The end to 2021 was a whirlwind of activity as we wrapped up school activities, celebrated the holidays, and embarked on some family projects. The St. Paul Middle School production of "Annie Jr." in mid-November was definitely a highlight for all of us as we saw the fruit of Isaac's hard work light up the stage in his role as Daddy Warbucks. He did a great job delivering his lines, singing, and performing all the choreography and we are so incredibly proud of how his efforts along with the other cast members all came together to create a memorable experience for all!
Following the musical, the school and church hosted a food drive to benefit the local food banks in preparation for the increased need in our area during the holidays. Partly out of compassion for the less fortunate, and partly out of a desire to boost their classes' numbers in a friendly competition to see which grade could donate the most food, the boys begged me to take them to Costco to spend their own money on additional donations. While searching for ways to maximize their dollars, they quickly realized that huge bags of bulk rice and beans were the best value and so loaded up our cart with 200 pounds of rice, 75 pounds of dry beans, and some other assorted canned and shelf stable foods. To condense a long story, we discovered after leaving that the food banks don't always accept such large packages because they would have to repackage it for individual families, but we were grateful that they were willing to make an exception, especially considering that the boys used their own savings and were so excited to think about how many people they were able to help feed.
The boys were also blessed to be able to spend an afternoon with their great-grandparents and explore the workshop where they spent so much time creating and engineering custom products to meet the needs of their clients. They generously offered their big, sturdy work table to the boys for our own growing shop, and the boys got to help disassemble it to move it to our backyard garage.
Daniel has spent many hours figuring out how to get electricity to this shop, installed lights and outlets, and finally he and the boys cut a new opening for a regular sized door (previously we had to go in and out through the big garage door). I never cease to be amazed at what he can do - installing a door is no small task and he and the boys knocked it out in a single afternoon!
The weekend before Christmas we also had a special day of celebrating as our dear Caedmon turned 13 - a teenager in our house! We had his favorite meal, chicken and dumplings, and he got to do a treasure hunt for his gift. A jigsaw has been on his tool wish-list for a while and he was really excited to get this one. He's used it a number of times already and we've loved seeing his creative juices flowing with this new tool at the ready!
Daniel and Isaac also had the opportunity to do a father-son trip to the Broken Bow, OK area in mid-January. The weather ended up being very cold and even snowed one evening, but they were not deterred from doing a horseback ride through the countryside and a hike in the snow. It was a special opportunity for them to have guy-time and a treasured milestone in Isaac's life, as we see him transitioning into young-manhood. We are so grateful for each of our boys and the way we see God growing them in their roles in the Kingdom.
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