2009 Annual Collver Christmas Letter

A woman of many words, I am on the second round of editing the 3 page letter that describes our year. I give it a bit of thought and decide that I should just post mini blogs for each month of the last year and it would shorten this letter by at least 5000 words. What will I fill this letter with, then, if I am not going to include the happenings of the year. I guess I could write a reflection.

2009 was an eventful year for us Collver’s. There were great achievements, milestones and amazing memories that will last for years to come.

As we near the end of 2009 and look forward to 2010, I am filled with emotion. Not just because it is natural for me, being a woman and all, but because I am reminded how big my God really is. I am reminded of the birth of my Savior and the intimacy of my relationship with Him. A warm feeling fills my soul when I also think of my family. How each of them has their own personal relationship with their Creator, their Savior. Just like the unique relationships we share with each and every one of our friends and family.

I am overwhelmed at the amazing love that has been poured out for our family this year. Each event I wanted to cover began or ended with an act of love. Christmas is a spiritual holiday for us. We celebrate the birth of our Savior, who loved us so much. We, the Collver’s, have learned more about life and death and love and grace this year than we expected. It fills us with joy, peace and gratitude.

So how do I cover it all in one letter? I simply can’t. I was created uniquely in the area of words. I love words and I can’t seem to fit them all into one letter. I can’t seem to express the gratitude that I have for all that we have been given in such a short time.

I pray special blessings for those of you reading our letter this year. I pray for health, I pray for prosperity. I pray for healing and peace. I pray that each of us would experience a loving relationship with our savior. As we celebrate the season with gatherings, gifts and giving, I pray that the birth of our Savior will not grow dim.

For all our friends and family, near and far, we look forward to the next time we are able to gather with you in fellowship. We look forward to what the next year will bring for you. The learning and growing and the excitement of not knowing what will come of 2010. So we look forward with anticipation of the gifts that we will unwrap throughout the year, the ones that weren’t planned. The love that we will experience, and the relationships that will grow and change. For these gifts are ones that we can take with us anywhere, anytime.

Merry Christmas to you and blessings for you and your family,

Heather Collver
(if you want to read more, I posted a blog for each month. Enjoy!!!)

January 2009

January 2009

Photo: A friend sent us this photo of our house while we were gone on vacation to California. When we got home, it was all melted.

We celebrated the new year in California. When we arrived home, we found all the snow had melted. We had missed one of the biggest snow storms in Oregon history. We ended the month in Sunriver, at the annual youth staff retreat. We had a great time connecting with staff and serving them for once. We took a group caving. I finally got over my fear of small spaces and crawled to the very smallest crevice of the cave. It wasn’t until I realized the only way we were getting out is by backing out. I began to panic. If it weren’t for the two amazing staff that encouraged me, I would probably still be there.

February 2009

February 2009

Photo: The girls dress as rock stars and rock out in the living room.

Hayley had a quiz meet earned a few ribbons. She worked hard, we are proud of her. The girls completely pampered their friend Addyson during a sleep over. The next morning they all dressed as super stars and rocked out to see Addyson shake and dance to the music. This left them all laughing hysterically. Mayor’s Ball is always something we look forward to. This year was no different. Dale and I went all out and dressed for the Mexico theme. We love to volunteer for such a great cause. It is always fun to see everyone and take their photos at this event. Creative Photography by Dale celebrated 12 years of business. We are so grateful for friends, family and our community for supporting our business during these hard economic times. Valentines was quite interesting this year. We went to dinner with two other couples and had a blast. We played the "who's family is more messed up" game. Basically you try to out do some one's story. It was refreshing to know that everyone has issues in their family circles. The girls decided whipped cream made a great decoration of a heart a top a pancake smothered in butter and syrup. The photos are priceless.

March 2009

March 2009

Photo: Hayden prepares the heart for the Build a Bear Monkey she made during a volunteer event for Doernbecker Children's Hospital.

Highlights in March were volunteering with our life insurance company at Build-A-Bear for children in Dornbecker Children's Hospital. Each of the girls stuffed a bear for a child and got to keep one. They gifted their bears to 3 Foster Children. Hayley participated in JA Biztown in Portland. It was a simulation for students to see how businesses run to support each other. She was a web designer. She had to apply for her job, perform duties, keep a savings and checking account and purchase something with her paycheck. Hayden learned to use the camera and took several self portraits. Every time we used the camera, we discovered her artwork. The card was usually full. Hayley dressed as a Pirate in a Choir performance. Roxy, our puppy was no longer a little, cute, cuddly, sweet pup. She particularly enjoyed to swallow our socks whole and chew on leather shoes. We enjoyed a visit to Chuck E Cheeses with grandma during spring break. That is always a treat. Dale and his staff pulled off another successful Middle School All-Nighter with Dale speaking at the basketball camp the next morning. He came home and passed out.

April 2009

April 2009

Photo: Dale cleans up after a T-P fest from the youth group. Ughh.

This year was the first year we celebrated Easter without any other family. I celebrated another birthday. Hayden and Hayley both donated their hair to Locks of Love. Leaving a short bob which was great for spring and easy to take care of. During a sleepover for Hayley, we were tipped off that a group of the youth kids were coming to T-P our house. So we hid in the back of Dale's truck and ambushed them when they got here. It was hilarious. They still got quite a bit of T-P all over our yard, but not without us drenching them with hoses first. Even the neighbor boy across the street was in on it and more then happy to help us out. A speaker from Africa stayed with one of our teens families. They decided to show him what teens do for fun and took him on a TP spree. He later used his experience in a sermon in Africa. He sent us a copy of the sermon. It talked about how we were ready to protect our home. It was great.

May 2009

May 2009

Photo: Heather and Dale, Lanai'i, Hawaii.

Hannah celebrated her 8th birthday. We decided that the girls should have to stand and hug each other when they are being unkind to one another. So they would stand in the middle of the floor and hug until we thought they would stop arguing. It worked for a while. For Mother's Day, I went to the spa with Donna and Danielle and we had The Works Pedicure. It was really relaxing and our toes look beautimous. Roxy was growing up so fast, she officially had no accidents and was responding to our commands. Dale and I took advantage of the extremely low fares and enjoyed a week in Hawaii. It was very relaxing. While we were gone, Danielle enrolled Hayden in the Spanish Immersion program at the school. We officially kicked off the fundraising season for kids that needed to raise money for camp. We had a lot of fun washing cars, tree sales, plant sales, food and fellowship events and pastry sales. Hayley earned all of her money for camp, money for her friend and had spending money. We spent the last weekend of May in California taking wedding photos for our new friends, the Ochoa’s.

June 2009

June 2009
Photo: Dale's youth staff take photos of his big slide, 100 ft down the slip and slide for youth group on a hot Summer night.

A few days into the month, we celebrated my mom’s 50th birthday. It was then that we realized that my Grandma, JoAnne, was very ill. She has been battling breast cancer since 2001 and the cancer had spread to her lungs. I am very happy to report that she has responded well to all the care from her medical team and is doing much better. We enjoyed the 100 foot slip and slide on a hot summer night at youth group. Dale made it all the way to the end. Hayley graduated out of 5th grade with a student of the month award for Friendship. Hannah also received an award for student of the month. The girls enjoyed starting the Summer Reading Program at the Library. Dale and I celebrated our 13 year anniversary.