Merry Christmas from The Marks



Abigail, Amelia, Dennis w/ Rebekah, Carolyn w/ Joseph, Nicole, Caleb, Charlyn, Seth



Here is our crew as of December 2010 ~ Twenty-Five years ago Dennis and I were less than a month from getting married. Had you told us that Christmas that someday we would have this beautiful look group of kids, we would have laughed at you and told you that four was the max! God sure takes us on different journeys than we plan or expect. Glad we did not know about this large thing then, but there are for sure no regrets on this side of it. (Good thing, huh?!)

As I write this I believe half the kids have put up something on their own page (just click on the names near the top of the page) Hopefully more will happen before this link goes out.

So much happens in a family this size it is hard to know what to share. Much of it seems routine... The toddler (Joe) is now walking, running of course, oh, and crawling out of his bed! The pre-schooler (Caleb) is asking "why?" about everything (Carolyn forgot how exhausting the why stage could be!) A new one (Abigail) is learning to drive, another (Amelia) is getting ready to graduate, one (Charlyn) has moved out (ok, that is new!) and another (Nicole) can't wait for when the time is right.

As routine as much of it is, it never gets old. Ok, almost never. Carolyn is looking forward to no longer being in the diaper stage, maybe by next Christmas?! Having little ones and big ones at the same time makes us appreciate the stages all the more. We know how fast it goes, even if the 'starting line' is drug out for 22 years.

Anyway... on to updates, as was mentioned, there should be updates on the kids under their names. If not right away, VERY soon. Hmmm, maybe all pages will need to be done before gifts are opened?! Going to have to ponder that idea.

Dennis continues to find his job as police Captain rewarding and stretching. Always something new to learn. He is the chair of the Elder board for our church, Bethel Baptist, here in McMinnville. Always challenges there, as well rewarding times. Not much free time in his life these days. When he gets a chance he still loves to disappear with a book, or sometimes just chopping wood gives a much needed change of pace (as well as exercise!)

Carolyn continues to work at homeschooling the school age kids (this year, Amelia 12th, Abigail 10th,

Seth 7th, Rebekah 4th & Caleb in Pre-K) She has a picture in her head of how the perfect homeschool day should go, and keeps trying to achieve it. In the mean time finds satisfaction when everyone gets their math done all in the same day. Quilting continues to be her favorite outlet even though the time for it is not there as much as she would like. (check out the "Q" link) For the first time she and the school age kids joined a homeschool co-op (ELT, Enjoy Learning Together) here in McMinnville. There are age appropriate classes for all. Even Joe enjoyed his time in the nursery. Everyone is looking forward to going back in January for winter term. Through ELT Carolyn has joined a book club, 'having to read' is a good thing! The fellowship with other ladies is also welcome.

Come 1-11-11 Dennis and Carolyn will be celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary by spending a week at the beach. Can't wait! We can not ever remember leaving all the kids for that long, and very much look forward to giving a try!

Please do feel free to be in touch with us! Time flies by, but we treasure time spent with friends.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!



Visiting Grandmas



On Saturday Dennis and I were able to visit both of our grandmas. Grandma Jones is on the closer side, geographically, we were able to take most of the kids along. 'Papa & Nana' met us there. We had a great time, and were able to take several great pictures. After visiting Grandma Jones the kids headed home and Dennis & I headed to Portland to see Grandma Marks. She has been sick the last couple of weeks so we thought it best to spare her the ruckus of our crew! We forgot to take pictures there, but did have a lovely visit with both Grandma as well as Dennis' Aunt Dolores.


 

 My cousin's son, James Bamford, painted this picture of Dennis from a snapshot taken at a family gathering this summer. It was our Christmas gift from my parents. Very cool!

 





For Joe it was all about the candy canes!



Done!

Christmas Cards are ordered! Very curious to see how they turn out. I did them in a kind of hurry, taking advantage of Wi-Fi at Les Schwab while having my tires rotated. (this is huge for us still on dial-up!) Should have them soon!  Tires were done before me, I would say that makes this a win-win! :)

God and Christmas cards

Yup, God and Christmas cards. Unique title, I think anyway, let me explain…

 

A little while back I heard of a promotion put on by Shutterfly where a blogger could get 50 free Christmas cards for blogging about Shutterfly's wonderful products. I love photo Christmas cards so got excited I figured I would go ahead and fill out the form even though our family blog had not been updated in several months. (But now that I found I can blog via e-mail, updates just might happen more often!) Anyway... off went the request and while I was not really expecting to hear back, I was hoping. Nothing came. I saw friends blogging about their free cards and figured that my little blog had not impressed the ‘powers that be.’ 

 

A couple of weeks ago (if that) I was wrestling with the Christmas card question. Somehow, someway Dennis and I have managed to get quite a long Christmas card list (150+, not counting ones he takes into work) Conquering such a list can be quite daunting. Both the cost, and the work involved. Cost was the big part effecting me this year, I love getting beautiful photo Christmas cards like these http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards and these  http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards , they are fun to make (in spite of dial-up!) and fun to give. But, the cost does add up. Finally the decision was made that for the first time in 20-some years we were going to make the conscience decision to not send Christmas cards. Instead focus on our much neglected family blog and send a link out to any and all friends with which we have e-mail or Facebook contact.

 

Then, yesterday evening (Wed 12/8) I find in our family e-mail this ....

