Beaty
Family Christmas Letter 2019
Dear Family & Friends,
I always begin my annual Christmas letters by re-reading former versions. I’m always surprised by how similar the descriptions are of each of us (can’t I just copy and paste?!) and secondly, how much change takes place each year.
Beginning with our family’s leader, Jake would
say not ENOUGH change happens each year. His current dream involves how to have
the family sailing around the world ASAP...or when the younger set of kids is
10 years older. When he’s not watching videos or reading Facebook group posts
of how other families sail full-time, he’s greatly enjoying his job at fish
chemical manufacturer Syndel—the job that brought us from Tennessee to Washington
last fall. Officially, he heads up inventory, but he thrives finding issues and
implementing change in every department. At home, he works on his second book
(The Youngest Captain, a memoir), always has projects going in the garage,
trains for triathlons, and leads at our church. Oh, and all the kids adore him!
He has zero elbow room when trying to eat dinner.
Joel turned 16 in July! He is a good student in
our homeschool but lives to play. He is a Patrol Leader and the Knot Master at
Boy Scouts and enjoys the hikes more now. The door-to-door fundraisers for Boy
Scout Summer Camp have stretched his social abilities, which we consider a good
thing. Ferndale Alliance Church Youth Group has become a favorite thing this
year, and our girls like ribbing him about how many girlfriends he has!
Michael turned 16 in August. He asks about
driving, but we need to see certain signs of maturity and responsibility in both
of them before THAT adventure begins. Michael has never been a fan of school,
but he plugs away in our continual efforts to catch up. (They began learning
English and homeschool 6 year ago this month!) Michael also loves Boy Scouts
and would live with the Youth Group if that were possible. This spring, we
found out both boys need glasses. The glasses store probably knows Michael by
name! Side effects from Youth Group—like a head concussion in October and
broken wrist in November—keep life interesting.
Even though both boys have a busy social life in
Washington, they pitch in a lot at home and we are so grateful!
Samuel turned 15 in June, while with the
experienced adoptive family giving us respite care in Colorado. His behavior
continued to unravel over the course of the year, until he was admitted to a
psychiatric hospital in early September. The next week, the family decided his
needs outpaced their resources and told us they would not pick him up. By
mid-November, insurance was no longer covering his care, and he was escorted to
Washington, a state he had never lived in, with a list of 8 medications and a
week’s supply of one, with proven dangerous behavior to himself and others.
Even after months of efforts alone and with authorities, we had no place for
him to go. God has shown us grace after grace in this extremely trying time.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of friends and family, he is currently at
Master’s Ranch West in the SE corner of the state and doing well—so many
miracles! And we continue to watch one unfold as God provides $3,800/month for
him to be able to stay.
As I mention every year, Sophia (6) still adores dressing up and playing princesses or mommy with her little sisters, but she’s also become a huge fan of the outdoors! She took off riding her bike in the spring this year, loves visiting the Beaty cabin in Chelan, and is up for any outdoor adventure. I love working with her in school and we have a wide span of subjects.
Lydia turned 4 in April, and with a lot of advance
planning, we somehow pulled off a beautiful, long-requested “Belle birthday
party” (Beauty and the Beast) just 10 days after the baby was born. She can
usually be found in dress up clothes, is a morning person, always has pretty
songs or stories playing on her CD player, and has never met a stranger!
Caledonia is growing up so fast and easily relinquished her spot as baby of the family. As I wrote last year, her verbal abilities continually amaze us—as well as her knack at completely destroying any given area in record time! I make sure I know where she is at all times, and if it gets quiet, well....beware! I chalk it up to her intelligence and curiosity. She is just about the cutest thing ever!
Caledonia is growing up so fast and easily relinquished her spot as baby of the family. As I wrote last year, her verbal abilities continually amaze us—as well as her knack at completely destroying any given area in record time! I make sure I know where she is at all times, and if it gets quiet, well....beware! I chalk it up to her intelligence and curiosity. She is just about the cutest thing ever!
All three girls thoroughly enjoyed dance classes
last semester, especially the performances! Lydia and Callie did tap/ballet and
it was adorable. Sophia took Jazz for the first time, and will do both jazz and
ballet next. She will probably live at the dance studio when she’s older!
As I write this with a chubby strawberry blonde
baby playing happily at my feet, my heart nearly bursts! We were surprised with
a fourth daughter in a row, born at home in the wee hours of April 7—my third
born on a Sunday, as well as my third born a few hours before dawn. Anastasia
Rose was our first shy and sensitive baby, but very similar to Sophia with her
eating struggles and aversion to sleep. The years and experience helped us
immensely this go round though, and she has grown into a delightful, sweet,
smiley baby who now does better with strangers and extended family. She has
everyone wrapped around her little finger!
My days (and nights) are even more non-stop than
before on the home front. I teach all three of the girls together every
morning, as Callie begs to do school and would probably even work on it longer
than the other two. They love outings and park visits so we have lots of those,
too, and will soon have Nexus cards for easier ventures into Canada. A couple
days before Ana Rose’s due date, Jake and I hatched a new business idea, which
came to be “Bay Pops”. From May to September, we sold gourmet fruit and cream-based
popsicles from recipes I developed. It was a LOT of fun, and a LOT of work! Now
in the winter, I’m back to Elderberry Syrup products as my side gig. If there’s
one thing I know about 2020, it will be interesting keeping up with all my
people!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Jake & Jennifer and the crew: Joel (16), Michael (16), Samuel (15½), Sophia (6), Lydia (4 ½ ), Caledonia (3), Anastasia (almost 9 months)
I've always wanted lifestyle pictures like this, and we had a fun session with a local photographer when Ana Rose was 10 days old, the day of Lydia's birthday party!
Some cute kids, right there!!
Love these outfits from Nana!
Another church picture - our annual Thanksgiving Family pose
