You are holding in your hands our very first family Christmas letter! Many people write letters but this is a first time for us. We are excited to share with you everything that is going on in our lives. We have been so blessed this year that we decided to make a quick bullet point list to share with you.
Kaitlyn Taylor was born on May 13th, at 11:44 pm weighing 7 pounds and 14 ounces. By far, she is the biggest blessing in our lives! Stacey was exhausted after 44 hours of labor but our sweet Kait stole our hearts immediately. She bonded with us quickly and we came home from the hospital a family of 3. Over the next few months we were on a fast paced learning curve. Many parents complain about getting up in the night but honestly (and I'm not kidding here) that was Stacey's favorite part of the day! It was a time when Stacey could cuddle her baby, rock her, sooth her, and pray over her. We feel like we're going to blink and she is going to be grown up, so anytime that she wants us to hold her, we're all hands on deck!
Michael participated in a short term medical mission trip to help Haiti after the earthquake in January. Here is an excerpt taken from our blog, written by Michael about the trip: "I cannot even begin to tell you what it is like to watch a 25 year old man be told that he is going to lose his leg below the knee and then to have him genuinely thank us for being there and helping him. Over and over, everyday that I was there, patients would receive the devastating news that their leg, arm, hand, thumb or toe would have to be amputated. I never heard anyone ask 'why me.'" Back at home, Stacey assisted with this trip as well and was assigned the task of finding landing time slots for the plane to land at Port Au Prince. The airport was landing 12 flights a day prior to the earthquake and 400 flights a day afterwards with a demolished tower. By the time Stacey started calling, the US military had taken over the control of the landing slots and once Stacey got through she had to justify the reason of the landing with the controller. Both of us LOVE short term service trips. Michael enjoys helping with the medical aspect and Stacey with the logistics aspect. This experience brought us closer together as a couple and helped us remember to never take anything for granted.
This summer also marked something significant in Michael's life; he became a Clark County Firefighter! Currently, he is volunteering with District 6 and loves it. He does weekly training with the volunteer team and then serves one day a week at the station along with other various community involvements (last weekend he served pancakes at Applebee’s as a fundraiser for a local school).
We have been really lucky to receive many amazing gifts for Kaitlyn's arrival. One gift really stands out; a beautiful Magnolia tree to plant in our backyard! We took several pictures of Kaitlyn by the tree after we planted it and we plan to do so every year to watch the tree and her grow together over time. This was such a special gift!
Throughout this year, we have really seen God's hand in our lives, working and molding us to be who He has created us to be. Even though the most difficult thing for me (Stacey) this year was the physical pain of pregnancy, in some backwards way the pain gave me humility and gratitude. We are truly blessed!
Love,
Michael, Stacey, and Kaitlyn
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