Christmas Letter 2011

What follows is the Park family Christmas letter. Enjoy!
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Happy Holidays!
Another twelve months have gone by, and we are pleased to reflect on the year that was:

The biggest event this year was welcoming Curtis Benjamin Park into our family on January 17th. It’s weird to think of Curtis as “news,” because it already seems like he has been a part of our lives for so long and it is tough to imagine a time when we weren’t giggling with him, ogling over his smiles, chasing him, or being chased by him around the house. Curtis has a much more laid-back demeanor than Sara did at this age, though he is certainly developing as fun of a personality as his sister’s. Sara adores Curtis, except when he is playing with a toy she wants. It is one of the cutest sights to see them playing and giggling together. He is very mobile now, and has mastered a unique crawling technique in which he swings one leg beneath his body while pushing forward on his other knee—he can do this with either leg—almost as if he wants to constantly be ready to sit up and scope his surroundings. He is a delightful boy who brings many moments of joy into our lives.

Speaking of delightful, Sara is nearly two and a half years old with a personality as bubbly as her hair is curly. She is learning more and more words every week, and constantly surprises her parents with new sentences. (Ben’s favorite: “I don’t know where it is!”—only imagine the middle four words slurred and an absolutely adorable rising intonation.) She is becoming much more independent—much to the delight of her parents—and can actually be left alone in the toy room for whole minutes at a time. She especially loves to be a big sister, and lives to hug, play with, and sometimes even tackle her brother every chance she gets. Between her big smile, her playful enthusiasm, her big girl attitude, and her can’t miss curly hair (seriously, her curls have only become tighter as she’s grown), she draws a lot of attention whenever she is out in public. In short, she is a lot of fun to be around.

Ben completed his second master’s degree this year, this time in Political Thought and Intellectual History at the University of Cambridge. This summer was spent in Utah teaching at Brigham Young University, where he had a lot of fun. The fall brought us back to Cambridge as Ben started the PhD program in history, which has meant researching and reading a lot of books. His plan is to graduate in 2014.

Catherine had a busy summer traveling to see family. While staying at Grandma & Grandpa Park's this August she made a cute winter bear out of wood to hang on the wall. This being her first time on a scroll saw, we have to say she did pretty good. She was also able to visit Disneyland for the first time—quite an accomplishment, given she grew up in California! The rest of the year, she has loved spending time with the kids and playing “mum.”

At the end of March we moved from our cramped two bedroom flat to a spacious three bedroom semi detached home (townhouse). It has so much more space and truly does feel like a home. This year we were fortunate to visit some places not too far from us: Stonehenge, Bath, Canterbury, and Stratford upon Avon (the birthplace of Shakespeare).

Life is going well. We are grateful for our opportunity to live in this beautiful city in this beautiful part of the world, grateful for our wonderful family who supports us in numerous ways, and grateful for our tremendous friends who make our lives so much better by association. God bless you all.

Love, Catherine, Ben, Sara, & Curtis