Merry Christmas: Powell Update

DSC05743, originally uploaded by kandjpowell.

Hi everyone. Greetings, if this is your first time to our blog. If you have been wondering what has been happening around the Powell’s of Utah household this year, please take a few minutes and scroll down this page, and, after that, if you are not sick of us, you can click on the links to other months and years in the life of the Powell’s on the left hand side of this page.

It is wholly understandable, however, if you do not have the endurance or the time to spend an entire day searching though the Powell “e-annals,” so a brief summary is in order. And so, here goes…

…(actually, let me pause for a moment and wonder out loud—is it just us, or does anyone else find themselves in a situation where their blog, their Christmas letter update, AND their entire life has a tendency to be dominated by their children? I thought of this because as I sit to write about our past year, the first word that comes to mind is not “Kristen,” it is not “Jim,” it is not “free-time,” nor “dates,” and not “rest” either. It is “Jack.” And very soon, probably, “new baby.”)…

…Jack has grown up to be a great little boy. He is a ton of fun, is learning to listen to his parents, talks a million miles an hour, and most importantly, has a really tender heart for others. His passions are the drums (“ba-ba drums”), the guitar (“tar-tar”), veggie tales (“tales”), and movie (“moofie”) nights with popcorn. He is close to being potty trained (about 75% success rate). He had strep throat recently, but for the most part has remained very healthy. One more thing to note about Jack is that he is quite the social little guy. He has many friends, and likes to pray for them by name before meals. So, we eat a lot of luke-warm dinners.

Kristen has had a great year, in large part due to her “accountability” group of girlfriends who have been beyond supportive throughout the highs and the lows of raising Jack, being pregnant, and continuing to adjust to a place so far from family. She thinks the world of Jack—can’t kiss him on his rosy red cheeks enough—still is madly in love with her husband, looks forward to her weekly Bible study with college women, and is very happy with the cute abode she has worked quite diligently on to create.

Jim is very much enjoying his ministry at Christ Evangelical Church. Orem, UT is certainly a unique place to be, but is a great fit. Jim’s passions are getting Jack out of his crib every morning and hearing the same request whispered into his ear each time: “pancakes.” Also, while tooling around the house doesn’t quite fit into the category of “pastime” yet, making the house look and feel better and sturdier is very rewarding and even a bit pleasing. Lastly, Jim is still crazy in love (8 ½ years later) with his wife.

New baby is on his way any day now, and we really are all thrilled about it. The shock of having two very needy children will set in quickly, we are sure, but we do feel up to the task. What a privilege to have children!

We would love for you to come and visit us soon and see the boys as well as get in a few runs down the slopes at any of our closely neighboring ski resorts. Please drop us a note to say “hi” on this blog anytime, or just come here to check out the recent developments with Jack and/or the new baby—and sometimes even Kristen and Jim.

Merry Christmas!

Here are some of our favorite posts from this year. So, if you need a refresher, these are the ones we recommend:
Little Drummer Boy
Grande Finale
Conversations with Jack
Looking for his Daddy (corn maze)
overheard
Okay, this is harder to pare down than I thought, so I'm going to recommend scrolling down the entire months of
September especially Conversations and Syllables video
June (especially Wedding Dancer)
Loogie
The rare picture of Kristen and Jim on Kristen's 30th birthday
These next two are amazing to see what a difference a year makes!
Videos from March (including a great giggle)
Sledding