Merry Christmas

 

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope this year has brought you more joy than sadness, more faith than fear, and closer to the Savior than any other year before.  We know for our family it has done the above and when that happens the year feels like a success no matter how fast it flies by and this year really did.

Travis, strapping young lad that he is, loves his job, is starting to work out, has continued to serve with the youth in our church and has been the fearless leader and constant rudder to our Whiting ship, steering us where we need to be.  He is the best leader of our family and we would follow him most anywhere. 

Mary finalized all of the paperwork for fostering in Texas and got the Whitings back to doing that.  She loves to volunteer at the kids’ schools and spend as much time with her family as possible.  She finds plenty of time to spend with friends and serve others as well.  She is still trying to stay young at heart and ridiculously silly, but is only moderately successful.

Isabella, 16, has decided to graduate a year early and done all the associated stuff to do that. She did ACTs, SATs, an extra year of home study Seminary throughout the summer, took a killer course load this year – which everyone discouraged because heaven forbid we “fail” at something, applied to colleges, and continued to rock a ridiculous amount of extra curricular activities while doing so including her favorites Cross Country, Theatre, and Orchestra.  The first semester she has proven what an ace she is at whatever she attempts by keeping it all together and maintaining top marks.  She has also started driving, dating, and banking on her own.  All of these with various levels of success and quite a few teachable moments along the way.  Overall she is learning to adult and it is a fun journey to watch.

Wyatt, 14, has probably experienced the most change this year of all the kids.  He went from being a pubescent boy to a man child.  The rage and aggression of a teenage boy was quite shocking and alarming to me, but those days are behind us and Wyatt has turned into the best kind of man ever.  He has started high school, determined his favorite subjects to be Seminary, a before school religious education provided by our church, and Cross Country – most shocking as he previously hated to run and never did except the required mile in gym class twice a year.  He is a great student, son, and brother.  He is especially tender with our foster babies and an amazing help to me around the house or with anything I need.  He is working on his Eagle Project in Scouting and he has amazed me repeatedly this year in the best of ways.

Issac, 13, continues to be in the complicated space of middle school and boy to man.  He is most like Travis and sometimes I feel like I know him the least as he doesn’t communicate as readily or easily with me about every detail of his day.  That being said, this boy is always happy and easy to be around.  He did summer swim team again this summer and earned many awards and accolades.  He works hard when asked, and is finally learning to adjust to Texas which was the hardest for him over any of our family.  Academically he has become less carefree and has found a bit of a competitive edge when it comes to having the best grades in our house.  He rallies amazingly well and considering the four kids’ year average of unweighted grades to date is 93.48% that is no small feat.  He takes his leadership responsibilities in church very seriously and has thrived serving in the Deacon’s Quorum Presidency.

Kody, 11, has found his passion this year in sports.  He started playing year round, from baseball in the spring, football in the fall, and basketball in the winter.  Despite his diminutive size he is very quick and a hustler and so does amazingly well at holding his own.  We don’t hold any hope for professional or collegiate play, but he is finding high levels of happiness in it and a better sense of work ethic, so we will call it a win.  He is my social butterfly of a child and more readily seeks out “playdates” – he hates when I call them that, than any of my other children.  He is learning to manage his feisty side better and so more often I am left amazed at his sweet side that is perhaps more selfless than most any 11 year old.  He is a great thinker and has a very clear sense of right and wrong.  He loves a good debate, but still cuddles up to me for snuggles and back rubs.  He reminds me that these years are flying by way to quickly.

We hope that the upcoming year is filled with even more blessings, goodness, and love.  There are major changes afoot for our family, but we excitedly wait to embrace them.  We hope you all know that true happiness comes in and through the Savior of the World, Jesus Christ, and act upon his every promise for long term, eternal happiness.

Love,

The Whitings

Merry Christmas ~the Whitings

So here it is:

 

And here is the template:















Now imagine some font saying "Merry Christmas" and ~ the Whitings
Can you see it:  Gorgeous - huh!?!?!

It's better for your imagination anyway.
As for the letter, I think I can manage that.
As my mom liked to point out in my childhood, "You started talking in full sentences before 18 months and haven't stopped since."

Dear Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas from your family.  We love this time of year, we love the season, we love the giving, the service, the presents, the excitement, the surprise snow here in Texas.  We love the reprieve from school, the late nights, the extra cuddles and the enormous amounts of special holiday goodies that we gorge on for two weeks straight.  We love the big meal and the leftovers for days.  Needless to say, but I'll do it anyway, we are over the moon, beyond excited for the upcoming holiday.  We hope your family is too. 

