Sunday, December 24, 2017

Christmas 2017


Merry Christmas from the Christy Family!! It’s unbelievable how much can happen in just 12 months. But here we go…..

Roy got home from Kuwait 12 months ago and didn’t miss a beat. He was home for maybe an hour before taking off to buy me cars – A gas guzzling SUV and a more economical Toyota Camry. Roy has not stopped moving since – building and fixing everything I broke. He is currently tearing up my bathroom in the hopes that YouTube will help him rebuild it.

Our huge project of 2017 was building our pole barn. On the very day that it was complete and just a few minutes after the last panel went up, we had our first Theology of the Body class of the year. God had different plans for our barn than we had. We are so blessed that He has been watching over us. Besides having a weekly class of 30+ students, we also had 2 barn dances back to back. We had 156 guests swing dancing over Halloween weekend while taking turns going through our spook trail on our property. We had a special guest, Pennywise, on the tour. (That’s the spooky clown from the movie IT).

The greatest gift of the year was the engagement of Nick and Audrianna!! I don’t really know why but she said YES!! I’ll take it. They met when Nick was 11 and Audrianna was 9 at a Bible Study we had attended every week. They have been friends ever since. We officially add Audrianna to this crazy family on September 1st, 2018.

Mary Kate won the Personal Success of the Year Award through Eitas. She successfully lost 25 pounds through her own discipline and exercise. I would love to take credit but she did this all on her own and she was recognized in a big way – in front of a thousand people in a banquet hall with a long and beautiful biography recognizing her hard work this year. She continues to drink and visit the casinos every week with Grandma.

Samantha graduated High School and began taking EMT classes at Johnson County Community College. She keeps up with her faith and social life with St. Paul’s Outreach. She still works part time as a server around the metropolitan area. You can find her in places like the WW1 Museum, the Ritz Charles, Federal Reserve, other event spaces, and occasionally in private homes. She recently got accepted to move in the Women’s House with SPO next year.

Max has been working hard with his lawn business. He has so many customers that he doesn’t even need to advertise. When he isn’t working, he is “urban exploring” – a fancy name for illegally trespassing abandoned properties and pretending he is a special force’s badass as he kicks open doors with his scary airsoft pistol. He promises that he will be finished with this hobby before he turns 18 and replace it with something legal – buying a motorcycle:/

Theresa has done something I never thought her, or anyone else in my family would ever do –she played her guitar and sang a solo in front of an audience. She has blossomed into a confident and bold young lady. To nurture these gifts, she began taking speech & debate with a local homeschool group where she is encouraged to speak boldly about virtues and God.

Ben has matured this year by leaps and bounds. He hasn’t beaten up anyone (outside the family) in over a year😊 He is making AND KEEPING friends – even after he sends them to the ER! This is a big deal! He is well liked by all of his peers and smart as a whip. If he kept up with his homework, there is no telling how bright his future will be. Without Ben, our family would be so bored and quiet.



Josie is just as adorable as she has always been. All she does is giggle and smile and brighten everyone’s day. She began playing the ukulele and had 2 performances this year. She is an active member of AHG (American Heritage Girls). She attends weekly meetings where she earns badges and life skills and develops a closer relationship with God.


Matthew is in 2nd grade at the local public school. Besides getting himself suspended for bringing a pocket knife to school, he has done well in his class. If he behaves and gets his chores and homework finished, Max lets him run really fast through our land while he tries to shoot him with an airsoft sniper rifle.

Andrew is by far the cutest and most adorable child I have ever had and everyone agrees. He is just as adorable on the inside too. He is always happy and smiling and so patient and calm for being only 4 years old. He loves to color-code, line up and organize everything. He will do that with a package of M&Ms before eating them. 

Juliana has long, curly red locks and big brown eyes. This is exactly what I ordered when I was pregnant. God is too good to me. She has an extensive vocabulary that include “No…..get away from me….go away….stop hitting me….I don’t want that….I don’t like you….”etc. She will fit in just fine around here.

Our family has finally got to the point where we all need to accept that many conversations will be going on and you may never get undivided attention by everyone at the same time. You have to wait for a guitar performance to get that kind of attention. I cannot put into words the joy and exhilaration there is to having a big family who enjoy each other’s company. Everything we do (dinner, prayer time) takes twice as long to get through because of ongoing conversations, stories about our day, laughing, kids doing and saying silly things, etc. I told our engagement retreat class that the reason we can’t put this feeling into words is because God wants us to trust Him first before we reap the benefits of this trust. My words can never express this joy.

I pray that 2018 brings greater virtues and spiritual growth to our family and yours.



                                                                                       Love, The Christy Family

                                                                                       Nick, Mary Kate, Samantha, Max, Theresa, 
                                                                                       Ben, Josie, Matthew, Andrew, Juliana