Many thanks to the Villagers

I have come to realize that the old saying, “it takes a village to raise a child,” is completely true; and you are our “village.” In a season that has been marked by pay-cuts, reduced hours, and loss of job security Marissa and I have been completely blown away by the generosity of our family and friends to help us prepare for this child. Whats more, is that we know that most of you are experiencing the same economic hardships that we are, too, if not more so; yet you all have gone out of your way for us and Marissa and I, and baby Mitchell (we reserve the right to change our mind, but we are probably going to name him that) are eternally grateful. Technically, the baby will probably be about 17 before he realizes the significance of what you have all done for our little family though. Without your help, I can honestly say that I do not know how we would have been able to do it. The Bible says that God will provide for our daily needs, and it is pretty cool that He used all of you to do that.

Thanks to all of you for the Chanukah and Christmas presents, the miscellaneous baby gifts, and the 3 baby showers – especially Sharon in Kirkland; my mom (Jean) in Rancho Santa Margarita and her committee of Jen, Lisa, Kamala, Marilee, and others I am sure; and the crew for the Tustin shower consisting of Jessica, Kerry, and Kim. Not to mention the guys that took their time to hang out with me during the showers… someone has to play Wii and watch football after all.

As you can see, the baby’s room is almost ready to go now. As usual, we have probably used an unorthodox aesthetic for the design of the room – yes, those are brown walls that we kept, but we think it looks really great! I am sure Baby Mitchell will agree… right before he puts stickers on the clean white furniture and draws all over the pristine brown walls.