The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

This has been a truly wonderful Christmas for us. It all started with a visit from my dad to Chicago to see our house for the first time. I was so excited to have him, and as a result, spent the 4 days prior cleaning and picking up the house (not that my dad noticed!) There’s just something about having your parents see your house for the first time. Dad loved our house, even though he only saw it after daylight. It’s amazing – he was there about 12 hours and he managed to thoroughly put the panic into Mike and I about finishing the basement. Up until his visit, we felt pretty good about tackling it ourselves – now, not so much.

After dad’s visit to Chicago, we loaded up in the cars and headed to Muncie for the next 10 days. This has been a much needed break from work for both of us! And, we couldn’t wait to see our families. Mike’s sister had flown in from Seattle, his brother from Indianapolis, my sister was home from IU and my dad was up from Florida.

Christmas Eve brought more family together for us, with our extended family joining us for an after-church get-together. Einstein even got into the Christmas spirit (well, his mom and dad made him get into the Christmas spirit – he didn’t choose to get dressed up!)





Christmas Day was a beautiful day with family and friends. And, even though dad managed to scare Mike and I about the basement, he took it upon himself to make sure that we have a good start on the tools we’ll need.



And, because I can’t walk around Chicago without showing my hometown pride, I managed to collect some Colts gear to wear proudly as we head into the post-season!

We’ve had a truly wonderful Christmas and extended holiday with our families. And, we feel so blessed to have come through this year of change and new experiences, and we’re ready for all that 2008 has to bring to us! We hope you have had a very happy holiday season and we wish you all the best for the upcoming year!

Love, Mike, Ash & E!