Our family moved this year and so everything is different and sure there have been adjustments to be made, changes galore, and some frustrations, heartache, and sadness.  It has been far harder than I ever imagined when the revelation from God originally came to me.  Somehow I naively thought, because of such strong spiritual guidance that it would be filled with rainbows, butterflies, unicorns and magical goodness from beginning to end.  I felt like we would know exactly why we were being sent here once we got here and that he was just waiting to pour out his blessings upon us for being so obedient.  And to be sure, we have seen blessings galore.  Well I have anyway, depending on the day, my kids may say differently.  That being said, some things have been easier than I could have ever imagined.  Some things have felt quite provident.  We are getting glimpses of the bigger picture and are moving forward with optimism when possible and robotic discipline and a refusal to think about it when things aren't going so well.  So what does it look like currently:

Travis - As always is boss.  He is the most steadying influence and my rock.  His quiet consistency makes possible my every goodness.  I need him increasingly to be my best self.  He has shut down our businesses in PA and WY, for the most part, and is making a go at working and living in the same state.  He is gainfully employed currently and that is going well as it tends to when you have a steady, reliable income with benefits and all the good stuff that makes life easier in some ways.  He is active in our youth program at church and slaying Scouts as he tends to do wherever we are.  He is the man who is able to do all things, and be all things to all people.  I wonder if he ever gets tired of it.  No real signs yet.  Wait for next year's card and letter to see if he ever will break.  Let's hope not!

Mary - She is largely the same, maybe a bit haggard around the edges as she tries to keep it increasingly all together with all the chaos and changes.  For the most part, I think people still see me as this happy, Energizer Bunny of helpfulness.  It makes me happy, it pleases the Lord so I think I will stick with that recipe for life.  Every now again, I have to reign myself in as the very intensity of who I am can scare people or be a bit off putting, but I am learning balance and hopefully getting to be a bit better version of myself with each passing year.

Isabella - This girl is a rock star.  She is a lady boss and quite a force to be reckoned with.  She is still doing sports and school and music and starting an online bakery and any other ideas that pop into her beautiful, high functioning brain.  For the most part she is great at managing herself, time, and abilities with minimal direction and redirection from us.  It makes me think that she'll be ready to leave me and live on her own in less than three years.  {insert midlife crisis and tears here}  Boys have entered her radar this year.  And though I wouldn't say she is boy crazy, it's an interesting change that's amusing to watch.  She is accepting any and all boy applications for her upcoming birthday and ability to date and her new found desire to kiss.  Hot boys with great personalities start lining up. {insert her mortification here}

Wyatt - Having transitioned to our new life the best, Wyatt continues to steady on in a way that is very similar to his dad.  This new school has no sports at the middle school that he played in PA, so he has a lot of free time.  I'm looking to fill some of it with a hobby or something.  Suggestions welcome.  The newest and biggest change has been the introduction of testosterone to his teenage body.  This has turned our mostly mellow son into a rage machine at times, who seems capable of possibly hurting someone - most likely a sibling.  Not a change I treasure, but a necessary part of living I suppose.  He is part boy and man and I am clinging to every sign of childhood as I think it is almost a sign of the past.  This man-child will be the best husband someday, but he would be mortified if I went into the details of his tender care of his mom and women in general, so I'll leave it for now.

Issac - My precious, happy boy.  This move has rocked his previously perfect life.  Where Wyatt has blossomed, Issac has lost a bit of himself.  Many tears have been shed on his part and mine as he struggles to find his way and place.  And where I want to protect and save him, shelter him from every pain, I am actively looking to let him grow and develop on his own, but with all the strength and support I can give him.  He turned 12 and got the Aaronic Priesthood.  He couldn't be happier.  This boy's testimony of God has increased exponentially through these experiences and I see him trying to develop a relationship all his own with God.  So though painful to watch at times, I see where this is going and I have a great hope that he will come though the other side better honed to accomplish his purposes in life.

Kody - He is in his last year of elementary school for the second year in a row due to the move.  Selfishly, I want him to stay small as I am not ready to concede my kid years are over and I have a house full of tweens and teens.  This boy amazes and surprises me.  He keeps me on my toes.  He fills my life with snuggles and affection.  He fills our home with sassy, spiritedness.  He has a great ability to be thoughtful and perceptive.  There are a million things that confirm for me that he is a little old man trapped in this kids body.  He is an old soul for sure.  He knows who he is, where he comes from, where he is hoping to return to, and has all of life's major challenges figured out.  Now it's just the details, a time to sit back and watch the journey and mitigate any collateral damage as a result of his impish ways.

Truly, we hope you are doing well.  We are thinking of so many of you all of the time.  If nothing else, I think it is safe to say that our family loves people.  We value the intrinsic part of humanity that makes us each different, fascinating, and wonderful.  We hope you feel our love whether near or far.  We hope you feel comfort when you are sad, peace when you are conflicted, and that if every you need anything we are a call, text, IM, plane ride or car ride away. 

Love,
~the Whitings