Merry Christmas 2024 and Happy New Year 2025!

We pray that the holiday season has been beautiful and meaningful for all of you!

The last two years have been a whirlwind of excitement and activity for our Erdner family. I can’t believe it’s been two years since our last letter. I intended to write an update and send a card last January, but we had just had a wedding, and I was waiting on the wedding photos to come back. Then suddenly, it was April and we had another wedding, and that was that. So I’ll do a recap of the last two years for your reading enjoyment. You may want to pause and grab your tea or coffee, because it could take you a while to get through this letter. Todd provides an abbreviated version at the end.

Our last update found us just on the other side of David and Alex’s December 2022 wedding. In March of 2023, we were thrilled to have our daughter Nina get engaged to Connor Coltharp after years of dating through college. Nina had moved home after graduation in December of 2022, so we had the joy of getting to have Nina move back home until her and Connor’s wedding December 16, 2023. Those were the main highlights of 2023, along with the high school graduation of Lillah in May of 2023.

Datiya (26) and Luis have been married for 3 years now, and they are doing great! Datiya accepted a position at UT Southwestern last spring and she is doing great work there with event planning and organization for their medical school professors. Datiya also taught herself how to make amazing cookies for parties and special occasions. She worked on the recipe so they actually taste great as well as look beautiful and professional. She is very talented. If you’re interested in cookies, her business is called Dots & Sprinkles. You can find her business profile on Instagram, and she ships cookies if you’re not local! Luis continues to thrive working for the City of Addison as Supervisor of Parks and Recreation. His creativity and hard work have made Addison the place to be! Luis brought his bucket golf tournament to Abundant Life Ranch for Christmas, and Daniel J took home the trophy this year! Datiya and Luis bought their first home in Farmer’s Branch in May of 2023. They are learning the joys and sorrows of home ownership. The Ibarra family has grown by a few pets in the last couple of years as well, adding 2 dogs and another cat to the mix, bringing the grand total of pets to 2 dogs and 3 cats.

David (24) and Alex celebrated 2 years of marriage on December 22nd. They live in The Colony, TX in the Dallas area and both have jobs as engineers – David works for Capital One and Alex works for Austin Bridge and Road. Last year they got an adorable cocker spaniel pup named Gunner (after Arsenal, David’s favorite Prem League team). Last Thanksgiving they had an opportunity to go on a cruise, and they have plans to take a trip to Europe in 2025. Alex and David love playing pickleball together, and they recently won 1st place doubles at the Aggieland Open tournament in College Station. They are a force to be reckoned with on the pickleball court! The really exciting news for David and Alex is that they recently closed on a beautiful home in The Colony! It’s such a joy to see them thriving and moving into the next stage of life.

Nina (23) and Connor recently celebrated their first year of marriage. Connor graduated from PA school in midland in August, and he was chosen to be one of a select few PA residents in a special program at Johns Hopkins University. What a wonderful accomplishment for Connor – he worked very hard to achieve such a position! The Coltharps moved to Baltimore in October where they will be living while Connor completes his residency there at Johns Hopkins. Nina got a job working in a podiatrist’s office, and she gets to spend her days doing everything from office work to medical and insurance billing and filing to helping out with patients. The best part of her job is definitely the doctor’s two adorable toy poodles, who can often be found in Nina’s lap! I’m jealous for sure! Connor loves his work at Johns Hopkins, and he is learning a lot. We are praying they will move back to God’s country (aka Texas) once his residency is completed next October.

Enoch (21) has had a lot of changes in his life since our last update. He was working at Creekside Wedding and Events up until May of 2024 when the venue was shut down, and at the same time last fall decided to go through EMT training with the intent of becoming a fire fighter. After his EMT class, he thought he wanted to go back to college to pursue the path of nurse to nurse anesthecist. After starting a few prerequisite classes this past fall, Enoch decided that perhaps he should think about applying at different fire departments in our area. Enoch was recently officially hired by North Hays County Fire and Rescue! Enoch has been dating his sweet girlfriend, Anna, for almost 4 years now. They had the opportunity to take Spanish class together through Austin Community College and then travel with the class to Argentina. It was all wonderful until Enoch became very ill on the trip. He returned home and we were waiting for him with the van packed for our trip to Lake City, CO. I took one look at him and I could tell he was really sick. Since we were already loaded for the trip and couldn’t cancel our cabin reservation, we drove 15 hours to CO. The first morning in CO, I took Enoch to the doctor in the little town. In the quiet of the room, I could hear his lungs rattling when he took big breaths. We have never had a child get pneumonia before, but even before the doctor confirmed it, I knew that had to be what it was. Turns out also his white blood cell count was triple the normal range, so he was borderline septic and had to be rushed to the nearest emergency room over an hour away in Gunnison. After receiving IV antibiotics at the hospital, it took a few weeks for him to recover fully (he had lost about 15 lbs or so!), but we knew he was back to normal when all he wanted to do was drive our nicest car around to various pickleball matches.

Lillah (19) took a gap year after her graduation to spend time working and taking classes while trying to figure out her next steps. She decided to apply to the Veterinary Technician Associates degree program at Austin Community College. She had to do about 80 hours of shadowing before being accepted into the program, and they loved her so much at the vet clinic where she was shadowing that they hired her on to work part time while she’s in school. Lillah loves animals, and she is excelling in the program with top notch grades. Unfortunately, between being so busy with school, her job and her boyfriend she’s now been dating for over a year, Lillah didn’t have as much time for her horse, Remy, and she decided to sell her this fall. It was sad, but Lillah is happy that Remy will be ridden more and be able to go back to what she was created to do as an eventing horse. This past summer, Lillah, Simeon, and I had an amazing opportunity to travel with our church to serve in Albania. We returned home, the next day went on a family trip to Lake City, CO, and then drove all the way home just to turn around and go back to CO for our church’s youth camp early the next morning! Lillah keeps us laughing with her fun and funny personality. We can’t believe our youngest Erdner girl will be turning 20 in April!

