Family Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas, Friends! As always, there is quite a bit to say about the Kinzers this year. In discussing the writing of this letter (and who would be the author), we discussed the fact that it may have to be several pages long with tiny margins and a dinky font. Only because we all did a lot, but none of it is truly newsworthy. Mom’s words were, “We were pretty boring, did a lot, but nothing too drastic.” However, all in all, I’d say it’s been a great year for all of us.

Faith is doing fantastically. She’s still going to Liberty and is finishing up her third semester. She always takes a full load of classes and does her best to stay heavily involved in many outreaches at the school. She participated in a Halloween Haunted House and is a prayer leader in her dorm hall. As a missions coordinator at the school, she helped organize her summer mission to Brazil where she acted as a leader. I was on vacation when she called me from the airport to ask for some advice in regards to “problem kids” and keeping control. I was pretty excited to hear how grown up she was and recognize that she’s now truly an adult and is having an impact on the sphere around her. I must say that it is somewhat weird for me to watch her turn into a grownup who has mature thoughts and mature conversations. I crave time on the phone with her and can’t stand not knowing what’s going on with her on almost a daily basis (I even Facebook stalk and friend request her roommates and whatnot). When I begged and pleaded with her to tell me what she definitely wanted included in this letter, she gave me a long list of things that happened (that are all here) and added, “I dunno. It’s probably been the most adventurous year for me so far.” I think I have to agree with her, because honestly, I can’t even remember everything she’s done. Almost every time I talk to her she’s doing something that sounds incredibly fun (or challenging).

Nathan is officially a military man. I think Boot Camp and training may have almost been harder on Arielei, but we are very proud of Nathan for his choices and for doing well. Since then, he has injured his knee which is complicating the benefits and Nathan’s future with the military. He has signed on with the Reserves and will be deployed in May(ish) to Iraq. Definitely keep him (and Arielei) in your prayers as they are separated and Nathan is doing dangerous things for a large portion of their 2011. They’ve both started to attend Liberty University as well and enjoy being able to see Faith more often. They have an apartment and are enjoying classes which they say are much more challenging than the ones they took at UNM. Arielei gave me permission to say, “Arielei only married in but she's working as a staff photographer for Liberty's student newspaper.” I have gleaned from their Facebooks that they do miss their friends here and are getting excited about graduating and moving back to the Land of Entrapment. I have also gleaned from Nathan’s Facebook that he is getting stranger and more jokingly-dramatic than ever.

Kristen, the intensely amazing authoress of this fine piece of informative literature, is doing quite well. She has the same job she told you about last year and has not had anything too exciting or out of the ordinary happen in the last year. She made some awesome friends, acquired an awesome boyfriend, got rid of her stalker, went to a gazillion weddings and baby showers, got her foot badly broken (by her best friend) and was on crutches for 9 weeks (it’s been 9 ½ months and is still broken). She visits her grandparents almost every day just to make sure they are entertained on a regular basis. She went back East with Jonathan and got to see Mom’s side of the family. She hadn’t been to family reunion at the beach for about 5 years and was incredibly excited to see everyone (and how they had aged so much). It was great to introduce Jonathan and spend time with the family. Just to be a downer: she sang “Amazing Grace” at a dear friend’s memorial this fall; it was one of the hardest, most rewarding things she’s ever been asked to do. Her New Year’s Resolutions were to get two new piercings, two new tattoos and have fun. She ended up with 3 new tattoos, 5 new piercings and had a ton of fun going to parties, throwing parties, being in weddings, traveling, etc.

Jonathan Pierangeli-Kinzer gets a shoutout this year! He’s been part of the family long enough that we decided it was time to include him in the letter. He’s the best friend that ruined my foot. We still love him. He also had a great year and was obviously present for all the family times! He had a blast meeting all the Byrnes at the beach and is always asking if he gets to go back. I always tell him, “Duh. I’m not missing it, so you have to go.” He told Grandma Pat that he refused to call her Pat and would be calling her Grandma. She seemed pleased to welcome him to the family. As we were leaving the beach (a tad early), Uncle Scott shook his hand and hugged him and said, “Welcome to the family.” I’m pretty sure that means he’s stuck with us anyhow. Of course, he’s always helping around Grandma and Grandpa’s house and helps me entertain them. Grandma always counts him in her grandkid list. As I mentioned, we went back East and got to see his entire family including our favorite aunt who we love to spend time with!

