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
Beautiful Family!
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