Merry Christmas from The Noble Family - December 7, 2009
We celebrate our many blessings this year! Since moving to Alta Loma in 2008, the most unexpected blessing has been finding a wonderful church family at Northkirk Presbyterian Church which is amazingly (especially for Bree
who doesn’t drive) two blocks away. Bree and Chris enjoy being part of the vocal choir; Bree and Julia ring with the bell choir. We became members this year and are excited about our new pastor, Rev. Karen Greschel. In March we celebrated the baptism of Abigail Christine with all six of her grandparents and our church family. Abby wore a baptismal gown worn by Chris’s Great Grandfather.
Our two girls fill our lives with continuous joys and challenges. Julia started 1st grade in August and her reading has improved rapidly. She earned her “100” shirt in November, which means she knows over 100 words by sight. We read the entire Harry Potter series out loud as a family this year, and
Julia’s attention was completely riveted by the plot. Despite the fact that she has lost 5 teeth to date, she still loves to eat corn on the cob. She played her second
season of AYSO soccer this fall on the Blue Dolphins. She is a born defender and picked up tips from Chris at practice and at home. A work of art Julia painted last December was awarded an “honorable mention” in the Alta Loma school district Reflections Contest this spring. She takes piano lessons, sings solos in church, and attends lots of concerts with Mom.
Abigail took her first steps a few weeks ago and is becoming adept at climbing both up and down the stairs. She turned 1 year old on October 17. We celebrated with a party including some family and many friends from church. She enjoyed making smear patterns
on her tray with the frosting from her butterfly and ladybug cake. Candidates for her official first word include “tickle,” which she asks for incessantly, and “that” which she uses when pointing at everything, especially pictures. Other favorites are unfortunately “watch” and “Barney” which is currently her favorite TV show.
Chris is teaching his specialty, Victorian Literature, this semester at Azusa Pacific along with Freshman Writing and Literary Criticism. He served on several committees, including General Studies Council, Faculty Senate, and a selection committee for Christianity & Literature’s 2009 Book Award. Chris was chosen as part of an elite group of Christian Literature professors from across the county to attend a week-long symposium this July at Calvin College to discuss the future of Faith and Literature.
Bree’s performance schedule has been reduced because of the demands of taking care of Abby and helping Julia with homework and piano practice. Bree was honored to be the keynote speaker and musician for the Hillside House “Women of Purpose” luncheon in Santa Barbara in May. She was asked again to provide music for the Glendora Mayor’s Breakfast and continued to speak and sing for women’s retreats, MOPS and Stonecroft (Christian Women’s Connection) groups. Traveling less has allowed Bree to devote more time to the Northkirk Choir and worship team. While holding down the fort at home, she works in cyberspace running her Internet Radio Station 
called Women of Substance Radio. She and her review board spend hours considering music for the station and creating shows for different genres of music and lyrical themes. Bree has taken on all the aspects of promoting the station: maintaining a Facebook and MySpace presence, creating the Official station website (go listen at www.WomenOfSubstanceRadio.com!), writing monthly blogs, organizing music giveaways, and arranging playlists. She considers it a privilege to promote great music of all kinds by women, some of which is amazing but unknown to the average music-lover.
Once again we must close with the ever-popular, priceless quotes from Julia:
- Dad is explaining about how Henry VIII had his wife beheaded. Julia-“That is SO unreasonable!”
- “I wish whenever it rained, it rained Wheat Thins.”
- “I was following my teacher’s destruction.”
- “Every time I look at Abigail, I water my eyes.”
We look forward to hearing from you about what’s been going on in your lives this year. We wish you a joyous Christmas season and a blessed new year.
Love, Chris, Bree, Julia and Abigail Noble
Bree’s website:www.breenoble.com, Twitter:wosradio
Facebook: www.facebook.com/womenofsubstanceradio
WOS Radio: www.womenofsubstanceradio.com
Just as Julia did, Abby greeted the world sporting a full head of dark locks, sprinkled with a few crazy cowlicks. 
So far she has been a fairly good baby. She can sleep for 6 or 7 consecutive hours, but sadly never when mom wants to sleep. 
Julia adores her little sister and wants to hug and kiss her constantly. 
Julia is often heard exclaiming, “Look! Abby is having her alert time!”
The other major change this year is that we moved from our older, smaller house in San Dimas to a much newer, bigger one about 20 minutes east in Alta Loma. The new home has separate rooms for both girls, an office for Chris, and a guestroom (so you are all welcome to visit). We are enjoying the in-ground pool and hot tub as well, though Chris had to learn a few “pool maintenance lessons”—like how to handle muriatic acid safely. The neighborhood is friendly and social. Julia plays with friends in the neighborhood and the school is within walking distance. The new location has increased Chris’s commute a bit, but it has been much easier than expected. After looking at over 30 houses to find the right combination of features, we are thrilled to finally settle down in our new home and community.
She is a born defender, preferring to hang back and prevent the other team from scoring rather than score herself. Once again, by popular demand, here are some more priceless quotes from Julia:
We look forward to hearing from you and hearing what’s been going on in your lives this year. We wish you a joyous Christmas season and a blessed new year.