Holiday Letter

Normally I like to send out a photo card with a letter to family and friends for the annual Christmas letter tradition.  However, this year with the recent events in car repairs and the lack of job, I couldn't justify the cost of printing about 100 cards, $40+ in postage, and the cost of the stationary.  I really would prefer to send one to each of you, but this electronic version will just have to do.  Below you will see the letter I planned to send out and a few pictures I would've made into a collage on the photo card.

Dearest Family and Friends,

    Again we celebrate the wonderful season of love and sharing.  We reflect on the past year and remember what has made this year special.  In January Canon and Kat flew to Chicago to visit family.  In March they flew to Maryland to see a high school friend of Kat’s. Early June brought a tornado right through our town, leaving horrible destruction in its path just a few streets behind our house, but our house was hardly scathed.  The rest of June was spent cleaning up from the tornado and packing up the house to move.  In July our little family moved from Massachusetts to Utah.  This trip allowed us to spend Independence Day with family in Chicago and then Pioneer Day with family in Utah.  In August Mark and Kat attended Education Week on BYU’s campus, and we got to have a little bit more time with Kat’s parents before they went back to Chicago.  October brought Canon’s first Halloween where he actually understood what was going on, carving pumpkins, and dressing up, and learning to say “trick-or-treat”.   That’s also when we discovered Kat was pregnant.  Canon turned 2 years old in November and we announced to family and friends about the baby Dahl soon to join the family this coming June.  For more details, you can visit our blog- http://katmarkdahl.blogspot.com.

    With all that’s been going on in our home, Kat somehow found time to make 3 quilts for 3 new babies this year.  Mark has been searching for a job through much of the year and has started his own law firm to try to earn some money while he still searches.  So far he’s had a few interviews, but nothing has panned out.  Pretty soon he may end up going full-throttle with his business and hopefully end up being a huge success.  Canon has been growing and learning so fast.  His language has improved immensely since we moved to Utah, and he absolutely loves having so much family around. 

    The Lord has blessed us so much over this past year, and even though we’re not where we pictured ourselves to be 5 years ago, we have all that we need.  We have a wonderful marriage, a healthy family, food to eat, a roof over our heads (albeit, the roof belongs to Mark’s parents), and the Gospel of Christ that brightens our lives.  With the many gifts we receive each year, we are forever grateful for the most precious gift of all- the gift of our Savior, the Son of God, the Redeemer of the World.  May each of you feel the gift of God’s love at this special time of year!

                       Love- Mark, Kat and Canon Dahl

Merry Christmas from the Dahl Family!