Christmas Letter

Brian suggested last year we just post our letter on the blog. I really was not on board with this idea, but this year I am all for it. It just makes sense. Most of our family reads our blog, I don't have to go to Kinko's and make copies, and I don't have to buy more stamps. All in all it makes my to do list shorter. So without further ado here is our letter and recap of 2011:

As we approach Christmas and the end of 2011 we are enjoying looking back through our pictures and remembering all that has happened this past year. For Rachel it has been a year of many firsts and new experiences – learning to crawl walk and now run, first words, first teeth, first airplane ride, and the list goes on. This year has been a good one full of God’s blessings. Here are some of our highlights.

In March Brian got hired to work for Pearson Education on their program called Powerschool. For those of you who don’t know about it, it is an amazing program that school districts use to keep track of student information. So far Brian has enjoyed working there and we have all enjoyed the perks including trick or treating at Halloween and a formal Christmas party. Rebekah is also working. She went back to work for Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District in September, and works three hours a week. You may recall this is the district she worked for before Rachel was born. While Rebekah is at work Rachel enjoys spending time with her Grammy Bjork. She looks forward to seeing Grammy, going to the park, and playing with Grammy’s necklaces and toy ducks.

Besides work most of our life revolves around Rachel. She is a joy to raise. It is so much fun to watch her learn and experience new things. She experienced her first big trip and plane ride in April when we traveled to Arizona for Rebekah’s sister’s wedding. Rachel did a great job traveling which was appreciated since Rebekah left a couple days before Brian. It was a beautiful and snowy wedding.

In August we braved a weekend camping with Rachel. It was not nearly as bad as Rebekah was worried it would be. Rachel loved it and stayed pretty clean. We enjoyed the time away fellowshipping with friends - both old and new.

Rachel turned one in September. To celebrate we had a ladybug themed birthday party. Planning to party was almost as much fun as the party. It was wonderful to see so many family members, even some from out of town come and shower Rachel with love.

In October we once again hit the skies and flew down to Disneyland. We enjoyed the trip with Brian’s parents and uncle. This was a much slower paced trip than our previous race through Disney in a day trips. We enjoyed taking in the park over two and a half days and seeing it through Rachel’s eyes. She loved every minute of it including all the rides and characters. The only thing she didn’t love was the food, but we brought enough baby food pouches with us to keep her from starving.

This year we again hosted Thanksgiving. We enjoy being able to host the meal and the location seems to work well for all involved. Because it was at our house we were able to let Rachel run around somewhat unsupervised while we visited with family. After attending other parties this year where we spent the whole time chasing her around we have come to appreciate how nice that is. Unlike last year the turkey got cooked;. However, Thanksgiving would be boring without some sort of excitement, so this year Rebekah created a volcano by accidentally adding baking soda instead of cornstarch to the gravy.

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love, the Bjorks

Enjoy some pictures from our December happenings. I had some more I was going to poast, but Picassa was giving me trouble, so you get my top three December pictures.

From Life with the Bjorks

From Life with the Bjorks

From Life with the Bjorks

15 Months Old Already

From Life with the Bjorks

Rachel turned 15 months old today. It has gone so fast, and she has already changed so much. She is filled with so much joy and determination. She is full of life and opinions. She loves to interact with those around and is always ready to play with anyone who is willing to play with her (except Santa). I love that she is uninhibited, innocent, and full of self-confidence. If I could bottle that up until later in life when she will inevitably struggle at least some with self doubt, I would. Sadly I cannot, but instead I can try to teach her that whatever her talents and passions are they are worthwhile and her worth comes from God not those around her. I want her to be the best Rachel she can be and love who she is.

Besides these wonderful character traits, Rachel continues to change and grow in other areas. She is 19 lbs and wears 9-12 month clothes. She signs more, please, all done, milk, eat, dog, and waves bye bye. She says hello, daddy, mama, night night, book, that, eye, Ila (which is her cousin's name and Rachel's current label for all pictures of babies, can we say over generalization),woof, and pants like a dog. She now has 3 teeth which all came in during the last 3 weeks. I thought her toothless grin was adorable, but the teeth just added to her cuteness. In fact, I think she is the cutest toddler around, not that I am biased or anything.

Rachel does NOT like Santa

From Life with the Bjorks

First time in Santa's lap, and Rachel just started crying. Good thing we didn't have to pay! We all enjoyed our train ride though Hagen park.