The Christmas Letter We Never Wrote

I'm not sure what has happened in the past three months, but I have had neither motivation nor inspiration to add anything to our blog. Apparently I also didn't have enough motivation to send a Christmas letter. I had great intentions. I even bought cards early this year (early for me means before about December 20). But I could never decide which picture to print, so the letter never got written, the cards never got sent, and you don't have a photo of our family hanging on your fridge (or filling your recycle bin). In the spirit of it's never too late, here's the letter we didn't write.

Dear Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas! We hope this Christmas finds you filled with joy (etc., blah blah blah). 2010 has been a year filled with learning and adventures for the Gilchrist clan. This year we've learned...

• How to buy a house without really looking for one
• More about safe asbestos removal than we've ever wanted to know
• Renovations will always longer than you anticipate
• How to walk (Laurel learned this one, Jon and I already knew how)
• How beautiful Kelowna is
• How to get rid of pink eye
• How to tile a backsplash, refinish hardwood floors, and install baseboards
• How to say lots of new words, like: mommy, daddy, no, up, open, orange, blankie, eat, sit
• How much we love the splash park in our neighborhood
• That we're expecting baby # 2 in May

Our adventures have included lots of long bike rides, a weekend camping and biking trip in Banff, our first stay at the Banff Springs Hotel, a trip to Kelowna, a friend's wedding in Colorado, great conversation and fellowship with friends for a week in Glacier, a trip to Boston for Christmas, and Julianne returning to work.

We're looking forward to lots more learning and adventures in 2011. We hope that some of our adventures include you!

Jon, Julianne, Laurel, and Baby

More on Living Simply

The past 10 days have been so filled with mishaps that it's almost comical. Our washer and dryer stopped working...on the same day that our dishwasher started leaking. Then we dropped our computer and the screen cracked. We now have a black spiderweb stretching from the top left corner to the bottom right corner. That could have been enough. But then Jon was in a car accident. And then, what came next? Oh yes, we both ended up with fevers and aches and the chills yesterday.

So in the midst of all this, as I have been researching appliances and new cars, I have been reflecting on what it means to live simply. And, in the midst of all of this, we have been surprised by goodness and generosity.

I began to shop for appliances online. I pictured a new washer and dryer with all the latest features, perhaps even in a fun color. They would be expensive, but wouldn't they look good!

And then a coworker of mine, who happened to see my facebook post, offered us a washer and dryer he was getting rid of. For free.

After the car incident, Jon's parents called. We were supposed to drive to the farm for the weekend. They decided they would come to us, instead. Not only would they come to us, but they would bring Jon's mom's car for us to drive while ours is in the shop.

And then, just this morning, Jon's dad called and said he has a dishwasher for us that some friends are getting rid of. For free.

And we've had family offer to help us with buying a new appliance, if we need to.

So do we buy new appliances because they are newer, with more bells and whistles? Or do we accept offers of used appliances that are free? We are opting for free. We think that this is part of what it means for us to live simply--not getting wooed by allure of the new and flashy. We know that these used appliances won't last forever. They might only buy us a few more years before we have to buy new ones. But that's a few more years of being able to save, rather than going into debt.

Our appliances won't be shiny. They won't come in fun colors. I don't even know if the dishwasher will match the rest of our kitchen. They won't make our friends ooh and ahh when we host our fancy dinner parties. But they will get our clothes and our dishes clean.

As I think about the crunched hood of our car, which will likely be enough damage for the insurance company to declare it a write-off, I can't help but think of my friend Sarah. Sarah is a nurse, working in Haiti. And I wonder, would it matter to her and her friends if the car they were driving was ugly? If its hood was dented and smashed, but it still ran well? Do we buy a new car or make due with what we've got? If we buy a new car, do we buy the one we've been dreaming of or do we buy something smaller, something still reliable, but less expensive?

We are part of a generation of entitlement. We believe that we can have, even more, that we deserve, the newest and the best. But what if this generation of entitlement has it wrong? What if it's not about having the best? What if it's not about having at all?

Living Simply?

