I live in southern Ontario which is like living in Lancaster County but with bobsleds and igloos. My husband is a farm vet and a pastor, which means our supper table conversations range from gory to theological. We have a tiny daughter waiting in heaven, another lovely, very-much-alive daughter, and five rambunctious sons. I love books, growing things, music, and learning new skills. I’m learning to follow Jesus with my hands, feet, mind, and heart.

Here’s the latest picture of my family:

And here’s the letter I sent along with it:

Dear Friends,

Inspired by a game taught to us recently called “High, Low, Buffalo,” we’ve decided to play this game in our family letter this year. Each person in our family will give you a “high” and a “low” from 2025, as well as a “buffalo” –any interesting fact about the last year. Here goes!

Cedric (3)

High: Receiving a balance bike (no pedals) for his third birthday in April. Rarely do we remember a child of ours loving their birthday gift so much. He pretends to do “two-pedal catwalks” and pop-a-wheelies, and he was fearless at Waterloo’s RIM bike park this summer (and has the brush-burn scars on his elbow to prove it).

Low: Being left behind in the van for twenty minutes while the rest of us rushed into church. After we finally sat down, saw no one had Cedric, and searched the church building, we realized he must have been left outside. He was angelically subdued for the first half of that service.

Buffalo: A balance bike can be ridden so hard in its first year that it may need the wheel bearings replaced–twice.

Felix (7)

High: Losing his first tooth. Tubing behind Uncle Rafe’s boat at the annual Jantzi cottage weekend.

Low: Getting hit by a baseball bat at school and needing three stitches under his eye.

Buffalo: Favourite art projects are drawing and anything that can be crafted with cardboard and tape.

Theodore (9)

High: Receiving a hand-me-down, bigger bike from a friend. Making forts in the woods at Calvary Bible School. Trail biking at the Hydrocut for the first time.

Low: Sometimes feeling bored at school.

Buffalo: When bored at school, it helps to do activity books about algorithms and coding in one’s spare time.

Nicholas (11)

High: Receiving a long-wished-for pellet gun at Christmas. Being hired by Dad to prepare puppy vaccines.

Low: Snapping green beans from the garden.

Buffalo: Climbed the cliffs, met a rattlesnake, and swam in Cyprus Lake at the Grotto in Tobermory on a brilliant autumn day.

Gregory (14)

High: Upgrading to a bigger 3D printer. Trail biking with his dad and brothers.

Low: Injuring his leg in a football accident the day before the school picnic and spending the first three weeks of summer on crutches.

Buffalo: Helped at a local tool show for the third year.

Bronwyn (15)

High: Being given the opportunity to own a free baby grand piano, which Gabriel, Gregory, and two kind friends spent most of a day moving to our house. After getting it tuned, she has spent many delightful hours playing her new instrument.

Low: Being sick over Christmas.

Buffalo: Started attending youth group.

Jenn

High: Going on tour to the west coast with Oasis Chorale in July. Singing beautiful music with skilled musicians. Clambering through Oregon’s coastal forest, half expecting a hobbit to appear around the next lichen-draped hemlock. Freezing my toes in the Pacific and watching the fog rolling in around Cape Lookout. Climbing the rocks around the Grotto with our family in September and cooling our heels in the wild, cold, crystal clear waters of Georgian Bay. In King David’s words, “O Lord, how many are your works! …The earth is full of your possessions.”

Low: Noticing water seeping up through the kitchen floorboards and discovering a leak in the water line to the fridge that must have been there for a week. Thanks to our resident mouse for chewing through it, and to Gabriel for replacing the line with a non-chewable variety.

Buffalo: I read some good books this year. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt was eye-opening and gave fuel for our arguments discussions with our teens about why they don’t need smartphones yet. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower is like a vacation for your brain–a light read and a great way to escape to 19th century England. I was thrilled to find The Believers by Janice Holt Giles, one of my favourite historical fiction authors. Most of hers are out of print. I’m also enjoying a book study on Leviticus, written by Phylicia Masonheimer.

Gabriel

High: Acquiring a bike and taking the boys trail biking through the summer. Teaching music and leading choir at Calvary Bible School for three weeks last winter. Neither of us expected our whole family to enjoy our time there so much, but the fact that we did was a gift and made it easy to say yes to going back in 2026.

Low: Not being able to complete a storage shed build before the snow flew this winter.

Buffalo: With his job, he has many opportunities to be out driving in bad weather–and there has been a lot of it this winter. So far he’s been in the ditch twice, but most farmers are willing to come pull the vet out. We’re grateful for God’s protection on stormy days.

Feel free to write back and tell us about your highs and lows and buffaloes from 2025. :)

Love,

The Jantzis

Now—if you want to share, I’d love to hear a high, low, or buffalo from your 2025.

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