Christmas Letter

~ We are posting our Christmas letter here this year. ~

Dearest Friends and Family,
What a year! Life in the Happ household is quite a bit different these days. Our precious first born is now walking with the aid of furniture and her grocery cart; keeping us busier and more entertained than we dreamed possible. Madison is the most delightful wonder God has ever given us, and is the most tangible way we have ever experienced His love for us. She gleams with sweet joy in almost every circumstance. She has also made die-hard trekkers of her parents. Her love for her backpack carrier has prompted us to ascend Half-Dome, night-hike Lassen, and backpack Grouse Ridge. All adventures where conquered with Madison winning the prize for the best attitude in the family.
As for Mom and Dad, our other accomplishments seem so trivial compared to Madison. In fact they seem hardly worth sharing. So if you want to stop reading now, we won’t be hurt. Brian is now in his eighth year at Pepsi and Jaime is in her second year of teaching junior high special education. It seems that Brian is always adding a new hobby or expertise to his “Wonder-Man” list. This year alone he has taken up serious hiking/backpacking, video editing, and shooting (yes he bought a hand gun). He and Madison have hiked over 50 miles together on his days off. It is beautiful to see the relationship Brian and Maddie have.
Jaime (me) became full-time this year (as oppose to 95%) and is definitely feeling the challenges. She teaches two classes of Resource English (special education) and two classes of “Opportunity.” The Resource classes are a blast, the students are sweet and the things they say keep teachers laughing all week. The “Opportunity” class is a little more challenging. It is made up of students who have failed multiple classes for one reason or another. These kids are incredibly resilient, but life has given them a little more than they can handle right now. Many are in foster homes, and only one has an intact family (mom and dad married and living together). It is impossible to teach them and not bear the grief and pain they are caring when at home. (Now I’m going to share my feelings in first person): Over the past four months with these kids, I have struggled with the emotional burdens that go with teaching them. It’s the closest I’ve ever been to the front lines of a battle. I found that it is only through prayer and actively listening to God’s still, small voice that I am able to discover and respond to the true needs of these young adults. How blessed am I though, that I get to see the future molded, right in front of me, by our youth?
We (Brian and I) realizing more and more how blessed we are to be surrounded by “top notch” people. Life has become more real because of each of you and how you live your lives with us. Thank you for giving us your time, love, and dedication. We know more than ever how rare the abundance of our blessings is. We love each of you most deeply.
Merry Christmas,
Brian, Jaime, and Madison

Happy 1st Birthday Madison!

Madison sure knows how to celebrate. She woke up about an hour early, and immediately wanted to dance. She was so excited in fact, that she wouldn't take her naps all morning. About 10 minutes until her party was suppose to start, she crashed...go figure.

When Maddie woke up she was welcomed by a sea of friends and family. She wasn't sure what to do about the cake, but once she knew it was yummy, she laughed, and began to shove it in her face. I'm not sure how much she would have eaten if we hadn't taken her away from it to open presents.

She was so blessed by the thoughtful gifts, and joyful company. Thank you to all who were able to attend.

We are so thankful for the abundance of great people who have surrounded our daughter in her first year of life. We are blessed and know it. If you're reading this, we are talking to you.

Autumn Fun

Christmas Preview, Downtown Chico

Madison on the slide!

And the swing

Kisses for Daddy

Madison's shopping cart

Life is anything but dull these days, and for that we are thankful. Yes, there have been some challenging moments for us as a family. We are still in the process of replacing everything that was stolen from our car a month ago. Thanks to Brian's handy-man talents and his dedication to quality, our car is back in service, so for that we are thankful. I'm (Jaime) learning to process the difficult issues I deal with at work in a healthy way, and discovering the balance of strength and embarrassing the emotions involved. If I had it my way, I would adopt about 6 of my students right now.

The blessings in these challenges are sometimes overlooked, but Brian and I have grown to trust the Lord together so much more. We are also learning to savor the little pieces of heaven on earth. Our time with friends and family is becoming more and more precious. Just last night we enjoyed our first of three thanksgivings. Our young marrieds group go together for turkey, Christmas preview downtown, and of course...the season premier of "24."

As the things of this world challenge us to keep our hearts focused on the eternal, we are encouraged by the daily discoveries and accomplishments made by Madison. She is currently walking all around the house with her shopping cart, and only holding one hand as she walks with her parents' aid. We are pretty optimistic that she will walk before her first birthday.

She is also rapidly increasing her vocabulary. Here are her favorite words and the way she pronounces them: Down, Up (dup), dog, daddy (da ee), mom (mmum), shoes (shzz...this is used for both socks and shoes), and ...monkey (unky).

Sorry this is so long, it's just Madison has done so many new things in the past few weeks. She also experience the slide for the first time. after about the third time on her back, she decided to sit up and go down the real way.

That's all I can think of for now...aren't you glad!

Standing Tall & "I'll Love You Forever"

"I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always."
"As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be."

