Christmas of 2011

Dear family and friends,

The Garfields got better looking in 2011. Yep, you heard it right. You might think that such a thing was quite unlikely, but I am here to notify you that the arrival of a certain baby girl named Zayaa Genevieve Garfield proved that in fact there was room for beauty. She is the best looking Garfield that we met so far. Yeah, if Snow White’s step mother was really afoot she would be in search of our baby girl. She joined us with her beauty and grace on the night of September 23, 2011. You might think we are shamelessly flaunting but she really is a lovely baby. She is calm, happy and very easy going. Her sweetness is a magnet to all who meet her. We are very happy to have her as part of our family.

Buzz, who now prefers to be called Nathan, is growing like a weed. At this rate he will outgrow his big brother in height next year. Zach is frantically scarfing down food in desperate hope to hold his position as the tallest kid in the household, but Nate might still take the title soon. Nathan has also maintained his all-consuming obsession with all things trains. He is still dreaming of trains and preparing himself to be a train engineer. He polishes his train track building skills every day. He is sure that he can build train tracks all the way to outer space and he is looking forward to meeting aliens who steal funny looking underwear (something he learned in a book). He is full of many accomplishments, and is now working on perfecting the schematics of his new space train.

Zach, who is much too grown up now to answer to Snooks, is in preschool and loving every millisecond of it. Just the other day upon coming home from preschool he said, “I loved my school today. I don’t remember exactly what I learned but I just loved it.” He is having great fun making connections of all the things in the world. He is very perceptive and a deep thinker. Sometimes his own chatter distracts him so he practices being quiet. He loves rhyming and thinks of many words that rhyme and almost rhyme. The greatest thing happened in his young life this year besides getting a baby sister is receiving Legos. He loves Legos immensely—even as much as he loves his baby sister, which is saying quite a lot. He loves Zayaa so much that he says he wants to be a dad someday and have ten babies.

I made the mistake of letting Garrett go see a documentary about MotoGP motorcycle racing this year, and he has become completely insufferable. He is convinced that his lawyer gig is only a stepping stone to his true calling riding his motorcycle. He has gone so far as to name his motorcycle Gisele (really), and at the height of exuberance of riding through the beautiful roads of the Columbia Gorge, he imagines himself a professional motorcycle racer and commentates on his performance as an announcer. However those happy moments only last until he remembers that all those banks that loaned us money to go to school now want us to pay it back. So the rest of the time he is happy to be a lawyer and thriving at his profession. He loves to be with his wife and kiddos more than anything.

As for me, I am happily performing my duties as a milk factory. I mentioned that Zayaa is calm, but there is an exception when she is hungry. I think I can remember what it is like to have time to myself, but I am not sure. If I were employed by the household, I would certainly be the employee of the season and receive much overtime pay. My joy and happiness does extend beyond my children and husband but not too much beyond. We all wish you love and peace in the coming year.

Love, Zayaa, Nate, Zach, Garrett, and Bayra