Double Digits!

Samara turned 10! When I was pregnant with Samara we were wondering if she was going to be our last baby. We originally planned for 4 and Samara is number 4 but we hadn't factored in saying goodbye to our second born. So, while she is our 4th baby she would grow up as our 3rd. We also considered that she might be our last biological child, factoring in that our heart towards adoption was growing and before she was born we attended an adoption seminar. All this is being recounted to explain what I felt when she arrived. She was our fasted named child... moments after someone declared "It's a GIRL!" I announced... "her name is Samara Anne Marie Neufeld"... and Jonathan was not going to argue with me. I think the next thing I said was "I want 2 more." My heart just grew as I held my new baby girl.

Samara makes being a Mom easy. She is even tempered, helpful, studious, loves to read and in general is just easy to get along with. She also enjoys a lot of the same things I enjoy including Overcooked, board games, cooking and trail walks. This girl is beautiful on the inside! She is faithful and loving.

This year she hit double digits which is a little mind boggling even though I have had practice with this milestone already with David and Angeline. I really wanted her birthday to be special since we couldn't have people over for a celebration in light of the current pandemic restrictions. We set our table with china and had a special tea. It was a nice way to celebrate her special day (even though my french macaroons didn't turn out). Thank you to everyone who made her day special by sending cards, gifts, flowers, pictures and video's to let her know you were thinking about her.

To end her special day with a bang she wanted to play Lords of Waterdeep and she won! 

Love you Samara! You will forever make me want 2 more.

Keep being you, you are awesome!

 

Christmas Letter 2020

 

Stepping into 2020 we knew it was going to be a year of change which usually means adjustments and challenges but we had no idea what we were really in for and I haven't even got to the part about Covid yet.

For starters Jonathan had just began working from home as a Medical Transcriptionist. This has been a really good fit for him and for our family but it certainly presents a unique set of challenges. When David transitioned from Highschool back to Homeshcool in February I was especially thankful to have Jonathan working from home. With five school aged children to teach I had my hands full and he was a big help taking on the older three for Science and helping Angeline and Samara with their online Social Studies class. When our province shut down mid March we thought we had it made. The kids were all homeschooling anyway so nothing much changed there and Jonathan was working from home. However, Jonathan's contract was suspended for about 6 weeks due to a lack of work because of cancelled elective reports. It ended up being a blessing in disguise because we had all hands on deck to finish another successful school year and his contract was reinstated just in time to see us into summer break.

We were thankful to have more or less a typical summer. We were able to visit grandparents and go camping as a family at Rathtrevor Beach twice and Jonathan and I snuck in a few camping trip just the two of us as well. We had hoped to go on a road trip to Alberta but that was postponed. In September we geared up for a new adventure... switching our homeschool approach to a Unit Study based learning and a new curriculum called Gather Round.

So far this year we have completed units on North American Birds, Asia and Space. We have started a mini Unit on Christmas and will begin learning about Europe this month. The awesome thing about this is that we are all learning together as a family. Jonathan even takes a break from work to read through our lesson and watch video's with us. I love this aspect of it. I have learned a lot this year! After lesson time each kid had a workbook that is designed for their grade level. Math we do separately and David is doing an online Science course but the bulk of our learning we do together. David has had the opportunity to do a Highschool Coop in Parksville once a month, and we have a local homeschool group that we meet with (though currently that has had to switch to online). We have also started to do book clubs this year, and I personally LOVED reading Around the World in 80 days by Jules Verne. There is a satisfaction with each Unit we complete and we are always looking forward to the next one.

Our oldest 4 are enjoying curling and Jonathan is coaching, though we aren't curling as a couple this year. We have scaled back a lot on activities but we hope to be able to be able to get back to a more regular routine once this second wave settles down. David is now 14, Angeline 11, Samara 9 (for another week), Rebekah 8, Joshua 6 and Naomi 3 (for a few more weeks). They are all growing too fast. We are so thankful for each of them. Some memorable family moments include 8km bike ride to Cold Creek with our oldest 5, nature walks, favourite video games (Minecraft Dungeons & Overcooked 2), lots of board games with Wingspan being a new favourite, watching the Mandalorian with the oldest 3, an epic float race with pool noodle paddles and water polo.

This years milestone for us was celebrating our 15 year Wedding Anniversary. Though we weren't able to have a wine and cheese like we had planned we did have a lovely celebration and dinner out. Another accomplishment for us this year was reading through the Bible in 4 months which we just completed yesterday. It meant we set an alarm most mornings to start reading before the kids woke up but what started out as a struggle developed into a disciple and routine. It has been invaluable to start our day in God's word and we look forward to beginning a 1 year reading plan in January.

It has not been a perfect year and it has not been an easy year but it has been a good year. Christmas this year may not be what we planned. We may have to do without certain traditions. We may have to make some adjustments and new traditions but our reason for celebrating remains. 

May Hope, Peace, Love and Joy fill your hearts this Christmas and in the New Year.

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Melissa & Jonathan

David, Angeline, Samara, Rebekha, Joshua, Naomi (& Onyx too)

Covid Christmas

Oh Covid 19! Regardless of how we feel about it, life has changed and Christmas is going to be different this year. We might fear it, loath it, or deny it but whatever our feelings are on the matter this virus is just not convenient.

As our province began shutting down this month I started to get anxious. Feelings and memories of my experience during the spring lock down began to overwhelm me. Frustration took over. That was my first response “oh no, here we go again.” I was thinking about Christmas and worrying over the very real possibility that for the first time ever Christmas would consist solely of me, my other half and our six children. Don't get me wrong... these are some of my favourite people but Christmas has always meant visiting extended family, cherished friends and celebrating with others who know the true meaning of Emmanuel.

As I reflected on what we wouldn't be able to do and how much it wouldn't be the same this year, the Christmas story started to scroll through my thoughts and I began to realize there are some similarities to the inconveniences of Covid Christmas that parallel with the very first Christmas.

Though Mary recognized the honour of being chosen to be the mother of God's son it wasn't easy for her. Unwed teen pregnancy and having to travel long distances for a census while 9 months pregnant would have definitely had its challenges. Not having a clean place to deliver the Messiah and being far from the comforts of home was certainly less than ideal. The challenges didn't stop after Jesus was born.

Perspective and thankfulness can both go a long way at helping us remember how blessed we are even when circumstances are challenging. I have good days where I can wrap my mind around this and bad days where I shed a few tears as I am waiting in a lineup. What comes to my mind when a friend shares similar struggles is “you are not alone” but it just feels wrong to say that because the reality is we are all alone, or are we?

This Christmas whether we end up being able to celebrate with family and friends or not let's remember to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, Emmanuel... “God with us.” We are never alone.

(This was a reflection I wrote for our Homeschool Paper, the AVEC Gazette, November issue)