Dear Family & Friends- December 2016
Merry
Christmas to all of our dear family and friends! This year has surely brought
lots of new experiences, challenges, opportunities for stretching and growth,
some super long family road trips and some fun adventures together from our
home-based Texan frontier! Some of the high and lowlights of the year include
starting off the year in the Utah snow with family, and returning home to have
little Joshy getting sick with RSV soon after.
After making it through his long recovery, we welcomed Jon's parents and brother for a week in February,
and visited lots of the natural history science museum, zoo, aquarium, and
parks. In the spring and summer, we
enjoyed the beauties of a tulip farm together, playing at splashy parks, nearby
lakes and pools and undertook our long drive to Utah for Jon's brother's
wedding and Jenna's sister's BYU graduation! We were so glad to spend time with
our family from both sides, even though it was all over the same weekend!
;) The kids were thrilled to spend the
rest of July up in Washington with family to beat the Texas heat with fun
adventures up North!
After
returning back home, we had Jenna's mom and Terry come visit again in September
for our 2nd annual family trip to the Texas State Fair, where lots of memories
were shared. After we light-sabered our
way through Halloween, we welcomed family from all sides again to come visit
for Thanksgiving and to be here for the long-anticipated time of Katelyn's
baptism! We were so proud of her on her big decision and loved seeing the pure
happiness on her bright and smiley face that day, and getting to share that
special time with loved ones. After
that, we were so glad to celebrate the entire Christmas holiday for our first
time at home, and for the chance to reflect on the sweet memories we shared
this year, the blessings of family, and the greatest source of strength,
comfort, and peace we find in our Savior, Jesus Christ. We know He is the way we can make it back to
our heavenly home and are so immeasurably thankful for His birth, life and
light that guides us on our way! Here's a glimpse of our year:
Jonathan
has been busy this year with school, church, work, and family. He graduates in
August of this next year (2017) and only has 5 classes left and while he enjoys learning he is ready to
be finished. With the growth happening in the area our ward was moved into a
new stake and as a result, our bishopric changed and Jonathan was called as
Executive Secretary and is busy supporting the bishop in that new calling. Work
is going well, he has helped drive same large programs for the sales team he
supports and continues to do well in that position. The week after Thanksgiving he went hunting with a former EQ counselor and he has enjoyed the meat
of his labors. He loves playing with the kids and working around the house on
various projects. Nathan beat him in Checkers yesterday (with a little help) but
he loves seeing the kids learn and grow.
Jenna 's
capacities to take care of the family and balance a full load of
responsibilities were stretched and expanded this year as Jonathan was away at
school several nights a week and she tied to keep up with everything at home
with the kids. But, through it all, she
was reminded how truly refining our challenges can be, even when they seem
insurmountable, as we turn to the Lord for comfort, and trust in His care and
seek to focus on what matters most :).
Amidst keeping up with cooking, cleaning, naptimes, taking the kids to
their activities, homeschooling and teaching a rotating preschool group, Jenna
was able to see her patience, abilites and perspective enlarged to find joy in
the journey and discovering the world alongside the children. :) Perhaps some
of her favorite moments were cherishing time when Jonathan was home, FHE
nights, family scripture journal time, singing songs and dancing with the
kiddos during Saturday chores, playing board games or snuggling up to some
really good chapter books together. She
was thrilled to teach the preschool oceans, human body, along with Christmas
around the world lessons this year with her older two helpers! After serving as
the 14/15 yr old Sunday School teacher, she was just barely called into the
Sunbeams! She is looking forward to feeling of their pure loving and sweet
spirits. :) One of the biggest highlights of this year was Katelyn's baptism,
welcoming so many loving family members and supporting her on such an important
decision in her life. What a year full
of challenges and growth, but lots of learning, family time and special blessings
to always remember!
Katelyn
(8 years) had some fun opportunities for learning & growth along with some
very special experiences this year! After recovering from her broken arm
(scooter accident last Christmas) and enjoying sledding and time with family in
UT, she was able to share her excitement for sea animals (just like mom :)) and
knowledge with others when she was chosen to help promote and preserve ocean
life as a SeaLife Aquarium Young Environmentalist. In addition to shining in this fun learning
opportunity, not only did she keep progressing in her math skills, artistic,
and cross-stitching abilities, but she also amazed us with her increasing
confidence at reading anything from The Courage of Sarah Noble to her Nature
Science Readers. So proud of her! Beyond
keeping up with her studies, Katelyn enjoyed playing on the trampoline, riding
her tornado bike, climbing poles or monkey bars, or creating lemonade stands,
toy shops or dance performances with her siblings and cousins. She had a blast going on hikes, playing at
the beach and exploring outdoors with family in WA over the summer. She was such a great and willing helper at
home with little Joshy, meals & chores, and could always find some time to
play nines, monopoly, Spot it, checkers or build forts with her siblings! :) Whenever
it was time for scriptures, she would eagerly whip out her journal and
colorfully fill up each page with something she learned, a picture to go with
it and a something she liked about her day.
