i'm keep'n it simple.
dani, levi, eryn, jordyn & roni
this is our annual Christmas letter this year....
Greetings everyone!
We hope that our
annual Christmas letter finds you all well and that you are enjoying the
Blessings of this season. We wish you a joyous Christmas with your loved ones,
with God’s richest blessings for 2013! Much has happened this year, but I’ll
just touch on some of the highlights so get comfy & I’ll fill you in on the
happenings in the Otten family!
We have once
again been blessed with a year of prosperity & health in our family. We
continue to be busy with work, church & school activities.
Eryn is now 18 and has just completed her first semester
of university. Last year I told you that she was going for ultra sound/
radiology technician, well the day that she applied to the universities, she
decided that she would go into linguistics. Her goal is to become a speech
therapist, thus she is taking the speech language pathology program at Brock University
here in St. Catharines. It’s nice because school is 20 min from home! Both the
girls worked very hard this summer and Eryn was able to buy her first car! She
bought something reliable and economical on gas~ a Honda Civic sport coupe…such
a cute car! It’s a stick shift which is always fun to drive (except in city
traffic :( ). In September Eryn
started dating a young man whom she met earlier this summer. His name is Kevin
and he is a fourth year university student with the goal of becoming a teacher.
He’s completely smitten with Eryn & we also enjoy having him around. Eryn
is a caring & responsible young lady who loves to bake, read, laugh, listen
to music & enjoy life with her family & friends. She’s a great big sister who is always willing
to do her younger sisters’ hair for church, school, dates (e~hem) in general~
every day. She has great organizational skills which I love (…does not get that from me!).
Danielle is now 17 and in her senior year of high school. She totally loves school this year, finding it much easier than gr 11. Danielle continues to be involved with many extra-curricular sports again this year. Basketball is finished, volleyball is underway and in the spring badminton will begin. She is also involved with student council and various other school committees. Her future endeavors post-secondary would include community college. In what field, you ask? Not sure yet! She’s just positive she doesn’t want to go to university. I’m good with that. I just want her to enjoy the field she does choose to go into & that she will be able to glorify God in it! Danielle also decided she needed a boyfriend too! She has just started dating a guy in her class…she’s had her eye on him for a while & apparently he’s been sweet on her for a while too ;). This past spring he asked her to the school banquet, but they went just as friends. He goes to our church as well, so she sees him just about every day~ lucky girl! He’s a great guy & we like him a lot too! Danielle is a spunky young lady who absolutely loves to laugh & have fun! She has a contagious smile & a tender loving heart. She always gives 110 % in all she does. She is sincere and always has a mischievous twinkle in her eye!
Veronica is now 14 and in her freshman year of high school.
She had a great time on her gr 8 class camping trip to Algonquin Park for a week. Wayne was able to go as chaperone for that
trip. She is loving high school as she
feels the teachers treat the students in a more grown up manner. She has surpassed Danielle in height and shoe
size! This September Veronica wanted a change…short hair. As you can see in the family pic her hair is
quite long, but she begged me to cut her hair, so just before school started I
chopped it all off! It looks so very cute on her & she just loves the ‘no
fuss’ hair style! Another change for Veronica is that a month ago she received
a mouth full of hardware! Yep, braces. Her teeth and jaw shape is so tight
& narrow that she will need to wear them for at least two years. After that
she will have some sort of an appliance to wear at night to keep them from
shifting back (like mine did after my braces came off as a kid!!). Thankfully, so far they haven’t been giving
her too much trouble or pain. On the whole Veronica is a quiet young lady who
loves reading, playing the wii, hanging out with her friends & sleeping in!!
She is sensitive and has a tender heart.
Levi is 13 and in grade 8! Wow, we have 4 teens in the
house! I still have a hard time thinking our son will be graduating this year…it’s
all gone so quickly! Levi is as spunky as ever. He will never be crazy about
school, but that’s ok. He loves to be active doing things, whether it’s sports
or playing outside with the dogs (yes, dogs) or playing air soft wars with his
buddies. Levi still very much enjoys
joke books. Every Saturday we go to the
library and get out books & movies, and often he’ll come home with a new
joke book or comic book…silly boy! To be honest I think he would love to be a
comedian one day but his delivery needs loads
of work!! Humor is a big part of Levi…he sees humor in many things in life!
Levi is slowly getting taller; I’ve been noticing that his pants are getting
shorter~ good sign! He and Jordyn do a lot together like riding bikes, playing
outside, playing the wii & other games. They both like to do science
experiments in the kitchen…no worries, just your ‘home made’ ones like mixing
vinegar & baking soda~ that kind of thing. Levi has a tender heart and is
always willing to help out at home when chores are to be done. He loves music
and reading. Levi always has a ready smile.
Jordyn is 10
and in gr 5. This year she is in the
split class again and loves it. She loves school and thrives in it. It helps
that she loves her teacher too. This girl is growing & getting tall! Jordyn
has also taken an interest in ‘doing hair’. She normally has big sister Eryn do
her hair in the morning before school but has since learned on her own how to
do French, rope(or Dutch style) & fish bone braids. Now in the morning
she’ll come out of the bathroom with some funky new braid in her hair that she has
figured out how to do. I’m constantly asked if she can please ‘do’ my hair and
that I keep it in! I don’t mind…have at it! Another of Jordyn’s interests are music
& singing. This girl can’t seem to
get enough music. I love to listen to music as well & daily have music on
in the house when I’m home. She will sing along always or try to bang out a melody
on the piano. She’s our game playing girl. Every Sunday she pulls out a game~
any game, and asks someone to play it with her. From board games to card games
to charades, she’s got them covered. Jordyn also has a tender heart and it
easily gets hurt when her older siblings are not in the mood to play yet
another game with her. But she has
figured out quite quickly that Eryn & Dani’s boyfriends will not turn down
her request to play a game with her, much to her delight!! This girl is very talkative at home & feels the
need to be loud in order to be heard above her siblings. Being the youngest it
seems to me that she’s wise beyond her years…kinda scary sometimes! She is a
joy in our home.
Wayne & I
keep busy with work daily. Wayne still works for Turkstra Lumber and since the
company will be celebrating 60 yrs. in business they are treating all managers
with their spouses to an all-inclusive trip to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico this
coming January! Something we are definitely looking forward to! The home renos
are coming along as the new garage has been built and we are parked in
there…all three cars~woot!! Wayne made it so that on the one side we can park 2
cars deep! Our next step in the reno is to do the kitchen & dining
room. The office & laundry room are
now done! We as a family had a great summer, spending time in northern Ontario
for a week with my sister Debbi & her kids. Dad & Sylvia also spent a
few days with us. We enjoyed being on the water skiing, tubing, wakeboarding
& fishing. At the end of august we
added another dog to the mix! He came to us from a customer of Wayne’s because
he was in need of a good home. The breeder does however have rights to his
puppies and will pick him up twice a year to use him as a stud dog. You can
read about how we got himhere He is a French bulldog, very friendly &
calm with a sweet personality.You can
see his pictures here: http://www.amiabull.com/. His name is Ronin and gets along quite nicely
with Mika our boxer. Thankfully Mika’s fixed so no puppies for us!
God has certainly blessed us richly once again
this year. May we continually give Him the glory for the wonderful gift He has
given in the birth of His Son & thus the reason for this Christmas season!!
Sending our love, Wayne, Brenda, Eryn, Danielle, Veronica, Levi & Jordyn
Otten
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
MERRY CHRISTMAS & A VERY BLESSED NEW YEAR!!
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