Merry Christmas from the Cunningham Clan!

To those to whom we couldn't mail a letter... (If you'd like a mailed letter, let us know!)

Well, here we are again, nearing the Christmas season, our second with our baby girl (who incidentally is no longer a baby). The excitement as the season changes from warm, to cool, to cold is almost overwhelming.

This year we have decided to put up our Christmas decorations a full month early, allowing opportunity for Hannah to get used to and for us to explain them to her. Hopefully, doing so will help bring us deeper into the Holiday spirit and will become infectious with those around us.

This Christmas spirit is an amazing thing. The secular world around us looks to tradition, shopping, and memories to sustain and encourage their Christmas spirit, however, for those of us who understand the significance of the true “gift” of Christmas, our Holiday cheer bubbles up from the inside. Not only do we look forward to spending time with family, watching fun Christmas movies (You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch!!!), and even opening presents Christmas morning with those we love, but we are blessed with a gift from the Originator of gifts. Our joy comes from a spiritual, not emotional experience, as we revel in the celebration of birthdays. We easily make the connection between Christmas and Jesus’ birth, but we want to challenge you this year to take that one step further and celebrate your new birth as well. Christmas is significant not only because God provided hope, but because we’ve found that hope and live expectantly in that hope for the return and eternal reconnection with Christ. We would encourage you this year to celebrate not only Christ’s birth, but the opportunity He’s given you to have your own new birth!

Speaking of celebrating babies, by the time Christmas comes, Hannah will be 22 months old. She’s at a glorious stage between the “everything is new” stage and the “I want to do it myself” stage. We are excited to allow her freedom to do her own thing, but also find ourselves a bundle of nerves anytime she wants to try something dangerous (going up or down stairs by herself, etc…) This year we’ve seen her transition from the scooter, who never crawled, to the walker, who nearly runs. It seems that at the one year mark, she began rapidly developing her language, both speech and sign, and motor skills. We’ve seen her go from sound effects, to indiscernible babbling, to actual words, even if mispronounced. We reveled in her grasping of sign language with her first word, “all done,” and she now has a vocabulary of 30+ words. Her vocal vocabulary is a bit smaller, but she does speak more than she signs. She’s transitioned from using a bottle to eating cheerios and now to drinking out of an open cup, without assistance. All in all, she’s become a very big girl.

Over the course of the last 12 months, our family has been primarily immersed in the raising of our wonderful child, but other experiences have cropped up as well. Josh spent quite a bit of time this summer with his family in Somerset, KY, working for his father, spending time with his brother, and seeking out jobs that could transition towards a career. By the time Christmas comes around, he should have his MA degree completed and will be anxiously preparing to teach his first “comparative religion” class at Somerset Community College. This adjunct position will provide the experience needed to begin applying for teaching fellowships elsewhere.

By Christmas time, Jacqui will have been with Focus on the Family (in one capacity or another) for almost 7½ years. Due to her expertise and work ethic, they are planning to continue the relationship for another year, allowing her to continue to work from home at her convenience. She enjoys the work, and hopes that her health will improve allowing more opportunities to play with the rest of the family.

This has been a good year. The next is terrifying to me, Josh, because I will finally be at a stage where I can put my education to work, and find out if I’m qualified to do what I feel called to do. I will begin to immerse myself into my career, and will probably struggle to find a balance between my work, family, and self. Also, I am seeking a full-time position which would provide us with health insurance; a need should God see to grace us with a sibling for Hannah.

As we conclude this letter, we want to take a moment to say, “Thank You”. We have family and friends who have contributed in significant emotional, financial, and time-based ways for which we can never fully show our appreciation. We love each and every one of you and hope that your Christmas and New Year will reaffirm your relationships, not only with family and friends, but with our Maker.

With all of His love,

Josh, Jacqui, and Hannah

Catching Up...

So it's official.... Today, I'm unashamedly 31. Yippee!

Last night, I finally figured out how to get pictures off my phone. This took some doing as I can't just use a USB connection. So I decided that today would be the day I would finally send an update. Haven't gotten the pictures off Daddy's phone as he's not here, so those will come later. Most of the pictures captured over the last few months have been by family, as our digital camera loses power after a few shots, so if you want to see more you'll have to ask them!

