Merry Christmas from the Merrys!! Christmas 2016
As we write this, there is word of snow in the air – and the kids can’t wait! We hope this letter finds you reflecting on the year with gratitude and joy. As Christmas gets closer, we’re reminded of Christ’s birth and the joy only He can bring.
Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
The story of God’s redemption never gets old. He saw we were broken and paid the highest price to bring healing. His joy is real and it gives us strength in the hard times.
Here’s the latest on the Merry clan – starting with the shortest….
Speaking of delight, Iva (4 years old) gets the most laughs out of the family. Her silly sayings often get repeated throughout the family. She absolutely loves books and has been found to be reading stories to Viv. Iva loves to do schoolwork and is proud to display her abilities to anyone who will listen. Following in Maggie’s footsteps, Iva can create the most fantastic story with just a couple of stuffed animals (complete with sound effects).
Lucie (7 in February) has taken on the role of nurse in our house. Her sensitive nature gives her insight into the needs of others. She serves in quiet ways and loves to surprise people in ways they didn’t expect. She loves fiercely and fully. Lucie continues to meet new friends wherever she goes – always coming home from an event saying “I met a new friend today”. She is loyal and caring. 
Silas (10 in February) is always creating new gadgets and gizmos. He frequently comes to us saying “Look what I built!” Airplanes seem to be his strongest interest, but he’ll take apart anything he can. He recently wrote a beautiful song on the piano which he calls “Family”. Over the past year, he and Todd tinkered with a small motorcycle that they got running. We took it camping and enjoyed putting some miles on it together. He is definitely all boy in his interests, but there are times that he surprises us with his sensitivity and thought out observations about life and people.
Maggie (12 years old) is becoming more of a young lady every day. This fall, her school workload really increased and she embraced it well. She’s great at planning out her week and sticking with her schedule. I’ve loved homeschooling her as she has gotten to this point of discussing ideas and formulating her own opinions. Maggie is a voracious reader and devours books pretty quickly. She has taken a babysitting class at Children's' Hospital and is open for business with a few babysitting jobs already. She also keeps her siblings in line when we need to step out for a bit. She is so good at thinking of fun things for them to do and when she is around they are never bored.
Molly continues to enjoy making a house a home, enjoying the antics of the kids, and feeling both overwhelmed and amused by turns. She still loves to blog and write and self-published a 5 week women’s study called “In the Garden” for an event at our church this year. The kindle and print version are available on Amazon and online bookstores. She continues to plot and plan ways to travel and her highlight was Maui this past year. She has taken up jogging again, is involved in a women’s’ Bible study at church, tries to get some live theatre in when she can and loves to spend time with family and friends.
Todd is enjoying his job at Medic One more every day. Lately, it has been the sleuth work involved in diagnosing patients that has been a particular joy. The job can be hard at times, but he really does see it as an opportunity to help others. He gets to work with some great people as well. Homeschooling the kids and teaching at co-op has been a delight as well. He’s really enjoyed teaching the middle school kids at co-op this year. He feels fortunate to be able to homeschool the kids as much as he does.
A few great events this past year….
SOFT Conference – Every year, the SOFT organization (Support Organization for Trisomy) has a 5-day conference in the US or Canada. This year, it happened to be right here in Tacoma, Washington and we got to show Viv off and attend with the whole family! SOFT (Trisomy.org) is an agency established to help families who have or have lost a loved one to Trisomy 18, 13 or other related disorders. This conference really was a wonderful time to meet other families from around the country. We were also able to attend classes and workshops on various issues related to Trisomy 18. Pictures are in the post following this one.
We had some splendid trips and vacations this year. Yes, we had both. Vacations involve Todd, Molly and Viv (relaxation, exploring, sun and fun). Trips are not the same as vacations because they involve all the kids (lots of work, a little exploring, even less relaxation but still lots of fun)… As you can see, there IS a difference . We all went with the Grandparents to Idaho in early spring and enjoyed beautiful Lake Coeur’d Alene. Despite a few of the kids being sick with fevers we still managed to have a wonderful time. Maggie and Molly got to take a couple days in Leavenworth in May and in July we had our annual fourth of July trip to Seaside. June brought unforgettable Maui and the celebration of 15 years of marriage and being "true loves" as Iva calls us. We got 10 days of sun and beauty. Our wonderful cousin Gretchen, who is a nurse and Aunt Carla came along to care for Viv while we explored one of the most beautiful places in the world. We felt very blessed. August brought Family Camp at Warm Beach, Todd and Silas's yearly camping trip and Maggie Lake camping for the whole family. And Molly’s Granny Melquist passed away in the fall so we visited all the cousins in Pomeroy and truly felt grateful to celebrate Gran’s wonderful life at her service there, enjoying family and the heritage Gran has left us. Again - lots of pictures of everything in this paragraph in the following post.
Throughout the year the kids have been involved with piano, Awana and in the winter, basketball. This coming year we will have 3 in Upwards as Lucie will be joining cheer. We’ve also tried to be intentional about implementing not just date nights twice a month for Todd and Molly, but also some one on one time with each of the 4 oldest once a month and it has been fruitful and fun. Dates for Todd and Molly aren’t necessarily about going out, but are usually defined by being together and having the ability to finish full sentences in conversation without being interrupted. Dates one-on-one with the kids usually involve a small treat and going somewhere fun. Some of the places so far have been inner tubing down Cedar river, the dollar store, Starbucks, various parks, Dairy Queen, thrift stores and Clam lights. We're getting pretty good at cheap dates and selfie sticks.
Next year we are looking forward to more of the same, plus a trip to Disneyland and Uganda. Our family will be going with the Grandparents to Disneyland in February and in the fall, Todd and Maggie will be going on a medical mission trip to Uganda. Maggie is especially excited to meet Brenda, a girl in an orphanage that we have supported for the last few years and whose letters are full of love, sweetness and excitement to meet her "sister" as she calls Maggie. They will also be able to see firsthand the work that our cousin Rachel and her husband are doing in building a hospital and ministering there. We are excited to see what God is going to do in and through Todd and Maggie in Uganda.
Spiritually this has been a year of joy, learning and stretching. We have been thinking on the word stretch. Sometimes life and love and kids and doctors appointments and homeschooling and all that that entails makes us feel stretched thin. But at the same time a good stretch can feel very satisfying and fulfilling. It is good for your muscles and lungs and after a nice stretch makes you feel more relaxed. The more we are stretched in life, the less we stress about the things that aren't truly important. We can relax and not sweat the small stuff.
Recently we have felt like the Holy Spirit has asked us specifically to stretch a bit more in our life. Thinking about what He asks us to do at times makes feel both overwhelmed and excited at the same time. We know that when Jesus whispers, "yes, you can stretch a bit more" we know that He gives grace to do so and we feel honored that He trusts us with His work. There is a thrill and joy in hearing Him speak clearly and knowing that He is trustworthy. And when HE is the one doing the stretching as opposed to doing it in our own strength He expands our world, broadens our ideas and our love and makes us fuller, richer and more enlarged in what He has called us to do and who we are. Stretching results in growth and we are excited to see how He is going to lead and grow us in the year ahead.
Thank you for reading this letter and being part of our lives. Thank you for your encouragement and friendship. We feel so blessed to be surrounded by the family and friends we have. We love you and wish you the best this Christmas.
The Merrys
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