Christmas 2005

To our dear Friends and Family:

First off, we must apologize for being very remiss about keeping up with many of you. You may not know we moved (twice!) last year; that baby #5 is due in late February; and of the miracle of Jill’s recovered eyesight.

Our house – we had been living in the Lake Marcel community since ‘97 in a 1500 square foot, 3-bedroom house on about 1/3rd of an acre. We loved the location and the land, but we had way outgrown the house! Towards the beginning of ‘04, we started looking and finally settled on a new development about 30 minutes north, in the growing city of Monroe. We bought a 2450 square foot plan, sold our house, and moved into an apartment for the summer months – just 1 mile from Philip’s work. We enjoyed the apartment because it had the same living space as our old house and had a pool! It was exciting watching our new home being built – even more so since one of the lead framers was a friend of ours. In Oct., it was done! Visit our website for pics of projects we’ve done in our backyard so far.

In December, Philip accepted a new job with Stromberg Time and Attendance. He had been working for ADP doing time and attendance implementations for just shy of six years and was ready for a change. A wonderful benefit is that it is a work-from-home job! Except for when he travels, it’s real sweet to have lunch together as a family every day, to have zero commute, and being able to see the family throughout the day!

Jill’s been loving homeschooling in the new house. So much more room! She takes the kids to a co-op once per week where she’s teaching biology and music classes. The kids enjoy the variety of classes offered and the friends they’ve made. But the big news is her eyesight.

Maranda just turned ten years old. Ten! I’m sure those of you with kids can relate that it both seems like she’s always been a part of our life and that she was just born yesterday. She enjoys her dolls, drawing and riding her bike. In school she’s ahead of her age and reads very fast – she read the Hobbit in a day! Our local library is a weekly stop for the family.

Lydia turned eight this month. She has become a pretty good self-teacher – always trying to equal her big sister. She likes paper dolls, dress up, writing stories and reading One day in September she decided it was time to learn how to ride her bike. And in about an hour, she had it down pat! She’s giving her sister a run for her money in the reading department. Both girls love being homeschooled! Science and history are their favorite subjects.

Alexander turned five in July. He’s all boy. Loves his Batman, his Transformers, his cars. And he’s extremely creative with Lego’s. He enjoys creating aircraft, guns, trucks, and space vehicles. He’s making a lot of progress with his reading skills with Jill working diligently with him on all those basic skills.

Sophia turned two in July. She’s a precious jewel. A sometimes very loud jewel, but precious none the less. She’s got a great sense of humor and loves to “tickle” her daddy.

Peter spends a lot of time kicking and wiggling. About what you’d expect for a boy due 2-26-06! Sophia insists that she has Peter in her tummy! The big girls are thrilled our family is growing and love to feel Mommy’s tummy when Peter moves.

In May we all went to Colorado to visit Jill’s sister and folks. We got to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary near Colorado Springs while the kids had fun with their cousins. It was a great visit! Also in that month, the big girls attended a spelling bee and did really well – both earned third place in their grade, Maranda went on to participate in the grade above hers and still managed to make it more than half way. In September, we all went to Sacramento for Philip’s sister’s beautiful wedding in the backyard of their dad’s home. Alexander was the ring-bearer and Philip was an usher alongside his brother.

For those that knew us back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, you may remember Jill having very poor vision. Then in ‘94, an ordinary surgery had the added benefit of improving her vision. Good enough that she got a daytime driver’s license and could see her first four children born. Even with this, Jill’s cataracts remained. Earlier this year, the cataracts began growing rapidly. By April, Jill could no longer drive. By June, light hurt her eyes and she wore a ball cap all day long. If it was sunny, she shut all the blinds and stayed indoors. Outside, she wore those thick, wrap around sunglasses. By July, she could no longer see many variances in color or differentiate details (like eyes) on faces. She accepted her diminishing eyesight with grace, acknowledging the blessing of sight she’d been given over the past many years.

Then, excitingly, this fall, the doc thought it safe to remove the cataracts. We were hopeful, but nothing prepared us for what happened. Just 24 hours after the surgery, she could see 20/30 WITHOUT glasses! She hasn't been able to see without glasses since she was 7! She saw herself clearly in the mirror for the first time in years. Mirrors were always too bright before. She can see the many shades of color outside, and read a book without holding it within an inch of her face. But most delightfully, she can see our kids clearly. She had always heard Lydia had freckles but had never seen them. It’s fun hearing her exclaim over the beauty of God’s creation and the thrill of seeing people’s eye color and such things!

Today, she has 20/25+ vision. She occasionally wears these itty bitty, low-strength reading glasses that look so cute on her. Her experience is very much like the man in the Bible who was cured of blindness. She has experienced a true miracle! We are rejoicing!

A long update but long overdue! We do try to update our website, www.philnjill.com, once in a while. It has our email addresses on it and we’d love to hear from all of you when you have the opportunity!

With love and prayers for a delightful Christmas & a new year full of God’s blessings,
Love the Reasoners
– Phil, Jill, Maranda, Lydia, Alexander, Sophia and soon…Peter

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