Christmas Card and Letter 2019

November 29, 2019

Dear Friends and Family:

It’s 7:24 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving, and we all know what that means—I’m full of turkey and snark. The kids are all up, and still I tease myself by trying to get something done. Who am I kidding? Even as I type this, June is tapping my shoulder to show me that the Lysol bottle IS recyclable but the label is not and tells me of her plans of removing said label as soon as the last drop of house cleaner is gone. Such urgent updates are regularly provided at the Jolley house, and yet there is no urgency to get shoes and socks on in the morning. This remains a mystery to me.

Despite the kids’ continued efforts to thwart my goals of being prompt in the morning, we’ve had a great year. There have been many highlights (Baby Beck was born! And he sleeps! He can stay!) and lots of the mundane (feeding, working, bill-paying), but we feel blessed to do the mundane. Our big news is that Dan has accepted a job offer with The Hershey Company, and we are moving to Pennsylvania in January! We will greatly miss our friends, ward, and school in New Jersey, but we anticipate a great experience in our new location as well. And now, some more non-Lysol updates of my own:

Beck Douglas Jolley was born June 13^th at a whopping 9 pounds, 2 ounces. Though Harris’s delivery was famous for being so fast I couldn’t have my beloved epidural, Beck’s was a bit more traumatic because they couldn’t get him out fast enough. His heart rate dropped, and the doc had to vacuum him out. He was fine despite having a weird vacuum-bubble atop his head for a couple of months. He’s the wiggliest baby that ever wiggled and is about one minor brain connection away from crawling, at which point I’m nervous we’ll never see him again.

Harris is two and loves hide and seek (he always hides under the bed), throwing and catching a ball (I’m a perfect match for his 2-year old hand eye coordination) and sleeping in Gwen’s bed whenever she gives him a chance. He wears the cutest little glasses, which beg the nickname Harris Potter. He learned all of his colors from a tv show, and it’s the best preschool I never paid for. His gravity-defying bouncy walk makes me want to be 2 again.

Gwen. Loves. Kindergarten. And frankly, kindergarten loves her. Every day after school, usually while wearing a ghost headband or turkey hat or whatever else they made that day, we get a full report on which table earned “table points” for good behavior (curiously always a table other than her own). She loves NOT being home and is my buddy for going on walks and running errands. She’s fiercely independent and is my resident pancake flipper, outfit picker outer (lots of tutus) and checklist doer.

June seems to be the mascot of her elementary school. I’ve grown accustomed to my title of “June’s Mom”. Every time I run up there, I have teachers of grades she’s never attended come up and talk to me. The school police officer knows her very well, and it all seems to be due to non-felony related reasons. They just like each other. She is equal parts affectionate and stubborn. Only with June can you have a foot-stamping argument followed by time-out, during which time-out she needs a “hug break”.

Dan and I are being consolidated into one paragraph this year. I guess that’s what having four kids does to a family. We are happier and tired-er than ever. We have been extremely blessed with four kids who drive us bonkers. We are grateful for the Come Follow Me curriculum the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has provided us this past year. Our family scripture study has improved by leaps and bounds. We are especially grateful for the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are also grateful for friends and family like you.

Love, 

The Jolleys