Saturday, January 21, 2006
This Silly Thing
Okay, I realize I haven't posted for a while, but why is it that every time I leave for a while, when I come back I have problems with the way my blog looks? Arrggh!
A Belated Christmas Letter
I wrote this letter last year, and have edited it recently. It has not, as yet, been sent out to anyone:
As I write this letter, I am a little overwhelmed thinking of all that has happened to us in 2005. I keep waiting for life to slow down. In fact, the past two years have been very full. Just over a year ago Bruce and I had switched roles in the house where I went out to work full-time and Bruce became the stay-at-home parent. I had been at McDonald’s and was applying to office positions as that is what I had trained for. At the very beginning of 2005 I started working in a law firm called Benesh Bitz & Company. I work in the real estate department and love what I am doing. The firm merged with another in the summer, so now it is called Benesh Bitz McHolm, but I am still doing the real estate.
In the spring we were heading home when a van failed to yield at an intersection. I had seen out of the corner of my eye that the other van didn’t appear to be slowing down, and I had started screaming. Bruce slammed on the brakes, but we still slid as there was a lot of gravel on the road from winter. The result was a very hard impact by both vehicles on the front end, a big bounce, a meeting of the tail ends, and a final separation. Our whole family was in the van, but I was the only one hurt with whiplash, for which we are all thankful. It is also a blessing that I saw the other van wasn’t stopping in time for Bruce to put on his brakes as we figure that if we hadn’t seen, the other van would have slammed into my door, and things could have turned out a lot worse. And we got a newer van with fewer kilometers.
Just as summer began we found out that our pastor was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer. He wrote of his struggle at dhjourney.blogspot.com. He started writing in June when he was given medical leave, and passed away in August. It was (and still is) very hard for us as he was not only our pastor, but among our closest of friends.
My grandparents also passed away in the summer. They had been heading home from church when there was an accident. It was a minor accident, but because of circumstances, they died within an hour of each other. I flew out to Abbotsford to attend the funeral where I was able to see a lot of family I hadn’t seen for a while. The common thought seemed to be that it was a miracle what happened, and God’s hand must have been in the orchestrating. I know I can’t have imagined one without the other, and I’m glad they walked into heaven together. Bruce stayed home with Brendan and Shaeleigh, although I wish they had been able to come, too. We had just been out there in May of 2004, but had only visited with a few people at that time.
We also attempted to fix part of our back fence in the summer. Besides putting one of the posts too far down in the ground and not realizing it until it was cemented, we made the fence a little crooked from the rest, and managed to make our neighbour lady really mad at us. Let’s just say that was an adventure that I don’t care to repeat, and I think anyone who puts up a good-looking fence is amazingly talented.
Brendan started Kindergarten in September and Shaeleigh started Pre-Kindergarten. They are in different schools, which makes things a little hectic for Bruce at lunch times – picking Brendan up, having lunch (at least attempting to have lunch) and driving Shaeleigh to school. Brendan seems to really enjoy being in Kindergarten, and Shaeleigh would say with great pride, “I’m a school girl now!”
It’s neat to see how they are growing. Brendan has started reading. For fun his teacher tested his reading level and discovered he is at about grade 3. He also loves numbers and is either counting or adding all the time. It keeps us on our toes. Shaeleigh seems to have a love for music and art. She draws lots of pictures and dances around our living room and at church. She has also started making up her own songs to sing. I love to listen to her.
In the Fall I made a second trip out to BC; this time to Richmond. I received a phone call that my mom was really sick in ICU, so I made arrangements to go out for a week. Her diabetes had gotten out of control which put her in a coma. At admission, her blood sugar levels were 86, so I’m just thankful that she has recovered. The day before I left, my brother went out to see our mom and stayed for a week. He hadn’t seen her for many years, and I think it was a good reunion. Then she was admitted again just before Christmas. We really need to get some sort of long distance plan because I worry about her all the time.
When the bad weather hit here in November, we ended up in another accident. We were all in the van when Bruce tried to stop on a patch of ice, and we ended up taking out a light pole. We had the option of having our new-to-us van written off or getting it fixed. We chose to get it fixed as we think we got a really good deal and didn’t relish the thought of having to go out to find another one.
So now we are in the new year, and once again I didn’t get my cards or letters out. Last year I missed getting my letter out and thought I’d send a New Year’s letter. When that didn’t happen I thought maybe I’d send one part way through the year “just because.” Well, now here we are, and I’m still typing. I’m hoping that next year will not be quite so eventful. I’m wondering what God has in store fur us, though, as we are in the process of working through Bruce wanting to be in the Orthodox church, and I would like to stay in the Mennonite church. If you think of us, please pray. Above all, we want God to be number one in our family.
All our love to you. May you have a great 2006!
