Dear Family and Friends,

Merry CHRISTmas! I know I’m cutting it short 2 days before Christmas, but we took such a cute Christmas picture, I might as well write the letter to go with it, right? We hope this season brings you closer to your family, friends, and the things that truly matter in this life. How blessed we are to be able to say “Immanuel!” our God is with us!

This last year and a half or so has been a trying one for us, but this Christmas we are blessed to celebrate the redeeming work God has been doing in our lives the last few months! I will try to summarize briefly –

The beginning of the year brought Dan a second job leading worship at Christ First Baptist Church of Covina, which was a blessing since I was still out of work. Dan enjoyed conducting an adult choir and leading a worship band every week. We met and got to work with dear people there, but the load of working 60+ hours a week was certainly trying on my hubby!

Then in the summer, I was unexpectedly and quickly hired at Azusa Pacific University in the Alumni Office as the events coordinator! This came at just the right time, after finding out Dan’s school district would be making more budget cuts in the fall. I love my new job, and feel very blessed to be in such a great environment like APU everyday.

In August, Dan and I had a very groovy 30^th birthday party together. Held in our backyard with a 70’s theme, we had a blast with family and friends. Thanks to all who came!

The fall brought Dan to working on his Master’s Conducting Recital – coordinating over 40 volunteer musicians, selecting and researching music, rehearsing weekly and putting a superb program together. As most of you know, it was an outstanding evening. His hard work paid off, and I couldn’t be more proud of him! (Is he now done with his Master’s, you ask? Almost – he must still finish his Thesis paper and take comprehensive exams in the spring, but let’s just say the hardest part is over.)

In November, Dan and I made a tough decision to step away from Christ First, and take a year of rest from all outside ministry. We have both been heavily involved in all kinds of ministry since before we were married, and we came to a mutual agreement that we needed a break. We will miss the Christ First family, but we know we are still “ministering” at our jobs daily, and it’s time for us to take a break from other activities for a while.

This leads us to the most exciting part of 2009 – B-Hawk! (That’s short for Baby Hawkins, BTW.) What will we do with all our free time next year? Well, have a baby, of course! We are so thrilled at God’s perfect timing – our bundle of joy will arrive in late May – just in time for Dan’s summer break to correlate with my maternity leave. We look forward to all the joys and challenges this new baby will bring into our lives!

Thank you for sharing in our lives! We pray you and your family have a wonderful time celebrating our Savior’s birth this week!

In Christ,

Dan and Kristi Hawkins

I like Thursday night TV

Wow, I haven't blogged in a long time. Today, as I was reading all my friends' blogs, I realized something. My friends who have kids blog way more than I do. And they blog about their kids. (Thank you, Captain Obvious!)

Now the reason this is a profound thought is because I'm going to have a kid of my own soon. (I think the 4 of you that actually read my blog already know this.) Does that mean I'll have more to blog about in 6 months because I'll only blog about my kid? On the one hand, It'll be exciting to have something to blog about all the time, but on the other hand, I don't want to be that mom that can ONLY talk abot her kid, ya know? I guess I'm just disappointed tonight that my life isn't more exciting or that my thoughts aren't profound enough to be blogworthy on a regular basis.

Other random thoughts from me on this Thursday night:

- Today was the first day someone looked at me and said, "I didn't know you were pregnant! Congratulations!" I guess this means I'm officially showing.

- I'm excited for the 6th season of Lost. Less than 2 months to go!!

- Dan is completely addicted to Super Mario Bros. Wii. Thanks a lot, Semsen. (Yes, it's fun, but we secretly enjoy playing it by ourselves more than playing it together.)

- I'm having a hard time sleeping these days because my legs fall asleep and get numb in the middle of the night. Apparently this happens to a lot of pregnant women, and there aren't any known cures for it, but it's really, really annoying.

- Is anyone else sick of hearing abou Tiger Woods? The older I get, the more I am convinced that no one is immuune to the downfalls of fame. I wouldn't wish fame on anyone.

- It seems that there's this trend right now on APU's campus to be a pacifist. This subject is for another blog, I suppose, I have a lot to say on the subject.

- Almost time for Bones and The Office! That means good bye for now...