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 31st 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