Christmas Letter 2015

{photography by Libby Asay Studio}

For those of you who follow this blog from afar, or don't recieve our letter every year...here it is for you to enjoy anyway. :)

This letter seems a little silly to me because, let's all face it...the biggest news of the year was me being born. Everything else you're about to read isn't too important. Just humor my parents by pretending to care...ok?

So let's start back at last Christmas. My mom and dad had just gotten back from the Dominican Republic; finished tearing up all the floors in our house; hosted Thanksgiving and a bunch of Christmas parties; and all the while...dodged endless questions about my future existence. Seriously...what was taking them so long to have some babies? It sounds like they had a lot of fun in the five years before I cam around...but turns out I was secretly living in my mommy's tummy since Thanksgiving! On Christmas Day when mom and dad were driving from Manson to Ankeny they stopped at our house to pick up the presents for my cousings. I don't know how mom figured it out but she told my daddy when he came in from checking on the Christmas lights before we left for Christmas #2. It wsa our very first Christmas as a family of three!

They kept me a secret for a while and told the grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends in February. Mom announced me, along with her retirement from cheer coaching, in March and I made my first appearance on Instagram and Facebook soon after that. Actually, mom told Tami (her boss at Century 21) before she told anyone else because she couldn't get through her annual review without letting Tami know I was due on August 28th...and she would be staying home to hang out with me all the time after that! Along with my daily demands, she tries to keep dad organized and lets me swing for a few hours each week while she does the invoicing on our computer at home.

With the news of my upcoming arrival, daddy got to work growing Boersma Lawn care just like he does every spring...but this year was a little harder because he was finishing mommy's pretty floors; hiring and training new employees; buying a new trailer; buying a new John Deere mower; and doing almost everything by himself! He is really somthing that dad of mine. I keep hearing him say I'll be starting to work with him in the spring "to earn my keep around here" but then I hear mom remind him about our pland to spend every day at the swimming pool next summer and I have to say...I'm kind of relieved.  I also have library time, walks at Ada Hayden, endless play dates, Target runs, and trips to Twin Lakes on my list of things to do. In fact, I've taken quite a few drives around the lake already!

When I didn't come on August 28th, mom and dad decided to schedule me to be born on Monday August 31st. The three of us really like schedules because we are so busy all the time! I didn't come until 12:14 on September 1st and in the meantime, they spent their time at the hospital napping, watching How I Met Your Mother, and relaxing. What a vacation I gave them! And even once I came, I was pretty perfect and rarely cried. That wasn't sarcasm, I hear them talk about it whenever we drive by the hospital...which is a lot because we still live at 422 13th St. in Ames (even though dad really could use a bigger space to run BLC and I'd prefer a better location for my future tree house).

Enough about them...here's what I'm up to these days. I get to cuddle and eat every three hours. I like to swing, watch movies with dad, kick in the bath tub, and go on walks around the nreighborhood in the storller. I don't really 'like' all the errands, shopping, and decorating mom drags me around to, but like I said...it will be a few years before I can spend my days helping dad. Mom rewards my good behavior during our shopping trips by 'wearing' me in the antique stores we visit and I go right to sleep. I love naps, I put myself to sleep (they make me cry and it's infurating but mom doesn't want me to be spoiled like she was), and recently I've enjoyed meeting new friends at the Cornerstone D6 nursery. As you can probably tell from this letter, I am quite a talker...especially now that Im' awake a lot more during the day.

I guess my parents fixed up an acreage a couple years ago? Good thing they did that before I came! Anyway, the renters out there are great. But my personal favorites are the 'renters' in our basement who visit and play with me all the time...Auntie Jamie and Sarah watch me while mom and dad go to Connection Group and lately we've had a lot of fun Christmas nights cuddled up watching Hallmark movies by the tree. We are hosting a lot of parties this December and I'm already having a blast joining in all the traditions mom and dad love this time of year.

Now more than ever, mom has mad respect for Mary who traveled to Bethlehem on a donkey when she was nine months pregnant. You guys...Jesus was the King and he was born in a barn? Dad actually thinks that sounds pretty cool because he loves barns, but I don't think mom would have enjoyed that. They wanted me to remind everyone that the trees and glitter and cookies are all really fun stuff...but the Savior who was born as a baby in a barn is the reason for it all.

-Maverick