To all of my readers in blogland...our family wishes you a very Merry Christmas. Here is the Christmas letter that we sent out this week to our family and friends. Enjoy!
Merry Christmas! It
has been a rather uneventful year in our household and will be fondly
remembered as the “Year of Steady”. Let
it be known that I will take as many steady years as I am offered. Josh and I celebrated 10 years of marriage in
July, and took an absolutely glorious vacation to the Riviera Maya, Mexico,
with some of our best friends, Dave and Deanna.
We spent the majority of our time holding down lounge chairs, turning
pages of books, admiring the ocean, and eating and drinking the offerings at
our resort. It was relaxing, refreshing,
and needed.
This year, Josh prioritized our back deck as his project of
choice. He replaced all of the deck
boards, stained it, and is hoping to have it screened-in this coming
summer. He is also currently making
plans to add on to our house. We are
looking to add an extra room and an attached garage. {Please note that I am claiming this garage
as my own, and all other parties will need permission to store their belongings
in my garage. I’m hoping this doesn't
sound too selfish…I simply want to be able to park in it on a daily basis
without being squeezed out by tools, lawn mowers, and huge bags of plastic duck
decoys. Is that too much for a girl to
ask? Long ago, Josh claimed the entire 30x40
pole barn as his own, so it only seems logical that I would be first in line
for this space.} Speaking of the barn, Josh
spent many hours in his workshop this year building a full-size standing mirror
and a beautiful new headboard for our bedroom.
{See, he does such nice things for me, and yet I get all possessive
about this new garage.} Hunting season
has stocked the freezer with three deer and a few ducks, and we’re hoping at
least one more deer will feel the need to nourish our crew. Only time will tell.
I continue to manage and educate the crazy brood. I have found this year to be a very enjoyable
one since Olivia has become mobile and independent. It is also much easier to keep track of a
toddler who is under so much surveillance by her three older sisters. We all really do work together to keep
Olivia’s sticky little hands out of trouble.
I don’t typically have a hunting update in my section, but I am pleased
to announce that I shot my first animal this fall: a chubby little groundhog that had made his
home under our barn. I’ll be honest…I
kind of felt like a big deal, and Josh was certainly proud. This past fall, I also ran my first 10k. I was completely disheartened when I crossed
the finish line just seconds over the 1-hour mark {which was my ultimate-absolute-best-scenario-goal},
and then was completely ecstatic when I realized that the timer on my bib didn't
actually begin until I crossed the start line {which took about 30 seconds off
of my time}. These things happen to
people who are sheltered and only run in small town races. I’m hoping to train for a mini-marathon next
summer, which is something I would have considered virtually unachievable a
couple of years ago.
Claire {4th grade} is growing up before our very eyes. She turned 9 in May, and it felt like life
handed us a bit of a gut check when we realized that she was halfway through
her childhood. {I may have even shed a
few tears over this.} Claire has seen an
increase in schoolwork this year, which has proven a challenge to her
time-management skills, or at times, lack thereof. She really enjoys reading and has taken it
upon herself to read aloud to her sisters several nights a week once they are
all in bed. This year, she is taking an
art class at our local elementary school; she’s made a couple new friends and
really likes her teacher. She wants all
of you to know that she enjoys running, sewing, baking, attending local
festivals in the summer, and watching Daddy work in his workshop.
Meredith {2nd grade} had her tonsils removed at
the beginning of June. We had thought
for quite some time that they were abnormally oversized, and the ENT confirmed
it. Her tonsils were dangerously
obstructing her throat, and she sounded an awful lot like Darth Vader at night
when she slept. Once removed, she
immediately slept better, felt better, and of course she enjoyed eating ice
cream and popsicles in front of her sisters for two weeks straight. Meredith continues to be enthralled with
Olivia, and Olivia loves it. I've often found
the best way to work the grumpies out of either of them is to shut them in a
room and snuggle them together with a book.
It is absolutely heart-warming to watch the two of them interact. Meredith would like you to know that she loved
picking blueberries over the summer, going to the county fair with Grandma and
Grandpa, dressing up as a 50s sock hop dancer for Halloween, and going hunting
with Daddy a couple of weeks ago.
Amelia {4 ½} never stops moving and rarely stops
talking. Her energy is both contagious
and exhausting, and she keeps us hopping on a daily basis! This year has brought her the ability to
write her name, write her numbers, and make her bed. Josh took her on her first hunting adventure
this fall where they bagged three squirrels.
To say that she absolutely loved it would be a gross understatement. She couldn't be more excited to start
kindergarten in the fall, and she’s hoping that her two wiggly bottom teeth
will have fallen out by that time. Amelia
would like you to know that she loves to count, likes eating meat and steak, and
is disappointed that I won’t let her draw her name across this Christmas
letter.
Olivia {21 months} is one big bundle of sweetness. This little peanut brings more joy to our
family than we could have ever imagined.
The three older girls think she is the sweetest, funniest, cutest baby,
and only occasionally do they get annoyed with her ability to find each and
every pencil, marker, pair of scissors, or important book left unattended. Thankfully, Olivia has recently ceased her
daily attempts {with varied success} to climb onto the kitchen counter, nearly
giving her mother a heart attack; she is now focused on mastering door
knobs. This girl absolutely adores shoes
that are at least 3 sizes larger than her feet and can be found wearing several
different pairs throughout the day.
Olivia would like you to know that she loves giving hugs, she loves
crawling around and roaring like a lion, and her favorite part of the day is
when Daddy walks through the door.
This fall brought a couple of major changes to our daily
routine. At the beginning of September,
we purchased a newer mini-van. It’s
crazy to think that this van could possibly be the first vehicle Claire
drives…yikes! And the end of September brought
us new neighbors. We had grown to love
our former neighbors, Mo and Kay, but we were overwhelmingly blessed when some
of our very best friends, Brian and Kristi, purchased the property that sits
directly in front of our own. Josh and
Brian have been scheming all kinds of fun ideas and are like two little kids
constantly running back and forth to each other’s houses. We’re looking forward to many great memories
together.
We pray your families are well and hope you are truly enjoying
this Christmas season!
Much love,
Josh, Jackie, Claire, Meredith, Amelia, and Olivia
“So they
hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the
manger. When they had seen him, they
spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all
who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and
pondered them in her heart. The
shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had
heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” Luke
2: 16-20
No comments:
Post a Comment