Hello, Dawson Family

Greetings Family and Friends,

As we come to the end of this year, it feels like we have reached a significant milestone since moving to the USA in 2022, in that rather than saying we are settling in, we can say that we have settled into our home and community. The pace of life, once so demanding and full of change, has eased, and we have been able to take a breath and just rest at Christmas this year. These days, we are grateful that we find our joy in the small moments – days spent together as a family and the comfort of home.

Every year that I write our Christmas Card, I walk through our calendar and photos from the past year. It reminds me of where we started, where we went, and how it is that we have come to be at the place we are today. And somehow, this exercise always moves me to tears as I realize how each of you – our family and friends – showed up for us this year.

This sentiment was particularly overwhelming at the start of the year when we celebrated Theo’s 2nd Birthday and as we welcomed a new baby boy, Gabriel Gaetan, on February 20th into our family. I was too pregnant to be able to travel, so our family came to us for Theo’s birthday party. The pure excitement and complete satisfaction on a two year old’s face to have a sleepover with his cousins at home was priceless, just priceless. Then, my mom came to stay with us for a couple of weeks when Gabe was born. She completely took care of Theo while Nick and I were at the hospital for five days and helped us ease into life as a family of four when we came home with Gabe. We all loved having her with us during that time, especially Theo. Some days, there is a deep ache we feel while living apart from family, so we savour and cherish the times when our family gathers under our roof.

Since we have moved, we have been asked the question, “What brought you here?” more times than I can count. The short answer is most often, “Nick’s work”. But, if we were to sit down and tell you our story, the answer is really one about a faithful and trustworthy God. Now, I say this because our faith in God seemed so big at that time when we decided to move, and it was. But, what we could not fully grasp then but can now clearly see is that God’s faithfulness is and always has been bigger.

You see, we knew no one when we moved here. And yet, when Gabe was born, we had friends who showered us with gifts, friends who gave us meals, and friends who checked in on us and held our kids to give us a break. Every time someone brought us a meal, Nick and I looked at each other in almost disbelief; We were struck by the generosity and care shown to us by all of these people who we had only just met. It seems almost impossible that our little family could be so well loved in such short order. So, it is in this that we have better understood that the story of our move was not just about our faith in God, but first, about the steadfast faithfulness of a trustworthy God who promises to prepare the way, provide the means, and pour out untold blessing.

With having a new baby, Nick was able to take three months of parental leave from work! Nick spread this time over the course of the year, most of it when Gabe first arrived, but a month in the summer so we could do a couple of longer camping trips. With a newborn in tow, we decided to stick to the places we knew and returned to the Okanagan in July and the Oregon Coast in August. It makes me laugh to think how different a second child is from a first child, or rather, how different we are as parents. Gabe’s first camping trip was for two weeks to the Okanagan in 40C weather. I am not sure we would have managed camping with a baby in that kind of heat with our first, but with our second, there wasn’t even a second thought (pun-intended).

Man, is it ever a lot of work to camp with kids! But, man oh man, is it ever FUN!! Paddle boarding with Theo on the lake, hauling two kids up and over the sand dunes in a snow sled in Oregon, and riding our e-bikes with the boys in tow is just about as good as it gets in my books. While Gabe and I slept with Grannie and Papa in the trailer, Theo slept with Nick in the tent for the first time! It was amazing to spend time with our kids outdoors and we all loved it!

A very big highlight of this year was our trip to Calgary to spend time with our whole extended Dawson family! In November, we took our first flight as a family of four and celebrated an early Christmas at Gigi and Papa’s. It had been almost three years (!) since we had all been together and we were thankful to have a few days of quality time to play games, bake cookies, and just sit around and catch-up, especially with Nick’s brother and sister. Plus, it was the first time ever that all of the Dawson cousins were all together, so it was special to see our nieces (Jaida, Quinn, and Charlotte) dote on and play with Theo and Gabe.

