2011 Boardwell Year in Review
No celebrities here. No cataclysms. No scandals. No sports championships. Just extraordinary ordinary life in our family.
Though I’m about a month later than everyone else’s reminiscing, I wanted to register my rankings for the biggest and best events of our household in 2011. With 11 members in our household every week is eventful, but these highlights stand out.
10. Dramatic developments
Four times this year our kids took part in local theatre productions:
- Last spring, the Peanut Butter Players staged Annie with Boardwells in some key roles. Watching Mrs. Hannigan (Katelynn) act drunk, rip the head off a doll, chew out the orphans and dance with her crooked brother Rooster (Zach) was a little unsettling since she made such a terrific villain. The plucky Orphan Tessie (Jilliann) charmed the audience and Daddy Warbucks (Jonnavin) was genteel and noble as ever. Jonnavin even shaved his head for the part.
- No sooner did Annie wind down than Nathanael’s local production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown got rolling. For his Boy Scout Eagle service project, Nathanael elected to work with the local Arts Coalition on their first-ever performing arts endeavor. He produced and directed the project, casting his brother Jonnavin as Charlie Brown and Zach as the light and effects crew.
In the fall, PBP produced the musical Wind in the Willows with Jonnavin as Badger, Katelynn as Otter, and Jilliann and Zach holding down several minor parts.
- When Missoula Children’s Theatre came to town, Jonnavin, Katelynn, Jilliann, and Adam all played roles in their version of The Secret Garden. Zach was an assistant director.
- All seven of our oldest kids played parts in our church’s Two Nights before Christmas program, a readers’ theatre version of The Last Mailing Day before Christmas. The oldest two boys even directed it.
With our own backgrounds in music and drama, it is gratifying to see the children developing these talents and using them so frequently.
9. Colorado Christian Writers Conference
Several times during my Master’s degree studies at Rivendell, I was encouraged to publish some of my writing. So in May I spent a week at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference in Estes Park to learn if and how I could ever be published. While I was there I sat in on how-to sessions, met agents and authors, and had a few one-on-one appointments with publishing representatives.
I discovered that there are many opportunities to write for hire and many pathways for publishing a book. During one of my one-on-ones I was encouraged to pursue a publisher for my Encounter at the Cross materials. In another I was offered the chance to write a week of devotionals for Standard Publishing. (Mine will be published in the 2013 edition of Devotions, November 18-24.) Still another, convinced me to start up Twitter and Facebook accounts. Since the conference, I’ve also been puttering away on a book about the contrasting perfections of God.
Writing doesn’t come easily for me. Like any work, it demands diligence, creativity, and the knack for healthy self-criticism. Still, the process is ultimately gratifying, especially when something I write evokes a positive change in the reader.
8. Zach’s road trip
This year our Zachary turned 16, so once again I slid into the passenger seat for a three-day adventure in a less-populated part of Colorado. Our May driving tour took us over 900 miles through the central north mountains of our state. We poked around every small town and settlement between Winter Park and Craig and Zach got some experience driving every kind of road from one-lane gravel to four-lane interstate.
That trip took us through some spectacularly beautiful places: Ripple Creek Pass between Yampa and Meeker, the Little Snake River Valley along the Wyoming border, Morrison Creek in the Gore Range west of Kremmling, and both sides of the Mount Zirkel Wilderness.
We intended to camp along the way, but swarms of mosquitos drove us into a Walden motel and a generous friend offered us his basement spare room in Craig. Our kind of camping!
7. Vacation in Dillon, Silverthorne, and Estes Park
For the first time ever, we stayed near home for our two-week vacation in August. With family so far away, our lengthy getaways usually begin and end with at least a 1200-mile drive. Our plans this summer saved a lot of money and drive time.
We began with 3 days at a church member’s condo on Dillon Reservoir where we swam, canoed, and rode the gondola at Breckenridge. Then we ventured north for a week to Spring Creek Ranch near Green Mountain Reservoir where our neighbors own a mountain lodge. Hiking, playing outside, reading, and long afternoon naps kept us busy there. That weekend we enjoyed church outdoors at Agape Outpost in Breckenridge.
Finally, we stopped in Estes Park for a few nights to visit our dear friend Gail Ellis (who lived with us in Erie for a while). In Estes we found Trout Haven where each of the kids caught a fish. What a feast we enjoyed!
Colorado has so much to offer for recreation and scenery. No wonder it’s a tourist destination for millions. On this stay-cation we got to enjoy our own state for a change.
