2011 Family Christmas Letter/Family Pictures

Summer 2011

2011 Family Christmas Letter

Friends and Family,

We hope this year was a great year for you all. We recently lost my grandma Mary. She peacefully passed away in her sleep the weekend after Thanksgiving. The kids and I had a wonderful visit with her the evening before she died. So glad she is no longer in pain, but she will be missed. Our family has been busy this year with homeschooling, organic heirloom gardening, cheese, soap and now candle making.  Recently, we joined the E. OR Celtic Society and have been enjoying learning more about our family history. We discovered the Whitesell family is originally from the Scottish clan “Lamont”. Our clan motto is “Acquired By Work”. We all thought THAT fit our family well, lol.   

Michael worked for the Forest Service out of Baker City up until December of this year. He just  got a new job working as a federal technician for the National Guard as a tank mechanic. This is his dream job! It is a good thing he didn’t get his commission back because he wouldn’t have been eligible for this job. God works in mysterious ways! He is soon planning on putting his packet forward to become a warrant officer instead. He is still at 3670^th CRC out of Clackamas for his weekend drills and seems to like it there. Michael has been able to do a lot more hunting and work on restoring his 1923 T-Bucket Roadster as funds have allowed.

I’m busy homeschooling Josiah and Hailey. I’ve had a great time planning a lot of field trips for our local homeschool group. The kids are developing some strong friendships. We absolutely love homeschooling and know without a doubt that is the best thing for our family. I’m still working 6 hours a week doing soil database work. I’m enjoying my third year of being a table leader for MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers. I love that ministry!The garden kept me very busy this summer, especially since we increased its size by 1/3!  I’m still cooking from scratch like crazy and making all my own cleaning products, which saves us A LOT of money. I’ve kept up with my blog www.homesteadwannabes.blogspot.com and Facebook where I share family pictures and do various posts on healthy living.

Josiah's 2nd Grade School Picture - 2011

Josiah is 8 years old and is in 2^nd  grade. Josiah is doing great academically, although keeping him focused on doing anything he doesn’t want to do is challenging. His behavior has improved tremendously since last year.  So grateful I’m able to homeschool and teach him at HIS pace. He is reading on his own a lot now. He is also busy with Aikido and AWANAS.

Hailey's Preschool Picture - 2011

Hailey is 4 years old and is still in the “princess” stage. She loves anything to do with princesses, music and dancing. She loves role playing with her brother, cooking and arts and crafts. She is attending her second year of AWANAS. She did Aikido over the summer, but is taking a break. She is a joy to homeschool. She really likes to learn. We’ve been working on behavioral issues with her this year, especially involving bedtime!

May you all have a Merry Christmas, enjoying the celebration of the Messiah’s birth and a prosperous New Year (despite the current economic state) and enjoy God’s blessings for this Coming New Year. Don’t forget to pray for all our troops and their families (including Michael’s brother, Nathan) who are experiencing separation due to deployments around the world. 


God Bless, 


Michael, Jackie, Josiah and Hailey