Merry Christmas from the Shirleys!!
Our annual Christmas post is later than usual this year because we have been busy celebrating Christmas!
Our year has had the usual busyness, but starting this school year, we have had Senior year busyness. College applications and college visits and Senior thesis!
And of course the regular school work. We also took a family trip with Grammie and the Storeys to Disney world during the week of Thanksgiving. Coming home from that has had us rushing into the Christmas season. So two days before Christmas I am finally sitting down and thinking about our past year.
Disney World...Lincoln wanted to be in our picture :)
Amy continues working as a Speech-Language Pathologist. She also ran three races this year. A marathon in January, a mud run in March, and a 10k in April. She was able to go to camp and a mission trip with the youth group this past summer. Her unusual occurrence this year involved breaking her rib while going down Sliding Rock during Grammie Camp. (Sliding rock is safe to slide down as long as you don't go down in front of someone who might run into you from behind!) In recent months, she has been busy baking cookies. She and Nathan are planning on going to Ecuador in March 2018, and she has been raising money for the trip by selling cookies, cinnamon rolls, and fudge. This has been fun!
Nathan is the Senior in the family! He also went to camp and the youth mission trip this summer in addition to Grammie Camp. And he volunteered at Winshape Camp this summer and worked on his Senior Thesis. His thesis involves studying the effect of play therapy on a child with Cerebral Palsy. He has received acceptance letters to Liberty University, University of Memphis, North Greenville University, and University of South Carolina. His first choice is Liberty, but we will see where he gets the most money. He wants to study Sports Journalism in college. He played church basketball and high school baseball and football; and only got one broken hand and a concussion!
Camden is now in the 5th grade. He was able to fly to CA with Dave last June and had a great time with his family...impressing them with his rapping skills! He was able to go to children's camp, music camp, and Grammie camp this summer. He played basketball in the winter; track in the spring; and crosscountry in the fall. No injuries to report for him! He especially enjoyed a trip with Amy and Grammie to the mountains during the snow. He likes to hike, but really enjoys throwing snowballs while hiking!
Other family fun included going to Hilton Head with Dave during a pharmacy convention in June; and spending time at a lake house with friends during July.
It has been a good year with lots of lasts that will be continuing until graduation in June. Next year will have many updates I am sure, in addition to welcoming Nathan home for Christmas! 2017, however, is a year for trusting God with our future...both for our Ecuador trip and for college for Nathan. Jeremiah 29:11 says that God knows the plans for us; a plan to give us hope and a future. We have to trust in that. Until the future is here, we are enjoying our time together as a family and remembering that all we have is because of Christ and His sacrifice for us. And that all began with Him coming to earth as a baby...a truth we are celebrating this December!
Merry Christmas!! Love, Dave, Amy, Nathan and Camden
photo credits Senior and family photos go to rheneydear @rheneydearphotography
