The Troxel Family Times

Merry Christmas from the Troxels!

Winter 2010

Dear Friends,

I hope this post finds you healthy and content.  May the spirit of God be with you this blessed holy season. We have had so many things to be thankful for this year, although we have also been through some hard times.  I hope to hear from all of you soon and hope you will share what God has been doing in your lives too.

Our New Year started out with a bang!  We found out that we were going to have a baby in September.  We were all full of joy and very excited. However, the baby was miscarried the end of February, the last full day we were in Hawaii on vacation.  Hawaii was warm and wonderful in February.  We had an exciting time there; we were evacuated from Waikiki due to a tsunami warning! But we also got to visit the zoo, Pearl Harbor, beaches, shopping districts, and we had good times visiting with my mom and dad and grandma, who were also in Hawaii with us.
 

We also got to visit Disneyland this year!  We spent the month of October traveling in California.  We stayed in LA for a week and visited not only Disneyland, but California Adventure Park, the California Science Center, La Brea tar pits, and Hollywood.  Then we spent a week at a friend’s family’s cabin up in the San Bernardino Mountains, west of LA.  We rode Amtrak from LA to Redding, and visited with some fellow Village Missionaries in Willow Creek, CA.  They let us borrow their car to spend a day viewing the Redwoods along the coast.  We returned to the train and continued on to southern Washington, where we attended a VM conference in Ocean Park.  We were gone long enough to really miss Nenana.

Bill was diagnosed with “Mood Disorder due to a Chronic Medical Condition”, depression related to losing the baby and from dealing with his liver condition.  He was put on medication that greatly reduces the pain level he constantly experiences and is also an anti-depressant.  He is feeling much better lately, after being on the medication and going to counseling this year.  I have also been diagnosed with two more medical conditions this fall.  I’m pregnant again! We are expecting a new little Troxel in May.  The pregnancy has aggravated a condition I already had; Premature Atrial Contractions, a condition were the parts of my heart don’t beat in sync.  This is normal according to the doctor; but it is uncomfortable, and the symptoms should decrease after the baby is born. 

Aerin and Ethan are growing tall and more wonderful every day!  They are excited about the baby and can’t wait for it to arrive.  They won trophies in Tae Kwon Do this year for sparring and patterns.  Aerin plays trombone in the junior high school band; Ethan played Santa Claus in the class Christmas play.  Aerin was also elected president of the local 4H ATV safety club.  They both attended Camp Li-Wa this last summer, and had a fabulous time. When we returned from California, they both had chicken pox.  They are very good kids and make us proud. 

We started a new hobby this year.  We are now chicken owners!  We have 19 hens and one rooster and I enjoy them so much.  Gathering eggs is a real treasure hunt.  We are using and selling the eggs.  We made them a house out of straw for the winter and next summer plan to make them a real coop.

May God bless and keep you and yours.