Another year, another amazing Christmas letter from the Gailans. 2014
was truly an incredible year with so many family visits and some wonderful
memories we will treasure forever!
A
Trip – In February, we finally decided
to take a trip to visit Dana’s old mission grounds: Santiago, Dominican
Republic. Mom and Dad Kitchen and Sarah and Taylor Woodbury joined us for the
trip. The country is so beautiful and can I just say, sitting on a warm beach
listening to the crashing waves is really the only way to do winter. We saw
lots of wildlife, including a pet lizard who frequented our rental and a few
cockroaches in our car. We went scuba diving, drove terrifying roads, ate
probably too much helado (ice cream) and jumped, scaled, slipped and stumbled
down the breathtaking 27 Waterfalls – a park I am sure would not be legal in
America which is why it was so awesome!
A
Reunion – Sometimes the best things
come to those who wait and for the Kitchen Family Reunion, it was well worth
it. We finally gave a beach vacation a try and in August spent 7 heavenly days
on the pearly, white sand beaches of Destin, Florida with 2 parents, 6 kids, 6
spouses, and 20 grandkids. The whole vacation can be summed up as warm,
relaxing, and something we will be doing again.
An
Injury – Just after hitting his 32nd
birthday, Dana joined the manly ranks of guys who tear their ACLs at church
basketball. He’ll be having surgery at the beginning of December and will then
have 4 whole weeks where he’s allowed to trip people with his crutches in the
halls. We are so grateful to have an amazing orthopedic clinic that has taken
such good care of him and hope this event will not be repeated in future
newsletters.
A
Little Man – But of course, the
biggest event of the whole year came on May 15th at 6:12 in the
morning when our cell phone rang with the news that Clark Pascua Gailan had
finally made his way to earth. If you want the full details of how Clark came
to be a member of our family, check out our blog at www.kelliplusdana.blogspot.com. The short story is, we prayed for him. Then we flew
and got him. In between was a lot of the
Lord’s guidance and some seriously awesome family members. He was officially
adopted on May 21st in Mena, Arkansas. He was then sealed to us for
time and all eternity at the Columbia River Temple on July 6th with
friends and family all around. In between and ever since he rules the roost at
the Gailan household. He just hit his 6 month mark and weighs in at a whopping
17.6 lbs (30th percentile) and 24.5 inches tall (umm…1st
percentileJ). He has an insane amount of hair and big dark eyes
that will just suck you in until you give him anything he wants, like the
whipped cream on your plate he isn’t supposed to have yet. He’s very chatty and
sleeps all through the night with his thumb stuck in his mouth. All in all, we
can’t stop feeling blessed. He will always be the best gift we’ve ever gotten.
And that’s our year. We hope this letter
finds you and your family happy, healthy and blessed. We hope you feel the love
of the Savior in your lives. We love you all and wish you a very blessed and
merry Christmas!
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