Christmas Letter 2024

 

November 15, 2024

To those of you who still talk to us during an election year:

Hello again from the Jolley crew! Current status is that I’m sick in bed (wasn’t I sick when I wrote this last year? Am I a hypochondriac?), and Dan is bribing kids with trips to the park and library if they clean up the toy room. He would have an easier time motivating a group of sloths to compete in an Ironman. But here we go—

Beck “Herdman” Jolley (5) is the cuddliest, sweetest little maniac that ever menaced through society. He loves to tell me he loves me and that I’m beautiful but also calls me other words when he is put into timeout. He could make politicians jealous with his smooth attempts to get out of punishments on technicalities, such as “Yes, I put my teeth on his arm but I didn’t bite down” and “But Mom, it was a light punch.” He loves waiting for me to turn a corner so that he can resume whatever activity I have just banned. I just hope he takes care of me when he’s in the Mafia.

Harris (7) takes the prize for “Most Dramatic Event” this year for getting hit by a car while riding his bike in front of our house last March. Dan and I get the prize for “Worst First Responders Ever” for our top-notch reactions to this same event. Dan is an Eagle Scout (with a Palm!), and I don’t know where we keep the band-aids; thus with these powers combined, we decided to move the patient (don’t do that!), forgot that there is this hotline you can call in case of emergencies (9-1-1), and drove Harris to an urgent care where the doctor on duty called the aforementioned hotline and had Harris taken to the ER by ambulance. Now that it’s over it seems all DUH and whatnot, but I’m telling you at that moment, it might not occur to you to take your lacerated-by-moving-vehicle-son to the hospital. Okay, it probably would but we are not your average parents. We are far below that.

Gwen (10) is the attentive mother my kids never had. She loves to plan an activity, she always remembers where we parked the car, and she’s great at eavesdropping.  It was only two short years ago that Dan ran down the stairs in a panic because he heard screaming coming from the music room only to find that said screams were actually the screechy bowings of our budding Gwen on her violin. It has been great to see her progress this year as she works her way through Suzuki Book 3 and has performed many solos in church. She has also learned how to sew a quilt, continues to take dance classes, and calls out our unrighteous behavior on the reg.

June (12) is a budding scientist, playwright, and preteenager.  However, June’s winningest moment was when she showed great resilience after being left at an ice cream shop for 45 minutes (that had closed 30 minutes before). TO BE FAIR TO ME, June had been mad at me at said ice cream shop and when she didn’t answer any of my questions on the ride home, I figured it was because my tween was giving me the silent treatment.  And it’s not like I can just crane my neck around to check on everyone’s attendance in the van because that makes me carsick. It was only when stopping for gas 20ish minutes after leaving the creamery that Gwen asked, “Where is June?” that I turned around to see an empty chair. In an empty van. Where my June would sing no more. Until 25 minutes later when we picked her up. And then still no singing, just screaming.

Hershey laid off 300 people this October, and unfortunately, Dan was one of them. However, he started working for Russell Stover in November, and he loves it. Heaven forbid we ever work for a broccoli or carrot company, but that wouldn’t really fit with our lifestyle either. He is traveling to and from Kansas City periodically, and we may have a move on the horizon, but we aren’t sure! Just in case, please allow me to dust off my letterman’s jacket to wear around town when I return. Legends never die, friends.

Thanks for being our friends through the many ups and downs of our year. We are grateful for the one sure thing in our lives, and that is the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas!

The Jolleys