This really is one of the most wonderful times of the year. The holidays bring quality family time, the excitement of Santa, beautiful snowfalls and more importantly, my Grandma Boylen’s annual Christmas letter. Each year I anticipate receiving her card in the mail and each year she ceases to amaze me! In these letters she gives the rundown on what each of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren have been up to within the year.

While we send out a holiday card each year, I never take the time to write a letter – so I am now.

2012 has been a busy year in the Leschisin household. With each passing year our lives get more hectic and it seems no matter how hard we try, we continue to take on more. We would probably be bored without all the hobbies, projects and to-do’s in our lives.

The biggest news is the addition of our second child, Will. Born on August 4th at 8 lbs. 2 oz. – he has completed our little family. He is very good-natured (as long as you feed him non-stop) and smiling all the time to show off his Ella-like dimples. He attends the same daycare as Ella and just learned to roll over. He is pretty laid back so far, which we appreciate and are hoping he will continue to be the Yang to Ella’s Yin.

Ella is full of something! She recently celebrated her 4th birthday and has enough personality and attitude for a fourteen year old. She has a lot of friends at daycare and loves going on regular field trips. She attends speech therapy at the local elementary two days a week and basks in the one-on-one attention she receives. She loves every day life, but she might say one of her top events this year was meeting Bucky Badger!

In between golf outings, Joe has been busy crossing things off his project to-do list. We’ve lived in our home for over three years and in that time we have overhauled the landscaping, built a deck and fence and this year focused on finishing our basement. Recently he decided it was time to leave his full-time job to focus on Kella Design, the marketing business we started in 2005. His remaining time is spent working part-time at the Kennedy Communications, the advertising agency I have worked at since 2007.

My life is about the same as always, unpredictable. I turned 30 this year and have been adjusting quite well to old age. As I mentioned I’m still at Kennedy and was recently named the Chief Operating Officer over the entire agency. It’s an honorable promotion and I’m grateful for the opportunity. I try to remain active by competing in a women’s volleyball league each week and juggling the day-to-day chaos of our lives.

The world around us is complicated. Life gets busy and we all get wrapped up in the things that do not matter. Sadly, we lost Joe’s grandfather a few weeks ago and while our hearts are heavy, its a timely reminder of what the holidays should be about. This holiday season, take the time to tell your loved ones just how important they are and stop focusing on all the material gifts and give the only one that matters – your love and attention.

Happy Holidays and a Festive New Year!