2006 Christmas Letter

I know some of you still haven't received my Christmas letter and that disappoints me. I'm posting it, but really wish you had a hard copy. What can I do? Is it you or me that's on the outs with the postal services?

December 2006

Merry Christmas All!

Here we are at the end of another year. For us it has been a good year and I hope it has been the same for you.

Thankfully, we are all in good health and all our needs are met. That puts us in the top 20% of the planet’s occupants. I’m thankful that we have warm beds, clothes, plenty of food, and medical care when needed. I’m thankful for the freedom we enjoy, the good job Gordon has, good friends and family. I’m thankful for this season with the hope, joy, and peace it represents; for the Savior who left His home to come and live among us and make provisions for us to some day live with Him. And I’m thankful for the wonderful people I share this house with.

Gordon is still an xxxx with xxxx. This year he received a promotion and is now a xxxx as well. I was torn when he got this promotion, because as a xxxx he doesn’t get to wear that uniform that he looks so good in. I try to be mature about that. The xxxx job allows him to be home every night for supper and we love that. I’m praying for the position to become permanent, but only God knows what is best. Gordon continues to be my hero. He’s hard working, intelligent, witty, and disciplined. I love his commitment to us.

I took another job this year, working two jobs for a couple months. In August I said goodbye to xxxx after two good years in their employ. Now I work at xxxx. xxxx, at least the one I’m at, is incredibly unorganized and unprofessional, but I love the fringe benefits. I want to keep honing my sewing skills and now I get lots of fabric to practice with and spend nearly nothing doing so. I miss the tidy predictability of xxxx, but xxxx caters more to my areas of interest. As with xxxx, xxxx honors my request to only work during school hours. I’m home when the girls leave for school and home when they return. I couldn’t ask for a better fit; I only wish the working conditions were a bit more pristine.

Our sweet Rachael is 11 and a daughter any parent would be proud of. She has an amazing work ethic and is tremendously helpful and nearly always with a good attitude. How she blesses me! In grade 6, she got to join the youth group this year. She goes to girls’ Bible study on Wednesdays and youth group on Fridays. She took a paper route recently delivering flyers to 85 houses three times a week. Gordon or I go with her and we never tire of seeing her good attitude. This year she enjoyed a Fine Arts tour with her school to Vancouver; outdoor school; and winter camp at Gull Lake.

Hannah is 10 and in grade 5 this year. She is our clown. Her sense of humor keeps us tickled as she’s always seeing the hilarious in the mundane. She loves singing, art, and animals. A car struck her dear Frodo in June and her heart was broken. By August she had found a breeder willing to give her a payment plan. Hannah put $100 down and made $20/month payments. Now she has a Pomeranian Chihuahua cross named Bear. She still grieves the loss of Frodo as he was a “perfect” pet, but she is a good mama to Bear who has a perpetual bad attitude and arrogance issues.

Our Deborah is 7 and in grade 2. She is polite, sweet, and a real joy, -- if you’re not her teacher. She tries her dear teacher who may get some extra jewels in her crown for her patience with our little one. Deborah is forgetful and easily distracted, but she is also kind, engaged and quite articulate, which balances the education equation nicely… most of the time. She goes to Brownies and has enjoyed going door-to-door in the neighborhood selling Girl Guide Cookies. She’s the cookie selling diva of her troop.

Today, as I write this, Stephanie and John Mark are celebrating their first anniversary. Stephanie will finish nursing school in a few weeks and hopefully will land a good job shortly thereafter. The really sweet news though, is that they will be having a baby in July. She is about 2 ½ months pregnant and feeling well. Stephanie and John Mark still live in Northwest Arkansas.

Christopher is nearly 18 and in 12th grade. He’s a wonderful young man of character, integrity, and kindness. He is a football star and being “courted” for football scholarships by several universities. He will learn the dollars and cents of these potential scholarships in February. We look forward to seeing what’s offered and what he’ll choose. At this point, it does appear that he’ll have several choices.

This summer we camped near Aspen Beach Provincial Park with our friends, the Lozchuks, from Calgary. It was our first time to camp with friends and it was wonderful. Their boys and our girls are comfortable with each other and it made for a restful holiday with the children playing well and parents sitting back watching.

Rachael, Hannah, and I spent US Thanksgiving with my family in Arkansas. It was so wonderful to see everyone. There wasn’t enough money for our entire family, so Deborah volunteered to stay behind for “special time” with Daddy and Beppe’. Beppe’ is Gordon’s mom and we were blessed by her willingness to help make it a good time for Deborah.

