Our Year End Christmas Card Family Update Letter

2023 was full of high highs and low lows. As we headed into the new year, Sabin had just began working at the corporate offices of the iconic brand, Playboy and was continuing his acting career in film and television. Harper was halfway through 6th grade and beginning to really desire some growth and change and a chance to attend a more typical school with lockers and shifting classes. And AJ was in month seven of owning and operating his own psychotherapy private practice after completing his licensure to become a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT) after his four-year training concluded and was about halfway through completing his doctoral degree in Psychology. We welcomed in the new year to a torrential downpour, as we got soaked but had a blast with friends and family competing in beer pong and flip cup competitions! We all wore pajamas and danced in the rain together. It was a really special memory. February brought with a few lovely visits with family: one at home with family visiting from Clarksville, TN and later meeting Michigan family in Joshua Tree for the weekend. In March, AJ & Sabin traveled to Las Vegas for Sabin’s birthday and he was gifted and surprised tickets to see Adele! Plus, we got to hang with AJ’s college roommate and his husband and had a great weekend together. AJ went back to Las Vegas just two weekends later for a getaway with his bestie, Kellie and had another fantastic visit, but came home with his first bout of Rona  Don’t believe the hype that O- blood type makes you immune.  Sabin and Harper were able to avoid COVID back in March, but each got it later in the spring. Everyone fared well in spite of avoiding it for three years. In March, Harper had toured several schools and found one that offered her early admission to begin right after spring break, rather than waiting until the next school year. She jumped at the chance and began at her new school. She is loving the transition a more “grown-up” junior high school. We’ve overall been mostly pleased with the school experience. She is wicked smart with all honor’s classes, loves to read, is obsessed with anything and everything related to her icon, Taylor Swift Kelce (She’ll kill me for adding the Kelce part). She’s been able to hold onto a few core friendships from her former school and we are often caught feeling inspired by watching Harper interact. She is open, curious, sensitive, and a deeply empathetic kid. She has had a wild growth spurt in the past few months, including physically, emotionally, and socially. We want to slow down time, but it seems to keep on racing. In May, AJ moved from a shared-office space into his own solo office! It was an exciting transition. He also took advanced training in some trauma therapy modalities and began working on clinical staff at a community mental health clinic in addition to his work in his expanding private practice. Harper turned twelve and had a roller skating and sleepover party with T Swift inspired cupcakes and favors. In June, we traveled for our niece’s high school graduation up to Idaho and met up with AJ’s sister Katie and her daughter there as well. It is always so lovely to be together with all the girls that are cousins on their Fernandez side. More on them in a bit. In an unfortunate moment, we also witnessed a tragedy and near drowning at the hotel pool while we were there by another child who was swimming with the girls at the pool. Thankfully after several minutes, the child was able to be resuscitated and was alert while being transported to the hospital, but it was also excruciating both to independently witness but also watch your children witness at the same time. To say the least, we were all a little shell shocked, so it was a lovely relief when the same niece who we had been celebrating came to Los Angeles a few weeks later and we got to truly be together for some quality time. June was also Father’s Day weekend, which we spent at home with a surprise for Sabin that we were finally able to obtain some legal documents to confirm what we always knew to be true in our hearts- that he is forever and always a parent to Harper Fernandez. In early August, we traveled to Maui with many friends and family members to celebrate AJ’s 40th Birthday. As most of you know, we were unfortunately in the area that was most heavily impacted by the deadliest wildfires ever experienced on the island. We aren’t going to downplay anything. It was the most frightening experience of our lives. We are lucky to be alive. We are thankful for good health and quick reflexes. We are bonded with those who went through this experience with us and share in what we all experienced. It was a bummer and it totally sucked. Another August bummer is that this one commemorated 10 years since AJ’s sister Crystal passed away. She deserves mention here because she was that important to us. And her girls- Rilynn and Mekaty. We love those two kids (now 21 years old and almost 19 years old women, but always kids to us) so much that it hurts and are so grateful to be and stay connected with them. And Crystal would be incredibly proud of how amazing they both are. The end. The last August bummer that must be shared to continue the trifecta here is that ten days after getting off the island of Maui, in the middle of the night as a hurricane was expected to make landfall in Los Angeles, our unhinged neighbor lit her home on fire and we were awoken again to a blazing fire within a few hundred feet of us. We’re all still honestly processing all of this. We continue to find gratitude and knowingness of how much worse any of this could’ve been. At the same time, we don’t want to pretend it didn’t happen either. It did. It changed us. We are working on it. In September, we began perusing homes in the market and quickly learned it would be very unlikely (more like impossible) that we would be able to buy in this wild housing market. We basically gave up on the idea but continued looking and viewing open houses. In mid-October, OUR house came on the market. AJ saw it within 16 minutes of the listing, sent a link to Sabin who immediately responded with “mine,” and we were doing a walk through the next day. The offer, escrow, closing, and moving process were all super intense but we are so elated. The fact that we get to stay in the same area close to our family and friends, in a neighborhood we love, and in the city of Angels still feels like a dream that we need waking from. We can’t wait to share it someday soon (including January 6th from 6-10pm if you are in/around LA on that day- RSVP to AJ or Sabin now if you’re coming and feel free to bring your peeps, kids, etc). There’s still stuff, as there always seems to be. We are all focused on family members who are experiencing illness and suffering and can use a lot of prayers, positive regards, and positive thoughts right now as they focus on recovery. We just celebrated the three year anniversary of AJ’s Mom Maureen’s passing and still miss her every moment of every day. In some ways we are writing this for her. Because if she were here, she’d be saying that we need to share the news with everyone else. May we all use her spirit this holiday season. Again, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!