Christmas Letter 2008

Christmas 2008

Christmas greetings from the Shaffer’s! Like all the other years, this one has been busy, but always full of excitement. Here’s a peak into what each of the Shaffer family members did this year.

After months of asking questions, and listening to Sam’s preschool teachers, we decided to wait one more year before sending Sam to kindergarten, even though he turned 5 in July. As Sam’s Uncle Lance summed it up nicely, “give him another year to be a kid.” Sam is in his second year at Asbury Preschool and will start kindergarten in the fall. One of the benefits to waiting on kindergarten was that Sam is able to continue attending Bible Study Fellowship where he is learning stories about Moses. Sam and Mom have “played” BSF at home many times, with the Rescue Heroes, Star Wars characters, Planet Heroes, and any other collection of toys willing to participate. Recently we have included Ben in our “class” to prepare him to begin attending in January after his 2nd birthday. In May, Sam shared that he had invited Jesus to live in his heart during quiet time at BSF. We have enjoyed talking about what that means, and are grateful to God that he has answered our prayers that Sam would come to know and believe in God at an early age. Sam took swimming lessons and gymnastics this summer. He played soccer at the YMCA in the fall. Sam enjoyed being on a team and suggested their team name, which was “Transformers”. Luckily there was only one girl on their team, so the suggestion passed easily. Although they did not score very many goals, it was good exercise and hopefully a good introduction to sports. Sam has also been enjoying collecting bugs and making their domicile in our home in a bug box. Sam has been a caretaker to crickets, a roly-poly, and a grasshopper. Thank goodness for the Internet to find out what they like to eat. Sam is a very active and imaginative five year old. He says that reading is his favorite thing to do. He also enjoys looking at his Highlights magazines, playing computer games and collecting McDonald’s Happy Meal toys. Sam has also been spending a lot of time with his cousin Brooke. Grandpa Shaffer enjoys taking them both to Exploration Place. Sam and Brooke are also good at “conning” Grandma and Grandpa Shaffer, whether it is spending the night or a special treat.

Ben will be two years old December 29th. Ben’s vocabulary is progressing, and before long he will be talking as much as his big brother. Ben loves playing with his brother’s toys. He loves Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder, and “Melmo” (aka Elmo). Ben’s favorite thing to do these days is driving the car (while it is parked in the garage!) We let him pretend drive while he pushes every button available. We have to make sure all of the lights are turned off when he’s done, otherwise we will have a dead battery. Ben enjoys spending time with all of his grandparents. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, while Kristin and Sam are at Bible Study Fellowship, Ben hangs out with Grandma and Grandpa Keefer. He will join Sam at Bible Study Fellowship in January, once he turns 2. One of our weekly opportunities has been to visit our “adopted” grandmother, Ethel Bowlby, at the Life Care Center. Sam has been visiting since before Ben was around, and Ben joined in right after he was born. Among many highlights to our visits were enjoying ice cream, playing the bobby pin game, “honking” noses (Ben), selecting a piece of candy after going potty, and Sam’s weekly reading of a book to Mrs. Bowlby. Sadly, after 99 years of a well-lived life, Mrs. Bowlby left this earth to join her husband in heaven. We will miss our weekly visits, but continue to be thankful to have shared in bringing joy to her and the other residents of the Center. Ben enjoyed his 2nd Thanksgiving at the Abbey at Atchison this year with his own “bed.” His Uncle “ooh” (aka Hugh) was able to find a small bed so Ben could enjoy all the benefits of Room #2.

Doug is still working for Bank of the West. Things are stable at the bank despite nationwide problems with banks. Thankfully, Bank of the West has always been a conservative bank and will be able to weather through the economic downtown. Doug recently finished his masters in Biblical Studies from Golden State School of Theology. This program has taken several years to complete. Doug is going to the men’s Bible Study Fellowship on Tuesday evenings. The study this year is Moses. It has been a really good study thus far. Doug truly enjoys being a dad and husband and is having a great time watching his boys grow and learn. He tries to give mom some breaks and periods of rest when he can.

This last May, Doug’s sister Lori passed away from a two-year battle with cancer. It was an extremely difficult time and we all miss her very much. Lori lived her life intentionally and wants all of us to live an intentional life as well. This means in every area of your life, and especially the important areas to live life with passion and purpose. Lori’s husband Lance and five year old daughter Brooke, moved back to Wichita in August. It has been fun having them here and hope and pray for their encouragement during the next several years.

Kristin continues to enjoy staying home with her boys. She is still involved in Bible Study Fellowship, this year as the Assistant Childrens Leader, a nice mix between administrative duties (attendance, snack procurement) and people duties (making sure each classroom has a volunteer each week.) She still teaches adjunct flute lessons at Bethel College, and plays in the Newton Mid Kansas Symphony Orchestra (her 12th year). She was even asked to perform a solo with the orchestra in February, as well as with the Bethel College Orchestra in March. She has two wonderfully talented high school students that come to the house to take lessons.

Other events to 2008 include a few family trips. After deciding that $1500 was a bit pricey to fly to California as a family (that includes Ben flying free), we decided to take some shorter, closer family trips this year. We traveled to Salina to the Rolling Hills Zoo, to Kansas City for a wedding, and to Pittsburg, KS to celebrate July 4th. Since Kristin played in the wedding of a former flute student over the Labor Day weekend, we did not make the annual train trip to visit family in Albuquerque, NM. Instead we traveled in October to Carona, KS and hopped aboard a train that took us up to Chicopee, KS to a pumpkin patch before returning us back to Carona, KS. The town was close to Pittsburg,KS where we met up with our friends the Hudsons. After a fun dinner at our favorite restaurant, the Rocking K, we traveled on to Joplin where we spent the night. The Hudsons joined us the next day and we visited the Precious Moments Chapel together. We left from there to go to Tulsa, where we went to the zoo, and then came home. If you ask Sam what his favorite part of any of our trips was, he will tell you the vending machines, or maybe the hot tub or pool.
After reading the news about more job cuts and recession woes, it can sure damper the holiday mood. But going to Walgreen’s to purchase Christmas lights and being asked for some help from some kind homeless men or dropping off some groceries to a friend short on cash can sure make you thankful for the things that we are blessed with. As we talk with Sam about what we are thankful for each night before bed, we can’t help but mention, you, our friends. Each one of you has touched our lives in some way, and we are thankful to God for you. We hope that you are taking time to reflect on the goodness of God this Christmas season and the ultimate gift of Jesus.