Merry Christmas!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

This year has been full of action, adventure, joy, sorrow, and pretty much anything else you can think up. The most exciting thing to happen in our family was the birth of our two newest children, Emily and Ethan. We were very shocked to find out we were having twins and totally excited at the same time! But we didn’t expect that they would come so early. They were born in Salt Lake City at the University of Utah hospital at 23 weeks. Ethan was with us for 17 days before he finished his mission here on earth and returned to heaven. We miss and think about him every day but know that this was Heavenly Father’s plan for our family. While you sit back with your eggnog, apple cider, or hot cocoa all nestled up in your blanket in front of the fire (or space heaters in our case), listen carefully and we will tell you the tale of the Hodges’ latest adventures…

Ryan has completed his academic year of PA school and is now in the middle of his E.R. rotation. He absolutely loves what he’s doing and he’s starting to feel a little more confident in his ability to heal people. He’s still got 5 more rotations to get through, including a pediatric rotation in St. George, Utah, and psychiatric rotation at the Maximum Security Prison in Kuna, Idaho (I said rotation, not incarceration!). Can you say fun and exciting!

Christy spends her time mostly at home taking care of the house and the kids. She loves to be able to stay home, do things with the kids, crafts, blog, and scrap book, that’s if she finds the time! She also loves going to the gym and getting a good workout in every morning.

Madi is now four and has been in pre-school since August. She has made some good friends at school. Her best friends are Maya, Eubin, Logan, and Jeramiah and talks about them constantly. She gave her first talk and prayer in primary and even though she wouldn’t look at anyone while doing it, she did great. She’s learned how to write her name, and loves to draw now. She and Avery are inseparable! They are constantly singing, drawing, painting, and running around together.

Avery is our little comedian. She also loves to eat and will have half her dinner gone before the prayer is even offered. She and Madi play all the time and it is cute listening to them sing, laugh and play together. Her hair is growing out and starting to curl at the ends, and her smile is always popping up on her face. She is quite the talker now too and is always saying the funniest things. She is quite stubborn too, like her mom. She’s also a very good sister to Emily and is very careful when she holds her.

Emily is growing really fast. She’s had heart surgery, been on a ventilator for about 3 months, and overcome all of her physical limitations to become a pretty normal baby. It’s crazy to think that when she and Ethan were born they only weighed a little over a pound each. She and Ethan’s arms were the size of my pinky! And now she is cooing, smiling, laughing, rolling over both ways and has some mega rolls on her cute little legs. We are so grateful for the progress she is making and that she and Ethan are in our family.

As a tradition in our Christmas letters, we want to let you know some of our favorite things from 2009.

Favorite movie of the year: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Ryan and Christy), Madagascar 1 and 2 (Madi), Cars (Avery), and Boise State Football games with Daddy (Emily).

Favorite experience of 2009: Meeting Emily and Ethan (Ryan and Christy), Going to Pre-school and making new friends (Madi), discovering chocolate milk (Avery), and coming home to Idaho from the hospital (Emily).

What we’re looking forward to in 2010: Graduating from school and becoming a PA (finally!) (Ryan and Christy), learning to read and write even more (Madi), potty training for good and discovering other delicious foods(Avery), and learning to eat solid food (Emily) ;).

Love, the Hodges

Ryan, Christy, Madisen, Avery, Emily, and Ethan