Has it really been almost 2 whole years since I wrote a post?! Once again, a lot has changed. I'm going to post my "Happy New Year 2025" letter as an update, mostly for posterity's sake. :) 

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Happy New Year!
In hopes of extending the holiday spirit, I decided to wait until the end of January to send out our New Year’s letter this year. (That’s code for “Oops, this is really late, but oh well!) :) 
In reflecting on our last couple of years, there seems to be an overarching theme. It’s called “Transition”. I guess it makes sense at our stage of life! It seems that the last time I wrote an update was in early 2023, an update on 2022. So I’m a bit behind! 

2023 was quite a full year! Cameron married Bria on January 7th, 2023 and just a short while later, Katie married Adam on April 2nd! Phew! That was a busy season, but so fun! The day after we got home from Katie’s wedding, Reid started radiation for prostate cancer. That lasted 6 weeks, then he started his two year course of hormone therapy. In May, Reid’s mom passed away. Her service was in June. It was a special time of celebrating her life, and spending time with family.  In August I started a new 40 hr/wk job at George Fox in the Disabilities and Accessibility Office (my first 40 hr. full time job since before Cameron was born!). Rosalie moved out of the house and into campus housing for her junior year at George Fox, and Natalie started her last year of college (having decided to accelerate her course and graduate early.) The rest of the Fall was pretty much business as usual, and then at Christmas time, Natalie got engaged to Caden! And Cam and Bria bought a house! See? Phew! Lots of transitions! Now on to updates on everyone for 2024….. 

Reid is still working at Stellic, a software company for universities. He has been traveling a lot more, doing implementations at universities. He is still the president of ARM Ministries, a missions organization, and does a lot for our church, preaching and shepherding. In his spare time, he has been building a short wall along the side of our property in preparation of building a fence along that wall. He has also been doing a lot of prep work for us to build an addition onto the back of our house, which we are very excited about. The addition will be extra space for family and friends to stay when they visit, and AirBnB when it’s available. Upstairs will be a master suite. Once we’re ready, please come and stay with us!

I am in my second year of my job as the Learning Support Services Coordinator in the Disabilities office at George Fox. I love my job! I run the alternative testing center, and get to interact with a lot of students. In October, Katie, Natalie, Rosalie and I took a girls trip to Mexico City. We had a lot of fun! I continue what seems to be my God-given role in life ;) of #1 fan and support for all my family members. It looks different for each one, but it is my joy. 

Cameron is in his second year of teaching high school math at a private Christian high school. It keeps him on his toes, as he teaches several different math classes at upper levels. Bria is an ICU nurse at Salem hospital. They live in North Salem, which isn’t too far away. Cam and Bria have made many improvements to their home and done lots of projects, from fixing plumbing, to installing shelving, to all the painting and prep before they moved in, to a large garden and more. It has been fun to see them take on home ownership and all the projects they have done. They are involved in a church in Salem and stay busy serving in different capacities and being part of that community.

Katie and Adam both work for Kuppa Joy coffee company. Adam is a manager at one of their shops about a half hour from their place and Katie is an assistant manager at a different shop. Both are enjoying their roles. They both lead worship and are also involved in serving and community at their church. We have been blessed to be able to see them more than we thought we might. Fresno is just a short flight away, which is nice, and Adam’s parents generously let us stay with them when we visit. They have been able to come visit us some as well. 

Rosalie is in her senior year of college. She is ready to be done and will graduate with high honors from the Interior Design program at George Fox. She is living in an apartment off-campus with three of her friends and is thriving. I get to have coffee with her once a week, and she comes for dinner and to do her laundry once a week as well. She goes to our church, is on the worship team, and helps out with Sunday school. She just made an exciting decision to serve as a short term missionary at a church in Iasi, Romania starting next September. She will be there for a year, helping with their college ministry and supporting the missionary family there by helping with their three children and other general duties.

Natalie graduated in May from the Elementary Education program at Fresno Pacific University with high honors. She finished up her water polo season well too! The end of her water polo career marks the end of 14 years of water polo for the Kisling family. We will miss the built-in entertainment and watching our kids play. She is substitute teaching in Salem this year and is busy planning her wedding, which is coming up soon in June! She has lived part of the time with us at home, and part of the time with Cam and Bria, which is special. I am grateful to have her around this year, as once she is married, we aren’t sure where she and Caden will end up. 

I suppose a little Caden update would be good to add here! He will graduate from Marquette University in May, then be commissioned as an Army officer post graduation. He will not know until March or April when he will have to go to officer training, nor where they will be stationed afterward, so for now, their future is a bit up in the air.

As I mentioned at the beginning, our life is full of transitions. Sometimes I feel a bit like a leaf blowing in the wind, settling in one spot for just a brief time before another gust of wind takes me further on my journey, only to settle again, and then once again be whisked into the air, twirling and floating along until I settle again, and then…. You get the idea. But through it all, the good and the hard, there is joy to be found, and peace to be had. God is faithful, and I truly feel privileged to live this life He has given me. May you too find peace and joy in the good and the hard as you enter into 2025!