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Bretz Christmas 2006 |
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We
just can’t believe the year has past by so quickly. Where did 2005 &
2006
go?? We’re finally taking a breather
this holiday season to relax and enjoy each other as a family. Hey, we even sent out Christmas cards this
year!! This newsletter will hopefully bring
everyone up to speed on the happenings at the Bretz Farm. Things
have changed here on the “farm”. We
have slaughtered all the cows (yummy T-bones!!) and about half of our chicken
flock. The goats were recently
sold…we’re sure to someone who is going to eat them…. but we’re trying not to
think about that. We did have a
couple of additions. We are boarding a
horse and bought 2 more. One
noticeable addition to the “farm” is a NEW HOUSE!!
Tree house
that is!! In April Lynnea’s parents
came to watch the kids while we were at a home school convention. They asked the kids what they wanted to do
for the weekend. Sarah said “Build us
a tree house!!” That weekend began the
construction of the BIG RED two-story
tree house!! Grandpa showed up a
couple more times in the next month and a half to help finish the
construction. The view from the second
story balcony is nice.
Jess is our resident horse
lover….although Sarah is a close second.
Addie, our gentle Morgan, and Jess entered many horse events last
summer. Jess also worked on training Star this year. She won a trip with Star to our state 4-H
horse competition. The trainer that
helped Jess said Star is one of the feistiest ponies she’s dealt with. When Jess isn’t riding her horses she’s
quilting. She has become quite popular
with the ladies at the quilt shop and has her eyes set on working in a quilt
shop some day. One of her quilts made
it to the state 4-H competition. She
participates in a block of the month club and little quilt club at our local
shop.
Hannah’s favorite animals
are dogs. She would rather not have
any farm chores!! However, her
relationship with JJ is something to be treasured. He will often prefer Hannah over Lynnea at
times and even wants Hannah to put him to bed at night. Of course we must train her not to baby
him. She is also an extremely neat person….don’t
ask us where she gets that!!! She’s an
example to all of us in the house, although the sister who rooms with her has
a tough job of living up to such perfection!!
Her 4-H activities led her to study monarch butterflies, build a
jewelry box, make many arts and crafts, and quilt. She received GRAND CHAMPION on her monarch project AND
her jewelry box. She wasn’t old enough
to attend the state competition, but hopes to one day.
Sarah loves horses. She hasn’t been old enough to show for 4-H,
but will be able to next year. She has
shown Addie in local horse shows, though, and absolutely loves it. She is a natural on a horse and it’s
amazing to see her ride such a large animal.
She was worried that she wouldn’t be able to show since we only had
one horse, but a couple months ago we stumbled upon a gelding named Jet. Jess will use Jet, since we trust Addie
with Sarah. Sarah was able to show a
chicken last year. Try giving a
chicken a bath!! Her leader was
diligently trying to get Sarah to show pigs!!
We had a family forum in which we decided pigs were out!! Sarah also joined the Horse Bowl team with
Jess. The horse bowl team competes
based on their knowledge of horses, like a quiz bowl. When she isn’t with the ponies or
horses…..hmmm…not sure she is away from them….oh, yeah….when she isn’t on a
horse she’s in the house playing Pretty Ponies with Allison!! This
year
Allison began saddling up
our little pony all by herself. She
got frustrated because we were all busy and she wanted to ride. In no time she was off on her own taking
command of the 350 lb animal!! She
really loves My Little Pony, so whether inside or out, she is all about
ponies. She also loves to wear the
same clothes for days on end. We have
to peel them off of her, and if we don’t get them in the washer that instant
she will end up digging through the dirty clothes just to wear them. Jason says we should just buy one outfit at
a time, because it doesn’t matter how many clothes she has in her closet
she’ll choose her favorite outfit whether it’s clean or dirty.
JJ…our little guy. He has been such a joy, so different, so
fun!! He loves anything that has to do
with engines….trucks, cars, backhoes, front loaders, cement trucks,
tractors…..if it has an engine he loves it.
We think he came out of the womb with the engine sound on his
lips!! It’s just been so neat to see
all the “boyness”. Although at times
we do have to wonder….he does play Pretty Ponies with Allison at times and
the other day Lynnea asked him what his favorite color was and he said
“pink”. BUT…for the most part he is
ALL BOY!! We think the word “haffa”
ought to be added to the dictionary.
JJ loves using that word. “I
haffa go out to be with Daddy”. “I
haffa go potty”. “I haffa dumper
truck”. Our
trips this year took us back to Nebraska and to the
Black Hills
of SD. We actually went camping for a
week. This was our first family
vacation since…well, we can’t remember.
The kids loved it so much they can’t wait to go on another one. They
finally realized there are places besides Nebraska or Indiana. As
for the parents of the clan…. we are busy indeed, but blessed indeed!! Our lives are full and happy. We can’t praise God enough for His goodness
and loving kindness even in the all the trials of life and parenting. Oh, we do have interests too, but for now
they center around the kids.
Jason works hard on the
farm usually dealing with tractors, horse trailers, fencing, getting hay and
feed, etc.
Lynnea works hard in the
home, with home schooling and gardening, and even a little quilting. Wishing
everyone a Blessed Christmas!! The
Bretz Clan Jason,
Lynnea, Jess, Hannah, Sarah, Allison, & JJ |
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*You can click on the our names, or other words in
the body of our letter to take you to pictures of the family* |
