The 2025 Crouch Family Christmas Letter

A recap of this year, in lieu of using the USPS

Every year when we start receiving Christmas cards from friends and family, I joke that our yearly tradition for our entire marriage has been to not send Christmas cards. The first year we were married, we were living below the poverty level, which continued for the next several years. By the time we got to the point where we could have afforded to have cards printed and mailed to dozens of people, I didn’t have the mental energy to actually do it. And so we continue to enjoy all the cards we receive and continue to not send one.

One of my favorite parts of receiving Christmas cards, though, is when there is a long update letter about the sender and their family. Even though I keep up with a lot of people on social media, there is something about getting to see it all in one place that brings me a lot of joy. And so this year, since I have my own website and the ability to post a link to this on social media for our friends and family, I present the inaugural Crouch Family Christmas Letter.

January

We kicked 2025 off after a very difficult holiday season. The holidays themselves weren’t bad, but some other situations added a lot of stress and grief that honestly made me almost forget last December entirely. I was very glad for 2025 to start, even if it didn’t erase all the hardships of the previous year.

The big news in January for our usually very warm area of south Georgia was SNOW! Our younger two had never seen snow and ever since January have asked me multiple times if it’s going to snow again this year. The kids missed an entire week of school and it will go down in history as the time we sledded down snow covered dirt mounds on boogie boards.

Our family birthday season kicked off in January with our oldest turning 15. He requested a family dinner and cheesecake, which made for a very simple celebration.

February

Based on the lack of pictures I took in February, I guess we were busy doing mundane things. My mother-in-law did take our kids on a little road trip to the circus, and my mom joined them there for what sounded like an amazing time.

Christian and I celebrated our 19th Valentine’s Day together, but I honestly can’t remember what we did. I’m sure we ate delicious food!

At the end of the month, we had our church’s women’s retreat, which was the first one we’ve had since we moved here in 2020. It was a wonderful weekend and we’re excited to go again this year!

March

March brought more birthdays—mine and Noah’s.

Noah turned 5 and we had a Minecraft-themed birthday party at our church. Nine months later, he is still EXTREMELY into Minecraft.

I turned 39 and Christian took me out on a date that ended with our last visit to a beloved local ice cream parlor that was about to unexpectedly close. They only served Blue Bell and every time I drive by their old location I get a little sad.

Zoe’s big news in March was her participation in a competition called the Quick-think-a-thon, which included all the second graders in our school district. I went to the finals not expecting to be photographed when Zoe WON the entire thing.

She was on the local news, she was on her school’s weekly newscast, and there was even an article in the local newspaper. She’s already had her 15 minutes of fame before she has made it to the double digits.

April

April was a big month! I got to spend the weekend with some old friends in Columbia, and Christian and I got to attend our first of two Jason Isbell concerts for 2025, where we ran into our church friends Josh and Emma Jane.

Spring break came and I took the kids to Oatland Island, a wildlife refuge close to the coast where you get to walk for several miles and see animals along the way.

At Easter, my parents came to spend the weekend with us, which was a delight. The picture above is of our whole family, Christian’s sister and mom, and my parents. It was wonderful to be together to celebrate Resurrection Day.

And, at the end of April, our sunshine girl turned 8. Instead of a party we continued our tradition of a girl’s day. I let her skip school and we went out on the town for lunch and shopping.

May

May brought all the end of the school year things and a few more holidays. Cohen turned 14 (and I took zero pictures because he doesn’t love having his picture taken). For Mother’s Day, Christian and the kids made the dinner of my choice and served it to me and I got a rare photo of me and all four kids. Stephen’s first year of high school band class wrapped up and he won an award for “Most Improved” on the tuba in Symphonic Band.

The little kids’ year ended with field day, and both of them loved getting to be outside and do tons of activities with their friends. While I didn’t get any picture, the boys also had a week of spring marching band camp after school and played during the spring football game. Stephen also got to play in the band for the high school’s graduation ceremony.

June

June came—and with it the glorious summer. Stephen got his permit and I tried not to cry. We celebrated Father’s Day. The little kids and I got to have lots of fun outings to the beach and to a water park in nearby Statesboro while the boys were at youth camp and Boy Scout camp. The littles also did a week of Vacation Bible School at a nearby church and they did swim lessons at the Y. (I actually made a note for myself for this coming summer not to try to do so much. It was way too much.)

July

At the very end of June, I left Georgia, drove to my parents’ in South Carolina, and my mom and I embarked on a journey to the southernmost tip of New Jersey, the town of Cape May, where my sister met us.

This was my second year getting to spend a full week in this beautiful place with my mom and sister, and it was a wonderful week. We ate delicious food, I took many long bike rides, we ate a lot of ice cream, and we got to spend precious time together.

The day after I got back from Cape May, we got on a treadmill that took us almost up until the first day of school. The boys had two weeks of marching band camp, and I volunteered to help with some of that. Almost as soon as camp was over, Christian’s two weeks of summer vacation started.

The first week, Christian and I were able to get away to see Jason Isbell in concert again in Greenville and celebrate his birthday. The second week, we all packed up and headed to the mountains of Tennessee and stayed in a house near our friends Robert and Lindsey. The house had a pool, and we had the best time.

