Merry Christmas from the Kellums!

It’s been another year of firsts and lasts, bests and leasts! While it would be entirely possible to fill several pages with our highlights (and a few lowlights), we thought it would be a little more fun to present you with a quiz. 

Ready, Set...What Do You KNOW?!!

Connect the Kellum with the Correct Answer:

#1 -- Favorite Meal/Food:

a. Pizza on the Grill (and an impromptu peach crisp when the oven was on the fritz)

b. Tacos, Burritos, Carnitas, Tostadas...anything with guacamole

c. Thanksgiving Meal with all the family

d. Any dinner on the back patio of our new house

e. Noodles with white sauce

f. Saturday night pizza, specifically Margherita

(How did you do? Are you hungry now?)

#2 -- First Time Experience:

a. 1st season of competing in gymnastics

b. 1st time with all the kids in school -- and 3 hours to breathe

c. 1st time learning to play the clarinet

d. 1st time to take one day to decide to buy a house

e. 1st time going to school

f. 1st time to be a middle schooler

(Okay...that was an easy one. The next one will be tougher.)

#3 -- Favorite Book:

a. The Giver Quartet 

b. Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business

c. Sahara...and all things Clive Cussler

d. Harry Potter #7

e. Any Judy Moody

f. The IIA’s CIA Learning System - Sections 1 & 2

(Hmmm...did you guess right?)

#4 -- Favorite Family Memory:

a. Going to Water World and riding an inner tube with cousins

b. Seeing “Tarzan” at the Arvada Center

c. Moving into our new house

d. Making it to the tippy top of Mt. Sanitas

e. Trip to Casa Bonita

f. A day at Elitch’s...roller coasters rule!

(In all honesty, you could have selected any one of us for any of those terrific experiences! )

(Okay...last question. This one is for the big money!)

#5 -- Biggest Challenge of the Year:

a. Doing math and the monkey bars at school

b. Finding balance in the midst of a full life

c. New gymnastic skills (round-off, back-handspring, back-tuck, oh my!)

d. Making new friends

e. Adjusting to more homework

f. Starting yet another new school (3rd school in 3 years)

So...how did you do? How well has email and FaceBook kept you in the loop of our fun-filled and loopy lives? We certainly look back over the year and marvel at where we started and where we’ve ended up. Through all the ups and downs and ins and outs of 2014, while we might have felt at times that we were taking a quiz we weren’t quite prepared for, God proved Himself, again, to be faithful and to know the answers to our every question. What a good and gracious God to take refuge in!

We hope that you, too, can look back over your year and see the ways that God stretched you, met you in the midst of bumps and bruises and how He sheltered you and shepherded you along. We’d love to hear all about it! Drop us a line, send us a postcard, shoot us an email, give us a call...or better yet, come for a visit!

May you experience the gift of God’s presence in your heart this holiday season!

With Much Love,

The Kellums

Answers:

#1:  a-Brett, b-Aaron, c-Ashley, d-Morgan, e-Lydia, f-Norah  #2:  a-Ashley, b-Morgan, c-Norah, d-Brett, e-Lydia, f-Aaron

#3:  a-Morgan, b-Lydia, c-Aaron, d-Norah, e-Ashley, f-Brett  #4:  a-Lydia, b-Brett, c-Aaron, d-Morgan, e-Norah, f-Ashley

#5:  a-Lydia, b-Brett, c-Norah, d-Morgan, e-Aaron, f-Ashley

Taking Flight pt. 12

"Alright, pipe down, ya newbies!"

Swifty stiffened as she craned her neck toward the center of the circle. Hovering a few feet above the field was the toughest looking fairy she had ever seen. He had the face of a bulldog, his jaw thrust forward and his eyes glinted in the lantern light. His grey hair was buzzed close, flat on top and bristling. As he barked his orders, Swifty felt every muscle in her body tense.

