Christmas Letter 2010

Hello from the Hugheses and thank you for taking the time to read our letter. Some may think of us as "electronically savvy" by doing our letter online, while others may think of us as "fiscally conservative" (to put it nicely!). Whatever you choose to call us, thank you for taking the time to look us up!

We hope you'll enjoy our online letter as it will allow you the opportunity to see pictures with our story, and there are some great pictures this year (mostly of a handsome, blue-eyed boy).

As most of you know, 2010 was a year of transition for us in more ways than one: transition in terms of location - Lincoln, NE back to Noblesville, IN; transition in terms of name changes and roles - from honey to mommy/daddy; and a daily transition in terms of faith - from pride to humility as we attempt to daily remember our need for God's saving grace through the death of His son on the cross. It has been a year of growth and change and we are only better for it.

We started 2010 in Lincoln, Nebraska where Jon had the amazing opportunity to work as a clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the 8^th Circuit. He loved the work and the people and misses his job very much. We suffered through a rough Nebraska winter (I think people are still digging out of the snow last winter brought in Lincoln) but loved being so close to Heather's family who made visits as much as possible. We were also able to see a lot of friends, as Lincoln was a great stopping point for several of them.

In April, we were blessed to accompany Heather’s family (thanks to Jon’s family!) on a fabulous trip to Orlando, FL. It was so fun to experience Disney with our niece Izabel and spend quality time with family. It was also fun to see a 34-week pregnant lady waddle all over Magic Kingdom!

And then there was June…… sweet, sweet, June! We welcomed our precious Nolan William to the world on June 15^th. Words cannot describe the experience and the joy we feel to have him in our lives.

God surrounded us with family and friends during this time and we are eternally grateful to everyone who prayed for us, visited us, sent cards and gifts, made meals, and loved on our Nolan. One of the other blessings from our time in Lincoln was our church family. We had a wonderful church and small group and we miss them all so much!

We spent the rest of the summer introducing Nolan to our world and all of his family, and taking advantage of being in Nebraska for our last few months.

August ended our time in Lincoln and we packed up and headed back to Indiana. Jon’s parents and his brother could hardly wait and greeted all three of us back with open arms (especially the youngest one of us).

Jon is an associate at Bose McKinney & Evans and really enjoys the job. He stays very busy and does not get to be home as much as we would all like, so that is hard, but we know this is where God wants us and we are so thankful for the opportunity. Heather stays home with Nolan for now but just accepted a speech therapy job at an assisted living facility, which will start in January. It is so good to be back to our friends, family, and church here in Indiana and great to be back to our HOME. That being said, this year has surely taught us that a home is certainly not a building, but rather wherever we are together, and we LOVE being together!

As we look back it is hard to believe all of the amazing experiences we have had. And it is even harder to believe that our little Nolan is rolling over, jabbering, laughing, and trying so very hard to crawl. Is he really already 6 months old?

We hope that you enjoyed the summary of our year. To those of you who we were able to see this year, it is always great to fellowship with you. To those we missed, we hope we will have the opportunity to see you soon. Please feel free to visit our blog throughout the year to keep up on “life with the Hugheses”. May your Christmas be merry and bright and may your 2011 be blessed!

Love,

The Hugheses