Motherhood should come with… Faith. A great partner. A manual? Lots of patience and an extra measure of grace. Motherhood definitely brings a whole lot of perspective to one’s life. It should come with a good play dough recipe, imagination and creativity. Motherhood should be shared with friends. It should come with a sewing machine and patterns to make her children’s favorite costumes. It should come with a way to save, store and remember all the little everyday sweetness that so quickly fades. Motherhood should come with lots of bins and shelves to organize all the special treasures that her little ones create and store. Motherhood should come with a strong heart to bear all the joy, pain, hope, disappointment, fear, and uncertainty.

We love you so much Audrey Faith! It’s hard to believe you are already a year old. You have such a sweet spirit and a very engaging manner. Your life has brought so much joy and we are blessed to be your family! Happy Birthday to you Baby Girl!

We have had a whirlwind 2 weeks! Another memorable visit to the Magic Kingdom (this time was extra special because Holly & Shane came too); Kelly’s graduation from Biola; visiting friends in Huntington Beach; home for about 40 hours (in which we had Aliza and Audrey stay with us for about 30 of those hours); then off to Eugene for a few days for Grandpa Art’s memorial service. Whew… just writing all of that makes me tired! We had a great time but are all really glad to be home and back to our routines.

Check out more pictures here!

Cam has been gone since Thursday morning and we miss him a lot! The boys and I spend tons of time together throughout the week- like pretty much most of our waking hours- and we very much look forward to having dad home in the evening and on the weekends. In Cam’s absence, the weekend has definitely had it’s ups and downs.

This picture was from today at Boulevard- one of the “up” moments of the weekend :) Being brothers is so different than being sisters- for many obvious reasons but mainly I see the differences in terms of the physical expressions. My sisters and I would find the smallest couch, chair, bed or whatever and all pile onto it like “puppies” as Cam would call us. Sean and Caleb also are like “puppies” but in a more aggressive way. They are always in constant contact with each other but it’s more like wrestling for who’s most dominant. They love each other more than words can describe but they also find their best/worst opponent in each other. Some days it’s very balanced and then there are days like today…

Looking forward to finishing out our weekend with Cam tomorrow!

You, sweet girl have lived up to your name! A beautiful and joyful addition to our family. Love you baby girl!

We have been having BEAUTIFUL, spring-like weather this February! After working really hard yesterday to do some major deep cleaning and organizing, we decided to get outside today to enjoy the sunshine (and in all honesty, if we aren’t home the house stays clean). The camera and tripod came along for fun :) Check out the rest of the pics from today here.

It was fun to do this little shoot with Audrey! It had been awhile since I had her in front of the camera. I can’t believe she is 7 months old already! She is such a beautiful and sweet little girl!

2009 has been a blessed and eventful year. It was so great, the awesomeness started a day early. On New Year’s Eve, 2008, I (Cam) accepted a job at Logos Bible Software. The story behind how the job came to me is one only God could orchestrate. I was originally hired to work on web-based products but was re-assigned to the Windows (desktop) software team in April and, since November I’ve been working on the Mac version of our software. Working at Logos continues to be a fantastic experience as I have the opportunity to work with a variety of incredibly smart, talented people. And, it doesn’t hurt to be working on tools to help people better know and understand the Bible.

Because my job didn’t actually begin until January 15th, and having just finished a heavy-hearted holiday season, we thought it’d be a good idea to get out of town for some good quality time as a family of four. What better place to do this than my grandparents’ cabin on the Oregon coast? Expecting the weather to be rainy and windy, we planned on a week of board games and puzzles watching the rough surf pound the shore. Instead, we were treated to three or four days of sunshine in the low 60s. We spent the days walking along the beach and Sean and I even donned our trunks and played a bit in the surf.

On March 2nd, Caleb celebrated his ninth birthday. Our babies are growing up so fast; fortunately, this one still likes to snuggle. Caleb loves to read all kinds of books and writes fantastical stories about imaginary species and places. He adds so much energy and enthusiasm to our family. On March 9th, Betsy’s sister Heather and her husband Vince welcomed their first baby, Isabella Joy Baldetta, into the world. Bella’s birth was the first time Betsy had been in the room during a delivery since Caleb was born.

In May, I turned thirty-one and celebrated my first anniversary at Jogo (more on that later). Betsy and the boys wrapped up school and we said goodbye (for now) to some wonderful friends who moved to California. On June 22nd, Betsy’s sister Sara and her husband Scott welcomed their second daughter, Audrey Faith Kallin. That’s our third neice (Aliza, Bella and, now, Audrey) in less than two years! Our boys are outnumbered, now, but they love their little cousins dearly.