Reminder: Shutterfly's 50 Free Christmas Cards Promotion

Wow! I must have missed the original e-mail, or it went the way of spam or junk mail. Who knows? But  now, what to do with my decision to NOT send Christmas cards. Aurgh! :)  So, as you have guessed, I am going for the free cards, who knows what else I will end up getting along the way!  I am also excited to see they have a huge selection of graduation announcement cards (http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/announcements/graduation-announcements) as Amelia is graduating this coming May.

 

So, at this point the plan is to go ahead an update the blog. I hope to have an entry for each of the kids. And then with my 50 cards I can still send something to those on my list I do not have e-contact with, like our grandmothers. So, if you are a die-hard Christmas card lover, just ask, I might have one to spare, just for you! J

 

In conclusion. God allowed me to see that I do not have to do things just because I have always done so. It is ok to change. He also showed He cares about me by allowing me some low cost Christmas cards. It is always nice to be reminded that God cares about the little things that are important to us.

 

Added Note: There is still one more day to register for this deal. If you are interested go here http://bit.ly/sfly2010 , registration closes Dec. 10, 2010

Testing...

Just trying to blog via e-mail. :) Want to see if it works!

Our Crew, May 2010

Sir Joseph. (15 mos) He is just way to cute for only one picture. The one on the left shows him with a stash of granola bars he was quite pleased to find and haul around! He was not so happy when mom confiscated them. (Yes, he did get one) The picture to the right is Joe having his 'breakfast' one morning. A sister stuck him on the counter to keep him out of the way and gave him a cookie. He was quite a happy camper. (Looks like I need to work on a good picture of him smiling)

I just love this picture. Caleb is my 'fixer-man' Here he is working one one of his (Joey's?) toys. Fixing to his hearts content. You can tell how intense he is with his task due to how far out the tongue is sticking. He loves to wear hats of any kind, and as this picture shows, he does not wear pants almost all the time now. A year ago I was wondering when we would make it over that hurdle.

This is Rebekah with her friend for a day, Elise. Elise's mom and dad travel around doing concerts (her mom plays the harp) After a Sunday AM concert, during which Elise sat with us, Beka was able to invite Elise over for the afternoon and than to attend AWANA with her in the evening. They had a great time and were fun to watch.

They were also very excited to discover they were born the same month & year.

(This was actually in April, but too cute not to share somewhere)

Our mowing boy. Seth loves to mow, we are hoping this is a love that lasts a long time! The weather has not been conducive to a lot of mowing so far this year, but when he can he is out there. Never a lack of grass to mow here at Hodgepodge Acres!

Yup, another driver in the making at our house. Good job Abbs, and just ignore mom when she taps her leg.... It is nothing personal!

Amelia dressed in Regency costume. She had a great time going with a few friends and help demonstrate ECD at a homeschool 'round-up' in Salem.

Charlyn and her car! After MUCH looking the right one was found. She has enjoyed it very much. Esp at the gas pump after months of using 'the truck' and/or Suburban. (or Scuburban as Caleb would say!)

Nicole was counseled to pray more specifically. So upon graduating Ecola her prayer was to have a vehicle within a week. That weekend 'Uncle Greg' loaned her this truck! She is very happy with her little truck and is now working hard to make it her own.

Nicole Graduation

Ok - I forgot to load the pics in opposite order of how I wanted them. So here you have it. A picture of Nicole and I during a walk on the beach on our way home after her graduation, followed by a picture of her with showing off her diploma from Ecola Bible School. Ecola was a great experience for Nicole, if you want to know more she would LOVE to tell you all about it!

Some Pics...

Dennis & Carolyn at a couples retreat in early February. We had a great time at the beach!

Abigail and her friend Laura, getting ready to leave for dance class.
This was on Abigail's 15th birthday.

Amelia waiting to go into surgery. (it was a couple hours later than scheduled)

She enjoyed receiving flowers from Papa and Nana.

Charlyn and Jonathan Jaquith, ready to go out for the evening.

Wow! Time Flies....

Can't beleive my last post was Halloween! Yikes! Since then... all the kids have had a birthday... ages now are Nicole - 23, Charlyn -21, Amelia - 17, Abigail - 15, Seth - 12, Rebekah - 9, Caleb - 4 and Joseph is now 1 year old.

Nicole is finishing up her time at Ecola, she has four weeks left. She plans to come home when done and resume working at Mid-Valley with the hopes to find a room mate and get an apartment.

Charlyn is still a temp at A-Dec, and usually working once a week at Roth's. As much of her spare time as possible is spent with Jonathan Jaquith.

Amelia broke her finger (left pinkie) in January, early March we moved forward with a surgery on it. There was a cyst in the bone (now known to be an Enchondroma) that required a bone graft (from her hip). Monday we find out how it is healing. She is so hoping to be done with splints and such!

Abigail is loving debate. This years topic is Tax Reform, interesting conversations. :)

Seth continues to enjoy monthly homeschool days at Evergreen Aviation & Space Museums. They have given him exposure to a variety of topics. He is also enjoying guitar lessons.

Rebekah continues to be her busy self. Her speech continues to improve with help from speech therapy, I even think there may be an end in site for those trips! She loves her sewing classes as well.

Caleb is a busy 4 year old, loving what preschool work comes he way, also loving anything arts and crafts wise that he manages to do.

Joseph is a toddler. A happy little one that loves to investigate anything he can reach! Keeps us all busy.

Pictures to follow in future postings. I am just never quite sure how to 're-start' a blog.

Now to keep up on it again!