Simeon is 17 and a senior in high school. He has grown into a wonderful young man. Simeon competed in speech and parliamentary debate last year with a new debate league we hadn’t really done much with before. He and his partner did really well, but didn’t advance to Nationals. Simeon did, however break to Nationals in Apologetics. He had a very busy summer, so he didn’t end up competing at Nationals. Simeon was a great asset on the mission trip to Albania as he has a wonderful ability to connect with other youth. He also had an opportunity to do a little Bible teaching over there. He was part of our little trio that went to Albania, Lake CIty, CO, and back to CO in the span of about a month with only a day between each trip! Great memories were made! Simeon has been working down the road from our house at Todd’s Automotive. Todd has mentored Enoch in the past and now Simeon gets the same blessing. He really enjoys working at the mechanic shop. He is thinking he wants to go full time there after graduation. Simeon also is gifted at teaching the Bible. When we were expecting him, I felt the Lord tell me he was going to be a boy and that we should name him Simeon Josiah and that he would be a man of prayer. It is incredible to see God bringing that word to life in Simeon. I am confident that his future will involve teaching the Bible in some capacity. Simeon is a very mature, respectful and responsible young man, but he also can be very funny and silly. For Enoch’s birthday, he presented him with an over 3-minute rap that was so hilarious. For Christmas, he also surprised us all with pictograms of all of our names. For example, for me he had Mi-Shell and my face on the Shell gas symbol. Todd was Todd-zilla with Todd’s face on Godzilla. Very silly but hilarious. I so enjoy getting to see all the kids grow up and develop into the adults God is molding them into.

Jed turned 15 in September and is tearing up the roadways of the greater Austin area as a newly permitted driver. I am not kidding when I say tearing up the roadways. He has inadvertently run a few stop signs and even a red light so far on our driving adventures. He really does try to be a safe driver and follow speed limit signs. Even with this being our 8th student driver, as the primary parent co-pilot I must say the stress levels are high with this student driver stuff. Jed is witty and funny, and extremely intelligent. He has been in the Challenge 1 and 2 programs with Classical Converstations the last two years, and he has been able to really shine there as a student. He is also continuing as a student with School of Champions, with pastor Brent from Church of the Springs. He competes in speech and debate, and in about a week, he and Simeon will be debate partners at their first tournament of the season. Jed has improved so much in his speaking skills, especially in impromptu. Jed is a freshman this year, so I look forward to watching him grow in his skills throughout high school. Big news for Jed this past year was an ACL tear in February. He had surgery in March, and just graduated from months of physical therapy, better than ever according to his surgeon and his physical therapist. He missed out on skiing with the family last year, so he is excited to hit the slopes snowboarding in February.

Hezekiah (Hezi) is now 13, leaving us with only one more pre-teen kid! Hezi has grown so much in the last couple of years. Every couple of months he comes to me in need of new shoes because his toes have liteally made holes in the front of his shoes. He is on track to be the tallest of all the kids. He was the only child to outgrow me before the age of 12, which is about when everyone else outgrew their petite mama (always seems like a big deal to the kids, even though I assure them it ain’t much to brag about LOL). Hezi started at School of Champions last year and he’s already made it to the highest level of Government, which is not super surprising for a kid who plays national flag and geography games for fun. Hezi also is in CC as a student in the Challenge A program. Hezi will be competing for the first time this year at the senior level in speech and debate. He excels in all his work and is very diligent to get everything done even though he is carrying a very full load. He is inquisitive and creative, and still the most knowledgeable guy about all things history. I can’t wait to see what he decides to dedicate his amazing intellect to inventing or studying once he grows up. Speaking of dedication, Hezi dedicated his life to Jesus summer of 2023 at the Desperation conference, and it has been such a joy to watch his spiritual growth this year.

Toviel (Tovi) is 10, and almost officially a tween, which he has informed me sounds weird. Tovi is a diligent student, working hard to get his school work finished early, possibly motivated by the reward of some screen time after school. Tovi continues to amaze us with his ability to excel at so many things, including academics. He has an excellent memory, so learning comes easy to him. He loves to read, and can often be found walking around the house with a book in front of his face. Tovi is in the Foundations/Essentials class at CC, and he is always very eager to answer when the tutor asks the class questions, raising his hand as high as possible. Tovi was so into Essentials this year, he did everything possible to earn the reward of rubber bands the tutor would pass out for work done during our homeschool time, that he had the largest rubber band ball by far for the rubber band ball olympics they had the last day of CC. Even with points adjusted to account for the massive points he received for his rubber band ball, Tovi also did so well in the Olympics (they had to show their knowledge of what they learned in Essentials) that he won the coveted Essentials olympics champion wreath (pictured here). The biggest change for Tovi this year is that he joined the homeschool cross country team our friend and neighbor coaches. He was also playing soccer this fall, so he was very busy with both. He set some goals with XC and was able to crush his PR at the State Meet by 1 minute, 28 seconds. His time for the 2-mile race improved by 2 minutes from the beginning of the season! He loved the team comeraderie and the sport so much, he has decided not to play soccer this spring and focus on track instead. Tovi is my little buddy, and we do a lot of things together, as some days he is the only kid home with me. He definitely has a sassy side which we are working on getting under control. The truth is, everyone still spoils him, though everyone insists I am the only one who does. It’s just that way with the youngest, I guess.

Eden and Haddie are both very happy 21-year-olds and spend their days hanging around on the porch, coloring, looking at books and helping out with cleaning or projects Todd has going on around the house. They are cheerful and love to greet everyone who comes over to our place. Eden and Haddie also spend lots of time snuggling and petting our barn kitties as well as throwing the ball for our dog. Daniel is 17 and in the Special Ed program at Dripping Springs High school. He loves school and riding the bus. He gets quite upset during school breaks about missing school. Daniel continues to keep us on our toes, occasionally doing things like disappearing early on a Sunday morning, causing me to search for him for 4 hours, miss church, and finally discover he locked himself in the bathroom at the wedding chapel that is down the road from our house. On another occasion, he walked 2 1/2 miles down the road to the gas station. This has kept me busy coming up with ways to keep Daniel safe, such as hiding AirTags in his clothing. So far, this has really helped me keep track of him and prevent the occasional escapades.

Todd is busy working for Intel, but he has a pretty nice schedule, mostly working from home and going into the office on Thursdays. He has been very busy with the remodel we started last spring in our kitchen and living room. He has torn down walls, put up supporting beams to open up the kitchen, and built a cool loft that extends into the living room and makes the kitchen look even bigger. Todd has worked on electrical stuff, installing new lights, outlets, etc. We also put in a pool (thankfully built by a pool company, not by us), and it is amazing! Todd has been working on putting grass out there and also some shrubs around the pool. The pool has a slide and grotto, hot tub, and even a sunbathing shelf that will be perfect for little ones. Honestly, when the pool was finished in late November, I was thinking it wouldn’t get much use until the spring, but this pool has been used every single day since it was completed, which makes me very happy. Todd also built a pickleball court in our back yard, complete with professional lighting so we can play into the night hours. There have been many late night/into the wee hours of the morning pickleball matches. I got a nice paddle for Christmas, so I’m hoping to improve my game in 2025 so I can keep up with these kids!

