Christmas cards went out today. Yes, today...officially 10 days after Christmas and 4 days after New Years. But, hey...better late than never is my new motto!
Since I listed my blog on our Christmas card, I thought I would do a "letter" as if I put it in with my Christmas card. So, here goes nothing...or everything!
I will start with New Years Eve last year. Grant and I had discussed getting pregnant in 2009 and having the baby (now officially, Maksim Samuel Nixon) in 2010. God has a hilarious sense of humor allowing us to figure out we were pregnant on New Year's Eve (pretty much officially on that day). We found out a few days after Christmas when my friend, Allison, gave me 3 of her dollar store pregnancy tests. All were very vague in their diagnosis so we went to Walgreens and bought one that we thought would be clearer with the "plus", "minus" signs. We got a best out of like 6 saying we were pregnant. So, the next day, I hopped on over to my then OBGYN and they ran two pregnancy tests and told me I was NOT PREGNANT. I told them I had 3 tests at home that said I was and they said...still...that I wasn't and to come back in 2 weeks. Uuuum...impossible to wait two more weeks to know whether or not I was pregnant. So, New Year's Eve is when I took probably three more tests and got the ones that said "Pregnant" or "Not Pregnant" and all of them said I was preggy. So, needless to say, I switched doctors pretty quickly. I totally understand that it was still early, but I just felt they were tact-less in their whole approach with me.
So, Grant and I got a sweater and iron on letters that said "Baby On Board" and jumped on over to our parents houses New Years Day, the official start of our crazy 2010 year, and told everyone the news! So, that begins our 2010 year!
A lot of changes have happened...good things, mostly.
Grant/ God's Ministry:
For those of you who may not know, Grant is the youth pastor at Christ Church Bartlett AND Arlington. It's an awesome, fun job and he ultimately loves it and we love calling Christ Church our home! One thing that changed this year is that Grant and I went on a trip with my job to California and visited a church while we were there and from that stemmed our Saturday Night service at Christ Church that we refer to as CCSaturdayNights. One of our "motto's" is "Finally a church with people I can relate to and a message I can understand". Through Saturday nights, we have met some amazing band guys called "Remnant" and they and their wives, families and friends have become like second families to us! The group of people that attend on Saturday nights have become pretty tight knit... We are blessed!
The youth has evolved and changed (as it should). We have taken a good amount of trips...white water rafting (I missed this year's because it would have been impossible to accomplish that while 8/9 months pregnant), Gatlinburg and we had a ton of Reverb's (our Wednesday and Sunday night "hangout" for students) along with fun functions weekly. Not a week goes by that we don't have something planned with the students and we love it!
Grant has continued to teach our Thursday Night Bible Study with close friends of ours. This year we added 3 new babies on top of our one veteran child, Hudson Butler, who turned 1 year this year! The 3 new additions are: Eleanor "Ellie" Metcalf, Isabella "Izzy" Epting, and Maksim "Maks" Nixon.
We are praying about expanding our ministry for the glory of God in 2011.
Angela's Job:
I work for a company called "Camp Electric" and LOVE it! It's a Christian Rock and Roll and Worship Camp for students 13-19 years old who play guitar, bass, drums, keys, sing (vocals) and we recently added a song writing track. We are expanding to two locations in 2011. We have been in Nashville, Tennessee for the past three years and will continue there again this year, but we have also added Cedarville University in Cedarville, OH! Super excited about it! I get to travel with my job and think it's just a great opportunity for me!
I also help out Grant in his/our ministry as much as I can. I help lead a girls bible study for the youth with another amazing friend, Jessica.
Our latest addition:
Maksim Samuel Nixon was born September 1, 2010 at Baptist Women's Hospital after a C-section (I write about him ALL THE TIME on this blog!) and he really is SUCH a sweet, happy baby...and that makes for sweet, happy parents! We are still working on the whole "sleeping and scheduling thing" but overall, we are extremely lucky!!! He's growing like a wildflower and it makes me sad. I looked at his preemie clothes (he was 5 lbs 14 oz when he was born just a week early) this past week and I was shocked that he was that tiny! I hope I don't forget a thing!
Our families:
We have had our fair share of weddings, babies, engagements, new puppies, new life ventures, etc. between the Nixon and Morella households.
Amanda (Grant's sister) got married to Michael Brewer during the summer and they now live in Brandon, Mississippi in a new home and they just celebrated their first holidays as newly weds! They were gracious enough to host Thanksgiving this year at their humble abode! They have a crazy, sweet pup named Knox.
Drew Nixon (Grant's brother) is probably the #1 teacher in all of Chicago with his special ed classes (I am sure that term is incorrect, so I apologize). He is living the single, bus and train riding life in Chicago and we miss him here in the Dirty South. He never thought he would care much for babies, but Maks has him wrapped around his finger since he surprised us the night of Maks' birth by taking a bus all the way from Chicago (it might have been the next day...that day was all a blur for me!). Maks loves his Uncle Drew!!! Drew lives with roommates and his one-eyed dog, Maggie!
Kristina (my sis) got a new job this year along with her husband, Matt, also getting a new job. They both work at the same church, Hope Church, but the church is so huge, I don't know how much they actually see each other during the day! Both Grant and Matt are youth pastors and they can both marry people, ha! More on that later! They have a sweet dog, Colby, and will soon be adding a bear...ooops...dog, named Spiderman who will be born around January 27th. This is a he-man dog! And, we thought our Great Dane was massive. But, I hear the bigger they are, the sweeter they are!
Sabrina (my youngest sister) got engaged this year to David Groves and they are set to wed May 20th (Maks will be the ring bearer...what? What?!) at Carahills II out by our Arlington Church. It will be a family affair. Grant and Matt will be the "officiants/pastors". They will be marrying them! Sabrina and David have a dog named Abbey who is also sweet!
My parents, Diana and Alan, got a new addition to their household (Dad won't admit he likes this new addition, but I know, deep down...he does!) named Sophie. She's a Yorkie-Poo...I believe...or a mix between a Yorkie and a Maltese...either way, she's definitely a Yorkie! She's a ball of fun! Our family dog, Keisha, passed away this year. She was about 16 years old, I believe. Her best girlfriend, Kasi, is on her way...she's now blind and we think deaf...but she doesn't seem miserable yet. I like to think she likes Sophie! Mom and Dad's house is ALWAYS filled with extra dogs for some reason or another!
My in-laws/in-loves Nick and Debbie Nixon are great! Nick is officially still cancer free and he is better than ever! So is his heart! They have had a good amount of changes as well. Their baby daughter, Amanda, has officially moved into her own little family (same Amanda as above) and Nick is moving right along with his voice overs and caricatures while Debbie works at Crye-Leike.
Maks is the first grandson for the Morella's and Debbie! Maks is a wonderful addition to Nick's grandkids! Needless to say...Maks is QUITE spoiled!!!
So, I have probably skipped a million things, but most of them are summed up in my blog. Sometimes I go in spurts where I write a ton and then I don't, but I will try to work on that this year in 2011!
Here's to an awesome New Year for our new family of 3! We will keep you updated!!!
Love,
The Nixon's
Grant, Angela, and Maksim "Maks"
great update!
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