Last Year’s Christmas Letter I Didn’t Send

Last year, I was so proud of completing my Christmas letter and ordering cards before Thanksgiving. But then my Christmas cards were temporarily lost in the mail, and I didn’t receive them until well past Thanksgiving. The company I purchased the cards from gave me a full refund. My tardy Christmas cards then became my free Christmas cards, which I ended up sending because free is a good deal. The delayed cards gave me time to overanalyze my Christmas letter. Our family was in a vulnerable spot with the move, new jobs, new church family, and new friends. What would the new people think of my silly letter?

It’s a year later, and oh, how I wish I were so concerned about a silly Christmas letter! Now, we have more pressing concerns, like navigating life without our beloved Theodore. Now, the memories shared are more important than ever. Now, I care much less about what others think or say. Anyway, without further ado, here is 2023’s Christmas letter….

Happy Holidays, friends and family!

We moved to gorgeous Lostine! We wanted to send our cards out earlier than usual so you would be sure to have our address. Holiday greetings via snail mail are my favorite holiday tradition, after all!

We also added a 97-year-old World War II & Korean War Veteran named Paul to our family! Paul has never married or had children but has been a family friend for basically all of Ryan’s life. He’s fRamily. When we had him at our house for Thanksgiving last year, we never dreamed he’d be living with us six months later (in a different county, no less). Paul’s heart and kidneys are failing, so he needs help with acts of daily living.

We are often asked what the secret is to Paul’s longevity. Paul would say, “There’s no secret…” and then chuckle. I’ve decided the secret lies in his answer—not in his words—but in the chuckle.

Paul giggles when he’s nervous, laughs when he tells stories, and giggles more when he can’t hear you. He’s constantly giggling or smiling at the kids.

2023 has certainly had its challenges for our family. We’ve endured significant losses. It’s safe to say we hate cancer, still aren’t fans of motorcycles, and life is short (even if you live to be 98 like our friend John). This year has also been great in countless ways. We’ve gained so much. New jobs at an incredible little hospital. We thank God every day we live in such a gorgeous place. We have the best neighbors. Great new church and church school for Zeb. There’s so much good we could share in our Christmas letter. But instead, I thought I’d take a cue from Paul and share some giggles.

Like the day I decided to transplant many of our household plants. It was a beautiful day with perfect weather. The kids were helping me play in the dirt, and Paul was half watching/half napping while soaking up some sun. Ryan was at work saving lives. The water at the house wasn’t working right. It was something about a pressure switch or something. So we decided we were going to be pioneers and rig a bucket on a string device to lower into the ditch that runs beside our house. As you can imagine, our kids were thrilled with the task.

Much to my HORROR, there was a dead mouse with its eyes still open in the bucket that I went to retrieve. I SCREAMED and JUMPED and SCREAMED. I hate mice. The kids have no problems with mice. They love to chase them down and feed them to the dogs. My horror increased tenfold when the kids wanted to poke and prod and dissect the dead wide-eyed mouse. Little Miss Dawnna, the queen of non-stop questions, had about a million questions about the dead mouse. I needed a distraction fast. So I sent the kids on a mission to fetch bailer twine to finish our pioneering project. The boys took the bait and headed off. Dawnna, still obsessed with the dead mouse and getting her questions answered, stayed behind. I grabbed a shovel and trashed the mouse as quickly as I could.

Dawnna and I went back to playing in the dirt. A few minutes passed, and here came our three boys pretending to be soldiers singing “Three Blind Mice”!!!! Even three-year-old Theodore was singing!

“Three blind mice, three blind mice

See how they run, see how they run

They all ran after the farmer's wife

She cut off their tails with a carving knife

Did you ever see such a sight in your life as three blind mice?”

Zeb had rigged the bucket with the bailer twine around him like a drummer boy in the army! Jabel saluted me! I was speechless from their shenanigans and breathless from laughing so hard!

Guess what family adopted four barn kittens shortly after this incident! This one! Then we lost a kitten (RIP Tiger), and now we’re up to five kittens, but that’s another story for another letter. Their names are Black Panther, Tiger Orange Flash Jaguar (we call it Jag for short), Heart, Wolfeeee Wolf and Milo. Any guesses which kitten belongs to which kid?

Singing and dancing are pretty common in our family. Christian/worship music is what we listen to or sing the most. I don’t share that in a hoity-toity ; it’s just how it is. The second most requested genre is 90s country music. I do share that in the most hoity-toity way possible. ;) “Check Yes or No” by George Strait and “Chattahoochee” by Alan Jackson were probably two of the most requested songs by little cherubs this year. We were listening to the country station on the way into town when “Little Bitty” by Alan Jackson came on. About halfway through, Theo asked, “Mama mama is this song about me?!” (says the little man who’s proud to be the youngest and smallest). Laughing, I said, “Sure, honey, this song can be about you”.

We’ve been parents for eight years now. We’re fortunate to have three handsome boys and one beautiful girl. Our kids are kind, smart, helpful, and love Jesus. They are also noisy, messy, and constantly hungry. They also bring me to my knees in prayer more than anything or anyone else. I want you to know we’ve made it eight years before flatulence became hysterically funny to my precious children. Someone who shan’t be named (four letters in his name, starts with a “P” and ends with an “A”) taught them to say “barking spiders” each time one of them lets out some gas. Oh, the squeals of delight each time those two words burst out their angelic lips. Dawnna’s eyes especially sparkle, and she tries so hard to contain her laughter when she says “barking spiders”.

We had been working with them on manners all summer. “Excuse me, not barking spiders is what we say”. Then, for Ryan’s birthday, we had a small backyard gathering with friends under the stars. We were all sitting around the fire, enjoying our meal, when a loud rumble came from Jabel’s direction. Kids giggled a tiny bit, and Jabel might have even said, “Excuse me.” for a split second, I thought all the manners lectures paid off… until my awesome female neighbor, who shan’t be named, said, “Barking spiders!” My kids erupted in laughter. That’s when I deployed my white flag and gave up. ;)

“A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.” Proverbs 17:22.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23

Laughing opens up our lungs and promotes good air exchange. Which then stimulates our heart and other muscles. Laughing releases endorphins. Bones are the framework of our bodies, protecting our organs. Bone marrow is where blood cells are made. A dismal ( or stressed out) heart is like poison, wrecking havoc on the very framework/foundation of our bodies. This is a very simple explanation of the importance of making joy a priority in our lives. Something our little family has especially learned this past year, and we’re just so thankful.

Keeping the tradition of signing off with lyrics… “Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,

God of glory, Lord of love;

Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee,

Op’ning to the sun above.

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;

Drive the dark doubt away;

Giver of immortal gladness,

Fill us with the light of day!”

God is love,

Vanessa and Ryan

Zeb 8, Jabel 5, Dawnna 4, Theodore 3 and last but not least, Paul 97