A little more about…

Theodore (2 Years Old)

Theodore loves his little brother, knows his alphabet letters, and sings songs all day long. Theo also learned how to ride his balance bike this summer which mobilized us in new ways and made cruising around our neighbourhood a blast, if not a little more sweaty for Mom and Dad. His favourite books to read this year were the “Percy the Park Keeper” series by Nick Butterworth. His favourite thing to play with are cars and trucks and he knows all of his construction site vehicles. He played indoor soccer this fall and his favourite skill to practice was the “flamingo”, a.k.a. balancing on one foot. Theo now sleeps in a “big boy” bed and his favourite shirt to wear is “You Got a Friend in Me”, a T-Shirt with the characters from Toy Story.

Gabriel (10 Months Old)

Gabriel was the best part of our year! He has earned the nicknames Gabe, Gabey, and Baby Gabey. He is a very happy boy and always wants to be with his people and in the mix. He is such a lover and snuggler, which makes Mom and Dad happy! He can say “Da”, “Bubba”, and “Ma”. He sleeps through the night, flaps his arms when he is excited (especially when he sees his big brother), and is pulling himself up to stand on everything. He likes to chuck balls, puts everything in his mouth, and he wants to play with anything that Theo plays with, especially cars and trucks. Gabe is also now an official dual citizen, American and Canadian!

Nick (firmly mid-30s)

Nick finished all of the projects inside the house including building a mudroom in the garage, wainscoting the nursery before Gabe came home, adding shiplap in Theo’s “big boy” room, and installing blinds in all of our windows. He also built a train table for Theo for the play room which has become the centre of our home and where our family spends most evenings. Nick assembled a lot of furniture, hung up photos on our walls, and overall, has done all the heavy lifting (literally) that has made our house truly feel like home. Oh, and he received a promotion to Principal Scientist at his (side) job at Bristol Myers Squibb!

Janelle (younger than Nick)

I seem to have done a lot but also not much which is life as a mom in a nutshell. My favourite thing to do is go for walks with Theo and Gabe, rain or shine. I returned to MomCo (a group for moms with young children) this year and also joined a weekly Bible Study, both of which I love for the ways it helps me think through motherhood and for the friendships I have found. This year was also filled with visits with good friends – old friends, new friends, out-of-town friends, work friends, family who are also friends. I went for dinner, for walks, on playdates, on phone dates, to the zoo, for coffee, for brunch, to the park, and even away from the kids for the weekend with friends. My heart felt full this year after times likes these.

This year, as a family:

• We welcomed a new niece in April, Julia Dorothy Soquila, born to my younger brother and his wife, Regan and Florence. Little Juju is exactly two months younger than Gabe, and we can’t wait to see what this cute duo gets up to as they grow up!
• We dedicated Gabe at our home church, Redeemer, in June. We chose the name Gabriel because it means “God is my strength” and we also named Gabe after Janelle’s Grandpa, Gaetan.
• We rode our e-bikes around Snoqualmie in the summer. We hooked up a bike trailer to one of our bikes and would often cruise our neighbourhood in the evenings after dinner.
• Nick and Theo joined my brother, Jordan, and his twins to go to Theo’s first Major League Baseball game when the Toronto Blue Jays played the Seattle Mariners in July. Theo was a good Canadian kid and cheered for the Jays with vigour!
• We loved the Woodland Park Zoo! We would pack a picnic lunch, load up the kids, and hang out walking the paths through the zoo all day. Theo loved the lions and penguins. Nick loved the bears. I loved the giraffes. And, Gabe loved to sleep in the stroller!
• We took Theo and Gabe to Disney-on-Ice for the first time! Yes, I absolutely loved sharing the world of figure skating with my kids and Theo loved seeing Woody, Buzz, and Lightning McQueen.
• We took a day trip to Leavenworth, WA in Decemeber. It is a Bavarian town, about a two hour drive from our home. We enjoyed the Christmas lights and cute shops, and Theo was very excited to see Santa there, too.

So, there you have it! That was 2024 for our Dawson family – the year our precious Gabriel was born!

Our hearts are full as we look back on this year and we are ever thankful for each and every one of you. We wish you and your loved ones a very, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!