In addition to that enthusiasm, most of all, we were so excited for
Katelyn this year because she made the choice to be baptized! What a special
experience that was!! We were so thankful for all the family who came to
support her and are so proud of the determined, kind, hard-working, happy and
faithful girl she is becoming! :)
Nathan (5
years) has continued to grow and progress in many ways this year!! It was so fun seeing the awesome improvement
of his teams on the soccer field this year to the point where they were really
going after the ball and following it through to the goal! Nathan started to
become a reliable offensive player and gained a lot of confidence in blocking
the other teams shots too. By the end of
the year, he was scoring multiple goals a game and had learned how to pass to
his teammates, woo hoo! His favorite parts of the game still somehow seemed to
be the snacks! haha. Along with his
soccer, he has also become quite talented at riding his bike and enjoys playing
any sort of board or card game including nines, Skipbo, Star Wars memory,
monopoly or checkers with all of us any chance he can get! We have also been
amazed at how much Nathan progressed in his learning and academics this year!
He started kindergarten with us at home this year, and has just taken off with
a running start! It helped that we started into the material last year and in
the summertime, so he seems to pick it up very well. He tackles
site-words, and mini-books like a champ, even though he speed-races
through his handwriting, but he can even be found trying to spell things out
for Katelyn at times...hehe. He is also
a fan of math and has really enjoyed starting his music class this year and
learning the major scales. Not only is
he very active & bright, but is also very helpful with chores, and loves
doing everything from fort-building to silly dancing and sliding down the
stairs with his sisters. He is sensitive
to the needs of others, often giving up his treats or spot for his sisters and
kindly offers to help Joshua any chance he can (or play-duel him with pool noodle
light sabers too!) His most recent favorite past-time is playing bumper-cars
with wiggle cars in the garage! We are so thankful and proud of our fun,
loving, speedster Nathan man!
Gracie
(3 Years) is just the sweetest little June-bug around! She continues to light
up the world with her smile wherever she goes! Along with still taking her
much-loved, cuddly soft dog with her everywhere she goes, she started riding
her bike with training wheels this year, pumping on the swings by herself and
loves to spend time playing family with her siblings & cousins, doing
puzzles, magnet dolls, playing Spot it, or coloring beautiful rainbows,
doggies, cheetahs and princesses! She has recently discovered a love for making
bead necklaces and decorating any page she can with beautiful stickers! She started a Preschool class this year with
mom and has been loving spending time playing with friends, singing songs like
Slippery fish, dressing up, making fun crafts and is actually becoming quite a
skilled left-handed tracer girl! She likes doing her workbooks when the older
kids work on their school work, has become a great helper when its time to help
mommy in the kitchen, and will never pass up a chance to go play on the
swings, snuggle up to a fun book together.
She is so thoughtful of others and continues to be a source of great
happiness and joy in our lives. We sure
love our Gracie girl!
Joshua
(1 Year) As we all know, a lot can happen in one year and with a little one
that growth and stuff seems to happen exponentially. Joshua is now walking
around, climbing up the table and counter to get at whatever might be up there.
He loves doing what his older siblings do including eating food. (He skipped
baby food and went straight for the real stuff) He loves sword fighting,
playing with the older kids' music bells, and being a joy in the family.
Although he is small and doesn't talk much, he is learning ways to communicate
and have fun with his family. Each day he continues to grow and accomplish new
achievements. He is a source of joy and happiness in the home.
We are thankful for the meaningful experiences we have shared this
year and the chances for learning and growth we have continued to experience on
our Texan adventure! We know that it is truly through Jesus Christ where we can
find our greatest source of peace and strength.
We are thankful for the blessing He is in our lives and for the
Atonement and gift of His life for each of us.
We know He is the true meaning for the season and He is the greatest
gift of all! We love and are thankful for Him and each of you as our family and
friends, and hope that you know how much we appreciate you in our lives and how
much we sure love you! May you feel of His love and strength this season and
all throughout the year!
All the best wishes,
The Jonathan and Jenna Ralph Family :)
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