I have been very busy the last couple of years, stepping away from leading our speech and debate club as another family has been leading beautifully. This freed me up to teach speech and debate classes at One Day Academy the last two years. When we joined CC last year, I jumped right in, tutoring the Essentials of the English Language and IEW portion for 9-12-year-olds. I love grammar, and I have lots of experience teaching grammar and writing from all my years of homeschooling, but being new to CC meant I had a lot to learn in how to approach it the CC way! It was lots of fun for me, even with the learning curve. This year, I decided not to continue tutoring Essentials as two other moms stepped up to tutor, and instead I filled another need as a Foundations tutor to a class of 8 sweet little girls from 4-7 years old. It reminds me of my days as a kindergarten teacher – lots of hugs and little notes from these precious little girls. I am thoroughly enjoying it. I continue to enjoy teaching Les Mills Body Combat and Body Pump classes at 6am M-Th and occasionally subbing Grit and Core classes as well. I think it wasn’t until last year, after I taught at a women’s weekend retreat at Faith Bible Church, that I realized that one of my gifts truly is teaching. It might seem funny because everyone around me might have been able to tell me that, but I didn’t really agree until I looked at what I have been doing, not just with homeschooling, but with all the things that I do with teaching and that it brings me so much joy and that people really respond to my teaching, that yes, it’s a gift. I think now that I am getting to where I don’t have little ones at home anymore, and I have more freedom to live my life not just focused on my kids, I’m rediscovering the things I enjoy that make my life even more fulfilling. Last August, the girls and I took a trip to CO to climb our first 14-er — Pike’s Peak. It stirred up a whole new sense of adventure in me, and I have decided to climb as many 14-ers as I can in the coming years. So far, I have summited four (Pike’s Peak, Red Cloud, Handies, and Sunshine), accompanied by various family members, including Todd, Simeon, Lillah, Nina, and Datiya. Nina, Lillah, and I commemorated our first 14-er with matching tattoos. I never thought I would be a tattoo kind of girl, but it felt right to get that tattoo. I actually love it.

Todd and I enjoy hosting a small group Bible study as well as a young adults group in our home every week. We really love being around all the life and fun high schooers through young adults bring. I have been cooking tons of food over the last year hosting so many events, but I do love doing that as well. We decided about a year ago to begin attending Church of the Springs in Dripping Springs, as so much of the growth we were seeing in our kids, especially Enoch, Lillah and the younger boys, was as a result of the love and investment of Pastor Brent and the people of COTS. I have been blessed to be a part of the worship team there, and we continue to find ways to get involved.

Abundant Life Ranch is thriving with 5 goats, a sheep, 2 llamas, 3 donkeys, a potbellly piggy, 5 cats, a horse, and a few chickens. I added a beautiful, super smart and active border collie pup to the mix January 2023, and we are about to add a livestock guard dog to live with the chickens so I can build up our flock again. My favorites as of late have been the llamas. They are just so funny. This Christmas, I received many llama themed gifts. 🙂

Before we sign off, Todd wanted to add his own version of the family update. It’s a little funnier than mine.

Todd’s update: Michelle has given you the beautiful picture of our family in 2024.  I’ll give you a different view.

Michelle won the prestigious award of All-Amazon team in 2024 given to the 10 largest purchaser of Amazon products.   We had to get the sheriff out to our house in December to direct Amazon vans up and down the driveway.  Jeff Bezos called and offered to name his yacht the “Michelle E” but we declined.   I don’t know how she has time to order so much between home-schooling, teaching body pump classes, Bible study, singing at church, hosting, cooking etc.  You may see her in the Energizer bunny commercials at the 2025 Super Bowl. 

Abby married Daniel and it was such a wonderful day until she gave me an artistic sketch of me walking her down the aisle saying “Of all the walks we have taken, this is my favorite one.”  So, what’s the problem you ask?  The drawing was a back view and the artist gave me a big bald spot on the back of my head I didn’t realize I had.   I now have a new best friend – Rogaine. 

Datiya and Luis are 3 years into marriage and having foundation problems – not in marriage but in the house they bought.

Before marrying Alexandra, David took two golf classes at A&M before graduating and after playing this summer called me up and told me how great he played and that he was, “fun to watch.”  It gave me an unbelievable amount of joy when he came home the next week and I beat him.  I must be a really bad dad based on the immense joy I felt as a result of beating him.     

Nina and Connor happily married.   Love Connor but then he decided to take a residency at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and take my sweet Texas girl to Maryland.  I’m proud of him but not happy.

Enoch decided to leave the general manager of the wedding business as he didn’t want to deal with crazy brides and even crazier mothers.   I told him it was great training for marriage, but he quit anyway.   He then decided to become a fire fighter for our county and has a real job.  Part of the job requires him to work out extensively and he has really beefed up and looks ripped.  The biggest challenge now is to get him to actually wear a shirt again.  So, if you are ever driving through Austin and see a fire-fighter putting out a fire without a shirt on, stop by and say hello to Enoch.

Lillah is incredibly smart but sometimes she goes out of her way to make you not believe it.  In December she was at Costco and heard the phone salesman ask her about “family plans” and then she proceeded to tell him all about our family plans for Christmas all the while thinking why is he asking.  When she finished the salesman nicely said, “I guess you aren’t the right person to talk to about switching to a new family plan.”   Yes, someday soon this is the girl who will be taking care of your animals. 

Simeon, 17, was asked to preach his first sermon at church this year.   Simeon is rock solid in his faith and his torso. I am starting to be much nicer to him because he could snap me in half.

Jed turned 15 and got his permit.  He then managed to set an Erdner family record and had his first fender-bender within 45 minutes of getting his permit.  Yes, this is true.  I can’t even make this stuff up. 

Hezi apparently discovered the old box of miracle grow I had in the barn and seems to have consumed it.  

Tovi further secured his spot as mom’s favorite.  The other kids no longer contest it; they just argue about who is 2^nd favorite. 

Eden, Haddieand Daniel bring much joy and some real challenges. 

For me, 2024 was the year of house renovation, pickle ball court, job, leading Bible study and Sunday School, coaching soccer, getting heavier (and apparantly balder), and most excitingly dating my hot wife who looks half her age.   I have so much to be thankful to God for – all of his blessings on me and my family.   We have way more blessings than anyone deserves and are so grateful.

Merry Christmas – may you know the joy of celebrating the birth of our Savior – Jesus, Immanuel, The Prince of Peace, The Way, The Truth and The Life.

With love to all our friends and family,

Todd, Michelle, Abby and Daniel Jenkins, Datiya and Luis Ibarra, David and Alex Erdner, Nina and Connor Coltharp, Enoch, Lillah, Simeon, Jed, Hezi, Tovi, Eden, Daniel, and Haddie Erdner

We pray that you all had a beautiful Christmas. There is so much hope this time of year, and the light and warmth of the season remind us of our only true HOPE — that Jesus Christ was born to live and die and rise again so we could live with Him forever in eternity. We cling to the HOPE that this brings, no matter how chaotic things in this world may be.

