Happy Holidays!

Click any image to see the full-size picture.

Welcome to the expanded version of our holiday letter, with more and larger photos. Be sure to check the links in the text, and look for this symbol to guide you to the extra photos!   You can see even more pictures on our Picture of the Month pages.

If you can remember back to this time last year, you might recall that you didn’t receive a holiday letter from us. I’m sure you know our excuse— his name is Mason, and he keeps us very busy. In case you somehow missed his birth story (or just want to reminisce), you can find it here.

This year was another busy one, filled with fun, family, and friends. We were fortunate to have been able to both visit and be visited by many of those who are dear to us.

We decided to take our vacations early this year, so in February we visited Brian’s mother and his brother Bill (and his family) who now live in Florida. It turned out to be kind of a Beinlich family reunion, and we saw several of Brian’s relatives he hadn’t seen in many years. It also turned out to be the last time we saw Brian’s uncle Herb Cooper, who passed away during the summer. Brian says he was probably the most polite gentleman he’s ever met… a quality sorely missed in these times.

Mason celebrated his first birthday on February 25^th, along with many friends and his cousins Sean, Kaitlin, and Christopher (and their parents, of course). A few weeks later he started swimming lessons with another friend, Abby. Sharon met Abby’s mother Cathy through the La Leche League. They also met Turner and his mother Jenny at swim class. They’ve formed a playgroup and get together regularly. One of Mason’s first words was "ABBY".