December, 2014
Merry Christmas to one and all!
Kate and I started off the year with a trip to Haiti. We left Rochester,NY in a snowstorm and arrived in Port-au-Prince and 95°. It was a life-changing trip for Kate and myself. It was strange to be the minority. But the people there were friendly, full of laughter and very kind even though we couldn't understand each other! The kids did amazing job with their VBS program and learned to communicate with a few words of Creole and a lot of body language. The youth group has started fund-raising for the next trip down into 2016. Kate is hoping to go along as an "adult sponsor".
You read that right! Kate finishes high school this year and is in the top three of her class at this time. She's been accepted to Houghton College and is planning on studying intercultural studies. She was invited and played in the Area All-State band in November. It was a great concert and she had a fantastic time.She also sings in the Women's Choir at school with both of her sisters this year, still going at it in tennis for the fourth year in the spring, and a leader in the youth group. This past summer she worked at a local KOA camp which gave all of us a taste of her being gone. She learned that mom and dad aren't the only ones with strict rules. Kate also got her drivers license this summer and enjoys the time she gets to borrow the van.
Ian is happy to report that he has passed everyone in this house for height and also Ed's father. He currently measures at 5' 7 1/2". He seems to be enjoying his sophomore year and is doing much better with his classes. Every once in a while he helps out with the lighting for concerts or plays at the school. He also is running the sound booth at the church.Mostly he just enjoys harassing his sisters!
Anna is blossoming in her own realm! Anna continues in the advanced math class and has geometry this year as a freshman. She's on the high honor list. She too is in the women's choir and she's part of the art club. Her favorite class this year is art class and she is experiencing that she can do more than just draw Anime. Pottery though, is not her thing.She too is growing and is the same height as her mom. She is still our bouncy, smiley, girl who is occasionally taken over by teenage angst.
Emily is very much enjoying seventh grade. She could hardly wait to get out of the "little kids" school. She is doing great in her classes and enjoys band, chorus, women's choir and is looking forward to basketball season. Emily has also tried her hand at acting and was part of a play put on by a local youth acting troupe. I was so proud of our zombie! Emily is looking forward to Katie's new adventure in college because Emily gets her bedroom! She is almost as tall as her dad now and loves to give them a run for his money when they start to debate.I just walked out of the room.
This year has been another surgery year for Ed. He now has two metal knees. The recovery on this one has been a little bit slower, not because of the knee but because he's been having problems with his hip. Hopefully we'll get this all straightened out in the new year. We've had a chance to spend more time with his family down in Rome, PA this year which has been great. His mom continues to fade due to the Alzheimer's but she always smiles and is glad when we're there and sad when we leave. We've seen the addition of two new babies added to the Ross line. My favorite time is when I get to steal one of them for snuggle. I was able to surprise Ed with a party for his 50th. We had a great turnout of family, a couple of friends from school and even one of his old teachers.
It's been an interesting year for myself. One of my coworkers was off for two months and I took her place in surgery. Those of you that know me well know that's where I want to be! About May or June I was diagnosed with tarsal tunnel syndrome. Sounds very similar to carpal tunnel and it is, only it's in my foot. Interesting to have with a job where you're on your feet most of the day but I'm surviving. My parents of had a rough year physically and it's been hard to be so far away from home. I'm very grateful for my sister and brother that live near them and have been there for them. I am very proud of my children and the quality young man and women that they're turning out to be. One more year and I will have four teenagers. Can you believe that?
Things at the church are going well. We are slowly growing and that's a good thing. We're now at about 30 to 40 on the Sunday morning and sometimes we even have some children there besides ours! We had some pretty severe water damage done this past spring and God has used that to bless us. We were able to redo part of the back of the church and it looks very nice now and more welcoming. It did a lot of damage to two of the classrooms in the basement and they have been redone and we are working at setting up a children's room. Now that we have a couple of kids coming I can hardly wait to get set up to do junior church the way it should be done. The youth group is going strong and the kids are planning on another trip to Haiti in 2016. Ed will get to go this time and I know that Anna wants to go along with him. We did a canoeing trip this summer and the teens are talking about doing it again this next summer. We are doing children's program for Christmas and praying that it will continue to draw in even more families. God reminds us frequently to place our trust in Him and He will be faithful to us. God is good all the time!
God is using this Christmas season to remind me that it's not about the gifts,it's not about the givers but it's about Him and the gift that He gave to us. Merry Christmas.
Love,
Ed, Sara, Kate, Ian, Anna and Emily
