CHRISTMAS LETTER 2009

 Merry Christmas 2009 and our yearly update!

 

A steam roller knocked us over August 21, 2009 and we ended up in ICU.  

We had just graduated to the wheel chair when Blair and Carrol, Blair’s father,

were knocked unconscious and rushed to the ER.  Thankfully, the men’s accident only left Carrol with a broken bone in his face that could heal on its own and Blair with a concussion that after 3 weeks, he was begining to return to normal routines.  The steam roller was the death of our son, Matti and "ICU" is an analogy of just how difficult it was for us to breath much less function.  The pain of our loss pierced us through the heart to our very soul.  This gave us such a deeper understanding of Christ being pierced on the cross for our transgressions.  Then, there was the outpouring of support from our family, our church family, our 4-H family, our community, etc.  There was a debt of love given us that we could never repay.  This brings a deeper meaning to the debt Christ paid for us on the cross.  Wow!

 

Matti was full of energy, excitement and love for life.  He skied with the Soldotna Middle School Team last year and took 2nd in the Besh Cup Ski Races for his age group.  When we hit the downhill ski slopes for a couple days, Matti insisted on skiing with Blair and Josiah.  Blair was amazed at how well he skied and kept up, even on the black diamonds.  D.Anne sold Matti her share in the dairy cow business in the spring, and Matti was out chasing cows and helping milk with Grandpa and Josiah on most days.  Matti understood that hard work gained him more privileges.  This was Matti’s first year to race in the Mt. Marathon Jr. race.  He was excited, like he was about everything in life and mom was a little nervous.  Josiah had to sit out due to being anemic, but D.Anne also entered for the first time.  Ronna was at the half-way mark, where the juniors turn around, waiting for D.Anne to show up.  All of a sudden Matti popped out of the trees and Ronna freaked out.  It was unbelievably, amazing!    D.Anne had been training with the ski team, but Matti had just been running around the farmyard like he always does.  D.Anne had a good race, but she was such a good sport to let her little brother shine from ear to ear with his accomplishment of beating her.  He placed 2nd in the 11 and under division and first for 9 and under.  As a 9 year old, Matti decided to raise chickens for Junior Market Livestock in 4-H.  D.Anne helped him follow through with this project and get his chickens to the fair.  We were all down there as a family and watched Matti show his chickens Thursday night.  You can read about the accident that occurred the next morning on our website www.diamondmranch.com under Matti’s Memories: Local Newspaper Article and 4-H/Fair Newspaper Article.

 

D.Anne, 17, is in her junior year.  She is homeschooled, taking 10 college credits and one class at SOHI and one at church and one at home.  D.Anne was 5th in the borough for cross country skiing 9-12th graders – she had a great race.  In March she went on an almost 3 week mission trip to Nicaragua.  She loves the Nicaraguan people and wants to continue her Spanish and become an interpreter in the mission field, but she might spend a couple years skiing for UAF first.  D.Anne’s connection to Matti was their love for animals.  She plans to write a book:  Matti’s Adventures on the Farm to distribute to the local elementary schools and let 4-H sell them to raise funds for 4-H.

 

Josiah, 15, is in his freshmen year.  Last spring he requested a chance to try public school.  School started the 24th only 3 days after Matti’s homegoing and having not been to public school since 1st grade it was a very difficult beginning for him and me.  A change in his schedule gave us a breath and allowed him to finish the quarter with  A’s and  one B.  Matti was the dreamer and the visionary boy and Josiah helped him accomplish his projects.  Together they were on one adventure after another; a companion that won’t be forgotten. Josiah was 2nd in the borough skate race for junior high and 3rd in the classic.  He and D.Anne both raised steers which were showed and sold by 4-H families who picked up our pieces after we left the fair abruptly.

 

Darius, 8, is in 2nd grade at K-Beach Elementary.  He skied with his cousin MacKenzie and sister Sonora last spring while mom helped the SMS team.  He wrestled along with his older brothers right after skiing ended and tagged along behind his brothers in their activities all summer.  He and Matti were almost twins, so he has lost a special buddy.

 

Sonora, 6, is in 1st grade at K-Beach.  She has always been just a step behind Darius and Matti.  All three of them were within 2 pounds and 2 inches of each other this year.  Twins turned into triplets for a year.  Sonora has helped remind me of two very important points.  “Mom, you know this is just our temporary home anyway.”  And “Mom, Matti is not dead.”  In John 11:25 “Jesus said to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.”   Sonora has amazing insightfulness.

 

Blair and I had a strong marriage and now it is even stronger.  We will survive the loss of a very special gift from God that we shared for almost 10 years.  We have been too weak to walk, but God has been carrying us through the last 3 months.  We love you all and would appreciate continued prayer for our family.  We ask you to treasure each other and treasure your children; they can be gone in the blink of an eye.

 

Jesus’ love for you never changes; His care for you remains the same!

Wishing you the blessings of His Love this Christmas and in the New Year!

Blair, Ronna, D.Anne, Josiah, Darius, Sonora and (+Matti^)