Christmas Card? What Christmas Card?

Happy Holidays Everyone! I hope these days between Christmas and New Year's are finding you and your family healthy, rested, and still speaking to each other after days of togetherness and family bonding. Holiday togetherness brings out the best, and sometimes worst, in my family, with never a dull moment in between. Why is that?

Meanwhile, I am trying to get things together to put the family Christmas card in the mail. I have the cards all signed, addressed and ready to go. The problem is the picture. Right now, I have a better picture of the three dogs than I do of the three children. I tried to get pictures of the three children with the three dogs, but that's nearly impossible. So, I'm thinking that I will post all of the pictures here, and post the following Holiday Message in lieu of a card? We'll see. In case I don't get to the card, here is the Sullivan Holiday Newsletter that you will be happy I'm not sending....

Greetings from the Sullivan Family! Hope the New Year is finding you all as fabulous as we are. We have had just an amazing and incredible year, and want to share the details of our incredible good fortune and hard work with all of our dozens of closest friends and family around the world. I know you all will find our lives and our experiences as incredible as we do.

This year we had no weddings, no college graduations, no engagements, no transatlantic journeys, no home construction projects, no family reunions, no rehab, no meetings with world leaders, and no significant awards of any kind. Somehow, we managed to have an incredible year, as you will no doubt agree.

William, our oldest son, who changed his identity when he changed his primary residence, is still in college (stay posted on this, as kids everywhere are returning home for the holidays to stay....). Trey is simply fabulous now that he is in Charleston, South Carolina. He went from a school with no girls to a school with 65% girls, so you can imagine his and our every day delight at his change in social circumstances. Trey was named President of his fraternity pledge class, which is fabulous, because it means he is the primary source of funding for all of the upperclassmen's social necessities, which is wonderful. Oh, and did I mention his fraternity is completely dry? My children are so wonderful that none of them ever drinks any alcoholic beverages at all, ever.

Ethan also did incredibly well this past year. He is the smartest, fastest, cutest, tallest, nicest, most well-rounded and empathetic 16 year-old we know. Ethan never seems to have any time for himself, as he is constantly focused on what he can do for others, especially his sister, Julia. Their bond is incredibly close, and I am just amazed every day at how loving and kind they are to each other. I know those bonds will last a lifetime and are a model for others. Ethan spends every day volunteering, getting straight A's, being elected officer of one club or another, and generally being nice to others. It is truly amazing how he requires almost no sleep yet maintains a sunny and cheery disposition throughout the day and night. That's just our Ethan.

Julia is also incredible these days. She loves her brothers, and is a shining star not only in our family but to all who are lucky enough to be in her presence. Julia shines at school, in the pool, at home, in the backyard, while walking the dog, and well, everywhere she goes. Julia's lack of drama, unlike so many other 9 year-old girls, simply amazes us. Perhaps Julia's sunny personality can be traced to filling what little free time she has with reading, walking the dogs, and doing crafts, and not watching any TV or playing computer games. We marvel at how Julia manages to have dozens of friends vying for any time she has left over, and how she loves her daily violin and swim practice. As with her brothers, we find ourselves incredibly lucky just to be in Julia's presence every day.

As for Bill and me, we are just incredible. Together and more in love than ever after all these years. In fact, we love each other more and more with each day we have together. It is simply incredible how easy it is to ignore each other's snoring and farting day after day after day. The two of us became incredibly close during the presidential election, as we found ourselves agreeing on nearly every issue and candidate. We were both incredibly disappointed, and shocked, when the McCain-Palin ticket succumbed, and, frankly, are worried for the country in these admittedly historic times.

We hope you all had as an incredible year as we did, and that your children are as loving and successful as ours. It's okay if life isn't always fabulous and incredible, but make sure not to tell us so in your holiday newsletter; it would spoil all the fun!