Merry Christmas 2013!

I have not posted on my blog in quite a while. Life has been a wee bit hectic for our family, in a good way. I have a job that I have been working since the week before Thanksgiving and it has turned life a little on it's head in the Valenta household! But we did manage to get a Christmas picture taken and a letter written -- YAY for small victories!

Merry Christmas from the Valenta’s!

Ahhh, it is that time of year again to send Christmas greetings to our family and friends! We love this time of year, even with all the hustle and bustle, as we can pause to remember all we have been blessed with and what is truly important in our lives. It is our hope that each of us can reflect a little longer on the real reason for celebration this time of year, our Savior Jesus Christ.

As you can tell from the above picture we have a few less people around the house these days!

·         Tim and Lisa still call Arizona home. They made a trip back to Kentucky in late May and we had such fun seeing sights and catching up and even making a silent movie while they were here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xKEEjiTIMzI#at=24

·         Andrew (26) lives here in Nicholasville and continues to have a busy work schedule so we don’t get to see him as often as we’d like but he was able to get away and go to Cumberland Falls with us when Tim and Lisa were visiting. It was great to have almost the whole family together, with the exception of Jordan who was away at school.

·         Jordan (23) was at school at BYU-Idaho and then transferred to BYU-Provo. He is working hard in his studies and is wanting to go to medical school. He’s still deciding exactly what field of study he wants to pursue but is volunteering at clinics for flu shots and working on getting his EMT certification and doing well.

·         Jacob (20 soon) moved out of the house in May and is sharing an apartment with 2 other guys. He does stop home every now and then and doesn’t even bring his laundry with him so that’s a good sign…we think! He is working and in his spare time he is pursuing his computer programming interests.

·         Abigail (16) is a junior in high school and she continues to love playing volleyball. She has played for 4 years on her school team. It’s been a big year for her as she got her driving permit and officially hit the dating age! She is now counting the days till she can get her license (…mom and dad, not so much!) She is also involved in the drama club where their next production is The Wizard of Oz!

·         Annah (14) is in 8^th grade and looking forward to high school next year. She is also in the drama club and becoming a pretty good Spanish speaker! She likes to play piano and learn new songs. Right now her dad is teaching her how to play a piano piece that he wrote and she is learning it really well. I have trouble telling which one of them is playing the song when I am in another room!

·         Tim and I are ever grateful for the blessings and miracles we see all around us everyday. Tim is approaching his 5 year mark since his throat cancer treatment ended and he has had nothing but great reports! We are thankful for the tender mercies that we have seen along the way. There are no shortages of blessings in our lives for sure!

We do hope that this Christmas season will fill your heart with love and find you focused on the things that matter most in life. May we each remember that “If, in the end, you have not chosen Jesus Christ it will not matter what you have chosen.” ~ Neal A. Maxwell.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!