Last year I began this letter with “For a third year in a row, I write from Tennessee! That’s a record for us, much to Jake’s dismay and my delight.” Well, everything changed this year.
April 30 was rather unexpectedly the last day of
work for Jake at the classic car gallery. The owner had decided to go a
different direction with the business, and Jake began the process of looking
for a job to support our big family. Instead of accepting the first opportunity,
he decided to be strategic in finding something that would use his gifts and
have long term growth possibilities. And if I was honest with myself, I knew
that really meant getting Jake back home to Washington State. So, although he
applied for dozens of jobs in the Memphis tri-state area, resumes were
scattered in multiple other scenic locations. On October 1 he started at Syndel
USA, a fish product manufacturer in far NW Washington, as their inventory guy.
This role, as well as his oversight and co-workers, have all been an excellent
fit for him. After 6 years of marriage, I finally get to see him enjoy his job—so
wonderful! In his free time, he loves working on his second book.
Joel and Michael (both 15) accompanied Jake as
he drove the big UHaul truck and a trailer all the way from Memphis to the far
NW corner of the United States (Birch Bay, Washington). That’s 2400 miles, and
they did it in 4 days, camping out along the way. What an adventure!
The boys again kept to a challenging pace all
year in our homeschool, as we continue the catch-up process begun when they
arrived to our family 5 years ago this Christmas Eve. They are nearing the end
of 8th grade in most subjects and will begin 9th grade
next month—yeah! I appreciate Jake’s help with grading and helping them
understand tougher concepts. Despite different temperaments, they get along
remarkably well, something we should probably be more grateful for! Both would
like to be involved in basketball or soccer, but we haven’t found good
opportunities for them here yet, also made harder by their age. They still have
a fun schedule though, between church youth group, Boy Scouts (meetings and
camps and fundraisers), and watching Seahawks games with their three boy
cousins!
The news about Samuel is...tough. He lived with my parents around the corner from us for almost
17 months before moving for respite care to a family in Colorado with decades
of experience with special needs adopted children. That was in July, when we
were up to 10 major behavioral, educational, and mental health diagnoses, with 2 more as
possibilities. No one helping us with him advised a return to our family, and his lack of attachment meant he didn’t really care, either.
Therapeutic boarding schools were out of the question due to cost, and no or low-cost
homes were not equipped enough to take him. Such a tragic place to be, unable
to parent one of our children! We are so grateful that the family in CO is
hanging in there with him through his ups and downs, and that he is doing
better there.
Sophia loves being 5 (so big!) and tries to rule the roost around here, especially with little sisters. She leads big imaginative play sessions that generally include singing, dancing, and dressing up. We do preschool and Kindergarten work together, often with little sisters learning right along. The highlights of her year were the Father Daughter Dance in January and getting to be flower girl in my cousin’s wedding in Texas in June! She was pretty much in heaven dressing up for and participating in both events.
Lydia, now 3 ½, has a great big smile, talks
non-stop, and tries to avoid sleep as much as possible. Usually a good follower
of big sister, she does occasionally have her own ideas now! We did two
different types of therapy with her earlier this year to try to curb impulse
control issues and ADHD and learned a lot in the process. She is very affectionate,
adores dogs and cats, and makes sure even strangers know who her sisters are!
Caledonia is our baby for a bit longer, even though she has informed us her name is “Callie”, NOT “baby”! She has a servant’s heart, not resting until everyone is served and happy, and is our most empathetic child. And I only thought Sophia was a big talker... Callie just turned two last month and has a HUGE vocabulary which she uses constantly, both to talk and sing songs. She’s up to flawless 5-6 word sentences that everyone understands. She’s advanced in other areas – I’ve never had such a busy, creative toddler who can unscrew lids, dump things, and just generally destroy an area in no time flat!
Caledonia is our baby for a bit longer, even though she has informed us her name is “Callie”, NOT “baby”! She has a servant’s heart, not resting until everyone is served and happy, and is our most empathetic child. And I only thought Sophia was a big talker... Callie just turned two last month and has a HUGE vocabulary which she uses constantly, both to talk and sing songs. She’s up to flawless 5-6 word sentences that everyone understands. She’s advanced in other areas – I’ve never had such a busy, creative toddler who can unscrew lids, dump things, and just generally destroy an area in no time flat!
We had another big surprise this year, finding
out that #7 is on the way! I had to transfer care with our big move, quickly learning
that our location out by the bay is considered “rural”, and that midwives here
prefer birth center births for convenience. On the upside, I got to meet most
of them! I finally signed on with a lovely long-time midwife, recommended by
our pastor’s wife, who comes to our house for prenatals and is happy
supervising a home birth! We are keeping gender a surprise again, and feel so blessed that this little one is growing well.
I stayed busy this year with the family, of
course, and starting and re-starting our home businesses. The day before I
found out I was pregnant in July, I got “The Call” that I am a DONA certified
doula. I was very excited, but couldn’t take any clients at that point, since we
didn’t know where Jake would get a job. Now I’m too close to having a newborn
myself to be able to look for doula work here in Washington, where it is more
common. However, we are starting to encapsulate placentas here, and there’s
also a willing market of health-conscious families for my Elderberry Syrup and
gummies, so that’s fun!
If anyone needs our new address or phone
numbers, let us know!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
Jacob, Jennifer, Joel (15), Michael (15), Samuel (14 ½), Sophia (5), Lydia (3 ½ ), Caledonia (2), Baby (coming late March/early April)
Visit to an underwater cave in Kentucky, May 2018
Flower Girl & Bride, June 2018
Washington Visit, July 2018
Hard things... Last six sibling picture of the year, July 2018
Thanksgiving 2018
