2013 Boersma Christmas Card

I went a little overboard with the kind of card we sent out this year, and therefore, could only afford to send 100 (and truthfully I should have kept it under 75...or been less picky about the cards on Shutterfly. And this year THEY OFFERED A SHIMMER FINISH...just stop). Anyway, I still wanted to share our Christmas letter with everyone on our blog. We've had a pretty bomb 2013...

"Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels..."

2013 was filled with excitement and stress; highs and lows; growth and change...and a lot of fun packed in between! We love spending time with family, especially now that our youngest siblings also call Ames 'home.' Opening our home to host parties with friends; college kids with their laundry; and connection group gatherings has continued to be one of our greatest joys as homeowners (as well as a great way to occasionally practice our patience!) Highlights from 2013 were..

January: Josh pushes snow. Mollie coaches Ames High Winter cheerleading. A friend moves into our spare bedroom for a few weeks. We buy new living room furniture! Mollie finally learns to sew thanks to her mother-and-sister-in-law.

February: Mollie coaches cheerleaders at State Wrestling for the first time (scary!). Josh plans for BLC's 13th summer. We babysit our niece and nephew overnight for the first time. We continue to love attending church at Cornerstone.

March: Chemical applications start for Josh. Mollie begins volunteering at Informed Choices (a pro-life medical clinic in Ames). We re-watch the entire series of How I Met Your Mother for the 5th time, starting with Season 1.

April: Mollie continues to enjoy working for 'her' realtor at Century 21. Josh has some equipment/warranty problems with Dixie Chopper. We spend a lot of time with our new connection group friends! Mollie still loves Pinterest.

May: Josh buys a new pellet gun with money from his 25th birthday. Mollie's sister 'moves in' for the summer. It rains 20" in less than a month and mowing is crazy! We have a lot of summer weddings to attend.

June: Josh's brother (and employee) leaves for a mission trip to Africa during the busiest part of the season. Josh works 80+ hours a week! Mollie re-paints the kitchen and dining room. We celebrate our third anniversary on June 19th!

July: Mollie road-trips with friends to Colorado for a wedding. The summer drought of 2013 begins. Josh buys Mollie an iPad as a 'five-months-early' birthday present. Mollie coaches at cheer camp and loves using her new iPad!

August: Josh works on the 'Man Cave' in the attic above the garage. The drought gets worse. A friend moves back into our spare bedroom for a few months and Mollie's sister moves into an apartment. We buy an acreage!!!!!!!!!!

September: Mollie decorates 422 13th St. for fall! Josh mows and treats his irrigated accounts but loses revenue due to the drought. Mollie gets her tonsils out and doesn't leave the house for two weeks. We make plans for fixing up our 'farm.'

October: We close on our acreage and the hard work begins. Our parents, siblings, and many friends stop by to offer their help with clean-up. Work for BLC explodes and Josh is very busy again! Mollie starts writing this Christmas letter.

November: We have 50+ people contact us with interest in renting our acreage! Mollie starts her cheer coaching season. Josh loves working at our new 'farm.' We host Thanksgiving for Mollie's side of the family. Josh prepares to push snow.

December: Mollie's Christmas decorating reaches new extremes (eight trees!). We host the 5th annual ThanksChristmas (a tradition our Salt Company friends started while we were all in college). We travel all over Iowa celebrating Christmas with both sides of the family. Josh can't stop watching Home Alone...Mollie can't stop glittering things...

All in all, we are thankful that God's timing is perfect in everything...and ours isn't. Josh had his fair share of stress and equipment problems scattered throughout the season, but we've survived another year as small-business owners. We are thankful that God has provided abundantly more than we deserve...even during a drought year! How great is our God?!

It's no secret; we're a little Christmas-obsessed (okay not a little...a lot). As we prepare to spend our 5th Christmas together, we've realized that the month of December has gradually spiraled out of control. For each of us growing up, Christmas revolved around Luke Chapter 2 and the wonder of the real Christmas story. Josh hardly remembers doing anything 'Santa' at his house...and Mollie's favorite family tradition was (and still is!) attending the Christmas Eve service. We love starting our own traditions; watching Hallmark movies; throwing parties; and celebrating old traditions with family...but we've found ourselves straying from what really matters at Christmastime. Those fun, cozy, tasty, Christmassy things are all wonderful (and help make this time of year so special!) But it's time for us to drop everything and...

"Come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord."