For those of you that don't know my husband writes a Christmas letter every year! And every year they are LONG and overly detailed to the point that my family has made fun of him saying they take it to bed to put themselves to sleep! So this year I cracked the whip and told him to keep it to ONE page! So posted below is his 2009 minimally long letter!
This years card, made by me with my very minimal photo shop skills!
(now for those of you that normally get one and think you must have been cut this year... don't worry I didn't even get them in the mail until Christmas Eve! So just consider it an extension to your Christmas Holiday season!)
The Yearly Brag - December 2009 - Edition 7
This year’s economic woes have had its impact on all of us. So much so that “the boss” has handed down the following decree… This year’s Christmas letter must be reduced by 50%. While I suggested that we simply delete every other word, she seemed to insist that she meant for me to simply keep it down to a single page. So here it goes…
The 2009 year was full of the usual hustle and bustle. The first several months of the year were busy in anticipation of our new arrival. On the morning of March 9th, which just also happens to be Grandjan’s birthday, I awoke to Jamie telling me it was time. Now I had clients in town that morning for two days of meetings, so I was resistant to heading up to the hospital until she was sure it wasn’t a false alarm. Once she threatened to call Kristin instead, I was up and ready to go. The delivery itself was, other than Jamie informing the anesthesiologist he was in fact an a--hole, pretty smooth. At 2:15 pm, weighing 7 lbs 0-1/2 oz, and measuring 18-¾” long, we proudly have Emery Claire as part of our lives!
In April, over the Easter Holiday, we celebrated Colby’s 12th birthday along with Scott and Jenna who came up to see the baby. Nana also made a visit later that month to meet her newest granddaughter.
May gave Jamie an opportunity to purchase her Dad’s truck, which meant he flew up and joined her and the girls for a road trip back to Dallas. While there, she was able to spend time with her mom and catch up with old friends. She then took her time coming home and was able to spend 5 days with Brooke in Lubbock before meeting up with my Mom in Amarillo to drive the rest of the way home. We spent the Memorial Day weekend with several of our friends in a cabin at Grand Lake. We were able to introduce Adie to horseback riding, and I was introduced to the Grand Lake brewery! That same month I received the news of having passed my final architectural registration exam, allowing me to officially call myself an architect! Jamie threw me a real nice party with all my friends. As usual, Colby joined us for the summer, and during a “Christmas in July” camping weekend with some of our close friends, Jamie and Robin Mohlenkamp and their family, I decided it would be fun to see how many times I could barrel-role an ATV in midair with Colby on the back before landing on my noggin. A nice ambulance jaunt over Hoosier pass to the Breckenridge hospital for a full CAT scan later, I learned a valuable lesson. Always where a helmet! Colby was fine, he only sprained his finger. And I was extremely fortunate to walk away with only an extremely soar body, minor scrapes and bruises, a mild concussion, and a $3,500 ATV repair bill. I would love to tell you that I answered the question of the number of barrel-roles, but I can’t remember the answer! Later in July, we drove up to Montana for my cousin’s wedding and to spend some time with my Grandparent’s in Biddle. That was the first time they got to meet Emmy, and as they reach into their 90’s, it’s always great to see them revel in their latest great-grandchild. We took the scenic route home by way of Devil’s Tower in Wyoming and hiked around the base with the kids.
In August, we left the girl’s at home with Grandjan and Papa (as Adie has officially changed Grandpa’s name) and flew Colby back home to Austin before driving to College Station for Ruben’s wedding. It was a nice weekend away for the two of us, and of course, the fact that we upgraded our car rental to a shiny new red Camero helped aid in the fun!
