Christmas Letter 2011
Dear Friends and Family:
"Joy to the World, the Lord is Come! Let Earth Receive her King;
Let every Heart Prepare Him Room, and heaven and Nature Sing!"
As 2011 is quickly winding down, our anticipation for Christmas and the New Year is building up! Eric was an elf in his school program yesterday and did an awesome job. He is counting down the days until Christmas and looking forward to several days of no school The work in 2nd grade is a little harder than 1st grade (naturally), so it will be nice to have a break. Eric has also been working hard in karate. He recently earned his orange belt and is now working toward a green belt. He is always happy to give a demonstration, too!
We added a new member to our family in July -- a sweet, little, brown and white puppy named Bella. She is part Pekingese and part Chihuahua, just a fun little ball of fluff. The cats, Quincy and Moses, tolerate her, even if they do not love her as much as the rest of us do. She loves her toys, going outside, visiting Jennie's parents, snuggling, and ...oh... cat food!
We are so thankful for Kevin's new job at Procter and Gamble, where he works on a toilet paper ("don't squeeze the Charmin") line. The plant is less than 4 miles from our house ... it may take him longer to walk from his car to the entrance that it does to drive to work. He works 12 hour swing shifts on a rotating schedule, but for the first time in our marriage and even longer for him, he has some weekends off. Jennie is still working in Clarks Summit. We are thankful for her job, too.
Our family vacation to Hilton Head, SC in October was great, as usual! Eric loved being in the ocean even though the jellyfish were bad. We spent a few weekends at our cottage this summer too, not as many as we had hoped, but more than last year. A trip to Knoebel's Amusement Park was fun for a day, but next time we will need to take along a friend who loves roller coasters as much as Eric.
The year was not without sadness, though, either. Jennie's grandfather, Herb Shotwell, passed away in February. And her sweet grandmother, Shirley Shotwell, passed away nine months later, to the day, in November. Jennie was at least able to spend some special moments with her grandmother in the months and days before her death, even being there with her when she died. They were wonderful grandparents.
Jennie's nephew, Mikey, was also involved in a tragic accident in July that took the life of a 12 year old neighbor boy. We particularly remember his family this Christmas. Please keep them in your prayers.
In the happy times and the sad times, we are so grateful to know our hope is in Jesus. Jesus, whose humble birth we celebrate, whose death on the cross paid the price for our sin, and whose resurrection conquered death that we might spend eternity with Him. Jesus who is the same --yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Joy to the World! The Lord is Come!
We love you! Have a wonderful year in 2012!
The Powells -- Kevin, Jennie and Eric
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