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.
We missed getting a Christmas letter out last year, and this year has been very full as well, especially with the wedding of our oldest son, David, just a couple of days before Christmas, so I’ll do my best to write brief updates on how everyone is doing. (This pic is from last year, when we had a very Erdner leaning Christmas tree).
Abby (25) is thriving as an ICU nurse working in the Dallas area. She broke her wrist snowboarding on our family ski trip in February, so she coudn’t work for 6 weeks. This was no fun, of course, but she had enough money saved to survive on and she was able to take a 2-week trip to Europe during that time, so I guess she couldn’t really complain about that. She also got very good at applying makeup with her left hand, so that is a bonus. Once she returned to work after the wrist injury healed, she decided to apply to CRNA school to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. Hopefully, she will be hearing soon what school(s) she gets into. We are very proud of all that Abby has been able to accomplish and what a wonderful, compassionate nurse she is.
Datiya (24) had an eventful 2021. She got engaged January of 2021, and she and Luis were married on November 21, 2021. It was a beautiful, meaningful wedding, and Todd was the officiant, having the pleasure of doing the ceremony and giving a message. Everyone is ecstatic at the addition of a new son to our family. We love Luis–he is a fun, energetic, driven and very loving young man. He adores our Datiya and is a wonderful husband. We are so excited to see what the future holds for their lives together. They live in Las Colinas (Dallas/Ft Worth). Datiya is working at a mental health hospital where she was formerly a recreation therapist and recently got a new job as the Director of Recreation Therapy. Luis works in parks and recreation for the city of Addison. He was awarded Employee of the Year for 2022! We are so happy to see this young couple thriving in their married life.
David (22) is now the loudest proudest alumnus of Texas A&M as he graduated in mid-May. David landed a job working for Capital One in Plano (Dallas area– I am not really loving this trend of all the kids ending up in Dallas, but at least it’s only a few hours away). In even more exciting news, David proposed to his beautiful, talented wife, Alexandra (Alex) in February. Alex graduated December 16th, and the beautiful couple were married on December 22nd! Todd had the pleasure of officating their ceremony as well. They just got back from their honeymoon in Hawaii, and moved into their new apartment in the Dallas area. We are so happy to have added such a sweet and lovely daughter-in-law to our growing family. It was honestly one of the sweetest and most beautiful weddings I have ever seen.
Nina (21) graduated from the Honors program with a degree in Kinesiology, minoring in Biology and Spanish, on December 16th. She has worked so hard, graduating from high school a year early, starting at Texas Tech January of 2020 and graduating Magna Cum Laude only 3 years later. Nina also worked to become a Certified Personal Trainer, and she moved back to Austin after graduation to work as a CPT. She plans to apply to graduate programs in a year or so, after a well-deserved break from studies. I am really excited to have this young lady back home so we can spend lots of mother-daughter time together. Nina is dating Connor, who is in Physician’s Assistant school at Texas Tech’s PA school in Midland.
Enoch (19) graduated from high school in May. He has had the unique opportunity to work for our church managing the event venue the church owns. Enoch is learning so much, and this position is perfect for his personality. He is charismatic and funny, and everyone loves him. Enoch is taking classes at ACC to get his associate’s degree in business. He keeps very busy between the venue and hanging out with his many friends and his sweet girlfriend, Anna. We are so proud of the young man he is becoming.
Lillah (17) is a senior in high school. She is so busy with work, school (homeschool and community college classes) working at the barn and riding her horses. Lillah is competing for her final year in speech and debate this year, and she is looking forward to taking a gap year next year while she works and tries to figure out what she wants to study in college (and hangs out with mom). Lillah is a sweet, funny young lady, and she has many talents. We can’t wait to see where God leads her in the coming months.
