Merry Christmas to All

Dearest Friends and Family,

Finally, 2008 has been a fairly quiet and calm year for the Redburn's! We have been so blessed this year with good health, wonderful children, and fun adventures together. Here are our favorite events from each month...

January started the new year off fairly quiet, and was filled with lots of basketball games and the purchase of our first replacement appliance as a married couple!

February is always a tough month for our family. Squished between the Super Bowl, Winter Guard, Valentine's Day, and our 4th wedding anniversary, is our middle daughter Claire's birthday. She would've been 2 this year.

March was a fun month with the end of basketball season (you can tell who is writing this letter can't you?) and Lincoln's 26th birthday. We also enjoyed celebrating the resurrection of Christ and Graysen's first Easter together.

In April Lincoln and I attended our first marriage seminar. It was a WONDERFUL experience. We learned a lot and continue to apply new concepts that we learned in those four days.

May was a very busy month for the Redburn family and started with a trip to the spa for me and the other women in my bible study group. Our husbands decided to pre-arrange everything for a special day of shopping, spa treatments, and dinner out for us in St. Louis. I also attended my second annual March of Dimes Walk this year. I was blessed to have both of my children with me (I was pregnant with Graysen last year when Hunter and I walked) and my Mom! The 11th of May was a busy day for us, as it was Graysen's baby dedication at church, Mother's Day, and Kara's birthday! There were lots of family members present at Gray's dedication and it was wonderful to be able to share that special day with all of them. I also had The Dance Studio Annual Recital the middle of May. Lincoln was a very supportive husband and got up on stage and danced with me! It was a first for him and he was WONDERFUL!

In June Lincoln and I started a new job - babysitting! We started keeping our cousin's little girl Libby this month. She fit right into our daily routine and we loved having her! Lincoln was able to go on an overnight float trip with the men in our bible study, and Ashley kept busy teaching week long camps at The Dance Studio.

In July we attended Lincoln's annual family reunion in Branson. We also had 4 friends add 5 new babies to their families! It was a GREAT month to celebrate the miracle of birth!

August was bittersweet with Hunter starting the month with his 4th birthday. We celebrated with his very first "kids only" Power Rangers birthday party! I turned 25 this month as well. We added two more kids to our daily babysitting and our lives became slightly more hectic with 5 children rather than just two.

September brought Hunter's first tumbling classes at The Dance Studio where I work. He loves them and looks forward to every Monday! Hunter also played on a 5 week Pre-K soccer town league. He loved being on his very first team and made sure everyone knew that he was playing on a REAL sports team!

In October Lincoln went on his annual Disc Golf Trip. It was the largest group ever as they traveled to Il for 3 days of disc gold madness! Halloween was fun this year with two kids. Hunter was a Rock Star, complete with torn jeans, a black leather jacket, a red electric guitar and red spiked hair! Graysen was a butterfly fairy in a precious pink, purple, and mint tutu' and butterfly wings. There were lots of trips to farms, pumpkin patches, and Halloween Parties.

November flew by with basketball season starting again, Thanksgiving, and Graysen's First Birthday! We had a pink, purple, and yellow cupcake party with a pin the candle on the cupcake game, cupcake pops for everyone, and a huge cupcake just for Gray!

December came all too soon and I started the month with a trip to Chicago with 3 of my good friends. It was the first time I have taken a trip without Lincoln since we've been married, and the very first time I've spent more than one night away from the kids. It was a great trip, but reminded me of how blessed I was to have such a beautiful home and family waiting for me to get back. Christmas was wonderful, this one being the first time Graysen was able to open her own gifts. I don't believe I will ever outgrow the magic of Christmas morning.

As I reflect on this past year I am filled with a peace that our life is directed by the The One Who Loves Us Unconditionally. How nice it is to know that He is bigger than any storm we may face!

Have a blessed New Year,

Lincoln, Ashley, Hunter, and Graysen Redburn