A Virtual Christmas Letter

Dear Family & Friends,
As 2009 is rapidly approaching, Chris and I are left wondering what we’ve done that is Christmas letter worthy. Other than our incredible trip to Oregon this summer, it’s been a pretty ordinary year in our house. To make it seem more interesting, we’ve decided to throw some statistics into our update. So, here’s the Jackson Year-in-Review, by the numbers:

• 2 Nieces and 1 Nephew were born this year – Claire, Laila and Harrison!
• 2.5 – the number of bathrooms we will now have in our house, thanks to my dad.
• Our car currently has over 260,000 miles on it. I think it's safe to say that Toyota makes reliable vehicles.
• Chris has been involved in 431 meetings this year.
• I've added 55 posts to our blog.
• Number of weekends spent out of town: 7
• 13 - Number of managers I "arrested" on our floor to help raise over $2,000 for the United Way.
• We logged 5,496 miles traveling to visit family.
• I threw 4 baby showers.
• 20 – The number of hours Chris spent in class to get his Motorcycle license even though there’s a 0% chance that I’m ever going to feel comfortable with him actually owning a bike.
• We helped in the church nursery on 13 Sundays, so we’ve changed at least 100 diapers this year.
• I've now been an Illinois resident for 5 years!
• We organized 2 date nights at ECC that over 60 married couples attended.
• Number of pictures taken of our 5 nieces and nephews – 1 Million (ok, so that’s a slight exaggeration)
• Number of New Year's Resolutions we've kept: ZERO

How's that for a summary of the last 12 months? Ok, I'll quit with the numbers now. I hope that 2008 has been a wonderful year for you and that 2009 is even better. Merry Christmas!

Love, Amanda & Chris

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34

Our tree

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care. :) Guess who the middle ones are for? I'll give you a hint...they're going to be full of coal! ha ha

And, it just wouldn't be Christmas without mistletoe!