Dearest Friends and Family,
If there were ever a year to write a Christmas letter to you all, this would be it… which is also why it didn’t happen (at least not in time to be mailed with our cards).
(And while we’re at it, can we talk about the Christmas miracle that is me getting ANY cards in the mail by today?)
It’s so odd, during this time of social media, that a letter might need to be written. And yet, here I am. So forgive me if you’ve heard this craziness already. I just want to relive the mostly-mass chaos that was 2016.
I suppose that our biggest news of 2016 was that John decided to coach basketball! This has been an amazing addition to our family schedule. The girls and I were really lacking quality “girl” time together, so it’s been a great blessing to have them all to myself every day… especially since we got our Karaoke machine. There is never a dull moment in our home!
Because of John’s coaching, we realized how much better zone defense is, as opposed to man-to-man coverage. This relevation lead to another development – Baby Lay #3. Surely if the middle school players can do so well with zone defense, John and I will love it as much in our own home. The girls are actually quite excited about the new addition, whom we expect to arrive in early June. Once again, Ellie has reminded us that we are only allowed to bring home a girl. John is praying every day for a son. He has even asked others who are expecting if they might be interested in a trade, should this baby’s gender not work out in his favor. We won’t be finding out boy or girl until June though, so you’ll have to wait for the surprise!
Most other exciting news items from this year are probably best bulleted. So here you have them:
- We bought a house and moved. We will never be doing that again.
- Within a week or so of moving in to said new house, we locked ourselves outside with two mostly-naked, ice cream covered children. Multiple squad cars and a fire engine came to rescue us.
- Tessa started walking, talking in sentences, and really testing our ability to child-proof anything. We are failing at this. She will start preschool in two weeks. I suspect that they will be much better at channeling her lively spirit toward good than we are.
- Last year and this year I planned a big conference for Down syndrome and now I’m on the Board of Directors for that organization. I love keeping the plate full!
- Ellie started her Dual Language kindergarten, where she spends about 80% of her day learning in Spanish. This has been incredibly useful when she and I want to have secret Mommy-Ellie conversations. However, it also means that I get reprimanded by my five-year-old in two languages.
- The girls had lice for like a month. That was awesome. It’s also pretty much why we hibernated through most of the fall. It’s all better now. Knock on wood.
- John ran another half marathon to raise money for UPS for DownS. Thank you all SO much for donating to our cause. It was a great day with crazy weather. Looking forward to another race in July!
I do believe that we have about summed up our year, save for the runny noses and random family excursions that keep us busy (and happy!) throughout the year. I hope you all are able to look back at 2016 with at least a few fond memories as we are. I know that we are all looking forward to 2017 and the roller coaster that no doubt awaits! Cheers to a wonderful holiday season!
Much love,
The Lays
Yo soy La Lay 
Thanks for sharing. Mostly knew your news, but not the squads and fire truck! Your new neighbors had to be wondering! Also didn’t know about the b-ball coaching…you and Danielle will need to swap coaching wives stories and occasionally commiserate over a glass of wine. Ooops…no wine til June😊 Merry Christmas Lay family!!! We love ya all!
See? I need to resume blogging, otherwise I would have seen your news instead of being clueless on Instagram. So much good for you, Maggie! You’re blessed! Congrats from me and Aisha! xoxox