Christmas Letter 2006
Christmas 2006
Greetings from the Wincklers!
Well, the news I left off with last year was on our housing situation. We sold our house in Kennewick and moved into a rental house in Pasco in February. It’s a newer, smaller house that is a great little rental, but not something I would want to settle in. House plans took much longer than anticipated, and we have only just finalized our plans. Instead of the strawbale party barn, we are actually going to construct the official house this coming year, although the manner in which we will do so depends on the bids that come back to us – soon, we hope. We’ll be building a two-story, four-bedroom Tudor house, doing as much of the finishing work ourselves as possible. None of our plans are firm yet, because we need to get the bids and financing figured out before anything happens – and we can’t get any of that before having the final house plan in place.
Matt is working at Battelle as a “Scientist,” which he claims means “Peon of Web Development,” and which his project manager, after an unfortunate incident involving some overzealous programming changes, interprets as a “rather active developer.” His primary responsibility is developing web applications for internal company use. This year his exciting new thing was the acquisition of a motorcycle, older than himself, which acts as his commuter vehicle when it’s not freezing outside and when it’s not sitting in the garage with a blown head gasket – in other words, not now. After considering the cumulative cost of the motorcycle safety course; helmet; armored jacket, pants, and gloves; and maintenance, planned or otherwise; the verdict is still out on whether or not this two-wheeled venture will have a positive return on investment. He does claim it’s a lot of fun, though. In other news, Matt resigned from the Coram Deo Academy board of directors. Coram Deo is continuing to offer supplemental classes aimed at homeschoolers, but starting a full-time classical Christian school – which was Matt’s primary reason for being on the board – proved a vain effort, for now at least. He uses that extra spare time to read books aloud to me in the evenings, play computer games, design web sites, and waste countless hours fiddling with (mostly self-induced) computer problems at home. He has also become obsessed with German-style board games and thinks that everyone else ought to be as well.
I am home full-time this year, teaching no classes. I am thoroughly enjoying the break, and could not have handled this fall if I had been teaching. I do help out with our church’s girls’ club, American Heritage Girls, every week while the boys get their Nana time with my mom and I get to go do something without them in tow – although I do, then, tow four siblings instead. I’ve actually had time for reading big books for pleasure and have taken up needlework again. I’m also beginning thinking and reading about homeschooling, since we will be classically homeschooling instead of classically day-schooling now. So I am relishing these less-structured and less-busy days while they last. I have been taking advantage of slower schedules to visit with friends more often, before distance and school precludes easy, free afternoons. All this has worked to be a blessing in our unexpected recent tragedy.
We found out in August that we were expecting our third little one. However, at our routine 16-week OB visit we learned that God had called him home already. He died in the womb at 15 weeks and was born a week later on November 16, 2006. We named him Friedrich William, and were very grateful for the chance to hold him, for the sympathetic nurse & doctor, and for our family and friends who have helped us get through it. We are grateful we do not live or mourn without hope but know that God is faithful and sovereign.
Johannes turned 3 in August and is now an official “big boy.” He uses the toilet, sits at the table with a regular plate and fork, puts the silverware away every day, and keeps a vigilant eye on Jaeger – which Jaeger does not appreciate. Hans is memorizing Scripture and the Catechism for Young Children at a pace that is only kept in check by Mommy’s inability to keep up a daily review. He loves digging in dirt, pounding on playdough, shooting imaginary bad guys, and sitting on his brother. He has discovered the questions “Why?” and “Why, not?” and hardly ever stops talking or singing. He is convinced that complaining and whining is actually just talking to me, so the phrase, “Mom, I was just talking to you! May I please talk to you?” is often heard around our house.
Jaeger is 19 months, walking, singing, shouting, and desperately attempting to communicate. The picture included bears witness to his fearless and indestructible nature; there is no point at which I can get a picture of him without some prominent bruise or scar marring his face, the unmistakable battle scars of dragon-fighting with not-quite-coordinated movements. Nonetheless, we think it’s one of the cutest faces you’ll ever see. Jaeger is still doing his best to be as much a big boy as Hans. This past week he’s been trying to convince me that he wants to be potty trained, but I don’t believe him. I know he really just wants to be allowed in the bathroom, wherein is located a basin of water at just the right height to play in. Jaeger’s favorite pastime is singing; he is most often found singing at the top of his lungs while playing, riding in the car, following Hans around, and while “napping.”
In other family news, Matt and I celebrated our fifth anniversary in July by taking an overnight trip by ourselves to Seattle. Matt and I are also grateful for and excited about the birth of our first niece, Ava Eloise Braendlein, daughter of Matt’s sister Barb and her husband, Austin. She was born 5 weeks premature, but God has kept her safe and sound and she’s beautiful. We are no longer the only grandchild gig in town on the Winckler side.
In parting, we wish you all a merry Christmas, celebrating the Incarnation of our risen and ruling Lord.
Matt, Mystie, Johannes, & Jaeger
