Hope this Christmas finds you happy & soaking in all God’s blessings!

This year seemed to go by fast in both good and bad ways. We replaced Tere’s 1994 Ford Escort hatchback sporting close to 200,000 miles & a newly broken valve cover bolt thanks to a water pump repair gone bad at a local Dobbs. After much research, thought & prayers, we purchased a brand new Kia Sedona minivan. Quite a shock, in a nice way, as to all the extra room we have inside as well as the other shock of taking on a car payment. When we considered the safety aspect, it was a done deal. Still, it was sad to watch the Escort that we brought home 2 of our babies in, being towed away to donate to Kars4Kids. In June, Tere’s dad had open heart surgery after several tests & a hospital stay revealed he needed heart valve surgery, which ended up being more than one valve that they were, thankfully, able to repair. It’s quite a long recovery. But, we’re so happy to report he made it through and is on the upside of recovery. In September, the kids took part in a Bible Bee competition which they studied for starting in the beginning of May. It was quite an undertaking (more than we thought we had signed on for) and a lot of work throughout the summer as they studied to learn over 150 scriptures to recite in addition to Bible facts to take a 200 question written test. Many days we considered dropping out. They didn’t make Nationals, but very few competitors did. We’re just happy with how much scripture this put into their hearts and hope to keep building upon this knowledge of God’s word. Here’s a little update on each of us:

John is still teaching guitar lessons at Mozingo Music and owning/operating Joyful Sounds Christian Disc Jockey service, though business has been way down for Joyful Sounds. John has been pursuing a position as a worship leader. He currently is the interim worship leader at Harvest Chapel in Chesterfield and hoping it becomes a permanent position. John also still enjoys playing guitar and singing alongside Kent Henry and the worship team of Destiny in a prayer room each week and has become part of the Brandon Salter Band whom John was thrilled to join as they opened for Christian bands Todd Agnew & Building 429 this year at an outdoor festival. John has also been offered the opportunity to be part of a musican’s mission trip this coming June to the Czech Republic, Poland and possibly Scotland. We have enclosed a separate letter explaining this venture. We hate to ask for help, but need to.


Tere continues to be a stay-at-home mom and teacher of her homeschooled crew of 3. Tere is still selling on Ebay. In addition to this, in May she became the St. Louis Homeschooling Examiner and writes for an online publication at Examiner.com. She also became the online Parenting Mentor at Factoidz.com and writes parenting articles as well. She loves the chance to put her writing skills to good use for pay, albeit a small start, as well as using her platform to share God-inspired news. She’s learning a lot of new information about Socio-Networking which keeps her brain hopping, and in the process discovered how fun Facebook can be.

Graham turned 9 (4th grade) this year & continues to amaze us in so many regards. Anything computer related appeals to Graham. He is teaching himself HTML and JAVA Script computer languages and writing his own programs just for practice. He has also enjoyed working with John on the Easy Worship software used at churches when leading worship. And, he loves designing short videos and editing them on his computer. But, the newest development that mom is most excited about is that Graham has decided he loves to load and unload the dishwasher. This is wonderful and might just earn him a special Christmas gift!

Jale’na turned 7 (2nd grade) this year. She is still our little dancer now dancing only twice a week. She continues in Kingdom Dancer dance ministry that performs for nursing homes and such. Her team competed in a Christian dance competition in June and brought home some first-place trophies. She is also taking tumbling because her goal is to learn how to do a cartwheel. She loves to read and takes chapter books to bed with her. She also amuses us with her ability to imitate characters from movies and never fails to bring us silly faces just for fun. She enjoys the new Wii with her brother & sister that they purchased with their own money by selling some of their toys they no longer play with. But, she still loves her little ponies and Barbie dolls and is trying to learn how to sew. So far, this has included fixing her cloth doll & Graham’s Webkinz dog!



Eliana turned 3 in September and is our ball of energy & curiosity. Her sense of humor and ability to understand jokes at such a young age keep us laughing. She keeps up well with her older brother and sister and creates her own adventures to keep mom & dad hopping. She loves Dora the Explorer, and one of her favorite things is her “letters.” She plays with any and every letter–Her magnetic ones, her Leap Frog letters, & even asks for “letters with milk” (Alphabet cereal). She also absolutely loves drawing pictures and attempts letters. She can make the letter “E” the best, which is great because that’s what starts her name.

We hope this Christmas finds you with lots of joy and happiness that only Christ can fully provide.

Love and Merry Christmas!

The Scotts
John –Tere – Graham – Jale’na – Eliana

Please please please keep in touch throughout the year:
2976 Wheatfield Farms Dr. – O’Fallon, MO 63368
Joyfulsoundsdj@juno.com – Tere / OR John@joyfulsoundsdj.com - John
Please add us as a friend on FACEBOOK – We would love to keep in touch throughout the year!