When Jon and I got married, one of the things we said we valued was living simply. To us, living simply meant not getting caught up in materialism, not believing that we needed the newest, shiniest things, not trying to keep up with the Joneses. It meant trying to avoid debt, especially credit card debt.

We wanted our lives to be filled with the richness of friendships and experiences. Of good conversation and lots of laughter. We hoped our home would always be a place of hospitality, even if we didn't have fancy furnishings.

It was easy to live simply in our first year of marriage. In some ways, we didn't have much of a choice--we were broke grad students. Our first apartment was a tiny basement suite in Vancouver. It was basically a rectangle: you walked through the little living room to the galley kitchen to the bathroom to the bedroom. (That's right, you walked through the bathroom to get to the bedroom). We had such little storage that we built an extra tall bed frame so that we could put a few boxes underneath. We didn't have a dresser or a closet in our bedroom, but we did have a few shelves with baskets on them. And we had a tiny little deep freeze in our bedroom because that's the only place it would fit.

Our little home was a few minutes walk to the beach and two blocks from all kinds of little local stores and restaurants. We started playing tennis that year because we lived across the street from some tennis courts, and it was a free date.

We turned a falling apart Ikea dresser into a shoe rack and a very small coffee table.

It was a great little place. And we tried to fill it with friends as often as we could.

If we were to try to move back into that place at this point in our lives, we would have to sell most of our stuff. And figure out where Laurel would sleep.

We've noticed that the more stuff we acquire, the more difficult it is to live simply. The easier it is to believe that we need more and better stuff.

To Be Continued...

For Grampa

More Halloween

We have had quite the week. I'll share more in the next few days. For now, though, here are some pictures from Halloween.

"Don't tell Mom that I let you help with this part..."

Getting all the goo out...

Hey...I'm a chicken!

Jackpot!

Dancing Queen

This video is a bit long, but here is a glimpse of what happens in our house when we turn on music...

Trick or Treat!

Today we will carve a pumpkin, hand out candy, and hang out with our favorite little pumpkin...I mean chicken.

Fall Fun

Here's Laurel enjoying a nice fall day...

We had some family and friends over for Thanksgiving dinner...

Laurel got to pick out her pumpkin...

and she has a cute pumpkin hat that her Great Grammie made for her...

Walking and Laughing

Birthdays and Weddings and Reunions and...Home

We have been traveling a lot lately. As I type this, Jon is heading home from a two day work trip. Tomorrow we will pack for a weekend getaway, and I feel like we finally just got unpacked from our trip to Colorado. The travels have all been filled with life and friends and family. We have loved being in beautiful places, celebrating beautiful people. But we are tired. Tired of getting back in the car. Tired of asking Laurel to adjust to a new routine. Tired of not having space to breathe.

We were planning on traveling for Thanksgiving weekend (which is just over a week away here in Canada), but decided the other night to just stay put. We need to be home for a while....which is funny because, in many ways, our travels have taken us home. They've taken us to the farm, Jon's childhood home. And they've taken us to Colorado, a place that is very much a home for me. But even with our house being in a constant state of renovation chaos, it is still good to be in this home, in our bed, in our own space.

Here are a few highlights of our recent adventures....

Our trip to the farm was to celebrate Jon's Grandma's 90th Birthday!

Jon and Laurel holding hands...

Decorations for the big party...

The girl cousins...

Our trip to Colorado was for Emily Clader's wedding! What a great wedding...complete with bright yellow aspens, a rolling river, old friends, dogs, and even kazoos! Dan Clader married Jon and I six years ago! Emily wore her grandmother's dress...

My friends Annie and (the) Becca sang in the wedding...

Hannah Clader was the beautiful maid of honor...

The wedding was at the family's cabin. The weekend allowed us time to hike, visit, and relax...

Catching up with my friend Annie...

Back at home, Laurel enjoys a fall day in our front yard...

Caught With Her Pants Down!

Jon wasn't home for supper tonight, so Laurel and I dined on Chicken Vera Cruz. She gobbled it up, and when we finished eating, it was only 5:30. So I gave her a bath, got her in her jammies, and we read lots of stories. She seemed like she was heading to dreamland, so I put her in her crib and went downstairs to clean the kitchen. I had the kitchen cleaned by 6:15 and was feeling pretty proud of myself that I did all of that by myself.

