Winter Recap

We've made it through another long, cold, dark winter in Chicagoland. Despite all the reasons why we could complain about the winter months, it is always filled with fun in the Sturm home. This year, we seemed to keep quite busy, but still had plenty of downtime to relax and soak in the slower pace of the season.

Caleb stayed super busy with wrestling. He took quite a few overnight trips with the team and made SO many awesome memories. His season ended with a first place victory at JV conference, which was so much fun to witness. After the end of his season, he still continued on with practice because his wrestling partner had a few weeks of competition left. The season officially ended for Caleb with a trip to the state tournament where he got to see his wrestling partner take 3rd place! A few weeks later, we capped off the memorable season at the annual banquet. Caleb was honored with several awards and also gave a fantastic speech as one of several seniors who volunteered to talk.

Leah enjoyed a sports-free winter season. She did join the basketball pep band and had fun with that. We watched her perform several times and got to also use that as a chance to see Caleb's best friend, Micah, playing for his final season of high school basketball. 

Joel stayed busy as the basketball manager again this year. He had fun despite the 8th grade team being pretty terrible! The 7th grade team, however, had a fantastic season and Joel loved being a part of their success! Aside from that, Joel stayed busy with planning for his Youth Alive club each week. He and a couple other friends from youth group did such an amazing job of implementing this new club at their school where they played games, had snacks, and talked about Jesus! Joel's other focus this winter was on watching his beloved Bears football team make it into the playoffs. He even chose to make his birthday party a Bears playoff watch party. It was a lot of fun, kept us all on our toes, but sadly ended in a heartbreaking loss. There's always next year?!?

A few other noteworthy moments included:

The TWIRP dance at the beginning of February. Caleb and Leah both went and had a lot of fun!

Joel had his incoming Freshman open house. It's really hard to believe that he is going to be in high school next year!

Leah had a Saturday morning band concert/clinic that we were able to go watch. It really is so neat to watch our kids grow in their musical talents.

Leah and Joel had a blast heading to the auto show with Grandpa, TiTi, and TiTi's friend (and first Joliet Slammer player she hosted) Jonathan. They went for several hours one afternoon. Unfortunately, Caleb had mounds of work to catch up on after his multiple trips that were taken for wrestling.

Joel got in some mid-winter running when he could and even got the chance to run in a fun race. He was quite please with him time and is looking forward to the start of track season. I'm not sure he will enjoy wearing his track uniform as much as he likes his "Chicken Legs" apparel!

Caleb was recognized for being a four year, three sport athlete. He was one of only four seniors to receive this honor. He was commended for this difficult feat on top of his many other involvements and his success as a student. We were certainly very proud to see him given this award!

Dear Joel,

Another year has come and gone! You survived your first year as a teenager and didn't grow up too much...yet! Thankfully, you still haven't surpassed us in height and you still have moments when we are reminded of the more childlike version of our "baby". This year, like almost every single year of your life, was lived at full speed. You don't have any other speed besides full speed!

You wrapped up your first year of junior high by trying out a new sport - track. You've been a runner for awhile now, but track was definitely new and different from cross country. You tried out a few events like shotput and hurdles, but ultimately found your sweet spot in running - no surprise there! You enjoyed running in the relay and were a reliable runner in the mile race. Unfortunately, your season came to a screeching halt in early May when you decided it was a good day to have your appendix removed! You woke up complaining of stomach pain, which escalated quite quickly and landed you at the ER. After a few tests, an ambulance ride to the hospital, and what felt like an eternal wait, you ended your day with a surgery. You handled it like a champ and, thankfully, your recovery went well after just a few days of being in quite a bit of pain. You were able to head back to school in time to finish out the year and, by the time summer break hit, you were back to being 100%.

Summer was filled with all of your favorite things - running, fishing, golf, and plenty of time outside. You worked hard to keep up with the high school XC runners at the LWC camp. There were some really hot and tough runs, but you made it through! What was truly amazing is the fact that you'd endure a long run in the heat and then turn around to go play golf that same afternoon! Grandpa sure loved having a built in golfing buddy this summer and you loved getting to pal around with all the old guys on the golf course. Somehow you're 14, but there are days when it is very evident that you have such an old soul!

You are definitely wise beyond your years and have a maturity that makes you seem much older than you actually are. Perhaps that is part of what comes with being the baby of the family, but it's also just who you are and who you've always been. You are always listening, watching, asking, and learning. There isn't anything you don't want to know about. You still follow us around asking questions and finding out how to do everything on your own - building, making, baking, cooking, you name it! You are incredibly hard working and extremely dependable. Even when you don't want to, you'll always lend a helping hand if it's needed. You are always willing to go the extra mile to make sure your friends and family are cared for.

That willingness to put others above yourself is exactly why you've been blessed with the amazing friends that you have! Your core group of friends are such a great bunch and we are so thankful that you've been able to navigate junior high with such wonderful friends. Many of those friends have come from your years of cross country, but the circle has expanded a bit as well. Indeed, the bonds that have formed throughout your years of being a Viking runner are a gift. You've shared so many memories and it was bittersweet to watch you in your final season as a Martino runner. You took on such a great leadership role and were so encouraging to the younger runners. 

Your leadership and encouragement is also what God has used to help bring such a special club to Martino. With two other friends, you started the Youth Alive club and are making such a difference right within your own school. God has given you such boldness and faith, which we are so thankful to see. Your faith has taken off this year and our decision to find a new church made such an impact on your walk with God. We pray that as the years continue and you enter a new chapter next year in high school, you'll continue to lean on God's guidance. We know that He has such big plans for you and that you will do great things!

Love,

Dad and Mom

Holidays 2025

Something about this Christmas season felt so different from the previous years. Our family was so busy with the everday hustle and bustle of life that we didn't get nearly as much time to just sit and enjoy the season. Some of our yearly traditions took a backseat to the daily grind of work, school, sports, and other activities. Adding to the chaos was a work trip for Tyler right smack dab in the middle of December....great for him, but not for the rest of us! Caleb also had two wrestling tournaments that took him away for two nights each time. Nonetheless, we made the most of it all and had a great December.

We enjoyed kicking off the holiday season with a trip to the Walnut Room. We always love our time there and are thankful for another year with everyone (minus Nyla) able to go.

The kids all had holiday band concerts that were great! Caleb and his buddy, Liam, left their mark on the annual Vespers concert by creating a giant slapstick to use in the yearly finale of "Sleigh Ride". Who knows if it will resurface over the years with the next Sturm percussionists. It's also hard to believe this was our last Martino holiday concert. We've always loved the festive songs and the final sing-a-long!

We loved getting to see extended family at our annual Lamont cookie day. Almost everyone was able to be there this year, so that was a nice treat!

The week of Christmas flew by and we enjoyed the simplicity of Christmas Eve at TiTi's followed by a relaxing Christmas Day at our house.

The festivities continued with a nice, relaxing birthday for Sara and then celebrating Leah's Sweet 16. She and several friends had a blast during their overnight hotel slumber party. Lots and lots of laughs were had and everyone had a great time despite the minimal amount of sleep. We followed it up with a family party on her actual birthday and then she capped off the fun by getting her license on the 31st!

We rang in the new year with friends from church and had a blast hosting that! By the time 2026 rolled around, we didn't have much energy to do anything for the rest of break...and that was totally fine by us!