Dear Family and Friends,
It is my prayer that this letter finds you all snuggled on the couch with your dear ones enjoying a mug of cocoa and some memories to cherish for a lifetime.
God has taken us on quite a journey this year. We have learned some valuable lessons about trusting Him in all things and I am constantly reminded of the encouragement of Chris Klicka, “God is good, all the time”. I have spent much time reflecting on the blessing of family. My daughters have changed so much and I am so thankful to see them growing in their knowledge of Christ and His grace. By God’s grace, Phil and I have grown even closer in our relationship and fall in love a little more with each passing day.
Jocelyn graduated from our homeschool last spring and since, has kept a busy schedule.
In her words:
“On May 22nd I graduated and another chapter in my life came to a close. After graduating I started working full time for my grandparents who own a Property Management Company for Homeowners Associations. I had worked for them in the past years but now that I was graduated I had more time and so could work full time. Then in July I started in Agility at Q-Quest Agility Training with my dog Brinkley! What an adventure that has been. In August we had our first trial and out of three runs we got two ELIM (Elimination) and one DNR (Did Not Run). He had run out of the ring on his first two runs and so I dropped out of the third run. This was disappointing but definitely a learning experience. After that I started working on his obedience with a friend from church. In November my dog and I competed in our second agility trial and found that the obedience training really paid off! Out of two days with three runs each we got one ELIM, one 6th, one 4th, one 3rd, two 1sts, and three Qs (Qualifying Runs)! It was great fun and I look forward to trial season 2011!”
The girls are still doing Irish dance and have had the opportunity to share their talents at many venues. Marissa was honored to join her team for an appearance with Leahy in March.
“They are an amazing group, but so down to earth. They treated us like we were very important and they even joked about wanting us to tour with them. I think they could tell that the audience appreciated our dancing. I was so thrilled to be able to dance with such amazing people!”
Marissa has had quite a year! She will graduate from our homeschool this spring and will participate in the state homeschool graduation ceremony on May 28th. Her graduation gift from Grandma and Grandpa Davis is a new smile!
“I was so excited! [The orthodontist] told me that I have about two years of work….Expansion is done and I have bottom and upper braces in. Next time I go in we will see if we can set up my herbst which will swing my bottom jaw forward so that it is where it should be.”
She also discovered at Jocelyn’s Agility Trial that she wasn’t able to see well at a distance.
“Mom set up an eye appointment for the family and the eye doctor confirmed that I needed glasses. It’s amazing how much better I can see! It was like the world was flat, like I was standing in a small room looking at the pictures around me. Now I am living in 3D once again, and everything is so beautiful!”
After working with our mortgage company for several months, making modified payments while our account was in review, we lost our home because of a clerical error on the bank’s part. Phil learned while in a conference call that there were two databases at Bank of America. One of them showed all our payments and correspondence, the other was empty, portraying that we were not cooperating. The false database set the foreclosure in motion.
Adelie shares:
“After starting school again, there came a day when we lost our house. Ma and Pa tried to see if they could keep the house for at least another month but a few days later we officially lost the house. But the Lord was with us from the beginning and provided a place for us to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Davis. Now we are all settled and have been living quite cozily. I have celebrated my fifteenth birthday and am awaiting my Christmas break.”
We enjoyed two summer camping trips. One with our church family at Cascade Lake and the other near Bonanza with our dear friends the Bain’s, the Chuck Vawser family, the Andrew Vawser family and new friends the Pirc family.
Carolyn writes:
“We had so much fun! We did some roping and I roped Matt! We also did some tomahawk throwing. I had so much trouble getting it to stick in the wood! I went with a couple of friends to catch snakes and then we played in the creek before going home and I got soaked. We dubbed the group ‘The Sagebrush Pioneers’.”
The picture below was taken after an icing fight we got into while decorating our gingerbread house on Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful celebration and we got to enjoy the company of the Edenfields this year! After a wonderful feast we had a gingerbread house, decora
ting contest (sponsored by Grandma and Grandpa Davis) where we competed against the Edenfield and the Andy Gruver families. The Edenfields won the contest since they used matches to “light up” their house. It was a great time with great friends!
Merry Christmas!
