Christmas letter 2017

Tidings to our friends & family!

Sending love from our home to yours as we reflect on the many adventures & gifts God has bestowed on us this past year.

 Happy Times in Noisy Village

Anyone who is familiar with the Astrid Lindgren's “Noisy Village” books might have a glimpse into how our farm appears these days. As the children get older it is fun to see them catch little sparks of passion and dive into different pursuits and hobbies. And we are so thankful for the wonderful community at Ozarks Academy where the three oldest take classes one day a week, and for the other four days at home (well, 6) when we get to learn together.

Margaret continues to be artistically creative and happily submerses herself in a seemingly chaotic pile of yarn & paints & miscellaneous other craft supplies every chance she gets. She is often joined by her little sisters. Her and Amelia spent half their summer galloping their horses bareback around the arena and laughing hysterically. Amelia, who insisted on always wearing solid pink as a toddler, still has an eye for beauty and constantly brings me treasures from outside: flowers, leaves, bird nests, or rocks to add to her growing collection.

Susannah & Hattie, our little blondies, go swinging together and play babies. They also enjoy pony rides on Fritz, art & snuggling puppies. Despite their vastly different personalities, they are attached at the hip. Susannah is starting to read & play piano and Hattie insists I give her little lessons afterward too. They are our beams of sunshine flitting through the house.

William received a much coveted BB gun for his birthday and haunts the barns in search of mice. (Ironically, he is the one who has begged and pleaded for pet rats for over a year.) He has read every animal fact we have in our house, plus some, adores BBC Attenborough nature movies and has already picked out the professor who he wants to study under to become a famous squid biologist.

Clyde just laughs. And laughs. And makes everyone else laugh. His latest accomplishment is tottering around on wide spread legs (while laughing). He adds this to his long list of other accomplishments including, but not limited to, blowing kisses, climbing furniture like a mountain goat, testing everything out by banging his head onto it, snuggling, and – did we mention? – laughing.

He also greatly appreciates apprehending Clay's tools while he's building stuff, because, after working all day for City Utilities in the environmental department, chopping firewood, milking the cow, reading to the kids & concocting culinary delights, Clay enjoys developing his skills as an expert fine furniture builder – customizing & filling our house with beautiful creations in walnut, cherry, pine & cedar. 

Menagerie Manor

One of my (many) childhood dreams was to one day run a zoo. At this point, no one is paying me admission, or a zookeeper's salary, but in other aspects I can relate more and more to those Gerald Durrell books I used to inhale. Clay and I laughingly attempted to count the number of critters in our care this past summer, and the total came to a rough estimate of 75. Of course, that was counting the multitudinous fowl running around the yard and the 9 puppies we were raising at the time, but you get the general idea.

Not only are we crazy enough to choose to obtain all these animals, we actually love it. From our utterly spoiled calf “Maggie Moo” who happily wanders where she pleases and comes galloping up in the backyard for a nice neck scratch, to our beloved “Arlo” the starling who reminds himself he's a such a pretty bird, to the tame guinea “Jim Ugly” who we hand raised and now follows everyone around demanding handfuls of corn... we have quite the assortment, and love each & every one of them. This year Margaret purchased a BLM wild burro – after scrimping & saving for a year+ – and “Sassafras” has won everyone over with her enormous errant ears and quirky personality.

We gave into our vast love of corgis and tried our hand at raising puppies -- and had a grand time. The only thing better than one ecstatic wiggling corgi greeting you is ten ecstatic wiggling corgis greeting you. No problem is too great for that experience to remedy. And what's the logical thing to get your son for his Christmas present? Why two baby pet rats, of course. (Sshh..it's still a secret.)
The biggest loss we had this year was our much adored german shepherd, Athos, who was a key member in our household for many years. He is much missed.

The Borrowers Dodsons Afield

Horses, music, hiking. The three things we love to do best in our free time. After taking a hiatus from hiking during the first few years here in Missouri, we have rediscovered our shared passion for exploring. Missouri & Arkansas have so many beautiful gems tucked away, it is fun to seek them out and appreciate the wild beauty of the Ozarks.

For our eleventh wedding anniversary Clay and I left the kids with the grandparents and went off adventuring on our first overnight horse trail riding / camping trip in the Hercules Glades wilderness area. If there is anything I love more than hiking in wild places, it's riding a horse in wild places. We can't wait to do more. Driving our own team of horses was another first for us this year. Dan & Osage have been good teachers, and we have enjoyed many family outings around the farm in the red wagon. Fishing and cedar-tree-clearing have become regular family farm activities on the weekends.

Our explorations haven't been limited to the immediate Ozark area, however. In August Clay, Clyde and I flew to D.C. for a business / sight-seeing trip. We managed to fit in a hike around the entire mall area and several museums during our brief bits of free time together. In October we made a family road trip to Acadia, ME (a long time dream of mine) with pit stops along the way to visit cousins & to spend one night with Auntie Jane & Uncle Peter in NH. In Maine we were able to connect with Uncle George and (most of) the McBride family. We spent a happy week there filled with rugged mountain climbing, tidal pool searching, whale watching, sunrise watching, & seafood eating days that were ended by curling up next to the palatial fireplace in our lovely old-world cabin nestled among the pines along the rocky coastline. On the way home we stretched our legs at the Gettysburg Battlefield & Kentucky Horse Park. 

 

Meet the Orchestra

Each year we get a little closer to our dream of making profuse music together as a family as the kids progress in their musical studies. Margaret participates in a cello ensemble on top of her weekly lessons and they will be playing before the Springfield Symphony for the second time this January. William has taken guitar lessons for over a year now and has greatly enjoyed being able to play through a book of Christmas music for fun this advent. Amelia started violin lessons with me and is an exuberant and hard working student. Clay and I continue jamming away on fiddle & bodhran wherever people will permit us. The FG farmers market, Heritage Festival, people's homes... we're not picky. And we had great fun getting to play for Christ the King's annual Reformation dance in October with some other fine musicians from church.

In all these things we give thanks and acknowledge Him from whom all blessings flow.

And much thanks to each one of you who has been a part of our lives this year!

Clay & Elissa, Margaret (10), William (8), Amelia (6.5), Susannah (5), Harriet (3), Clyde (1)

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. – John 1:14

2017