From Our Home to Yours

This is the letter I sent our with our Christmas cards this year. 

                                                                                                12 December 2011

Dear Friends, 

   Greetings from our home to yours!  We’d love to invite you in for a cup of tea and a long visit, but this will have to do. These are busy years! As we look forward to our tenth anniversary, we’re a bit surprised to find ourselves still living in Oregon. We’d planned to move overseas, but Erik had cancer in our first year of marriage. Praise God he’s now healthy and cancer free! Then, of course, we added four children to our family, which can’t really be called “little” anymore! We’ve enjoyed living here and being near family, good friends, and a wonderful church.

    Recently we’ve felt a stirring to to revisit the dream we had when we first set out together. We’re slowly pulling up roots and planning  a round-the-world journey and pilgrimage. We’re preparing to put our home on the market, and when it sells we’ll leave, traveling slowly, visiting people and places, and plugging into communities and churches. Our plans are loose, and we hope to be led by God as we go, willing and able to change directions as opportunities arise. At the end of this journey, we hope to settle down longer term in another country. We’re excited about this new chapter in our lives! In the meantime though, life goes on, and here’s a glimpse into what that looks like from day to day: 

    Erik continues to work for our local public utility company as a substation wireman electrician. We’re thankful for his stable job. He enjoys photography and is always learning and trying new things. A few years ago he built a coffee roaster and roasted for a number of local businesses as a side hobby/business. As of the last few months, he’s given that up and is only roasting small batches for himself.

    I keep busy taking care of the kids and our home. I’m happy that many of the things I enjoy fit right in with my job description; I love cooking, sewing, crafting, and reading, and there are plenty of all those to be done! I’m educating the kids at home, which is challenging at times, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s fun to learn right along with them. This fall we participated in a homeschool co-op that meets one day a week, and the kids took some fun classes. I enjoyed helping out with the little ones. 

    Peregrine just turned 9, and has lots of interests. He’s an excellent reader, and loves building, from Lego creations to paper crafts and forts. He likes to draw comics and write stories. He’s also taking karate and just passed his second test, earning a brown stripe on his white belt. 

    Poppy is 6 1/2 and also enjoys drawing and making crafts. She’s learning to read and had fun taking Irish Step Dancing at Co-op. She loves pink and purple, fairies, unicorns, dolls and stuffed animals. All that said, she can rough and tumble and loves to get messy. She’s very generous and thoughtful.

    Raphael is a busy and independent 3 1/2 year old. It doesn’t occur to him there might be things he shouldn’t do alone! I’m trying to take advantage of that by giving him responsibility and letting him work alongside me. He keeps me laughing with the funny things he says and life with him is never boring! 

    Pearl is still our baby at 1 1/2. She finally started walking and is pleased to have “found her feet”. Prior to this she had a pretty efficient and funny way of scooting around the floor on her bottom! She’s so sweet and happy, a joy to all. It’s fun to watch her discover the world around her.

    We’re all excited about our upcoming changes, although there are many things we’ll miss about our life here. We’re glad it’s so easy to keep in touch. If you’re not already on facebook with me, I’d love to connect with you there; my name is Rebeca Groover. I also try to keep my blog updated with pictures of the kids, tales of our adventures, and things I think about. You can read it at www.carriedonthewind.com.

    Thanks for taking the time to catch up! We hope that someday soon our paths will cross. May you be filled with God’s love, joy, and peace this Christmas and in the coming year! 

    With love,

    Erik and Rebeca, Peregrine, Poppy, Raphael, and Pearl