinching pennies), we decided to mail as few letters as possible. So here it is. I hope you enjoy.
Dear Family & Friends,
We miss you all so much especially those we are not able to see often enough. As we reflect on 2011, we just wanted to share what’s been going on in our lives. It has been a great, but challenging and difficult year; God is faithful and good.
Daniel continues to work as a technical support engineer helping many major companies all around the world continue to access their data. Daniel experienced a major change at work in May when part of LSI was acquired by NetApp. The exciting part is NetApp is Fortune’s magazine’s number five company to work for, so Daniel is enjoying the many perks NetApp has to offer such as bagel Fridays, a new espresso machine , ping pong, pool and an overall more positive work environment. Also in May, we lost a special person, Daniel’s grandpa, LaVerne Melrose. When Daniel’s not working, he’s spending time with Cameron, reading, or playing with his tech gadgets. He enjoys continuing to use his musical talent by playing drums at church on the weekends.
Cameron is almost 1 ½ years old and is a very active and happy boy. He is learning new words in his quest to talk. He knows many words including dada, mom, bite, cracker, apple, book, car, please, and thank you. Cameron’s favorite words are “oots” which we have yet to figure out what that means and Buzz because he loves Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story movies. Cameron loves books, music, dancing, and most recently climbing. He just loves to get into things he’s not suppose to. But we are so blessed by this adorable, happy, active, healthy, little boy of ours.
I am blessed to continue to be able to stay at home with Cameron. While staying at home provides it’s many challenges, it is an incredibly joyous, strenuous, heartwarming, and never ending job. Staying at home has also allowed me to have a flexible schedule where I could go home to Winfield to be with family. This flexibility allowed me to help take care of my dad during his battle with ALS which unfortunately ended in March. Although it has been incredibly hard without him, we continue to remember what an incredible and selfless man he was who inspired all those around him. In the fall, my church small group starting serving every other week at the southeast Good Neighbor Center, a food and clothing pantry where we pray for each person and help out in any way we can. It’s a great place to serve our community and those in need. And November 28, I became an aunt when David and Allison, my twin sister had their little girl Hannah Grace. She is beautiful and healthy and the whole family is enjoying her presence.
We bought our house in November 2009 and after living in our house for two years we (well mostly Daniel) are making great progress. The first few months we lived in one room in the unfinished basement while Daniel put in hardwood floors upstairs, tore down part of a wall giving us a more open floor plan, replaced the carpet in the bedrooms, painted all the trim, and put up a new banister. The kitchen has been updated with new backsplash, countertop, new appliances, sink, and painted cabinets. And most recently, Daniel replaced our windows. We’re definitely excited about finishing the basement (Daniel already has the surround sound system bought) and remodeling the two upstairs bathrooms soon, but time is always in short supply.
Although it was a year with many ups and downs, God continues to be faithful and we look forward to what 2012 will bring us. We pray 2012 will be a great year for you and we hope to hear from or even better, see you soon.
God Bless.
Daniel, Ashley & Cameron
