Christmas Greetings from the BAP Family
2014
We’re
hoping that this letter finds you happy, healthy, and ready for the festivities
of the Christmas season! This year has been a special one of transition for us (with
graduations, a wedding, a death, and some other pretty big life events), and,
yes, it’s been another full one for all of us in the BAP family. Soooo…. Settle in with a cup of cocoa and enjoy catching up
on our year in review J
Brittany Nicole (28)
On
May 2, 2014, Brittany married Ramon in a beautiful ceremony at the Basilica of Saint Mary’s in
Marietta, Ohio. A huge, ornate church, the Basilica resembled the one from Sound of Music, and everything was just lovely.
The priest was funny, thoughtful, and encouraging; the attendants looked
fantastic, and the music was perfect. Emmy performed the processional music on
her cello and served as Junior Bridesmaid; Chelsea was Maid of Honor, and
Ellie-Kate was the flower girl. Three of Britti’s friends from Saint Mary’s
College (Sarah, Kathleen, and Katie) were also in the wedding along with
Britti’s childhood friend, Laura. From the church, the guests and wedding party
traveled a few blocks to the Lafayette Hotel. We had a sit-down dinner,
complete with good food, some moments of comic relief (such as the fire alarm
sounding during one of the toasts), fun (the photo booth and dancing), and
wonderful conversations with so many who came to support Brittany and Ramon.
The entire week-end was amazing—from the rehearsal dinner to the pre-wedding
preparations to the ceremony to the reception and then on to more celebrations
the next day as Ramon graduated from Ohio University. We hosted a graduation
party, and we were grateful that so many of the wedding guests stayed to mark
Ramon’s achievements. As one more reason to rejoice, we commemorated Ramon’s
birthday a day early… Wow, a wedding on Friday, graduation on Saturday, and
birthday on Sunday—that’s packing a week-end, even by BAP family standards!
In
addition to getting married (and all of the festivities surrounding the big
day), Britti has been busy with her job as the Athens County 4-H Educator and
Office Director, and she was just accepted into the doctoral program in the
College of Education at Ohio University. She will take a few courses at a time
while Ramon works on his master’s degree in Spanish at OU. Both of them should
finish their degrees in three years (and we’re so grateful to have them with us
in Athens for a bit longer, at least).
Ramon
and Brittany moved into a new townhouse in July, and they are joined by their
two rescue cats, Buddy and Beeber. Britti would like to adopt more cats, but
she’s resisting the urge to become a “crazy cat lady.”
Chelsea Meagan (20)
Over
the summer, Chelsea Meagan became a world traveler again when she ventured to
Germany, Switzerland, and Amsterdam for her sports management study abroad
through Ohio University. She loved traveling through the countryside, hiking in
the Swiss Alms, touring castles, meeting people from around the world, and
doing a consulting project for Adidas. After she got back to the United States,
she worked as a camp counselor for tennis camp at the College of Wooster before
a week at the fair (spent helping Britti and others on the Athens County Junior
Fair Board) and then heading back to Baylor University to serve as a Welcome
Week leader again.
Chelsea
has had a fantastic junior year thus far. She is an accounting major, and she
really seems to enjoy all of her classes in the business school, and she’s
doing well in them. Earlier this academic year, she made the difficult decision
to de-pin from her social sorority because she wanted to branch out and explore
networking and professional development opportunities beyond ADPi. She just
rushed and joined a business fraternity, and she loves it! Chelsea was also
selected as a member of the Baylor Activities Council so she’s been busy with
organizing and facilitating activities around campus, and she has become
involved in Baylor Business Women. She loves going to Baylor football games and
hanging out with her roommate, Demi, and other good friends that she has made
through her various organizations and classes. In the spring, she’s looking
forward to participating in Sing, a music competition similar to Pitch Perfect, as part of the
independent group, Sing Alliance.
Emmy Grace (13)
WOW,
Emmy has had an amazing year… In February, Emmy got to travel with Christie to
a convention in California and go to Disneyland as her 2013 Christmas present.
In May, Emmy graduated from 8th grade as one of only nine students
who earned all As during all of middle school. She accomplished such a strong
academic record while also being very active in athletics (soccer—midfielder
and basketball—point guard), band, science fair, and Model UN. Just before
graduation, she ran for Student Council, and she was elected as the Freshman
Class Secretary.
Over
the summer, Emmy’s focus turned to 4-H, and what a year that she had! As we
have told her, years like this one don’t come often, and we are just so proud
of her and what she accomplished. In Food and Nutrition, Emmy won first place
in county competition, and she went on to compete at the Ohio State Fair and
win the coveted Clock Trophy Award as the Ohio State Champion in her category,
Racing the Clock to Awesome Meals.
With
her dogs, Coco and Trixie, Emmy won 1st place in You and Your Dog, 1st
place in Pet Pals, 1st place in Intermediate Showmanship, 1st
place in Pro Showmanship, 2nd place in Beginner Novice B, 2nd
place in Novice B, and 3rd place in Rally at the Athens County Fair.
She went on to compete with Coco at the Ohio State Fair, and she was thrilled
to place 2nd in Drill Team, 3rd in You and Your Dog, 4th
in Freestyle, and 14th in Showmanship. With these awards, Emmy was
able to earn her 2nd Ohio State Fair Dog Championship Title. By far,
these placings were the best that Emmy had achieved at the Ohio State Fair!
