Sunday, January 1, 2012

A New Years Letter!


Dear Friends and Family,
Well it seems we didn’t get Christmas cards out this year.  For one reason (or maybe 100 reasons) it just didn’t happen.  So lucky you gets our e-version of a New Years letter!  
The past year has brought it’s share of surprises and excitement...and yet at the same time its share of sadness.  
In March we celebrated Laurie’s one year anniversary from her aneurysm.  As we looked back over the prior year we were amazed at how far God had brought us.  We followed that up by celebrating 2 birthdays (Laurie’s and Eliza’s 3rd birthday) and then a trip to Haiti!  It was then that we got to meet and spend time with Djemson and Sophia.  We loved our time there and we miss them!  We also are amazed at how quickly Emma, Sam and Eliza have loved them, and how often they ask when they will be home.  They pray for them, talk about them, and draw pictures of them. 
May brought about our ten year anniversary, but it was the middle of gearing up for Emma’s dance recital with practices!  We were very proud of Emma and the work she put in to her dance class this past year, and we look forward to this coming recital in June.  We were able to go away in June for a weekend for our anniversary, which was a nice time away.
June also saw the end of preschool for Sam, and the completion of 2nd grade for Emma.  Both did an excellent job in school and while they looked forward to the summer, they were sad to see the school year end.  We were able to fill the summer with trips to the library, stops at the park, lots of playing at beaches and lakes, a weekend camping trip and Sam’s 5th birthday!  We had a great summer of the kids being home.  
The end of August brought Laurie’s first seizure.  We are thankful that she was in a public place with the kids and not driving (as was the original plan to just ‘head home’).  After a whirlwind week of doctors appoints she started Keppra and has been seizure free since.  In November she was able to resume her normal activities including driving the kids to preschool, running errands and more. 
School started late for Emma thanks to Hurricane Irene, and she was very disappointed, but 3rd grade is going well.  Sam and Eliza are both in preschool this year ~ Sam goes 3 days a week and Eliza goes 2 days.  They like being at the same school and love their friends and their teachers.  We are blessed to have them!  September also brought Djemson’s birthday and Don’s birthday.  The fall also brought the beginning of soccer season where all 3 kids played.  It was a great fun season.  We also saw the completion of collecting every piece of paper for our Dossier.  We were excited to see that we have all those papers!  
With the completion of the Dossier, comes the need for finances.  It has been weighing heavy on our hearts as yesterday was Sophia’s 9th birthday.  We miss our kids, and we long to have them join us.  In honor of Sophia’s birthday (and Djemson’s birthday in September) we are asking people to consider donating to our adoption fund so that we can send in our Dossier and the process really begin in bringing them home.  Our ‘timer’  does not start until our final payment is made and our Dossier is delivered.  Donations can be made at Sanford Institution for Savings, 254 Long Plains Rd, Buxton, ME 04093. Please make gifts payable to ‘Haiti Children’ fund. You can also use Paypal over there ---->
 We look forward to what God has for us in 2012.  If we had sent a ‘real’ Christmas card there would have been two photos included.  So we leave those with you



Much Love, 
The Coldwell's
Don, Laurie, Emma, Sam, Eliza, Djemson and Sophia

No comments: