Christmas Letter 2024

Christmas letters scare me. I usually get way too personal way too fast and reveal too much so i have to rewrite them. I don’t want it to be too long but neither should it be too short. I’ll give this a try though and see what all i have to axe out.

This year felt like a lot happened. As it started out, Papa’s made plans and moved away to Greenwater to a charming home and Mike’s also made their lake home the more permanent home. They all go to Porcupine for church so we don’t see them as often as we’d like. It’s not that far away but on some days the hour plus drive feels too far and we can’t just casually get together. We are thankful we have friends here who are the casual get together type. It makes it feel less lonely in the little corner where they all used to live. We also ran some cows at Mikes new place so that was a nice way to see folks or Mikes, to bother them a bit once a week. (Thanks for all the impromptu meals!)

Because Greenwater is a middle point, sometimes we get to meet up with Ted’s, Joel’s, Jaymon’s or Layton’s at Papas and Mikes. And Codie’s are there in Porcupine too now with their charming baby Thea.

Our Franni Mae graduated and now she’s home full time. She still loves to bake and she’s taking tenth grade online plus she helps Jeffrey in the feedlot so she’s a busy girl. Youth life can be pretty happening sometimes so that takes her away but even if it’s late when she gets home from youth it’s fun to chatter with her as she unwinds. She’s got croissants on the go right now and is making a large chocolate one for each of our Christmas presents.

Lynnea got a little beagle/ cocker spaniel ( or Bocker) and she named her Chica. I call her Chica Fresa and that totally fits. It’s slang in Guate spanish for trendy girl or maybe picky girl or city girl, i’m not totally sure but it fits how they use it. It directly translates to strawberry girl tho.

Now in winter, we are officially those people with a house dog. But she is a sweet girl and gives Anthony someone to tussle and rough house with in the evenings since he doesn’t have a brother. Chica has been a fun dog to get to know and seems like each one of us has a different thing she likes to do with us. She waits for Fran to go out and break waterers each morning and if she misses the opportunity of the open door, she goes crazy. She streaks across the frozen yard and drive and follows her nose to find her. She looks like a full beagle and acts like a full beagle but maybe is smaller than a lot of beagles are.

In fall one day as i gardened, I decided to come in for a drink. Chica was beside me digging holes and sniffing for mice or something as I dug potatoes. She never noticed me walk away. It was a lovely day so I took a wandering path to the house and did some other things on the way. When I got in and looked out the kitchen window I saw Chica rocketing away from the garden and following my exact path back and forth. Swing set where I swung a bit and picked up my shoes, flowerbed where I weeded for a bit, over to Betsy the cattle dog where I petted and visited and then to the apple tree to check its health before i came up to the porch. I don’t think we’ve ever had a dog who follows her nose before she trusts her eyes. Our kelpie cattle dogs rarely even sniff the ground.

Lynnea is in ninth grade and soon she’ll be graduated and at home. I don’t know if she’ll start youth with her grade mate friend Kora or just wait. (She started school a year early.) Lynnea is a natural at horse riding and cattle herding and i can see her settling into that work full time. She also is a natural at academics but it doesn’t fulfill her the way she is contented after outdoor work.

Kajsa is getting a little taller and slimming down and becoming our third teenager. She is still a shepherdess and loves her sheep and worries and frets over their health and nutrition.

She has a pile of friends and can keep busy with them all. Calli lives nearby and rides bus with us. Brianna is also just up the road and they are crazy and funny together. Mia is a big cheer in her life and she keeps making plans to visit her, we hope to make it work soon. She has a pile of fun with her cousin Naomi because they seem to have similar personality in art and they call up each other on the phone just like the good old days and chatter like they can’t stop. Savannah is one of our nearest neighbours and easy to hang out with. Spencer moved away but Kajsa will do a lot to make sure she can see him when she can. Julisa is also right across the road and fun to visit with when I need someone to pick up milk…and then Keighley is just across the rock ridge. She’s been our faithful Chica babysitter.

Anthony is growing up too, he’s in third grade this year. He’s a mechanic and a Lego builder. He’s built amazing choppers and combines and planes without books, he just looks at real pictures of them in auction catalogues and builds what he can. Sometimes we go online to the Lego shop pick a brick and he picks out the bricks he needs for combine teeth, etc.

He’s been keeping his room neater and getting slightly better at focusing on responsibilities. In his head, he’s always inventing things. I dunno but sometimes we call him a Ronald Unruh throwback with his brain. He can tell me in full detail how to build an amphibious vehicle that he would call ‘the Spector’ and then how to seal water off from around the tires. Or he can get so focused on a job that he thinks needs handling like fixing the door so the dog doesn’t scratch at it to come in that he can’t get what I ask him to do accomplished. Jeff would like him to be more competitive in sports and he is getting more interested in that. A lot of his disinterest is his defense against being made fun of I think. If you act like you don’t care, then boys can’t hurt you when they make fun of how you’re doing.

Oh, and Anthony will definitely be my grill man one day. He’s always interested in food and it’s flavours.

Jeffrey still runs cows, sells purebred black Angus bulls, chops silage and does a lot of fixing. We usually only feed our own calves and fatten them. We put in some concrete bunklines this fall and hope to put in more. A friend is booked to put siding on the house part we live in as soon as the siding is in and someone else is booked to tear down the old part and rebuild next summer. It feels like we might be crazy to be making plans to stay when so much family has moved away but we can’t just sit still. Our old house needs work no matter if we go or stay. I guess the only way we’ll move anywhere is if the door is clearly open somewhere to us and so far the open door is right where we are.

I got to go on a few plein aire Saskatchewan painting trips this summer and fall with some artist friends. I think the best one was the day we took the boat and i sat on a beach at Lower Fishing Lake and painted with two new artist friends from Saskatoon while my family boated and swam and ate from the cooler on the boat. Then as a family we went and hiked around Gem Lakes and filled up on abundant high bush blueberries. On the way home we stopped at Ispuchaw (sp?) and Jeff and Tony stood in the lake and fished while the sun set.

Roberta Luchinski is so good at planning day trips to see historic Saskatchewan and lots of the lakes. I love painting with her and learning lots. We often meet up with other artists and paint together. It’s neat how there’s something to learn from everyone, even beginning painters teach me a lot. My most fun painting friends are probably the small children, even as some of them grow older i see them start to compare and i want to keep them from that. Just make art for the sake of play and creativity, not to create masterpieces or amazing finished works. The goal of art is in the making with hands and expressing one’s feelings. Art is not about talent, it’s about joy and freedom of personal viewpoint.

Tomorrow we go to Papa’s for the day and i think nephew Rogan will join us when he’s done chores at Ted’s. Our own little Christmas is tonight and Tony suddenly realized he wanted to buy gifts for his sisters so i’m taking him to town when i go to get chicken feed and he’ll maybe get them each some chocolate or something.

Now I have preached sermons, as my girls would say i’m good at, so i need to shut this down.

Thanks for your friendship and love . I wish you each a warm and wonderful holiday season with moments to get near to each family member,

Have a Happy New Year!

-Jeffrey, Miriam, Fran, Nea, Kajsa and Tony

p.S. my friend Sandra at Northern Lights Art Gallery helped me laminate and frame this painting print for Nea’s Christmas present.