Merry Christmas 2009!
Dear Family and Friends,
We are so thankful that we get to share with all of you once again some of the highlights from 2009. Every year seems to go by faster than the last, but the main reason we celebrate with you this season remains the same - the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We want to reflect on all that God has done in our lives this past year.
Early in the beginning of the year, Scott was let go from his job at Huttig Building Materials, where he had worked in inside sales for the past 3 1/2 years. We felt the slow economy first hand in our own household with this job loss. By the grace of God and much answered prayer, after only six weeks of not having a full time job, Scott was hired at BMC West in Charlotte, NC working in the purchasing department. Although he now has an hour long commute each way, this job has been a true blessing for our family in more ways than one. We know that all things work together for good for those that love Christ Jesus, and we felt the Lord leading us every step of the way during the long 6 weeks of being without full time work. Thank you to all of our friends and family who prayed us through that difficult time! We cannot thank you enough for your support and love.
Jill continues to work in the accounting department at Wolverine Coatings Corporation, where she has been for the past 3 1/2 years, and still loves her job! She enjoys working for an epoxy floor coatings company, where people are not just a number, but treated as an important part of the operation and purpose of the company. With a Christ-centered focus, and flexible hours to allow her to be involved in the boys' lives as much as can be while working part time, it truly is a blessing that we do not take for granted! When not working, she stays busy with teaching 3 year old preschool once every other week to Caleb and another 3-year old friend, picking Ethan up from kindergarten 3 times a week, helping with kindergarten homework, and helping out with 3-year old preschool choir on Wednesday nights at our church. She also managed to fit in running 3 different 5K races throughout the year.
Ethan is our new kindergartner! He turned 5 years old at the beginning of February, and just doesn't seem to want to stop growing up! He started kindergarten at our local public school in August, and has been keeping his Mommy and Daddy on their toes ever since. We are blessed to have an excellent teacher and teacher's assistant for him during this first year at a new school. The new schedule of getting to school early (by 7:30 am!) and being at school all day until getting picked up between 2 and 2:30, has proved to be a lot of getting used to for all of us! We've discovered that Ethan is NOT a morning person, and continue to go through trial and error of what works best for him to get him going in the morning times. We have stuck to a strict early bedtime schedule, which has meant him not getting to stay at church as late on Wednesday nights for the Mission Friends activities. He does still enjoy getting to sing and participate in our church's 5 year old choir every Wednesday night though, and loves singing! He also got to play Upward Soccer for a second year in the Fall. This year he really got into the game, and scored an impressive 5 goals for his team this season! He has told us that he would like to play soccer every year that he can, so he must really enjoy it! His favorite hobbies still include anything that has to do with Star Wars. He is a true fan and collector at only 5 years old!
Caleb turned 3 years old at the end of August. While he did get to attend 2 year old preschool at our church last year, we decided to keep him out during the 3 year old year. With such a late birthday (Aug. 30th), and it being only 2 days away from the cutoff date here, he is one of the youngest ones in his class. While we have been working on potty training with him, he hasn't quite mastered it yet, and that was one of the requirements for being in the 3 year old class at preschool. So, this year we decided to teach him at home, and Jill has been trading off teaching every other week with a friend whose son is also a young 3 year old. This has proven to be a special time for Jill and Caleb, and he is responding well to learning his letters, shapes, numbers, and words. Earlier in the year, Caleb was able to receive speech services free through our county, when he qualified in January. He went to hour long speech therapy sessions each week from January to August, and then tested out of the program right around his third birthday. Our speech concerns with him are definitely a thing of the past, as he is talking more than ever now! He is famous for giving people the "one eyebrow raised" look, which even helped him to be a runner up in a local grouchiest kid photo contest (see the winning photo on our Special Photos 2009 tab)! Caleb's hobbies include dinosaurs, cars, trains, and even a little Star Wars with his brother. We have enjoyed getting to see Caleb and Ethan's relationship grow into playing buddies over this year, as Caleb is old enough now to be a true play-mate to his brother. This doesn't always mean they play together perfectly, and Mommy is having to learn that boys play differently than she did with two sisters growing up (ie. wrestling, loud, bouncing off the walls, etc.), but we are thankful they have each other as a built-in playmate for one another!
Since Scott started a new job at the end of April, we didn't get to go on our planned vacation to the beach this year with Scott's parents, but hope to next summer. We did enjoy some fun weekend trips and activities through the year though. We went to Dollywood in TN with our good friends, the Wileys, as well as a few trips to Atlanta, GA to visit our friends, the Heltons. We also enjoyed getting to visit with Uncle Zach, Aunt Stacy, and cousin, Wendy several times in Fredericksburg, VA along with a visit to Uncle Mike and Aunt Megan's house in Baltimore, MD. We even fit in a couple visits to Jill's parents' second home in Williamsburg, VA too. We continue to reap the blessings of having Scott's parents in town as local grandparents to our boys, and Jill's Mom in town most of the time, with every other weekend visits from Jill's Dad. Jill's Dad continues to work in Williamsburg, VA during the week while Jill's Mom still watches our boys for us 4 days a week and travels back and forth every other weekend to see Jill's Dad. They have been doing this arrangement for a year with success, so we are so thankful that God has allowed this to work out for them during this time, and allowed us to keep our full time child-care provider. Having your children with family while you work is such an added comfort to us!
We hope that you and your families have enjoyed a year full of God's blessings as well. We know that every year is rarely without struggles and hard times, as ours experienced job loss this year, but we pray that whatever struggle you and your family may have endured, that you have the guidance of an awesome God directing your every step through those times. He is able to save you and sustain you through this life, and we hope that you know Him as your personal Savior too, especially at this time of year as we reflect on Jesus' birth.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
With Love,
The Brisken Family
Scott, Jill, Ethan, and Caleb
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