Christmas 2025

Snyder Christmas Letter 2025

Another year coming to a close, it is December 14th and after 8 inches of snow yesterday it is a deep freeze today. This past year has been full of great sadness but also great blessings. So here we go!

December 2024

We had a really special family Christmas at our house. I was blessed to have all my kids here along with both of my parents and James's mom. Eden was old enough to really enjoy Christmas. 

Highlights..the anouncement that Vern was expected in July of the coming year! 

The second highlight...Elijah and I beating Jamie at Euchre! What a victory!

In the new year we started seeing how much harder it was to safely keep Dad at home. He was falling daily and watching him struggle was truly heartbreaking. In January he moved to The Hawthorne Assisted Living here in Danville for therapy. Therapy just was not quite enough to keep him safely on his feet. So this arrangement has become a permanent one. 

January also brought the typical after the holidays illnesses. This past year I was hearing so many complaints of nausea and dizziness with these illnesses. So I did not think much of it when my long time friend was seeking my advise about how sick and dizzy she was feeling. She got bad enough the last week in January to go to the walk in. She messaged me at work at 4:30 that Wednesday afternoon and told me she appeared to have a tumor in her brain and was being sent to the hospital. That next week Amanda ended up with surgery to remove the tumors that were causing her greatest symptoms. When she came home, it was a great opportunity to spend more time together at her home while she recuperated. This scary development dominated my heart, my thoughts, and my prayers for the unforeseen future. 

In February, the twins turned 25! The year of fifty was absolutely eventful, but I am still amazed that I am old enough to have 25 year olds!

James and I also went back to Jamaica (where we got married in 2008) with Robbie and Megan for Megan and I to take a class. If you know me you know that a trip to the beach in the winter is like a lifeboat in a storm. 

And it would not be us if we did not travel more in the Spring, so in March we headed down to Texas to visit James's dad Steve and his wife Connie. We had not gone there since 2019 so it was a long overdue visit. 

Also in March, Amanda was now getting settled into a routine of Cancer treatment. When she decided to shave her head, Stephanie got the idea we should go to dinner all in crazy wigs, so we did! Charity could not make it because she was very busy becoming a grandmother that night. We were intentionally spending more time together this past spring. This was particularly interesting because part of Amanda's treatment was high doses of steroids. Amanda had always been the most reserved of us all, so when she became quite chatty and a bit uninhibited with the steroid treatment, we all enjoyed this new side of her!

In March we celebrated Eden's second birthday with her Elmo themed party. 

Stephanie's beloved Grandmother passed away. During the visitation, the four of us (Steph, Charity, Amanda and myself) had the opportunity for a great picture of us all dressed up. I am very grateful for this picture. 

April brought Easter, Our small group annual retreat (back again to Starved Rock State Park for some hiking), and some great family time.

    In May, we had Reese's school formal (It poured down rain), birthdays and Mother's Day. For Mother's Day, James cooked on the flattop, started a fire in the pit (my favorite) and the kids painted rocks for me. 

            

June was a hard month. Amanda had started hospice. Below is a picture of me, Amanda, Stephanie and Charity our first week of Senior Year in 1991. Along with it is a picture we took our last time together. James, Reese and I had been planning a trip to Europe for over a year and the next day was travel day. Leaving that night was one of the hardest things I have done. It took me back to leaving for Paige's Boot Camp graduation knowing that my long time friend and sister-in-love Brittany would likely pass from her cancer before I returned. I am so grateful for those moments together in that hospital room that Amanda's family so graciously allowed us. 

The trip to Europe was pretty incredible. I was so blessed to have the experience with James and Reese along with long time friends, and new friends we met on the trip. We traveled from Chicago to Italy. We made our way from Italy, through France to Spain. We finished up with a flight from Spain back to Italy before flying back to Chicago. Ten long, very hot, very emotional days. My favorite part of the trip was Ancient Rome and the Colloseum.  

We flew home on our 17th anniversary. The trip was amazing, but I was anxious to get home to my friends. We were also only a few weeks out from the new grandchild's due date! The service that was held at our church for Amanda was absolutely beautiful. It was a testimony of her faith in Jesus. I was so proud of Amanda's daughter, Olivia, and how she honored her mom. 

In July, Reese went to Church camp (twice), Volleyball camp, and Wisconsin with the Longs.  In August she headed to Michigan with the Long family as well. She was home long enough to meet her new niece, Vern Elizabeth, who was born on July 11th. We were in love. Vern and big sister Eden have been a balm on my aching heart this year. 

In August, my family spoiled me for my birthday. Turning 51 was much harder than I expected, without Amanda. We had done a 50th birthday weekend the year before and it was all I could think about all day. 

In September. Steph, Charity, Heather and I met at Amanda's grave on her 51st birthday with lawn chairs. We laughed, told stories and ended up staying there until it was dark and raining. 

By this time, my mother had decided to sell her house and her rental. She wanted to move into an apartment right by where dad was now staying at the Hawthorne. My sister, James and the girls and I started going through their home. This was a good move for mom, but it was difficult to imagine their home all cleaned out and them not living in it anymore.  Mom's new apartment is decorates so cute and she and her dog are settling in there nicely, only steps away from where dad is staying. 

In October we went to lots of Volleyball games. The end. 

Halloween weekend, my friend Jen and I took 8 teenage girls to the Dells. It had been a few years since our last Dells trip and this one did not disappoint. The girls, and Jen, were a huge blessing to me! 

November 22nd, Reese turned 16 and got her Driver's license! I have totally skated over the topic of her volleyball year. We traveled like crazy to away games and had a great time watching Reese and her friends play Volleyball. She has chosen to play basketball this year which she is not nearly as fond of😝 We had a wonderful family Thanksgiving at our house. We also took dad back to the house and sat in the back yard and enjoyed a beautiful fall Saturday afternoon before the sale of the house closed.

First weekend in December, we went back to the Dells with the family. Another pretty wonderful Dells trip. The little girls did so well and I think Eden had a great time!

I was blessed to spend a great deal of time this past year with the people I love the most in this world. I was also reminded again of how short this life is. One of the first tattoos that I had Paige do for me after she started tattooing was a pencil drawing of the story from the gospels of the lame man whose friends tore a hole in the roof in order to lower him down to Jesus. I have friends like that, I continue to pray that I will have faith like that.