Christmas Letter 2021

 This year's Christmas letter... I have already sent it out but wanted to put it here for record-keeping purposes. I hope you enjoy the read and I hope "your" Christmas season was a merry one. 

Dear Ones,

      Another year has gone by...

How grateful I am to be writing another Christmas letter to you! We've celebrated another round of birthdays; we have enjoyed another family vacation (Oak Island, NC), celebrated all the holidays again, and my children and grands are all ok (at least at the writing of this letter--ha). There has also been sadness and shock. I lost a dear friend. It was a horrific circumstance. An entire community mourned her passing. My niece was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has 4 young children. Her testimony has never been stronger. She inspires me and so many others. Even in these devastating things, in the happy things, God has been, is, and continues to be good.

Family News:            

John Robert, the oldest child, now 33 years old, works, and then he works some more. He works for a privately owned plumbing company in Austin, TX. He will be starting his 6th year with them in January. His off days are spent nestled in his comfy chair sleeping or buried under a mountain of pillows sleeping. He is flying home on Christmas Eve and he will be here with us for one week. His time at home is short but I am thankful for every minute he can be here. In April, Katelyn, Mimi, myself, and baby Caroline (her 1st plane ride) flew to Austin to visit John. We rented an Airbnb and stayed for 5 days. John took time off from work and stayed with us and we had a grand time. We spent two days exploring downtown Austin. We drove to Waco and immersed ourselves in the whole Magnolia/Chip-Joanna Gaines experience. This was an extra special trip b/c 86 year old Mimi came along and did all the things with us.

Katelyn and Nick's lives are filled with kid things, work things and gym things. Katelyn is going into year 3 working with TruTech, a medical device company. She is doing very well and keeps the roads hot between Fayetteville and Pinehurst/Southern Pines and sometimes Raleigh. This time last year Nick's hand was in a questionable state from the explosion accident but thankfully he has full use of his hand and honestly, it's a miracle. His army career is once again in full swing. The kids are doing great. Cannon, 8, 3rd grade, and Ella, just 7, 1st grade, are both in wrestling for an extracurricular activity. They are both doing well in school. Baby Caroline, now 2 yrs. old is a Firecracker. Her mother compares her to the cartoon character, the Tasmanian Devil. Imagine a little spinning firecracker at all times! She decided to potty train herself at 20 months old. One day she just said, "pee-pee in potty," and from that day on that's exactly what she did. She is smart and funny and full of life every minute of every day.

Jared, now 28, is 100% into his Army training. He graduated from SOCM (Special Operations Combat Medic) in October. He spent 4 weeks in Missouri doing hospital rotations. He got some really great experience while there and even delivered a few babies. Since SOCM grad, he has continued with more trauma-based medical training and will be flying to way way North Dakota in January. He will be there for 4 weeks (working and freezing). Aside from Army life, Jared's big life event this year is getting engaged. Yep, he asked a girl to marry him. Her name is Chandler. She lives in the Charlotte area. She is a labor and delivery nurse and a CrossFit coach. The wedding date is set for Labor Day weekend 2022. We are excited for them and we are looking forward to all of the wedding festivities. 

Jacob, 25, lives in Clemmons, NC. In January ('21) he started driving for FedEx. It's a decent paying job but not something Jacob wants to do long-term. He doesn't know what that "long-term" thing is just yet. He was in two weddings; he has been to Gatlinburg, Nashville, and Charleston, SC to celebrate said weddings. He spent 4 days in Oregon visiting a buddy. They camped and hiked and did fun outdoor things. I don't get to see him as often as I would like, but I am happy knowing he is only 2 hours away instead of across the country. In my heart, I feel like Jacob's heart is "out West" and that is where he will eventually go. All of my children have their own wings and that is how it is supposed to be even though my mother's heart wants them all close by.

I can't believe I have been in Fayetteville for 16 months. It's much different than living in Winston-Salem but I am getting more familiar with things. I absolutely love my house and where I live. I am only 4 miles from work and 4 miles from Katelyn's. I went back to an actual school building in mid-April. Virtual teaching was a nightmare in the beginning, but I got used to it and actually loved being able to work from home. Teaching from home was so much less stressful and it cut out a lot of the headaches that come with in-person teaching. Hands down the 2021 school year has been harder than 2020!! 

I teach at a year-round school so my "summer vacation" was squeezed in between the end of June and mid-July. My friend, Brown and I, took a 10-day road trip and had a blast. We left on June 21 from WS driving west to Nashville, TN. We stayed in Nashville for 4 nights and tried to fit as much as possible into those days. I love country music so this was the perfect place to visit. One of the highlights of this Nashville stay was going to the Grand Ole Opry and being surprised with Reba on the lineup list and Bobby Bones as the host. We walked our legs off downtown seeing all the things. We took tours of the Ryman, Johnny Cash Museum, did Broadway at night and during the day--the nightlife here is major! There were big things we didn't have time to see, but next time... After Nashville, we drove to Memphis. Graceland was finally in my sights! We did so many cool things, but Graceland was my favorite. There is SO MUCH to see. We spent 6 hours there and didn't get through all of it. We did a boat cruise on the Mississippi River, Beale St. (this was shocking not in a good way), did the Lorraine Motel tour, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot, the National Civil Rights Museum, visited the largest Bass Pro Shop in the whole world (has to be), toured a house that was on the Underground Railroad route, toured sun Studio, and ate some really good food. We drove over into Arkansas to say we did it. We drove to Tupelo, Mississippi, to see the place where Elvis was born. Then on to Huntsville, AL, for the night and saw some sights there the next day. We drove back through TN and into good ole NC. We stayed in Asheville one night and then on to WS for the final leg of our 1200 mile trip. It was awesome and I've come to the conclusion that I LOVE road trips. I'm already planning the next one. :)

And here we are at Christmas once again, my favorite time of the year. I love staying connected with you. I love hearing from you. It is my wish and hope that your Christmas days are full of all that matters most--Love, Joy, Peace--less stress, less overextending yourselves, more of saying "no," tons of quality time with your family and friends, less pressure to buy gifts and more desire to give from the heart. Read Twas the Night Before Christmas, listen to Christmas songs and sing loud and with joy, bake cookies, decorate like crazy and enjoy the cozy. Before you go to sleep on Christmas Eve, read the story of Jesus' birth in Luke chapter 2. Maby even read it today. Let that message sink in again and again. Be thankful. Be in the moment. Be present during this magical blessed time. 

Much love and Merry Christmas,

Dawn~

xoxo