Christmas Letter - for those of you who we didn't mail one too :)

Dear Family & Friends

We hope this letter finds you all doing well and in good health. We have had a big year, including a new job, an amazing trip to a tropical island, some very good news, and one great, big purchase – a new house! As you can see, it’s been a good year in Northern Virginia!

Let’s start with that new job
In February Allison started a new job at the Torpedo Factory Art Center (TFAC). She works as the head torpedo designer and submarine captain…just kidding! The TFAC actually was originally opened to design and build torpedoes for the US Navy, but was later converted into 82 working artist studios and galleries. Allison is working as their graphic designer and as the gallery assistant in their national exhibition space, the Target Gallery. She really loves working there – not to mention playing with her boss’s new puppy Ralphy, who has become the unofficial gallery dog!

Bermuda, Bahama…
…well we weren’t exactly sipping pina coladas while relaxing under palm trees and listening to the beach boys, but we did have a great time on our annual trip down to the Dominican Republic. This was our third time visiting Orfanato Ninos de Cristo, and each year we fall even more in love with the kids! This year’s trip was a lot different from our past ones; usually we only travel with a small group of young couples from our church, but this year we partnered with our church’s teen ministry and brought down around 150 teens and chaperones. The group was fantastic and we were able to accomplish so much within the community, including visiting hospitals, jails, and rehab centers, washing the feet of hundreds of children and distributing new shoes, constructing a new home for one of the orphanage workers (who has been living in a shack with no running water), and SO much more! (We have several videos and photos on previous posts, but you can also see a video by clicking here and click on “Videos”, it is the 3rd video titled “Dominican Republic”) Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us over the years through financial contributions, time, and prayer!

Sign right here…and here…and here…
We’re home owners! Wow, this was a big step and we are having a blast. We bought a cute, two bedroom row house in the Del Ray area of Alexandria, VA. We started looking at places at the end of September, and by October 24th, after signing lots and lots of papers we were officially new home owners! It has been a lot of fun picking out paint colors, and we are taking our time settling in and making the new place truly our own. The house was built in 1942 and has a lot of quirks, but also a lot of charm. The previous owners left us a bundle of old letters that span the 1930s and 40s that they found in one of the vents when they were renovating the basement. They are all in German, but we can’t wait to have them translated. (Allison is hoping they are love letters, and Kevin is hoping they will be Nazi spy letters that will be worth a lot of money ☺. Our new address is below, and we hope you will come visit us in the new year!

Drum roll please!
Itching to know what the “very good news” is, aren’t you? We’ll give you a hint, it has nothing to do with diapers or bottles. Nope, no baby news yet, so stop asking ☺. The great news is that Allison’s dad, Dan, has finally been given a clean bill of health. After four long years of surgery, tests, chemo treatments and blood transfusions, the cancer is officially in remission! This is a huge relief to all of us and makes for a very happy Christmas.

This past year has had it’s ups and downs (as all years do), but God has blessed us in so many areas of our lives, and we have more than plenty to be thankful for.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!
God bless

Kevin & Allison Nance (and Francesca the bunny)