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Furry friend department: We’ve added some fun farm friends this year, so below are a few photos of the new additions. Not pictured are the three goats, two horses, two rabbits, several more chickens, a few other cats and our dog, Hazel. These are just the new additions from 2022. We don’t call it Abundant Life Ranch for nothing! There is certainly a lot of life around here, and we pray this place blesses everyone who comes to it with abundant life spiritually as well. (John 10:10 is our theme verse: “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”)

We pray that you all find many blessings in the new year, and if you find yourself near the Driftwood, TX area, come visit us!

Blessings from,

Todd, Michelle, Abby, Datiya & Luis, David & Alex, Nina, Enoch, Lillah, Simeon, Jedidiah, Hezekiah, Toviel, Eden, Daniel and Haddie

After the busy holiday season, it’s time to sit down and reflect on 2020. I know 2020 was full of challenging circumstances and heartbreak for so many of our friends and family. We pray that this Christmas, no matter what 2020 brought, you were blessed by the wonder of the Child born to bear the sins of all the world. We, as a family, have so much to be thankful for. Even though Covid brought some separation and challenges for us, overall, we have remained healthy and employed, and for that we praise God. Here is a little rundown with a few details about what everyone is up to or into these days.

Datiya, 21, graduated from Texas State in December 2020 summa cum laude with a degree in Recreation Therapy. She passed her exam and is now a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS). Datiya completed her internship at a psychiatric hospital in Dallas, and she has been offered a full-time position to continue working there. Datiya is excited to get her own apartment and begin life after college.

David is 20 and thriving as the loudest, proudest member of the Texas A&M Aggies. He is a junior majoring in computer engineering. We enjoyed having David home for most of the spring and all summer. He was an intern at Intel again this summer, and worked at a desk in our home right next to Todd (like 1 foot apart) all summer, which they both enjoyed. Todd roped David into joining his workouts a couple of times per week. David just ordered his Aggie ring, which is a big deal for any Aggie. He has also secured an internship for this summer working for a bank.

Nina just turned 19, and she is a hard-working Texas Tech Red Raider! Nina is technically a sophomore, but she is on track to graduate early, majoring in Kinesiology with a minor in Spanish. Nina is still trying to decide what she wants to do in the future, but she is planning to either go to medical school, or possibly graduate school to become a PA (physician’s assistant). Nina has been very busy during her break working and shadowing a doctor and a PA in Dripping Springs. She worked really hard Fall semester to earn a 4.0 GPA.

Haddie just had her 18th birthday. She was so excited! Haddie is still making progress learning how to use her AAC device to communicate verbally. She was able to tell me what she wanted for birthday breakfast (pancakes), birthday dinner (enchiladas and corn casserole), and what gifts she wanted (a dress and pants). It is really huge for her to be able to communicate that! Haddie continues to live up to her nickname, “Happy Haddie,” as she is always smiling and laughing. She enjoys speech and occupational therapy and learning at home with mom. Haddie is great with kids, and Tovi adores her. She can often be found outside on the porch swing watching the boys play soccer or jumping on the trampoline with Tovi or Eden. Haddie loves to color and draw, and bestows her works of art upon everyone around her with great regularity.

Eden ia 17 and still our chatty girl. She loves to be in the middle of the action, and has many questions about everything that is going on around her. Eden is steadily making progress through math and still learning to read. She can read easy readers with a little help now, and is learning to read and follow recipes. She and Haddie make a great team and are both very hepful around the house, Eden always works hard in school and she loves doing her speech and occupational therapy via an online platform. Her new favorite game is Sorry, and she can often be found racing around the board with Tovi and Haddie playing ‘the game of sweet revenge” as Tovi likes to call it.

Enoch is 17 years old, and a junior in high school. He is playing soccer on a select team and doing well with that. Enoch began taking some classes at Austin Community College this fall and aced his two classes there. He is taking a combination of classes at One Day Academy, home, and through a weekly academic and discipleship group called School of Champions. Enoch will compete in Lincoln Douglas debate as well as a couple of speech categories. At this point the speech and debate tournaments will be online. Enoch works at TCBY and has gotten some experience working with our family’s mechanic.

Lillah is 15, and so ready to turn 16 in April so she can get her driver’s license. For now, she is sticking to terrorizing her parents as she learns the ropes of driving with her learner’s permit. Hopefully, we will all survive, and by April she will be an expert driver. Lillah is in 10th grade, getting perfect scores in Chemistry at One Day Academy as well as taking a combination of other classes through ODA, home, and School of Champions. She was thrilled to be assistant construction manager, architect and worker building a beautiful barn where her horses can stay in luxury and health. These days, if she isn’t reading in her chosen spot at the kitchen bar, she can be found hanging out with her horses in their snazzy new barn (check out the pictures at the end of this post).

Daniel is 13 and in the 5th grade at Sycamore Springs Elementary School. He is doing remote learning this year so far, and it has proven to be a huge blessing for us. I don’t know what it is–maybe being around more during the day, or maybe the fact that I’m more involved in his schooling and I’m involved in rewarding him directly, but the remote learning seems to have opened a new door for Daniel in bonding with us as a family, and especailly with me as his mom. He is a whiz on his new AAC device (as of last spring), and often puts words together to form interesting and unique thoughts that show us what he is thinking! Daniel is funny and loves getting laughs out of people. He is very social, and enjoys waving at all his friends on the class Zoom calls. He will now use his device to say, “Mom, I love you,” which makes me want to cry. We’ve come a long way in 4 1/2 years.

Simeon is 13th and in the 8th grade. He can usually be found playing soccer outside with his brothers (our youngest 4 boys make up what I like to call the “boy sQUAD”) or riding the ATV or new dirt bike the boys got for Christmas this year. Simeon continues to be very acrobatic, and has fine-tuned his back-flipping abilities. This guy is also an excellent student, very diligent to complete his work and do his best. He is doing some school at home and some through School of Champions, which he loves. Simeon is competing in Team Policy debate and speech this year, and we are trying to figure out the new online competition forum. Simeon also loves to pray, so he and Todd go on runs together every week during which they spend a lot of time praying for friends and family. We are encouraged to see him reading his Bible every day, and often I’ve seen him leading his younger brothers in a little Bible study before bed (all his idea). He is finally outgrowing mom as of the writing of this letter.

Jedidiah (Jed) turned 11 in September. He is our resident cat lover, so he wanted his picture to have one of our kittens in it. Jed and Simeon have gotten into hunting the last couple of years, and they both got two decent sized bucks this deer season. They will enthusiastically eat anything I make with the venison they bring home for us. Jed continues to be a witty, energetic kid, often making us laugh with his comments or stories. Jed loves playing soccer with his brothers and looks up to Simeon, aka his best buddy, a lot. Jed is in 5th grade, and I’m very glad we homeschool him so he can be kept interested with lots of hands on projects. He enjoyed learning about the 50 states and capitals and he created some interesting videos about some presidents for our presidents and elections unit. Although he was disappointed that he couldn’t play baseball as planned last spring, he knows he is very blessed to have so many brothers to play sports with at home.

