Harder Family

Harder Family

Sunday, December 23, 2018

Christmas Letter 2018

Galatians 4:4-5 "But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship."

Merry Christmas from the Harder Family! 

We pray that your 2018 was wonderful for your family. 2018 was a year filled with many memories and adventures for our family. 

Harder Family 2018:

  • We celebrated the one year anniversary of the boy's adoption.
  • We celebrated three years since Wayne's diagnosis of brain cancer. We celebrate that God has kept him around longer then the diagnosis of 12-18 months. We continue to celebrate every day with him as we know they are a gift from God!
  • Our family took a trip to Washington DC and the East Coast. We were able to spend some amazing time as a family learning about our country's history.
  • Wayne came home on disability in September. Due to his brain cancer, he was experiencing some long-term effects of treatment. This has been a great blessing to our family to have him home. Although we all have been making adjustments, overall, it has been great for our family. 
  • My parents moved closer to us (about a six hour drive). This has been another huge blessing in our lives. After being so far from our parents since we moved to Chicago, it is great to be a half days drive from family!
  • We entered our ninth year of doing homeschool. Each year brings new growth and challenges. We thought that we would have two kids in school this year, but God had other plans and all 8 kids have been home. 
  • Rebecca ran five half marathons in 2018, to get her to 26 states. It is hard to believe I am over half way to my goal of all 50 states! 
  • Abigail is passionate about books, writing and the library. She has been volunteering at our local library two days a week getting great experience. Her goal is to study Library Science in college so she can be a librarian. She continues to do well in school, loves debating, and loves to read!
  • Grace started pursuing her love of photography this year. She is one of our most creative children and can create beautiful projects out of junk. Grace is doing well in school too, but, she doesn't love school and she loves to procrastinate. 
  • DJ continues to learn English well and you can find him building projects out of Legos and K'nex. DJ loves helping around the house and he enjoys doing the dishes.
  • Naomi continues to be our budding scientist. She loves performing science experiments, including her current experiment about germs in bathrooms (how to dry your hands without picking up germs). Naomi has also budded into an avid reader, maybe her roommate has worn off on her?
  • Shan Chen is another avid reader and loves to build with Legos. He is excelling in school and in English. This year he is taking a writing and English Grammar class and he is getting an A in both! We are praying this year that we discover answers for the physical issues he is facing.
  • Sophia has budded into our animal lover. She loves the chickens at my parent's house. She continues to do well in school, especially math. She also loves watching baking shows so she can try new techniques in her baking.
  • Micaela joined her older siblings this year in their class and she is doing great! She is continuing to get better at reading with her reading tutor. She loves to read! Micaela is our tenderhearted child who loves everyone around her...but watch out because she has older sisters and is tough!
  • Joella is learning how to read and is excelling in school. She has been taking a fun class with her friends. They have been reading great books and learning about related subjects. Joella is the child that will walk out of the house in winter in sandals and a mix-matched outfit and not care. We may have ended up at the store where I realized she had gotten into the car in sandals and Grace's pajama bottoms!!! She keeps us laughing and on our toes!
We are praying that each of you have a blessed New Year!



Love,
The Harder Family