Family Update - November 2014 // Christmas Letter Style

It's been a really long time since I've updated our status.  So, I'm going to turn this update into something of a Christmas Letter.  Don't expect eloquence ... I'm not sure I have it in me right now.   But I'll try to remember the highlights and post pictures of each event as time progresses ... I hope to be caught up before Kendra turns 20.


It was a fairly mild winter around here ... cold days wedged between pleasant weeks.    Kendra turned 19 on her birthday ... and that kind of shook us up.  WHEN did she get that old, wasn't she just 14?   Realizing how old the kids had all gotten really bothered me ... and I realized all the drama over the past 6 years had affected us far more than I had thought .... unemployment, loosing a baby at 12 weeks and nearly dying from a reaction to the Morphine the hospital gave me,  Mom dying suddenly, having LaRue, the wreck with the semi truck, Rue's seizures, more unemployment, Tim's heart attack, Paul born with Down's with a difficult birth, Karen having surgery for an ovarian cyst - cantaloupe size - I kept the kids part time at both events,  having an extra child - this wasn't bad ... it just was, emotionally dealing with how kids and siblings managed though much of this, Dad remarried, car problems, fires burning for a few weeks all around us, nearby tornadoes, summer of 120ish temps and no rain, Tim adding Volleyball to his reffing, reffing season clashing with McDonald's, working night shifts again and Sundays, frequent and expensive repairs to our AC/heater, broken water pipes ..... it's not all in order .... oh yeah, and Kendra published 4 books (I think).    ANY of those events could have been SO MUCH WORSE - so I'm grateful for the blessings.   Tim didn't die and has mostly recovered.  We never went hungry or without clothing or had our electricity or other vital things shut off.  And even though the kids didn't get gifts from us ... family and friends pitched in and made sure many of their wishes happened - some anonymously - and I pray for blessings for those who helped us frequently.

So ... Kendra turned 19 ... we had her birthday party on the last day of February in our shirt sleeves ... and we woke up to no electricity and a foot of snow.  Karen came and rescued us, as she had electricity, and we spent the next two days with them.  Pretty much things defrosted pretty fine ... we lost some stuff in the refrigerator and Joel's fish.   But otherwise ... we were VERY blessed!

Easter rolled around, and we spent the day at church ... pictures to post very soon.

We did a big party for Tim's 50th birthday ON his birthday ... supposedly it was a surprise, but he figured it out since he had to drive us ... can you believe he turned 50?   This startled us too ... I still think of him in his 30's.

Joel, Matthew, and Paul partied together - kind of a Kratts Creatures Safari party.  Joel and Matt turned 9, and Paul turned 4.

Joel finished 3rd grade, Vannan finished 10th grade ... as she had managed to get a second year behind, she is delighted to now only be ONE year behind - the one she lost when she was 8 because of her dyslexia as we slowed down to teach her how to manage it.   Kendra published a set of 3 short stories.

For my 46th birthday ... Tim took us on our FIRST VACATION since 1999!   We drove up to Arkansas, spent the night and next day and night, then drove back home.   Tim rented us a house deep in the complex next to a golf course so I'd have plenty of quiet ... but they gave us a townhouse (really nice one) bordering a very noisy intersection.   We were all totally relieved to return home.   The lake was pretty nice, but it was also really muggy and not pleasant for walks in the woods.  Still ... it was a VACATION!!!!  And I can now color in Arkansas as a state I have visited!

Vannan didn't want a 17th party ... instead she spent the night with her best friend, then had an aunt take her shopping, met Grandma to do more shopping before coming home.  Since she had rounded out and grew a couple of inches over the past year ... she REALLY needed a shopping trip to upgrade  a few pieces of her closet (T-shirts / Jeans / etc).  She's still a skinny bean size 4 and has stopped growing at 5' 2".

We started school the first week of August ... really early ... but now we'll take 6 or 7 weeks off for the Thanksgiving/Christmas Holidays.   Vannan never quit so, she's pounding her way through 11th grade, and Joel is now in 4th.    We debated starting Rue in official K books, then when she was too young for Book-It, we decided to just do all the K workbooks and do official K next year.  I think it was a wise choice.

Rue and Esther had a Flowers / Numberjacks birthday party together mid September.  Esther turned 7 and Rue turned 5.   It was a pleasantly warm afternoon and the kids who came had a great time.  And Kendra quit her McDonald's job (though she is now job hunting again.)

Then the weather turned COLD.   I mean freezing at night cold!  We really had to scramble to find warm clothes for the kids .... in September! ... we don't usually pull warm clothes until close to Halloween!  And the first serious cold spell never happens until after Thanksgiving.   Which hasn't arrived yet.  We have had more shorts and sandles weather during October ... but more jackets and long pants days.  And the past 10 days have been highs in the 45-52 and lows at 23 - 30.

We are gearing down the last few days of school ... planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas ... we've had 16 weeks of school (according to Joel's Spelling book).   I think it's a pretty good place to stop.   Kendra has a book on the editing block ready to publish by Valentines - you can add "My Kingdom for a Quest" to your Goodreads list - the 3rd Bookania Quests book, and another in final writing stages that she hopes to publish by summer.   She's also published several more short stories.

All in all .... it's been a pretty calm and mostly good year.