So, to summarize the last two months, here's a picture that describes quite a few of those hours...

As you can see, we spent many hours in the car travelling between family here in KY, in Ohio, and in Alabama. Hannah was a trooper and was mostly good tempered about being in her seat, as you can see.

On our trip down to Alabama for Thanksgiving, we stopped at Daddy's favorite hamburger place: Whataburger. Here's Hannah reaction, be a bit blurry, you still get the point....

Many hours were also spent enjoying one of Hannah's favorite past-times: playing with bubbles...

Usually, Hannah is really good about not stuffing her mouth. But apparently the corn I bought in Alabama was sooo good she had to stuff overflowing handfuls into her mouth:

Her first visit was Santa was actually a very good one, we just didn't catch her smiling. Santa's on a diet because he found out he's a diabetic, so we didn't offer him any cookies.

One of the most magical moments we had was when we went to the Kentucky Horse Park, just north of town, to see their Christmas lights display called "Southern Lights". Hannah excitedly pointed to the various characters we saw along the way, like bears, dolls, balls, horses (of course!), people, and more! Afterwards, we went through their mini fair, and she was very excited to go to the petting zoo and see, but not pet, the llamas, long-haired cows, kangaroos, goats, camels, and more! After the petting zoo, we went to see a model train exhibit, then to a dollhouse exhibit. The trains really captured her imagination. Before leaving Mommy insisting on eating a funnel cake, which she had not had the opportunity to enjoy for years -- it was very yummy, so yummy Hannah only got a bite and Daddy didn't get any! Here's our little elf at the fair...

Hannah is a real character. She cracks us up with all her expressions, and I've been trying to capture them but she changes faces so quickly! Here's her saying boo!

Finally, about the cats. Buddy is recovering quite nicely from his brush with death. His surgery scars are covered nicely with a thick coat of hair which has almost completely grown in. Angel keeps a villigant watch on him, while he keeps a watch on the house. When we discovered Angel in a peculiar place, it made us laugh, so we took a photo:

Slow-cooked kitty anyone?

Wow!

She's ready for a bike ride--Safety First!

So what were you doing 8 years ago? How about 7 years ago? We were newly married 8 years ago, and one year later I, Jacqui, started working for Focus on the Family. So here we are 8 years later, still married, and seven years later, I'm still working with Focus on the Family. Wow! Speaking of "Wow!", that is one of Hannah's new words. As with any new word, she over emphasizes, so every time she says "wow!" I have to turn to look to see what spectacular object has captured her attention. Everything the last few days has resulted in a cry of "wow!"... One of us walks in the room, the kitty brushes against her, she spots a "new" toy, etc. Each day is a new adventure for her and it's wonderful to get a glimpse into the eyes of a child.

On another note, one of Hannah's new phrases is "Go, Go, Go, Go!". She signs and says it simulatenously in very a deep, throaty voice--it's so cute!. She also understands what that means, so we've made a game of going then stopping. Now she just has to learn to say and/or sign stop. I'm sure that will come in time.

In part to celebrate our 8th anniversary, we spent last week in the Shenandoah Valley area of Virigina. Below are some pictures.

Twins? No, it's just the sunglasses...

Evidence of the black bears getting into the garbage... We didn't see them but we saw their footprints. These appear to be from a cub. My mom's hand is between a few of the prints, her hand is about 7 inches from wrist to the tip of her middle finger.

Sunglasses, a jacket, and a cell phone, what else does a girl need?

The first firefighter in the family... She's "driving" an antique firetruck.

Upon our return, we discovered that our male cat, Buddy, had suffered an injury (prior our trip due to escaping to the outside world and apparently getting in a cat fight) that had gotten infected and abscessed. So within minutes of our return, we were sitting in the pet ER. It turned out to be a pretty traumatic experience for us as they gave us a grim outlook regarding Buddy. We ended up taking Buddy and Angel to a regular vet on Monday morning, where the vet was much more optimistic and they took exceptional care of our feline kids. However, Hannah was unsure about why the kitties were in the cages and wanted them let out so she voiced her opinion to everyone who would listen. Here's a few shots of Buddy's post-surgery wounds, courtesy of Josh. The blue is from the dye in the disinfectant they gave us to clean him. Poor kitty!