Luke&Kristy Wedding

Happy New Year party people—or as Liberty would say—pony party people! We love you all, 'cuz you all rock :)

Wow, what a year it's been! From new cars and babies, to overseas vacations … with babies, to unforeseen speed-bumps, expenses, upgrades (and did we mention babies?)—this year has stretched us in every way. From finances and business, to relationships and marriage, to just getting a good night's sleep—seems like nothing was off limits. Feels like we stumbled across the finish line. But God got us there! We made it! Whoo-hoo! And don't get us wrong, there were lots of laughs (mostly at ourselves) along the way!

Kristy's job continues to stretch her. Her rock-star team, formed in 2014, finally dissolved (we miss Ash). Not because of anything other then it was time to move on. It was great to see Kristy keep her eyes focused on Jesus and not let the stress get to her while God brought her two brand new rock-stars. And along the way he provided tons of extra help, mostly through Shawna (Kristy's old nurse) and her new nurse DJ, which made the transition much less painful. The entire process also motivated Kristy to look for new ways to maximize time and make established office procedures more efficient. We are excited to see how these new ideas begin to take effect in 2016. It's a fun dance, learning how to run a business without letting the business run you. We're still learning. Please pray that God gives us even more witty ideas in the coming months.

Luke was stretched too. With the slow, misdiagnosed death of his Audio PC hard drive, his business, elci Productions, didn't just stop—it went backwards! There was actually a point, mid-summer, where Luke would go into the studio to solve one problem and come out with two more. For several months there were computers, computer parts, and software boxes littering the studio floor. Thankfully, all has been resolved and several upgrades (plus much learning) resulted from it. He still has the daunting task of re-installing years of previously purchased plug-ins/software back onto his new hard drive. And then cloning that drive. Pray for him. But when all is said and done, he will have a much better system then before. And 2016 is looking bright. Elci Productions already has several fantastic local artists lined up to record. Please pray that God brings us the perfect nanny/sitter to watch the Littles a couple times a week, giving Luke the guaranteed work time he will need to keep moving forward with these artists.

On April 25th we welcomed another member to the team. Luke Graceson (LJ) joined our ranks at 10:18 AM. He was 8 lbs 5 oz and a sleeper from the start! Thank you, thank you, thank you Jesus! Yes, his initials are LG, but we call him LJ. I dunno, ask Kristy (“unofficial jr” she says). It took a little time for Liberty to warm up, but she did and now they are the best of friends. Daddy's favorite thing is when he says. “Liberty, make LJ laugh.” and then she proceeds to jump, dance, spit binkys, and throw things until LJ is in stitches, laughing. It's too cute.

Liberty is growing so fast. She loves her weekly Mommy&Me gymnastics, and after some perseverance has really blossomed into the undeniable head of the class. She took first place in bar-hanging and is quite versed on the trampoline. She's adorable. Of course, this is all at a two-year-old level—don't get us wrong :D But it's been really fun to see her become so independent over the last 12 months. Pray for us in the coming year as we work with her on obedience training.

Now for the shout-outs: Here's to unexpected bathroom upgrades, Nissan Rogues, Israel trips, ergonomic baby carriers, breast feeding in public, Christmas Eve Eve, Family Dance Parties, Pony Parties, castle call days, social awkwardness, single-dad-creepiness-levels dropping with two kids (yey!), undecorated Christmas trees, 2 adorable new nephews, CA visitors to meet LJ, honey bears, unicorns, and those little tiny plastic locks that they liberally attach to the back of every children's toy known to man :)

All the best and a big, God-blessed new year! We love you!

Love, The C-Team (Luke, Kristy, Liberty, (Lexi), and newest member: LJ)