Hug Family Christmas Letter 2018

As I sit down to write this it is with somewhat of a heavy heart. This last year has been a mixed bag of  emotions. We had some loss in our family that will leave a bit of empty feeling at the Christmas dinner table this year. However our hearts are not empty because they are filled to overflowing with the love of Jesus. His goodness in our lives this year has manifest in a brand new family member that has brought incredible joy to us. Ruby Joy was born on the 27th of July and has been making people smile around here ever since.  We are so blessed!

Titus has continued to throw himself wholeheartedly into running his construction company.  We have been privileged to add several great new members to our incredible  team at Hug Construction. It's been a  boom year in the construction industry and the guys have been feeling it. They are well booked into the coming year. We thank God for this opportunity to serve people, making Spokane more beautiful one house, or building project  at a time ;)  Titus enjoyed tromping through the forest, chasing animals with a gun. He was excited to shoot a giant bull Elk, I am excited by the abundance in our freezer. This was Joe's first year to shoot a doe, so the chances that we will be able to feed all these boys through high school is improving.  Titus also was able to go to one of his favorite places, to Africa to visit some of our dear friends. He took Joe along on his big 12-Year Old Trip, which is something we decided to institute as a coming of age celebration for our kiddos.  The fact that I survived this trip while I was in my first trimester of pregnancy (with my husband and #1 helper gone) is testimony of God's faithfulness :) Titus continues to inspire me, and I think a lot of other people as well, with his zest for life and his desire to partner with God to do something BIG in the earth.  This helps me to easily forgive him when he forgets to put his socks away or accidentally smashes my car.

In other news, I'm now driving a new (to us) Suburban. God provided us with a 9 seater vehicle, which means that even though I swore we were done having children while I was pregnant, the added space for one more passenger has caused me to reconsider ;)  I continue to run Elevate Realty and love working with my friends and family in real estate.  I stepped down as the director of our home school Co-op and have been enjoying being just a regular member who is allowed to show up late. I  still love homeschooling the kids. No word on whether they are enjoying it, I try not to ask. We've been working on a Unit Study in Advanced Baby Care Techniques for the last 4 months and so far the children seem to be excelling. Ruby has only fallen off the furniture once.  I continue to fall more in love with Jesus every day and be in awe of his goodness and grace. Even in the seasons where I feel weak and tender, I sense  his nearness and power in such an amazing way.

 Joe, 13, has had a big year. In addition to getting his first deer and going to Africa, he also has started a new program at our co-op, which is aptly named, Challenge. His favorite subject is Geography where he has been learning to draw a map of the whole world, freehand with all the countries.  He has proven that his youthful brain is much more agile than mine as we have both been learning Latin, he much faster than I.  He also joined a speech club to practice his public speaking. He's a hard worker and started mowing lawns this last summer, amidst other jobs. He's currently saving money so he can go back to Africa.

Judah, 11, has affectionately earned the term "the baby whisperer" (don't tell him I told you this) for his amazing baby-soothing abilities.  My heart rejoices every morning as he rushes in to hold his baby sister first thing. We missed him when he went away for 10 days to visit his cousins on the other side of the state. Luckily his skills didn't get rusty, as he kept in practice baby holding with the help of his new cousin Lucy. His current trick for sad babies is to set up a fan to blow in their face. Although this practice may seem questionable, it is effective in an emergency (ie - when mom's gone)  In addition to being amazing with little kids, Judah has really been starting to excel in his studies this year.  He hates Math but seems to be pretty good at it, Titus claims that all the children will be equipped with a "Hug Math Brain", so I don't really even bother to teach the subject. ;)  Judah continues to be a boy who loves stories, has a vivid imagination and comes up with the best questions. The other day he told me, "Mom, sometimes I  lay in bed at night and think about how big the universe it, it just keeps going. And then God. Where did God come from? How can He be so big? And then I can't even.... " at which point he begins waving his hands in circles gesticulating wildly in the air. Me too, son. Me too.

Asher, 7, has shot up like a bean pole this year. His chubby little boy cheeks have thinned into the handsome face of a growing boy, surrounding his lovable, toothless grin.  He is enthusiastic about school, playing with his friends, and pretty much everything. We signed him up for little league this year and he had fun having his own special uniform and learning how to hit and catch the ball. He has a lot of energy so I'm on the lookout for good activities to keep him busy.  He  gives great hugs and brings so much joy to our family. He also started piano lessons this year after asking me if he could learn to play an instrument.  I'm so thankful God gave us this happy boy.

Violet, 5, tried her hand at hairdressing this year. She gave her and her little brother a cropping tightly against their foreheads. Consequently, Abe lost his baby curls and Violet now has bangs. The other day she was complaining about them and I asked her what she wanted to do with them. She put her fingers up to her head in a chopping motion, indicating she wanted to lob them off right close to her forehead again. I see the potential for a vicious cycle here.  Violet loves having a little sister and is anxiously awaiting her roommate upgrade when Abe is evicted and Ruby moves in. Violet is sweet, quiet and thoughtful and her gracious presence is such a blessing in our home.

Abe, 3, is a laugh a minute, as they say. This guy is full of zest.  The other day he came in and overheard me talking to Titus on the speaker phone. Titus said something to the effect that he had to go  use the facilities before he  had to do the "potty dance".  Abe took hold of that expression and gleefully laughed around the house for the whole day shouting, "Daddy's doing the potty dance! Potty Dance!" When Titus got home later that evening Abe greeted him enthusiastically shouting, 'Daddy, you do the potty dance?!"  I don't know what Abe was envisioning, but perhaps some kind of rain dance like motions meant to inspire the god of the potty. Learning to go potty in the right spot has been a big part of Abes year.  He is also good at taking joy in small things in life. When we read "Ferdinand" the other day, he was tickled to no end when the bulls in the story 'butt heads".  I can only imagine what he was envisioning for this.  So, if you need a laugh, come over and talk to Abe.

Ruby, 4 months old, has been smiling, and growing, and basically just being the center of the Hug universe. She enjoys every minute of it, unless you try to take her somewhere in the car.  Then she screams,  her current record is 2 hours on our Seattle trip and we are hoping that she won't break that.  She's a people baby, and loves people and parties. She also seems to be comforted by sitting with Joe when he plays the piano or listening to music, so who knows, we might have an aspiring musician on our hands.  Ruby has lived up to her middle name, Joy,  just like we knew she would as her Auntie Janice prophesied before she went to be with Jesus. 

We have been excited to be involved in launching a new campus at our church and have been blessed to host an amazing leadership school student from our church, Melody (the elf in our family picture). We are asking God what adventures He has in store for us next, I know they will be good. Among all the things we have to be thankful for this year, we are most thankful for our relationships. We praise God for reconciling himself to us through his son Jesus. This love we are so freely given, we rejoice in sharing with all the amazing people God has placed in our lives. We are so thankful for you - that we get to live this wild adventure together.

Merry Christmas - and Happy New Year - may it be your best one yet!

Love,

Titus, Elizabeth, Joseph, Judah, Asher, Violet, Abe and Ruby Hug