our Christmas letter

Greetings friends and family!

We hope and pray this letter finds you well and dwelling in the Spirit of this Season. Our last year has been full of growth - in many areas.

Spring

In April, we had to remove a couple of trees in our back yard. So, of course we redesigned and landscaped everything. Slowly but surely we’re fixing up our house bit by bit. Other projects this year included new basement windows, a play room for Johan, a new sewer line, a new fence, and a front yard facelift.

Summer

This summer we spent every possible moment outdoors - including some great swimming and camping trips. Bernard and Angie were glad to discover Johan loved to be outside and in nature as much as they do. Thanks to Bernard, Johan is close to swimming on his own. June also marked a year for Bernard working as an IT Support Specialist at Knutson Construction. Bernard loves his job and is increasing his knowledge and delving into new areas.

Autumn

Our fall was spent at the farmer’s market, orchards, and in the garden. As a result of the abundance of cheap and free produce, we tried our hand at canning and preserving. Angie took the lead on this and had a lot of fun. She can hardly wait until next year to do more canning!

Winter

Snow is already upon us here in Minne-snow-ta. Johan has been great at helping his dad shovel the driveway and build huge snowmen. We just bought Johan some ice skates and are excited to experience outdoor winter fun as a family - skating, sledding, and skiing.

Johan

We should also mention that Johan is now a full-fledged toddler and is living it to the fullest! He’s 19 months old with boundless energy and endless curiosity. Johan has several hundred words (no exaggeration - he’s quite the talker). He loves music and claps, dances, sings, and drums along. We are constantly amazed at his intelligence and ability to learn new concepts. It goes without saying that he is keeping us on our mental and physical toes!

The year 2010 has been one of growth for us. Our son is growing, our house is becoming more and more a home, our marriage is being strengthened, and God is leading us to a deeper understanding of His will for our family. We pray the Lord will bless you in this Season of focus on His Son, Jesus. Merry Christmas!

Love,

Bernard, Angie & Johan Welmers

yes, we are alive!

Where has the time gone? Seems like the late summer and fall just flew by. Now the first snow is here and it's time to slow down and breathe a little (at least I hope!). Since there's no way I could share the numerous events and details of the last three months, let me give you some highlights and bring you up to speed:

• our camera broke. :( then we were given a new one! :) thus, the lack of pictures and blog posts lately.
• our garden did great this year, and we scored some amazing deals at the market and orchards. So, we started canning...an adventure and lots of fun! I'm excited to have "free" and fresher food all winter!
• we had family photos taken BUT you have to wait until Christmas to see them! they will be in our Christmas cards.
• Johan is talking up a storm! Some of his favorite words are more, almost, cracker, apple, oval, glasses, hat, and any and all animal noises he can remember.
• Johan's feet are even busier than his mouth! He has so much energy we've jokingly said we are going to get him a hamster wheel to power the house. Needless to say, when he goes to bed at night, Bernard and I collapse in exhaustion...but it's a happy exhaustion. We love our boy and are so proud of him!

I'll take pity on those of you asking for pictures! Here's a sneak peek at our family photo shoot: