Lechner Family Adventures!: Christmas Greetings!

We just couldn't pull it together this year to get Christmas cards out on time.

The move has consumed far more time than we imagined,

especially with the extra "holiday" activities mixed in.

We even typed up a little "update" letter (see below), but never got it printed, folded, stuffed in a pretty envelope and mailed to your house in a timely fashion.

So please imagine that you are walking to your mailbox right now,

open it up and find this Christmas card,

sent with love from our family to yours!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Dear Family & Friends-

Christmas and New Year's greetings from the Lechner family!

The year 2010 has been a wonderfully full year for us! The biggest blessing this year was adding our 3rd precious baby girl, Ava Jean. She was born 10 days late on June 21st and we've absolutely adored having another little girl in the family. Ava has been a beautiful, happy and alert baby...and a perfect addition to our family.

Ava's birth marked the beginning of a roller coaster ride these past six months. When she was just 4 weeks old we sold and closed on our little house (quite abruptly) and moved into a lovely rental home just down the road. We happily lived there during four months of house hunting, until December 4th, when we moved into our new home! Selling our little house and hunting for a new one was a bumpy 16 month saga...and we are so grateful to be getting settled now! The Lord provided in mighty ways, and we ended up in the neighborhood we were hoping for, in a house we love and have room to grow in, with a beautiful fenced backyard. We've been wonderfully blessed. Although we've lived here for two weeks now, there is still much unpacking, painting and settling in to be done. The "settling in" process is a slow one with three kids four and under!

Speaking of the kids, our two big girls are growing up way too fast! Alathea is now 4 years old, and Abigail is 2 years old. They are THE best of friends. They share a room, and since we've been in the new house, Abigail is now in a "big girl bed", which she is quite proud of. While they each have their own bed, they are often found sound asleep, snuggled together in the same bed. Their little friendship is incredibly precious.

Alathea has matured into quite a wonderful, caring big sister. God perfectly crafted her to be the oldest. She's my huge helper and delights to serve her little sisters. She can make Ava smile like no one else. Alathea loves to learn and is starting to learn how to read (prompted on her own). She is our bright and artistic girl. She also loves to color and often spends hours a day doing that, as well as playing dress-up and dancing to loud music with Abigail. Its quite a sight to see!

Abigail is our little fire cracker and fits the mold of the classic two-year-old. She can be little-miss-trouble, but we love her all the more for the vibrant life she adds to the family. She's our funny girl who keeps us laughing, our snuggle bug and our major sweet tooth. She told me today that the three things she loves are "cupcakes, brownies and carousels". She's my momma's girl who still wants to be my baby. But also my girl who completely potty-trained herself this summer on her own initiative. We love all the laughter and life our Abi brings to our family.

Joe & I celebrated 8 wonderful years of marriage this summer! With the purchase of a mini-van in May (the Swagger Wagon), the addition of our 3rd child in June and the purchase of a family-sized home this month...for the first time ever we are starting to feel like grown-ups! Hard for us to believe. Joe still works at CrossWay community church and we consider ourselves amazingly blessed to not only attend such a wonderful church, but to also serve full-time on staff there. Joe still serves with the college ministry and preaching, and his role will be expanding this year to other area's of the church as well.

The Lord has blessed us with a house with plenty of space for visitors. We miss all of our out-of-town family and friends very much...so visit soon!

In His Grace-

Joe & Jeanie

Alathea, Abigail & Ava