And All That Jazz

I'm not even going to attempt to write about everything that's transpired during the past couple of weeks. It's been a whirlwind - a good one! I enjoyed getting ready for Christmas, I enjoyed celebrating Christmas, and I am now enjoying being done with Christmas. Here are a few "highlight" photos:


One evening last week, I had just gotten the girls out of the tub and into their jammies, when I walked back into the bathroom to find THIS. It's never been any secret that Malachi loves a good hot bath, but I had no idea how much until now! I also learned that spiderman slippers can hold a great deal of water.




The weekend before Christmas was a blast! We took the kiddos to the Piqua Mall (which Karis is still convinced is called the "Pickle Mall"), where they got to ride the Christmas train. Malachi loved every minute of it. Zekers, of course, absolutely would not be persuaded to remove his 3D glasses for any reason during our mall visit.


We came home for naps and then took off again, this time for the park in Eaton, where we drove around and looked at thousands of Christmas lights. Afterward, we stopped in at the lodge for cookies, hot chocolate, and SANTA! This was an historic moment for us - the first picture ever with Santa where one or more of our munchkins isn't red-faced and screaming. Even Moo, who I was sure would be terrified, sat there and grinned like a banshee. (And to think, we almost decided not to wait in the 30-minute line.) AND the kiddos got to see even more of Santa as we were leaving - we passed him outside taking a smoking break, which, to be honest, he looked like he desperately needed. Good times.



The next day, Sunday, was the kiddos' Christmas program. Zekers and Rach rang handbells, then Rach performed in the mini-musical and just sang her little heart out. It was so sweet. If only we could have gotten Zekers to actually pay attention and quit making faces . . . maybe next year.



We celebrated Christmas with my parents on Wednesday afternoon, ate dinner and went to the Christmas Eve service at church. Christmas morning we had pancakes and eggs, read the account of Christ's birth and coming sacrifice, and tore into the gifts. We went light on the presents this year. Due to some overzealous garage saling last year, we had a mountain of gifts waiting on Christmas morning, and I felt like we WAY overemphasized that part of the day, so this year we wanted things to be different. I felt a little guilty, though, when I realized that we hadn't gotten Malachi anything - until I saw how thrilled he was playing with the wrapping paper and boxes.





After lunch, we spent the rest of the day with Danny's parents and his sister & her family. Although she was loving having an afternoon without a nap, by the end of the day, Karis was pretty worn out!

The next couple of days have been exhausting in a wonderful sort of way. Friday we spent the day running errands in Dayton, and shopping at IKEA, where we purchased some shelving units and it absolutely inspired me to reorganize and clean the entire basement, which I spent most of Saturday doing. It was like once I started I couldn't stop: I also reorganized and cleaned out most of the kitchen cabinets, and made some changes to our bedroom. Thanks to our little trip to IKEA, I now have a long "wish list" for the rest of the house! Haha. I'm working on a new diet, where we live on one meal a day for the next 10 years, so I can buy all the new furniture I want.

Anyway, I hope you had a very merry Christmas. My next entry probably won't be taking place until next year . . . .

Wright Highlights

*Welcome to our annual "newsletter". I apologize for the fact that if you read this blog regularly, this is all going to be pretty redundant. But it's the best way we could come up with to let our out-of-town friends and family know what's going on in our lives AND include as many pictures as we want without draining a half dozen ink cartridges! I sometimes dream about being able to sit down for hours and write each and every one of you a long personal note; and maybe one of these years it will happen. But for now, this online newsletter will hopefully get the job done. We love you and pray for you a Christmas full of joy. *


Well, it's that time of year again, where I attempt to boil down hundreds of thousands of moments into a few short paragraphs. This year has been a full one: full of challenges, full of laughter, full of everyday craziness, and full of blessings. Even the tough times have brought blessing, because they've forced us to look to our heavenly Father and find deeper intimacy with Him.

I'll fill you in on each of the kiddos as best I can, and then share a few noteworthy events from the year. More than anything, we desire for you to glimpse the amazing work God has done in our hearts and our lives over the past 12 months. Here goes . ..



Rachel (6) is thoroughly enjoying the first grade. Every day, when we ask her how school was, we get the full report: who got into trouble, who went home sick, who fought with whom. She'll make a fortune someday as a gossip columnist. Her favorite things to do include: reading; writing little "books" and illustrating them; helping Mommy bake; sleepovers; eating anything containing sugar; telling her siblings what to do and how to do it; dressing up like a princess; and singing praise songs. And she still loves to talk. Three words I would use to best describe her would be: independent, dramatic, imaginitive. This fall, she played soccer for the first time, and loved having her daddy as her coach. It was fun to watch her become more confident and enthusiastic as the season progressed. Another highlight of the year was losing her 2 front teeth. She's enjoyed taking part in Sparks (part of the AWANA program), where she gets to play games, make crafts, and learn lots of Bible verses.



