Castleberry Annual Letter December 2005

(Please note: Some names have been removed to protect privacy)

May this letter find you all rejoicing in the birth, atoning death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. God has been so very gracious to us this year. We have been blessed by a year of joy and growth in the Lord for all of us. Our oldest son, Stephen, had major surgery on his back, and we praise the Lord for the successful and safe outcome of that. We are so thankful to have all of you as part of our lives. We pray that the Lord will bless you and draw you ever closer to Him. And now, a word from the children...

Hi, I am ______ and I am five years old now. We flew on an airplane to Grandma and Grandpa’s house and it was fun. I like to play with our toy farm set with ______ and _______. I like to play in the snow. I like to play hide and go seek in the house when it’s cold outside. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Love, ______

Hi, I’m ______ and I’m nine years old. I like riding my bike and feeding the cats. I like going out to check on our new calves. I enjoyed going to Florida to see Grandpa and Grandma. It was lots of fun to ride on the airplane. I enjoyed taking off and landing the most. I like to go downhill skiing. Love, ______

Hello, everyone! I hope this finds you all well. My favorite animals are cattle, dogs, and horses. I am looking forward to our annual trip south. I recently turned twelve in September. _______ and I have enjoyed hunting squirrels and I almost got one! I recently passed hunter safety and got a small game license. I also enjoy cross country skiing with Ben. In Him, _____

Hey folks! This year has been an interesting one. I bought a heifer this year, she is the calf of a registered polled Hereford. I am planning on farming for a living, so I’m starting my own herd. On the farm, some things I like doing include tractor work, especially cutting hay. I also like fishing and hunting. Dad and Mom bought me and _______ a subscription to The Stockman Grass Farmer, a magazine that advocates grazing cattle and other livestock. I really like it. This year I went white water kayaking for the first time. It was great, I didn’t turn over even when we went over the 5 ft ledges.
God bless, Ben (15)

Greetings to all of you out there! This past year has been great, though nothing really huge has happened to me....you know it has been what I call a slow year if the only thing “big” that occurred was getting wisdom teeth cut out! :) I think the highlight of this year was flying to Florida this spring to visit our grandparents. I hadn’t flown in so long, and found it really fun and so much faster than driving! Jeannie and I had seats together, and we kept switching places to take turns looking out the window. The other passengers were like, “Is this your first time to fly or something?!” We did so many fun things this summer. Jeannie gave Katie and I some riding lessons with a neighbor’s horse. That was really fun, including jolting around while trying to learn to post! We kids also took lots of bike rides to nearby Poplar to see Stephen at work in the hardware store. Dad took us older kids white water canoeing. It was awesome. This was my first time through rapids, and I was glad Jeannie was in the canoe too. Did you know that screaming actually helps keep a canoe upright?! Through all of the activities that we did this summer, I was continually amazed and grateful that Stephen could be with us, and do everything! God really blessed him. Thank you all who prayed for him during and after the surgery. Well, this is long enough. Because of Him, Betsy Anne age 17

Hello to all of you! Hope this finds you all enjoying the season, and in good health. I graduated this spring in June, and Granny was able to be here. It’s was a lot of fun to see all of our friends. I am now 19 and enjoying being a teacher for the first time ever. There are some challenges to teaching, but I enjoy all of it. This year finds me teaching, still playing piano, sewing, and all the normal stuff a girl is kept busy with. We went down to Minneapolis for a day, and enjoyed Mr. Larson’s art show. He’s got some fantastic art, and I really like the way he paints shadows. Some of the paintings were so big, it was really neat. In the Almighty, Katie

Hello! This year I published my first book! The book is called “Journey of the Heart” and it’s a novel that deals with singleness and waiting on the Lord, from the perspective of a young woman. I feel so blessed to have finally finished it! God’s direction was evident, and Mom and Dad were invaluable editors and advice-givers. I also enjoyed many fun times with my family, including the trip to Florida, making hay, riding bikes, and camping. One really fun experience was being in a local Fourth of July parade. Our whole family went with the Rescue Squad (Stephen is an enthusiastic member!) and handed out candy until we ran out, which was about half-way through. May God bless you this year! Jeannie (24)

Hello all! It has been a really busy year in many ways for me. Late last fall, we found out that my scoliosis had progressed to the point where surgery would be required. It was going to be a really expensive surgery, and the insurance I had would not cover the cost. However, if I became a student, I would be covered under Dad’s policy with the university. Dad encouraged me to choose a college and a major. His words were something like: “Choose what you would like to do for the rest of your life. You have three days to decide.” Talk about pressure! A local community college was having an open house, and we went to that. I felt God leading me to enroll there for the spring semester, majoring in architectural technology. I did that, and took three online courses and one on-campus course. A few weeks into the semester I left for my surgery. My instructors were understanding, and found ways for me to do course work ahead. The surgery went well, and again, I knew that this was what the Lord wanted me to do. I was not allowed to lift anything over five pounds for several months afterward, which was the thing that bothered me the most about having the surgery. Did you know that a gallon of milk weighs 8 pounds? I had to have someone help me with nearly everything. My family was great, and really helped a lot. As soon as the weight restriction was lifted, I began looking for a job for the summer. After lots of applying, I finally got hired at a local hardware store. They worked it out so that I could work part-time while I went to school in the fall as well. It is a great place to work, and I always look forward to working.
I think that everyone else has already listed the fun stuff we did this year, so I won’t repeat them here. I have had a lot of calls with the rescue squad this year, quite a few of them deaths. One thing that I notice at many of the traffic deaths, is that many of the deaths seem as though they could have been prevented had the victim been wearing a seatbelt. As you travel this year, please wear your seatbelt. Stephen (22)

May God bless you all as you seek to serve Him who gave His life for us, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Steve and Susie, Jeannie, Stephen, Katie, Betsy, Ben ,______, ______, and ________