Excuse me while I just…can’t with this photo of our (not-so) little Hezekiah (Hezi) who just turned 9 in November! Look at him! OK, but he’s more than just the precious blond curls and big brown eyes. Hezi is a very sweet, loving boy. He will generously give gifts to everyone on birthdays and Christmas out of his own belongings or if he has the money, he will buy something. It’s the cutest thing. He loves building with Legos, playing soccer and football with his built-in BFFs (his brothers), and learning random facts to share with everyone. Hezi got so into our unit studies on the US and presidents that he would read extra books and watch little videos on YouTube to learn more. Then when we would be talking about something, he would chime in with his amazing knowledge about it all. He recently played a role in our family’s winning of a Zoom Jeopardy game with extended family.

Toviel (Tovi) is 6, and growing up way too fast. He is bright, capable and determined. Tovi is whizzing through 1st grade, easily completing his school work every day, and reading far above grade level. He is athletic, and as the youngest member of the boy sQUAD, holds his own out there on the family soccer/football/baseball field. Tovi is competitive, and still remains very driven and determined to learn and keep up with the older members of the boy sQUAD. He very often wins Ticket to Ride (Jr), Battleship, and Sorry, and he is very good at negotiating with Eden and Haddie to get them to play games with him. Tovi is a delight to everyone in our family, constantly saying adorable, precocious things and charming us all with his winsome smile. It is so dang hard not to spoil him. It doesn’t help that he loves his mama, and will just randomly come up and give the best, sweet hugs and kisses. I am always praying that he will grow up humble, kind, and a man after God’s own heart. I pray similar things for my other boys and the girls, too, of course (women after God’s own heart :)).

Todd and I are doing well. Covid-19 brought fear and hardship for our country, and uncertainty for so many people, and it also brought our children all home for months! Abby was the only member of our family who wasn’t at home for an extended period of time through the spring and summer. Todd and I have really enjoyed the slower pace of life and the extra time with our older children home. Todd has been working from home (still at Intel), and he has used the extra time at home, not having to drive children to and from sports, etc., to tackle large projects around the house and property.

Since we had most of the older children home (aka free labor), Todd decided to pave the circle on our driveway. Pretty much everyone got in on the fun (er, work), even some helpful and useful boyfriends. After trying his hand at pouring concrete for the driveway, Todd decided to build a barn for our animals. Lillah had been dreaming of and drawing designs for a barn for literally years, and she was the architect/designer of the project. She and Todd bonded over every aspect of building the barn, and all hands were on deck from the beginning — building up the ground for the foundation–to the end–roof and painting, and everything in between. This has been a huge project, and Todd led the crew (aka, our family) in every stage from foundation to the roof. We did not hire subcontractors for any aspect of the project. The only outside people were the guys who drive the concrete trucks and poured it out. It turned out beautifully! Todd continues to be the best dad ever, and I just had to include this picture of him playing “Deal or No Deal” with the kids Christmas Eve (an annual family tradition) to come up with the wake up time for Christmas morning (he’s on the phone with the “banker”).

I (Michelle) am still a busy homeschool mom. With 4 children who have graduated from high school, but 9 left at home, I’m still pretty entrenched in the work of homeschooling and raising kind, civilized little humans. Eden and Haddie and are working on their academics at their individual levels as well as life skills. The boy sQUAD and I have been enjoying a States and Capitals unit, along with a unit on the US presidents and elections. This was a superfun year for that, wasn’t it? We have also spent the last few months reading the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series. We are three chapters away from finishing the last book, and then we will have a movie marathon and feast, which we did following our reading of the Hobbit with a weekend movie-marathon of all three movies complete with a themed feast. It was so much fun, Can’t wait for the next feast. Besides the work of school, I have taken advantage of the extra time and new online platforms to complete 3 more Les Mills trainings, so I am now certified to teach Les Mills Body Combat and CXWORX (now called Core) and I am currently working on my certification for Grit and will hopefully pass my assessment within the next month. I am not currently teaching, but I am hoping to start again soon. One highlight for me in 2020 was promoting to Black Belt in Kuk Sool Won in May. This photo is of me with the cake Datiya won for me from a local radio contest for Mother’s Day!

It’s definitely a challenge to keep a letter about all 15 of us short, so if you’ve hung in there till the end, thanks for reading it all! I’m including some more photos from 2020 below. Enjoy!

It has taken me several days to finish writing this letter and compile all of the photos. Over the course of these days, so much has happened in 2021 already. So much craziness, division, and uncertainty seems to be the new reality. We pray that despite this rocky beginning, 2021 brings many blessings to you all, and in the midst of the chaos and discord that is surrounding us in our great nation right now, we pray that we can all see past the differences in views, opinions, and convictions to the hearts of those around us. Let us find hope in the Lord this year and place our trust in Him. I know that no person nor any government will save us, only Jesus, and only the God of the universe, Who holds all things in His hands. Peace to you all in 2021!

Love,
The Erdner Family
Todd, Michelle, Abby, Datiya, David, Nina, Enoch, Lillah, Simeon, Jed, Hezi, Tovi, Eden, Daniel and Haddie

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A few days ago, I went on a run with my dog, Teddie. She saw me getting ready for my run and was standing by the door, tail wagging eagerly as I was about to make my exit. I couldn’t refuse those begging brown puppy dog eyes. Teddie is a pretty energetic dog, and as we began our run, she loped alongside me with ease, at times even bounding ahead of me. However, as the minutes ticked by, and we settled into the monotony of the run, she began to slow down a bit. Teddie is usually pretty good for the first two miles. Sure enough, right after the 2-mile mark, she began to drag her feet a bit more. She wanted to stop every few feet and smell the flowers and the grass, or chase the deer that had just darted into the woods ahead of us. I was annoyed and just wanted to keep on going. I had set my goal for a 4-mile run that morning, and I was not thrilled that now I had a 45-pound weight to coax along behind me. My attitude shifted between wanting to just give up and go home and the desire to drag Teddie the whole 4 miles with anger and resentment being the product of both.

I was frustrated that I had decided to bring Teddie in the first place. I should have known, and truly I had known, that she would slow me down. I dragged her along, unwilling to give up my goal of running four miles. I was wearing myself out struggling against poor Teddie, and even my arms began to ache as I switched the leash from hand to hand while attempting to get Teddie excited about running a little faster. My struggle against my situation was proving to be rather fruitless as Teddie was definitely winning the battle over who would be in charge of the pace at which we would be running.

