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

2005 Christmas Letter

2005 summarized:

December 14, 2005

Merry Christmas from the Dykstra Family! This is a time of year that I love. I love the traditions, the activities and the peace and joy that come with the season. People often express frazzled feelings during this season, but generally speaking, I’m not one of those.

I write this letter 2 days after arriving home from Arkansas where we watched my sweet Stephanie wed John Mark. It was a beautiful wedding and reception. Stephanie and John Mark will make their home in Fayetteville where Stephanie is studying nursing and John Mark is studying business. Stephanie will complete her studies in May 2006. I am very proud of Stephanie and the choices she has made. She demonstrates wisdom and grace in so many areas. I wish I had been more like her when I was her age.

In addition to Stephanie’s good news, a lot has happened since the last time we wrote a Christmas letter. Christopher will soon be 17. I reveled in my time with him this summer, and again briefly at Stephanie’s wedding. He is quickly becoming a man -- a kind, gentle, patient man. He brings me great joy. He works in the wood shop of his dad’s aircraft interior business and apparently is learning lots.

Two years ago we decided to stop Home Schooling and enrolled the children in the neighborhood Adventist school. It is about 2 blocks from our house. Not only is it super convenient, it’s a wonderful school; we couldn’t ask for better. There are solid Christian teachers, regular worship and Bible memory, a warm and caring atmosphere and small classes. Tuition sets us back a bit financially, but it’s so worth every dime. Coralwood Adventist Academy is a huge blessing in our life.

Rachael is now 10 and in grade 5. She is energetic, responsible, and a voracious reader, and also quite tall. She is an energetic daughter, and a delight to have helping around the house, which she does quite frequently. She is great with little children and looking forward to being old enough to baby-sit.

Hannah is 9 and in grade 4. She is the family clown, always ready with a funny voice or saying. She loves to mimic cartoons they have seen and the kids have their own “inside” jokes. This year she too has become an avid reader. For her birthday, she got a cute little Chihuahua that she quickly named Frodo. She is a good “mom” to Frodo.

Deborah is 6 and in grade 1. She is a very good student. This year she crossed some kind of invisible line. This time last year, her work habits left me thinking we were raising a pig. Every child is motivated by something, and allowance was the key for Deborah. Now she does her chores without complaining and her room is a fair bit tidier. We are all happy about that.

This past summer all the girls went to camp at Gull Lake. It was their first time away from home for more than an overnight with Grandma. They each had a blast and are anxious to return next summer.

Back in 2004 we had a big year for holidays. In February, I took all three girls to visit my family in the U.S. for a month. In addition to visiting aunts and uncles in North Carolina, Florida and Arkansas, it was the girls’ first time to see the ocean, and they loved it. They were just old enough for the trip to be truly memorable, and the girls now have a big place in their heart for all our Southern relatives.

Later in 2004 we spent our summer vacation at Pembina River, just outside of Edmonton. It wasn’t far away, but “getting away from it all” was good. After the first two days of solid rain, and turning our little campsite into “tarp kingdom,” we had seven wonderful days.

This year, summer holidays found us camping at Greig Lake, Saskatchewan. Greig Lake is a beautiful, clean, clear lake and the weather cooperated. It was very hot, but since we were at a lake, it didn’t much matter. Although it was a shorter trip than last year, we had a great time.

Gordon is still a supervisor with Edmonton Transit. He works 10- hour days 4 days a week and the 3-day weekend every week is a wonderful thing. Presently, he is on “holidays” and busy renovating our upstairs bathroom. Goodbye robin egg blue and welcome white. This is a job we’ve wanted to do for 8 years. Finally it’s happening.

I am still working part-time at Pier 1 Imports. I work 9-2 several days a week. I’m home when the kids leave for school and I’m home when they return. I could easily find a better paying job, but I couldn’t easily find a job with hours so ideal. I’m thankful.

I had a hysterectomy in August and happy to have that ordeal behind me. The initial complications cut into our vacation just a bit, but everything turned out well – Praise God!

Our menagerie of pets continues to grow. Deborah is getting a hamster for Christmas. She has wanted one for a couple years and we think she’s ready. She asked for one for her 5th birthday and promised that she “wouldn’t pull his legs off.” Little hamster will join 2 dogs, Frodo and Lucy, our cat Lacy, and 3 charming betta fish.

Our home is filled with love, joy and usually peace. I’ve always prayed that we’d be a family of love, joy, peace, and laughter. Laughter is a wonderful gift and we do lots of it around here. I’m blessed with a husband and kids that make me laugh. So many gifts we take for granted, but laughter is one that I’m acutely aware of and thankful for.

Overall 2005 has been a good year. We are ending the year on a good note; we are healthy, happy and hopefully growing wiser by the year. God has crowned our year with bounty and we give him thanks and glory for his goodness to us.

We’d love to hear from you. Merry Christmas!

With Love,



The Gordon Dykstra Family