2007 Christmas Letter To YOU!

Greetings Friends & Family!

We hope that this letter finds you concluding a happy and healthy 2007. If it went as fast for you as it did for us, you are probably standing with your hands in the air wondering where the year went!

We began 2007 waiting for the arrival of our fifth and final addition, Annagail Fayth. She made an early appearance in March and is already crawling and pulling up on anything she can get a grip on now. She is a very happy baby despite being kissed, hugged, & squeezed at numerous points of the day (times FOUR), so I’d say she is off to a great start.

Ella keeps us on our toes. At 3 years old, she is the first one of our children that I have considered putting one of those leashes on in public places. She climbs on anything that will hold her and she proudly wears the bruises from trying to climb the things that WON’T! Her adventures this year have included making her own rain with a teacup when she didn’t get to try out her new raincoat for 2 days and coloring herself brown with a marker, because she wanted, “pretty, dark skin.” She is a JOY and is at her happiest standing in the middle of our living room, making everyone roll with laughter.

Cooper is making his way in this family that he is so very out-numbered in. As I imagine most 4 year old brothers are, his favorite thing to do these days is to refuse the kisses of all of his sisters. He holds them hostage with the promise that he will grant them kisses, “Only on Sundays!!” Every now again, he slips up and forgets his own “rule” at bedtime which causes unending giggles that drive him nearly mad. As much as he scoffs at it, he is the first one to run in with a shoe to kill a spider or defend his sister on the playground, because he is “our protector” when Daddy is at work.

MaryEvelyn has become quite the artist, complete with the temperament, at the ripe old age of 5. She is taking private art classes with a local artist and is doing some really great work for her age. She has always been the one of our children that would sit at the table all day long with a stack of paper and a box of crayons if we let her. It is fun to see her interests and talents beginning to form. I look forward to seeing how God will use each of our children and their talents for His good.

Graycen is our little ballerina and seems to be maturing by the minute these days. At 6 years old now, there are times when her hair is hanging a certain way, & she is busy explaining something to me in her very diplomatic way, that I can almost see her standing before me all grown up. She is being baptized the Sunday before Christmas this year and we couldn’t be more proud of her efforts already to live her life for Christ. Having surrendered her life to Christ over a year ago, it has been wonderful to share in her growth and to disciple her. At the end of one of those long days we all have, Graycen noticed that I was a little frazzled and asked me what was wrong. I explained to her that I was just a bit overwhelmed and disappointed that I hadn’t gotten all my to-do’s done. She said to me, “Mama, if you were perfect, you wouldn’t need Jesus.” She may be six, but there are many days that I end up learning from her instead of the other way around.

If I had to sum up our 2007, I would have to call it “Seasons of Grace”. With five children under the age of seven, Nathan’s full-time work load, his part-time class load, and me homeschooling our oldest two in 1st grade this year; we are as busy as you may THINK we are and then some. Our home doesn’t look like Martha Stewart’s, but it sure isn’t Old Mother Hubbard’s either. We are blessed daily by God’s good and perfect Grace and we are, as Graycen so eloquently stated, made perfect by His love.

As the celebration of the birth of Jesus approaches this season, our prayer for you is that you will take time to reflect on not only Christ’s birth, but also His sinless life and His death for all of us. Our prayer for you in 2008 is that you will know the Lord’s mercy, His peace, and that you will grow deeper in your walk with Him than ever before.

Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

In His Grace And Love,

Angela & Family