The 2007 Flanders Family Update


Progress was slow and the weather turned cold, so in January we hired professionals to finish the job. Note to self: Next time warn the neighbor — the cardiologist’s wife next door nearly had a heart attack when she spotted all those strangers prowling around behind her property. Some homemade muffins and spicy taquitos helped smooth the misunderstanding, and the men returned to work with fervor. Within three days, they’d raked every leaf, hauled off all the brush piles, and ground countless stumps. David, Sam and Ben spent another three days meticulously spreading 200 bales of pine needles over the entire acre and a half. Whenever Mom or Dad grabbed a rake and tried to help, the boys shooed us away, preferring the more even results they achieved by sifting the straw through their fingers. The land looked pristine once they finished.










Daniel celebrated his second birthday this month. He’s finally started to talk, which has the whole family ecstatic. Up until a month earlier, the only words he’d voice were “mom”, “dad”, “ball” and “bye” (and those very infrequently). Most of his communication was done strictly in sign language: “More milk, please!” or “Where’s Daddy?” or “My diaper stinks. Change me.” He lets us know he’s awake in the morning, not by crying or calling, but by pushing a button to turn on his music box.

We celebrated three more birthdays in September. Rebekah turned eight. She loves all things Little House: She names her dolls Laura, Mary and Carrie, wears her hair in two long braids wherever she goes, and wishes her Pa would grow his hair long and curl it, à la Michael Landon, although Ma prefers the clean-cut style Pa normally wears. Joseph turned ten. He loves origami, computers, and gymnastics, but is also a whiz at math, earning straight 100’s on all his tests and homework. Bethany turned eighteen. She stays so busy attending class, assisting in the biology lab, serving in student government, tutoring algebra and chemistry, and going to Bible study that we seldom see her at all anymore. Not only does she miss dinner and story-time more evenings than not, but she was unable to accompany us on either of our road trips this year.







We realize folks who receive our newsletter fall into one of two basic groups: those who roll their eyes and toss it on their nightstand to be used as a remedy for insomnia — as one of Doug’s partners, under the misconception that Doug writes our updates, conspiratorially confessed to Jennifer that he does — and those who savor every word and insist on reading it aloud to neighbors, coworkers, family, and friends — a reaction which leaves us baffled every time we hear it. If you’re in the first group, you likely dozed off three pages ago. If you’re in the second, you might be interested to know that we’ve posted all our old Christmas letters on a new website, www.flandersfamily.info, which we plan to update monthly as an experiment in keeping in touch with extended family, distant friends, and children who’ve moved away from home. All this to say, if you don’t want to wait until next year’s update to find out whether #11 is a boy or girl, then check the site in January for birth statistics and pictures of our latest addition.
Meanwhile, we pray that Christ will be exalted in our home and yours this holiday season as our hearts joyfully resound, “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” (2 Corinthians 9:15). May the Lord bless and keep you in the coming year. Write when you can.

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