ANNUAL: covering the period of a year; occurring or happening every year or once a year
Has facebook made holiday letters obsolete? After all, people now send updates when they need coffee, are craving corndogs, just LOL’d at a comment from one of their kids, etc. Is it really necessary to send an annual review for the holiday cards? I think it is.
I enjoy the challenge of synthesizing twelve months into a single page. Each year, I scroll back through old letters and marvel at how rapidly our family has grown and changed. Care to join me on a trip down memory lane for a few of my favorites?
Son’s 2008 ABCs
A is for Aquarium, where I love to watch the big fish swim.
B is for Bocce games at the Italian Festival. My parents have yet to win.
C is for Cascade Land Conservancy where my mom works one day a week.
D is for my Daddy – the best playmate for hide-and-seek.
E is for the Easel where I color with crayons and chalk.
F is for the Flowers and Friends I see when I go on a walk.
G is for Great-Grandparents. I drove a tractor on their farm.
H is for Hiking on Mt. Rainier. It was fun until we met a mosquito swarm.
I is for Ice-Cream, one of my favorite summer perks.
J is for Jones & Stokes and the new downtown office where Daddy works.
K is for the Keys that I hide then help my mommy find.
L is for the Lollipop I get for waiting in the bank deposit line.
M is for my Mommy. She’s always trying to stay one step ahead.
N is for New milestones – like my very own big-boy bed!
O is for Oval and Orange. I’m learning my shapes and colors.
P is for my Pre-School where I sing and play with others.
Q is for Quiet – something rare at our house.
R is for Reading next to Mommy on the couch.
S is for the Sibling I’m expecting at the end of May.
T is for the Trains and Toys that I play with all day.
U is for Umbrella and someday for Underwear.
V is for Husky Victories. This year they were rare. *
W is for Water in the puddles where I splash.
X is for X-rays avoided, despite the occasional crash.
Y is for “Yes” a word my parents waited so long to hear.
Z is for my good friend Zoe. We survived a wet camping trip in Canada this year.
* Technically the Huskies were without a single win as of the writing of the letter and the game that occured on the day our cards went in the mail did not look promising. However, “nonexistent” did not rhyme with “underwear” and V is a difficult letter.
The Twelve Months of 2010
In the twelve months of 2010
our family enjoyed…
Twelve days of summer,
Eleven birthday parties,
Ten bottles of dandelion wine,
Nine parties hosted,
Eight National Parks visited,
Seven jobs and unpaid gigs,
Six years of marriage,
Five months of sniffles,
Four backyard chickens,
Three child-free trips,
Two silly children,
And a crowded house full of joy.
I still get a few Annual letters and adore them. I am a firm believer that Facebook will never replace a good “old fashioned” Holiday card or annual letter. They just can’t take that away from us – or at least some if us.
I love this time of year because it’s the one time we actually get something other than junk and bills in the mail. I also love all the adorable family pics.
I did a Twelve Days poem for our card insert this year too! I can’t bring myself to get rid of this tradition — I agree with you that it provides an opportunity for reflecting back on the year. ~ Kat
I love reading the letters when they come in the mail. For folks we don’t see often it’s a great way to catch up, but even for the folks we do see often I usually get at least one “I didn’t know that” from their letters.
I just got one yesterday that was 4 typewritten pages! She likes to brag some! LOL 8 national parks in one year is impressive. Which parks did you visit?
I’m a fan of the holiday letter but believe it should come with rules. One page maximum should be one of them. That year, we visited Rainier, Olympic, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce.
Zion is so beautiful. I worked in Yellowstone for a few summers and one winter.
That’s very cute and clever. I have given up long ago on the family update letter, but my husband is still a staunch believer. Maybe it’s because he’s not of facebook!