Annual Happenings '05

Continuing on in my series- of sorts, here is the letter from 2005.

December blew in with about 6 inches of snow on the ground. The world looks fresh and new from our front door. The boys are loving the snow, but the single digit temperatures and the wind brings them back indoors pretty quickly.
Jordan turned 2 in November. We can’t believe how much he has accomplished over the course of a year. He is potty training already. He talks all of the time and is speaking very clearly on most things. He runs, jumps, climbs and gets into mischief right along with his brothers. We think that he has been the instigator more than once, too. He is the busiest, most high maintenance of all of our boys, but we have been parents long enough to relax and enjoy the wonderful joys that toddlerhood brings. Our baby has grown into a little boy so fast. We are mourning our loss and rejoicing over his triumphs all at the same time. We are excited to see what the next chapter in his life holds.
Michael will turn 8 in March. He is such a brilliant boy. Sometimes we forget that he is just a child, he acts so much like a small grown up. He is doing wonderful with his schooling. We have him doing 9 subjects and he is excelling in all of them. He loves Science most of all and is toying with the idea of being a nature photographer when he grows up. He has the amazing ability to recall obscure facts about animals. Did any of you know that mud skippers have both gills and lungs? Neither did we. How about this one...The Munkjak deer (the smallest deer in the world: about the size of a medium dog) has a tongue long enough to lick its own eyeball? We have a future Jeopardy champion on our hands. I think that one of the highlights of his year was when he and Daddy sang a special in front of our church recently. The boys have been able to travel with Daddy on deliveries a lot this year. They enjoy it so much. A six to eight hour trip with three boys does not sound fun to me, but they all think that it is wonderful.
Riky and I are doing well. Riky is working for Pella Windows now. He really enjoys the work that he does there. He loves being able to spend time with the boys, since he works 8-5. There are times that he looks like a mother duck with the boys following so closely on his heels. Who knew a man could have three shadows, even on a cloudy day. He is also very involved with our church. We started singing in a quartet at church this year. We are enjoying being a part of our congregation in that way. I am not babysitting anymore. I stay busy enough just with our three boys. We have been able to enjoy our time together more this year than any year prior.
You may have noticed that I did not fill you in on Jeffrey yet. He has the most exciting news of all of us! Jeffrey is doing wonderful. He will be 5 in February. He is looking forward to his second wrestling season in January. He loves being out on the mat and having Daddy for his coach. We have started kindergarten this year and although he had a slow start, he is now starting to get the hang of schooling. I think the biggest challenge we have is Mommy teaching him how to write left-handed. He is old enough to be in Sunday School and Junior Church now. He has learned so much about the Bible and about what Jesus did for all of us. One morning this fall he and I were talking about Jesus and what he did for mankind to release us from our sins. He accepted Jesus as his savior that morning and was baptized at our church in November. You may be thinking, "but he’s so young". The Bible tells us that ...whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Rom. 10:13) and that... by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. (Eph. 2:8).This is the glorious blessing of salvation. It is truly so simple that even a child can understand and follow the path through the Bible that leads to Jesus and his saving grace. God came to earth as a person for one reason only...to pay the price for our sins. There are no strings attached, there is no age limit or amount of good deeds to be done to receive His gift. It is simply believing that Jesus is the one true God, and that he died on a cross to set us free from our sins. Salvation is like any other gift you may receive this season. It is free for the taking. All you have to do is ask Jesus to come into your heart, and to forgive you of your sins. Willingly accepting the gift that is offered to all of us is one of the simplest things that you can ever do. Jesus is the reason for this season, but also every season that is given to us in our lives is one more chance to give our lives over to Him. A five year old can do this so easily. We should all have such a pure faith. Salvation doesn’t depend on church attendance, charitable giving, good deeds, being kind to others, or worthiness. It can not be earned, it can not be forced, it is the acceptance of a gift of love from a loving father to his beloved children. Knowing who Jesus is in your mind is not enough, trusting wholly with our hearts in His saving grace is all that it takes. Please take the small amount of time it will take to say the simple prayer in the pamphlet enclosed. Our prayer is that you will open up your hearts to the gift we are trying to share with you. It is yours for the asking.
With All of Our Love,
The Carlsons