6. Zephani potty trained
For the uninitiated, this may seem like no big deal. Believe me; it’s terrific that our 2-year-old agreed to dispense with diapers this year. That’s the earliest ever for our clan.
5. Ben’s & Nathanael’s Eagle ceremonies
Two of our sons were awarded Boy Scouting’s highest rank this year. To earn the Eagle rank, a boy must earn 6 other rank advancements and 23 merit badges, serve dozens of hours of community service, prove proficient in a variety of citizenship, emergency, and outdoor skills, and provide leadership and planning for one large service project that leaves a legacy for a non-profit organization. All of this must take place between his 11th and 18th birthdays.
For Ben’s project, he took on the repainting of two underpasses for the Town of Erie that had been slathered in obscene graffiti. Nathanael bit off a HUGE Eagle project directing and producing a local performance of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown for the Arts Coalition of Erie. Both projects required administration, fund-raising, hands-on direction, and a heart for the community.
Ultimately, an Eagle rank award represents years of hard work and persistence. To achieve such an honor as a teenager is praiseworthy. Only 4% of boys join Boy Scouts and only 4% of those persevere to earn their Eagle. To have two such accomplishments so far in our family is an honor.
4. Ben’s Australia Mission
For two months of 2011 our oldest son was on a mission to the other side of the planet. Like his parents, he wants to be useful to God. Unlike his parents, that usefulness includes wet cement and felling trees. So last spring Ben signed up with Teen Missions International for a work mission to either Zambia or Australia. He was selected for the Australia Work Team.
His trip began with an intensive Boot Camp training in Florida where he slept in a tent, kept long hours starting at 5 AM, endured heat and humidity, daily torrential rains, and relentless mosquitos. He also enjoyed Scripture memory, evening worship rallies, and diverse Christian friendships. TMI wants to make sure that the teams they send out are equipped for mission work and able to endure any possible mission setting. One highlight of his time at Boot Camp was watching the final launch of the Space Shuttle, since the training center is only 7 miles from Cape Canaveral.
Following training, his team flew to New Zealand and then on to Australia. There they worked to improve a missions base near the coast for a couple of weeks before serving an Aboriginal community inland. In the village, Warabinda, they assisted a missionary who has been working there for years. They held programs for the children, performed upgrades to the church, and learned to eat kangaroo stew. Ben came home with many new friends, a better picture of world Christianity, and an idea of how a person of his skills and background can serve God anywhere.
3. Nathanael’s high school graduation
2011 also concluded Nathanael’s formal schooling. On May 22 with family and friends in attendance we presented him with his diploma, the second to graduate from Boardwell Christian High School. At his commencement, three speakers gave words of affirmation and challenge.
Now he is studying French in preparation for some mission work in Europe and hopes to attend college after that. In the meanwhile, he works at AirComm a military helicopter air conditioning parts supplier in Boulder to save money and gain some job experience. We’re proud of him and look forward his adult life unfolding over the coming years.
2. Harmony Joy
On April 22 a new baby girl joined our family. A playmate for Zephani and a delight to the rest of us.
Some of you have commented on how pretty her name sounds and wondered how we chose it. It was only a matter of time before we chose a name with musical significance. But we mused over middle names for months until a friend from church brought us a Christmas gift in December 2010, namely a wall hanging of the word “J-O-Y.” The first time we tried it out loud we were decided. So our baby is named after our family pastime and holiday décor.
Also, she growls. Some babies coo. Other babies giggle when you smile down into their cradle. Our Harmony Joy growls. Like a pirate, or a bear, or an old man with a popcorn shell stuck to his epiglottis, when she is really happy or wants you to notice her, she growls. Loudly.
Our new score stands at 5 boys and 4 girls. The girls are rooting for a tie-breaker…and so are the boys.
1. Married 20 years
Of course, without this foundational reality, the other items on this list would never have been.
It all began at a campfire on the first week of Bible College when I shared the urgent call to ministry that God had placed on my life. When Pam heard that message she set her sights to meet that guy. Together we’ve been making life together and living out that ministry for over 2 decades now. The inexpressible blessings and challenges of our daily life give us reason to cling to each other and our Lord.
To celebrate, we spent a few days up at Aspen, a place we had never visited before. Of course, the scenery was fantastic, the food excellent, and the lodgings comfortable, but the best part, as always, was the company we keep and will go on keeping, until death do we part.