Slogging along with my sweet pup while the sun was slowly rising, bringing along with it some good old fashioned Texas August heat, I began to think about how this run could be compared to other times in my life when I’ve struggled with the situation in which I have found myself. Many of the choices I have made in my life have actually led to hard things for me. They are not choices that I regret, but they are choices that put me in a position where I would have to sacrifice, work harder, and at times change my planned course or the pace at which I believed I could accomplish something.

I chose to follow Jesus the spring of my Junior year of college. I really didn’t know at that time, the cost of this choice. I have lived a very abundant and blessed life, but following Jesus has definitely meant that I have had to alter the attitudes, dreams and plans I once held to. No regrets here, but my life’s path dramatically shifted in my very early 20’s. I have not looked back. This has been the foundational choice of my life, following a Way that doesn’t reflect the ways of this world.

I have a Stanford education, and I chose to pour all of that knowledge into these amazing 13 people with whom I have been blessed as my children. Sometimes, I have felt like I did that morning with Teddie on my run–like I am being held back, like I want to go a different direction, like I am struggling against what my choices (and my blessings) have brought into my path. Over the years, however, I have learned to lean into these things and stop struggling against them. I have embraced the challenges, learned to go with the interruptions, found the joy in slowing down and checking out the scenery with my children. Together we have smelled the flowers and chased the deer. Instead of seeing this lifestlye as dragging me down or holding me back, I have seen how it has grown my character, helped me understand prioritizing what truly matters in life, and made me so much the better for it all. In my 20’s, I could have pursued a career that would have fulfilled me in a different way, and if that had been the path, I’m sure there would have been abundant blessings for me in that as well. But this is the life God has given me. He blessed us with baby after baby; He called us to homeschool them; He clearly called us to adopt three children with significant special needs. Some people would say I have given up the best years of my life to build into these lives. I could have put them in school, gotten a nanny, spent a lot more time pursuing things for myself. I could view them as dragging me down. My mom used to give me lots of ideas of things I could do as a “job” while staying home with my kids–I was always the daughter she thought would have an impressive career. I could have done so many great things with this tremendous Stanford brain. If I had dwelt on that too much, it would have felt like dragging my dog on that leash for my 4-mile run–inconvenient, slowing me down, cramping my style. I chose to see it differently.

That morning, just a few days ago, while I was running with my dog, I chose to see it differently. I slowed my pace, I let the leash out a little bit more so I wasn’t pulling Teddie so forcefully; so she could have a little more freedom. We became a team again. I listened to the day waking up, the different bird calls around me in our little rural neighborhood. I slowed even more to watch with Teddie as a bushy-tailed fox crossed the road just ahead of us. I smelled the beautiful morning air. I finished my 4-mile run. Yes, it was a bit slower than my usual brisk pace, but I did finish. I actually enjoyed it. When we arrived back at our long, gravel driveway, I let Teddie off of the leash, and she bounced ahead of me, back towards home. I laughed out loud as it occurred to me that maybe my style was cramping hers the whole time as well. Regardless, when my attitude shifted, so did my run. And I enjoyed my time with a little grey-spotted pup who forced me to slow down and drink the morning in fully.

I look at what lies ahead in my life. I still have many, many years ahead of homeschooling children, and I will have even more years ahead most likely, loving our children with special needs who will always require special care and attention. But these days, I actually am more free to pursue some interests that are for me. I am singing at church again after many years of being unable to do so. This past May, I promoted to 1st degree black belt in Kuk Sool Won martial art. I am taking a couple of classes that interest me, and I can share the things I am learning with my own little crew of students. We are entering a new chapter. Thus far in life, I feel as if nothing has really dragged me down. The sacrifices and the challenges have lifted me up. And all I see ahead is more beauty.

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 “Adversity is not simply a tool. It is God’s most effective tool for the advancement of our spiritual lives. The circumstances and events that we see as setbacks are oftentimes the very things that launch us into periods of intense spiritual growth. Once we begin to understand this, and accept it as a spiritual fact of life, adversity becomes easier to bear.“
– Charles Stanley

It’s that time of year again, when I’m late with the “Christmas” card, and end up writing a New Year’s greeting. 🙂 We hope you have all had a lovely Holiday Season. We have had a special time this year with some travel before Christmas, and a wonderful time of celebrating the birth of Jesus. So here’s a “quick” update on our family for your reading pleasure.

Abby graduated in May (a year early!) with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She turned 21 shortly after graduation and passed the NCLEX. Abby had been hired during her final clinical rotation, and upon passing the NCLEX she officially began her job as a nurse in the Intensive Care Unit at St. David’s Northwest Austin Medical Center. She is currently working nights, but is hoping to get put on day shift soon. Abby’s caring and cheerful personality makes her a wonderful nurse, and she is perfect for the ICU, which is not an easy place to be. When searching for Christian friends her age, we came across a ministry called Abby also began attending Coffee House Austin, which is a young adult fellowship that meets in North Austin. She really enjoys being involved in that ministry, and was asked to be on the leadership team. She is very excited to be joining a group led by our former pastor to Israel this Spring. We’re extremely proud of our beautiful Abby and all that she has accomplished through her hard work and dedication. We are excited to watch her future unfold before her.

Datiya turned 20 in October. It seems strange that we now have two children in their “20’s.” Weren’t we just in our 20’s? Datiya decided to to leave the ACC Vet Tech program after completing her first year (with flying colors–she just realized it wasn’t what she wanted to do). She transferred to Texas State University and was accepted into the Honors College. She is working towards a degree in Recreation Administration with a concentration on Recreational Therapy. She is on track to graduate in December of 2020. As a fun bonus, Datiya is planning to travel to Australia in the early part of the summer to study abroad. As part of her degree program, Datiya has been able to volunteer at the memory care community where my dad is a resident. That has been really special. Datiya’s fun sense of humor and wit keeps us laughing whenever she is around. We are excited to see where her adventurous spirit paired with her very versatile degree takes her in the future.

David turned 18 in December, and got accepted to Texas A & M University where he is now the “loudest, proudest member of the fighting Texas Aggies, aaaaayyyyyyyyyyy! Ay!” I have honestly never met anyone more excited to be in college at a particular University. David lives and breathes Texas Aggie spirit. It is very cute. This past summer, David pulled off getting a paid internship at Intel. He was Todd’s chauffeur to work every day, and it was a real blessing for both of them to get to work together. We are happy to report that David has already been hired again for next summer. Another notable event for this young man was that he participated in a mission trip our church hosted for our young adults to minister in Guatemala. He was able to go with Nina, Enoch and Lillah. They had a very special time. He finished his year last spring qualifying to Nationals in speech and debate in 5 speeches. He is currently helping out at a speech and debate club in College Station and is really enjoying that. He is doing very well at A & M, and he recently got a job in campus cyber security. We will see how that goes. David is a delight and we are very proud of him.

