This year, I wrote it in about 15-20 minutes. Josh edited it quickly. I closed it down that day and came back to it two days later. I briefly reviewed it, made some minor changes, and printed them out. I had them in the mail by late afternoon. I think that it was the quickest I have ever completed them.
Since Facebook keeps us in contact with those far and near on a regular basis and the friends who are around us obviously know what is going on with us, it is difficult to decide who to send the letters to and who not to anymore. I will be the first to admit that there is little rhyme or reason to it! The only certainty is that my aunts and uncles get one!
With all that being said, I decided to share our letter here again, as I do every year, just in case you'd like a "year end review".
Dear friends and family,
As we read through last year’s letter, most things
are much the same. I feel like I could copy & paste the information and
resend it! But I will update things as much as possible.
Elias is 9 and will be 10 in March. He is having a
great 4th grade year. He really likes his teacher and has been
improving academically because of her positive prodding. He will go to middle
school next year. Yikes! We are trying not to let our negative feelings regarding
middle school show, but we aren’t looking forward to it. He played soccer in
both the Spring & Fall seasons & really improved his skill and
leadership abilities on the team. He was excited this Fall to begin playing on
the school basketball team. Before this year, he played on a community
recreational team, but he had looked forward to playing on the school team.
They have played 4 games so far & have lots games ahead. In late Spring,
Elias began taking drum lessons from a young man who is a former member of a
youth group we helped lead. He has been an excellent teacher & mentor &
Elias has learned a lot so far. Over a year before, we had agreed that if he
would save half of the cost of a drum set, we would pay for the other half.
When we made him that deal, we had no idea that he would so diligently save!
Every time he was given money for anything, he handed it to Josh to keep in his
bank & barely ever decided to spend a cent on anything else. He was able to
buy his drums in October. In August,
Elias decided that he wanted to be baptized & he was one of the first few
people to be baptized in our new church building shortly after we had moved
into it.
Bella will be 8 in less than a month. The part of
her birthday she is looking forward to the most is being allowed to ride in the
car without a booster seat. This past September, after missing her front teeth
for an entire year, we finally saw her adult teeth make an appearance. Both
times one of them popped through, Josh & I were away from home. She was so
glad that they finally came in after such a long wait. She took dance in the Spring
& again this Fall. We find her dancing throughout the house almost all the
time. She really enjoys it & still runs to get ready for dance class as
soon as she walks through the door from school. She is currently in ballet
& tap & her next recital is the weekend before Christmas. She is
currently in the 2nd grade & is still a natural student. She has
the same teacher as Elias did in 2nd grade. This Summer Bella learned
to swim in the deep without any assistance. The kids had lessons again at the
beginning of the summer, but didn’t have nearly as much time in the water,
since we had a pretty rainy season. She has decided that she would like to
return to gymnastics in the Spring, but I suspect she will be back in dance in
the fall.
Not much has changed for Josh or I either. Josh coached Elias’ soccer team
both the Spring & Fall season. He also continued to play on the
recreational team. As an early birthday present, we traveled to Ohio to attend a Major
League Soccer match. His favorite team, Seattle Sounders, won against the
Columbus Crew, 1-0. It was a great night. I am still substitute teaching, but
have decided that this will be my last year. My certificate will run out at the
end of this school year. I’m unsure of what I’ll do next, but I just feel my
time of subbing is ending.
The first weekend of November ended up being
pretty eventful. My sisters & I threw a 50th anniversary party
for my parents. It went better than we expected & we were really glad we
decided to have the party for them. The next evening, Josh ended up being
admitted into the hospital and had emergency surgery first thing Monday morning
to have his appendix removed. It was definitely an unexpected turn of events,
but we were thankful that it could be removed without complication and our
church family was a great help.
We hope that you and those you love feel God’s
presence near this holiday season. We hope to hear from many of you or see you
this coming year.
Blessing and peace to you,
Josh, Jennifer, Elias, and Bella Wilson
2 comments:
Jenn,
Elias is in 4th grade but will start middle school next year? Does your middle school start with 5th grade? Ours here does, too! That is so fun!
Yes. The 5 & 6 graders are kept separate from the 7th & 8th graders for class time and lunch and recess, but the assemblies, bus, etc are all mixed. And the school they are attending has been known to be a little rough in the past.
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