After
the success at the state fair in food and dog, we were prepared for a
relatively quiet rabbit show. Emmy only had her one rabbit this year, and she
hadn’t had as much time as usual to prepare for showmanship. The day did start
off quietly… Emmy placed 3rd in Senior Showmanship, having to
compete up with the older kids after winning last year. She was disappointed,
but we still had the breed show to anticipate. New Zealands always show near
the end so we were kind of hanging around the rabbit barn, not knowing how the
day was going to unfold. It turned out unbelievably! Perky won 1st
place NZ, Senior Doe; Grand Champion NZ; Grand Champion, Class 6, and overall
Best of Breed for the entire show! At the pre-sale auction awards, Emmy was
named Outstanding Intermediate Exhibitor for both dog and rabbit.
With
all of the excitement of the county and state fairs, the start of high school
almost seemed like a let-down. Emmy’s had a good year thus far. She played
soccer, and she’s currently on the JV basketball team. She enjoys Student
Council, Spanish Club, FFA, and band; however, she could definitely live
without geometry. She’s looking forward to turning 14 on December 19 in the
Most Magical Place on Earth during our upcoming trip.
Ellie-Kate (6)
Ellie-Kate
had an awesome kindergarten year, and she’s also loving first grade. She
continues to live for a ball in her hands or at her feet, and she played
basketball in the winter, softball in the spring, soccer this past fall, and
tennis whenever she doesn’t have to be at another sport on a Saturday morning.
If Athens had a youth flag football league, she’d want to be in it. (She can
already throw a beautiful spiral, and she likes to go outside and practice her
kick-offs too.) When we remind ourselves that this precious little girl was
once on a special needs list, it’s tough to reconcile with the
athletically-talented child that we watch on courts and fields around Athens.
In
January, Ellie-Kate begged to be just like Emmy and get her very own baby cello.
We finally agreed, and “Ollie” joined our family. Ellie-Kate takes lessons at
the OU School of Music, and she’s already had two recitals, and she’s actually
taking Ollie to school tomorrow for Music Share Day. Although she’s taking
dance lessons (like her big sisters), we can tell that she’s less excited about
tapping so we’re not sure how long that will last. In May, Ellie-Kate earned a
book award for AWANA, and, even though her school doesn’t do a kindergarten
graduation, we simulated one for the pictures.
Ellie-Kate
loves Daisy Girl Scouts, Cloverbud 4-H, playing Barbies, and watching ESPN.
Roger has also managed to convert her to be a Nebraska fan, but she’s still
young.
Roger
Roger
has kept busy with chasing kids and dogs, coaching soccer and basketball,
teaching classes at OU, and finishing his latest book, Upon the Ruins of Liberty. The book will be released by Temple
University Press sometime in the spring, and it focuses on the development of
the President’s House site in Independence National Historical Park. One of the
highlights of his year included a trip with college friends to watch the
Nebraska-Wisconsin game, even though the weather was cold and the Huskers did
not play as well as desired. Otherwise, he’s happy when he can keep the yard
relatively free from poop… It’s the little things…
Christie
Christie
has kept busy with leading Emmy and Ellie-Kate’s Girl Scout troops, advising
the Lucky Fours 4-H Club, and, most recently, serving as PTO treasurer. With
regard to the latter, let’s just say that she has a newfound respect and
admiration for the dedication of PTO officers, especially after she learned
that PTO treasurers in Athens are basically financial officers for the entire
school—just a tad more time than she had planned to invest! On the work front,
she was thrilled to send her co-authored book on celebrity health narratives to
the publisher in June (and to learn that it will be released by McFarland
sometime in the spring) and to work on plans for the National Communication
Association’s 2015 convention, which will be held in Las Vegas in November of
next year.
Transitions…
Okay,
in addition to a wedding and graduations and finishing books and starting new
schools and changing organizations…
… We
rejoiced when we added Trixie, a beautiful 75 pound part Border Collie/part
Newfoundland to our household just about a week before Britti’s wedding. We
found Trixie when we were browsing Petfinder, and Roger drove to Kentucky to
rescue her. She’s the most loving animal that we have ever owned…
---
We mourned when Izzy, our 15 year old kitty, lost his battle with lymphoma in
November. Izzy had survived a stroke, and he fought to live after his
diagnosis. We refer to Izzy as our miracle kitty because he seemed to battle
back from the brink of death so many times. He’s truly the most courageous and
spirited animal that we have ever owned…
… We prayed a lot when we made the tough decision to change churches in late August. Although we will always cherish friends from our Albany Baptist Church family, for reasons that go beyond the scope of this letter, we searched for a new church home after 20 years at ABC, and we are thrilled to be at Brookfield Church now. This transition reminds us that the valleys in our lives enable us to appreciate the mountaintops even more, and we’re grateful to be learning, growing, and serving in this dynamic, vibrant new environment.
In sum…
This
year has been a very full one, with tremendous blessings and opportunities and,
yes, some challenges and heartache. Throughout it all, God has provided in
powerful, wonderful ways. He sustains us through dark times and rejoices with
us in brighter ones. We give Him the glory!
As
we close this letter, we’re very much looking forward to our first vacation in
three years. We’re headed to Disney for seven days in (hopefully) sunny
Florida, relaxing and enjoying time together. We’ll be home just in time to
celebrate Christ’s birth.
We
pray that you and your family enjoy a blessed holiday season, filled with the
beauty and majesty of Christmas and the rich anticipation of all that awaits in
the New Year. From our house to your home, we wish you a very merry Christmas
and a joyous New Year!
Christie,
Roger, Brittany, Ramon, Chelsea, Emmy, and Ellie-Kate