The only downside to these first two months of summer was my foot injury was not getting any better. I wasn’t able to go on hikes with my family and really had to watch how much I walked around. But right before our trip, I saw a new doctor who diagnosed my injury and recommended surgery, which we scheduled for the middle of August. This was a huge blessing!

August

Back to school! School starts early here, and we entered a new phase where our four kids were only at two different schools instead of three, which made mornings a little bit less stressful for me. Stephen started 10th grade at our district’s magnet program, and Cohen entered 9th grade in the same program. Zoe entered 3rd grade, which meant she has had two different teachers this year, and Noah started kindergarten.

Our church’s AWANA program started back up for both of the little kids. Marching band practice began in earnest, with the boys staying after school three nights a week after getting up for school every day at 6 a.m. It was a rough transition but they pushed through.

Both boys received awards in August: Cohen got some new merit badges in Scouts and Stephen was honored for scoring a (5) on the AP Human Geography exam (scores are released in the summer).

I was able to have surgery on my foot in August, which meant I spent the second half of August with restrictions on driving and excess walking around. Christian and the kids were wonderful in helping me, as well as our friends and community here who brought meals and supported us during that time.

September

Band season truly ramped up, but there were other big events as well!

Christian began working with Stephen on driving. My parents came for a weekend to come to a football game and my mom and I were able to take the little kids to the beach (a benefit of living so far south, that you can go to the beach in September). Band continued to occupy much of our lives. And Noah lost his first tooth!

October

In our neck of the woods, October is referred to as “Band-tober.” Almost every weekend that month saw the boys busy Friday nights at football games and Saturdays at competitions. Stephen continued to enjoy his sousaphone and served as the section leader while Cohen helped hold down the percussion section as part of the front ensemble.

At the very end of September and beginning of October, Christian and I got to go to a pastors and wives’ retreat in Key West, FL, with the Harbor Network. This was a wonderful time of relaxation where we got to connect with old friends and make new friends.

Our family also got to go watch the boys march in the county parade (which is a much bigger deal than I would have expected) and we went to the county fair afterward. I go to go to a haunted outdoor event with some friends, which was slightly out of my comfort zone but turned out to be amazing. And the kids dressed up for Halloween, in costumes well-suited to their personalities.

November

November was a very full month for us. Not only did the kids have lots of school activities, including the end of the marching band season, but we had a lot of wonderful times with family and friends.

I got to go on a weekend trip to the mountains of Tennessee with my friend Anna and her mom and another friend where we spent 72 hours playing board games. Christian and I also got to go out to eat with some friends to celebrate my dear friend Hillary’s birthday. Then, for Thanksgiving, we spent time with my entire extended family, which we haven’t been able to do in years. There was much to be thankful for.

December

December has truly flown by.

Zoe and I started the month by getting to see Wicked: For Good with some dear friends and Zoe declared it “her favorite movie ever.”

December in elementary school in our area means you have to put your seatbelt on because it’s going to be a wild ride. There was cookies and cocoa with Santa one night after school. Then, the last week of school, there was Grinch Day, pajama day, and Christmas parties on the very last day of school. It was a lot and Zoe and Noah loved every second of it.

For the older boys, December brought more band. Stephen auditioned for District Honor Band and made it, attaining second chair for our district. Both boys performed at the winter concert, Stephen in the Wind Ensemble and Cohen in Concert Band. I cannot say enough wonderful things about the band program in our district. The boys have thrived and it has been such a joy watching them grow in skill.

As part of one of his classes this year, Cohen had to present on a topic with another classmate. In December, all the students with that requirement presented and Christian and I got to go and see Cohen and his project as well as all the other projects. Ninth grade in this magnet program is kind of like jumping into the deep end, but Cohen has kept his head above water and persevered. We’re so proud of him.

In Conclusion

Between all these pictures was everyday life. There were mundane rhythms of piano lessons, speech therapy, church, Scouts, and doctors’ appointments. There was family dinner on the nights when we could manage it. There were friends coming to visit for the weekend as well as short trips out of town for us. There were afternoons where the kids stayed outside for hours with the run of our neighborhood. While ordinary, these are the things that actually make up life.

Another backdrop to most of these pictures was my struggle for most of this year not just with my foot injury (which began in October 2024) but also with mysterious arm pain that emerged in the spring. August to December saw me in and out of the orthopedist’s office with injections, medications, a nerve study, an MRI, and physical therapy. I am grateful to share that as this year draws to a close, I have found some relief. Some of the causes of the pain will not be able to be fixed, but some of it can be managed, and my overall level of pain each day has greatly decreased. Some days it is minimal. The Lord has sustained me through this and also given my family so much compassion for and patience with me.

Like many families in full-time ministry, church occupies a large portion of our life, but our church has been in a very sweet season for many months, and I am grateful for our congregation and the way they support Christian and care for me and the kids. It is truly a family and we don’t take it for granted.

The Lord has done great things for us this year, and we are filled with joy as we enter 2026. We hope you have a very, very merry Christmas!

And we’d love to hear from you!