Merry Christmas!

After a year of silence here we are again. I'll post my belated Christmas letter to update on our year

December 2014

Dear Friends and Family,

I haven't sent out a Christmas letter for three years now; I think it's time to update everyone about our lives. We do really enjoy receiving letters and pictures from everyone, so perhaps it's time to reciprocate. And it's a good time to stop and reflect on the happenings of the past year.

The beginning of 2014 found us in the middle of a very cold and snowy winter. By March we had 2-3 feet of snow on the ground, meaning that two little boys were mostly indoors in our very small trailer house. This mom thought she was going to lose her mind some days.

But eventually the seasons went on and we welcomed spring! As tired as we can get of snow and cold after six to seven months, I do enjoy living where we have four distinct seasons. A northern summer is very gorgeous and makes up for our winters, I think.

A few highlights from our year...We took a trip to Nebraska in March to visit family. In June one of Clark's sisters was married, so we had all the fun and busyness of a family wedding. In August we went camping for a week with the Graber family, as another sister of Clark's and her family were here from overseas on furlough.

Clark continues to work for Tiry Engineering as a draftsman. He really enjoys his job and has great co-workers. I tease him that he doesn't know what to do with himself when he's not behind a computer. :) He does a good job at taking care of his family as well.

I keep busy house-keeping for all my men. Some days I feel like all I do is cooking, dishes and laundry. I do enjoy a good book or a sewing project to keep my brains on track.

Bendick, at the age of 4, has a lot of energy and a very inquisitive mind. I read somewhere that the average 4 year old asks over 400 questions a day, and some days I'm inclined to believe it! He enjoys all the typical boy play, cars,trucks, guns and Legos. It's been fun watching his imagination develop this last year. Everything is more exciting if there are a few crashes or explosions involved.

Asher, age 2, tries his best to keep up with big brother. They do play together very well for the most part, though there's the daily disagreements. For some reason we find it very amusing when Asher does manage to gain the upper hand. Asher enjoys books, play-dough, coloring and toy animals. He would live out of doors if he had anything to say in the matter.

As we look ahead to the year 2015, we anticipate several exciting changes for our family. The best one is the expected arrival in early March of a new family member. After spending most of July and August on the couch with “all day sickness”, I am grateful to be feeling well, and for a healthy, normal pregnancy so far.

Another change, a big one, is an anticipated move to another house. We've been wanting to move to larger quarters for awhile, as well as wanting to be closer to church, town and friends. As it looks now, we will be closing on a house the beginning of February. It's a small house, but there's a nice basement, which I like, and a garage and workshop, which Clark likes. The house was mostly thrown in our lap, and we're very grateful for the Lord's provision. It needs some work, the biggest part being getting rid of cigarette smoke, so it's doubtful how soon we'll be able to move into it. I'd love to be moved before the baby arrives, but that's going to take a miracle I think. One of the better perks about the location is going to be living three blocks from Clark's parents. I think we're all looking forward to that.

May you all have a blessed year of serving the Lord where ever you are.

Merry Christmas!

-from the Grabers