The Lacey Family Christmas Card

Dear Family and Friends:

Welcome to the 2019 edition of the Lacey Family Digital Christmas Card!  As has become our tradition, we begin our annual letter with the following two observations, which remain true year after year:

First, and as sincerely as it can be said, we give thanks for all of you, our extraordinary group of family and friends.  We are deeply grateful for your love and support, for your laughter, for your stories, and for your joy.  We are appreciative for all the moments we spend with you each year, and look forward to many more in the years to come.

Second, we express our heartfelt gratitude to all of you who take the time to send us cards and letters this time of year.  We take great delight in the photos of you and your families, and in the accounts of your recent adventures.  Each year, our mantle is wonderfully crowded with colorful images of stars, trees, elves, and angels, and adorned with a host of smiling faces.  These cards, and the relationships they represent, are invaluable to us, and add immensely to our Christmas cheer.

We are grateful to report that 2019 once again found our crew in good health and good spirits, setting aside the occasional scraped elbow or stubborn cold.  Ella and Truman turned eight in January, and moved from second to third grade.  And August turned eleven in March, with fall bringing the big jump to the sixth grade and middle school.  Andrea and Aaron, for their part, elected not to advance in age this year.

While 2019 did not find the Lacey clan engaged in any international travel, it did include some wonderful domestic excursions.  In January, the gang hopped in the car and took a trip out to Lebanon, Tennessee, which is not only home to the original Cracker Barrel, but also to Saffire Farms, a 120-acre spread owned and managed by our dear friends Daren and Jamie Nicholson.  There is nothing like taking three city kids and letting them spend a weekend feeding lambs, wrangling cows, and stepping in mud up to their kneecaps.  It really was a great time, mud and all.  Take a look at the photos in our special gallery dedicated to the trip, and be sure to spot the one of Ella cow-taming.

The second, and by far the biggest, trip of the year was our annual pilgrimage to Jacksonville, Florida to visit Andrea’s side of the family.  We took two cars, Aunt Brenna, and Louis the pup, and stayed for nearly a month.  By all accounts, the trip was fantastic.  The first week, we rented a place on the intracoastal waterway, just north of Saint Augustine.  It was one of the few places the family has ever stayed that proved more beautiful in person than in the marketing materials.  For the second half of the trip, we rented a cozy house in historic Jacksonville, near the family.  The vacation was packed with mornings at the beach, evenings at the cousins’ pool, and occasional jaunts to local attractions (with the Kennedy Space Center taking the cake).  We’ve included another special gallery for this trip.  And if you want the information for the place on the intracoastal, just shoot Aaron an email.

The rest of the year was largely spent back at the ranch, juggling the incredible range of curricular and extracurricular activities in which the children participate.  August played on two soccer teams this year, and took on the trumpet in the middle school band.  Ella played on two soccer teams and a volleyball team, and started violin.  And Truman added his own soccer team and violin to the mix.  The kids were also “very excited” to attend choir and bells rehearsal at church on the weekends, in much the same way Aaron was “very excited” when his doctor suggested that he schedule a colonoscopy with next year’s physical. We are confident that in both cases, they’ll ultimately realize it’s good for them.

Andrea, as always, spent a goodly amount of the year in the garden, with the earth between her toes and a trowel in her hand.  Her work in and around the house continues to add great beauty to the old homestead. And she spends time helping friends and family with their own gardening plans.  She also took up pottery this year with a passion. To no one’s surprise, she is already producing beautiful pieces.  Gramma Lacey, it is worth noting, was also a skilled potter back in the day, but was traumatized when the clay Mary she was creating for her Nativity Set exploded in the kiln.  This was widely interpreted as a sign that the Laceys should not be pottery people (Andrea, keeping this in mind, has determined to focus on secular pots).

Aaron is still at Thompson Coburn in Saint Louis, and had a great year on the job.  The hours were many, and the travel was at an all-time high.  But he is blessed to work with an extraordinarily talented group of people, whose company he truly enjoys.  He knows this is a rare gift, and does not take it for granted.  Nor does he take for granted the support and patience he receives from the home front.  

Speaking of rare gifts, Aaron was astounded and delighted to discover the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile parked in his neighborhood one evening this summer (many, many photos were taken).  Indeed, between, amidst, and among the daily activities of life, the past year brought innumerable moments of silliness, fellowship, and fun.  And we are very glad to share just a few of them in our Year in Photos gallery for 2019.

As always, we’re grateful that you’ve found the time to read the digital card, and invite you to check out the galleries, poems, and other items on the site at your leisure.

Warmest regards and Merry Christmas,

The Laceys