Carr Family Christmas Letter 2012

December 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

We hope each of you are having a wonderful holiday season! We feel truly grateful for this time of year to slow down and count our blessings and to express our deepest gratitude to the Savior for His many tender mercies.

The year 2012 in our family will always be remembered as a time of remarkable miracles and blessings. The first miracle occurred with the birth of our 4th child Spencer Paul Carr on January 11th. After many years of waiting and wondering, he finally arrived and has been adored and loved by his siblings and parents every minute since. We had officially submitted our adoption papers right before Christmas 2011, found out 2 days after Christmas that we had been chosen, and welcomed our baby boy on January 11th. It turned our lives upside down and inside out in marvelous ways we never could have anticipated! Every day we feel so grateful for these amazing children!

SPENCER PAUL (11 months old) continues to grace our lives with joy & contentment. Our "not-so-tiny-anymore" little boy is now crawling, climbing, and unloading everything. He has a dimple on his left cheek that will melt your heart and continues to specialize in "jumping"...we have never felt leg muscles on any baby like his. He adores his sister and brothers and never fails to giggle the whole way home after we have picked them up from school! Spencer is a happy, curious, fun little boy who shares his older brother Matthew's passion for soccer balls.

HANNAH LYNN (8 years old) is in 2nd grade this year and was baptized at the beginning of December. She has grown into quite a young lady this year. She is now attending Activity Days at church which makes her feel very grown up and "girly". Hannah continues to astound us with her artistic and writing talents...she produces several "picture" books a week...and had all her "dreams come true" when she got to wear a sparkly costume and dance on stage for her Christmas dance recital. She is constantly overflowing with ideas and games and projects and keeps us on our toes with her passion for nail polish, all things "fancy", and her sheer enthusiasm. She brings a wonderful amount of "girl" to our family!

MATTHEW CHARLES (10 years old) is in 4th grade and is a young man with a passion for anything "sports". He is playing his 2nd year on a competitive soccer team and we are truly amazed at his abilities and talents. This young man can pick up any game, accomplish any physical feat, and is happiest when he is running, kicking a soccer ball, doing flips on the trampoline, or trying any new heart stopping adventure. He has a sense of style all his own and we love his passion for red skinny jeans and fedoras. He continues to bless our family with his extremely sensitive heart and compassion. And NO ONE can make Spencer giggle harder...

JACOB CHRISTOPHER (11 years old) is in 6th grade and is preparing to be ordained a deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood in February. He has discovered a true passion for all things Star Trek and continues to devour any type of book at an alarming rate. I frequently find myself making emergency trips to the library with him because he has finished a book and absolutely can't wait another second to start another one. Jacob loves American history, writing, and watching Star Trek Voyager. He keeps us laughing with his incredible sense of humor and keeps us on our toes with his love of learning!

CHRIS & AMY honestly aren't that interesting compared to our kids. Chris continues to work at Imagine Learning and amazes us with his many talents and abilities. He is working with the Webelos at church which Matthew pretends to be horrified by but secretly loves. I quit my job at my kid's charter school last year when Spencer was born and have found myself "back at the beginning" with a baby at home...and truly loving every moment of it.

The highlight of the year for our family was the opportunity to be sealed to Spencer in the Mount Timpanogos temple by my father in November. It is an experience written in our hearts forever! Seeing all 4 of our children in the temple and sharing the day with so many family members and friends was an unbelievable experience!

We hope this Christmas season and New Year will be filled with many wonderful experiences, amazing miracles, and sweet blessings for you and your family.

We love you!

Love,
The Carr Family