“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” -Abraham Lincoln

I want to share our Christmas letter with you. It has been 7 years of writing these letters & I love how it is a concise (in my opinion 😉 ) way of recapping what the year has held for our little family. These past weeks have been a whirlwind of holiday-ness, lots of family, intentional time spent together playing, eating, creating, enjoying time with one another. It really was a sweet, perfect way to end the year of 2016!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year dear ones!

The season has come again in which we share with one another the good things that this last year of 2016 has held for us, where we focus on the GLORY of BEING ALIVE in a world where each & every day there are blessings to be seen & experienced. It has been quite a year for our little Jenks Tribe! We are overwhelmed with GRATITUDE for the grace that the King of Kings has shared with us in this last year & we hope that yours has been one of goodness & that you are looking forward to 2017 with joy & anticipation along with us!

The beginning of the year & the spring were definitely the most “normal” for us, as we enjoyed our little abode, prepared & researched for our summer trip to Europe, watched the girls grow & spent time with one another. In February, we celebrated Katie being declared FOUR years cancer free! It is always such a gift to hear that declaration & then to shout it from the rooftops. We went on hikes on warm days, puddle-jumped on the rainy ones & spent the cold days inside reading piles of books by the fire & dancing to music on the record player. Our travels including flying out to Texas to visit family, where we had a grand old time going to the zoo, lots of parks & eating delicious chocolate chip cookies. We also took a few trips to southern California to visit family & friends as well as spent time at magical Disneyland.

Eliana turned THREE in March & we celebrated her by spending the day blowing bubbles, eating chocolate cake & lots of singing. Also in March, we found a true fixer-upper & decided that it was worth changing what our projected year looked like because of its future value & fit for our family & after a crazy few weeks of getting things in order, we bought the house, got our house ready to put on the market & by the first weekend of May our little abode was listed! Within days we had multiple offers & by the time we left for our trip to Europe a month later, we had sold our first home! It was INCREDIBLE seeing how it all worked out & the peace we were able to leave for Europe with. Also at the end of May, Cora turned ONE! We celebrated her birthday with Riah Joy her cousin, being they are only 12 days apart. We had good friends & family come eat cake & celebrate our little May bébés with their wildflower crowns & beautiful faces. It was a perfect party.

In June we spent 3 weeks traveling with Katie’s parents across Switzerland, northern Italy, Austria & England. It was most definitely, one of the BEST parts of this year. This trip was absolutely perfect. We stayed at great places, didn’t miss a single train, ate gelato (or “belato” according to Eliana) at Lake Como, stood at the base of a waterfall in Lauterbrunnen, rode on a gondola in Venice, saw the Crown Jewels in the pouring rain, sang folk songs with a few Austrian grandmas in the forests outside of Vienna, ate schnitzel in Salzburg & had simply a marvelous summer tour. It was incredible & we wouldn’t change a thing about it. In June we also celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary while abroad which seems to be the way it happens for us! The rest of the summer brought us fully into our season of remodeling our new home, with trips to Pinecrest, Oregon, Bodie & southern California in between.

The fall continued to be very BUSY & BEAUTIFUL for us with Noah in his 4^th year of teaching 7^th grade English as well as working on our new house each day alongside Katie’s dad. Katie is subbing about once a week but is primarily home with the girls & enjoying it greatly. She is continuing to blog about our family adventures at thejenkstribe.com & doing pre-school with Eliana, who is growing up way too fast. Cora is growing up way too fast as well & is keeping us on our toes with her enthusiasm & joy. Both girls are TRUE GIFTS & their blossoming sisterhood brings our hearts such pleasure. The fall has brought us daily walks, nature exploration, tea parties, princess dresses, dancing & singing, parks, library visits, baking & lots of outdoor activities. Becoming parents (next to being married & loving Jesus) is the best thing that we could have ever chosen. It is rewarding beyond measure. We are so grateful.

Each & every day we have a simple choice to CHOOSE a life for ourselves full of happiness. We try to practice that especially in years like this that has had seasons of chaos & busyness. It is valuable, keeps us healthy, makes us stronger & ultimately builds our foundation of peace. We know that the hope we carry, not just in the holiday season but all year long, is so much SWEETER when we choose to experience it each day. This year has most definitely been one of establishing our foundation. We have chosen joy, chosen kindness & chosen to enjoy our lives day in & day out. We will REJOICE & be glad!

May this season of coziness, of family & community & friends, of hot cocoa & Nat King Cole, bring your spirit more than just good feelings. May it establish within you a DEEP sense of happiness that will last all the year through. We wish for you a truly MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR today & for all of 2017! From our little tribe to yours, we are thankful for you being a part of our lives & hope your heart & home will be filled to overflowing with blessings in this season. Peace to you!

With love & cheer,

Noah, Katie, Eliana & Cora Jenks.

P.S. Baby Jenks #3 coming in June 2017!

There you have it! I will share more soon about what my goals & prayers are for the year 2017 & what my heart is singing about as well as how my goals for last year panned out. Peace & Joy to you friends! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

Cheers,

Katie.