Now you may be asking how all of this travel for Jamie was possible. The answer is simple, since Emmy’s birth, Jamie’s work for Innovative Spaces had pretty much dried up. So, she was enjoying the role of a stay-at-home mommy. But after depleting our savings account, and some unexpected medical bills (see the previous paragraph), when an opportunity fell into Jamie’s lap, she had to take it. She is now employed by Richmond American Homes, doing their model home interior design across the country. The corporate environment has taken some major getting used to, and she continues to struggle with it today. In the meantime, with the girl’s in full time day-care, I try to pick up some of the slack by taking the girl’s to doctor’s visits or staying at home with them when they are sick or whatever, while Jamie insists that she is only there as a temporary spy for Kristin.
But, her new employment wasn’t going to get in the way of our travels! In September, We loaded up the girls and flew to New York City. I had purchased tickets to see U2 in concert with my brother, and used that as an excuse to crash on him in their new home in Hoboken, NJ. We had a great time trekking Adie and Emmy through the city and seeing all the sites. Then, in October, over Adie’s 3rd Birthday, we travelled to Florida with Kristin and Ryan, and Kristin’s extended family, 13 of us total, to spend a week at Disney World. We had a great time and marveled at how much Adie enjoyed the magic of Disney, and the allure of the Princesses and other character’s. Jamie had spent the weeks before making the girl’s their own Minnie Mouse dresses and it melted all of our hearts to hear Adie exclaim to Minnie Mouse, “You have a red polka-dot dress just like me” as we took their picture. After coming home, we had Adie’s “official” birthday party and Grandpa Jerry drove up with a pink hot-wheels jeep in the back of his car as Adie’s present!
Thanksgiving we spent here; Colby, as well as Eric, Paige, and baby Addison flew out to join us and we spent the weekend at Grandjan and Papa’s house. There we had our own family turkey meal before Eric and I went off to watch the Broncos game. Then the next couple of days we saw many other family members from both sides of my family come through town as we continued eating. You have to love a holiday centered on food! Anyway, Christmas will be a fairly quiet one this year as my parent’s are in Montana with Creighton and Kimberly spending the holiday with their new twin daughters, and Colby won’t join us until after Christmas. However, they, along with Eric and Paige and family, will all come here for the week between Christmas and New Years, so I’m sure you can expect next’s year’s Christmas brag letter to start off with some interesting tales!
That concludes our year, as always, we hope everyone is doing well and we wish everyone a happy holiday season, a Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year! And look, I did it, only one page!
Jeremy, Jamie, Colby, Adeline, Emery, and Cooper http://jamierumph.blogspot.com
and left toys for all of the good little girls and boys!
Open, Open, Open!!!
this was just so cute and funny I had to torture the girls a bit longer to take pictures!
Emmy wants out... and so does Cooper (he's smiling, not showing teeth!)
hey Adie... you're peaking!
Adie's goodies! 
Emmy's goodies!
Adie was so excited that Santa ate his cookies and fed the reindeer their carrots!
A happy girl! 
really Emmy... I just want one picture without you trying to escape!
Emmy's first baby doll and stroller. I think she likes it!
Emmy's very own remote... now maybe Daddy can take his back!
Adie and her apple! She was so excited!
I guess this is all she wanted... hum we are still totally baffeled by this request!
ballet shoes! 
what is this?
TAP SHOES! She was a very excited little girl!
Even Cooper is enjoying himself! 
The best little present I received this year!
A box as big as Adie...
Little Emery... she's always happy!
pink boots... this little girl LOVES shoes! In fact I am pretty sure she has more pairs than I do!
The color my own play house was in that huge box! 
Adie with her playhouse, a new bracelet from her Daddy and a very pretty new Ariel nightgown!
Adie with her playhouse, a new bracelet from her Daddy and a very pretty new Ariel nightgown!
this just cracked me up! a combo of some of Adie's gifts... after all you have to try everything out the very day you get it!
the bird!
this just cracked me up! a combo of some of Adie's gifts... after all you have to try everything out the very day you get it!
the bird!
Adie's ready to eat!
Time for a nap! The turkey's taken over my tummy!
Adie's ready to eat!
Time for a nap! The turkey's taken over my tummy!
These trees are pretty cool also! And they are huge!
