Christmas 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope your holiday is merry and bright and that this letter finds you well and happy.

This year has been an eventful one for us, beginning with the arrival of our daughter Lily in January. Lily has big, blue eyes, is sweet and smiley and thinks Oscar is the funniest and most wonderful person ever. Lily has recently begun crawling and pulling herself up on furniture. Is it just us, or does the second baby actually grow faster? And for those of you who are wondering, Lily is not allergic to milk (like Oscar) which made Nursing Marlene very happy indeed.

Oscar turned two in March and is very much a toddler. His most often-used phrase is "I do it myself!" And (sigh) we try to let him. Ah, independence! His love for cars, trucks and trains continues, but has widened to include puzzles (mostly of cars, trucks and trains), Legos and wrecking balls (?). Oscar is 98% an excellent big brother to Lily and the other 2% is so miniscule, it's hardly worth mentioning. It's really cozy to wake up to him greeting her in the morning, "Hi Lily, Hi!" and to hear her laugh in return.

Marlene loves being the mother of two—now. The first six months were pretty tough for everyone, but Marlene discovered that a daily mommy nap, one-on-one time with kids and energy-burning outdoor time are all really good things. Marlene continues to enjoy her bimonthly book club (a stellar read this year was Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond) and weekly date nights with Phil. Marlene also enjoys having a doll, I mean a baby girl, to dress.

Phil keeps busy between school, jobs, family and his church calling—wait—didn't we say this last year? Phil has also added to his schedule (because who needs time to shower?) teaching a parenting class at Cal State and doing therapy at LDS Family Services; he thoroughly enjoys both. He received his Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy in September and is now working on completing his PhD. Phil's newest passion (besides his Treo) is Flickr.com—a website where you can download photos and view others' as well. It's a great way to keep in touch with friends and family.

And on that note, we'd love to hear from you! And if you're ever in the area, we've got a really comfortable sofa bed.

Love,

Phil, Marlene, Oscar and Lily Scoville
11261 Exeter St. apt. F
Loma Linda, CA 92354
909-796-7474
Flickr.com/photos/philscoville
http://philscoville.blogspot.com/