But then Laurel started making lots of noise. I thought I would go check on her to make sure she had her soother.

There she is, standing in her crib with neither pajama bottoms nor diaper on! I couldn't help but laugh.

Why My Bread Refuses to Rise

This afternoon I had onions, garlic, cremini mushrooms, and meat simmering in red wine and beef broth for what will become stew.

I was just starting to kneed an Italian bread dough.

Laurel was banging on pots and pans with a wooden spoon and expressing her displeasure in the fact that we were inside.

And then an alarm went off. Thinking it was the smoke alarm, I began to wave my dish towel in front of it, but it didn't seem to help. I stood on a chair and took the cover off to discover there is no battery inside. The alarm continued to beep, causing me to panic.

I frantically tried to figure out where it was coming from. I even called Jon at work, and when he answered I practically yelled, "Where are our other smoke alarms?"

He calmly reminded me that we have a carbon monoxide detector in the living room. Sure enough, the beeps were coming from it.

We evacuated and called 911.

Two fire trucks later, they determined that all is well.

But now my bread dough doesn't look as if it is going to rise.

It Made Me Smile

The other night we held hands as we prayed before supper. Laurel must have thought holding hands was a pretty good idea because she wanted to hold both of our hands all through supper. She'd let go long enough to put some food in her mouth and then she'd reach for our hands again. It made me smile.

These pictures make me smile, too.

On Going Back to Work

I have loved being home with Laurel this year. I have loved the rhythm and the restfulness. I have loved the play and the laughter and the changes that seemed to come way too quickly.

Tomorrow the rhythm will change as I head back to work. I'll be working a day and a half a week, which I think will be just about perfect for me. It will allow me to continue to do college ministry, which I love, as well as spend gobs of time at home with Laurel, which I also love.

I don't know what this year will hold. One friend told me that he didn't think I could do campus ministry for a day and a half a week--ministry is way too relational to only be around a couple days. Perhaps after this year I'll end up agreeing. Other people ask me, as if it would be an insurmountable task, what I will do with Laurel when I'm at work. Maybe after this year I'll conclude that it's too complicated to coordinate all of that.

Or maybe it really will be just right.

On Sunday someone I had just met told me it's good that I am only working part-time because I need to take care of my family "properly." It was followed by the comment, "God gave you a family, you need to take care of them properly." Apparently "proper" care of ones family, if that "one" is a woman, means staying home. I responded with something like, "Well, it's a partnership, and my husband and I both need to care for our family."

It reminded me of comments I heard this past winter, in the middle of my angst over what to do about work. These comments weren't directed at me, but the basic idea is this: "Anyone can be a ________ (teacher, accountant, nurse, lawyer), but you're the only person who can be your child's mom." The conclusion we are meant to draw, of course, is that to be our children's moms, we need to stay home.

Why doesn't anyone say that to the dads? "Anyone can be a ___________, but you're the only one who can be your child's dad."

I don't think that being Laurel's mom means that all of my other callings in life are erased. I want Laurel to grow up watching me, as her mom, live out my gifts and my callings. I hope that as I seek to be obedient to where I think God is calling me, that she will learn to listen for God's voice in her life, too.

I Found It!

I found my camera charger. So, here are some pictures that have been sitting on my camera, waiting to be shared!

Laurel on her birthday, showing her solo standing skills:

In the new house, Laurel loves to help mom and dad with the renovations:

One of the many beautiful scenes we saw in Glacier:

Laurel and Daddy on a hike. Despite her expression, she really loves riding in the backpack:

Some flowers from our backyard:

5 Reasons Why I Haven't Blogged

The little voice in my head keeps saying, "You really need to update your blog."

"I know, I know," I reply.

(Come on, tell me you don't have conversations with yourself.)

But there have been plenty of reasons why I haven't blogged....