Nina is newly 17 but still going on about 25. She is very capable and has a couple of “mom jobs” where she does everything from caring for children to cooking meals and doing housework. Unfortunately, those skills aren’t necessarily put to use in our own household because she is so busy! She loved the mission trip to Guatemala over the summer, and she often says she misses her time there. Currently, Nina is very busy completing her high school requirements this year and earning college credits through Austin Community College. She is also doing Mock Trial this year as well as competing in speech and debate. She is a junior this year, but has a hankering to graduate early and begin her studies to become a surgeon. She applied to a few colleges this fall, and has been accepted to Texas Tech. She is waiting to hear back from a couple more universities. Nina is a bright, funny, and very mature young lady. I’m hoping she’ll get into UT so she can stay close to home. She and her mom are very close, so it will be hard to let her go too far. We have very mixed feelings about letting Nina graduate early. We enjoy having her around, and it’s a bit shocking to have 4 kids graduate from high school in the span of 4 years! Regardless, it is wonderful to see the beautiful young woman Nina is becoming. We know God has great things planned for her.

Enoch is 15 as of July, and he is Mr. Social. Enoch makes friends easily and is somehow really good at getting what he wants. I guess that’s a good skill to have in life. Persistence is the name of the game with Enoch. He doesn’t give up easily, so he is successful at many things. The good news is, he’s really generous and shares pretty well. If he buys food, he always asks if I want some. He often buys a coffee for one of his teachers at One Day Academy just to bless her. Pretty sweet. Enoch continues to enjoy playing select soccer, and he spends a lot of time practicing and juggling the ball. He is also a very good student. Enoch will compete in Lincoln Douglas debate again this year as well as a few speeches. Over the past summer, Enoch not only got to participate in the mission trip to Guatemala, but he also went on a soccer travel trip with US Revolution to Norway and Scotland. His cousin was on the team with him, and his Uncle accompanied them on the trip. They had the time of their lives. It was so nice for him to be able to spend that time with his cousin and uncle. Enoch is a really amazing kid, with so many things going for him: great personality, confidence, brains, and he is kinda cute to boot! It’s fun watching him grow into a young man.

Lillah is 13, and will be 14 in April. She remains as sweet as she can possibly be. Lillah is a horse lover extraordinaire. She now has 3 horses in her care at our little ranch. She helps out at the barn where she rides whenever she can. Lillah is a loyal friend, and her friends all love her. She can make anyone feel comfortable. The little brothers all look up to Lillah, and she is still their “captain.” Lillah and Simeon have had the opportunity to be part of a homeschool discipleship group run by a pastor at a little church not too far from our house. That has been a huge blessing for them this year. They are learning a ton and having loads of fun as well. Lillah is increasing her speech load this year and hoping to compete in 4 speech events. She wanted to debate as well, but we haven’t been able to find her a Team Policy partner. Lillah was the youngest member of the Guatemala mission trip this summer, and her favorite part besides ministering to the beautiful people there was, of course, meeting different animals there. She even befriended a chicken she named Pablo. Lillah is still very horse crazy. She also plays soccer and takes ballet, tap, modern and drama at Dance to Glory dance studio. Lillah is sweet, compassionate, and, even at 13, has remained very innocent, which we really love about her. She can stay young and innocent for a bit longer–that’s OK with us! Lillah is becoming a lovely young woman inside and out, and she really loves God and learning about Him. We are delighted with our little lady.

Simeon is 11 1/2. He is very charming with a big smile, and a fun, endearing manner about him. He is the one all the little boys look up to, and he’s so loving and caring with Tovi. They call each other “Buddy,” and it is just the sweetest thing. Simeon is very athletic, playing soccer on a select team for the first time this year, and continuing to impress everyone with his gymnastic abilities. Simeon can often be seen jumping on the trampoline with the younger boys, doing tricks and back flips. Simeon also continues with Kuk Sool Won martial arts and is on track to earn his black belt in the next year or so. He is very bright, and learns things easily. When he wants to learn about something, Simeon simply checks out a book about it at the library or reads about it on the internet. Recently, Simeon has developed an interest in baking, and we enjoy the goodies he makes whenever he gets the urge to create a new baking creation. He is also the healthy Smoothie King of the household. It is a pleasure to see Simeon growing into a young man who loves Jesus and is trying to please him. He is generous and cheerful, and he is a good buddy not only to his siblings, but also to his friends. We love his kind, loyal personality.

Jedidiah is 9 as of September, and he is the most hilarious person. He keeps us all laughing most of the time, unless he’s getting into major trouble. He has been our most accident-prone child, sporting scars from 6 different sets of stitches or staples on his head or face alone. He added a 7th round of stitches over the summer after stepping on top of a glass aquarium. This time, he expanded his repertoire to include 27 stitches on his calf. Jed plays soccer, which he really loves, and he is also working towards becoming a black belt candidate in Kuk Sool Won. Jed is maturing and beginning to really get into school. He is quite a math whiz, easily working through several pages per day in his math book. Jed competed in his first Juniors speech tournament last spring, and he placed 3rd with his cute interpretation of the poem “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out!” He is quite expressive. Jed is very thoughtful for such a young guy. He pipes up with little nuggets of wisdom for us all the time. Recently, we were driving home after a long day of outings during which I had been trying to civilize my bunch of little boys. Jed was sitting up front, and I was asking him if, after seeing me dealing with all of their antics all afternoon, he could understand why I sometimes can get frustrated. He nodded sympathetically and said, “Mom, when I’m having a hard day, chocolate helps.” Yes, yes, it does Jed. We love our bouncy, energetic little Jed.

Hezekiah turned 7 in November! It’s hard for me to believe our little ones are getting so old now. Hezi is in 2nd grade, and is doing really well with reading and math. He is inquisitive and able to figure out where to find the information he needs. I always say if you can teach a child how to learn for him- or herself, he or she will excel. Hezi seems naturally good at math as well. It’s fun to see him easily navigate through his books. Learning is such a cool thing to be a part of as a homeschool mom. As for sports, Hezi became our first baseball player ever. He played Spring and Fall ball. He told me last Spring that he was retiring from soccer to play baseball, but that he might decide to go back to soccer someday. It was a nice change of pace to sit on the bleachers and watch his games. We really enjoyed it. Hezi is sweet and sensitive. He asks for snuggle time every day and still sleeps with his little bear, “Bear Walker.” We love having this precious boy in our family.