Simeon (15) is a sophomore in high school. He is taking a couple of classes at One Day Academy and competing in speech and debate. Simeon is also in a weekly homeschool class for guys at a nearby church, and he has grown tremendously in his faith through this program. He switched to a new select soccer league and is loving the team he is on. It is a group of very talented soccer players, and Simeon really enjoys the challenge. If you ever need prayer, Simeon is your guy – he is very serious about his faith, and he takes prayer very seriously too. He is also very musical, can play pretty much anything on the piano, and has picked up guitar as well. We love Simeon’s sweet and fun personality.
Jed is our 13-year-old resident comedian. He is quick-witted and funny, which of course can get him in trouble at times. He is in the 7th grade, competing in speech and debate, and also in the same homeschool discipleship program as Simeon attends on Wednesdays. He is also really maturing and growing in his faith through being a part of the School of Champions. Jed is in both of the classes I teach at One Day Academy, and he certainly keeps it entertaining. Jed also switched to a new select soccer team, so he is enjoying the challenge of a team that pushes his skill level. Jed is the second Erdner boy to take up drumming (Enoch also plays the drums), and he is a wild man on the drums, getting more and more skilled. Jed can be a handful at times, but we know that God has big plans for his big personality. He has a sweet heart, and always the best of intentions. We are so blessed to see this comical kid maturing into a Godly young man, and we know God will channel all that energy to do His will and minister to others.
Hezi (11) knows more about history and random scientific and historical facts than most adults I know. He is obsessed with history, memorized all the presidents in order this year, and is constantly reading and adding to his knowledge base. I enrolled him in a robotics class after school at the local elementary school this past year, and every week he would get in the car after the class and tell me how he altered whatever design they were given that day to make it better or more interesting. Hezi is very social, but he is also content to play alone for hours, creating battle scenes with his army guys or playing in the sandbox making cities with rivers running through them. Hezi has enjoyed all the weddings in the family as he loves to dance, eat good food, and socialize with all his older siblings’ friends, wowing them with his knowledge of various topics. He is a sweet guy, and it is amazing to see the young man he is becoming.
Tovi is 8 and the most determined little boy. He is really talented at a lot of things, but he also works very hard and practices to accomplish his goals. He recently mastered doing a standing back flip after practicing over and over. Tovi works very hard at most things he does. He might complain about certain school subjects, but he always completes his work with excelllence. Tovi is a very social little boy, always looking for opportunities to play with friends. He is athletic, excelling at many sports, and if he’s not good at it to begin with, he will practice, practice, practice until he masters it. He is getting quite good on the piano as well. Tovi is such a sweet little guy, and we love watching him grow and learn. It’s fun still having relatively young kids at home.
.
Eden and Haddie both turned 19 this year, which is very hard to believe. They are so sweet and helpful, and love to do chores around the house. Whenever we are having guests over, these two young ladies are eager to help me get the house straightened up and ready. They both graduated from occupational therapy this year and Eden finished speech therapy. They are both so happy to be part of our big crazy family, and we are so blessed that God brought them to us 6 years ago!
Daniel is 15 and was moved up to the 8th grade at the local middle school. He continues to love his bus rides to and from school, and he loves all the structure and interaction he gets at the school. When school is not in session, Daniel gets quite upset, as he is very social and loves to meet new people. He does continue to have a lot of behavioral issues that challenge us greatly. He’s so charming, however, that it balances out the challenging behaviors. He has won over many hearts with that cute, dimpled smile and funny antics.
Todd switched to a new position at Intel that is more in line with his expertise and management skills. He is still able to work from home pretty much full time, which is so nice. He is really happy in this new position. Todd is also very involved in church leadership as an elder. I am homeschooling the kids and I also started teaching an Intro to Speech, Debate, and Mock Trial class as well as a Competitive Speech class at One Day Academy (homeschool classes). I am still teaching Les Mills Body Pump and Body Combat classes Mondays -Thursdays at 6am. If you’re in the Austin area and like to work out early in the morning, come check out my classes! I’m leading a women’s Bible study at our church, and I also enjoy singing with the worship team. We love the life we have built here with our family on our little ranch in the heart of Texas. God has truly blessed us, and we are very grateful.
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
