Obviously this is a few weeks late, but here is the Christmas letter that I typed up last month...
Dear Family & Friends,
I (Matt) will attempt to give you a brief glimpse into what we have been up to this past year. Once again it has been a busy year and to mix it up we decided to add another boy to the house…
In January of this year my nephew Isaiah moved in with us and began attending Westview Jr. High. Isaiah turned 13 in May and is currently in the 8th grade at Westview. He is a great student and is enjoying going to Westview (who wouldn’t?). Having him living here has been an adjustment for all of us. Isaiah doesn’t have any siblings so having three “little brothers” was a whole new experience, and for us we made the leap from kindergartener to teenager almost overnight. You can definitely see a difference in how Isaiah interacts with the boys now versus when he first moved here. Of course, he and Brennan can fight like brothers too.
Brennan turned six this past June and is in the 1st grade at Meadowview Elementary. He is currently obsessed with all things Star Wars and spends a lot of time playing with anything that remotely resembles a light saber. This fall he played soccer in the West End league in Shipshewana. Despite the fact that his coach (me) didn’t know what he was doing, he really enjoyed playing. Recently he lost his first two teeth.
Sawyer turned three in October. He likes to make us work for his happiness. He’s got a heavy dose of stubborn in him. I’m told it is revenge for how I was as a child (my apologies to my parents). Recently we seem to be seeing more frequent signs of hope with him. He can be so cute and funny during those times. Now if we can just get him convinced to go pee and poop in the potty. We did manage to get rid of his pacifiers when they magically “broke” on his third birthday. He recovered from that loss pretty quickly.
Jeremiah turned two this month. He’s talking quite a bit and has developed a bit of his own stubborn streak. He’s still cute and cuddly though! Of our three boys, he is the closest I’ve gotten to having a daddy’s boy. He can often be seen carrying his blanky around and/or sticking his thumb in his mouth. That thumb habit will probably be a bit harder to break than Sawyer’s pacifier addiction.
Monica is still teaching Title 1 (working with groups of kids on reading) at York Elementary. This is her 3rd year at York. She teaches in the morning and gets home around noon each day. I’m still working as the controller at Honeyville Metal. I’ve been there over six years now. When Monica and I are at work, Sawyer and Jeremiah are with their babysitter Linda. This is Linda’s 7th school year taking care of our boys. We’re very fortunate to have her taking care of the boys!
There have been some pretty big changes in the Beachyville subdivision this past year. In June my Dawdy Beachy passed away. It was pretty sudden so it has been an adjustment not having him around. After that, my mom and dad decided to move Grandma Beachy from the nursing home into their house. We get over there quite a bit to see Grandma. Jeremiah loves to give Grandma her water cup and tell her to drink. Grandma’s health has declined quite a bit. Because I work so close to home, I’m on call when mom or whoever else is staying with Grandma needs some extra help moving her around.
At the end of June, Monica and I went on an amazing vacation to San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua with our friends JB & Carla and Ben & Jen. It was great! We stayed in a house right on the Pacific Ocean. We did a lot of relaxing, sitting and staring at the ocean, reading, lounging in the pool, and eating. Sign me up for that vacation again!
We hope all of you are doing well. Merry Christmas!
Matt, Monica, Isaiah, Brennan, Sawyer, and Jeremiah
Dear Family & Friends,
I (Matt) will attempt to give you a brief glimpse into what we have been up to this past year. Once again it has been a busy year and to mix it up we decided to add another boy to the house…
In January of this year my nephew Isaiah moved in with us and began attending Westview Jr. High. Isaiah turned 13 in May and is currently in the 8th grade at Westview. He is a great student and is enjoying going to Westview (who wouldn’t?). Having him living here has been an adjustment for all of us. Isaiah doesn’t have any siblings so having three “little brothers” was a whole new experience, and for us we made the leap from kindergartener to teenager almost overnight. You can definitely see a difference in how Isaiah interacts with the boys now versus when he first moved here. Of course, he and Brennan can fight like brothers too.
Brennan turned six this past June and is in the 1st grade at Meadowview Elementary. He is currently obsessed with all things Star Wars and spends a lot of time playing with anything that remotely resembles a light saber. This fall he played soccer in the West End league in Shipshewana. Despite the fact that his coach (me) didn’t know what he was doing, he really enjoyed playing. Recently he lost his first two teeth.
Sawyer turned three in October. He likes to make us work for his happiness. He’s got a heavy dose of stubborn in him. I’m told it is revenge for how I was as a child (my apologies to my parents). Recently we seem to be seeing more frequent signs of hope with him. He can be so cute and funny during those times. Now if we can just get him convinced to go pee and poop in the potty. We did manage to get rid of his pacifiers when they magically “broke” on his third birthday. He recovered from that loss pretty quickly.
Jeremiah turned two this month. He’s talking quite a bit and has developed a bit of his own stubborn streak. He’s still cute and cuddly though! Of our three boys, he is the closest I’ve gotten to having a daddy’s boy. He can often be seen carrying his blanky around and/or sticking his thumb in his mouth. That thumb habit will probably be a bit harder to break than Sawyer’s pacifier addiction.
Monica is still teaching Title 1 (working with groups of kids on reading) at York Elementary. This is her 3rd year at York. She teaches in the morning and gets home around noon each day. I’m still working as the controller at Honeyville Metal. I’ve been there over six years now. When Monica and I are at work, Sawyer and Jeremiah are with their babysitter Linda. This is Linda’s 7th school year taking care of our boys. We’re very fortunate to have her taking care of the boys!
There have been some pretty big changes in the Beachyville subdivision this past year. In June my Dawdy Beachy passed away. It was pretty sudden so it has been an adjustment not having him around. After that, my mom and dad decided to move Grandma Beachy from the nursing home into their house. We get over there quite a bit to see Grandma. Jeremiah loves to give Grandma her water cup and tell her to drink. Grandma’s health has declined quite a bit. Because I work so close to home, I’m on call when mom or whoever else is staying with Grandma needs some extra help moving her around.
At the end of June, Monica and I went on an amazing vacation to San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua with our friends JB & Carla and Ben & Jen. It was great! We stayed in a house right on the Pacific Ocean. We did a lot of relaxing, sitting and staring at the ocean, reading, lounging in the pool, and eating. Sign me up for that vacation again!
We hope all of you are doing well. Merry Christmas!
Matt, Monica, Isaiah, Brennan, Sawyer, and Jeremiah
As I mentioned in the letter, Grandma's health was deteriorating and after Christmas she declined rapidly and passed away on 12/31/2010. It's an adjustment not having her around but she was ready to go and lived a long life. My mom posted a great tribute to Grandma on her blog.
Our family with Grandma on Christmas Eve
Jeremiah watching Grandma Barbara's video with her. They had a special bond.
