Christmas Letter 2016

MERRY CHRISTMAS

 FROM THE MARINOS 

Here are a few items of interest (or not) from our family:

Let's start with the middle child since they usually get ignored. Jared, 13, is now almost as tall as mom. He has discovered Jujitsu and plans on exploring that for the foreseeable future. He is excelling in swimming, ice skating and art, and would prefer to spend all his time drawing. He disappears for hours while exploring the nearby creek, and would live there, except for the lack of Mom's cooking.

Margie, my other middle child (since she is the one who gets left behind too often) is 16. She is singing in two choirs, pursuing piano, participating in swim team, and drives herself in those areas as well as in academics. She spent the summer working full time at the city pool, life guarding and teaching. Her quick wit and intelligence serve her well.

Edie, who could ably fill in as the oldest child, is 11. She loves swimming and ice skating, and does well in both. She loves designing clothes on paper and with fabric, pushes herself in piano, and is an extremely perceptive child with a dry humor to match. She is a quiet, deep thinker and maintains several relationships with pen-pals.

Lewis, 19, spent almost a month training in the desert at the beginning of last summer, then switched gears and spent the rest of the summer life guarding and teaching a diving class. He is in his second year of college, making good grades and planning on moving out of the house in the spring.

Natty, 8, is a charming and sweet (when not mischievous) little boy. He spent the summer in the pool, and is enjoying ice skating for the school year. He builds wild stuff with Legos and spends a good bit of time drawing and making paper airplanes, too. He loves school, especially maps and geography. I think he's going places (well, not right now, but in the future). Did I mention he's charming? His older brothers are jealous.

Deb, 21, is pretty busy going to paramedic school and working full time as an EMT. She will graduate in April! All in all, it adds up to 80+ hours a week, so we don't see her much, even though she lives here. She even managed to squeeze in some time to work at the city pool as a manager and life guard instructor. She loves what she does (especially driving the ambulance all lit up) and is passionate about her work. She's helping me build up my tolerance for blood and gore stories. Especially at the dinner table.

Last (as the youngest often is), but certainly not least, is Ellie, 5. She is my little buddy and never strays too far from me. She's good company. She had a blast swimming all summer and is almost deep water safe. She is catching on to ice skating and is enjoying it with her older siblings. She is learning to read and write and, even though she is not required to, she joins in with school pretty regularly. She's opinionated and doesn't take any guff from any of her older siblings.

Oh, right, let's not forget about the old folks.

Jay and I celebrated 24 years of marriage this November. He continues to be a steadfast, supportive, loving leader in our home, and puts up with me. He is so easy to live with, and I am grateful. He is still at the same engineering job, where he has been employed for 31 years. Yep- steadfast.

I recently made some changes in my life, intending to become healthier in general.  It resulted in dramatically changed blood work, and a loss of quite a bit of weight. I am still homeschooling the children, and find I have the physical and mental energy to keep it up. I am still so profoundly thankful that I get to educate my children. Plus, it makes me feel considerably younger than I actually am. I mean, how many women my age have such little kids? Or are crazy enough to? 

We wish you a Merry Christmas, filled with the Savior's love, and a Happy New Year, full of God's blessings and provision. May you all know the love of God this season, and always. Peace.

-Jay, Katie, Deborah, Lewis (and Sarah!), Margaret, Jared, Edith, Nathanael, and Eleanor