Merry Christmas 2008 from Alan, Alayna Grace, Marilyn, Boone, and Abbi
Our merry Berry marriage is entering the eleventh year and is heading full speed ahead! We have experienced many changes during this exciting year. Our first noteworthy change is that thankfully, Alan has returned to serve on staff at two churches where we have been honored to minister in past years: Farmington Memorial United Methodist Church and Doe Run First Baptist Church. What a blessing these church families have been to our hearts - past, present, and future. Marilyn has returned to Farmington First Baptist Church Choir and all three kids are involved in the children/youth ministries at New Heights Church, the two First Baptist churches, and Memorial. Tank up the minivan and the GPS will lead the way each and every Sunday on the church trek! When Alayna Grace was younger, she would pray for the souls of children who only attended one church. Well, she’s back on her knees with concern for these one-church-kiddos. Alan retains his title of Marilyn’s favorite preacher, favorite worship leader, and favorite carpooler.
After a decade of intense collaboration, The Berry Brothers released a brand new project this year. Their gospel music CD entitled Let There Be Light is flying off of store shelves and into homes of thousands of their harmony-loving fans! It is a jewel of a CD, showcasing their rich voices. The Berry Brothers hosted our annual Music of Christmas variety show at Memorial Methodist Church to an over-capacity crowd. This holiday concert family tradition will certainly continue through our generations. In this summer’s Baby Boomers Reunion concert, Alan performed as Jimmy Buffet, Marilyn as Chaka Khan, and the Berry Brothers as The Pips complete with choreography. None of these acts found their way into the Music of Christmas show this year, but who knows what the future holds?
After twelve rewarding years of teaching kindergarten special education in the same building, Marilyn transferred to Roosevelt Elementary where both Alayna Grace and Boone attend school. Momma is never far away. Surrounded by another group of spirited and talented teacher friends, the school days fly by. Alan continues to teach American history at the middle school. Our lives are blessed with deep friendships. Family get-away time is spent in Branson. We are on a first name basis with the housekeepers at our Branson hotel. Four of us love the water toboggan ride at Silver Dollar City. Alan tolerates it while wringing out his wallet contents.
Seventeen-year-old Abbi is a beauty who will certainly shine in this month’s Nutcracker ballet, performing the role of Arabian Princess. She is grace personified. Abbi is a Knights cheerleader, a member of National Honor Society, and president of her junior class. She studies pointe, ballet, jazz, tap, and choral music. This girl can sing! She is interested in theater performance as well. Abbi has her same red Mustang, her same lifeguard job, and her same special boyfriend. Colleges, serious career paths, and shoes top her interests. Her choices continue to be spiritually sound and mature. She is stunning in heels.
Alayna Grace is ten and is in the fourth grade. She is pure pizzazz. She will dance as a soldier and an angel in the Nutcracker ballet. Alayna Grace has a new kitten named Reeses who has settled into her place in our family purr-fectly. Alayna Grace studies ballet, jazz, tap, church hand bells, and choral music. She has the voice of a performer. She studies missions in GA’s. In the church Christmas play, Alayna was cast as Mary. Boone is to be the Donkey. Alan says this Holy Mother/Donkey set-up mirrors all of the Berry women/men relationships. He has issues.
Perpetually surrounded by preachers’ wives, Boone is a happy student in Mrs. Hogan’s first grade. Football remains his favorite sport. Boone prefers Merle Haggard songs to all others. Hold onto your Christmas cowboy hats because he sang a little Merle in our Music of Christmas Show. He has country style. Boone negotiated with his choral director for an actual donkey solo in Memorial’s church play. At Doe Run First Baptist Church, Boone plays guitar in the praise band. At Farmington First Baptist Church, Boone was honored with the coveted Royal Ambassador of the Month Award. He accepted his certificate, and then he met two of his RA buddies in the prayer room for shirtless wrestling practice. His position of honor may be short lived. In November, Alan and Boone went hunting for squirrels and deer. Yesterday we found him crouching behind the sofa taking Nerf gun target practice on our life-sized Santa. Boone, not Alan.
Alan’s son Mark will be 31 in January. Mark moved into a house across the street from Doug Berry’s house. As Lexi would sing out, it’s a small world after all. Mark works in the meat department at the Farmington Country Mart. Alan’s daughter Amy is 29. Amy and her husband Keefer live in Scott City with children Isiah (11), Elijah (7), and Zoe (2). Both sets of our parents are happy, healthy, retired, and yet as busy as ever. Our children long for more time with their Daddy Ken, Mamaw, Pawpaw and Mimi. Alan and Marilyn have managed to go on two romantic vacations thanks to these grandparents’ babysitting skills. Our children long for more grand folks time. So do we.
The hole in our hearts is unfilled as Lexi’s class soars through their senior year without her. This March will mark twelve years of separation from Lexi. At every moment it seems there is a space void of her smile – an empty spot in the cheerleading line, in the ballet studio, at the dinner table, under her covers, and in Mommy’s arms. The span of years from kindergarten to graduation blinked away. The birth of the Christ Child, our Savior Jesus, gifted all believers the life-sustaining promise that empty laps everywhere will one day be filled again with little girls. Our Savior holds the promise of life eternal with unspeakable joy! We wait in earnest.
Merry Christmas and God’s Blessings to You
From Alan, Marilyn, Abbi, Alayna Grace, and Boone Berry
405 Hawthorne Drive Farmington, MO 63640 (573) 756-5181