We hope this blog finds you refreshed and ready for 2008! Our holiday greetings are a bit behind this year because…well, just because. I toyed briefly with the idea of having the boys write something, and then decided if I got thank you notes out of them that was good enough. So I tried to interview them instead. They talked about as much as they do any time I query them about school, girls, etc… “What’s the Christmas letter anyway? Tell them we got a boat.” “I don’t know.” “I’m good. Merry Christmas.” Hmmm…at this point the letter is the perfect length for them, but just not newsy enough for me…so here are my observations about the current state of the Evans’ clan:We’ve had a great year. The boys stayed out of juvie and we’re all still alive with Michael (16) now several months into being a licensed driver. He mostly divides his free time between soccer, music, friends, and wakeboarding or snowboarding depending on the season. He loves school, “except for the actual school part”. Luckily, his grades don’t reflect it. He’s fun to be around and his busy social calendar does reflect that. We take whatever time we can get.
Josh (14) jumped eagerly into the world of school sports this fall, playing running back and place kicker for the junior high football team and point guard for the basketball team. He plays all out – which tends to work better in football than basketball. He also enjoys a diverse group of friends, not least a girl named Mikayla. He does well in school, mostly because he is so competitive (not because he loves it). We work hard for our share of his time and good moods and thought the movie ‘Dan in Real Life’ did a great job of depicting the challenges of this particular age!
Daniel (11) transitioned from elementary to middle school this year. The first couple months were rough as they often are in the melting pot of middle school, but he is hitting his groove now and seems to be back to his old happy self. He too is a social creature and enjoys playing sports – soccer is his specialty. He is participating in confirmation at our church and loves hanging out with his brothers when they let him. He can shop until we drop – looking good is important to him! We prefer he stay ‘little’ forever but signs are he is going to grow up just like the rest of them – bummer.
I stay busy though I don’t always feel productive. In addition to providing food, laundry, and transportation service for the crew above, I manage some part-time consulting work and volunteering. And I have a couple creative hobbies (gardening & knitting) for stress relief! My consulting work took me to Cerner’s London office in May where David joined me for a brief getaway – a real treat. David’s work took on new challenges this year as he focused full time on helping Cerner build their new employer clinic and health plan businesses. To reduce his stress, we bought a wakeboard boat! He loves being out in it on the lake with the boys, and I (mostly) love them having that time together. I also love seeing them drive up the lane at dusk, all body parts intact, exhausted from all the tricks they tried.
Josh (14) jumped eagerly into the world of school sports this fall, playing running back and place kicker for the junior high football team and point guard for the basketball team. He plays all out – which tends to work better in football than basketball. He also enjoys a diverse group of friends, not least a girl named Mikayla. He does well in school, mostly because he is so competitive (not because he loves it). We work hard for our share of his time and good moods and thought the movie ‘Dan in Real Life’ did a great job of depicting the challenges of this particular age!
Daniel (11) transitioned from elementary to middle school this year. The first couple months were rough as they often are in the melting pot of middle school, but he is hitting his groove now and seems to be back to his old happy self. He too is a social creature and enjoys playing sports – soccer is his specialty. He is participating in confirmation at our church and loves hanging out with his brothers when they let him. He can shop until we drop – looking good is important to him! We prefer he stay ‘little’ forever but signs are he is going to grow up just like the rest of them – bummer.
I stay busy though I don’t always feel productive. In addition to providing food, laundry, and transportation service for the crew above, I manage some part-time consulting work and volunteering. And I have a couple creative hobbies (gardening & knitting) for stress relief! My consulting work took me to Cerner’s London office in May where David joined me for a brief getaway – a real treat. David’s work took on new challenges this year as he focused full time on helping Cerner build their new employer clinic and health plan businesses. To reduce his stress, we bought a wakeboard boat! He loves being out in it on the lake with the boys, and I (mostly) love them having that time together. I also love seeing them drive up the lane at dusk, all body parts intact, exhausted from all the tricks they tried.
We may not know much (per the kids), but one thing we do know is that time together is scarce and getting scarcer. So we try to make the most of the moments we have. As you can see from the Christmas loot we are modeling, we are looking forward to a family spring break trip to Steamboat Springs, CO.
We find God’s love most evident when we slow down and enjoy the relationships we have with family and friends new and old. We pray that you too will experience His love in the relationships that bless your life in the coming year and beyond. Take care & keep in touch!
We find God’s love most evident when we slow down and enjoy the relationships we have with family and friends new and old. We pray that you too will experience His love in the relationships that bless your life in the coming year and beyond. Take care & keep in touch!
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