Caleb is ancient. He and Tiphani are still living in Oklahoma with the babies, D’Lyla (3) and Mariah (2). Unfortunately, we don’t see them often enough. However, they were able to make it to Grandma Kinzer’s 80th birthday party and also to the family reunion at the beach! They’re both little swimmers, speak multiple languages and love playing until they’re so tired all they can do is cry. It’s amazing how much the girls grow between each time we see them. Mariah ended up crushing on my boyfriend. Pretty sure I’m going to have to watch out, make sure she doesn’t try to steal him… She’s mostly potty trained. D’Lyla, on the other hand, not so much interested in being potty trained. A tad too hyper and enjoys only having fun. They were welcomed whole-heartedly by all the Byrnes at the beach and they grew particularly fond of Uncle Scott since he’d let ‘em sit in his lap and squish his face. Caleb is still working at the detention center and was fortunate enough to get a regular 9-5 schedule which has helped them all be able to coordinate schedules better. Tiphani is working at a local buffet and keeping extra busy taking online classes and working to get her degree. They are planning on finishing saving up some money and relocating to New Mexico. I keep encouraging them to be irresponsible and just move out here and then saving. For some reason, that’s not working. ;) The whole family would love it if they moved home and we got to spend more time with the babies who aren’t really even babies anymore.

Marcie is, as always, maintaining a busy lifestyle. She’s teaching college classes, taking college classes, and still teaching high school lit classes. She’s teaching Sunday school class and doing other things at the church as well. All in all, I’d say that pretty much eats up all her time. Last I talked to her, she doesn’t have much time for a social life (outside of the socialization she gets in school and at church). I tend to tease her about that, but then again, I’m just kind of mean that way. She does her best to keep in touch with all her kids since most of us are spread all over the country now. She does still let us call her Moo which is good. Keeps us all young in our old age. She fixes meals for Grandma and Grandpa several times a week.

John is also maintaining his busy lifestyle and teaching college, high school, and middle school. He’s also involved in the church as an elder. He has a tendency to send his children email forwards and gets a kick out of hearing their responses. He’s still attached as ever to Font and I’m pretty sure that puppy can do no wrong. He went elk hunting again this winter, but fortunately, did not get bucked off a horse (again). He didn’t get any meat this time, but still had fun from what I understand! He apparently gets more adventurous as he gets older which is probably a good thing…

Marjo (that’s their new celebrity name; couldn’t give you the same one two years running) is one crazy (aged) couple. They seem to be over committed much of the time which seems to be the Kinzer way. They miss the heck out of the babies and their kids. They even miss me and I only live some 15 minutes away. Their house, however, is no less full. They are still storing stuff for all four of us and have four offices full of books, papers, and any other paraphernalia that comes with teaching. I was joking with them that they were going to end up on that show, “Hoarders.” I’m not sure they thought it was as funny as I did. Anyhow, they are obviously both doing lots of teaching and keeping busy. They help Grandma and Grandpa out a lot as they had a fairly challenging year healthwise. Between the three of us, I think they see an extra Kinzer every day. Dad may not know this, but G & G make sure I keep up with him on eating Snickers ice cream bars. They bought a Nintendo Wii this year which I still really just can’t wrap my brain around. They both have cell phones – that they seldom answer. They’re really starting to enter the 21st century! Dad doesn’t even need much help with the computer anymore. He sort of got a crash course when he went from a house full of kids (and extra kids) down to an empty nest all in a matter of a couple years.

We didn’t get a family picture at all this year mostly because we are all irresponsible (Arielei just married in and doesn’t take our pictures, apparently, just random LU students’). But here are some shots you may enjoy!

We hope you all have a wonderful

Christmas, a great New Year and a

Blessed 2011!

With Love,

The Kinzers

(John & Marcie, Caleb & Tiphani,

Kristen, Jonathan, Nathan & Arielei,

Faith, D’Lyla & Mariah)