Well we need a little Christmas, right this very minute...

Okay, so I wrestled with the idea of writing the obligatory Christmas letter and sending it to everyone, but after much pondering, I decided to save the USPS the trouble of hauling 80,000 letters all around the globe and went with the option to do it this way... so welcome to the first annual Aivaz Family Year-End/Christmas Report.

Cue fanfare.

No, no not that... make it a little more seasonal.

That's better.

Anyway, how do these things usually go? We just write about the events of the last year, post some pictures and then just expect people to read it and care? Okay. Well, I guess we'll just start off with the youngest member of our little family, Reagan.

Reagan had a pretty big year in 2011... she turned 1, learned how to walk, talk, count, and most importantly (and most recently) sleep in a "big-girl" bed. Yes, as of tonight, Reagan says goodbye to the crib forever (and Seana and I probably say goodbye to sanity). Reagan loves staying at home with Seana all day, she gets restless at home sometimes when it's too cold to go outside, but she's generally good to go and play blocks or baby dolls upstairs in her room after a small period of freaking out. She's a tender little thing, who gets her feelings hurt very easily, but is physically very tough... she wipes out with the best of them and springs right up, usually saying "I okay". She loves her sister, running around the house, and jumping on beds.

Reagan's Christmas wish list:

• Baby dolls
• A lifetime-supply of cranberry mixed juices
• Anything Elmo-related (Seriously, she's obsessed)
• Some fuzzy boots (Her sister has a pair and Reagan flies into a jealous rage whenever Katelyn puts them on)

Next, we come to Katelyn, our little Kindergartner.

As you can probably guess, Katelyn's big deal this year was starting school. When we got the news that UNLV wasn't going to be an option for law school, my one real silver lining to the storm clouds brought by that realization that Katelyn wouldn't be stuck in the den of failure and iniquity known as the Clark County School District. After doing some reading online about the Oxford School District, I knew that even if it wasn't the right fit for me, it would be the right fit for Katelyn. And I was exactly right. Katelyn LOVES school. I honestly think she likes her teacher, Ms. Henry, more than she likes me and Seana sometimes. Okay, most of the time. She is doing really well in school... she's generally well-behaved and was even her classroom's "special friend" one day (the special friend gets to help with things in class and acts like a tiny little teacher's aide) She'll be turning 6 next August and starts 1st grade in August. Time flies when you're having fun (and being naughty).

Katelyn's Christmas wish list:

• Books
• Not having to listen to her parents (The gift that keeps on giving)
• A make-up desk
• Her very own TV so she can watch Netflix constantly

Now I can either decide to go in age order, with which I would be next (Seana's a total cradle-robber) OR I can make a legit editorial decision and make Seana next...

Seana seen here in her usual position: Comforting Reagan.

Seana's been a real trooper this year. Of all the adjustments we've all had to make this year, she probably had the toughest. And I can't blame her. Her entire life was in Las Vegas; family, friends, everything she ever loved literally was in that town and suddenly, over the span of a weekend, she was in Mississippi, with no family or friends within 2000 miles, through no fault of her own and with very little time to prepare herself physically, mentally, or emotionally. But, where others might have turned inward or threw a never-ending pity party for themselves, Seana kept at it. Sure, many tears were shed and some homesickness came, but she always picked herself up and keep going. She has even made some splendid new friends and, though it may not feel the same as Las Vegas, she is doing everything she can to make Oxford home. It's not always easy being a homemaker... you can feel very alone and sometimes feel like you don't have your own identity, and I admire her for her faith and her strength. Everything I am or do I owe to her and her example keeps me going and on the right track. I love you, Seana.

Seana's Christmas wish list:

• A Forever Lazy (Not kidding)
• Some Hostess Snowballs
• A clean house
• Plane tickets to Las Vegas

Although, maybe Christmas came early this year... Seana's parents came to see us for a couple weeks and a great time was had by all. Except for maybe Seana's parents, who had to sleep on a queen-sized air mattress in our kitchen. We'll pick up the Chiropractor's bill, I promise.

Well, that brings us to... me.

Looking super-duper fly, as always. p.s. Not my real hair-do.

I had a pretty big year, this year, myself. Coming off my epic fail of my first LSAT attempt, I studied hard and was able to get a pretty decent score, all things considered, on my second attempt. I'm not going to discuss numbers specifically, but suffice it to say the second attempt was a significant improvement. I thought the strength of my GPA (3.83 in-program) would carry my mid-range GPA and get me into UNLV, however, this was not to be. I saw Ole Miss on the law school brochures and saw that it was competitive to get into, was ranked relatively high, and was a great value (i.e. My 2nd-and-3rd years COMBINED will cost as much as my 1st year at UNLV ALONE would have cost) so I filled out an application and sent it in, not thinking anything of it. Plus Seana absolutely refused to move to Mississippi. 3 weeks later, I got an envelope from Ole Miss... accepted. All told, I applied to 9 schools, got into 6, got turned down by 1 and wait-listed by 2, including UNLV. After some prayer, we narrowed our schools down to Willamette (in Salem, OR), Washburn (in Topeka, KS), and Wyoming (in Laramie, Wyoming). Ole Miss didn't even make the final 3 cut. But after some prayer, our list began to winnow...

1. Willamette - Was too expensive. Gone.
2. Washburn - Hefty scholarship offer, but would have forced us to live in Kansas. Yuck. Gone.
3. Wyoming - Seana doesn't do snow. Neither would our front-wheel drive Hyundai beater car. Gone.

Suddenly, Ole Miss was the last reasonable man standing. In April I sent my seat deposit in and that was that. I was an Ole Miss Law student. It was weird. We were moving to Mississippi. We were going to live in a state other than Nevada. In May I made the reservations for the moving truck and in July I left the state of my birth and started the 2,000 mile drive to my little family's new home, all our earthly possessions packed into the back of a 16' Penske truck and into our little car. But, somehow, it's all worked out thus far. We moved into a nice cozy little condo, met some great people and have settled pretty nicely into our new little church family. Even law school isn't as bad as I thought it would be, heading in. I figured every night would be non-stop studying, never seeing my family and dying of a blood clot from sitting forever. But I did none of those things. And I still feel like I did reasonably well this semester. Finals are now over and we're awaiting my grades, but I'm just happy I survived this and proved to myself I could do it. Many thanks and love to all those who helped me.

Jason's Christmas wish list:

• Some alone time with my wife
• To be listened to by my children
• An entire semi-truck full of Reese's Trees
• The 49ers to win the Super Bowl (The Reese's Trees thing is probably more likely to happen)

Well, I think that just about does it for this letter, however, I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to write a little bit about the Savior. We, as a family, try as much as we can to focus on Christ not only over the holiday season, but all year long. This is, by our experience, easier at certain times than it is at others, however, Christmas is one of the handfuls of times throughout the year when we, as believers and followers of Christ, can all unite in faith, despite the name of our church or which scriptures we use, and celebrate the birth of that man foretold of by Isaiah as "Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Regardless of where you are, or who you're with, the Christmas message is for you. May we all take a moment between the hustle and bustle of shopping and wrapping and stressing and cooking to remember Jesus Christ and the wonderful things he brought us... the true first Christmas present.

We love you all and wish you all the merriest of Christmases and a very happy New Year/Seana's birthday (yes, she's a New Year's baby and yes, she hates it. But I'm going to try and show her a good time, regardless).

PEACE! (onearthgoodwilltoman)