Christmas!

Thanksgiving Day photo by Trevor (2nd from Right)

Greetings!

            This is the family Christmas letter. Yep - online this year! Oh boy. It's not that I'm super tech savvy, people have been doing this for years. But when I told Trevor that I find I'm a bit ahead of the IT curve for my age, he replied, "Yep Mom, you could teach a thing or two to the people at the nursing home…"this is a QWERTY keyboard. "" If you don't know what that is I've proven my point, unless of course, you are online at the nursing home.

    2012 was a packed year!  The boys are so grown now that I don't feel like I should be the one sharing their news - so I will give you a quick rundown and then if you want to you can chase them down using your own QWERTY or cell phone (have you heard of these devices? Very handy).

     In chronological order (hence to avoid the endless favoritism jokes)…Dexter finished the wrestling season at 6th place in the state of Ohio.  Most of us went to San Francisco for spring break which was awesome (except for the part where the van gave up the ghost in Utah).  Mitch graduated the first weekend in May from BGSU. Mitch and Liz (Wagner) got married May 12th (with the reception in a huge tent in our front yard, it was beautiful!). Dexter graduated two weeks later. Two days after that Trevor moved out west for the summer. I painted Mitch's old room a pretty pastel yellow for a new office. Wes moved back home to go back to college and pursue an education degree (he is enjoying the pastel yellow).  Dexter and Wes started college at Findlay Owens in August. Trevor moved back home in September.

     Throughout all of this Dave continues to enjoy teaching and coaching (most days), and the lawn business he built to help the boys through college has grown a lot. I am in my fifth year at BG Christian Academy in development, and have been writing a lot more (my website is even up and running at www.shelleyrlee.com).

     We find ourselves as challenged as ever, and at the same time, as grateful as ever.

     We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a fabulous 2013 (well, I mean some of it anyway, because we do still live on earth as humans and it isn't ….well, why did I even use the word fabulous?) - have a good one!

Love,

Dave & Shelley Lee and boys

A little Christmas laugh:  Frank LOVES tennis balls so I got a bag of them for him for Christmas. I hid them in a shopping bag where he found them.  I hid them in the attic where he whined at that door. I wrapped the tennis balls so I could show him they were not in the attic.  The tennis balls are in a box under the tree where he was whining today.

And here we all are at the wedding!  Happy to welcome Elizabeth Lee to the

Family.   : )

Frank's Favorite Shade of Christmas Gray

    During a quick pick-up-a-few-groceries stop today I grabbed a bag of tennis balls for Frank for Christmas.  Yes, even the pets get a little something.
    I set the bag containing the beloved toys, in his favorite shade of gray, on the counter to keep them out of his sight until I could put them in the attic (and now I've given away my present hiding spot...).
    On my way upstairs I paused and set the bag down to gather a couple other things that needed to go up. When I turned around there was Frank alerting me of the presence of the balls. It was as if he was thinking "There they are, all this time! (He loses them like it's his job.) Could you get them out of that mesh trap please?"
    I would have been heartless to put them all away.  Seriously, look at that face. Plus, he would have whined until Christmas at the door he saw them last go through. So I took one out for him.  It made me truly joyful to see him so happy.
    He has been treasuring that ball all evening and bounces the spit laden wonder toward you with pride. (Sidenote:  I just heard it bounce down the stairs).
    I got to thinking how God loves to bless us too, how pleased it makes Him to see us happy.  Yet, He knows the perfect time to take the gift out of the attic (...and how to perfectly hide it from us).  Sometimes when we get the gift it seems way overdue , but He knew it was right on time.
    This Christmastime I find myself grateful for God's infinite wisdom, and that it included a way for me to get to Him.  More than any gift ever, and more than ever, I treasure this.