Our family activity this evening was to sign, fold, stuff, and stamp all our cards.
This is the picture from our Christmas card this year.
These are two other pictures that I think turned out especially well.
Here's a copy of the Christmas letter:
The White House Farm Follies
2012
I will start by saying; it has been another blessed year. God continues to amaze us with His grace, mercy and forgiveness.
M is now 8 years old. She played soccer in both spring and fall. She participated in a soccer camp this year and learned some amazing new moves. You will have to ask her to show you the scorpion move sometime. She also became an expert with the hula hoop.
S is now 10 years old. He played football again this year. This year he played for The Waterford Wildcats. Once again, Shane was recognized as one of the most enthusiastic and dedicated players by the coaching staff. In addition, he’s an artist and aspiring author.
H is now 13 years old. She is an avid reader. No….she is a devourer of books. She also is becoming quite the archer. During the 4H fall shooting sports season, Halley placed 1st in her division. Yea, she beat the boys too.
K is now 16 years old. Can u say OMG! She is driving now in her 2001 black VW Cabrio convertible. This year she is studying cosmetology at the career center and taking courses to meet her high school requirements. Her plans are to get her cosmetology license and then use it to work her way through college. I like that plan a lot! It includes college and less pay out for me.
Robin is now….Oh, I am not that stupid. She has really bought into the whole farming thing. Robin loves going to the farmer’s auction and then canning tomato sauce, green beans, corn, salsa, eggplant, etc. Home schooling H, S, and M is still the big activity. This year she was selected by Operation Christmas Child to be a community relations regional coordinator. Staying busy is not a problem for her.
Me? Oh, I had a little heart issue in July. After a quadruple by-pass, I am now officially part of the zipper club. I went back to work in September and completed cardio rehab in November. I am healthier now than I have been in years. God is good, all the time.
On the farm side, we were a bit more successful this year. We raised and butchered our first steer and T-bone is delicious. We added a dozen Easter egg chickens to our laying flock and are now receiving more pink, green and blue eggs than we can eat. We raised and harvested another 100 meat chickens and our own Thanksgiving turkey. We currently have two steer on pasture. The dogs and cat are doing well. Gardening and the bees were not as successful this year as part of July, August and September were focused on my recovery.
We did get off the farm a bit. Robin, H, S, and M spent time in Norfolk, VA with Robin’s sister, Christy. While there they got to tour Yorktown, Jamestown and Williamsburg. In June, we all spent a week in Atlanta. In addition to our sightseeing in Atlanta, we were blessed to visit with Aunt Ginger, George and Annie Westlund and their children. A fun day at Stone Mountain, GA was definitely a highlight. After that we joined the Westlund family for Shoopa! in Tybee Island. In July we became jet setters, and traveled to Idaho to help my parents celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Since then we’ve been sticking pretty close to home. We were blessed to have lots of family visit us through the fall. Sandy Schmidt, Christy Westlund, and Julie McMahon have all been by at least twice. Amy Daniels and Sarah IntVeld, with her children, have also dropped in. Bill and Katie Westlund have made numerous stops on their way criss-crossing the country. It’s wonderful that all roads lead through Ohio. Jim and Jill Wells have become regular guests and are wonderful fans for all sporting events.
We love company and love to show people our farm and farm animals. Stop in for a visit or a long stay.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
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