"I said, pipe down!" A hush fell over the crowd, each fairy melting under his stern glare. "That's better. I am Sergeant Striker and I understand from Miss Marshland that some of you have been unsuccessful in your covert bedtime operations." The fairy crossed his brawny arms over his thick chest and surveyed the crowd. Swifty scooted back into the shadows, avoiding his piercing glare. "For this reason, I have been brought in to tighten up the ranks. To bring you all up to speed. A fairy who cowers before a sleeping child has no place on our team for the first day of school. Do you understand?" he barked. The cowering crowd only managed a mumbled response. "I said," he growled, his hands on his hips, "do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir," Swifty spluttered, joining the trembling chorus of voices around her.

"Let's see what you've got. I want every last one of you newbies on your feet and lined up behind..." His eyes scanned the circle, searching for his first target.

Swifty clenched her eyes shut. Hands clasped in her lap, willing the sergeant to pick someone else, she could hear Snap muttering under his breath, "Not me, not me, not me, not me..."

"You," Sergeant Striker barked. Beside her, Snap gasped. Opening one eye, Swifty grimaced. Sergeant Striker was pointing one beefy finger directly at her.

"Me, Sir?" She scrambled to her feet, wings quivering.

"You. Everybody...line up!"

Image courtesy of Pipii

______________________________

As part of a personal 30-Day challenge (that is turning into a much loooonger challenge!) to write everyday and in light of this new season of life with all the kids in school, I have begun a little tale. Be sure to start at the beginning...

Taking Flight pt. 11

Swifty landed soundlessly in the grass and tiptoed to where Snap sat, joining him. Folding her legs, criss-cross-applesauce, she cleared her throat and waited for him to turn his head. Snap didn't move. Undaunted, Swifty scooted to her right a few inches until she bumped into Snap, giving him a gentle nudge. With a sniff, Snap shifted further to the right and mumbled something, his words lost in the cavern he had made with his tangle of arms and legs.

Shaking her head, Swifty made a second attempt and scootched over again, brushing up against Snap's side. This time, Snap raised his head a few inches and looked at Swifty out of the corner of his eye. "What do you want? Come to poke fun at silly ol' Snap?" He removed his glasses and ran his sleeve across his face, his glistening eyes reflecting the lantern's light.

"I'm sorry, Snap," she mumbled, her heart heavy. "I'm sorry for hurting your feelings." Snap shrugged, but didn't turn away. Swifty continued, gathering her courage. "I was going to fly with you, you know. But you left..."

"Because you left first," he croaked. "You and Pip and, and all the rest of them." He glanced across the field at Dot and his fan club, his round face scrunched up and his glasses smeared. "Never mind." He buried his face again.

"Look," Swifty said, fists clenched. "I said I was sorry. Back at the Gnarled Log, I hurt your feelings, but I'm here now and I'm, well, I'm hoping you'll be my friend." Silence. In a last ditch effort, Swifty leaned against Snap, pressing her shoulder into his. "Please."

This time Snap didn't scoot away, but looked up at Swifty, his glasses two white orbs of lantern light. "Really?"

With a grin Swifty cocked her head in his direction and nudged him with her elbow. "Friends stick closer than a brother, right?"

"You've been talking to Murt, haven't you? That sounds like something he would say."

"No. That sounds like something wise you would say and Murt is just repeating it because it's true. So? Do you forgive me?"

A smile stole across Snap's face as he flung his arm around Swifty's shoulder. "I forgave you the minute you sat down."

Swifty felt the weight of the past half-hour fall away and she sighed happily. But her joy only lasted a moment. With the clanging of the bell, class began and her dinner turned back into stone. Tonight they would be tested on covert bedtime operations and Swifty still hadn't gotten the hang of maneuvering around fidgety sleepers. She could only hope her luck continued...or didn't get any worse.

Image courtesy of Pipii

______________________________

As part of a personal 30-Day challenge (that is turning into a much loooonger challenge!) to write everyday and in light of this new season of life with all the kids in school, I have begun a little tale. Be sure to start at the beginning...