Second, now that my Christmas cards are mailed and received by all, I wanted to share them both here!
Here's our Christmas Letter too - enjoy!
Christmas 2014
Dear Family and Friends
Doesn’t it seem like just yesterday when we
were turning the calendar from 1999 to 2000 and there was so much concern about
“Y2K”? Yet, here it is, 2014 . .. I’m
not quite sure where the last 14 years went!!
I do know that 2014 went by incredibly fast. I so enjoy reflecting back on the year and
sharing the ups, and yes, even some downs, with all of you.
Our Animals – Our family experienced another
change this past year with our dear pets.
In April, Misty, my sweet cat of 19 years, got extremely ill and we lost
her. It was devastating to say the least
even though I knew that she was getting weaker and wouldn’t be around for too
much longer. To not have her snuggling
in with me or to see her sleeping on top of the fridge was such a sad
thing. I really had no desire to get
another cat but sometimes, things happen that we don’t expect. In July, a friend posted that she had a cat
that she needed to find a home for due to her dog trying to use it as a play
toy. Her cat was the exact cat we had
discussed getting if we ever got another cat – a full grown, fixed, declawed,
fully in-door, male cat. Added to that,
she said we could give him back to her if he didn’t work for us and she gave us
everything right down to a huge travel cage for him – all at no cost (and free
is always great!). Well, Harley was a
perfect fit for our family. He is fun,
cuddly, loving, playful, and a snuggler.
He will reach out a paw and touch whomever he is sleeping closest too;
he loves the boys; doesn’t mind be carried around upside down; and yes, even
smacks China upside the head to get her to play with him! I still miss my sweet Misty but Harley sure
is a fabulous cat. As I just mentioned,
we do still have China. She is still the
best dog in the world and we enjoy her so much!
Her age is slowly catching up with her but, if she gets a chance to escape
the yard, she will run for her life and “laugh” at us as we chase after her. J She is still very
protective of the boys and the boys still love her.
Our Kids – The boys continue to bring us so
much joy, laughter, and happiness. It
seems that each year gets more fun, yet we miss the things that you lose as
they get older (ok, not all things like diapers, sleepless nights and baby puke
HA!). Both boys played soccer this year
in both the spring and the fall. We
learned that Josh is extremely competitive as he fought for the ball from the
very first game; Nate likes the idea OF soccer but playing is not his favorite
thing. We did see a big improvement in
their skills between the spring and fall though, and Nate has cleaned off an
entire shelf in his room so he has room for all of the trophies he plans to
earn in the years to come J The
boys also both learned to ride bikes without training wheels this summer which
was a HUGE accomplishment. We are
continuing with homeschool this year – Josh is in Kindergarten and Nate is in
Preschool. The boys love learning at
home and just plain love school. I try
to take a day off here or there but both boys beg for work; recently they even
took their work to Papa and Nana’s house (my parents) so they wouldn’t miss any
days. Josh continues to try and lead
everyone (aka “be in charge”). One day I
had to remind him that I was the parent; not him and someday, when he was
adult, he could be in charge. He then
went to his room, sobbing, and saying, “It will take forever until I am big
enough to be in charge”. Hahaha We are
working hard to direct him towards being a kind and compassionate leader so he
can use those strengths someday to “make friends and influence people”. He is funny, has a great sense of humor, gets
sarcasm, and is constantly asking questions.
He cares deeply and therefore hurts deeply and gets frustrated with lack
of perfection. Josh is also a fierce defender of his brother so, well, don’t
mess with Nate. He makes us smile and
laugh every day. Nate has a fantastic
imagination and is a great problem solver.
He prefers to find a solution for a problem instead of arguing about it
and will have deep conversations with us over everything from how to fix his
bed to how we can organize the garage better.
Nate highly dislikes seeing Josh upset over anything so he will try to
smooth over situations that arise but, don’t get me wrong, he will also get
super angry with his brother when he pushes just a little too far J Nate is a tender hearted, strong willed,
caring, loving little boy. He keeps us
laughing, is always moving, and knows flashing a smile makes everything
better.
The Adults – When we “left” you last year,
Darryl had been struggling with some health issues which revolved around some
pretty severe back problems. Those
issues continued into 2014. After a long
wait, lots of tests, and trying various things, he had major back surgery at
the end of June. He had a fusion of the
L4 and L5 vertebrate. We had hoped for a
quick recovery but that was not the case.
He ended up being off of work for 3 months and still struggles with
back, leg and hip pain. He continues
with physical therapy in order to improve the issues yet, at this point, we
aren’t sure how much more “recovery” will take place. We are thankful that he was able to go back
to work at Calder City Cab and is able to work full time. We continue to seek God’s will for other
employment that not only would be better for his health but would also provide
more for us as a family. Darryl had to
take most of the past year off from the music group he plays guitar in, Alive,
but is looking forward to getting back into the group in the coming year. He was voted in as a Deacon in our church
this fall which is something new for him as well. I must add that despite the surgery and
recovery, we were beyond blessed and are so thankful for the simple fact that
Darryl got to spend three months home with the boys and I AND that it was
during the summer. The boys simply loved
having their dad home every day; they three of them went for 2-3 walks/bike
rides (the boys riding!) a day; played games, built Legos and Lincoln Logs,
read books, took car rides, went to the park and yes, even watched cartoons
together. I also enjoyed having Darryl
home for the summer. Not only just
having him around for adult conversation but just the fact that I could go to
the store, run errands, and have extra help during the day was a true
blessing. I am still babysitting for a
friend of mine which I enjoy plus it gives the boys great playmates! I’ve become more involved at church as I’m
now serving on the Missions committee, singing on the praise team, playing
piano and singing too. I also had to
take a break from singing in the Community Choir due to Darryl’s back/recovery
but look forward to returning to it in 2015.
Scrapbooking, reading, and teaching homeschool fill up the rest of my
time.
Our Fun – This past year was pretty
“quiet”. We didn’t get to take a week
off for vacation, yet we had Darryl home for months; we didn’t get to take over
night hotel stays, yet we did indoor camping, and got to camp in our pop-up in
the driveway for fun. I am thankful
though that we did finally make it to Mackinaw in October. It was something that the boys had been
dreaming of since last year. We
surprised them with a three day get away and it was perfection. The boys had the opportunity to “drive” the
Ferry across the lake to Mackinaw Island as well they were taught how to coil
the ropes and get the boat ready to dock.
Riding their bikes on the Island was another highlight for them as was
several trips across the “Mighty Mac” bridge.
Prior to that, in August, we finally were able to go camping. The boys l.o.v.e.d it. They got to ride their bikes all over, play
in the dirt, go swimming at the beach, eat ice cream, roast hot dogs and blow
glow-in-the-dark bubbles. Back in June,
we were able to make a trip down to Alex and Alicia’s (my niece) for a small
family reunion. It was a lot of fun to
laugh and laugh with my family. Kel,
Deb, and Micah had just returned from the mission field – we miss them so much
when they are gone and love spending time with them when they are home. Kel and Deb were able to spend Halloween with
us and went Trick-or-Treating with the boys which they all loved.
I guess that’s all for this year. For a year that I felt wasn’t filled with
much it seems now that it was filled with, well, much! We are looking forward to 2015 and are
excited to see where God leads in the coming year.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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