2012 Lovell Family Christmas Letter

 

Dearest Loved Ones,                                                               Christmas 2012

I missed sending out Christmas cards last year, so I wanted to give you a quick family update of the last two years. 

In August 2011, we moved across the country!  (Yes, again.)  Lest ye fear we are making a habit of this, we believe we are finally in a place where we can allow our roots to grow.  We moved from Eugene, Oregon to Myerstown, Pennsylvania, so that Jeff could begin his new job at Lebanon Valley College as a full-time bona fide real life we-finally-made-it!- Music Theory Professor. We can’t begin to express how grateful we are that he was selected for this position. He loves his job!  He has about 120ish students, and loves making a difference in their music lives.  He also loves the other faculty members.  We would be happy to stay here for a very long time.

We did leave Oregon before Jeff’s doctoral studies there were complete, but as of October 2012, we’ve got that in the bag, too.  Hallelujah!!!  We plan to travel back West in June so that we can participate in his graduation ceremony, and will hopefully get to see all of our family members along the way.

All of us have been so happy living in PA.  We love the new country scenery and the Pennsylvania Dutch culture.  We love the people here, and the kids are thriving in their new school environment.  The church is strong, even though our ward boundaries are huge.  All in all, we feel like we fit here very comfortably.

Tate, now 5, started kindergarten this year.  His school is right in our back yard.  He is our most physically active child, so you will often find him showing off his new ninja moves, or showing you how fast he runs or how hard he can punch.  Stay on your guard, and you’ll be fine—but be warned, he has been known to tackle people almost to the ground with his hugs when they’re not looking (which he gives to everyone in his path, especially at school and at church).

Audrey, 9, is in 3rd grade.  She comes home from school happy every day.  She sings around the house, and loves to spend her free time playing with friends, working on art projects, and writing stories.  She practices the piano well and appreciates still having her mom as her teacher.  She is a great big and little sister—she helps Tate with his reading, and loves to play games and work on projects with Dana and Clark. We love her frequent smiles and sincere kindness.

Dana, 11, is developing new talents all of the time.  She has discovered her love for writing this year, and met her goal of writing a whole book during the month of November!  Along with her brother Clark, she is participating in the school choir and both of the school bands.  She is doing well on the saxophone, but prefers and is excelling on the piano.  She hopes to start voice lessons soon, and loves to sing with Mom in the ward and stake choirs (she sang her first Messiah selections this Christmas!).  She also got a solo singing as “Kaa” in her school musical of The Jungle Book, which was fabulous! She has a great group of friends at school and is enjoying life.

Clark, just turned 13 this month (!!), is a very busy guy.  He has been taking care of a once-a-week paper route for a year now, and loves having a little spending money.  He started with the 7^th grade football team at the beginning of this year, but an ankle injury during the first week put an end to that career path for now.  He’s currently on a basketball team, and recently said “football is my favorite sport to watch, basketball is my favorite sport to play.”  Clark also LOVES playing the trumpet and is showing a lot of promise thanks to all of his hard work.  This fall he was inducted into the Music Honor’s Society. 

I, Jenna, have also enjoyed discovering new pleasures this past year.  I had never envisioned becoming a real author, but I am currently writing my first book, a personal memoir. I love everything about the process.  I’ll let you know when it’s finished!  Still stamping, still singing—my SU! business is picking up finally here in PA, and this Christmas brought me my favorite solo Messiah performance opportunities thus far.  I’m enjoying my extra quiet time now that all of the kids are in school (what mom doesn’t love quiet time?), but am planning to fill a little more of it with some work-from-home hours in the coming year (one job application is in the works), including adding some more private music students.  My life is full, and perfect.

Merry Christmas to everyone!  Please know how much we love and cherish you.  We sure hope you’lll keep in touch!

                                                Love,

                                                            The Lovells

Facebook: “Jenna Lovell: Happily Ever Writing” and “Lovelly Stampers”

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