From our family to yours… Here’s our annual Christmas letter. We love you all!!!
And now a funny one… Let’s call it: “Oh no! We’re not ready!!!!”
Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
The Lord continues to bless us. He has done so year after year. We know many friends and family follow our “happenings” on social media and my blog, but this letter serves as a memorial in time. Pam and I are celebrating 28 years of marriage on December 22nd. We are so incredibly blessed. As the years roll by, we see His hand in the trials and the triumphs and we’re grateful!
We rejoice in the fact that our children and grandchildren are all doing well. The numbers keep growing. Katy (and Josh) are going to have another baby in late May! Praise the Lord! That will be #3 for the grandchildren. We are so thankful for Charlotte (4) and Evie (2). Charlotte loves to dance and play dress-up. She’s very smart and enjoys doing pre-school with her mom and sister. Evie is busy trying to keep up with her big sister. She has been walking since she was 9 months old and talks clearly for a two-year-old. She always has a hug for everyone and calls them by name. Katy loves being a mommy and teaches at home. She also teaches some piano lessons and sings and plays in the church Praise Team. Josh continues to work at Wilkes Communications and is a Deacon in the church. Most of all, he loves being “Daddy” to his girls.
Kandace has had an eventful year. This past summer she became engaged to Clark Mayberry. He is a wonderful young man and works as an accountant for C-Biz in Winston-Salem. He and Kandace will be married in April 2019. Kandace is now employed at Home Instead Senior Care as an Office Assistant and Field Coordinator. She also recorded three original songs in Nashville this past July and they will be available on iTunes in January. Kandace continues to sing in the Praise Team, teach dance at Tonya’s Academy of Dance and also teach voice lessons.
Clara is now 13 and 5’ 10” (her daddy’s girl) and continues to enjoy dancing and violin. She portrayed “Clara” in the Nutcracker this Holiday Season. This past June she auditioned for the Winston-Salem Youth Symphony. She was honored to be chosen as one of the 20 violinists among tough competition. She loves taking care of her nieces and watching the Tarheels play basketball. Clara also sings in the choir at church. Clara and Pam had the opportunity to travel back to China last winter and visit her birth city and orphanage with some good friends. It was a great blessing to go and learn about her roots and see where she was born.
Andrew is also 13 and growing too! He has graduated from Legos to building electric cars and now has a 3-D Printer and CAD system that he is learning to use. Thanks to a good friend and retired engineer in our church, Barry Pybas, Andrew competed in the ASU Google Gravity Games this past spring finished in the top 8 in his division. Clara and Andrew traveled to Mexico with us this past summer for a great time doing mission work there. Andrew is on the camera crew at church and really enjoys helping in that ministry.
Most importantly, we are grateful that all our children know the Lord and seek to live for Him. Of all the things that our children are involved in and participate in…there is nothing more important to us than their walk with the Lord and the joy that we have in knowing they are following Jesus.
I’m thankful that the church continues to thrive and I will be starting my 14thyear this January as a pastor. Pam continues to homeschool Andrew and Clara and she is a fantastic “Nana” to the grandchildren. Oh, and we can’t forget that we added another family member, Teddy! He’s our little Morkie (Part Maltese, part Yorkie puppy dog) and he’s almost five months old and weighed only 1.5 lbs when we got him. He’s itty bitty! He’s now 2.5 lbs!
Yes, we praise the Lord for all He has done in our lives for another year. He is the King of our lives and we know that all we have and enjoy comes from Him. Therefore, during this Christmas season, we celebrate the fact that Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Our family prays that you have a wonderful and blessed Christmas celebrating the birth of Jesus and that you experience His presence in your life!
Kevin, Pam and family