Christmas Card {Scanned Photo}

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope this letter finds you well. As most of you know, we have had an eventful year! We have experienced a lot and want to share with you the lessons we've learned in 2012.

We learned that some of our biggest BLESSINGS come in small packages! After 11 years of wanting children, we were blessed with the tiniest bundle of joy weighing 1 lb 8 oz and 11 3/4 inches long. She just couldn't wait any longer to meet us and was born at 24 weeks (4 months early). We just love our little Emmalynn Fern Candland!

We learned to be GRATEFUL for modern medicine/technology and inspired medical professionals. Emmalynn was in the NICU for 137 days and received the best care! She had the “Cadillac” of stays by having her heart ligated, a tracheostomy, and a gastrostomy (gtube). We will forever be in debt to the wonderful doctors and nurses who saved our baby girls life.

We learned that MIRACLES happen everyday and inspire faith, hope, service, and love. Emmalynn's story touched not only our lives, but the lives of people around us, and the lives of people we didn't even know. We felt the prayers of so many and were in awe at the acts of service and hundreds of donations made in her name.

We learned that the SIMPLE things in life are what really matter most. Spending so much time at the hospital made us realize that all the things we wanted and needed to do all the time (you know Deneigh and her projects) weren’t as important as we thought. Deneigh is now living her dream of being a stay at home mom and simply focusing on our daughter and helping her thrive and progress. Speaking of simple, we are counting this as our baby announcement (hence the reason there are only pictures of Emmalynn), moving card (see the front of the envelope), and Christmas card (the novel you are reading)!

We learned that GROWTH is a challenge with a reward! Although we are grateful that at 7 months our little peanut is weighing 9 pounds, this isn’t the kind of growth we’re talking about. During the year we grew spiritually, and more recently Phillip is stretching himself mentally. After a 2 year wait to get into a program, we both felt it was important for him to finish his (long awaited) degree when the opportunity presented itself. Emmalynn threw us for a loop by coming early, but Phillip sacrificed a semester away from his girls and went ahead to Las Vegas to begin his 2.5 year program at UNLV. He is getting all A’s and we are very grateful for Skype/Facetime! Emmalynn is finally strong enough for his girls to join him in time for Christmas!

Our favorite thing we learned this year is the true meaning of LOVE. We learned what it feels like to love your child unconditionally. We increased our love and devotion to each other by becoming parents. We felt the love and support from so many of you.

We have so much to be grateful for and we look forward to more life lessons in 2013! We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

Phillip, Deneigh, Emmalynn, & Shelby @