My First Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas Everybody!

For those of you who haven't met me, my name is Linden, I am 11 months old and I am pretty excited for my first Christmas.  Because of all my writing experience with my blog (www.LifeAccordingToLinden.blogspot.com), my mama and daddy put me in charge of writing our Christmas letter this year.

2011 started off on a high note when I got to meet the fantastic mama who had been carrying me around for so long.  Mama and daddy were over-joyed to meet me and were excited for all the year would bring.

Jake and Bella, my beagles, were very excited to meet me.  They weren't sure what to do with me at first, but we are quickly becoming best friends, they especially like when I share my food off the side of my high chair.  Turk, my cat, and I have always gotten along.  He loves when I pet him and give him loves.

We had a very busy summer and spent a lot of time in the car visiting my Grandma Carolyn and Grandpa Tim in Alexandria, MN.  This summer I went for my first boat ride, enjoyed my first campfire, and learned the pure joy of splashing in the lake.  This next summer will bring even more adventures; I might even get to try my first S'more!  My favorite trip to the lake this summer was when Grandma Nancy, Grandpa Bob, and all my aunties came to the lake for Memorial Weekend!

I had a lot of firsts this year; my first smile, my first foods, my first words, and my first steps.  Mama and daddy are so proud of how much I have grown and how much I have changed.  Mama and daddy tell everybody how blessed they are to have such a happy and easy-going baby, I can't decide if I should throw them for a loop in year two!!

Mama is still working at Federated Insurance and daddy is still working at Truth Hardware.  They enjoy their jobs, but also look forward to getting to come home and see me after their day is done.  While mama and daddy are at work I get to spend my day at daycare.  Daycare is a lot of hard work!  I spend my day working on letters, numbers, shapes, colors and we even sneak in a lot of art projects too!  I have a lot of friends at daycare which makes it even more fun.

Beyond spending time with me, mama still enjoys baking, quilting, and spending time with friends.  Daddy spent a lot of time this summer golfing and looks forward to snowboarding and curling this winter.  My favorite hobbies include playing with babies, stacking things, telling stories and taking naps.  Mama and daddy took a couple of long weekends and even a trip to Las Vegas this year.  While they were gone I was lucky enough to get to spend time with my grandparents and aunties.

Even though we had a great time this past year, we also had a couple of sad moments.  My Great Grandma Dottie (Grandpa Tim's mom) passed away in December of 2010, I never got to meet her, but I know she was an amazing lady and is greatly missed.  Great Grandpa Glen (Grandma Carolyn's Dad) passed away in November of 2011.  I enjoyed getting to visit him over the summer, he loved seeing me and always looked forward to our visits.

I hope the past year has brought you joy.  May you have a very Merry Christmas, and may 2012 bring you love, adventure and many blessings.

With love,

Linden (mama and daddy send their love too!)

David, Amanda and Linden Aarsvold

Jake, Bella and Turk