Christmas Update

Dear Family and Friends

We cannot believe how quickly 2014 has gone by. This year has been wonderful and yet also sad. The good news first. I gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl in January. Gracie is such a lovely and perfect addition to our family. Caden is loving being a big brother and is a really great one. He's so kind and mostly gentle. My sister-in-law gave birth to their first child, a beautiful baby girl, Avery, 3.5 months early in March. She's a fighter and we are so glad she's doing so well. My cousin had her first baby, a girl in October. My brother, Drew, married the love of his life in November. 

For the sad news. We lost Collin's dad, Jim, December 1st. We will miss him greatly. Collin spoke at his funeral and did a wonderful job honoring his dad. His dad would have been 89 in January. His parents would have celebrated 62 years of marriage in January as well. He was a godly man whom many looked up to. He is dearly missed.

We also lost our precious great nephew, Declan. He passed away right before birth. Our hearts have been heavy with grief and his parents still question why. His life was too short, like other babies who never took a breath from this earth.

Caden started kindergarten this year and is doing wonderful. We decided to homeschool him. Don't let the term, homeschool, fool you. We keep plenty busy outside of doing schoolwork. He goes to a part-time private school one day a week where he takes science, art, and Spanish. He also takes kindermusik, karate, tennis, and is involved in two co-op groups. In January he will start playing basketball again. We are also part of several homeschool groups that get together for park playdates, field trips, holiday parties, and more. We attend a medium sized church where he has lots of friends as well. We love the flexibility of homeschooling and Caden is thriving academically and socially. He's such a smart, friendly, and outgoing kid. He's never met a stranger. He's also very creative and daily comes up with interesting ideas, art work, and inventions. He also loves gardening and has collected a lot of seeds.

Grace is our precious rainbow baby. She is full of life, laughter, and love. She just started walking and is doing great. Just like Caden, she's very friendly and will wave to people at the grocery store and other places when we're out. She has a sense of humor and loves to laugh. She loves to babble in her own way and is saying several words. We are truly blessed!

Collin is enjoying his job, helps with the children's ministry team at church, we're both on the mission committee, and try and help out in other areas when we can. I've enjoyed helping in Gracie's Sunday school class this Fall. She loves her Bible class and her little friends. We're going to teach Caden's class again starting in March. As a family we have started a nice little garden with herbs and vegetables. We have grown more tomatoes than we eat and hope the kale, beets and carrots turn out well this winter. Caden loves harvesting them. We're all enjoying learning how to grow organic food.

We hope your family is doing well. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,
Collin, Marisa, Caden, and Grace