Plus, I needed to post SOMETHING..... More updates coming..... Eventually...... It's been just a little crazy.
Rhodes
Report 2012
Greetings in
the New Year!
This has
been a busy year! Where has the time
gone? We have been blessed, and we
continue to marvel at God’s provision for us.
“All glory
to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish
infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him ….. forever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21) God has blessed us. Even when we don’t think to ask, He surprises
us. We are so grateful.
Our biggest
news of the year, obviously, would be the addition of our beautiful girl to our
family. Zadie Marie was born in April,
and is now almost 9 months old. She is a
big girl! She continues to top the
charts for growth. She is now crawling,
pulling up, and “cruising” along the furniture, crawling up the stairs (!!!),
and trying out unsupported standing. She has two teeth, and beautiful big blue
eyes, and lots of dark hair. She’s a
very happy, very laid back baby. We can
already, even at her young age, tell the difference in the way she interacts
compared to how the boys were at the same age, and we are looking forward to
seeing the change a girl will bring to the dynamics of our family.
Jacob turned
3 in October, and continues to be a happy, silly guy. He has the normal short attention of a
3-year-old boy, but surprises us with what he is picking up from being around
as his brother learns. He knows all of
his colors and shapes, days of the week, and can count to 20. He’s in the Cubbies class at Awana this year. He loves to sing, and it brings us such joy
to hear him singing praise songs to God as he plays. He’s starting on violin, learning how to hold
it and posture. He’s a snuggler, and
loves to cuddle up with Daddy or Mommy or other favorite people. He’s very attentive to little sister as
well. But as much as he loves to
snuggle, he also loves to wrestle with his brother. They have almost daily matches rolling all
over the living room and giggling. He’s
just a very happy boy, and we love him so much.
Nathan
turned 5 in September. We started
home-school Kindergarten with him on Labor Day.
(Appropriate, eh?) He is moving along rapidly with Math, and will be
moving on to 1st grade math this spring. He picked up letters and sounds very quickly,
but is slower on learning blends and simple words (although it seems that it’s
just now starting to “click”). He’s in
the Sparks program at Awana, and really enjoys it. In February, he prayed to ask Jesus to
forgive his sins and live in his heart, and then was baptized in July. We can tell that the Holy Spirit is working
inside of him. He’s made a lot of
progress on his violin in the last year.
He has memorized 6 variations of “Twinkle Little Star” and 4 other
songs, plus two scales. He did his first
special at church December 30. He had a
little accident the day after Christmas, tripping going up the stairs. He knocked out one tooth, and had to have the
other pulled. It makes him look very
tough and grown up! He is more serious (and
strong-willed – imagine that!) than our other two, but still loves to laugh and
be silly and have fun.
The boys’ curiosity
about the size and geography and cultures of the world has been aided by the
fact my sister Carlsie is on assignment with the Peace Corps in Zambia,
Africa. They really perk up when they
hear, “In Africa, where Aunt Sissy lives….”
She has been there since August of 2011; her job there is “rural
aquaculture” – teaching people how to build and maintain fish ponds for food
and income. She is on the downhill side
of her time there, and will be home next autumn. My dad and brother got to go visit her for
two weeks over Christmas. They really
enjoyed the time there, and I am still blown away by the fact my dad actually
flew halfway around the world in an airplane! :)
My Grandma Marie
(my mom’s mom) passed away in April, the week before Zadie was born. Her health had been declining, and we are
glad she is not suffering any more. I
think even in her passing, God used it to be a special time of reuniting for
her children and family.
We didn’t
take any vacations this year, between baby, finances, and time. Paul did arrange a surprise day trip for my
birthday, to the Wichita Zoo with his family.
It was a beautiful day, in the midst of the oppressing summer, and we
really enjoyed the time.
We thought 2011’s
summer was bad, but last summer blew it away.
No rain; it was depressing to watch the ponds dry up and the crops
wither in the fields during 3 solid months of near or over 100 degrees. The yard is greener now, in January, than it
was all summer. It was crunchy and brown
by the 4th of July. Despite
this, though, we somehow managed to have our best garden ever. I think it was because it didn’t rain, we
didn’t have any floods, wind, or hail to destroy our crop. It was so hot even the weeds weren’t growing
much. We could water exactly how much
was needed, exactly when it was needed.
Our tomatoes were a failure, but everything else did very well,
especially our green beans and cantaloupe.
After a
month and a half of cramming 3 kids (in their required car seats) in the back seat
of our Buick, we bought a minivan. (We’d
been waiting for a certain kind.)
Although I don’t like being classified as a “minivan mommy,” I do like
the fact we can fit 8 in the van (which we’ve already done a couple times), and
the fact it gets about twice the gas mileage of an SUV (which is what we
originally though we wanted). It’s a basic
2008 Toyota Sienna, and so far we’ve been very happy with it.
Paul continues
to supervise at the glass plant. It has
been a very slow year for the company.
We’re hoping that when the economy finally bounces back, things will
pick up. Paul got the opportunity to go
to a men’s retreat called “Encounter” in September and again in November. It has been wonderful to see his spiritual
life renewed and energized, and see how God is using him. We are experiencing the blessings of letting
him lead according to God’s design for a family. He and my Dad are organizing a group from our
church to go to another one later in January.
We got Paul a new grill/smoker for Father’s Day. Several weeks, the temperature didn’t dip
below 100 for days on end, and I told Paul I would not be turning on the oven
to heat up the house. Besides the usual
burgers and briskets, we perfected the grilled pizza, meatloaf, bread, French
fries, and veggies. The grill definitely paid for itself over the summer. Paul enjoys the culinary adventures, and I
enjoy the break from the kitchen. :)
I “just”
stay home with the kids. Besides home
school, I teach Nathan’s violin when Paul is working, and I also have been
doing piano lessons with my niece Lena.
I still lead our church’s praise team, and teach Bible lessons weekly at
Awana. I organized two worship nights in
the second half of the year, where our band joined with some other musicians
and singers for a “concert” of worship music for the community. Both were great nights, with an excellent
turnout, and we are planning another for February 10th. The whole family was involved in our church’s
10th annual Bethlehem reenactment, the first weekend of
December. We had record attendance this
year, with over 2000 attending during the three nights. I turned 30 this year, and I am definitely
feeling my age. (haha) I got glasses for driving and screen time, and
got an umbilical hernia fixed (caused by 3 pregnancies). The hernia repair lasted a week before it
tore out at another place. The doctor
said I would need a more extensive surgery to repair, so that will be coming at
some point in the future. (It’s not an
emergency at this point, just ugly and occasionally uncomfortable.)
I’m sure
there are other details about the year that I’m missing, but these were the
major things. We love our life. Of course
there are always things that we imagine we’d like to change, but in the
end: we have a roof over our head, food
in the cupboard, and a family that loves each other. What more do we need?
We hope that
2013 is your best year ever.
From our
house to yours,
Paul & Rachel
Nathan, Jacob, and Zadie
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