December 2016
Dear Family &
Friends,
Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no
one can boast.
This
time of year, our house is full of the scents and sounds of Christmas. The kids are singing all the wonderful
Christmas hymns they know. We make our
traditional goodies to share with others.
There are recitals, programs, and parties to attend. We also work diligently to make and buy gifts
to give each other. In the midst of all
the excitement of Christmas we truly want to focus on the best gift we’ve received. We have the gift of eternal life. Despite the worlds’ best efforts to steal the
joy of this promise, we claim it as our own.
Some day the pain and sadness will be gone. The trials we face daily will be no more, and
we will be with our Savior forever. This
gift surpasses our biggest dreams. We
pray that each of you will live every day remembering this promise, shining
this truth to the world, clinging to hope, and remembering that Christ is
indeed our greatest gift of all!
We
have had a great year and are truly blessed.
This year we added to our family.
Mars Apollo, our Golden Doodle (named by Liam, of course), joined our
family in April. He is a sweet ball of
fluff. He is still very much a puppy and
gives us grief from time to time, but we love having him as part of our family.
One of the
highlights of our year was our family vacation to Florida. Grandma Kusch joined us for the whole
adventure. We started the trip at
Legoland. Liam and Lilly loved all the
rides at the park. Our room, which was
decorated in pirate Legos, was a huge hit.
Everyone especially loved the parties in the elevator. The elevators played disco music and had a
disco ball! After Legoland, we went to
Cape Canaveral and visited Kennedy Space Center. Liam was in heaven! He soaked up every minute and loved seeing
the Space Shuttle Endeavor and the Saturn V Rocket. We also had lunch with an Astronaut. We enjoyed time at the ocean before heading
to Disney World. Grandma Kusch has a
timeshare at the Beach Club Resort, and she generously shares it with the
family. Disney is such a magical place!
Lilly was awestruck when she met some of her favorite princesses. Since we went in September, every day was a
birthday celebration for Grandma, Lilly, and Hudson. Lilly enjoyed tea with Aurora at the Grand
Floridian. Liam was so excited that he
was tall enough for all the roller coasters and rode Space Mountain about a
dozen times. We all enjoyed lunch at the
castle and rode some of our favorite rides.
We made memories that we will cherish forever!
In addition to vacation,
here’s what we’ve been up to –
Lilly
– Our independent 5 year old has had a busy year. She is learning a great deal in Pre-K. We’re all impressed with all the progress
she’s made. She had several procedures
this year, including a cleft palate repair, her tonsils and adenoids removed,
tubes put in her ears, and a series of dental repairs. Through everything, Lilly is tough, yet sweet. She is still taking ballet classes and loves
all things girly.
Liam
– Liam is still our little scientist and engineer. He had fun building a robot this year. The house is filled with Lego creations. He is reading up a storm and loves learning
new things. He is still taking karate
and will start basketball in January.
Liam is kind and compassionate and takes the role of big brother very
seriously.
Tiffany
– Tiffany is teaching 2 days a week at Ascension Lutheran School as the Special
Education Teacher. She appreciates being
able to balance teaching and being Mom.
Tiffany also got to travel with her Mom as part of the Thrivent Pinnacle
trip. They went to London for a couple
days and then spent a week in Paris, visiting Versailles, Givernet (Monet’s
home and gardens), and Normandy. It was a once in a lifetime experience.
Dave
– Dave has been busy with projects around the house. A new house means new projects and he’s doing
a great job at making our house feel like home.
He still works for Thrivent and volunteers for many various
committees.
We
pray you have a wonderful Christmas season, full of joy, remembering the gift
we have in Christ. Blessings on your new
year too!
You
can keep up with our family through our blog –
www.davetiffanyliamlillyherman.blogspot.com
Love,
The Herman
Family
