December 14, 2019

Christmas Letter 2019

      Greetings from the Watts family! We hope you are having a wonderful holiday season and have the opportunity to pause and reflect on the wonderful miracle of Jesus’ birth.

Polly and Adam
       Like everyone else, we’ve had ups and downs this year. In February, we said “goodbye for now” to Patrick’s grandmother, Floss Waggener. She brought so much joy and positivity to the world in her 97 years, and we rejoice in the knowledge that she is with her Savior. “Polly,” as we called her, had the ability to distill any conversation or situation into two key elements: the absolute most encouraging words, and the gospel. Remembering the little things she said or did has made us smile over these last months. We are so thankful that Adam had the opportunity to know his great-grandmother.
        Patrick has made several trips to Ohio this year to spend time with Polly before she passed away and to be with his 99-year-old grandfather (“Pop”) as he adjusts to life without his wife of 76 years. Polly’s amazing caregivers have been able to continue looking after Pop and making it possible for him to stay in his home.
       Adam wrapped up his first year of middle school in May and jumped right into a busy summer. He and Patrick visited Pop over Memorial Day weekend, with a side trip to King's Island. Adam went to Camp Invention and Vacation Bible School in June. He also attended his first concert, "Weird Al" Yankovic, at Ascend Amphitheater.
"Weird Al" Yankovic concert
      In July, Patrick and Adam went to CentriKid Camp in Campbellsville, KY. He also went to Music Arts Camp at church and took swimming lessons. Adam visited Kentucky two more times with the children’s ministry from church when they went on day trips to
Summer reading books
Venture River Water Park and Beech Bend Park. He still found plenty of time to read and play video games during his break.               August brought the beginning of sixth grade, and it was nice to already have a year of middle school under our belts and not be new to the school this year. Adam has joined a robotics team at school, which Patrick is coaching, and he is enjoying making new friends and learning how to get the robot ready for tournaments.
Robotics tournament
        Lydia’s health challenges keep our family time close to home. We have “Family Movie Night” nearly every week when we eat pizza and watch something on Disney+. We enjoy cheering on the Baylor BearsTennessee Vols, and Nashville Predators
Gnash and Adam
from the comfort of home. Adam has also gotten interested in something his mom likes - jigsaw puzzles!
       We found out last month that Patrick’s sister and her husband will be welcoming their second child, a girl, next year. By next summer, we will have four nieces - ages newborn to sixteen years old!
        Patrick is still doing well in his work at LifeWay, working on everything from worship to VBS to training software for churches to assessments for church planters. He works from home one or two days a week now, and we enjoy having lunch together on those days.
        We love hearing from our friends and family. Please keep up with us on Facebook or email us at patrickandlydia(at)gmail.com.

Merry Christmas! Patrick, Lydia, and Adam

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