Update from Our Little Corner

After a long break, I'm making an attempt to get back to blogging. We'll see how it goes! I remain convinced that my family comes before my blog, and due to a pretty heavy dose of LIFE the last while, blogging is definitely on the back burner for me!

As an easy way to give a mass update, here's our letter that I just now finally am sending out to everyone on my snail mail list. Enjoy it here, with the added bonus of pictures slipped in!

~ December 2009 ~

Chilly days, cozy fires, hot chocolate, letters from friends. In other words, December. It’s a fun time of year, and we love hearing from you all! Trying to cram all the most important details of a whole years worth of living into a letter is an entirely different story however!

First of all let's go to Belize! We’d been hoping/planning to go down there to visit our friends Chad & Amalia ever since they went down last summer (they were filling in for a missionary family that was on furlough for a year). For a while it didn't look like it was going to work, but we finally just bit the bullet and bought tickets. At the last minute, our friends, Lavern & Shawn, decided to go along with us and surprise Chad’s. We had lots of fun traveling with them, and our week with Chad’s was like one LONG party. We had such a good time there! We thoroughly enjoyed soaking up the sunshine and going barefooted all day long! It would get up to around 85 degrees in the afternoon, which felt so good to us northerners! We flew on February 17th, and came home on the 25th.

There was still some winter waiting for us when we came back home, the children enjoyed a bit of sledding - not too much though! And bringing in firewood was a nice ‘helping Daddy’ kind of job.

Spring in the Ozarks, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in the Springtime! We stayed busy planting a big garden, taking care of new little chicks and ducklings, and playing with Lassie, the new puppy.

June is birthday time for the children! Katri turned 2, and Benji turned four. Benji was thrilled to be old enough to go to Sunday School, and Summer Bible School! We always look forward to going blueberry picking at our local u-pick patch. It’s a fun thing for the whole family to do, Benji did a very good job at getting berries into the bucket. Katri pretty much focused on playing in the mulch and eating some low hanging berries.

In July we were tickled to have David’s younger siblings come for a visit. While they were here we went canoeing one afternoon. I love floating down a beautiful river while soaking my toes in the cold water! Good times with family!

David also put out some organic soybeans this year. Due to a wet spring/summer, he couldn’t get them planted until July 4th. I’ve been amazed at how much I’ve learned about the art of raising beans. Once the beans were out, we fell into the habit of taking a Sunday afternoon walk out to the bean field. Even Katri got pretty good at examining those plants, and finding the little developing pods!


My garden was also getting some well deserved attention, in spite of a strange season, it produced well! We enjoyed many tomato sandwiches, squash fritters, corn on the cob, crunchy cucumbers and lots more! It’s so fun to go out to the garden with a basket to pick your supper, and hey, the more you can eat fresh means there’s that much less that needs to be canned. (I did plenty of that too!)

David’s sister & her family - Tim & Rachel - came for a brief visit in August. We enjoyed spending time with them, and the children loved romping with their three boy cousins!! Here’s a little tip for all of you health-minded ladies; Never, I repeat, Never send two men into a bent-n-dent grocery store unguarded! David and Tim went shopping for some things needed for a hot dog roast, and they came back with a junk food feast! Benji & Katri were initiated into the world of Zebra Cakes and the like. They enjoyed the party immensely!

In spite of my best efforts to get the children to play outside, this was the year of playing house - in the house. It involved all the couch cushions, chairs, blankets, pillows and more. Eventually removing couch cushions without specific permission was outlawed. We were tired of having no place to sit.

David and I celebrated 5 wonderful years of marriage on September 4th. We decided to go on a little anniversary trip. And since we never did find a spare moment for a family vacation this year, we combined them, unromantic, I know. But sometimes reality has to be factored in as well.

We went to St. Louis, back to the place where it all began. That’s where we met, remember? It’s also a great spot for a weekend getaway. We went to the Arch. David and Benji enjoyed that a lot! I think next time Katri and I will stay down on the good solid earth, as neither of us enjoyed the ride up! The Zoo was more universally popular, and we wore everyone out while exploring there. This poor Mama considered spending the rest of her vacation in bed after that! I was 8 months along, and dealing with a lot of sore bones and muscles anyhow! I loved going into an Italian bakery on ‘The Hill’ and buying an assortment of pastries to take home with us! I just love ‘Old World’ style shopping!



Back home and back to work. My garden hadn’t run away while we were gone. So I got busy canning again! Tomatoes were ready, along with potatoes and carrots to dig, and more green beans too. Then the apples came, 6 bushels! I’m ready to plot weaning my family off of their mealtime staple, applesauce. But we survived it all, and it is really worth it when I can run out to my well stocked shelves and grab a few jars of whatever we need.


October arrived, the much dreaded and also anticipated month. Dreaded because it looked jam-crammed full of events that I wasn’t at all ready for. Anticipated because, well, who wouldn’t look forward to a sweet baby??? Trying to juggle being on the School Sale committee, and getting ready for a baby . . . Wasn’t easy. It actually didn’t work very well. Things were moving along reasonably well, until I broke all my own predictions and young Josiah Thomas arrived on the Sunday before the sale (October 11), instead of after! I was only 2 days overdue, and completely shocked! And delighted! We all were! Benji was overjoyed to have a brother, Katri was thrilled with a baby, and David and I think three beautiful children are a tremendous blessing! And guess what, the School Sale went off without a hitch, without me!

Due to a very wet fall, David wasn’t able to harvest his soybeans until November. It was a very happy time when it finally came though! Even Josiah and I took our turn out there ‘helping’ drive the combine!

We spent Thanksgiving over at my Mom’s this year. We have so much to be thankful for! And family definitely tops the list! As Christmas approached we remained undecided, but finally headed down to Florida, where David’s whole family gathered for a few fun days o f living on top of each other, catching up on each others lives, eating lots of good food, walking & playing & swimming & just generally enjoying being together!


Benjamin, at age 4 ½ is getting to be quite the little man, at least in his eyes. He’s enjoying doing some pre-school work whenever he can talk me into helping him. Going to the shop with Daddy is also very important to him. He loves to help with jobs - at least for the first five minutes, then it usually takes some persuasion to convince him to keep on until it’s done.

Katriel, age 2 ½ is really growing up fast! The biggest step for her was when she took off really and truly talking around her 2nd birthday! She’s still no chatterbox, but she has quite a bit to say these days! I’m really looking forward to having a dependable helper when she gets a little older! She’s the quiet, thorough, efficient one when there’s a job to be done!

Josiah is a happy four month old. He’s currently perfecting his bubble blowing technique, and will happily knaw on your finger if you let him. I suspect teeth are in his near future, or at least teething. He’s very free with big juicy grins, and loves to laugh at Peek a boo. Rolling over is big stuff for him too. He does not appreciate when his siblings jump on him or roar in his face just to see what he does.

Reflecting on this past year, I am very thankful. We are so very, very blessed! We wish the same to you all! (And um, Happy New Years! Or Happy Valentine’s Day even . . . )

David & Rachel
Benjamin, Katriel, Josiah