Christmas 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

With another year under our belts, we just wanted to reach out to each of you and say, "Hey!"  We haven't done Christmas cards in years, but e-mail seemed do-able this year. And even with this convenience we are still getting these out late! :)  But, as the old adage goes, "Better late than never," right?

This year...

Dan:

Worked really hard and provided for our family like a champ, helped Liz deliver our fifth son Jesper in our living room, changed lots of diapers, washed lots of dishes, got lots of new workout equipment, coached Anders' soccer team (The Green Ninjas), grew a full beard, finished reading the Wheel of Time series he's been reading since 2010 (not a lot of time for leisure reading in his profession), received a new church calling (Cubmaster), and rolled over every single one of the 10,457 times that Liz commanded him to when his snoring got too loud in the middle of the night. He is awesome and we love and appreciate him so much!

Liz:

Gained a greater appreciation for the Plan of Salvation, grew and birthed a human, rearranged the living room yet again, chased Oskar all over kingdom come, got a new church calling (transcription coordinator for the hearing impaired couple in our ward), improved her cooking skills, watched a bajillion BBC television series while folding a bajillion loads of laundry, became a nursing/pumping/breastmilk-producing/tongue tie expert, developed a strong desire to learn how to quilt (and thanks to Dan this Christmas, now has everything necessary to pursue this creative outlet!), and survived soccer season!​

Soren (10):

Turned 10 this year, filmed his baby brother's birth, improved his cooking skills and made us some deeeelicious Orange rolls for breakfast Christmas morning, kissed his baby brother 207,698 times, channeled his inner Tim Howard and played an awesome season with his soccer team (The Golden Eagles) as goalie, won his soccer league championships with his team, memorized the entire Frozen soundtrack, sang with a quartet in church, got his tongue and lip ties revised, and learned how to animate using an open-source program called Blender and now has his sights set on Disney/Pixar.  Soren is so loving, kind, helpful, tender, and really just a dreamy first child all around. Liz would die without Soren (or at least never get to brush her teeth!).

​Anders (8):

Turned eight this year, was baptized by his dad, had a huge birthday party at Pump It Up with friends and family, got the first broken bone in our family (broke his wrist while on vacation in Utah), cheered his soccer team (and coach dad) on to a league championship from the sidelines with his broken arm, witnessed his baby brother's birth, lost some teeth, got his tongue tie revised, became a Cub Scout, and built 3,274 Lego creations. Anders is creative, funny, sharp as a whip, sassy, and SO detail-oriented and observant. When Soren is not around, Anders fills his shoes wonderfully as Mom's helper. When Soren IS around, he and Anders can frequently be found engaged in imaginative play together.

​Karsten (4):

Turned four in June, played in the birth tub with Mom during Jesper's birth, has a best friend that's a girl (probably good for him considering there's not much estrogen in our house), is starting to get along with his little brother Oskar, likes to help mom in the kitchen, terrorizes Oskar when they aren't getting along, has perfected an ear-piercing scream that gives his mother a heart attack every time he looses it on the world, is very territorial about his Legos, got his tongue and lip ties revised, stopped sucking his thumb, wants to wear shoes and socks everywhere (which is so unusual in a family of flip-flop wearers, rain or shine), says his mom's name at least 308 times a day. Karsten is feisty, opinionated, strong-willed, and so adorable regardless.  He does an amazing impersonation of Batman from The Lego Movie.

Oskar (2):

Turned two in June, thinks he's Spider-Man, got his tongue and lip ties revised, has had a language explosion with massively-improved verbal skills, opted to chop his curls to keep Jesper from trying to yank them out of his head anytime he came in for a kiss, made 56,314 messes, cleaned up six of those messes, terrorized his big brothers right and left, drank about 2,467 sippy cups full of milk, perfected the command, "Fill it up!" in reference to aforementioned milk sippy, stopped using binkies, became an accomplished beach bum, and scared Dad countless times in the mornings by standing silently in front of his face until he woke up with a start. Oskar is our resident rascal, getting into everything and leaving evidence of his mischievous nature all over. He is also so endearing and when I (Liz) say, "I love you, Oskar," my heart melts to hear his raspy little voice respond, "All luff you, Mommy."

Jesper (8 months):

Was born in June this year, tried to die of starvation the first month of his life (we didn't know he was tongue and lip tied and struggling mightily with breastfeeding!), got his tongue and lip ties revised, made a huge growth comeback, became a nursing champ, grew and grew and grew and is still growing like a weed, is smothered with love daily by his family, zerbers exposed skin before you can say, "Raspberries," and learned to roll over and scoot and crawl and pull himself up on furniture. Guess he'll learn to walk next year.  Jesper is so sweet and cuddly and easy-going. This next year he will be moving into the boys' bedroom so that all five are sharing one room.  Mommy looks forward to {hopefully} better sleep.

This season and always we are grateful for the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and the legacy He left for us through His example, teachings, service, and sacrifice.  His is a story filled with Hope and Peace.  We hope you had a wonderful Christmas with lots of friends, family, and good food. And we hope that you have a happy New Year, too!

Love,
The Agle Family

Here are some pictures from our Christmas Eve and Christmas day activities:

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!