Renea Santel

December 2001

Dear Class,

I know this is a couple years overdue....Following is our Christmas letter which will fill you in on our lives this past year.  Tod and I are hoping to make it to the Morrison Reunion providing we can find someone to watch the kids.  Hope to see many of you there.

Merry Christmas Everyone,
We hope you are enjoying our remembrance of Christ's birth.  Our family is doing well, and - as always - God has been good to us again this year. 

2001 In Review:  As you know our 2001 started off with the birth of Joshua Joseph on the 4th of January.  He had a brief bout of jaundice, but the Bilirubin lights quickly took care of that.  Mr. and Mrs. Marshall were with us for several weeks to help us care for the two children.  In February we headed down to Damiansville, IL to visit my parents for a week - our first trip with the two kids - it went fine.  In March, Renea's life-long friend, Dorothea Maurer, came to visit us for a week.  April took us to Wheaton, IL for Easter and also a trip to Springfield to visit my brother Tim and the family.  Free time in May was used to get the garden tamed and planted for another season.  Weddings were in store for June.  First to Los Angeles for Renea's sister, Kim, and secondly to Wheaton for Renea's friend Bonnie (Smith) Meyer.  July had visits from missionary friends - the Johnsons from Prague (Czech Republic), and a visit from Paul Fang - Marshall's family friend from LA.  In August we celebrated our 6th anniversary with an overnight stay at a B&B (Our first overnight away from the kids.); Renea started her new job as a Home School Supervising Teacher (more on that later); I was installed as an Elder at church (Bible Presbyterian Church, PCA); and to fill out August I had a couple work trips to Anaheim, CA which allowed me to see the in-laws.   During the Fall we stayed close to home as I was working long hours on an important project at work.  In October and November Renea began evening/weekend classes for her state teacher recertification.  In November all my family came for the Thanksgiving holiday.  And now it's Christmas... We will be meeting Renea's family in Kansas to visit her grandparents and relatives.

The Family in Review:
Margaret - Margaret is 23 months old now, very spunky and beautiful.  Her vocabulary is expanding very rapidly these days with a new word or two being added daily it seems.  She loves to jabber and is starting to put together 3 word sentences.  She is still very small - 5% weight and 20% length at her 18 month check-up.  She is full of energy and attitude.  To me she seems to be exceptionally skilled at figuring out puzzles.  Generally she is quite obedient and she does not like being rebuked. These days we are working on eating our vegetables without complaining.  This year has seemed to pick up numerous colds and their corresponding ear infections.  Thank God for antibiotics and health insurance.  Margaret is a big fan of her little brother.

Joshua - Joshua is 11 months old and is generally "all boy".  He started sleeping through the night at 7 weeks and is a good napper.  He is standing and has recently started cruising along the furniture.  Walking shouldn't be too far away.  He is surprisingly good at talking (dada, mama, bye bye, Bible, bubble) for his age and considering he's a boy.  He gets a very big thrill from seeing any of the neighborhood dogs.  Joshua's most distinguishing feature is that he is always happy and smiling (unless dinner gets delayed).  He seemed somewhat slow to catch on to the meaning of "No!", but he recently seems to be "getting it".  (We've had virtually no problems with the enticing Christmas tree.)  Joshua is of average size and weight.  He is a big fan of his big sister.

Renea - Renea has handled the tremendous workload of two little (and closely spaced) children extremely well.  The year has been filled with lots of diapers, bottles and dirty laundry for her - but never did she complain - and rarely was she grumpy.  She just plows through the never ending chores and maintains a chipper, up-beat attitude.  It's really wonderful for a husband to behold.  Before Joshua was born we were wondering how she could manage it all - but it's gone really great.  Thankfully Joshua is a cheery baby and a good sleeper.  The two kids enjoy each other so much...  As if Renea wasn't busy enough, she took on the part-time job (about 7 hours/week) of being a Home School Supervising Teacher.  She advises home schooling parents on issues of curriculum and home schooling law.  In general, she helps the parents stay "on track" and is a resource to answer educational related questions.  She has 16 families assigned to her and loves the job.  Typically she takes our kids along when she visits the families.  I like to say that she's getting paid to talk with some really neat women about a subject she greatly enjoys (education).

Tod - I'm doing fine.  Enjoying the good life God has seen fit to give us.... trying to balance the needs of family, church and work.  I continue on as the church treasurer, and as mentioned before I've received the privilege/responsibility to serve as a church Elder.  Renea and I have also started teaching Sunday School to the 4 - 7 year olds.  Work is going all right.  Despite my hesitancies, God seems to be blessing my career.

God's Faithfulness in Review:  This year I've been reminded a lot of God's goodness and faithfulness: great wife, great kids, faithful church, pleasant neighborhood, decent job, friends, family, good health, life in a relatively free and safe nation...  and forgiveness of my many sins and adoption into God's family.  It doesn't get much better than that.  And all of it undeserved, but made possible through the baby born two millennia ago in Bethlehem. 

Merry Christmas from the Santels,

Tod, Renea, Margaret and Joshua
190 Jennifer Dr.
Robins, IA 52328
ReneaTod@aol.com

back to main page