Greetings from the Wallaces

For John and me the New Year started with Imogen’s birth, December 15th, 2007.
It is hard to believe she is a year old. But she has all the signs of being a one year old: she wants to feed herself, she walks on her own and gets going fast, (but sometimes she finds Mom and wants to be picked up), she has a wonderful sense of humour and likes to play silly games…some which include Mommy and Daddy hitting themselves, she loves other kids and tries to keep up with the older ones (climbing up play structures and sliding down slides), she loves "babies" and tries to be gentle with them…I could go on.We have loved all the stages that she has gone through and that we are privileged to see her reach this important milestone: her first birthday!

Her birth in itself was pretty special. We had numerous visitors at the hospital before she was even born. In the delivery room were both her grandmas, her Auntie Ange, Daddy (of course), and a host of other people. We were eager to name her: Imogen Grace—In the Image of God’s Favour. For her baby shower over forty wonderful women attended! We felt showered with love. As she has grown we have had some adventures too. Christmas was indeed special. Auntie Angela and her family were "home," (really Texas is home to the Baggetts, but Angela got her Canadian Christmas).The cousins—Ivan and Dominique loved on Imogen a lot. Great Aunt Marj and cousin Amber came for a quick visit too. In the New Year we had more special visits—one from Uncle Jim and Auntie Susie. We loved that.

Plenty of special events filled our year. There were celebrations and times of loss as well. February was a mixed month. We celebrated the 40th anniversary of Grandma Ruth being in Canada.(We also said goodbye to a dear friend—one of the first friends to welcome Ruth to Canada and to our church—Vi Bell.)On Valentine’s Day, John’s sister Jess was in an accident.She lost feeling in her legs and soon will be taking rehab to learn to walk again. We pray that in 2009 this will be a reality for her. She was expecting at the time and couldn’t do any rehab work, (her good news baby arrived in July). We took some trips as well… The first one without Daddy was to Ladies’ Retreat in February. Then we all went on a very special trip to see Great Grandma Inez and meet Imogen’s Great Aunt and Great Uncles in Jamaica. (This would be the last time Grandma Ruth got to see her brother Neville. He passed away in September after years of illness. We also continue to pray for Ruth’s brother-in-law George who continues to recover.)

In March, Imogen went to her first wedding--of a friend who really was an instigator in getting John and I together.In July we traveled to Edmonton and got to meet my cousins as well as Auntie Ange again!We also welcomed a very special little cousin Addyson Zoe Wallace-Fenske. She entered the world with a lot of hair and still has more than Imogen. We celebrated Grandpa Ian’s 60th birthday too. (Grandpa Rob and Uncle Andrew had birthdays too.) Soon fall approached and with that a visit from Auntie Andrea and her mom. We went to Canmore and even got in some Highland Games despite the snow. We met up with my cousin, Krista, Gary and met baby Victoria.

In September we had Uncle Jim and Auntie Susie, Great Grandpa Bob and Great-Grandma Olive came and we celebrated more birthdays: Grandma Ruth’s 65th, Auntie Jess’ 25th and Great Grandma’s Olive birthday as well as her and Great Grandpa’s anniversary. Halloween followed and Imogen was a skunk. Needless to say I probably won’t get away with that one again—with Imogen at least. We had fun visiting my work, Grandpa Rob’s work and trick-or-treating. November is never an easy month but Imogen made it a little better. There were more babes at church also to bring a smile to our face. We are already teaching Imogen about her brother Gordon. Grandma Sue had a birthday in November as well. Throughout the year Imogen and I participated in mommy and baby groups (one that is called Village Time), and classes: a walk n’ stroll, Starfish swim and Babies’ salsa. We had great times with my friends who had babies in 2007 and 2008. We are not sure if we will be able to take any 9 or 10 am classes when I go back to work in the afternoons in January. I will be working at a new school but I will still be teaching kindergarten.

And that takes us to December!—Phew! December, despite it being a busy time, is indeed a blessed time of year. We end 2008 remembering the birth of a baby--a beginning. Our faith has sustained us in hard times and has uplifted us in good. We are so glad for this season to celebrate Christ’s birth and be grateful for all we have. Thank you for being a blessing to us and rejoicing with us as we welcomed our gift from heaven, our daughter Imogen.