Sunday, December 5, 2021

 Grubb Christmas Letter

2021 has flown by and we are so thankful, yet again, for all the good gifts the Lord has given this year.

2021 Milestones:

March                 Ky got her driver’s license

April                    Sy worked his first job as a certified referee

April                    Scott & Tara celebrated 21 years of marriage!

May 2021          J & K graduated high school/homeschool

July 2021            J moved to Colorado to attend USAFAPS & graduated from Basic Military Training

August 2021      K started college as an OFFICIAL college student

 

It’s been a few years since our last Christmas post. We are still living in Anaheim, CA in the home we moved into after our trip. When we moved in, our kids were in 5th, 7th, 9th & 10th grades. Now we have 2 high schoolers and 2 adults in college! That happened so fast!

Shortly after our last letter… in early 2018, my father Joe Thibodo passed away. He had an abdominal aneurysm in late January and though they were able to fix that, his body was not able to overcome other stresses and he passed away in early February. We are thankful that what could have been a sudden death was instead three weeks of time spent together considering the end of our time together on earth was close. We are so encouraged knowing we will see him again. When the hospital clergy came by to visit, he wrote, “I am a child of God.” He was confident of his status and we are so thankful. Still, the course of our lives was changed after that. Our family spent regular time with Grandpa Joe and we miss those times together. Several rooms in our home have a child-chosen photo of Grandpa displayed as we remember.

In early 2020, the Lord led us to a new church home and we have all thrived there. It is a blessing to follow the Lord’s leading, though painful at times, and bask in the blessing of being exactly where He would have you.

Scott is still running his IT business and it has grown significantly since we returned to California in 2017. Our plan was to be here for a year or two, but the Lord has made it clear we are to stay longer, so for now, we “bloom where we are planted”.

Tara is not teaching for our homeschool group this year, but remains busy teaching the kids at home. Last year, she taught Sy’s class and had the privilege of guiding the students through a mock trial at the end of the year that was quite an affair.

J, 19, is currently attending the Air Force Academy Preparatory School. Since we lived on the road his 9th grade year, he chose to do an extra year of high school to complete the homeschool program that we have been part of since 2009. During this time, he also took flying lessons, soloed for the first time, and has accumulated almost all the hours required for his private pilot license. The process of applying to the Air Force Academy was challenging! The most difficult part is getting a nomination from your Congressman or Senator and J was blessed to be nominated by our Congressman to both the Air Force and Naval Academies. Then he was accepted to both Preparatory schools and had to choose. With a goal of becoming a pilot, he chose Air Force. The AF now requires a 10-year service commitment for those they train as pilots, so J is looking at 5 years of school, then a year of pilot training, then 10 years of service. When he left, Sy said, “So, we won’t see J again until he is 35?” Thankfully, no. During the 5 years of school, he can come home at Thanksgiving and Christmas and 3 weeks in the summers. It is quite a commitment that he is taking on, and we are proud to support him in pursuing his dreams and thankful that the Lord continues to guide him and open doors.

K, 18, is currently attending Cypress College. He graduated high school in May after defending his senior thesis asserting the Old Testament is still necessary. He lives at home and continues to work at Kipe Molds, a silicon injection machine shop. Because K took college classes alongside his high school work, he chose to take a large load this semester in order to graduate. He is excited to finish his A.A. degree in Computer Information Systems, but will continue taking classes pursuing a B.A. in Communications. He continues to be successful making extra cash by buying and selling used items like guitars, cameras, and iPhones. He always has the latest gadgets and somehow turns a profit when he wants the next fun thing. He spends his (very little) spare time playing guitar (in a metal band or leading worship???) and taking photos & video for his growing photography business. Lately, the Lord seems to keep opening doors in photography. K has always had a good eye and is using it to shoot weddings, campaigns, family, landscape, and advertising. We are so thankful for the variety as it offers him the opportunity to explore and grow.

Ky, 16, is currently a junior in high school, but, like her brothers is taking a few college classes that interest her. Our Classical Conversations homeschool group did not have 11th grade this year, so Ky drives herself 30 minutes to the Corona campus, braving the 91 freeway every week! In addition to the high school curriculum, she has opted to pursue Kinesiology at the local community college and this semester added a sign language class. Her hope is to get into equine-assisted therapy to help people while working with horses. She continues to work as a ranch-hand down the road, caring for “her horse” and all the animals. She is down to 3 days a week now, splitting duties with another gal, but that works out because she is pretty busy. All three kids at home continue to referee soccer on Saturdays and that has become quite an experience since all the parents at the field seem to have forgotten their manners during Covid. Ky has been really blessed by new friendships and connections at our new church and is truly blossoming in the youth group.

Sy, 14, is a freshman and is our lone child with the homeschool group we have done life with for 12 years. Without his siblings there, Sy is making his own way. He is also very popular in the youth group at church – people really like his enthusiastic and funny personality. Sy has followed in J’s footsteps and joined the local Civil Air Patrol squadron. There, too, with his older brother gone, he is finding his own way, promoting, and taking on leadership roles and responsibilities. He and Ky volunteer together every week tutoring elementary students at the local community center. All of these activities are stretching him and maturing him. He can no longer fly under the radar - all the time - as the baby of the family, but he still has a pretty care-free attitude. But he can tenaciously pursue things when he wants to. He recently decided he wanted a better lawnmower to complete his chores and he worked hard refereeing to save up and buy a brand new electric one on his own!

Piper, an 8-month-old Shepard/Lab, joined our family in August. She requires 4+miles of walking each day if we want her to stay out of trouble, so she is keeping our family fit!

 

Scott & I feel like we are definitely in a new stage of life with 2 adult children to encourage and 2 high schoolers in their final years of receiving most of their guidance and direction from us. We seek the Lord’s guidance daily as it can be quite an adventure and are grateful to have a direct line to the Creator of our universe (and our children) to receive wisdom. We are encouraged by Hebrews 4:16 which says: “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” As parents of teens who frequently reflect our giftings and our faults, it is a comfort to find mercy at the cross of Christ. We fully acknowledge that all that has happened in 2021 is by the hand of God in our lives. May you know Him and His love and His provision and His grace in your daily life as well!

Blessings to you… from the Grubb family, 2021

 

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