New Year's Letter 2015

 

December 30, 2014: Our 10th Anniversary!

In 2014, the Letvin family…stayed warm indoors during one of the coldest winters on record; wired, sheet rocked, mudded and tapped, textured, painted and tiled our country house; missed daddy but were so thankful for all the sacrifice of time and sweat he made while building our house; played in the snow on every above zero day we got; pulled the kids around on a sled and fetched wood from the tree claim on our land; were so thankful for a wood burning stove in the country; went snow shoeing on our land with our new snow shoes; in April, enjoyed a Curt Sperle family reunion in Missouri; exchanged our 2 wheel drive John Deere tractor for a 4 wheel drive; found out we were expecting Letvin baby #4!; planted a garden, neglected aforementioned garden, yet still enjoyed a plentiful harvest; tickled the kids and pushed them in the tree swing; bought a pool and watched the boys get more and more brave in the water; felt elated excitement at the prospect of living in our country home soon; Anna and the kids spent many weekends at the lake, while Peter worked driven and motivated to finish the life-time accomplishment of building his own house; spent 4^th of July all together at the lake, watching the boat parade and introducing the boys to fireworks!; packed up our rental house of 3+ years; On July 11, 25 months after breaking ground, we moved to our beautiful new home!;  had a gender reveal party for baby #4—the cake was pink!; started homeschooling with the kids; Peter went into overdrive to finish details in the house—rock fireplace using rocks from Grandpa Dan Letvin’s farm; cabinet doors for kitchen, built-in desk, bathrooms and laundry room; flooring in library; ceiling on porch; baseboards and trim; varnishing woodwork; gutters; and concrete for wrap around porch; praised the Lord that Peter’s run in with the table saw was no more than a deep, deep gash on his left thumb; felt overwhelmed in raising 3 kids with another on the way, and learned to trust God more; went to Montana to visit good friends…shared our stomach virus…they are still our good friends!; sawed, split and stacked lots and LOTS of wood; the boys, Peter and Grandpa Craig butchered and packaged venison from successful hunting trip; had a mini-vacation in Fargo to celebrate our anniversary; enjoyed visits throughout the year from Anna’s parents and Aunt Nori, sister Amy and Uncle Matt; hosted Christmas at our country house with Anna’s parents, Peter’s parents and family; waited for baby girl to come; welcomed Evelyn Leah Letvin on December 27; on December 30, celebrated 10 years of marriage with both sets of parents and our new family of 6!

…while David turned 6, won a pedal bike and promptly learned how to ride it, built complicated creations with Legos, gained confidence in a pool, used his tools whenever he could to build or fix something, started school at home and demonstrated how quickly he learns and applies his new knowledge;

And Jonah turned 4, rode his Strider (walking bike) furiously to keep up with David, became independent in following Lego instructions, made the best laughing sound when Daddy tickled him, learned to smile for the camera, also got his own tool bag and started learning to use them; demonstrated his natural attention to detail and interest in the human body as we studied anatomy for school; was the most interested and excited about baby sister

And Kate turned 2, stayed very attached to Mama, learned to talk, scream and jump; grew more hair, played “baby monster” with the boys (she chases them and they run for their lives); became helpful around the house with simple chores; started mothering baby dolls; wanted to wear skirts and dresses, and became a big sister!

And Evelyn teased an early arrival several times, but waited until after Christmas to appear; was born on December 27, 2014, weighing in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and measuring 20 in. long; was super tiny, cute, cuddly and sleepy, was cuddled and adored by all, made us the parents to 4 treasured blessings!