Adelle (and Bruce, Brendan & Shaeleigh)
P.S. Christmas was really good. We spent it with Bruce's family. It was great to see the cousins play together. I wish we didn't live so far apart from one another. I have great memories as a kid playing with my cousins, and I wish the same for my children.
As I write this letter, I am a little overwhelmed thinking of all that has happened to us in 2005. I keep waiting for life to slow down. In fact, the past two years have been very full. Just over a year ago Bruce and I had switched roles in the house where I went out to work full-time and Bruce became the stay-at-home parent. I had been at McDonald’s and was applying to office positions as that is what I had trained for. At the very beginning of 2005 I started working in a law firm called Benesh Bitz & Company. I work in the real estate department and love what I am doing. The firm merged with another in the summer, so now it is called Benesh Bitz McHolm, but I am still doing the real estate.
In the spring we were heading home when a van failed to yield at an intersection. I had seen out of the corner of my eye that the other van didn’t appear to be slowing down, and I had started screaming. Bruce slammed on the brakes, but we still slid as there was a lot of gravel on the road from winter. The result was a very hard impact by both vehicles on the front end, a big bounce, a meeting of the tail ends, and a final separation. Our whole family was in the van, but I was the only one hurt with whiplash, for which we are all thankful. It is also a blessing that I saw the other van wasn’t stopping in time for Bruce to put on his brakes as we figure that if we hadn’t seen, the other van would have slammed into my door, and things could have turned out a lot worse. And we got a newer van with fewer kilometers.
Just as summer began we found out that our pastor was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer. He wrote of his struggle at dhjourney.blogspot.com. He started writing in June when he was given medical leave, and passed away in August. It was (and still is) very hard for us as he was not only our pastor, but among our closest of friends.
My grandparents also passed away in the summer. They had been heading home from church when there was an accident. It was a minor accident, but because of circumstances, they died within an hour of each other. I flew out to Abbotsford to attend the funeral where I was able to see a lot of family I hadn’t seen for a while. The common thought seemed to be that it was a miracle what happened, and God’s hand must have been in the orchestrating. I know I can’t have imagined one without the other, and I’m glad they walked into heaven together. Bruce stayed home with Brendan and Shaeleigh, although I wish they had been able to come, too. We had just been out there in May of 2004, but had only visited with a few people at that time.
We also attempted to fix part of our back fence in the summer. Besides putting one of the posts too far down in the ground and not realizing it until it was cemented, we made the fence a little crooked from the rest, and managed to make our neighbour lady really mad at us. Let’s just say that was an adventure that I don’t care to repeat, and I think anyone who puts up a good-looking fence is amazingly talented.
Brendan started Kindergarten in September and Shaeleigh started Pre-Kindergarten. They are in different schools, which makes things a little hectic for Bruce at lunch times – picking Brendan up, having lunch (at least attempting to have lunch) and driving Shaeleigh to school. Brendan seems to really enjoy being in Kindergarten, and Shaeleigh would say with great pride, “I’m a school girl now!”
It’s neat to see how they are growing. Brendan has started reading. For fun his teacher tested his reading level and discovered he is at about grade 3. He also loves numbers and is either counting or adding all the time. It keeps us on our toes. Shaeleigh seems to have a love for music and art. She draws lots of pictures and dances around our living room and at church. She has also started making up her own songs to sing. I love to listen to her.
In the Fall I made a second trip out to BC; this time to Richmond. I received a phone call that my mom was really sick in ICU, so I made arrangements to go out for a week. Her diabetes had gotten out of control which put her in a coma. At admission, her blood sugar levels were 86, so I’m just thankful that she has recovered. The day before I left, my brother went out to see our mom and stayed for a week. He hadn’t seen her for many years, and I think it was a good reunion. Then she was admitted again just before Christmas. We really need to get some sort of long distance plan because I worry about her all the time.
When the bad weather hit here in November, we ended up in another accident. We were all in the van when Bruce tried to stop on a patch of ice, and we ended up taking out a light pole. We had the option of having our new-to-us van written off or getting it fixed. We chose to get it fixed as we think we got a really good deal and didn’t relish the thought of having to go out to find another one.
So now we are in the new year, and once again I didn’t get my cards or letters out. Last year I missed getting my letter out and thought I’d send a New Year’s letter. When that didn’t happen I thought maybe I’d send one part way through the year “just because.” Well, now here we are, and I’m still typing. I’m hoping that next year will not be quite so eventful. I’m wondering what God has in store fur us, though, as we are in the process of working through Bruce wanting to be in the Orthodox church, and I would like to stay in the Mennonite church. If you think of us, please pray. Above all, we want God to be number one in our family.
All our love to you. May you have a great 2006!
Adelle (and Bruce, Brendan & Shaeleigh)
P.S. Christmas was really good. We spent it with Bruce's family. It was great to see the cousins play together. I wish we didn't live so far apart from one another. I have great memories as a kid playing with my cousins, and I wish the same for my children.
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