Zeke (4) continues to be his own little person. He's always surprising me with what he knows: the other day, he spelled out 5 or 6 words for me. When I looked at him in shock and asked where on earth he learned that, he replied, "From watching Super Why." He operates on his own timetable. If he's not ready to do something (reading, potty training, etc.) it's absolutely no use to get him to try. But when he's ready, he takes off! In a "slowest eater" contest, I'll put my money on him every time - a typical breakfast for him lasts from 30-45 minutes. He's thoughtful and sensitive and affectionate. Several times during the day I'll hear a little voice behind me: "Mom, I love you", or "Mom, thank you for fixing dinner for us." A sweeter kid simply does not exist. Or a louder one. He's typically pretty quiet and enjoys playing by himself, but when he does talk, he has only one volume - LOUD.

Zeke's crowning achievement this year was receiving a 3rd place trophy in a kiddie tractor pull. He enjoys attending Cubbies (AWANA) on Wednesday nights and his absolute favorite place to go is Chuck E Cheese.





Karis (3) is our little fireball. Her favorite thing to do is to contradict anything I say. She's . . .. well, we'll call her "multidimensional": She loves to play rough-and-tumble games with Daddy or with Zekers, but she also loves taking care of her baby dolls. She pushes all of my buttons, more than any of the other three, but she also makes me laugh like no one else. She constantly attacks her baby brother (and anything else that moves) and yet she can be so sweet and snuggly. She has been loving her first year of Cubbies, and done a great job learning her verse every week. And she finally has enough hair to do something with! In September, she broke her big toe and smashed the her second toe, at a wiener roast; we're still waiting for her toenail to grow back. She certainly has a way of keeping life eventful. She also informed me today, in the middle of a restaurant, that she'd rather have her bottom wiped by me than by anyone else. Talk about a compliment . . .





And then there's Malachi. He turned 1 in October and he's a little man of extremes - either laughing and squealing in delight, or screaming in rage. We had a rough start with him, but the older he gets, the more fun he becomes; he loves to wrestle around with the others and is finally learning how to fight back! He can be so demanding, he drives me batty some days; but then he gives the best hugs. When he's in the mood to snuggle, he grabs onto my neck and nestles down on my shoulder. And somehow, in those moments, all the day's frustration is forgotten. One of his favorite things to do is to bolt as soon as his diaper is off, and run around the house, buck naked, yelling as loud as he can. He's a total clown and a total Daddy's boy, more than any of the others were at his age. (Must be because they share so many of the same strange habits). You will never see his head without some kind of scrape or bruise or goose egg, and you will never see his chin without drool. He's full of life and does everything 100%.




As for Danny and me . . . .

June and July were fun, busy months for us. We headed up to Put-In-Bay with my extended family for 3 days, then drove to Camp Forest Springs in Westboro, WI, where Danny spoke for youth camp. The kiddos had a blast and it was nice to take some time away. We stayed the night in Chicago both on the way there and on the way back, which afforded us the opportunity to visit Millennium Park and eat at Danny's favorite pizza joint: Lou Malnati's. The day after we arrived back, our church had VBS, where Danny got to teach 3-4 year olds for the week!

In October, Danny stayed with the kiddos for 3 days so I could attend Nancy Leigh DeMoss's True Woman conference in Chicago with 20 women from our church. It was great to spend so much time with adults, the worship was so refreshing and the messages were straight from God's Word. What a wonderful weekend. On the way home, a deer hit our van (I was driving), and pretty much totaled it, but praise God all of us were unharmed. And He provided us with a "new" van shortly afterward.

I've also enjoyed being involved in Grace Moms, a ministry of our church for young mothers (OK, some of us aren't so young but have young children!). We meet monthly, as a large group and in small groups - it's been such a joy to receive godly instruction from older women of our church, and to spend time with other moms and realize others face the same challenges I do and are just as crazy. It is truly a gift to be part of this group, and to be able to study the Bible with other women through several Bible studies that have taken place throughout the year at our church.

Just a few weeks ago, Danny was able to go to the Dominican Republic, where he had the chance to help with a baseball clinic; speak in a couple of church plants; teach national pastors-in-training; and go to the beach! He was thrilled to be able to spend time with Bob & Anna Nilsen, who our church sent as missionaries to the DR about 5 years ago. And the kids and I actually survived the week without him . . . barely!

He has also kept busy with preaching, teaching, counseling, marrying, etc. One really cool thing he's been able to do since the kiddos have gotten older is to take Rachel or Zeke with him every so often on hospital / nursing home calls. They love the one-on-one time with him in the car, and they get the added bonus of encouraging someone in the process.

