Aunt Sue

taken at my Senior prom 2005

Most people knew her as Sue Ann, but she was Aunt Sue to me and that always meant something special. She was my dad's oldest sister and I joked that he was her first baby. I think she always loved to baby him, but she also respected him a ton. She loved him and was one of his biggest fans. So that's the simple background, and then he (her baby brother) had four boys and me. 

Because Aunt Sue started her family quite young and there were some years between she and my dad, her grand kids are all around my age. And yet I never felt like she was too busy for me. As an adult myself, I often think about how much more fun I was as an aunt before I had my own kids and how I often don't get to spend as much time/energy on my nieces and nephews as I'd like to. But I never felt that way with her. It's also important to me to state that I know she had an incredible love for her grand kids (and great grand kids)- she loved them so much and had such a strong bond with them. Mine wasn't that, but it was a beautiful aunt/niece one and I lacked nothing there. 

I was able to share some of my favorite memories with her last year for her 80th birthday, but I will type some here for my own memory and for posterity sake. When she and Uncle Raymond lived in Wetmore, they hosted Wertenberger Christmas. If my memory serves me, they lived in an old rest home that was converted into a house. I'd like to drive by as an adult because in my mind's eye it's the longest house ever. And the food line was just as long as the house- well, maybe not quite but there was SO MUCH food. It was always a highlight of the Christmas season and I remember feeling like the drive home was so long. There was always lots of love, food, and laughter. 

The other holiday I especially remember was Memorial Day. It was really important to my Grandma to have flowers on the graves of my Grandpa and my Aunt Vonda Lee. After the service in Sabetha we would look at the flags to see if my grandpa's flag was up. Then would start the arguing (in my family of kids) about who would get to go with Grandma and Aunt Sue to the other cemeteries in Circleville and Bala (I think). It was on one of these trips that I remember Grandma, Aunt Sue and I got so tickled about something that we absolutely could not stop laughing. You know the kind of laughter that catches you during church when you're around 10 years old? It was that kind. Once we got calmed down and were resolved to move on, one of us would get to laughing and it would rev up again. 

I also remember around this same age Aunt Sue gave me a diary and a purse for my birthday. The small purse didn't have sequence and bright colors, but was a dark blue leather. I felt so sophisticated and like she saw me as the real grown up that I was. :) 

In high school, I got to see her everyday. She was the accountant at the school and punched lunch cards. She would buy me something off of a-la-cart on my birthday. She kept her eye out for me and that wasn't an easy season for her as it is when my Uncle Raymond passed away. She always seemed to have a strength that didn't make sense. 

Even into adulthood she would send me a birthday card or call me on the phone to chat about something. It wasn't scheduled nor would I call it frequent, but it was always good. To my knowledge, we always ended with "I love you". During covid shutdown, we started writing letters to each other. She would send us a card full of balloons for the kids to blow up and play with. Or sometimes sticks of gum for each of them. It was so much fun and I haven't had the heart capacity to get the letters out, but one of these days I will get them out and have a good cry and probably a hearty laugh. One year a few years back she wrote that she had read through the whole Bible and didn't know if she'd gotten much out of it or not. I think she did, but I told her about a different version of the Bible that I liked and my dad told me later that she had gotten it. That meant a lot to me, that my opinion mattered to her. 

A few weeks before she passed away, I got to visit her at the hospital. I've never been around someone who was at peace with dying like she was. It was really beautiful. But I got to tell her that she was the best cheerleader- she was just always impressed by what I did and told me so. That I was doing a good job and was thrilled to hear the most mundane and silly stories from my kids. She was tickled by their antics and would re-tell their stories to her family. I wonder if our society as a whole has gotten so competitive that we can't delight in each other like she did. I hope we can all take a page out of Aunt Sue's book and delight in each other. 

As I've become an adult and as people in my life die- probably starting with my grandma- I have come to realize the gaps that they filled in my life. I am well aware that I can't fulfill every need my children have- only God can ultimately- but also grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, Sunday School teachers, cousins, coaches and friends fill gaps. My Aunt Sue loved me really well by being genuinely interested in my life and cheering me on. The last thing she told me was to "take care of those babies". I'll do my best- we (my whole family) are better for being loved by her. 

Greta is 2

What's terrible about that? Absolutely nothing. Greta is 2 and we're all here for it. I had a realization the other night when we had friends over that she really is the baby because when a little friend picked up a baby doll, Greta let her know she didn't like that. If it had been any of her siblings, they would have given the doll back because she's the baby. So, I guess you could say we have a little work to do. 

Greta is really verbal. She is a parrot and can say just about anything. She also knows what gets laughs- words like "poop" and "toot" get her siblings rolling and a "daddy poopy" especially does. So we try to keep those to a minimum. "No" has also become a staple in her daily vocabulary along with "no take a nap" "no get my shoes" and "no get my jammies". She has no trouble speaking her mind. 

