This update is kind of strange because it wraps up 2024 and covers some exciting 2025 updates. There is a new kid on the ranch, and he asked me what two colors I would use to describe 2025. Kind of an odd question but I took the bait. First, I said “white”, because it reminds me that 2025 is a blank canvas starting fresh and we can choose to make it what we want. Then I said “yellow”, because it reminds me of sun, warmth, happy and positive vibes that help me paint the picture of how I look at life in 2025.
November is a holiday month for most in Missouri, it’s deer season! Ryan got all his residency paperwork finalized just in time to grab a hunting permit before rifle season. This was the first year that Harvey was able to go hunting with Ryan and he was EXCITED! We had taken out several sets of kids earlier in the month to sit in the blind and watch for deer in the evenings. Many had never done anything like that, so to let them use the binoculars and range finder to see deer was a cool experience. Harvey and Ryan went out one evening and every single deer Harvey thought they should shoot. Patience paid off and they were able to shoot an 8-point buck that evening. Jeremy Cohn and Ryan tag-teamed deer processing this year and were able to make over 100 pounds of deer sausage. Some of the kids got to experience cutting meat, then using the grinder, mixing all the seasoning, and then stuffing the sausage tubes full of meat. We even made deer bologna this year to try something new!
One of the outings we did with kids while on relief was take a group to Quincy and visit Krazy Town Trampoline Park. This is a Christian-owned business that really strives to provide a safe and uplifting atmosphere to those who enter the building. The Cohn kids loved being able to go crazy and burn every ounce of energy they had in their body. On the way home we were incredibly hungry and found a deal on the McDonalds app and ordered 80 chicken nuggets for the ride back to Shiloh!
One afternoon we sent a message out to all the parents and said, “It’s going to be a warm afternoon. Send your kids over after church and we will watch them until supper time.” We had lots of outdoor games planned. Kids rode bikes, played ladder golf, drew with sidewalk chalk, and got a lesson in how to throw color guard flags with Kimber (She was pretty awesome back in the day)!
We can’t get enough of the beautiful sunrises that God gives us here at Shiloh! We love that our house faces east and that we get to look out the window every morning and see the sunrise during breakfast. One morning was especially stunning and we had to pause breakfast and just go out and marvel. What a creative God we have!
Keeping our marriage strong is important as homeparents. Kids need to see that parents love each other unconditionally, communicate, and take time out for each other. We were able to go to dinner and a concert in Moberly one evening in November to see Disciple, a band Ryan has been following since before he could even drive! They have a side project called Honor and Glory which is focused on worship style songs with a rock flair to them. While there Kimber felt called to sponsor a child when the opportunity was presented. We now sponsor Daissy from Ecuador in addition to Dariel from the Dominican Republic.
During major holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas it’s usually quiet for the relief house. Kids are with their parents traveling to see family or spending time together making memories. We took the opportunity to invite Kimber’s parents out to stay for a few days and visit. It was nice to catch them up on all the new things we have going on at Shiloh. We were able to take a side-by-side ride and show them some new projects and new animals we have, then be able to share a meal and have some family bonding time ourselves.
Christmas at Shiloh can be hard for some kids. Some don’t have great relationships with their family while others have a really good rapport with their biological family. So, we really try to be sensitive when we talk about Christmas traditions and family get togethers. We have some marvelous and generous donors that love our Shiloh kids and lavish Christmas presents on them. It really humbled us, as it’s our first year here at Shiloh. We had no clue what to expect from Christmas and what the donors send to our kids and us homeparents. A big thank you to all who gave generously this year to make Christmas special for the families here.
That leads into our monthly focus on persecuted Christians in different areas of the world. We decided in 2025 that we would pick a different country every month and share with the kids about what the geography and demographics of that country are, what religions are there, and how Christians are needing prayer in that country. We also make an authentic meal from that country to help connect with what we are learning. In January we focused on Japan and February we will be covering Italy.
Harvey has enjoyed Tri-County Christian school and is learning so many cool things. One thing that the school does is help kids learn to memorize scripture. The preschoolers memorized John 2:10-14 for the Christmas program. Can you believe a 4 year old can say five verses all together nearly word perfect??? We are so blessed that Tri-County is helping many of our kids hide God’s word in their hearts (Psalm 119:11).
It wouldn’t be a Midwest winter without at least one big snowstorm. The snow was a gorgeous blanket of white across the landscape of Shiloh this winter. Ryan had an idea to create a ski-bike for the kids to try this year. After a few quick searches on YouTube, he had the plans, and the kids had a blast. If you are familiar with the layout of Shiloh, the hill to the west of the Penfield house faces the neighboring camp. The kids could slide down the Penfield hill over the two roads and almost to the edge of the pond!
Ryan grew up skiing in Colorado and had purchased some skis to hopefully get Harvey into skiing one day. This year was the second time we tried it and had a really positive experience with Harvey going down the hill by the Cohn house a few times with Ryan’s help.
The day after deer season officially ended, we had another big snow, and it covered the fields pretty well, so the deer were forced to look elsewhere for food. The new grass between the Ellermets’ and Starks’ house wasn’t cut all year to help the roots grow deeper and that meant we had longer grass for the deer to eat. We counted over 20 deer between our houses one evening. The kids loved watching them out the windows for nearly 30 minutes.
Kimber has been teaching an elective at SCS and had Ryan help one week making paper airplanes. It was fun to see the kids try different styles of planes, and adding paper clips to balance them out, and then perfecting the perfect toss to make the plane so far, do loop-de-loops, or have enough loft to just float in the air for a while.
Another tell-tale sign of a Midwest winter is the invasion of sicknesses! Our house had a few rough times throughout the winter thus far but lots of rest and fluids helped us get by.
We took our time off at the end of January hoping that the baby might come then but no luck, just Influenza A for Harvey, Gibson, and Kimber. Then on the morning of February 1st at 3:30am, Kimber had that feeling she’d felt with the other two kids and… it was time to have a baby! She started timing contractions, woke Ryan up at 5:30 and we were heading to the hospital. Baby Baylor Samuel Stark was born at 7:59am. Official stats are 19” long, 8lb 9oz, and a full head of hair!
