Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

12-17-2010
Dear Family & Friends,

Merry Christmas to you! We are so blessed and happy that we can celebrate Jesus’ birth once again. He is truly our best friend and does so much for us! We hope you and your family have had a wonderful year.

We have been busy with our family and church as usual…church functions, schooling, work, a baby, and all the necessary things that go along with a family life. We had a great time with our families over last Christmas & New Years in KS & AZ. Kaylee was born in February. In April, we attended the IHC which we hadn’t been to since college (9 years ago). We have had some nice times with the kids, taking them on trips to Conner Prairie, a Pioneer Fair, Great Times Pizza, and to see Mnozil Brass at the Air Force Museum as well as having Family Fun Fridays for their school! In July, we went to KS for the Kansas State Holiness Association campmeeting. It was a great camp and we also got to have a good time with some of my family. After a very wet spring and a very dry summer, our kids are enjoying all the snow we have been getting this month—much more than usual! It has been a good year and the Lord has blessed us over and over again.

Trint still works as an outside engineer for JK Communications & Construction (a contractor of AT&T). He works from home through the internet which is really nice. He enjoys playing his trumpet, playing basketball at the gym and doing other things to exercise. He made the kids a treehouse this fall that they enjoy playing in as well. In May, we celebrated his 30^th birthday with a surprise party and a few friends. In June, he visited his brother in Virginia and had the chance to visit Washington D.C. for the first time with our church's youth group which he really enjoyed.

I (Janette) keep very busy with our 4 children, the house, teaching, and just trying to “keep up.” I had a very small garden this year—tomatoes and a pepper—due to having a baby around to keep me busier! I haven’t had much time for crafts or such things this year as you can imagine. I do really enjoy doing special things for, and with my family.

Christopher is our 8-year-old second grader. He is very creative and loves to make things and do things on his own—even creating his own recipes in the kitchen! I give him piano lessons and he does fairly well and plays at church frequently for offertories. Trint has been giving him trumpet lessons since July and he is suppose to play his first time at church this coming Sunday! He likes sports and does a great job playing catch, basketball, and any other sport he gets a chance to try. We sent him to a kids camp in July for 3 days for the first time. He spent the night away from home without us in the boys' dorm. (I took the other kids to the camp during 2 of the days.)

Blake is our brilliant 5-year-old who enjoys playing songs on the piano by ear as well as playing and singing at church for offertories (I also give him lessons). He is in Kindergarten, but could easily be placed in second grade reading and math! A few days ago, he got out a multiplication page and had no problem quickly getting the answers when I told him how to do it! He enjoys playing basketball with the guys at the gym even though he can’t make a basket in the hoop, he’s really good at dribbling and stealing the ball.

Lillian is our talkative 3-year-old who likes to sing and play and try to keep up with her brothers. She enjoys going to church and Sunday School and to the gym with Daddy and the boys to play with her friends. She also likes to draw, color, help make food, feed her sister, and help with the dishes in the kitchen.

Kaylee is our 9 month old baby who can now stand alone some and soon will be walking. She is definitely a delight and is so cheerful & friendly! She was born Feb. 25, 2010 and weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. She claps, waves, loves music, and says, “mama,” “ba” for bath, and the other day, she was making a kitty sound! She is very ornery sometimes and likes to dump toys for the other kids to pick up, get into the kitchen cabinets, play in the toilet water and plant dirt, and anything else she can do before she’s caught!

Remember to count your blessings and give God the praise as you celebrate with your family during this Christmas season and as you live throughout the New Year!

Love,

Trint, Janette, Christopher, Blake, Lillian, & Kaylee Castle