Merry Christmas 2005

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Merry Christmas from the Bond Family!

It has been approximately 31 million seconds since last year’s letter and Christmas greeting from our family to yours. Many things happened in our lives as those seconds ticked by this year. We'll use just a few that we have left in 2005 to catch you up on some of the highlights.

At the beginning of 2005, Mark traveled with 20 other adults from our church to Arizona for a mission trip. He worked with Arizona Reservation Ministries as they poured footers and built a block crawl space. Groups from other churches came in the months that followed and finished a house for an Apache family. It was a very rewarding experience, and as most trips of that nature do, it was a reminder of how much we have and yet we still search for more.

We hosted our first small group in our home during the winter of 2005. Our group was made up of couples that helped with childcare and youth activities on Wednesday night (when most of the other small groups met). We decided to have a group at our home on Tuesdays so they could participate. This was such a wonderful evening that everyone in our family looked forward to. Ruthy loved our small group and all her friends that would come over…more on that later. Our group was a very musical one and everyone pitched in to help Mark with the Easter services at our church. It was fun to get to serve together in that way.

With the end of spring, our family was ready for a vacation. The whole family traveled to Chicago in June for an exciting adventure. The first four days, Mark attended a Worship Arts Conference at Willow Creek Community Church. Rachel and the girls made some day outings to a petting farm, found a walking trail, and attempted the swimming pool (the water was too cold). When the conference ended, we drove to another suburb of Chicago for a family reunion of Rachel’s family. The day was spent with many of her cousins and many extended family that Mark had never met. It was fun to see the span of generations in one place. We stayed in Chicago for another four days of family fun. Activities included Children’s Museums, a fun play place called Fantasy Kingdom, downtown Chicago Pizza, and even a stop at a Build-A-Bear for Ruthy to make her own special friend. It was a wonderful vacation and time together as a family.

The summer ended with some birthday celebrations. Ruthy turned three and Moriah turned one. It was fun to share an early party with all the grandparents at the lake shelter in Grandma & Grandpa Bond’s neighborhood. We had another birthday party for Ruthy back in St. Joseph and guess who she wanted to come…her small group and a few of her friends. Moriah turned one while we were at NYR in Colorado. Most of the staff and speakers who were eating in the lodge helped sing “Happy Birthday” to her on her special day.

The fall blew in with many activities for our family at church. Rachel continues to coordinate the 2s & 3s ministry at church as well as play an active role on the Children’s Ministry Support Team. If there is adult programming at church, she helps organize, plan, and recruit, and teach for the children’s ministry. One such fall activity was the Harvest Party that is a Halloween alternative party for kids to come and play games and gather up candy in a safe place. It was a wonderful event that our girls loved.

2005 marked the 10 year high school reunions for both Mark and Rachel. Mark was unable to attend his as the family was in Colorado for NYR. Rachel was able to make it back for hers and she enjoyed catching up with classmates and seeing all the little ones that have been born.

A grandparent world tour made Thanksgiving complete as we traveled all around to spend time in their homes. Mark always enjoys the Humphrey Shotgun Shootout that takes place every Thanksgiving. There’s nothing quite like clay pigeons exploding on a crisp November afternoon. Mark and Rachel celebrated their 8th wedding anniversary over Thanksgiving weekend.

And that brings us around to December...a month of many, many activities, but most important, a time to celebrate the One that brings peace, love, and grace. We hope you were able to celebrate His coming this year and continue to celebrate Him all year long.

Well, how many seconds did that take…maybe 180 or so. We try to hit more of the details on our family blog online that gets updated a few days a week. We post pictures of the family and keep information on there about what is going on in our world. Feel free to stop by and bookmark our site at http://bondlife.blogspot.com/.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Mark, Rachel, Ruthy & Moriah Bond