1. I was in Montana for a week and didn't have internet access. Jon, Laurel, and I met our friends the Arntzens and Heather at a little cabin just outside of Glacier for a week of relaxing, catching up, and good conversation. Heather, Courtney, and I are all women in ministry, so it was a great time for us to talk about ministry, pray together, and encourage each other. This was the first of what we hope will become an annual event. It was the first meeting of our covenant group. I've told people in the past that the whole reason I wanted to go to seminary was to find a covenant group. It might not have been the WHOLE reason, but I was pretty envious of my pastor friends who got to go away for a week each year to spend time with their covenant groups. I would post some pictures of our trip here, but my camera battery died in the middle of the trip, and I cannot find my charger.

2. When we came home, I had three days to prepare for a wedding in Calgary. It was my second wedding of the summer/ever. And what a fun wedding it was. If I had had a camera (see above) I would have some pictures. The reception was here and was very fun! I think the ceremony went well. It is really a cool experience to walk with a couple as they prepare for marriage and then to be the one to usher them across this threshold.

3. As soon as we returned from Calgary, we met up with Jon's sister Pam and her family, who were in Edmonton for the weekend. We went to the legislature grounds to splash in the fountains. (I think Pam took some pictures, so we might have some to post soon. For now, imagine Laurel in a swim diaper and a sun hat having a great time.) That night we left our niece in charge of the kids and headed to The Melting Pot, which has some seriously good eats.

4. The next day Owen headed back to Lethbridge while Pam, the kids, and Laurel and I drove to Saskatchewan to the farm. We met Jon's other sister Jenn and her kids there for cousins camp. Cousins camp was a week of playing outside, riding dirt bikes, pulling weeds in the garden, picking raspberries, swimming, eating good food, playing kick the can in the dark, campfires, and sitting on the deck drinking coffee. Jon's dad drove to Edmonton to work on our house, so it was just the girls and the kids. This is another event that we hope will become an annual tradition. (It's also another time I had neither internet access nor a camera).

5. Jon and Armand came to the farm on Friday night and joined us for a round of kick the can on Saturday night. On Sunday Jon's parents drove us back to Edmonton and then stayed with us until today to help us work on our house. This past week we have worked like crazy. We now have a new kitchen counter, new kitchen floors, the house is painted, the trim is painted, the kitchen cupboards are painted (although we still have to re-install the doors), drywall has been installed, shelves have been built in a pantry. So, this week I was either too busy or too tired to post anything. And I still haven't found my camera charger.

There you have it, folks. Five reasons I haven't blogged.

Catching Up

We just spent the weekend on our church's camping trip. It was a very laid back weekend (I think almost all of us took naps on Saturday). We got to share a tent site with our friends Ian, Sally, and baby Ruth. The trip ended this morning with two baptisms in the lake. A great moment for our church community.

It poured rain before we left Edmonton on Friday, and now that we are back, it is pouring again. It's been a wet summer, which makes staying inside to do renovations not feel so miserable.

Here are two videos from the past 2 1/2 weeks. I must confess before you watch them that they are neither edited nor are they very high quality. (Read: unless you are Laurel's grandparents, wasting time at work, or REALLY interested in our new house, you might not make it to the end of each video. That's okay. The creative side of me hasn't had space to work lately. This blog and the videos on it won't be neglected by me forever).

The first video is in our old house and features Laurel playing with her little car that she got for her birthday. The second one is part two of our 100 part series on the renovation process. I can't remember when this one was taken, but our house is already looking different. Maybe I'll try to video an update tonight. Or maybe not. We'll see.

Some days we laugh...

and some days we cry. Here are a few pictures of Laurel expressing her sad/angry emotions over the past year. Due to lack of internet at home over the past two weeks, I've got some catching up to do. More pictures and videos coming soon!

Birthday Girl

In case you weren't able to join us for Laurel's party today, here are a few videos. (And, here are my confessions: we have been so busy moving that I had her present unwrapped in the backseat of the car yesterday...all of the sudden I heard music playing and realized she had discovered it and was pressing the buttons. AND...I bought her a card...but Jon and I haven't signed it yet. AND...her party was supposed to start at 11:30 and we showed up at 11:50. Okay, that's all of the confessions you get.)

Yay!

Today is a new day! In this video Laurel pretty much sums up how Jon and I are feeling. (And a few minutes after filming this video, Laurel took about 6-7 unassisted steps!)