Christmas Letter 2017

For the first time, our Christmas cards are OUT before Thanksgiving...I swear, Christmas Mollie is the best version of me. I am NOT this on top of things the other 11 months of the year. It's fine.

"I want a Christmas that whispers, Jesus" - Ann Voskamp

It is no secret that we go all out for Christmas in this house, and we aren't afraid to admit it. It's completely over-the-top and ridiculous and awesome. We love every minute of December. However, the crazier we get about the decorating and the parties and the shopping..the more I crave the presence of Jesus in our home during the holiday season. I don't just want our home decor and hospitality and giving to be eternally focused, I want everything we do during the Christmas season to literally radiate the reality of what we're celebrating...the birth of our Savior, Jesus.

With that in mind, I present to you...our 2017 Christmas letter...

Josh spent the year working himself to death, as per usual. That sentence shouldn't surprise anyone who has known him for any amount of time (and the goal of my Christmas letter this year is to be authentic...so there it is. A couple 90-hour work weeks happened but we survived to tell about it!). He's been a hardworking business owner since he was 12, so it would take some pretty significant "re-programming" to be anything else. At this point he's been operating Boersma Lawn Care longer than he hasn't been...and at the age of 29, I find that to be kind of amazing. Josh has a handful of other opportunities on the table but as we sit right now, he will be the owner and operator of BLC as we head into 2018. He's had a lot of hard over the years, but he's also provided for our family above and beyond what we need and blessed so many others in the process. He has a generous heart of gold once you get past the stress and anxiety his daily life brings.

Josh had a lot of fun finishing off our garage attic into a pretty legit Man Cave last winter (minus the night he got a sliver of wood stuck in his eye); getting his high school mini-bike to run again (this is a big hit amongst all our friends/brothers/uncles); and he has plans for fixing up his old go-cart over the winter.

I spent the year on that wonderful stay-at-home-mom-life grind. Some call young motherhood 'the trenches' and it might feel like that for some, but I've worked really hard to make living my days inside these four walls anything but trench-like. I would wholeheartedly admit that the low point of my year was January/February while Maverick was battling incoming molars, followed by his first ear infection...the sleepless nights returned and it wasn't. pretty. The two-year-molars have yet to strike, but that's Future Mollie's problem. Currently, my priorities include: loving Josh, raising Maverick, weekly BLC deposits + invoicing, spending daily time in the Bible, keeping the house clean, and hanging out with my favorite momma friends. To be honest, those six simple things completely define my year as I've focused on fine-tuning that list to be exactly what it should be. My side-gig as Wannabe Joanna Gaines has kind of exploded, with more and more people asking for my help and offering to pay for my services. For now it's all just a hobby...the last thing we need in this house is more than one stressed business-owner. It's just a little 'decorating ministry,' helping people make their homes and events beautiful because it's an unusual gift I love sharing with the world.

Highlights for me this year include refinishing the deck and spending almost every summer day on it; successfully growing adorable succulents; our 2nd annual fall trip to Galena; and www.boersmasglitterandgrass.blogspot.com.

Maverick freaking turned two on September 1st. He keeps growing and changing so fast, just like they all said would happen. We threw a Top Gun-themed birthday party and he got a sandbox + diggers from mom and dad...and because we do week-long birthday celebrations in this house, a trip to the Blank Park Zoo and Hickory Park were also necessary to fully celebrate the day. Listen, his birthday is as much of a milestone for us as it is for Mav, with having kept him healthy and happy for two whole years and all...so we kind of celebrate ourselves too. Raising a toddler has continually reminded me that Mav is a sinner in need of a Savior and the massive responsibility of raising him terrifies me daily. We love him so much it physically hurts, but he's not ours...we just have him on loan from God. Remembering that on the hard toddler days seems to make them easier...but I'll admit, he hasn't given us a ton of 'toddler-hard'...yet.

If Maverick had enough words to sum up his year, I think the "Tops" would include (in no particular order): pool, orchard, Chick-Fil-A, farmer's market, Target, Pumpkin Patch (our Ames toy store), and weekly visits to D6. This month he's amazing us with how much he's talking real words and sentences all. day. long. He has a special little language I think only we fully understand (blankie is pronounced 'vwankie' in this house)...this new stage is so fun.

As far as other 'news'...the same renters still reside at our acreage and two sweet girls rent our basement. We're still attending Cornerstone Ames and involved in connection group, Bible studies, and other ministries as time/priorities allow. Auntie Jamie is still a semi-permanent fixture at our house (she doesn't live here, though some weeks she might as well) and resident babysitter. You might as well also know we have no pregnant news to share and are totally good with that.

Merry Christmas!
Love,
Josh, Mollie, and Maverick