Our little baby seems to be quickly growing into a little girl! She has been standing up on her own for about three weeks now, and is walking around using the support of furniture. She has also learned to push her toy-box-on-wheels around while removing toys, creating a trail. It is so much fun to watch. But if we watch for too long, we are finding ourselves chasing after Maddie to catch up to what ever drawer or bookshelf she has decided to reorganize.

Another fun story to share is our bathroom story. Madison loves bathrooms, and today I found a "kodak moment," that until now, I thought only existed in story books: Madison discovering the fun of unraveling toilet paper. Enjoy our "I'll Love You Forever Pictures."

Locks of Love

Before During
After
Cass, Maddie, and Jaime, all with short hair

After a year and a half without a hair cut, I (Jaime) took the plunge. My friend, Cassidy, and I decided back in June to donate our hair to Locks of Love, and organization that makes wigs for children battling cancer. We needed at least 10 inches, so we waited until Cass got back from Ecuador last week...

... Two hours and 12 inches later, my hair was in a plastic bag and I learned what it felt like to have a short. This has not been the case since my hair grew to my shoulders as a toddler. I was worried, but now I may never go back. For those of you who know Cass, she has a better before picture on her blog.

Check this out! She can dance!

Not bad for 8 months. She's had a lot of lessons though. Everytime Dad hears a beat he moves his head. Now Madison is doing the same thing and more! I have to say she has good taste in music.

Glacier Lake on Labor Day

Before ...
... Talk about a view!...
...mmmm cocoa...
... Glacier Lake...
...After (still smiling)

If you want to be overwhelmed with beauty, camp at Glacier lake! one of God's masterpieces is the Sierra Mountains. So vast and vibrant with deep blue lakes and pure white granite! This labor day we backpacked in the Tahoe National Forest. There is said to be over 120 lakes in the Grouse Ridge area...we saw about six and camped on two.

The first night we found a secluded spot on Glacier lake about 40 feet from the water! second day we had small Island Lake all to ourselves. I (Jaime) discovered the difference between relaxation of the mind and relaxation of the body...the only thing we could relax ,while hauling 80+ pounds between the two of us, was our minds. It was difficult, but worth being surrounded by serenity.

Maddie did great; in fact, she was the only one not cold on the second night. I think she may have finally gotten tired of bananas though by the end of the three days!

Daddy and Maddie

All Smiles!

mmmmm Banana!
This summer Brian and Maddie have trekked over 5o miles together in the Kelty Pack! Here are some pictures from two weeks ago. The father/daughter hike was nine miles of bonding time. Daddy, hiking, and a banana, what more could a little girl ask for?

Mt. Lassen by Moonlight

Now we know what a "moonshadow" is (besides a Cat Stevens song). Hiking adventure number two was WAY past Madison's bedtime. As we approached Mount Lassen National Forest, so did a thunder storm. After anxiously waiting it out for an hour, we met up with the Robinson's and began hiking at 7:30 pm and began our trek up the moonlit slope of Mount Lassen. Madison squealed with delight the entire journey, and turned into a snuggle bug at the top. It couldn't have been a more beautiful night with the full moon rising up through the clouds. It was, as Emily's aunt put it so perfectly, "dramatic."

With a water bottle of red wine making its way from friend to friend, and the cool crisp air of late summer on our face, we couldn't ask for a more wonderful evening (well except for the fact that Emily was feeling ill).

We made it back down the rock at 11 ish and were snuggled up in bed by 2am.

I love when God's creation is enjoyed in unusual and spontaneous ways.

The County Fair

Ah, there is nothing like delicious junk food, Brian's dad's band playing vintage rock & blues, and the smell of fresh (and not so fresh) saw dust. Especially when you are enjoying it for the first time with an 8 month old!



Maddie's first county fair was a delightful experience. (It was three weeks ago, but we'll pretend it was yesterday). The animals were the greatest thing since bananas in Madison's opinion. The goats and sheep were among the favorites. We even spotted one of "Lamby's" relatives.

Crawling!

Madison has been trying to get around for the past two weeks. She had both parts of crawling down...just not together. Today she took about three strides for Grandad Scott! Time to baby proof.

Maddie has teeth!

The sweet toothless smile that melts us every time, is no more...beautiful pearly whites here we come. Madison just adopted a new step to her nightly and morning routine. She brushes her six new teeth (all in a weeks time) twice daily as recommended by dentists. Mommy brushes and Madison laughs between sucking the toothpaste and trying to hold the brush on her own.

Half Dome...We did it!!!

This week our family experienced one of our greatest memories/accomplishments. ALL three of us climbed Half Dome! Brian carried 7 month-old, Madison in the Kelty Kids pack and Jaime carried the supplies. Maddie and Daddy were troopers the whole way. We decided that the cables were a little more risk than we were willing take with our precious cargo so Brian climbed the cables with John Aimo and a friend, while Jaime played with Madison and the chipmunks at the bottom. We aren't sure if she is the youngest to make it that far, but she is probably among the youngest.

This was a day we will certainly never forget. We'll be back when Maddie is a little older.