A Christmas e-letter

Sorry friends, no real letter this year. And though none of this is news if you're reading the blog regularly, I still wanted to put together some thoughts on the year that was. Love to all.

December 2012

Greetings, friends and family!

All he wants for Christmas...

Well, no new babies this year. No new house, either, or big vacations or anything like that. We did have to bid a sad (for one of us) farewell to the 1998 Buick Century Scott bought in February 2002, but 2012 may just have set a record for stability in the Holland household.

Our biggest development was Kristie’s decision to open a home-based online retail store selling cloth diapers and related accessories, quickly expanding into reusable household products and, in the last few weeks, a few lines of really cool wooden toys for the younger set. It’s been quite an experiment thus far, but she’s a really hard worker and is becoming quite the local industry expert. There are lots of empty cardboard boxes in the garage waiting to be recycled and many extra trips to the post office, not to mention late nights adding inventory and updating the website, but it’s been pretty impressive to watch her vision evolve into reality over the course of the year.

The Doodle.

Jack is now in third grade and short two front teeth. An eye doctor visit next week is almost surely going to lead to his first pair of glasses. He finished another good year of youth bowling in the spring about the same time he joined a local Cub Scouts troop, which has led to some fun new experiences like camping, fishing, archery and model rockets. He had another great year at Vacation Bible School and Summer Wonders. He continues to love all things related to computers and especially reading e-books on his Nook Color. He and Kristie worked together to make an iPhone 5 costume for Halloween, which is more or less the most Jack thing ever.


Max turned four in March, near the end of his first year in preschool. He’s now halfway through his second year and going three afternoons a week instead of two. He loves learning about letters and seems to be getting along great with a lot of the kids in his class. Just like last year he still loves our trips to the zoo and the pool, and had an especially wonderful time at the Chicago Children’s Museum at Navy Pier in celebration of his birthday. It can be tough being the middle kid, but Max makes sure he’s never overlooked or unheard. Especially the latter.

Our best recent photo of the little guy.

And where do we start with Charlie? He loves try everything his older brothers attempt. In the last few months he’s become by far the most independent toddler we’ve ever had, which is pretty impressive for a kid who had nearly crippling separation anxiety for most of his young life. He can’t say the names Jack or Max yet, but he can pronounce Marion and Dora, though his favorite is SpongeBob. He’s perhaps the world’s best hugger and also things bodily noises are hilarious. He has little use for naps and sometimes says “eye” while pointing to his ear, but he is doing his best to be the life of the party, even when there’s no party.

In addition to running her store, Kristie is now in charge of the mother’s Bible study group at church and continues to be involved with attachment parenting and babywearing groups. Now both Kristie and Scott are in two bell choirs at church. Kristie and Max took part in the revival of the Living Bible at First Presbyterian this year in the “Jesus and the Children” scene. Jack helped Scott document the event in photographs. Charlie rode around in a carrier and insisted all the animals said “woof,” even the donkey.

Celebrating 10 years of marriage in June.

Scott is still working for his parents at Holland Safety Equipment and doing part-time copy editing for The Times newspaper in Ottawa, Ill., and also writes a weekly column and three editorials. He started a new prayer blog in April and posts something new every day, which gives him something to do at night while Kristie is awake updating the website. Every so often the dishes get washed and laundry is folded, too. And as in years past, our couples group that meets twice a month is an absolute essential for sanity, spirituality and laughter. This year we added a Super Bowl and Independence Day get together to the group’s calendar, both of which were ripe with good food and great fun.

We had a great time in Fulton with Kristie’s family for Uncle Kyle’s high school graduation. We also visited for Labor Day weekend and really enjoyed a Sunday afternoon on a Mississippi River sandbar with all sorts of family and friends, including Max and Charlie’s first boat rides. Jack and Max each got some alone time in Fulton during Spring Break and stayed there together in August. It’s always fun to hear them tell us about all the fun things they had — and to hear Kristie’s parents explain just how much they ate. It’s hard to tell who has more fun — the ones being spoiled or the ones doing the spoiling.

We were blessed to go to two weddings for dear friends this year, but we also had the sad task of saying goodbye to Scott’s grandmother in August, a few months before her 84th birthday. It was good to be able to be together with extended family from points far and wide, but it’s always difficult to lose someone who loved us all so deeply for so long. She will always be missed.

As usual, we hope this letter finds you happy and healthy, reflecting on a good year and looking forward to another.

Scott, Kristie, Jack, Max and Charlie