Christmas 2024

This Christmas held most of our favorite traditions and lots of surprises, laughter, and good food. One thing I love about the kids growing older is that they can tell me what their favorite traditions are - some I didn't even think of! Like the way they sit on the stairs until they're allowed to come downstairs, or how Annie and Mary lay in bed together tracking Santa on the iPad until they get tired. I love that the kids are buying their own gifts for each other (Annie and Nellie even have their own money!) and that they all are becoming thoughtful gift-givers. They had some creative homemade gifts, too. 

Interactive picture DJ made for Kevin

It was a wonderful Christmas week, if a little jam-packed. We sure missed Pam this holiday season, but we extra appreciated the time we had together and with all our family. 

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

Here are some photos of special moments, in no particular order.

The kids all got paper crowns in the crackers Genny and Jason brought! Love this crowd!

The biggest gifts this Christmas were an electric drumset and banjo - they are getting a lot of play so far!

Christmas apples and oranges

Ready to open presents!

Christmas Eve service with Grandpa Mike

Look at all the special guest cookie decorators!

Uncle Kevin teaching Ira how to build a fire

Family selfie at candy cane lane, with coffee

A newer tradition is a low-key Wacyk grandkid musical revue! They are a talented crew!

Wernet Fall Round-up 2024: Mary

Mary turned eight and had a pretty chill fall hanging out at all her siblings' many events. She graciously agreed to take a break from soccer to ease the family schedule a little, and leaned into playing piano, taking a fall dance class at LCS, and generally tagging along everywhere the rest of the family went! She was everyone's biggest fan. A highlight for Mary was visiting Sault Ste. Marie and playing Mary in the school nativity.

She got a whole lot braver in the water this year - it was wonderful to be back in Gull Lake.

Mary wrote a review last year for the Log Jam, and when we went in this fall, the owner treated her to a delicious dessert!

Doing a little hiking on the LCS trails during sports practices

Helping me prep for a PD day

Finding cool stuff on the St. Mary's River

The dance troupe!

Cheering on Annie at states...

then Nellie!

Mary as Mary

Wernet Fall Round-up 2024: Annie

Sophomore year is the kind and gentle year of high school, in my opinion. You know the ropes but the workload isn't as intense as junior and senior year. Annie is transitioned into 10th grade pretty smoothly this fall! There was no fall musical for her this year so she could focus on cross country. It was another great season; her teammates and coach are amazing, Annie improved significantly, and they went to states for the second year in a row! 

The biggest day of Annie's year involved running in the state meet in the morning, then zooming to Indy for the Taylor Swift concert that night. It was a little overwhelming but a lot of amazing. I will treasure that time with her forever, and I'm thankful for all her patience with my worrying about driving and parking navigating our way around an unfamiliar city.

Annie also continued with Chorale and made it into the regional honors choir again. Last year we were in Florida, so we were excited to make it this time!

In between all that, Annie enjoyed spending time with Robynne when she visited from college and hanging out more with friends. Now on to basketball and auditions for the spring musical, Annie!

Honors Choir at WMU - Annie is in the back row on the left

Hanging out at Impression 5

The concert of a lifetime!

Okay I took this because it was funny to see urinals in the women's bathroom at Lucas Oil Stadium but Annie is also adorable.

The big day - taking down the last link in the countdown chain!

Papa John made it to a choir concert!

This one is bitter (the night of Pam's funeral) sweet (falling asleep over her homework)

The first cross country meet. Her teammate-besties are wonderful friends.

Wernet Fall Round-up 2024: Eddie

Eddie decided to pass on soccer this fall to try out a musical! He auditioned for the Midway Theater Company's show, Honk Jr., and played Billy the duckling. It was hard work every weekend this fall, but he loved it and it was a blast watching him in the show. The tap dancing was a particular highlight. 💛

As a fifth grader, Eddie also got to start playing in band - he chose the trumpet with hopes of playing horn eventually. If you stop by and you're really lucky, you can hear saxophone, trumpet, flute, and piano practice going on at the same time! (Possibly some guitar, drums, or banjo, too.) Eddie's still taking piano lessons, too, so he is definitely leaning into his love of music right now.

