O'Dell Christmas Card 2009

Sending out Christmas cards every year is something I LOVE to do! I look forward to it and think about throughout the year. Every year is very different in our family, and every year there are so many things to share. Once Carter was born, our lives were changed forever, and we seemed to have much more to share. This proved to be more true after the immediate births of Summer and Tilly. As a result, in addition to our Christmas card, we began our tradition of writing a Christmas letter as well. For most of our married life, David and I have not resided close to our families, so this has been a neat way to keep them updated on our ever changing lives, before I entered the blog world, of course! Now our families and everyone else knows more than they want to about our party of five! So, onto the Christmas card. I was unable to copy my actual card from the site where I ordered them. I am sure it's because I am not the most technologically savvy. However, I did upload the pictures I used, so you will get the gist. Because our children are so small, they change often. I wanted their pictures to be as updated as possible, so two weeks ago we took our pictures at church with the beautiful Christmas decorations. All four pictures are on our card this year. Below the pictures is our Christmas letter. They have all gone out in the mail, but for some of you this will be a sneak peak because perhaps, yours has not arrived. For others, we don't know each other except via the blog world, so you will just get to know our family a little bit better! Merry Christmas!

Summer, Carter, & Tilly

Carter (age 3)

Summer (age 2)

Tilly (age 1)

Dear Family and Friends, December 2009

Is it really time for another Christmas letter, meaning another year has passed? What a year this has been for our family! There are so many wonderful blessings and stories to share, but for the sake of a single page, I will try to keep it brief!

In just a few short weeks, David and I will celebrate our 8^th wedding anniversary; what a ride it has been too! Eight years ago this Christmas, I was a nervous bride, so excited to be starting my life with the one God handpicked for me. What a lucky girl I am to be married to this special fella! He never ceases to amaze me with his love and selflessness towards our family. Throughout this year, David has completed all but one class for his Doctorate of Ministry coursework at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. In the coming year, he will be writing his project in ministry design and should be all set to graduate May 2011. David is in his third year of pasturing our church, First Baptist Austell. What an exciting year it has been for our church family as well! We would love to have you visit our newly renovated sanctuary; it is breathtaking!

The children have probably changed most of all in this last year. We celebrated Carter’s third birthday in May, Summer’s second birthday in July, and Tilly’s first birthday in August. Boy are they growing up fast! Carter now stands at 42 inches and weighs 37 pounds; Summer is 38 inches weighing 35 pounds, and Tilly is 31 inches weighing 22 pounds. Carter and Summer are attending school together this year at The Heiskell School, where I have been teaching for the last five years. Don’t you wish you could be a fly on the walls of our car to and from school; it’s a riot! So many milestones have been reached during the last year for our three children: walking, running, potty training, memorizing Bible verses, singing songs, reciting pledges, and many more. Our children play together so well and truly love each other. What a blessing the three of them are to David and me. Is there any greater joy than being a parent?

Our greatest surprise of the year came during Labor Day Weekend when David and I discovered that once again we were going to be parents! What an honor! We are thrilled to welcome a fourth O’Dell baby into our family this May. As of yet, we do not know the gender of this baby or its name, but we are ever aware of its presence! What an awesome time of year to be anticipating the birth of a child! Our hearts are indeed full; our quiver will be too!

Thanksgiving was extra special this year. We celebrated David’s birthday by driving to Portal, so we could spend the holiday with Mama and so he could hunt! Thanksgiving Day, David downed his biggest kill to date, with Carter standing at his feet! I don’t know who was more excited, David or Carter. The horns are now proudly displayed in our home, much to my chagrin. The weekend after Thanksgiving our party of five loaded up and successfully found a beautiful Christmas tree for our home. What a perfect end to a wonderful week together!

Now, for the season we have been anxiously awaiting, it’s Christmas! That means so many things around the O’Dell house: the Christmas program at school, the Christmas cantata at church, singing Christmas songs, decorating, driving to see the lights, Mother/Daughter tea, riding the pink pig, just being together as a family, and talking of the baby Jesus. Recently at church, I was struck by a great epiphany; so many people were just not ready for Him. For hundreds, even thousands of years prophets had been speaking of His coming, yet, most were not prepared. I mean there was not even a room to be found for His birth! Once He arrived, many, experienced Him and saw Him perform miracle after miracle firsthand, and yet, still did not believe. Today, we have churches, pastors, Bibles, fingerprints of Him on our own lives, and yet, so many are not ready for Him. My prayer for my family this Christmas, is that we will not be caught up in the traditions of this season, but that we might ponder His birth and the One who sent Him so we might live. Will you join us, for He came for you too? We pray your family will experience Jesus this Christmas like never before!

With love,

David, Heather, Carter, Summer, & Tilly