2013 Christmas Card

Just so I have a record of our 2013 Christmas letter and pic.....

Here is the (Joe and Mel) Heke Whanau’s 1st official Christmas card/letter. Despite good intentions for the past few years, it’s actually  been done this year, and rushed and late as it may be, we hope it will be the first of a new christmas tradition for us. 

We’re not exactly sure what should go in these letter, so we’ll just add some little snippets of 2013 for each person in the family....Here  goes.... 

Our little Sunny man, Seth Cromwell turned 1 in July. He still continues to be a dream baby 95% of the time and as his little personality develops he’s a laugh a minute. His legs shake when he’s really angry and his cheeks almost burst when he’s happy. He can say ‘amen’ and do the actions for ‘Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam’ which is pretty cool considering he’s not quite one and a half yet. This little critter always sleeps from 6pm-7:30am, sometimes longer.... Yeeyah! 

Cheeky Dynamite aka Ella Deseret remains to be stubborn and gorgeous and clever and huggable. She’s got a big heart and not a lot of patience which is very challenging at times, but we wouldn’t have it any other way (well maybe a little more compliance would be nice!) 

Bobby has a quick mind and loves to be involved in anything and everything, even Faith’s church talks and primary songs. She graduates from nursery in 3 weeks...happy for her and sad for me. Despite butchering her hair a couple of months ago, she’s still as cute as ever 

and her prayers melt my heart. (‘Bear Farber, please do the blessing on the food and help Grandie to get better in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen’....always the same) 

Faithy Kathleen started school in September and it’s hard to imagine her as anything but a big Summerland Kid now. She’s taken to school like a duck to water. Everyone knows her, she gets about a hundred ‘Hi Faith’s’ before we even make it to her class in the morning! For my big girl, reading is kinda fun, writing is boring and maths is ok.....we hear she’s doing well in her class but any work at home is like pulling teeth. Typical probably ?!?!?! Oh, and I must mention her ‘school giggle’. That’s what I call her cutesy little giggle that she’s done since she started school. It’s hard to describe, but when she does something funny or silly she does a funny giggle and we look at eachother and say ‘school giggle’ which makes it keep going even longer. 

I’ve been kept busy with Mummy duties, blogging, pinterest, my calling in nursery and work and the combination of everything has been great. The blessings that have come to our family this year have been amazing when we look back on them.....a new baby on the way, 

being accepted for Summerland, a family holiday to the Mount (definitely a yearly trip), home renos of paint, curtains, carpet, HRV, and I’ve a lot of work relieving (not to mention a very accommodating daycare). Often Joe says to me ‘are you tired honey?’ and my reply is 

always ‘Yes, I’m always tired’, but life’s so good and I’ve definitely got nothing to complain about. 

And last but not least, Daddy Joe has been kept busy with family, work and church. He’s still the Elder’s Quorum President and he gives it his all. Work has kept ticking along and he slaves away tirelessly for us. We worked on a new website this year that we’re hoping will lead to bigger and better things for Rock FX & Shotcrete Ltd....watch this space! He’s just brought a whole lot of home gym equipment so he won’t have to drive down to Rosebank Road all the time, but he can get all buffed and sweaty on the deck (with the kids) instead. 

So overall, 2013 has been busy but calm. That probably doesn’t make sense, but it was a non-newborn year so it’s kind of like the calm before the storm of a new baby arriving in April 2014. Exciting to have a new little son or daughter in our family soon! 

We hope this update finds you healthy and happy, preparing to have special family time over the summer. From us to you, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy 2014. 

With love, Joe, Mel, Faith, Ella & Seth xxx