Christmas Cards

I always have great and grand plans to write a Christmas letter to send to family and friends each year as our Christmas card. I try to include a picture or a picture card if I can, well, I guess if there's a good one to include. I know I've done a letter a few times since Lane and I have been married, but more times than not, I've fallen behind on the letter and taken the easy photo card route because I've procrastinated. This past Christmas, our cards didn't even go out until January! Life happens and that's the only excuse that I've got. Here is our 2011 Christmas letter going out to family and friends:

Looking back at the year 2011, the one word that sums up the year for the Daigle family is change. We have endured many changes throughout the year and have been blessed by each of them.

In February of this year Lane completed Primary Flight School and we learned that we would be moving from Pace, Florida to Corpus Christi, Texas. The move was supposed to be a quick move, but we ended up doing a lot of sitting and waiting for Lane’s orders to begin the move. During the wait, Eden and I lived in Georgia and Lane hung around Florida. It was nice to be so close to family and friends because we were moving farther away, but we sure did miss Lane.

Once we got to Texas Lane began his Advanced Flight School training and learned how to fly a multi-engine plane. We enjoyed our stay in Texas, but I’m glad it was only the 6 months that it was. South Texas in the heat of summer is HOT! Eden and I took cover however we could. We traveled to Georgia to visit, went to the pool, found indoor playgrounds, and even helped friends start an in-home-playgroup with other military families. In June we found out that the Daigle family will be plus one come the end of February. We are excited to be welcoming Baby Boy Daigle and Eden is excited about having a “bodder” too. 

When September rolled around, Lane had learned all there was to learn about the multi-engine plane (if that’s possible) and the Marine Corps decided it was time to officially give him the title of a Naval Aviator. On September 23, Lane earned his wings of gold at the winging ceremony at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. This is an accomplishment that he has been working towards for over 2 years now and we are very proud of his accomplishments. 

After receiving his wings, Lane went to SERE School, which is a survival school, out in San Diego. While he was in the area he found a house that we can now call home. We are most excited about this change because in the last four and a half years we have moved six times! Each of the moves have been to new rental homes, but this time we are planning on staying put for at least 3 years and we have purchased the home we are living in! What a great change of pace for us. 

Through the year Eden has surprised us more than we ever thought possible. She turned 1 in March and we have been in awe of her since the day she was born. This year she began walking in January and is now running and even trying to jump. We have to watch what we say around her because she is our little parrot! She will repeat anything you say, and she speaks well so there are no secrets when it comes to her. Except one, she’s the only one who knows her brother’s name and she’s done a good job keeping that secret for us - just ask family members who have been trying to get her to tell!

We hope you have a blessed and Merry Christmas. Make sure to ring in the New Year with lots of joy and happiness! We love you all!