Whew! First off let's address the obvious question - YES! This letter is the latest we have ever gotten out a Christmas/year-end letter. But, no complaints on this end so long as you don't mind reading something into the new year.
This year was a whirlwind for us - It started out slow and cold, but then took off with some very exciting happenings before ending with a whole slew of emotions from panic to exuberance to grief and exhaustion filled with so much gratitude for friends and family who stand beside us with prayer and faith.
If I didn't know God is the author of our lives, I would be certain that our life is a sit-com or soap opera script, and I'd fire the writers. A lot of our experiences are so surreal to us! But, if even just one person grabs ahold of boosted faith as a result of our head-spinning happenings, then it will all be worth it to us!
At one point, my quote was "I would be devastated, but I'm too busy being grateful!" That sums up a lot of our year.
We hope the end of 2022 finds you all in good health and joy in the Lord!
Our roller coaster soap-opera-like year went something like this:
*In June, John danced with Jale'na as part of a My King Dance Studio father-daughter dance performance at the recital. It was so special to see them dance together on stage.
* In July, we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary with a trip that resembled our honeymoon...plus a few stops and minus the airplane. We headed up to WI to eat an anniversary meal at the Blue Harbor Resort, took a ride on the Badger car ferry across Lake Michigan, headed up to Mackinac Island via people ferry (no cars allowed on island), and relived some of our moments from 30 years ago.
* In September, we took one last trip as a Scott family to the Blue Harbor in WI where we took pre-bridal pics of Jalena in her wedding dress on the beach and celebrated Eliana's 16th birthday. While we were there, we were unaware that the control arm on the van had broken and scrambled to experience a miracle of kindnesses that literally threw a wrench in Eliana's birthday celebration but got us home safe only one day later than planned.
*In October we took a bonus trip back to the UP to deliver and sell more than 1,000 board games. These games were the brain-child of John's dad. He had developed Your Lucky Day board game in the '70s with some buddies but had never brought them to market!
Meanwhile, somewhere along the way we were in 3 automobile accidents in 3 weeks,....NONE of them were our fault. One person backed into John's Honda, another backed into his Kia, and a Ford F150 slammed into the back of Tere's van while sitting at a stop light. Tere ended up fixing the bodywork of the Honda, Tere's van miraculously only appears to have minor, barely noticeable damage, and John's Kia is still being negotiated, but we wonder if the bump contributed to the control arm breaking the next week.
On December 17, 2022, Jale'na Scott became Jale'na Barton. She and Andrew's wedding was the most beautiful I've ever seen! We have gained a son-in-law and could not be happier for their new life together.
Before that could be a success, however, we had a neurological scare from John, suddenly not making sense and another witness to a miracle as he began to get his words back as people were praying. I'm still not sure I completely understand what happened, but the scans and tests show no new big issues with his brain. The best guess from the neurologist is that he had missed a dose or two of meds. and they adjusted his dosage.
The timing was terrifying, just a few days before our daughter's wedding. We have done so many weddings over the years, with John owning a Christian Disc Jockey service years ago, that we had a running joke how the dad's big line at the wedding is "Her mother and I!" Well, even the night before, we were actually not sure he would be able to say this line we so often joked about. But, by the amazing grace of God, he did it!
Her wedding also got another jolt when just three days before, John's mom ended up in the ICU with septic shock and pneumonia. We end 2022 by saying goodbye to Anna Scott. She hung on until after the wedding and entered heaven on 12/19/22 early in the morning. We laid her to rest on 12/29/22, the same day just two years prior, John's dad graduated to heaven.
Eliana is 16 and dual enrolled at the community college. She is also working as a "fruit expert" at Edible Arrangements. This semester she was accepted into the Honors Program and invited to join an honors fraternity in the Spring. She is also thrilled to, for the first time in her life, now have her own room....Though she admittedly does miss her sister, and we haven't had time to finish it how she envisions yet.
Jaléna Scott became Jaléna Barton on December 17. We added another son to our family when she married Andrew. Also the original reason for such a late letter this year - I couldn't show wedding dress pictures until after the wedding. While settling into her new role as wife, is her main job right now, she does also still work at Lifelight Youth Theatre as a voice instructor and she assists a marvelously wonderful dance instructor on Thursdays as well as filling in as a daycare teacher/helper when needed.
Graham is working on reverse engineering and programming code and takes care of our lawn in his spare time. This year, he lost more than a foot when he chose to donate 13" of his hair.
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