Phil, Tonya, Jocelyn, Marissa,
Adelie and Carolyn Gruver
It is my prayer that this letter finds you all snuggled on the couch with your dear ones enjoying a mug of cocoa and some memories to cherish for a lifetime.
God has taken us on quite a journey this year. We have learned some valuable lessons about trusting Him in all things and I am constantly reminded of the encouragement of Chris Klicka, “God is good, all the time”. I have spent much time reflecting on the blessing of family. My daughters have changed so much and I am so thankful to see them growing in their knowledge of Christ and His grace. By God’s grace, Phil and I have grown even closer in our relationship and fall in love a little more with each passing day.
Jocelyn graduated from our homeschool last spring and since, has kept a busy schedule.
In her words:
“On May 22nd I graduated and another chapter in my life came to a close. After graduating I started working full time for my grandparents who own a Property Management Company for Homeowners Associations. I had worked for them in the past years but now that I was graduated I had more time and so could work full time. Then in July I started in Agility at Q-Quest Agility Training with my dog Brinkley! What an adventure that has been. In August we had our first trial and out of three runs we got two ELIM (Elimination) and one DNR (Did Not Run). He had run out of the ring on his first two runs and so I dropped out of the third run. This was disappointing but definitely a learning experience. After that I started working on his obedience with a friend from church. In November my dog and I competed in our second agility trial and found that the obedience training really paid off! Out of two days with three runs each we got one ELIM, one 6th, one 4th, one 3rd, two 1sts, and three Qs (Qualifying Runs)! It was great fun and I look forward to trial season 2011!”
The girls are still doing Irish dance and have had the opportunity to share their talents at many venues. Marissa was honored to join her team for an appearance with Leahy in March.
“They are an amazing group, but so down to earth. They treated us like we were very important and they even joked about wanting us to tour with them. I think they could tell that the audience appreciated our dancing. I was so thrilled to be able to dance with such amazing people!”
Marissa has had quite a year! She will graduate from our homeschool this spring and will participate in the state homeschool graduation ceremony on May 28th. Her graduation gift from Grandma and Grandpa Davis is a new smile!
“I was so excited! [The orthodontist] told me that I have about two years of work….Expansion is done and I have bottom and upper braces in. Next time I go in we will see if we can set up my herbst which will swing my bottom jaw forward so that it is where it should be.”
She also discovered at Jocelyn’s Agility Trial that she wasn’t able to see well at a distance.
“Mom set up an eye appointment for the family and the eye doctor confirmed that I needed glasses. It’s amazing how much better I can see! It was like the world was flat, like I was standing in a small room looking at the pictures around me. Now I am living in 3D once again, and everything is so beautiful!”
After working with our mortgage company for several months, making modified payments while our account was in review, we lost our home because of a clerical error on the bank’s part. Phil learned while in a conference call that there were two databases at Bank of America. One of them showed all our payments and correspondence, the other was empty, portraying that we were not cooperating. The false database set the foreclosure in motion.
Adelie shares:
“After starting school again, there came a day when we lost our house. Ma and Pa tried to see if they could keep the house for at least another month but a few days later we officially lost the house. But the Lord was with us from the beginning and provided a place for us to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Davis. Now we are all settled and have been living quite cozily. I have celebrated my fifteenth birthday and am awaiting my Christmas break.”
We enjoyed two summer camping trips. One with our church family at Cascade Lake and the other near Bonanza with our dear friends the Bain’s, the Chuck Vawser family, the Andrew Vawser family and new friends the Pirc family.
Carolyn writes:
“We had so much fun! We did some roping and I roped Matt! We also did some tomahawk throwing. I had so much trouble getting it to stick in the wood! I went with a couple of friends to catch snakes and then we played in the creek before going home and I got soaked. We dubbed the group ‘The Sagebrush Pioneers’.”
The picture below was taken after an icing fight we got into while decorating our gingerbread house on Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful celebration and we got to enjoy the company of the Edenfields this year! After a wonderful feast we had a gingerbread house, decora
ting contest (sponsored by Grandma and Grandpa Davis) where we competed against the Edenfield and the Andy Gruver families. The Edenfields won the contest since they used matches to “light up” their house. It was a great time with great friends!Merry Christmas!
Phil, Tonya, Jocelyn, Marissa,
Adelie and Carolyn Gruver
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