Merry Christmas – 2022

Welcome to the Hamrick Family Christmas Letter.

We have had an eventful year and I’d love to quickly share our highlights:

Matt now has a full year under his belt as a LTC Chaplain. He has enjoyed being a part of a great team here and has led 12 groups of people through a few different courses. He has completed all his classes for his Doctor of Ministry degree and has been working on his culminating project with hopes to graduate in May 2023. He has really enjoyed playing guitar on the worship team at church.

I, Jennifer, started a job outside the home for the first time in 22 years. I am traveling to local high schools administering the ASVAB. This is “play money”… new shoes, more Broadway shows, and I plan to pay someone to convert all my VHS home videos into usable formats…

Hayden (21) finished his Associate’s Degree in Dec of 2021 and in March of 2022 he moved to Europe on a grand adventure. He spent time in England, Scotland, and Germany. He is back here for a short season with plans to return to Europe in 2023 to continue the adventure. He will be working here on Fort Hamilton in the meantime (mama is happy!!).

Carson (19) learned the skills necessary to gain entry into the Production Assistant world. He would love to work on films or tv and thanks to the time he has spent at NYFA he’s ready to take on some contract jobs. He has near-perfect attendance and GPA.

Bailey (18) has completed 1 of 4 modules of his Sound Engineering diploma at SAE Institute in Chelsea. He also has near-perfect attendance and a perfect GPA. He released his first EP this year – just search for his name anywhere you listen to music. And his girlfriend, Ashley, did the artwork. Proud of them both!

Parker (12) is now the Photography Chair at his school and has been loving his theater classes. He auditioned for the role of Lumiere (Beauty and the Beast) at school and we are waiting for the results. He has made the A Honor Roll every semester. (Gotta say, as a former homeschooling mom, I’m greatly relieved that all of my kids excelled in the schools they entered after being my students!) He has good friends here and enjoys seeing Broadway shows.

Anna (6) is our most outgoing child. She loves school, has great friends there and on post, and enjoys her after-school program. She loves her friends so much that even after being with them from 8:00 am on, she asks almost daily if one can come over to play. She is incredibly smart and we love just being around her.

We have a bit of a change coming up in 2023 as Matt has been told (word of mouth) that he will be spending a year away in order to stabilize our family. Though none of us are happy to be apart, all of us know it is absolutely the best thing for us at this time. Your prayers are appreciated as this will probably be hardest on Parker. He knows he’ll have to say goodbye to Hayden again, Bailey will likely move out this year, possibly Carson, and now he also has to prepare himself for a year without Dad.

I am so very curious to know what our 2023 Christmas update will look like. Will there only be three people in the house at that time! Could our NYC family size literally be half what it is today? Quite possibly! But we are at peace. We truly know that in all things God’s hand is visible and we thank Him for His provision, His protection, and His providence.