Every year, my lovely bride and I debate about when to write
our annual Christmas Letter. Some years
we start early (and invariably someone get sick). Some years it’s the first snowy day of the
year (too late this year – that was November 15) and some years we wait until
the last minute. We decided this year
we’d try December 14.
In 12 of the last 14 Christmas Letters, I have started my 2nd
paragraph with “We’ve been busy this year” or something along those lines. And this year was no exception. With two boys together in the local Middle
School (7th and 8th Grades!), we’re busy busy busy.
John started the year as a 7th grader and was on
the track team for the 2nd year.
He’s decided however, that throwing the shot put and discus aren’t for
him, and as an 8th grader he’s switched to Scholastic Bowl. His first competitions will be later in the
spring. He’s enjoying practices so
far. He’s really devoting himself to
Scouting. He served in the spring as
Troop Guide (teaching basic skills to younger scouts) and in the fall as Troop
Quartermaster (in charge of the troop’s equipment). In August he earned his Life Rank (one below
Eagle) and joined the BSA’s Honor Camper Society – the Order of the Arrow. Late in the year, after three delays for weather,
John completed his Eagle Service project.
He (and 10 of his fellow scouts) removed hundreds of invasive Bush
Honeysuckle plants from a local botanical garden. I’m sure that in next year’s Christmas
letter, we’ll be telling you about John the Eagle Scout, so stay tuned!
Joshua has continued his improvements – the last several
years academics have been a struggle due to his ADHD. This year a combination of different
medications and excellent teachers have made 7th grade the best
school year in a long time. He’s also
very active in Scouting, completing his Star rank (two below Eagle) at the end
of the year. He’s served since July as
the troop’s Chaplain’s Aide, helping to promote religious awards and leading
services on camping trips. (He even
helped open a worship service for a very large group at a District Event). Joshua has continued his love of baking,
culminating with four loaves of homemade bread the day before Thanksgiving. He told me he’d worn himself out. He’s VERY excited to start Foods Class at
school in January.
Karen had a busy year professionally. In March, an agency where she’d sent a
resume years before called her. . . and she started as a Therapist at Living
Hope Counseling Center, working primarily with children and adolescents. That continued until December (actually,
until next week) and on January 7 she starts a new full-time position at Autism
Services Group, as the only Mental Therapist in their Springfield office. This is an expansion for ASG, as they’ve
never offered mental health services, and it’s exciting for Karen because she’s
getting to outfit an office. She’s
buying furniture and toys and therapeutic tools on someone else’s dime! It’s fun to be working on something else and
have her come to me asking if “this 4-foot-long crayon set will look good on my
wall”. In celebration of her work with
autistic children she added a puzzle piece tattoo to her right ankle.
Karen is continuing to work with the boys’
Scout Troop, teaching junior high religious awards. Patrick has also talked her into assisting
him in teaching other adults how to administer the various religious awards
(but that’s another topic for next year’s letter). In March, the Boy Scouts recognized Karen
with the God and Service Award for “Outstanding Service to Youth in the Name
and to the Glory of God”
Much like his days with Secretary State, Patrick’s
“enjoying” being in a public sector union in a time of strong growth in his
industry. The market prices for IT
professionals have risen sharply, and several of his coworkers have
departed. But the union contact spells
out maximum starting salaries so low that nobody applies for the positions –
thus he’s now responsible for the Illinois Department of Transportation’s
Payroll System, Federal Highway Funds System, Material Handling System and
Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement systems.
In all, he’s doing work that four people in total were working on in
2016. Luckily, he finds working with
Scouts to be a great source of stress-relief.
He’s continuing to attend most of the camping trips that the boys
attend, and especially is volunteering as a Unit Commissioner. He’s currently working with 4 Cub Scout
packs and 5 Scout Troops. While the
work is its own reward, he was pleasantly surprised this spring with the
District Award of Merit.
The best events of the year, however, have concerned others
in our lives. . . in April Patrick’s dad moved from Springfield to Chatham, to
be closer to his sons and grandsons. In
June, Karen’s brother and sister-in-law informed us that we’d have a niece in
January (although just now it looks more like she’s going to be a December
baby).
We’re especially excited that we’ll be celebrating our 15th
wedding anniversary just after Christmas, and we’re going to have a very small
ceremony renewing our wedding vows in front of just our sons and a minister on
Thursday December 27. (Look for pictures
in NEXT year’s letter)
We’re hoping that your year is blessed and that 2019 is even
better.
Patrick, Karen, John and Joshua
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