Time to celebrate the best time of year by writing to you, our family & friends, I hope this finds you safe and merry and experiencing peace this Christmas.
Turns out that we like how this blog is documenting the years for us and has saved us a ton of postage/licking envelopes....
....this is us, all 6 of us, in Vegas for Thanksgiving. We are completely devoted to family time and our marriage. It's sacred and the time is fleeting, so we are indulging in all the goodness while we can.
Tim, our 16yo, looks like a suburban teen thug wannabe. Do not let the tough appearance play you. He is such a success with work, school, and play. We are most proud of who he is to his core and how that's reflected in his relationships with his siblings and loved ones. He drives my dad's 18yo forest green honda accord. We tinted the windows and James & Tim installed a new stereo. It's a huge gift to us, as well as Tim, that he can manage his daily life all on his own. Thanks dad!
Toby, now 13yo, is taller than me and cooler than me. We can trust him with a bit of responsibility and rely on him to do the the dirty work in the yard if James needs an extra hand. He's our outdoorsman, our fisherman, our open heart, our neighborhood vigilante.
Tyler will be 10yo in February! Which is epic for him, and a crisis of midlife for me. Fourth grade is a breeze for him now that he is graduating from speech therapy. Things just makes more sense to him now and he is able to enjoy reading, which is kinda important if you want to feel adequate in the classroom. Bless him for overcoming such struggles.
Tori, who is 4yo, is a girly-girl. Dresses everyday. Play kitchens and hospitality. Momma to her baby dolls and stuffed animals. Her favorite colors are the ones in the rainbow, like, all of them. She is a constant companion and wants to participate in all that is going on. She insists she is capable of most endeavors. This pains me to no end as I sit on my hands and watch her do in 5min what I could do for her in less than 30sec.
I'd like to close this letter with a poem I wrote during November. It was a gift to pen it and I hope you enjoy it.
May this Christmas time bless you in ways you haven't experienced before.
Peace out,
StefHowie
Blindly, I became a mother
Who could foretell it to me?
It's like unearthing a treasure from beneath the sea
What an adventure!
What an ordeal!
What a worthy time capsule, secret & still....
No words can express the emotions I have felt,
the deep connection of hearts,
the protectiveness overwhelmed
I wish I could foretell it,
when motherhood becomes your dare
The unexplainable awaits
while I braid your hair....
penned 11/20/2016
