MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas to you and yours~ from me and mine!  May your JOY be great, for HE HAS COME!

And this years' letter~ for the record (and giggles).

Merry Christmas!

This past year has been a flurry of activity for us, as I am sure it has been for you!  Time has a way of doing that, doesn’t it?

We celebrated being in our new (permanent!) home for a whole year on October 31^st and I couldn’t help but look back at all the things we have accomplished here so far. 

We came into a place that lay listless and still~ dormant and sleeping soundly~ and we shook it awake again- and have every day since we stepped foot on the place!  I think, though, that the Place rather likes the playful feet that once again tromp circles round the house, the laughter that echoes through hallways and the quiet whispers that go on well into the night.

It certainly looks as spiffy as ever, with fresh colors on the inside, new barn boards on the outside, and wood floors rediscovered throughout!  It can’t help but shine. 

We call it, affectionately, HOPESTEAD because we have grand hopes and dreams for the place.  It will take time for them all to be realized, but the greatest has already become real; We are Home.

The biggest reason we have accomplished as much as we have this year just happens to have a name- Matt.  The man is a machine!  You wouldn’t believe how much he accomplishes around the Place, despite his crazy work schedule and all-too-frequent trips out of town.   His idea of fun is working at home and I have to work at not being jealous of his attentions.!  He is one of a kind.

The children too, are one of a kind….all four of them. 

Corynn is in her last year of single digits (How can that be?  I am too young to have a nine year old!  Right?!?) and she is such a joy.  She has such a sweet heart and helpful spirit- Lately, her little sister has been climbing into bed with her at night (and subsequently, taking almost all of it for herself!) so I asked Corynn laughingly one morning “SO-why do you let Adele’ sleep with you if you have just an inch or two to squish into (your own) bed with?”  And she said, “Well.  She says ‘Pleeease Wyn.  Can’t I sleep with you?’ in such a sweet, sad little voice I just HAVE to let her!”  That is the kind of girl our Corynn is.   A real gem.  I am enjoying sitting back and watching the young lady growing from the girl.

Andrew is 6 now and is, not surprisingly, still smitten with cows.  He has breeding books by his bedside and writes cow chores for copywork.  When he was still five, he drew an amazing three-dimensional collection of barns and outbuildings  (a farm “town”) which I will keep forever because I am still in awe of it.  He still talks with a drawl and has a cowboy gait, and I am thinking that that is just how is going to be…  I love it.   He’s working on learning to read- with lots of cowboy books!

Adele’ just turned four last month but is so petite and teeny that you can’t help but think of her as the baby of the family.  But baby she is not.  She loves to “do school” and she colors amazingly well.  She stays within the lines of all her coloring (and often draws in eyelashes on the people- the girlie girl!) and draws really great portraits.  She is fiery though and can hold her own when there is conflict in the house.  My mom says I deserve it, for what I put her through.

Judah is probably the biggest, dearest 2 year old you ever did meet.  The boy just melts me into a puddle.  It won’t be long before he outgrows Adele’- they look more like twins than anything.  He is a big, loveable, happy boy who is enamored with tractors and trains- and makes all the boy noises that go with them.   But he is still baby enough to crawl on my lap and snuggle with me (for a few seconds anyway.)  I am potty-training him and before he pees he will look at me with a glimmer in his eye and say “Here it comes!” as you would if a toy train were nearing you  or a sheep was trudging your way.  Life is just so pleasant with children to make it fresh and new and fun.

(Yes.  I did just write a pee story in an annual Christmas letter.)

I am doing well.  I turned the big 3-0 this year…I am officially grown up.  (And don’t ever expect to write my age again.  You’ve been forewarned.)  Matt can’t joke about robbing the cradle anymore!   One thing that occurred to me this year was that at 30 years old, my life is everything I ever dreamed it would be.  I have arrived! 

Some people wouldn’t believe me, many people would scoff- but I really feel like I am living the dream.  It can be hard work- caring for these souls and this house, home educating and growing our food, being and doing everything when Matt is gone…but I feel so amazingly blessed that my life is what it is.~ Hard and trying and overwhelming at times~ but mostly sweet and tender and lovely and most of all…worthwhile.

God is good. 

I pray that you will see God’s goodness throughout the coming year and that this Christmas-time, you can’t help but be drawn to a Fathers’ love, who sent his Son~ the greatest Gift.

Love from us all~ the Newmans