As I glance back at the year behind us, I'm filled with awe and gratitude at what God is doing, both in our family and in our church body. We see evidences of grace all around us - and the ultimate GRACE, the reminder of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, born to die, to become sin for us so that in Him we might receive His righteousness. HIS physical birth led to our spiritual birth. We have been given unending life through HIS death and resurrection, if we only turn from our sin and believe in Him. Oh, blessed miracle!

O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments and His paths beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay Him? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things; to Him be the glory forever! Amen.

We pray for you that you may know the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God this Christmas.

All our love,

Danny, Charity, Rachel, Zeke, Karis, Malachi

Elf Yourself

As controversial as it may seem, we've apparently taught our kids to dance. But if you want to know who's really responsible for the craziness, just ask Marissa.

Tis the Season

This weekend has been quite bizarre, with really great moments and also moments I'm trying hard to forget.

Friday (Danny's day off) we ran down to the mall with the 3 younger kiddos to do some Christmas shopping and also because Old Navy jeans were $12 all day. It was a disaster on both counts! I found out shortly after entering Old Navy that the sale was actually on Saturday. But I tried to console myself with the thought that the trip wasn't a total waste because we still needed a few other items.

We decided to have lunch first, since it was 12:30. I got the kiddos some Taco Bell, Danny hit his favorite Gyro place, and I didn't get anything, because my stomach had been feeling strange all morning. After lunch, we took the kids to the play area. I was feeling a bit lightheaded, and I thought it was because I hadn't eaten anything for a while, so I finally decided an Auntie Annie's pretzel didn't sound too bad (I had a almond pretzel - SO good!).

About 5 minutes after finishing my pretzel, it became evident that I was going to have to make a run for it. Unfortunately, the nearest restroom was on the upper level and some distance away. In a panic, I got up and hurried toward the stairs. I got about as far as the end of the play area and realized I could no longer walk because my legs had gone completely numb! And the next thing I knew, I was sitting on a bench with my head lolling back and a small crowd of people standing around me saying things like, "Ma'am, can you hear me?"

Condensed version: I eventually became able to move, but still couldn't walk, and had to be taken out to our car in a wheelchair. I do thank God that it wasn't until we arrived home about an hour later that Ralph viciously attacked. And that it only lasted about 12 hours, although I felt like "death eating a cracker" on Saturday. One thing I discovered is that it isn't too difficult to keep the kiddos away from whoever is sick, unless the sick one is ME.

The really good part of the weekend was Sunday. Rachel and I left early from church to head down to Waynesville, where we attended a ladies' Christmas tea hosted by Jayne Nixon, a friend who several years ago planted a church in Springboro with her husband. The day was extra special because on the way there we picked up my sister Hannah and her daughter Esther. Rachel was absolutely beside herself - we got to eat at Steak 'n Shake on the way there, she got to spend time with her Aunt and cousin, AND she got to attend a "real live tea party!" (She ended up drinking a cup of hot blueberry tea, which she didn't even really like, but drank anyway just because it was "real" tea).

There were about 20 ladies gathered in Jayne's home and it was such an encouraging and fun time. I was a little nervous - she had asked me to do some performance songs and lead in several Christmas carols before & after the speaker, Beth Z., shared. The really, really cool thing was that Beth and I hadn't coordinated what we were singing/sharing beforehand, but of course, God worked things out so that the music and the message emphasized the exact same things, and we even used some of the same verses (ones that aren't in the "Christmas story account" in Luke!) What a blessing. My absolute favorite part was hearing everyone lift their voices during the Christmas carols - so beautiful. Rachel mentioned several times that day how much she liked getting to spend some time with "just Mommy". I feel badly that often when I try to spend time with her, 3 others are trying their best to make sure they, too, get a slice of the mommy pie. It was really wonderful to be able to spend some one-on-one time with her.

We drove straight from there to dinner and a concert at the church with Jeremiah and Marcie Olson, dear friends from college whom God has gifted musically and in many other ways. The kiddos were all with us for the concert, which was a little . . . ok, a lot . . . distracting. But I was still able to enjoy their hearts and their music. About halfway through, Jeremiah invited 5 people to come up on stage to help him out. As soon as he said the words, "The first five people up here will receive a prize," one of my munchkins made a mad dash for the stage, along with a little friend / partner-in-crime. It was too cute - they all got hats & antlers to wear as they danced around a human Christmas tree!

And today, we are doing nothing, since Ralph visited again last night - this time in Malachi's room. I'm trying really hard to find the joy in continually cleaning up really gross messes, but I am grateful for a chance to stay home for the day, and have decided, along with Zekers, that I love my PJ's so much I'm going to leave them on all day.

And here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks:


A little too much fun with the flour


Malachi is IN LOVE with dogs!


You can always tell when Zekers has been feeding Malachi his yogurt. (We all started referring to him as "Baby Santa")


Our attempt to get a Christmas picture of the 4 clowns


Speaking of clowns . . .