Toviel is 4 and will be 5 in April. He is no longer a baby although we call him our baby. He is quick to remind us that he is a big boy. And that he is. We are always joking that Tovi is good at everything. The reality is, he is really good at things. If there is something he isn’t good at, he will practice over and over until he masters it. I’ve never seen a more coordinated 4-year-old. Tovi can ripstick, ride a bike, play soccer, swim like a fish, and ski better and faster than many of the other family members. This summer while we were in Destin for a family vacation, Tovi wanted to learn how to stand on the boogie board in the pool. He tried again and again for over an hour until he could stand on that boogie board. He did the same thing to learn how to ride the ripstick. He spent a whole day falling off the ripstick and getting back up on it again until he could speed around the couch with the older kids. It’s truly amazing, the determination that drives this little 4-year-old. We can’t wait to see how this little wonder continues to grow and mature. We are all smitten with him. We can’t help it.

Eden is 15 and doing well. She chatters away in English all day long. She is full of questions as well as answers. Eden is helpful and sweet and super obedient. She is eager to do school and is learning to read! She also can do math at a kindergarten level, and is progressing well. Her fine motor skills are developing well, and she works really hard. Eden loves going to therapy. She has speech, occupational and physical therapy, and is making improvements in all areas. Eden loves to help Haddie in their school as well. Daniel really responds to her, and she is very sweet and patient with him. We are very blessed to have this sweet girl as our daughter.

Daniel is 11, and he LOVES going to school at our local public school. They moved him to the 3rd grade this year. He spends most of the day in the Special Ed classroom, and about 30 minutes each day in the mainstream 3rd grade classroom. He rides the special needs bus, and he absolutely loves it. The bus driver has created a little incentive chart to help him learn to behave on the bus. It has worked really well for him. He sometimes struggles with behavior at school, but overall he has improved with his behavior. I love seeing him interact with kids at the school. They are all so sweet and accepting of him. He has learned to be more comfortable on the playground, and now he can swing without freaking out. Daniel still struggles with connecting with the family, which is really hard for us, but we are loving him and giving him a place to belong. All of the other kids are really sweet to him. His favorite sibling is definitely Eden. He shares a special connection with her.

Haddie will be turning 16 in just a few days. We had thought about changing the kids’ ages with a readoption, but decided against it after finding out they can receive some insurance benefits when they turn 21, so it’s better to not do that. Haddie is still severely delayed. She still barely speaks. It seems like she puts together what is being said to her and around her by taking in body language along with the words, but we’re not sure how much she truly completely understands. She gets by for the most part and she can play with the younger kids without needing to talk much. They all make it work and don’t seem bothered by it. Last Spring, we were able to find someone who could evaluate her in Mandarin (this has been a huge hurdle). We discovered she only says about 40 words in Mandarin. She couldn’t tell a story from pictures and she also only puts 2-3 words together at a time in Mandarin. This was very eye opening for us as we try to help Haddie with learning and language acquisition. Learning is very slow for Haddie, but she is making some progress. She can identify most of the letters of the alphabet now as well as the sounds they make. Counting is still very difficult for her. She has worked very hard and can now reliably count to 5 using signs and words, but she starts to get confused starting with the number 6. I am really excited because she is eligible to receive a communication device through our insurance and the speech therapy office. I am really hoping this device will help to unlock her ability to communicate. She needs a lot of repetition, and the device will allow her to choose pictures of words she wants to say and put them into sentences that she can then click on. The device will say the sentence for her, and she can try to repeat it. It will be wonderful to get the device and see how it helps Haddie. She is sweet and happy, and pretty compliant. She loves doing her school work and is helpful with chores as well. Haddie seems very happy to be part of our family and we love her. She shares a special bond with Tovi. He says she’s one of his best friends.

We had a bit of a shock in early September when Todd went to the hospital with chest pain and found out he was having a heart attack. I got a call from a nurse on his phone, which was very disturbing. I could hear him in the background telling me not to freak out. Needless to say, I freaked out. I rushed out the door and made it to the hospital in downtown Austin where he had been taken by ambulance from the hospital near our house which isn’t equipped with a cath lab. The doctors were able to quickly get a stent placed in the LAD artery, which was 98% blocked. Thankfully, the doctor said there was little to no permanent damage to his heart. We did find out that the main cause of his heart attack was that his blood was thickened and clotting. After a series of blood tests, we found out that he has a rare blood disorder that causes the bone marrow to make excess red blood cells. This condition is treatable by having blood drawn periodically to balance the volume of red blood cells and keep the blood from hypercoagulating. It has been quite a bumpy ride adjusting to the idea of all of this. Ultimately, we are just so very thankful that God spared Todd’s life and that He led us to discover this blood disease that could have caused even worse complications if left undetected.

I continue to homeschool the children and work with our speech and debate club. I am training for another half marathon, and I’m thinking of trying to work towards running a full marathon sometime. Right before Todd’s heart attack I went through training to become certified in Les Mills Body Pump. The day after the training, Todd had the heart attack. I didn’t think I would be able to complete the certification process, which involved team teaching and sending in a nearly flawless video of myself teaching Body Pump. I was able to finish the process in the weeks after Todd came home from the hospital, and I became a certified Body Pump instructor in November. I am now teaching classes at the YMCA.

We are so blessed in this crazy, full life. and are thankful for our friends, family and our church. We are happy to announce that we have started a YouTube channel to share our crazy adventures. We would love it if you would subscribe to our channel and share with your friends and family. By subscribing, you will receive an email letting you know whenever we post a new video (it doesn’t cost anything to subscribe). We are very entertained by our crazy family, and we are thrilled to share it and some positive family energy with the world. You can find our channel on YouTube by searching Erdnerds or by clicking the following link (to our intro video):

We hope that your holidays were filled with joy and wonder and that 2019 brings many blessings your way.

 

I’m a debate mom.  During tournament season, our family spends at least one long weekend per month traveling around Texas or Oklahoma to participate speech and debate tournaments.  This activity is a centerpiece of the home education for our children.  I love and value this activity greatly. I’m always trying to recruit my friends to join us.  Granted, competitive speech and debate requires a lot of commitment to keep up with all that goes into participating.  One of the things with which we must keep up is all of the debate attire. Our home isn’t always the cleanest, most organized place, to put it lightly. (Why not?  I only have 13 children..haha) I have a few systems in place to help things run smoothly, but let’s just say I can’t sail that ship without the crew on board.  And my crew often isn’t on board with my neat and organized plans.  When it comes to debate attire, we have a hanging area by our washer and dryer where the kids used to keep their tournament clothes.  However, there was so much stuff hanging there, and not all of it fit someone at any given moment, so I told all the children of competition age to move their debate clothes to their own closet and keep track of it there.  A few days before each tournament, we gather all of the items that need to be dry cleaned.  Each student is responsible for his or her own debate clothing.  Should be easy enough, right? Continue reading Sometimes it’s the Little Things →