Just "hatched"

Learning stage makeup from Annie in the staff coffee room

First band concert

Wernet Fall Round-up 2024: DJ

DJ had a relatively relaxed fall. He played soccer on the 7th and 8th grade team, and they played really well. I have precisely zero pictures, though! With everything else going on, the season went by in a bit of a blur. Soccer season blended right into the early middle school boys' basketball season. We appreciate these opportunities for him to continue growing as an athlete, and he's been fortunate to have the same great coaches several years in a row. 

Aside from sports and and schoolwork, DJ is a student ambassador, still plays saxophone, and likes being in Math Club. He actually missed a lot of school this fall between time off for Pam's funeral, his little battle with pneumonia, and a couple of long weekends to hunt with Kevin, he became the first Wernet kid to be on attendance probation! 

A photo of "doing what he loves" to add to the middle school wall display

Fall band concert! Not pictured - desperate shopping trips and an overnight Amazon order to find everything for the uniforms.

Wernet Fall Round-Up 2024: Nellie

Nellie's main thing this fall was the Grand Ledge Marching Band. She was the senior drum major and played a flute solo, which was super cool and a little crazy. 

But the other big story in Nellie's life was college application season! She had already done most of the application before she tagged me in, and I was surprised - though I share an office with the College and Career Counselor and should know better - by what an elaborate and somewhat confusing process it all is, even with (or especially with) the Common App. I learned a lot, so hopefully I'll be better prepared for the next four go-rounds. We spent hours at the kitchen table reviewing data, navigating music school applications, looking at scholarships, and brainstorming essay topics. Nellie drafted essays on our way home from the U.P. in October. While I drove, we'd discuss, then she'd write, then we'd switch drivers, and we'd discuss and I'd edit. It was great!

There were visits to U of M with Kevin and visits to WMU and Hope College with me. Nellie continued for a third year with the Spartan Youth Wind Symphony and auditioned for the All-State Honors Band. She started three AP courses and continues to work at the Sun Theater to round out her senior year. For most of the season, we didn't really see her much! We're all thankful that marching band has wrapped up so we can spend just a little more time together. Well, I'm very thankful for that, Nellie is probably a little thankful. 

First day of senior year!

Fall Homecoming

Senior Night

Conducting at Ford Field

SYWS chamber concert

GLMB Banquet

Visiting Hope - we were both enamored with the campus

Senior pictures 💗

Fall 2024 and life lessons

Fall has been a very full-of-life time in the Wernet household, and this year was no different! We had months of marching band, soccer, cross country, music and dance lessons, hunting, and a musical. School life is a bit of a hurricane from August to December every year, we helped my dad move his "home base" to an apartment in Grand Ledge, and both boys had a bout of cold/flu and DJ ended up with pneumonia. We lost Pam, then Chief and a coworker or Kevin's. We (primarily Alex, Kevin, and John) worked through the difficult process of managing Pam's estate and several weekends were spent sorting and packing and cleaning at the house. And over and under and through it all was the grief, which felt like a mist that settles into all the gaps and cracks of our lives.

Something I think I knew in my head but really sunk into my spirit this fall was how much joy and sorrow, delight and difficulty can and will coexist. For most of my life, I've seen things in black and white - it's a good day or a bad day, a good week or a bad week, a good season or a hard season. But over and over in this current season, things were wonderful and filled with joy and delight and the same time that stresses were piling up, relationships were challenging, and sadness was deep. And I learned that to live most fully, you can - you need to - lean into both the joy and the sorrow. Luckily, we don't have to do that on our own strength (Psalm 46). Here are a few of the delightful moments from our fall.

Looking through photo albums together at Pam's

Family trip to the U.P.

Robynne joined us and we enjoyed the weather

An artist at the coffee shop offered to sketch their favorite characters

Sorting out candy after trick-or-treating

The Halloween crew

Dad and daughter date to see the marching band state finals at Ford Field (while Annie and I drove to see Taylor Swift in Indy!)

On a day off in November, we have a tradition of going to the bookstore to pick out a book. One of my favorite days! This particular time, the kids all ended up with peppermint mochas instead of peppermint hot cocoas. The barista assured me they only have "a little espresso." 

Then a trip to Impression 5

Some impromptu cousin hangout time. It was impossible to get a good picture.

Annie teaching Eddie how to apply stage makeup in the LCS office.

Turkey Trot date

Thanksgiving - four generations of Tuinstra women! It was wonderful to spend some time with my grandma.

The kids were banished to the basement after Thansgiving dinner so we could clean, so they wrote and performed a play for us. Here, they are stargazing before travelling into space.