Merry Christmas

Greetings to all our family and friends!
We hope this letter finds you all well and feeling our Lord’s goodness! It was another full and busy year for us. We made it thru another year of home schooling, lots of laundry, family trips, and planning a wedding.

~Jeff and Shyloh married on August 21st. They bought a sweet little home about a ½ mile down the road from us and right around the corner from Grandpa and Grandma’s. They have been busy laying wood flooring, painting, redoing their kitchen, and they still have a list of things to do. Their little family consists of two dogs and two cats. Jeff started a new job where he works nights so Shyloh hangs out with us when he’s gone. They are settling into married life quite nicely!

~Shelbie is a sophomore this year and due to graduate next year. She has moved right into the position of being the oldest sibling at home and I think enjoys it! She baby-sits for a very sweet family with two little guys. She adores them and loves spending time with them. Shelbie and Lolly still have the sweetest relationship. Lolly loves to sleep with Shelbie and Shelbie enjoys cuddling with her. Shelbie will be going on an inter city mission trip the end of the month for 4 days. Please pray that the team is used mightily of the Lord and He is glorified thru them.

~Shaylah is in the 7th grade and still the same goofy, giggly girl. She started taking ASL this year and has caught on quickly. Her and Shelbie “talk” often in sign. It’s usually fine until they burst out in laughter and we have no clue what they are laughing at. Most of the time we are the brunt of their little jokes. Shaylah recently found a little Chihuahua. After putting two found ads in the paper, “Lulu” now has a new owner.

~Shayden is in the 5th grade this year. Daddy says he has grown a foot in the last month! He loves to get into Daddy’s scrap wood and make things. He also likes fixing anything that needs it. Shayden has also developed quite the interest in reptiles this summer, thanks to Uncle Micah. Uncle Micah took the boys on several “snake hunts” over the summer and they were smitten. We actually let them have some lizards, which was huge for us, as we don’t like any reptiles. We put our foot down when it comes to snakes though!

~Shannen is in 4th grade this year. He has also come to love snakes and lizards. He and Shayden constantly check out snake books from the library and do research on the computer. He has also become Daddy’s football watching buddy this year. We don’t know who gets more excited for a game to come on, him or Daddy. Shannen adores his little sister Shylie! He loves to be the one to get her out of her crib. He even likes to help give her baths! He wants lots of babies when he gets married!

~Shadd isn’t so little anymore. He is in 2nd grade and smart as a whip. He constantly amazes us with his mathematical skills. He is in a great place in the line up with brothers above him and sisters below him, he is never at a loss for a playmate. Shadd took a liking to fishing this summer. We were amazed at his patience waiting for a bite.

~Shaynah is a big 4 years old and can’t wait to officially start school with the big guys. She loves to show off her “school work” to whoever will look at it. She is still known by all of us as “Poppet”. She was quite concerned at Sunday school one day when her teacher spelled her name wrong on her name badge. It said “Shaynah” and she said her name is spelled, “P.O.P.P.E.T”. Poppet made a deal with Daddy right before the wedding to never marry and leave him, so she is now the proud owner of a little Chihuahua named, “Herbie”. (She could have got way more…Daddy’s heart was really mushy when the deal took place!)

~Lolly (a.k.a Shallyn) is now 3, but only in number! Her little brain is just so quick! She makes us laugh and keeps us all on our feet. Her bestest friend is Poppet and the two of them together can get into lots of mischief. Hide your gum and chapstick when that girl is around!! Lolly recently decided to toss Aunt Nett’s phone in the toilet. Fortunately is dried out nicely and works again! We like to say that Lolly is our little b vitamin, our happy pill!

~Where do I even begin with Smiley Shylie? She is now 13 months old and starting to walk. She really doesn’t need to as there are many people who love to carry her around. One of her favorite things to do is take a bath! She loves to splash whoever is giving her one. She also loves being outside which is kind of hard this time of the year with how chilly it is so she has to settle for staring wishfully out the windows. We all can’t get enough of Shylie! There just isn’t anything better than having a baby in the house!

~Duane and Marni survived Shyloh’s wedding and were somewhat relieved when everything finally calmed down, but then the heartache of having her move out set in. We decided that there really should be some pre-marital counseling for the parents so we would have actually had some sort of idea what we would face emotionally. There were lots of tears shed for quite a while from all the kids…and parents too! Everyone is used to the new norm now and we are blessed to see Jeff and Shyloh often and make new memories with them.

Duane continues to work hard at Foster Farms and then comes home and works hard here! We always seem to have some project going. He always has an audience and someone in training. In a few years the boys will be able to do his projects for him! When he isn’t working on something he is throwing a ball or squeezing in a fishing trip with one or more kids.
Marni had some health issues this year, but we are so thankful that the Lord lead us to the right person who has helped her tremendously. We are praising the Lord for His healing power! It has been an interesting journey and we have learned a lot about health and God’s wonderful mercy and grace.

We were able to get away on some family trips this year. We had several trips to the ocean. It is probably our favorite place to go. I think we could all become beach bums! We also went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Discovery Kingdom, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa getting us season tickets for Christmas last year. We were also able to get a couple camping trips in this summer. We ended up going to a place that Jeff camped at as a child with his family and fell in love with it. Uncle Micah and Aunt Lynette were able to join us for one of the trips and that trip will probably go down as a favorite of ours.

Whatever we are doing, no matter how mundane, it is always good if we have our family with us. About 13 years ago we went back to Wisconsin, where Marni’s family lives, and had Thanksgiving there. Marni’s mom is one six and all her siblings, their spouses and children were there. It was so wonderful and we were amazed that all these people were immediate family! It was that trip that we decided that we wanted lots of children so one day we could have that same amazing family. Here we are years later and we are seeing the fruit of that. We love having all our children at home and now it is so fun to have Shyloh and Jeff come over. The house erupts with noise when they show up!

We are so blessed by the Lord’s grace in good time and bad! He is always there and always so faithful! We pray that you are touched this new year by Him and you feel His presence in your life daily.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
~Duane, Marni,
Jeff and Shyloh, Shelbie, Shaylah,
Shayden, Shannen, Shadd,
Shaynah, Shallyn, and Shylie

“AND THE WORD BECAME FLESH, AND DWELT AMONG US AND WE BEHELD HIS GLORY, GLORY AS OF THE ONLY BEGOTTEN FROM THE FATHER, FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH.”
JOHN 1:14