It’s been awhile since I’ve written a “Christmas Letter” with
a whole family update so I thought I’d stay up tonight and get one
written for 2019. If nobody reads it, at least I’ve recorded our
family status for posterity.
Jessi (34) left her
job at Cardinal Health and moved to Russellville, taking a job in
account collections with Transco Lines, Inc. She bought the camper we
lived in during our house remodel and is currently living in our
driveway! She’s taking some time to figure out what she wants to do
next, maybe grad school, maybe buy a house near by. In the mean time,
we are enjoying having her around! Her dog, Moony, is happy as a clam
down at the barn where he was born, with the other dogs and
livestock.
Joshua (33) has an
apartment in Conway but rarely spends the night there. He travels
constantly doing non-destructive testing for Applied Inspection
Systems. What this means is that he tests welds and metal integrity
through radiography, sonography, and other methods. Most of this work
is done in power plants. Joshua successfully passed is CWI course
this year also and is now a Certified Welding Inspector. We don’t
see him often enough, but he stops by every once in a while and we
mange to catch lunch with him in Conway on occasion.
Katie (28) lives in
North Little Rock and got her own apartment for the first time last
February. She has a terrific job that she loves at Sowell Management,
an investment management company. She is excelling there and since
being with Sowell she has become interested in going back to school
for accounting. She is active in her church and volunteering in the
Little Rock area. About once a month, she and her dog Ladybug come
spend the weekend with us.
ClaireAnna (18)
graduated from High School last May and started classes at Arkansas
TECH University in August. She was awarded an ATU academic
scholarship as well as the AR state lottery scholarship and a
scholarship from Ted’s company! We told her to take it easy at
school just so long as she keeps her scholarships but she finished
her first semester with a 4.0! She is majoring in Elementary
Education with a minor in Spanish. She works in the ATU library about
15 hours/ week for spending cash. ClaireAnna is no longer in 4H or
showing animals and it was very strange for Ted and I to not step
even a foot on the county fair grounds this year! My, how life
changes! She has taken up Karate, though, and goes to class twice a
week. She sings on the worship team at church, volunteers with
various organizations, was a camp counselor at Camp Caudle again this
year, and went to Bogota, Columbia for the second time this summer
with our church doing street evangelism.
One of the most
exciting changes in our family this year has been the addition of our
bonus daughter, Sydni! What a surprise and a blessing she has been to
us! She is 18, graduated high school in May with ClaireAnna, and
started ATU in August majoring in Emergency Management with a minor
in Spanish. Sydni was valedictorian of her HS class, is also on
scholarships at ATU, and finished her first university semester with
a 4.0! If that weren’t enough to be proud of, she became a black
belt in Karate this year, having been studying at the same Dojo since
she was 10 years old! Sydni also works at the ATU library as well as
at her Karate Dojo. Both Syndi and ClaireAnna are living at home
during college to save money for travel and missions trips during the
summers.
Ted and I are doing
well. We celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary this year
and are grateful to God for each other and our marriage. We hope and
pray for 35 more! It’s hard for us to believe that Ted has
completed sixteen years as shipping manager with his company, which
is now called Amcor. (The 4th name change since he’s
been there!) We are getting close to the number of years he worked
for Pfanstiehl! I have started working again, as a substitute
teacher, and I really love it! It’s flexible so I pick and choose
the jobs I want to accept and the days I want to work. I’m trying
to work 3 days a week to help pay for my new Tacoma!
We have slowed way
down on the farm over the last 2 years since ClaireAnna is occupied
with other things now, and have sold nearly all the sheep and goats
and cut back on cattle numbers. We now raise purebred Dexter cattle,
which are miniature cattle and very easy to handle and work with. We
like them very much! We sell pasture raised, hormone and antibiotic
free whole or half steers and also beef by the package out of our
freezer, USDA inspected. We do expect a few goat kids this spring
which will be fun.
We are really loving
life in our remodeled home. It’s just a lovely space now that it’s
finished. Thank God that’s over! (Actually, we are still waiting on
sidewalks, a deck, and a driveway gate!) We are active in our church
as always, doing weekly nursery duty where all of the babies love Ted
more than me as always (It’s true!). I enjoy attending our women’s
Bible study with Jessi, and Ted leads the deacon team. We’ve had
no major health issues this year, but many minor ones. Ted ruptured
the tendons on his right pointer finger and it looks like that will
be something that bothers him for the foreseeable future. There have
been a few kidney stones and sore backs and joints, but all in all,
we are doing great!
God has blessed our family in so many ways, but none compare to the blessing of being adopted into his family by the redeeming blood of Christ! We wish this same blessing to all who read this letter. Merry, Merry Christmas!
