The first week of January our beloved cat Mookie died. He was just two years old, and it was quite a shock.
But here's our 2018 Christmas letter in case you didn't get to read it. (Our printer actually died before I could print them off. By the time we bought a new printer Mookie died and I didn't have the heart to update it so I didn't send out very many.) If you're interested in more book/author news, you can subscribe to
my newsletter here. I try to send out a monthly update.
Dear
Friends and Family,
Somehow,
annual updates are hard to write, but I enjoy looking back on the year and
sharing with you our highlights. It’s the good stuff; I save the challenging
parts of life (like tears and tantrums) for personal conversations.
Esther
(age 7) is now in first grade. She’s creative and likes to draw and craft. She
also writes stories. Esther still enjoys snuggles and cats. She loves all
things cute and pretty like jewelry. But she kept up with her teammates playing
baseball and football. Now she’s playing basketball again. Esther is also our
resident weather reporter. She’s always checking the forecast and clouds.
We
appreciate how Evan plays nicely with both of his sisters (though the three
rarely play together). He’s in fourth grade now and really loves roller
coasters. (Our first trip to Hershey this year helped!) He draws them on paper
and designs models with pipe cleaners. He also loves his K’NEX roller coaster.
His LEGOs still get plenty of use, too. This month he built a coin-operated candy
vending machine and a working “video” game. Did I mention he’s just ten? Evan doesn’t
love school, but he works hard and earns good grades. Evan played basketball, baseball,
and flag football this year. Like his dad, he enjoys watching and playing most
sports.
I’d
like to turn back time and keep Meghan a little girl, but at twelve, she’s
growing up fast. Meghan loves all things creative. She’s even begun earning a
bit of money knitting dishcloths and weaving potholders though the orders
sometimes take a bit of time to fulfill. This summer she made her own jewelry
at camp. Through 4-H, Meghan
completed an award-winning quilt and just finished her second quilt. She also
played basketball and tried volleyball this fall. Meghan has always enjoyed
school and earned distinguished honors during her first trimester of sixth
grade.
Derek’s
been with the Aberdeen Test Center working as a civilian software engineer for
the Army for sixteen years. He coached baseball and football this year and then
sat back and just watched the three kids play basketball last winter. Derek
keeps up a regular exercise routine and completed another Tough Mudder in
October.
I’ve
devoted a lot of time this year to a book that will be published in 2020. (It
will be my first published book that I pitched. The other five were all on
assignment.) This book is a companion guide to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little
House books. It’ll provide historical context to help readers to understand the
books better in addition to about 70 book-related activities. This fall my dad
and I took a spontaneous road trip to Malone, NY to see visit the Almanzo
Wilder farm. Such memories! I’ve also been doing some author visits in schools.
And keeping up with the family. Somehow, they expect to eat every night! I’m
not sure how it takes me by surprise as often as it does.
Derek
and I marked fifteen years of marriage in June. Of course, parenting adds a
level of difficulty to marriage we never anticipated, but we’re grateful to God
for the grace—and mercy—He gives us to get through each day. Derek and I
celebrated with a December cruise to the Bahamas. We hadn’t relaxed that much
in, oh, about twelve years.
Though
our tree is decorated and a few gifts purchased, I don’t “feel” quite ready for
Christmas. I wonder if Mary ever felt ready for the birth of Jesus. What I
don’t wonder about is why Jesus came. The Bible says, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name
Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” We pray you’ll have a
blessed Christmas and 2019. Be in touch!
Love
and blessings,
Derek, Annette, Meghan, Evan, and Esther
