Christmas Letter 2007

December 21, 2007

Hello Everyone!

As part of our New Year’s goals, we want to start sending a
family newsletter. Being that we have waited until the last possible
minute to write this newsletter, we had better stick to just once a
year.

This year has really been a good one for our family, full of
changes, most for the better. We began the year in our tiny fifth
floor apartment in the Bronx, climbing the long flights of stairs
daily and yet somehow, not really losing weight. Probably all the
take out we got used to. But in June we were able to move to quite
peaceful part of the Bronx called Woodlawn. It’s a small Irish
community that would make you believe you were not even in the Bronx.
We are quite happy in our new place, which has carpet and a backyard
for Andie. We also brought out our car this summer and have become
keenly aware that the stereotypes about New York drivers are all
true. Between double parked cars, pot holes, disregard for traffic
signals, and the pedestrians who are no longer afraid of cars, we
think the Bronx driving experience would make a great video game.

Big Andy has been through a lot this year too. He wrapped up
his master’s degree in Elections and Campaign Management this past
August. In February, he was offered an amazing job opportunity with a
polling company in Manhattan and gained valuable experience working
there for a few months. Unfortunately, they couldn’t keep him on due
to downsizing. A month or two later, Andy got an even better job with
a new political movement called Unity ’08 as the Volunteer
Coordinator. It is dedicated to forming a unity (one democrat, one
republican or neither) ticket for president to hopefully remove the
disenfranchisement of the two-party system. Andy really believes in
the goals of Unity ’08 and really likes his work. Mandy, however,
really likes that he gets to work from home, with some occasional
trips to D.C.

Mandy has made the adjustment to stay-at-home mom, though she
can’t quite call herself a homemaker as that implies regular cleaning
and cooking, neither of which gets done around here as it probably
should. She continues on as Relief Society president, which keeps her
quite busy. Life is never dull in a Bronx Ward. In fact, we don’t
think we’ve been so busy with church issues since our missions.

Little Andie is quite adorable and it’s a good thing too. The
terrible two’s have hit our home hard and sometimes Andie’s cuteness
is the only thing that saves her. Her parents are contemplating
turning Zen, so that we can learn not to be attached to anything. For
example, we are on our second set of sheets in 6 months and need yet
another one because Andie has developed artistic side. She has more
energy than should be possible for such a little person. And yet, she
continues to make us laugh with her new found language skills. She
has recently started saying, “Help me, ayudame!” and likes to push
Mommy along calling, “Empujen!” both phrases courtesy of Dora the
Explorer. She also loves music and has memorized the words to several
of the Primary songs, her current favorites being Jesus Wants Me for a
Sunbeam and Smiles (or as she calls it, Frowny Face). And let’s not
forget her all time favorite, Tear the Roof Off the Sucker or We Want
the Funk. You can see her performance to this song on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IUz0eszVWM

The biggest news for our family this year would have to be the
anticipation of a new little one at the end of June. Mandy is about
three months pregnant and, surprisingly, not that sick, for which she
is truly grateful. Andie likes to point out Mommy’s baby belly, as
she calls it, which is growing too large, too quickly. She frequently
comes to us and pronounces, “Big sister,” pointing to herself. Our
little one looks healthy according to the sonograms we’ve had, and we
hope to find out the sex in early February. A little boy would balance
out our family as Big Andy hopes, but every girl needs a sister, so
either way, we’re happy.

We hope you all are happy too. We wish you a very Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year!

With Love,

The Wilsons