Our Christmas Letter 2011

Dear Friends and Family,
What a wonder that another year has come and gone. We loved our visits this year--traveling to the Sierras in the snow, camping at the coast, and flying to New Jersey, as well as having wonderful visitors come and stay with us here. We are so thankful for the dear friends and family that we have the opportunity to share life with!

Carl - Carl continues to pastor Grace Church here in Santa Rosa. He is enjoying working, studying, and preaching. A fun highlight of the year for him was riding motorcycles with Maggie and Trey at Hollister Hills, as well as surfing world class waves at Ocean Beach. Carl also loved seeing family and friends in NJ in the summer, as well as visiting his parents in November. His greatest joy continues to be the Lord, and seeing others grow in their knowledge of Him and His Word. Carl’s excited to read through the Bible in 2012. The verses he wants to share are Hebrews 9:26-28: But as it is, [Christ] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Kerstin - This year has flown by...and I can’t remember much without looking at the calendar (getting forgetful as I approach the end of the 30s:) I enjoyed homeschooling, encouraging others, and some trips, but this was pretty much the year of the knee for me. I had ACL reconstruction surgery on my knee (no more indoor soccer...sigh), definitely the greatest challenge of the year and I am often still in pain, which can be pretty consuming. It was wonderful to celebrate my father’s 75th birthday in Ventura by getting together with him and my three siblings for the first time in ten years. I also had the the joy of painting several paintings, as well as selling reproductions of my art at a winery, publishing cards online, and printing my book, Maggie’s Bunny, on Blurb. The verse that I have really been pondering and praying about is Galatians 2:20, which reads, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” I want to live all of my life by faith in the Son of God.

Johanna (14) - Our beautiful Hanna is growing up so quickly! She just got a small work of fiction that she wrote self-published and often has her nose in a mystery. She continues to do ballet as well as help teach a younger class of ballerinas. Hanna loves to babysit, help the neighbors, help me clean :), ride horses, play piano, go shopping, go camping, and play the violin. She loves playing in the local preparatory orchestra and sometimes we spend an evening playing violin/viola duets. Hanna is also an avid and creative crafter--designing and making earrings and other jewelry, or sewing something she fancies. When she wanted a bag to carry her violin music in, she sewed one on the spot. If Hanna doesn’t have earrings to match an outfit, she makes them right away. She can cook a whole meal, vacuum the whole house, and has such enthusiasm for each task. Hanna says that God has been teaching her in this past year that He’s always there for her.

Magdeline (12) - Sweet Maggie has a bright red cast on her arm right now from breaking her hand playing kickball in our cul-de-sac, but it doesn’t slow her down. She was out in our backyard this afternoon sitting in our wagon while Trey pulled and Lily pushed (after she pulled them many times), and next she prepared the red, white, and blue paper for each little one to make a colonial flag. Maggie loves to play the piano, play the flute, ride horses, climb higher than anyone else, wants to surf, loves to read and thinks of exciting imaginary worlds for little ones to play in. She had Trey “rock climbing” out of our tree with a rope, making sure his bicycle helmet was securely fastened. If she had time to do anything, she would want “sit and think or play video games or on Julia’s xbox.” Some new Maggie-isms are “Snap” (if something doesn’t go right), “I hit my heal and got reback” (resulting pain), and “Hanna has lactoserene” (instead of claustrophobia). These words just pop out whenever she can’t remember the correct term, always being a great source of amusement to the rest of us. She really has a heart for little ones and for other cultures, thinking of ways to earn money to help others. Each Wednesday when Hanna, Maggie, and I (Kerstin) spend time together in Bible discussion and prayer, Maggie can hardly wait to share what she’s been reading in the Bible. She says God has been teaching her that He will always care for her.

Lilyana (7 1/2) - Lily is often found reading a book to her little brother or writing her own book. She lost a bunch of teeth and new ones are growing in like crazy! Her smile is still cute though:) She likes to encourage others, often making beautiful cards and love notes. Lily started the piano, wants to play the harp, loves to dance, loves to snuggle, and started speaking more German. She spends our quiet time (after lunch) in her room listening to classical music, praise music, and stories on tape in both German and English. I hear her chattering and dancing around with her many stuffed animals as her captive audience. I’m not always sure what she understands during the church service, but when I asked the kids one Sunday what the sermon had been about, Lily answered, “Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians. He loved them so much, he called them ‘brothers’ 18 times and he wrote the letter to all of them!” It reminded me of Jesus welcoming the little ones to him, and how drawn to Jesus children always were. Lily was baptized this year, wanting to publicly profess her faith in Christ.

Carl III a.k.a. “Trey” (5 1/2) - Our little guy is so affectionate and fun. He often asks for “a good tickle.” He started Kindergarten this year and loves it. Trey lets out a loud whoop of joy when he gets a new schoolbook or turns the page in one of his math texts and sees all the “fun.” I have him doing 3 different maths and he has a notebook full of numbers, columns, stars, and lines. He is so enthusiastic about school (actually cried when it was the weekend). I get many spontaneous hugs and kisses each day from him (and always an extra one on my sore knee). He wants to know why he can’t marry me, he loves to be with Carl and follow him around, and he sings and chatters nonstop in his room during quiet time. He makes up his own praise songs singing “God is with us, God is holy...” over and over. Trey has such enthusiasm, saying “That was awesomely fun! I’m going to definitely dream about it!” after motorcycle riding. He decided that he wants to call his wife “Burly...because everyone should be called Burly” and he wants to have 121 kids named “Cookie” so when he calls them, they all come. When he’s not sliding down the bannister or zooming around the house, he has questions like, “If we never ever went outside, what would we be like?” One day he remarked, “When I see Jesus, I am going to give him the biggest hug!”

We wish you a very Merry Christmas, and God’s peace in 2012.