Here is our 2013 Christmas letter with a few pictures of our boys!
See
how God, for us providing, Gave His Son and life abiding;
He
our weary steps is guiding From earth's woe to heav'nly joy.
While
there certainly are times of woe here on earth, the Lord also blesses
us with many joys. One such blessing is an addition to our family,
another son, Matthias Rahn. He was born on November 26th (2 weeks
early! 7.14lbs and 19.5 inches)and born again in Holy Baptism on Dec.
8th. We are so thankful that Matthias is healthy and we look forward
to life with the 3 boys!
Abel
is now a big 5 year old. We started homeschooling this year and he
has been doing a great job, reading is just around the corner for him
(which will be great for him and me!). He has been taking horse back
riding lessons. The teacher says he talks the whole time, but does a
great job. In Sept. Abel took a trip to WA to spend some time with my
mom. He was there for 10 days by himself before Elisha and I flew up.
He had a great time and didn't miss us at all! Abel is very into
pirates right now. For his birthday Samuel took him to a junior
production of Pirates of Penzance. He enjoyed it a lot (he has seen
the TV version so many times that he often hums the theme song while
playing!). We also had a pirate themed birthday party for him,
complete with a treasure hunt and a treasure chest (made by Samuel
out of cardboard and duct tape!). Abel is a great big brother!
Elisha
is 20 months old now. He doesn't talk yet, but makes certain you know
what he wants/needs. He is very into animals and animal sounds. His
most used word right now is “mom”. I'm pretty sure that word
means most things to him (I'm hungry, thristy, diaper change, look at
this, etc.), but it is nice to hear (even if it is all day long!).
When he isn't saying “mom, Mom, MOM,” he likes to ROAR! He is in
love with his baby brother. He enjoys holding Matthias and giving him
kisses all over. Often he will get upset when it is Mom's turn to
hold the baby.
Samuel
is kept busy with church work and also tutoring local children in
math and English. Like years before we made two trips for Samuel's
conferences. The first was to the Tacoma area where we were
graciously hosted by the Faugstad family once again. Samuel delivered
a paper at this conference. We were also able to visit many family
members and spend a week with my mom. In June we took our trip to
Minnesota for the annual ELS Convention where we were able to spend
time with Samuel's side of the family and also many friends,
including the MacPherson family who hosted us in Mankato. Samuel
served as the chaplain for this year's convention. As the chaplain he
ordered the daily devotions and also preached. He did a great job!
Samuel also worked hard in our garden once again. This is the first
year we did our garden at home and it worked out well. Samuel was up
every morning at 5 to take the dog for a run and water our garden! He
is already planning next year's garden.
As
for me it was a pretty low key year. Being pregnant in the summer
here wasn't terrible, but it limited our family's outdoor activities
(I just couldn't see a reason to sleep on the ground outside when I
had a nice comfy bed at home!). In August I started homeschooling
Abel. I am excited for all the things we will learn together! I stay
quite occupied homemaking, homeschooling, and keeping 2 very active
boys busy and one little boy fed. Some days are long, but I
thoroughly enjoy it!
Our
family was blessed to have a number of visitors this year including
the Jacobsen family who came from Oregon to visit for a week and a
half in October. My mom and sister also came for 10 days to meet
Matthias and help out around the house. We put a lot of food in the
freezer and they got a lot of baby holding in.
We
were also blessed this year to be able to purchase a new vehicle.
About a month before Matthias was due we decided to see if all the
car seats would fit in our little car...they didn't! So, we headed up
to Reno and found a new (to us) Honda Odyssey. We very much
appreciate the extra room and will enjoy using it for all the trips
coming up next year!
May
God bless and keep you all in His grace through this next year.
Love,
Samuel,
Anna, Abel, Elisha, and Matthias
Gracious
Child, we pray Thee, hear us, From Thy lowly manger cheer us,
Gently
lead us and be near us Till we join th' angelic choir.
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