Christmas Letter

Life is too short to be spent within one’s comfort zone. Or so they say. Or so we keep telling ourselves. 2010 found us living in Scotland, visiting Italy, France, and Germany, having our visas (and Catherine’s computer) stolen in London, graduating from the University of Edinburgh, starting school at the University of Cambridge, celebrating our daughter’s first birthday, announcing the pregnancy of our second child and first son, and moving to Cambridge, England. In between, we witnessed Sara grow like a weed, fell in love with the city of Edinburgh, collected—and sometimes even read!—scores of books, missed old friends, made new friends, and skyped lots of calls to our family back in the states. We also grew closer together as a family, had tremendous fun as best friends, and fell deeper in love as a couple.

We could give updates of each individual family member, but we know the truth: everyone mostly wants to know about adorable Sara. So be it. Sara is closing in on eighteen months—almost nursery age!—and grows more adorable almost every day. After standing shortly after birth, and venturing tenuous steps for several months, she finally started walking comfortably during our sabbatical in New Mexico where she could roam around her grandparents’ house. She has been a fearless wanderer ever since, making daily laps around our small apartment and is always antsy to run and play outside. She is not talking beyond gibberish as of yet, besides making sounds that vaguely resemble “hi,” “please,” and “mama,” but she uses nearly a dozen sign language motions in order to communicate. She already has a deep love of reading, and will constantly bring any of her numerous child books to us to plead for another story or rhyme. She adores singing—well, listening to her parents sing, anyway—and anticipates with enthusiasm our nightly singing of hymns in preparation for bedtime. Another bedtime ritual, bathing, also holds a dear place in her heart, and if she had her way she would have several baths every day. And sleeping itself has become more of a joy: after her refusal to sleep through the night earlier in the year, she now sleeps twelve to thirteen hours pretty consistently every night—which almost makes up for her often short and always sporadic naps! All told, she is an angel of a child, always full of fun, quick to smile and laugh, and brings much happiness to the lives of her parents. And it doesn’t hurt that with her curly hair, chubby cheeks, and cheeky grin she is adorable to boot!

However, as full of change as our last few years have been—including living in four different cities in our three years of marriage—we know it won’t ease up anytime soon. January will bring a new addition to our household, likely making our current circumstances of chasing Sara around seem tame in retrospect. Then, Ben’s graduation in summer 2011 will mean a new PhD program in fall, most likely at yet another university. But wherever we move, we are sure to have lots of fun and continue to enjoy one another’s company. Because, of course, life is too short to be spent within one’s comfort zone—right?

Wishing a Merry Christmas

                     and Happy Holidays,

      Catherine, Ben, and Sara Park

On top of the hill of the Monastery we stayed in. Perth, Scotland

In front of the Colosseum. Rome, Italy

In front of the Seine River & the Eiffel Tower. Paris, France

Ben graduated with "distinction" from the University of Edinburgh. Edinburgh, Scotland

The Family that punts together stays together:

Punting on the River Cam. Cambridge, England