My Failed Attempt at a Christmas Letter

Every year, I toy with ignoring the whole Christmas card thing.  I mean, I take and post way more pictures than most people, so everyone that might receive a card already knows what the kiddos look like.  I also wonder, how many people actually save them or even post them?  How many of these cards get glanced at, and then thrown in the trash or recycling?  (By the way, I NEVER throw our Christmas cards, I actually save others from year to year.  I don’t know why, but I do.)  Despite these questions, every year, I put one together and at some point in the month of December, I send them.

As the cards trickle into our house, I am always amazed at the letters that come with them.  So many people think of these wonderful poems, or know just the right thing to say so they don’t sound like bragging or too honest.  I enjoy reading the letters and it’s a nice way to “catch up” with those who I exchange cards with.  Inspired by one of my favorite chapters from Spending the Holidays with People I want to Punch in the Throat, and the blog itself, I thought it would be fun, to write our Christmas letter, but instead of mailing it, posting it here.

Seriously. WHAT. WAS. I. THINKING???????  Even a fake Christmas letter is super hard to write!  What do people REALLY want to know about us?  We are so simple, and boring, and blah blah.  I also have a problem with being overly honest, but I hate sympathy.  I don’t want anyone to feel bad for us because junk happens, it happens to us all!  I also hate sugar-coating, so as you can see, I am NOT a Christmas-letter-writer candidate.

Anyway, here are 3 of my MANY attempts.  I hope you enjoy them.  Feel free to laugh or roll your eyes, trust me, I did!

Attempt #1 – Too Honest

Greetings!  I hope you are all well now that ANOTHER year has come to a close!  2012 was a big year for us, so here are the highlights:

Scott loves his mailman job, it’s just too bad he had two FMLA cases this year.  Luckily one was at the beginning of 2012 with his tendonitis and the other was in November.  He has lost another 20 pounds, but he hopes he can put some of the weight back on in 2013, since he is too darn skinny.

Courtney has gone back to work and college this year!  She often wonders how she does it all, but if you look at the state of the house, you will know she doesn’t actually DO IT all.  But she sure does TRY!  Oh yes, she lost weight this year!  Yay!  It was about time!

McCartney finished up first grade and is in the middle of second grade.  He loves to learn and we keep hoping he will find that one special friend to make him love school.  He still dreams of being either a baseball player, umpire, or politician.

Ana is loving Kindergarten.  She has finally learned how to listen to her teacher and is finding out school can be fun!  She tried soccer this fall, and sometimes even went after the ball instead of fooling around.

Our family did some traveling this summer and we can’t wait to do more.  Scott and Courtney drove almost 8,000 miles between the two road trips and only hit one deer.  Our country is amazing to see by car.

We hope you all have had a wonderful year and can’t wait to see what 2013 has in store for us.

Love,

Scott, Courtney, McCartney and Anastasia

Attempt #2 – Bragging

Greetings!  I can’t believe another year has passed!  2013 is just around the corner!  2012 was a big year for our family, here are some of the MANY highlights.

Scott continues to love being a mailman.  He works so hard and so many hours, and provides a wonderful life for our family.  What an amazing man!

Courtney has taken on many new roles this year.  On top of being a mom, she has started substitute teaching.  Instead of working a few days a week, she has a job EVERY DAY.  Talk about being “high in demand!”  On top of that, she started a graduate school program, and works as a second shooter for a local photographer.  She aims high, and the sky is the limit.

McCartney continues to learn new facts every day. He reads over 2000 minutes each month, and is almost at a 5th grade reading level in 2nd grade!  On top of that, he caught his first fly ball in baseball this summer!  We can’t believe how fast he growing and learning.  Someday, he is going to do great things, he amazes us each and every day.

Anastasia is rocking Kindergarten!  She loves it so much, and has made a few special friends.  She continues to love art, and spends hours making masterpieces for our house.  We hang them with pride, and I can’t wait to see her work in a museum someday.

We also spent many hours on the road this summer seeing the beautiful country side.  Scott and I were in awe of the mountains and we continue to thank God for this amazing country.  The kids came with us on our Maine road trip and it felt so good to spend time connecting with our friends again.  We miss Maine so much, and we can’t wait to drive there again.  Our family is so good at road trips, we wonder where we will go in 2013?  We are so close to seeing all 50 states and hope to reach that goal before we are 50!  Cheer us on, because I just know we can make it!

We hope your 2012 has been as wonderful and blessed as ours.  Until next year…

Love,

Scott, Courtney, McCartney and Anastasia

 Final Attempt and the keeper:

Happy Holidays from our family.  Between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, texting, phone conversations, and Courtney’s blog: oursmallmoments.com, if you don’t know all about our year, you don’t care.  We are OK with that. We hope you have a wonderful 2013!

Lots of Love,

Scott, Courtney, McCartney, and Anastasia

Our awkward family photo from 2011. I love it!

As you can see, God did not give me the gift of creative or humble Christmas letter writing.  I am OK with that.  I think I will stick to what I do well, sending our photo collage card, even if 35 out of the 40 cards get thrown away.

Do you send out a Christmas letter?  What is your secret? Please share!

PS This post was made to make fun of me, and no one else.