If she is awake when the kids go to school, she gets really mad at them when they don't give her hugs and usually cries when daddy leaves. She's like her mama and loves it best when everyone is home. 

She likes to cheer for games she sees on tv. She usually says "Go Bluejays" or "Go Buhler". She's a really good traveler as long as she has some snacks and water. :) 

She has all her baby teeth in and still sucks her thumb. The other week she got an owie on her thumb, so we had a band aid on it so she started sucking her pointer finger! She loves her bunnies and does really well in nursery when she has one of them with her. She sleeps from 8 until 7 most nights and takes a 2-3 hour afternoon nap. 

Greta Jo, we sure do love you! You like to sing Jesus Loves Me and I hope as you grow up, you won't ever lose that simple truth- Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. 

Height 

Weight

Haddie is 8

What an 8 year old! I can't believe my little "Had Joy" as Micah used to call her is 8. She is well into her 2nd grade year and is turning the corner into 3rd quicker than my mind can comprehend. She is such a mama. She loves to take care of Knox and Greta and it is crazy how she can navigate conflict between the littles. When I overhear her, I can hear my own voice in hers. She has always been good with kids, but I think she has taken it to another level. Probably because she's 8 now- practically an adult! Just ask her. :) 

Just this last Sunday, she took Greta with her onto the stage to sing the songs at church and she helped her with her actions and got her safely back to the nursery. We do our best not to put those parent responsibilities on to her, and she also just takes care of things. 

She and Lana started taking piano lessons this year and as her very biased mother, I think she has a natural gift. She seems to play by ear quite well, hopefully she can learn to read music without losing that ability. I love to hear her sing and hope I can get her to sing with me at church. 

Haddie also played basketball this winter and absolutely loved it. And surprising us all, she started becoming a general sports fan. When the boys are watching a game or NFL clips on youtube, she is often found right there with them and asking questions. It's also been sweet to watch them just envelop her with their knowledge. 

She still likes playing house and pretend as well as shooting hoops in the driveway or practicing her dribbling. She very practically decided not to play softball this summer "because basketball and soccer are probably enough sports for me". She is playing soccer right now. 

We feel like Haddie displays the love of Jesus to her classmates at school and to everyone who knows her. She has a good sense of who she is and walks in that confidence. We love watching her do just that. 

Height 3' 11.5"

Weight 57 lb

Eli is 12

Every year that passes I'm always surprised that we've been at this parenting thing this long. You'd think by year 12 that we would know what we're doing, but here we are depending completely on the grace of God as we do the right things followed promptly by the wrong and asking for forgiveness once again. 

Eli gets to hear from us often, "we're sorry, we messed up". And he forgives us. I think that makes him extraordinary. 

Eli is well into his first year of middle school and is navigating well. He not only changed buildings, but more than tripled his class size. It's an odd thing we're both navigating as I didn't have to do that when I was in school. By all appearances he is doing well- minding his p's and q's. He has a handful of teachers that he adores. He is looking forward to 7th grade when he can choose his electives and be in school sports. Football seems to be his favorite sport and he can hardly handle thinking about fall without getting giddy. He played basketball this year and showed a lot of improvement. In both basketball and football, he really enjoys the surprise attack of defense. He's pretty relentless and has the stamina to back it up. We enjoyed watching him in both. This summer he plans to play baseball and is looking forward to being with some of his best buddies. 

He's at an eager age where he is willing to do about anything to make some money. So, if you have some sticks to pick up or leaves to rake he's your guy. We're anticipating his muscles and eager attitude to help us out with hay this summer. He also has plans to launch a card sorting business, so stay tuned for details on that. 

Eli surprised us a little bit and he tried out for the 6th grade singers. He doesn't love the 7:00 am Tuesday practices, but he really has learned a lot and Mrs. C has done a phenomenal job with the kids. I really can't believe how much his singing voice has improved right along with his confidence. He really likes music and especially music no one his age knows about. 

And that leads me to what is perhaps his best quality that I will give credit to his dad for. He doesn't really care about what makes him different. In fact, I think he likes it. For the longest time he didn't have a Stanley water bottle, and got one for his birthday, but before that some girls in one of his classes made fun of him (not in an mean way) for his small water bottle. So the next day, he brought his gallon water bottle he takes to practice with him. Also, when the singers had a competition they were allowed to take their phones with them on the bus trip. Not having one, he asked if he we had a rotary phone he could take. We didn't, but he took his dad's broken phone from 2014 and pretended to be on his phone on the bus. It's hilarious and I love that he has embraced what makes him different. 

We couldn't be prouder of the boy he is growing into. He is willing to be shaped by God into who He wants him to be. A lot of what he is learning in this season is to be with people who are different without making them into an enemy. I think that demonstrates the beauty of Jesus in a very tangible way. 

Height 4' 11.76"

Weight 97lb