To start off with, 2021 has been an eventful year.
In January, we said goodbye to Heidi at college. She began her college career at the Franciscan University of Steubenville with a major in communications.
Also in January, John received an official diagnosis of mild autism. He is obviously, very high-functioning and our family is learning about neurodiversity. (I think we may all be just a bit neurodiverse).
Later, in January, Ben was driving Greta to youth group and was t-boned by a truck, thereby totaling his car. Ironic because for the past year "they" have been talking about "staying safe" when out in public and going places, but clearly it is the actual going to the places that are the most dangerous.
But, I digress. '
Eventually, he bought a shiny, new (to us) red car, insurance paid up and all was well...on that front.
In February, Ben came down with shingles, which is no piece of cake, but with the help of lots of vitamins and supplements, he eventually recovered from that.
Also in February, Grandma pawned off a cute, orange-striped kitten on us that we eventually named Tigger, although Garfield would have been a great name for him as well, as he does love his grub. She convinced us we HAD to take him, otherwise, it would be to the animal shelter he would go. We couldn't allow that, now could we?
He and Rocky quickly became BFFs.
In March, Greta performed the play, Esther. A play she wrote herself and directed and performed with a few friends. It was a fun experience.
In April (right before Easter, ironically enough), after a very long illness and struggle with a head tilt, our rabbit, Charlie, passed away. (This picture was taken before he developed the head tilt).
At the beginning of May, Greta earned her Dolly Madison award for American Heritage Girls and "graduated" from badge work.
Then, Elsa received her First Holy Communion. It was a blessed and beautiful occasion.
Then Heidi came home from college for the summer and got a job working at a local Amish restaurant, where she determined that she does not really like Amish food all that much.
Also, in May, Greta played the part of Meg in Little Women, a small homeschool production that she enjoyed being part of.
At the end of May, Elsa performed in her first ballet recital and did a great job.
Unfortunately, right before the recital, Amelia was running up the stairs to help her get ready and she banged her hand against the wall, breaking the last metacarpal on her left hand. So she spent the beginning of the summer with her hand in a brace. Eventually, that healed.
Then our air conditioner broke. Something like $9 million dollars later (slight exaggeration) after enduring seemingly endless sales pitches, we were able to replace it and had a comfort-filled air-conditioned summer.
In June, we bought a family pool membership at a local campground and had a fun, vitamin-D-filled summer with lots of swimming.
At the end of June, we were happy to be able to attend the Pecora family reunion once again and visit and see cousins, aunts, and uncles. It was so nice to catch up with everyone.
At the very end of June, Amelia quit her job at Raterlabs and dipped her toes into graphic design and bookselling, and created and designed a few journals, notebooks, and planners to sell on Amazon. She sold a few books (emphasis on few) and enjoyed the learning process, even if ultimately decided not to continue with it.
In July, Greta competed in the Bristol Homeschooling Pagent. While she didn't win, she had fun and learned a lot.
In August, Heidi went back to college and finished out this semester, and made the dean's list.
Also in August, Greta played two small parts in a series of short plays put on by a local homeschool drama group. She played the part of a nurse in Walter Mitty and a schoolgirl in Anne of Green Gables.
In September, Amelia fell off a ladder and broke her fibula, down near the ankle. Yes, that is two broken bones in the span of one summer. YIKES. As I said, it was an eventful year. She had surgery to fix the mildly displaced bone and now has a permanent plate and a bunch of screws in her leg. Thankfully it was her left leg that broke, so she could still drive kids to their five million activities a week. She even taught PE to K/1 graders during homeschool co-op from a WHEELCHAIR! The irony of teaching being the PE teacher with a broken leg!
Also in September, Amelia started a job as a freelance transcription editor, a job which she really enjoys. It appeals to her pathologically nosy side, as she gets to listen to and edit transcriptions from various companies, organizations, etc.
Also in October, Ben and John traveled down to Indianapolis where they played in a team chess tournament with the BUMs (that's Bristol United Methodist Chess Club) and won first place in the U1900 section.
In November, Amelia joyfully threw away (figuratively speaking) her crutches and become bipedal once again. Instead of going back to just regular old power walking, she took up Nordic walking (look it up!) and thinks you should too. It has lots of great health and fitness benefits and is just plain fun. Plus if more people did it, she would look less ridiculous. So Amelia is encouraging everyone to buy walking poles and take up the fun sport of Nordic walking so it will become more mainstream and people won't laugh at her walking down the trail using poles. Although let's be real...she never was all that mainstream anyway.
Also in November, Greta got her driving permit. Watch out!
And to finish off this eventful year, in December, COVID came calling and there was time spent in quarantine. Sadly, Elsa and Annika had to miss their December ballet recital. We got through it okay, and the majority of us didn't even get sick at all. Word to the wise, if COVID comes calling at your house, there are a whole host of natural remedies and home treatments that when taken early on, I believe do help quite a bit and decrease the severity of the illness.
In the midst of all those events, the year was filled with many regular moments as well.
Heidi is 19 and a sophomore in college and doing all sorts of collegiate things. She finished her first semester with a 4.0 GPA (to brag just a wee bit). This fall she switched her major to Spanish and plans to become a Spanish teacher (like father, like daughter). She also played and beat Magnus Carlsen's cousin in a game of chess. Apparently, Magnus Carlsen's cousin lives in Stuebenville. She is enjoying her time in college, making friends, and getting involved in a few campus organizations.
Greta is 17 and a junior. She is very involved in the youth group and was on the planning team for two high school retreats this year. She also had a great time this summer at Catholic Youth Summer Camp and is looking forward to going back again. And you already heard about her numerous theatrical appearances this year.
John is 13 and in 8th grade. He continues to play chess and attends chess club weekly with Ben. He is also a "high blue belt" in Tae Kwan Do and enjoys his TKD classes, especially now that they are allowed to do sparring again. Boys do love to fight, apparently.
Elsa is 9 and in third grade. This year, she learned how to swim, continues with American Heritage Girls, and continues taking ballet classes, which she loves. She is becoming quite the reader and is a joy to have around.
Annika is 5 and in kindergarten. She is learning how to read and is joining Elsa at American Heritage Girls and ballet. She is thrilled to be able to do activities and is a little extrovert and bundle of energy and wants to do ALL THE THINGS. She also took swimming lessons this summer and while she can't quite swim yet, she is getting there.
Ben still works at Beers Mallers, practicing in the area of municipal law and governmenting and writing laws and ordinances and super exciting things like that. He still plays chess and prefers to speak in a sesquipedalian manner.
Amelia basically lives in the car, driving kids to one million activities a week, in between homeschooling and working part-time and taking care of kids and pets and all those things. This year, after 15 years of being a La Leche League Leader, she retired due to irreconcilable differences with the organization's changing philosophy.
We wish all our friends and family a very blessed and Holy Christmas. May you know Christ's peace and love and grow ever closer to Him this coming year. I pray 2022 is a fruitful and happy year for you all.
PS. Another word to the wise. Stay away from ladders!
Love,
The Bentrups (notice, there are no wayward commas in there).
Ben, Amelia, Heidi, Greta, John, Elsa, Annika.
