A Family for Ellie-Kate: March 2015

Hi everyone--

On March 17, 2009, we drove up to Columbus and spent the night at the Hampton near the airport, waiting for the biggest adventure of our lives. Before we left, we packed passports, travel information, and some clothes for the baby girl who we had never met.

Six years ago today, we drove out of our neighborhood as a family of five, and we would return three weeks later as a family of six. Over the last six years, I always get more than a little nostalgic as I remember our special journey in March to Kunming, China. On this day, six years ago, we couldn't imagine what it would be like to bring this incredible person into our lives... we couldn't envision how funny and smart and athletic that she would be... As I tried to get some sleep in our hotel room in Columbus that night six years ago, I could only look at this photo and know for certain that our lives were about to change forever and that we were incredibly blessed by the journey that would begin the next day... forever changed, forever shaped by our journey across an ocean, to another culture, to the eyes of a beautiful brown eyed little girl who would take one look at us and never look back.

We love you, Ellie-Kate!! Here's to an amazing six years!!

Love,

Mommy

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 8^th 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 1^st place in You and Your Dog, 1^st place in Pet Pals, 1^st place in Intermediate Showmanship, 1^st place in Pro Showmanship, 2^nd place in Beginner Novice B, 2^nd place in Novice B, and 3^rd 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 2^nd in Drill Team, 3^rd in You and Your Dog, 4^th in Freestyle, and 14^th in Showmanship. With these awards, Emmy was able to earn her 2^nd 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 3^rd 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 1^st 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