2011 Christmas Letter

by Lana Elder

We thought we'd send you our own version of "Where's Waldo" this year for your entertainment. Try to find us! Here's a glimpse of our life this year to help you out (we've included another picture at the end so you can check your answers...).

Karis (20) finished her sophomore year at Liberty University in May and absolutely loved it! She loved everything about her time spent there. But as awesome as it was there she felt God encouraging her to spend time at a secular school. So she decided to come home this year. She is taking classes at Heartland (the community college) in Normal. She also works at the college in the Math and Science Department in the morning and a few evenings a week at Evergreen Assisted Living in Normal as a Dining Room Server. She loved leading a Bible study this year for college freshmen and plans to live in Normal at the Fuel House next year (a house that our church uses to do ministry on the college campuses). She is excited! Even though we don’t see Karis that much it’s great to have her around. Josiah recently said, “Karis is either working, going to school, having coffee with friends or making cookies!” We love it and her! It’s been great to have her home this year.

Yea! Lucas is home! After just over 10 months in Sydney, Australia Lucas (19) is home on break from studying worship ministry at Hillsong International Leadership College. It is wonderful to have him home now and we are thankful for all he learned while he was there. He loved his classes...learning about songwriting and taking vocal classes all from really encouraging teachers. Lucas also had spiritually strong housemates that encouraged him in his faith and taught him how to “busk” so he could keep eating while he was there. :) (Busking is when you entertain in a public place for a donation...quite common in Australia and other European countries.) We are proud of him for making it through his first year in another culture and have loved watching him grow in his faith this year!

Makari (17) performed in her first musical this month called “The Star.” She was in the youth ensemble and a special dance number and did an excellent job dancing and singing. It was fun to see her perform and she enjoyed it as well. She’s been taking violin lessons this year, and recently started taking vocal and acting lessons. She still hopes to go into the field of acting/drama/dance. Makari works with Karis as a Dining Room Server at Evergreen, babysits several times a month for a family in Chenoa, and she's gotten to help out a couple of our neighbors on their farms, taking care of horses and even putting up hay in a barn...a bit of a contrast to her time on stage!

Josiah (13) received a slack line for his birthday this year. A slack line is like a tight rope that you walk across. It is very difficult to get your balance just right, but after many attempts Josiah has mastered it. He can walk forward and backward and even turn around. We had some beautiful days/nights out in the country to enjoy this activity. Josiah and Bo started to attend Boy Scouts this year which they have enjoyed. Josiah also continues to read lots and lots. Here are a few of the series that he has read and recommends: Artemis Fowl, The Kane Chronicles, The Hunger Games, The Hero's of Olympus and The Circle Trilogy (which is now four books so technically not a trilogy :) ).

One of Bo’s (11) favorite things to do this summer was climbing the chicken house and repelling down again. He did that over and over. He was also a great help to Eric when they put a new roof on the whole building. Bo loves animals and had fun playing with a few kittens the neighbor had given us and also our bunny. Bo is always a big help cooking in the kitchen and enjoys reading books or playing games with Josiah on the Wii.

Kaleo (8) has started gymnastics this fall and is always practicing tricks in our living room. She loves it and continues with her dance lessons as well. If she’s not doing cartwheels or backbends, you’ll find her reading a book from either Secrets of Droon or The Magic Tree House series. She also takes after her mom and loves to make desserts and eat anything chocolate!

On our way to pick up Karis at Liberty University in May we decided to travel a few more hours east and took the younger kids to Washington D.C. They experienced their first subway ride and learned a lot of history as well. :) In October we headed south and visited many friends and family in Memphis and then in Houston and Dallas. It was really great to see everyone and catch up on their lives. We LOVED seeing everyone!

Eric continues to minister over the internet at theranch.org and has gotten involved in a couple of ministries through our church. It’s always encouraging to me to see people’s hearts and lives changed by the power of the Gospel. I’m so thankful for all Eric does. When he’s not doing ministry he is usually doing a house project and keeping everything running smoothly around here. I also love hearing him play the piano. :)

I’m still homeschooling the younger kids and enjoyed planting a big garden this year. We had some new fruits/vegetables like broccoli, eggplant and cantaloupe that we had never tried growing before so that made it more interesting. We canned lots of salsa and even grew our own peppers for the salsa. I also started running this year. I decided to train for a 5K for orphans in July and am happy to say I completed it ...running the whole time.

It was a different Christmas this year as my dad passed away March 1st. Although we miss him, he lived a great life and we are thankful for the time we had with him. My mom is still living at the house in Peru where I grew up and doing well.

We are so thankful for your friendship and encouragement and we hope your holidays are full of the joy and peace that Christ brings. Know that we are praying this verse from Romans for you and all of our family and friends at this Christmastime...

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).

Have a wonderful New Year!

Love, Lana