There are quite a few exciting things that are happening in the Sinclair family and I am going to tell you about them! First, my sister Danica and her family are moving back to Madrid! I cannot express to you through words how excited we are about this. Every year when they visit for Christmas, they look at a few houses just to keep their eyes open and aware of all that’s available in the St. Lawrence area. This last holiday (2009), they happened upon a house that is everything they are looking for and is right down the road from us (Mom and Dad Sinclair)! Danica and her two boys are already back in Madrid and the movers will be here in a week or so with their belongings and Ryan will be here in mid March. Things are moving quickly in the buying process and it won’t be long before they are all settled in at their new home.

Second, Julia is going on tour! Unfortunately, it’s not a solo tour but it’s still very incredible. She will be playing the guitar, cello and singing for a solo artist. They will be meeting up with Ingrid Michaelson and Mat Kearney somewhere along the way and finishing the tour with them. God is starting to put the pieces in the puzzle of her career together.

Third, my brother Jamie and brother-in-law Rick both have jobs. Jamie is interning at church and helping take some of the load off of Dad and the other pastors. Rick is working in Canton at a computer software company. As a family we’d been praying for this for quite some time and God was faithful to provide.

Four, Brietta’s first born, Gabriel, turned seven today. While this may not be as exciting as someone moving back and someone moving forward in their career, it’s quite unbelievable. Seven years of being aunts, uncles and grandparents. Seven years of a new season in life that will last us a long time. It’s wonderful to see the next generation in our family being raised to love the Lord with all their hearts. What an indescribable testament to what God has done in and through our parents.

With it, though, have come hardships within extended family and the church family. As always life is not easy but this season has been particularly hard. Nonetheless, the Lord is in charge and everything is in His hands.

Wonderful things have also happened in my family. My sister, Brietta, will be having her 5th child any day now and the excitement of that is wonderful. Carina is in the process of adoption. Although the adoption is not finalized, I know God is using this part of her life to do wonderful things in her life, her husbands and the baby. God is working in our family so much. It’s been a blessing to witness and to continue witnessing the younger Sinclair clan growing up in the church and to grow into who God has made them to be.

We continue to have extras around the 1942 house. As the holiday season approaches, I have thought about how some of these extras will be here for two Thanksgivings or Christmases. I know our family is large but to be able to have more people involved in what God has started in our family is so amazing. I often think about how many people my parents and my siblings have been able to affect just through having them over to our house for a dinner or a movie. Our house isn’t just a home but a ministry as well. To someone as young as I, it’s a marvelous opportunity to be involved in the local church without burdening my parents traveling load.

Soon, I hope, posting and updating will become regular and I apologize for the absence of posting. Life has been a little more crazy than usual. =)

But my, how clear is this blue! How dazzling the field! How squeaky-crunchy crisp is every step!

You can’t have one without the other.

This December the house was full, maybe fuller than usual. The Dunpheys, the Paladins, Ricky and Jared, Jess and Johnny, Carson and Josh, Song and Tanda and Kara, Mom and Daddy, JMB members, and, of course, the Sinclairs! I don’t have a head count. If you can figure it out let me know! But with that many here, the eating, playing, baking, gifting, and everything else was multiplied! Including the fun. We had fun by the bushelful!!

But wait. Let’s not forget one other thing. Two days after Christmas we hosted the gala event of the season: Carina and Ricky’s wedding. A stone chapel in Gothic style provided the backdrop for the service. A lilting and dance-like Celtic Gloria sung by a treble choir declared the celebration’s commencement. The accompanying tuneful melody of recorder and reverberation of rythmic percussion soon gave way to the haunting tones of tin whistle and Gaelic syllables — my daughters’ singing of “May It Be” as I was escorted down the aisle by a handsome son donned in black was moving. Once seated, the melancholy tune gave way to an accapella mens choir singing Bach. As they processed in from the back, moving in single file, their voices rang out as one sound, echoing and returning with manifold presence from the stone surrounding. The vast sound of pipe organ now filled the chasm to overflowing as ladies in black velvet floated by. Candles, the main source of light and ambiance, glowed everywhere. Soon she arrived, train filling the aisle, Dad smiling with tears, groom beaming at the sight. As they declared their vows to God and one another, their union was made complete and lasting. A pronouncement made, the sound of immense clanging churchbells joyfully and immediately greeted the smiling couple who now made their way down the aisle, ready to make a new family and home. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

That is a peek at the month of December here in Madrid, NY at 1942 State Hwy. 345. That is why entries have not been written, posts and thoughts neglected. And you, dear reader, were busy with celebrations of your own making. But we now greet a New Year and those of us here at Mom and Us are full of ideas to share with you once again. So stay tuned — we’re back!!

Why?

It’s because she’s our almost-kinda-famous-sister. And when one has an almost-kinda-famous-sister, you let them get away with things that the other almost-normal-ordinary-sisters can’t get away with because you’re so proud of the fact that you have an almost-kinda-famous-sister, what she’s doing, and if ignoring this momandus site means that she’ll really make it in the famous world, then we’ll gladly let her off the hook. Besides — being an almost-famous-person keeps you busy all day with writing music, shutting yourself up in a studio hours at a time recording, spending time on the phone with different venues for booking, and talking with all the people who want to make you go from an almost-kinda-famous-person to a real-famous-everyone-knows-you-person. We’ll gladly let you do that.

So this almost-kinda-famous-sister has a band. That’s what she does. She tours, she writes music, and she records. And just recently, she’s entered a contest to be able to play a 4-day cruise with John Mayer. That would give her mad publicity and she’d definitely go from almost-kinda-famous to you-bet-your-bottom-dollar-famous.

But she needs your help to do this. And you’re probably thinking, “What can I do for a young songwriter/performer?”

You can vote. You can set up an account, and vote every single day. She needs all the votes she can get to win. Do it.

Where was Mom on Monday? Strolling the streets of New York with a husband, four kids, a son in law, and a granddaughter.

But don’t worry, the next installment of “Not Slanderers” will be here soon!

Julia in the Studio