Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Make thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be
A quiet chamber kept for Thee.
(Martin Luther, From Heaven Above, stanza 13)
Merry Christmas! We continue to give thanks this year for work, good health, family, friends and children who are growing, playing and learning.
Aaron is 3 and loves trains, tractors, laughter and games of chase. It seems there is always plenty of laughter and chasing around here to entertain him.
Ella is a little mother to Aaron and queen of questions. God has blessed her with a cheerful, inquisitive personality. She's learning to read and enjoys writing and drawing. Did I mention she loves to ask questions?
Isaiah is our sensitive people pleaser. He became a reader this year and still loves legos and making new friends. He stays busy with basketball and baseball.
Jonah continues his journey as a budding scientist. His current passion is electronics. He built a small radio this week out of stuff we had around the house and actually got it to work...We're thinking of renaming him MacGyver. He loves playdates with his best friend and wrestling with - or should I say defending himself from - the cat, Butterscotch. I have to get that on video sometime.
Ron had positive feedback today from 3 of the 5 readers of the proposal for his dissertation. After six months of rewrites, this is very good news to us. He's very close to defending it and writing up the final paper. It's been a long road and we are all cheering him on to the finish line.
Lisa learned to stain, varnish and paint this year as we added to and improved on the house. We were blessed with very few mosquitos this summer, so it was a great year to work outside. The hours did get long though, so it's been nice to trade brush and paint for sweaters and schoolbooks. We had our first, much anticipated, snow a few weeks ago and all the kids have been sledding and skiing in our winter wonderland. I've tried skiing a few times as well and love the excercise, though I'm not so fond of the falling down!
We are especially thankful this Christmas season for playing in the snow, trips to the library, cookies, occasional moments of quiet, family, friends and the birth of a loving Savior.
May His Joy be yours this Christmas,
Ron, Lisa, Jonah, Isaiah, Ella and Aaron
