KNECHTTREK

a silent note

2025… A year full of trials, triumphs and endless prayer.

Shortly after my previous post in March, my mom broke her shoulder falling out of a car. Several weeks later, I flew to Wisconsin to help her adjust coming home from a rehabilitation center. A day after I returned home back in New Mexico, my brother went to the ER with food poisoning and found out he had tears in his intestines and was deathly septic. He had immediate surgery to repair his organs and went home after an extended hopsital stay with an ileostomy bag, as a temporary six-month treatment. During the next three months, both my mom and brother took each day at a time to recover.

At the end of July, our family of four plus pet bunny, Hopscotch, made a roadtrip from New Mexico to Wisconsin. Unfortunately, my brother wasn’t doing well when we arrived. He had a severe case of the gout in his knee. A quick trip to the ER gave him limitted relief with medication. Two days later, he was admitted to the hospital for serveral weeks for treatment.

The next few months are a blur as my bother was extremely ill and went back and forth from the hospital to rehab at a local nursing care facility three times. He wasn’t able to walk due to an infection, gout and reaction to medication.

During this time, my mom’s hip began to bother her. I made my 3rd trip to Wisconsin to help her take care of my brother’s paperwork and transfer him from the hospital to a nursing care center. A few weeks later, my mom had hip replacement surgery. She wasn’t able to visit my brother for over a month.

My brother was in medical care between the hospital and nursing care facilities a few days shy of 16 weeks. Many miracles were lined in my brother’s treatment, but often overshadowed by setbacks. It was a joyous day in the end of November when he was released from the nursing care facility.

Since then, he has stayed with my mom, slowly improving with each step. He was scheduled to have a reverse ileostomy today, but he caught the “super flu” bug so the surgery was postponed, hoping to reschedule in a few weeks. He also has cateract surgery for his eyes planned for January.

We continue to pray for my mom’s and brother’s physical, mental and spiritual health as we quietly enter a new year.

May Jesus be the bright light in your 2026!

More Snow

We woke up to a blanket of white fluff. About 3 inches of snow fell overnight.

The kids enjoyed playing in the snow but it disappeared as quickly as it arrived.

white christmas

A Christmas wish was granted. We woke up to high winds on Christmas morn. Then big white fluffy snowflakes filled the air. We entered a miniature blizzard on our drive to church.

Snow in the Desert

At the end of our worship service, most of the snow disappeared and the sky was full of sunshine.

farewell | hello

As we end this calendar year, we reflect on the blessings of life in Alaska and now the Four Corners.

We deeply miss our friends and adventures in Alaska while at the same time love getting to know new faces & places in New Mexico.

Kindness and love from our mission team, members of our church family, our neighbors, our school families and people in the communities carry us through the transition.

While we miss the snow, we are enjoying the abundant sunshine. We do hope to get some cross country skiing in a little north of us in Colorado.

We were tremendously blessed to see the tail end of the Northern Lights and Four Corners Balloon Festival.

We are exploring the rich blend of cultures in this region with lots of listening and observation. We often see signs written in English, Spanish and Navajo around Farmington.

So many things are different between AK and NM, but one thing remains the same-Jesus our Savior. We wish you a blessed Christmas and new year!

outreach counselor

Missionary Nate was installed as Outreach Counselor for Native Christian Network at Christ the Rock in Farmington, New Mexico on November 24th.

Missionary Holtz, Papa, Nate, Pastor Jon

It was a tremendous blessing that Nate’s dad could attend and preach for this special service.

As a family we look forward to partnering with members of Christ the Rock Lutheran Church, with Native Christians on the Apache Reservations in Arizona, and wherever else the Lord opens doors to share Jesus as the Savior of all nations, languages, tribes and peoples.

bunny on the move

How do you move a bunny cross-country from Anchorage, Alaska to Farmington, New Mexico?

After looking into several options and conversations with our vet and bun circle, we chose the best option for our family, fly in the sky.

Our daughter participated in an amazing Bunny Bonanza Camp at The Workshop, an amazing community center. The program leader and her sweet family took care of our bunny while we drove from Alaska to New Mexico.

During our trek, our bunny Hopscotch was well cared for at his super special Air Bnb. After we found a place to live in Farmington-NM, my husband booked a round trip flight to Anchorage from Albuquerque. The return flight included a reservation for Hopscotch.

Hopscotch did great on both flights and during his layover in Seattle. He also travelled well on the 3 hour drive from Albuquerque to Farmington in a comfortable playard in the van.

It was a sweet reunion when he arrived and we are thankful to have our little bun home. I think he is too.

cross reference

Our family read tonight’s devotion from the advent devotional book called Glory in his Grasp, provided by Martin Luther College. Tonight’s reading started with a reference to the classic novel, Where the Red Fern Grows.

As my husband read the first sentence of the devotion, our 4th grader jumped with excitement. She is currently reading Where the Red Fern Grows. She is nearing the final chapter of the book, so many tears were shed today.

What a blessing to discuss content and emotions of the this classic story in relation to our focus tonight on Jesus-Humbled in Birth from Philippians 2:6-12.

giving thanks

Countless blessings in timeless places fill our hearts!

This week we had family visit from Arizona & Colorado. Our hearts and house were full.

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving today & every moment that follows.

snow falling in the desert

Last night’s forecast: “Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations between 3 and 7 inches, except 5 to 12 inches above 6000 feet.”

We were hoping to wake up to piles of snow. Instead, two inches of snow welcomed our day along with a 2-hour school delay!

We’ll take it! The kids ate breakfast in a flash. They put on their rain suits, hats, gloves and rain boats. They rushed outside. Snow angels, snowmen/animals, snowballs and lots of fun filled the morning.

Even Hopscotch got in on the outdoor fun!

Then the kids headed to school and the snow disappeared shortly after.

graupel

Today’s cloudy skies offered high wind, thunder, lighting, and white icy flakes with rays of sunshine. At first glance, we thought it was snowing!

Then we realized it was snowflakes coated with a layer of ice, know as Graupel. It’s typically white and opaque. It’s also small, soft and can fall apart easily.

We turned this experience into a research project.

Hail is larger hard pellets of layered clear and opaque ice.

Sleet pellets are melted snowflakes that pass through warm air above ground and refreeze in freezing air just above the surface.

Freezing rain appears when thick warm air allows raindrops to survive until they come in contact with the cold ground.

Snowflakes are individual ice crystals that grow while pass through the clouds and fall to the ground.

We are patiently awaiting our first snow fall in Farmington, knowing that it may only last a few hours.

Anchorage, AK already had a snow day and lots of powder.