Merry Christmas from "Mrs. Ehle's Kindergarten Connections"... and Family!

For years, it's been a tradition for me to invite one of my children to write our family Christmas letter.   Yes.  I do still send out Christmas cards, even the old-fashion "snail-mail" paper ones!  LOL   I know it takes time (which I'm eternally short on!)... but it is something that I value so much.  Christmas is an incredible time of year.  Not just because I get a two week break from work and get to spend that time with my dear family.... But because I value the fact that God loved us enough to send His son to earth, to die for OUR sins... and gift us with eternal life.  Christmas is a such a great opportunity to share this "Good News" with others... or maybe simply remind them of the reason for the season.   So, on that note, dear blogging friends... I am sending YOU our family Christmas card and letter, written this year by my son, Hunter.  I am truly wishing God's richest blessings to you and your family for a happy and healthy 2014. 

 

Merry Christmas!

This year I, Hunter, will be writing the Christmas letter!  I’m 12 years old and am in sixth grade.  Sixth grade is technically “middle school,” so we get to trade classes and teachers for different subjects this year.  I like school because I have a lot of great friends whom I get to talk with and hang out with there.  I get pretty good grades, so I don’t mind the classes either!  I stay pretty busy playing sports.  I played varsity soccer this fall, and I’m playing basketball and indoor tennis right now.  In the spring, I plan to play baseball again.  I also play tennis in the summer, too.  At home, I like to work on my computer. I have a few favorite on-line adventure games I like to play.  It’s neat because I can play and “meet up” with Garrett, my cousin, on-line even when he is at college.  When I grow up I’d like to be a computer engineer. 

Now on to Dad. He loves sports, and his favorite teams are Purdue, the Yankees, Colts, and the Pacers.  One thing he especially loves to do is play Fantasy Football. All of us in the family play in a league together, and we have a lot of fun doing it.  Dad loves to make jokes. He also loves to go fishing, play football, and do other things with us.  Dad still works at SDI, and he recently got a new office. Sometimes we get to visit him at work! He’s always really busy at work, but he was able to get away on our spring break so we could visit Washington, DC…that was a really fun!

Next, I'll talk about Mom. She brings us everywhere for all our sports, and she's awesome. She still is a kindergarten teacher at St. Peter’s.  It's great having Mom at our school because she's always there for us.  My sixth grade class is the “Big Buddy” class for kindergarten this year.  My class gets to help the kindergartners do special projects and other fun things, so I get to see mom even more this year! Something else exciting happened to Mom this year.  She was awarded the Arthur Amt “Lutheran Teacher of the Year” award this year!  She always works extra hard to be a good teacher, and she goes above and beyond what she has to do.  We got to drive up to Wisconsin to see her get presented the award, and we even went to Wisconsin Dells while we were up there!

Now, I'll talk about Lexi, my twin.  We get along great, and we hardly ever fight.  This was the first year she tried volleyball, and she did great!  She was really glad she played! She also does gymnastics, plays spring soccer, and plays winter tennis with me. Lexi also really likes to read, and she does it all the time.  She even does it really late at night, and my parents have to make her stop and go to sleep!  Lexi is really good at drawing.  She always amazes us with her artistic talent.  Another talent she has is movie making.  She is constantly making videos for school projects or just for fun.  They are really great.

Next, I'll talk about Colton, my little brother.  Everybody in my family still calls him Bubba!  He turns nine on December 23rd.  He loves to build things, and he is very creative.  He even has a real tree house inside his room! He loves to play in his room, and also loves playing outside, on the Wii, iPad, and computer.  He plays soccer at St. Joe and Wildcat baseball, and he wants to play football soon. He has a really big heart and cares a lot about people.  One day he heard about soldiers coming back from war who were missing legs and arms.  He decided that when he grows up he wants to be an inventor or engineer who makes robotic limbs for people who need them.  He is always looking for ways to help people.

I'm gonna talk about Erin and Garrett next!  They are my cousins.  We are really close with them.  Erin isn't around as much this year because she's busy with work, but she comes over to our house sometimes! She’s like an adult now, but still gives us hugs and often brings us special surprises.  Garrett goes to college at Trine University this year.  However, Trine is pretty close to us, and he comes back almost every weekend to our house.  Garrett loves to play video games with us, and he loves to make jokes. He is also awesome at playing “ultimate frisbee.”  He is just like our big brother.  We are very lucky to have Erin and Garrett in our lives.

Writing this letter really reminded me of how blessed I am.  My life isn’t perfect, but I have a great family, great friends, and an awesome church and school.  I may not have everything I WANT, but I do have everything I NEED.  We even are able to help provide for Adonis, a boy my age who we sponsor through Compassion International.  We make sure he can go to school, get medical care, and most importantly, learn about Jesus.  I feel pretty blessed, especially this year when there have been many natural disasters and other tragic events.   After the Sandy Hook school shootings, Lexi and I wrote to some of the parents of the victims. One little girl’s (Olivia) parents wrote back to me.  They thanked me for praying for them and said the picture I made for them made them smile.  That helped me remember how important my faith really is.  This Christmas I hope, that while presents are fun to get, everyone remembers that Jesus is the REAL reason for the season.

God’s Blessings,

Hunter

(And the rest of the Ehle Family!)

(The above pic is a little blurry...but YES. 

Yes, we are making goofy faces and gestures!  Gotta' keep it real!)