Pam is adjusting well to
the rigors of raising three and is super impressed with those out there raising
more. The photography side of life
slowed down over the summer which was perfect because she doesn’t have time to
take and retouch pictures anymore. To
answer all the questions in one fell swoop:
YES, she loves having a little boy and NO, it isn’t all that much
different…yet. Katelyn has been training
her on the destructive tendencies of a male toddler. She is a regular old tornado. Pam is still writes the monthly newsletters
for her MOPS group (mothers of preschoolers) and commandeers the yearly rummage
sale. She enjoys leading worship monthly
at church and for the middle school youth group, and weekly at CBS (Community
Bible Study.) She went to her 15 year high
school reunion in July.
Emma
(7.9) is in 2nd Grade
this year. She is branching out and is
making new friends at a fast pace. Her
favorite place to go is the zoo and she loves lions. Joey built a play house last summer and she
loves to sleep in it. She takes care of
all our animals every day and is a very sweet natured and helpful girl. She has entered into the “lawyer” phase and
has stepped up the arguments a smidge. Perhaps
we’ll call them “debates” and put a positive spin on it. J Her love language continues to be gift giving
and words of affirmation. If you
haven’t read the 5 Languages of Love, I (Pam) highly recommend it. You will gain insight into any relationships! àEmmaisms: On Psalm 23…He prepares a table before me in the
PRINCESS of my enemies When reading out
spelling words, we put them into example sentences. We came across the word “boys” and this is
the sentence she came up with: “Oh, I
know…Girls marry boys because boys go to work.” Daddies
can’t cook…but you know, cooker boys can cook. You know, a deer is a baby deer, but when it grows
up it is an Elk. Emma insists that
the cattle mentioned in 2nd stanza of “Away in a Manger” are
“lonely.” She called Gideon “beautiful” and I told her that is
something we usually call girls. So she
started calling him “cute-iful.” 
Katelyn (2) is fluent in “Minion”-- mostly gibberish punctuated by a few words we recognize. Among the more interesting words we understand: Nemo, NO, “Ah-Know” (the theme song from “Psych”,) “nangya” (lasagna,) please (which I think means food in her mind). She also loves ♪E-ah-Poo♫ and shows us by singing it all day all through the house. She also loves to dance. Katelyn is reaching new heights. Literally! Light switches are no longer safe, and by the time you read this we may be in the market for a new microwave as she loves to open it and slam it shut. She still however does not like heights imposed upon her and will make a terrified face when anyone lifts her too high. Katelyn can be a little ruffian when it comes to getting her way. She would slam her head into Pam’s pregnant belly to ineffectually make room on mommy’s lap and in the hospital tried to shove Gideon off the bed to make room. Now that she realizes there is room for both, she is very loving towards her brother. We figured out that her love language is acts of service… we know now that 75% of her “messy” and “naughty” is actually being “helpful.”
Gideon was born on
June 8, 2013. He decided to make his grand entrance a full
two days prior to his scheduled C-section.
Now, six months later, he is a drooling & rolling machine. He is growing so fast that it is hard to
remember just how tiny he was (at 8 pounds 5 ounces, he was our “tiny” baby.) He is SO sweet and mellow; quite the little
heartbreaker. He LOVES eating!!! He is
rarely fussy. He is very vocal and will
shamelessly flirt, coo and chatter with anyone who glances his way. He made it through his first two weddings
before his first month birthday. He is
very hairy.
Comings:
In last year’s rush to print the Christmas letter we
neglected to mention our 2012 Exchange Students L. Our two week summer student was
Yuri. We also hosted Wakana and Kako for the
4 day weekend in the end of September. All
were such sweet girls. The 2013 weekend program in the end of
September 2013 brought us Saki and Akane.
They got a very interesting Oregon experience. A nasty fall
storm blew in right as they arrived. We
lost power and spent Saturday in the dark and unable to flush the toilet. L Gideon was not feeling good and was crying. Katelyn burned her hand pretty badly on the
wood stove and spent the next hour screaming.
CRAZY!!! Finally, realizing the
power wouldn’t return, we escaped up to Jerold & Joan’s house. It turned out to be a wonderful night. Ironically, this storm came between months
of unusually warm & dry weather.
We added two kittens to the mix in October. “Lacey”
and “Flynn Rider or Eugene” (we call
him Flynn for short) are cute little fluffy balls of energy. They will be the world’s toughest two kitties
because in spite of our best efforts Katelyn gets a hold of them
frequently.
Goings:
In June, Joey went to COVE. Pam and two week old
Gideon joined them only for the last two days.
Pam enjoyed the church Women’s Retreat with her mother, Madonna Duncan, in February. She
is especially grateful for that special weekend because Madonna passed away on
October 19, 2013. She nearly lost her
life in and battled chronic pain since her 1987 car accident with a drunk
driver. The last two years brought on a
new onslaught of pain as she bravely fought of cancer. Her grandchildren were the delight of her
final years and we are convinced it was her desire to watch them grow that kept
her with us this long. The only bright
spots are that: 1) Madonna is now pain free and 2) these moments with Gramma
increased Emma’s appetite for spiritual matters. Emma hungered to know more about heaven. She learned to love people while they are
with us and to trust in God’s timing. In
fact she even asked Jesus to forgive her sins and to live in her heart. (She did this on her own during a communion
time at church and neglected to tell us until a few months later.) It was a reminder that God can bring beauty
from ashes.
Our theme in MOPS this year
is “Beautiful Mess” I don’t think I can describe raising kids in
any better terms. The theme reminds us
to “Embrace our Story,” messes and all.
May you too find beauty in the mundane and to be grateful to God for
even the messy moments.
Merry 2013 Christmas and a Happy 2014 ~ Joey & Pam, Emma, Katelyn & Gideon
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