Our hearts were torn this year as our church went through crisis and subsequently shrunk to the point that nothing was left for our girls. It was painful leaving, but we have found a new church that we attend regularly, and we’ll probably settle in for the long haul. xxxx has what we want for our girls and Gordon and I are both enjoying the teaching. We have many fond memories and feelings for those from Zion that we grew to love so much. These are the complexities of the fallen world in which we live. But in this too God will be glorified.

We at the Dykstra Home are very blessed. It’s been a good year. We’ve enjoyed safety and health and innumerable good times as a family. This letter captures so little of the year; actually it is but an outline. Nonetheless, it’s a tradition that I love; both capturing the overview of our year as well as hearing the overview of the friends and family that also write Christmas or New Year’s letters. I look forward to reading those.

So for now, we wish you a hearty Merry Christmas filled with love, joy, and peace. Hopefully we will connect with many of you before next year’s letter.

Love,
Valerie
For the Gordon Dykstra Family

2006 goals met

I just read my 2006 resolutions. I accomplished four of my goals. Four is a long way from the number of resolutions I made, but four is better than zero.

1) We finished the bathroom renovations; there are still a few details to totally finish it, but overall it is done.
2) We got new basement windows.
3) I became a blood donor.
4) Did 10 squares on my anniversary quilt.

You readers may not know it, but in a way you're my accountability group. I simply couldn't not do some of my resolutions since I had resolved them "publicly."

Thank you for being there for me. ;-)

Goals for 2006

So my list of goals for 2006 are slightly on the mundane side. I wish there was something I plan to do that fell under the glamorous category, but that is not the case. Even our family holidays will be campling close to Edmonton. Nothing that I know of this year will be extraordinary.

- Complete the bathroom renovations. We didn't know how big this job was when we started. It seems to keep growing.

- Replace the basement windows, the eavestroughs, faccia, and soffit.

- Along with Hannah and the dogs, take a dog obedience course. Hannah and I will be the "masters." Lucy and Frodo will be the dogs. ;-)

- Enroll Rachael in a babysitting course. She has to learn first aid and go to class on 5 Saturdays. It requires commitment from the parent and the student. Rachael will be a GREAT babysitter.

- Pay off a line of credit I got myself into last year.

- Commit to a date and place for a holiday (3 day?) with my sisters Diane and Stacie for 2007.

- Get Stephanie's furniture to her. It's an antique curio cabinet and a leather antique chair. Anybody coming to Canada who would like to assist me in this one?

- Make progress on my anniversary quilt. 10 squares. I had hoped to finish it for my 10th anniversary, now it's my goal for our 15th anniversary.

- Become a blood donor. Gordon donates blood about every 6 weeks. This year I want to join him.

I told you my list wasn't glamorous. If I can fulfill any of them, I'm further ahead, eh?

Resolves Kept

I get kind of irked by the pessimists who say there isn't any use in New Years resolutions because no one keeps them anyway. It's true, truer than I like to admit, that many of my beginning of the year goals don't get kept. I've never lost those last pesky 100 pounds, nor do I work out everyday. So yes, I don't keep them all, but I do keep some.

For my own encouragement, and maybe for yours too, I'll share some that I HAVE kept.

- 1986. Before legislation dictated it, I began wearing a seatbelt. Stephanie was 9 months old and I wanted to set a good example. So for 20 years I have kept that one.

2001 - I don't usually wear my contacts or glasses in the house. Therefore I use to not notice how dirty my floors would get. I would often be shocked when I put on my glasses to see the dirty floors. 5 years ago I committed to putting on my glasses at least 3 times a week to vacuum. I still vacuum more frequently than I use to.

2003 - I boycotted WalMart and haven't been in one in over 2 years. For those of you who care to learn more about that, go to WalmartWatch.com.

2004 - I gave up cream and sugar in my coffee on January 1, 2004. An old lady at church was my inspiration. She said that she lost 25 pounds when she gave up cream and sugar. Well, I never lost any weight, but must admit I still love my coffee and have never looked back.

2004 - I began to live "greener." Reducing, reusing, and recycling. I buy fewer things, recycle and compost everything that can be recycled or composted. (Did you know that 70-80% of North American waste could be recycled or composted?) I mulch cut grass instead of bagging it, walk more when I use to drive, use my clothesline in the spring and summer, don't water my grass anymore, take transit some, and generally try to live more considerately of the planet.

2004 - I learned to take the bus. I'm a small town girl in the city, this was a big one for me. Now I'm relatively comfortable taking transit when I need to or want to.

2005 - Memorized the Apostles' Creed and 2 Bible passages.

When I made this list I was encouraged to see that I have been successful with some of my goals. Soon I'll share my 2006 goals. I've set them, but will wait to blog them. They are relatively small, but I will be ahead of the game if I just keep a couple of them. Do you have any new years goals?