As many of you know (’cause you live here, too) summer was beautiful in Bellingham this year. For us, this means countless days spent at the lake playing, swimming, laughing, grilling and pirating. Yes, pirating. This year, Sean and Caleb built a raft from old lumber that looks like something straight out of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. They also spent a fair bit of time enjoying the sixty foot (yes, 60 ft) tall tree house that they built with my brother Cory at the end of Summer 2008. As usual, my mom’s folks came to live in Bellingham for the summer, which is always so great. We love having four generations of family all together. When not at the lake or a local park, Sean and Caleb could be found at the end of the block playing with some newly discovered friends from down the street.

In July, Betsy and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. I can honestly say that our marriage has gotten better every year and every year I am more grateful for Betsy and everything she brings to my life. August brought more amazing summer weather, beach parties and Betsy’s 32nd birthday.

September brought summer to a close and a new school year began—Sean started the fifth grade and Caleb is now in fourth. This school year, along with the basics, the boys have been taking art and guitar lessons. They’ve also been supplementing their already active lives with 3 classes a week at Jogo (again, more on that later). Homeschooling continues to be a worthwhile, albeit sometimes daunting, challenge for Betsy but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

In October, Betsy flew (boy, were her arms tired!) to SoCal to spend some time with my newly engaged sister, Kelly, and her good friend, Kim, who had moved away from Bellingham in June. She split her time between hanging out, shopping for wedding stuff and playing photographer. She had a fantastic time, but the boys and I were again reminded just how important she is to all of us. We missed her very much and won’t soon give her up again for such a lengthy stretch (o.k., so it was only 5 days).

This past weekend, we celebrated Sean’s eleventh birthday (he’ll turn eleven on Christmas Eve). They grow up so fast! He’s already beginning his journey through the awkward stage between childhood and adulthood and wavers between trying to delay the transition and wanting it to happen overnight. Sean is a thoughtful and talented kid who loves playing his guitar and all manner of art, drawing and painting in particular.

While it isn’t tied to any one particular event, if I had to identify the family theme for the year, it would be health—physical, mental and spiritual. In May 2008 I made a decision that, at the time, I assumed would be fairly minor and probably temporary. Instead, it turned out to be pivotal, not only for me, but for my entire family. I joined Jogo, a local CrossFit gym. How can joining a gym be that big of a deal? For most people and most gyms, I’d say it’s not that big of a deal. But for me, and my family, this gym, and more importantly, because of the people there—it’s kindof a big deal.

For me, it has been about so much more than weight loss (50 lbs so far) or fitness. It’s been about learning to do things that I’m not very good at while other people, who are good at them, watch and encourage me as I struggle through the process. I’m leaner and stronger now, at age 31, than I’ve ever been. I’ve also learned a ton about being a part of a healthy community of friends who genuinely want to support you and see you succeed. I’ve learned many things that I was too proud to learn before, often for fear of looking foolish.

For Betsy, it has been about believing God to heal her back. Despite a second back surgery in 2005, back, and later hip issues continued to significantly affect her quality of life by limiting her mobility and strength. However, this May, after much prayer she became convinced that she needed to pursue a strength and conditioning program and trust God to heal her back. While we don’t have an MRI that shows fully restored discs in her back, God has, as always, proven himself faithful. Betsy is the strongest and least limited by her back problems that I have seen her in the 15 years that we’ve been together. Since September, Betsy (and the boys) have been coming to Jogo with me and we’ve all benefited hugely from the support that the community and friendships provide. So while the gym may seem an odd topic for our Christmas letter, it has been a major component of what God is doing in our lives this past year, especially with the healing that Betsy has experienced.

We are incredibly grateful for this year and everything that God has granted us and taught us. We look forward to 2010 eager to learn more and serve God more.

Whether this season finds you feeling abundantly blessed or unsettled and uncertain (as we were last year) we pray that God’s presence would be your peace and that you would have a truly blessed Christmas and a very joyful New Year.

Merry Christmas,

Cameron, Betsy, Sean and Caleb

Some of my favorite moments of this season have been the times spent together as a family, in the living room, by the light of the Christmas tree. The times we have spent together praying through our advent prayer chain and reading through the “Adornaments” has been a blessing (although not as consistent as we’d like). Each year the boys get older I feel these days are numbered. I am trying to appreciate and enjoy each and every family tradition with them as long as they last.