Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-12T06:00:00.267-05:00

The ABC’s of the Hedlund Family in 2011

Annabelle: There isn’t another dog alive that gets quite as much attention as our Annabelle. We love her, even when she eats the plastic flowers on the front porch.

Basketball (lots and lots of it!): During the winter months, we spent several weeknights either going to our oldest son’s basketball games or driving him to basketball practices.

Creativity: Forts out of blankets, fashion design studios, painting, knitting, chess, and dragon-fighting duos—I love all of the creativity (and slight chaos) in my house!

Doctor’s Lady: My second book, The Doctor's Lady, released in September and kept me busy with a flurry of activity! This book is inspired by the Whitmans, one of the first couples to travel west.

Eager & Excited: My youngest son, at 8 years of age, is full of sparkle and a bundle of eagerness & excitement (with a dash of enthusiasm & energy)!

Father’s Day Picnic: We spent Father’s Day having our annual pizza picnic at the park. We love the chance to tell our special guy how much we love and appreciate him.

Great Grandma: We had the opportunity to visit and have lunch with my 92 year old grandma who lives in Iowa.

Homeschooling: We entered our tenth year of homeschooling, with each year being a bit of an adventure, especially now that our oldest has started high school.

Instruments: With four piano players and one guitar dude, what can I say, except our home is joyfully noisy most of the time!

Juggling: We find ourselves having to become experts at juggling—dance practice, swimming, basketball, youth group, guitar & piano lessons, classes, co-ops, etc. But our hearts and arms are full!

Keynote Speech: I had the privilege of giving the keynote speech at a writer’s conference in the fall at which I shared about my long writing journey as well as some tips for publication in today’s industry.

Lost Tooth: The tooth fairy doesn’t visit our house very often anymore (and has gotten forgetful over the years!). But the fairy managed to make a visit for our youngest who lost her first tooth this year.

Michigan Winters: We love Michigan. Yes, even when we get two feet of snow at the beginning of April.

New Neighbors: “They’re so-o-o-o-o cu-u-te.” My tween daughters say this regularly about our new little neighbor boys. Just glad the boys are 2 and not 12.

Overnight Trip for the Girls: The girls came with me to a book signing in Grand Rapids and we had fun staying in a hotel and hanging out.

Patriot Football Game for the Boys: My husband isn’t just an ordinary Patriot fan. He’s a diehard and has been his entire life. So, this year he was in heaven to finally get to go to a game.

Queen for a Day: Oh, who are we kidding. Our youngest isn’t just queen for a day. She pretty much rules all year long! But this year she celebrated her golden birthday, turning 6 on Oct. 6th.

Reading: I’m delighted to report that I’m raising rabid readers. Some days it's hard to get them to put down their books. (Ah, children after my heart!)

Swimming: As if swimming all summer at the outdoor pool wasn’t enough, the twins joined a synchronized swim team in the fall. They’re learning to do the splits in the water, upside down.

Tea Parties: The girls and I still have our weekly teatime together where we chat about girlie things (or go shopping!). Sometimes we even invite the kitty.

U-Haul: This fall we moved my mom to Midland into a condo less than five minutes from our house. We’re overjoyed to have her nearby, and not just because she makes a killer blackberry crisp.

Vacation: During the summer, we took a couple trips to see family and friends. On one trip we witnessed a mock Civil War battle and a re-enactment of an amputation (which was very cool!).

Writing: Somehow I managed to complete 2 full length manuscripts. I also signed another 3 book contract with Bethany House. Look for my next book, Unending Devotion, next fall.

X for DeXter: Our biggest and most loveable cat died this year. Dexter was as big as a cow, but my husband’s pride and joy (and my writing companion).

Yuletide Traditions: We celebrate our advent countdown with lots of fun traditions including Wise Man Day—and here are our 5 wise kids (especially our older kids who think they’re particularly wise!)

Z-z-z’s: Sleep? What’s that? Who needs it anyway!

Merry Christmas from all of us!

Love,

The Hedlunds

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-21T21:00:00.001-05:00

Dear friends and family,

Even though I'm a writer, and I could (and probably should) write a creative letter, I decided instead to give you a glimpse of our past year through pictures. I thought long and hard about the decision to skimp on the writing part of the Christmas letter, and here are the reasons why I'm going with pictures:

*Pictures really do say a thousand words (and word counts matter a lot to writers).

*Because I'm such an awesome photographer? (And yes, the blurriness and red eye in a number of pictures was intentional.)

*Most people would rather look at pictures than read a bunch of boring stuff about my kids (except my mom, who already knows it all anyway!).

*Who has the time to read long Christmas letters these days (especially when the writer sends it two days before Christmas at the peak of busyness)?

*Even more importantly, who has time to write Christmas letters? (We're all too busy chatting on Twitter.)

*And that brings up another point. Do we even need Christmas letters when we "see" each other several times a day on Facebook and know what each other eats for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

Alright, no more excuses. The real reason I'm boycotting the writing part of this Christmas letter, is because I couldn't think of anything creative enough. Yes, I'm hanging my head in shame. I know, I know. I'm a writer. Shouldn't I be able to come up with something even slightly witty and entertaining for a Christmas letter?

But no, I couldn't. I'm blaming my lack of creative energy on all the other writing I do. I pour out my heart and soul into my books and my blog, and have none left for the annual Christmas letter. So, wordless as I am, I've been left with no choice but to use pictures. (I hope you know I'm being slightly sarcastic!)

Okay, so because I was actually boycotting the writing part of this letter, I'm going to stop writing now, and get on with the pictures!

January . . .

Sledding at City Forest

Visiting Bethany House

Celebrating hubby's big 4-0

February . . .

Baking a chocolate cake

Licking the beater (someone's gotta do the dirty work!)

March & April . . .

Attending a mother-daughter banquet

Battling the flu

May . . .

Rescuing baby squirrels

Visiting Kalamazoo's Air Museum

Participating in the State Geography Bee

June . . .

Hiking at Audra State Park, WV

Hanging out at the park for our annual

Father's Day picnic

Feeding our baby squirrels

July . . .

Swimming and sunshine!

Giving LOTS of hugs

Turning 13 (yes, our first teenager!)

August . . .

Hiking Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes

Swimming in beautiful Lake Michigan

Touring Greenfield Village in Detroit

September . . .

Holding my debut book for the first time

Riding bikes

October & November . . .

Release of The Preacher's Bride!

Hiking at Chippewa Nature Center

Eating caramel apples at
the apple orchard

December . . .

Merry Christmas from the fabulous five!

Well, that's it! Our year in pictures. Of course snap shots can't tell the whole story, and we certainly had our share of aches and pains. But overall, we're counting our blessings.

I hope you've been able to count your blessings too.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

The Hedlunds

Hedlund Happenings

Merry Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas 2010