From Mike:
Overall it’s been a whirlwind holiday season for us. It seems like Thanksgiving was only a couple of weeks ago! Well, here we are…on the brink of ringing in the New Year. I hope, for you all, 2009 has been full of God’s blessing. I know Kelly and I have definitely felt God’s hand working in each of us, and am so thankful for the lives he has so graciously and abundantly blessed us with. Anyway, here’s the skinny on the past month or so at our house.
A week or so before Thanksgiving, we bought a new car. Although we didn’t really need a new one, all the quirks of my base model Honda Civic were starting to get to me; and since I spend so much time sitting in traffic during my commute to work everyday, well, it was time for an upgrade. Anyway, it’s a 2005 Acura TL (silver with black interior) and it is awesome. It’s got all the bells and whistles one might need to make for a smooth, comfy ride all the way to work and back.
We spent Thanksgiving with my family at my parents’ house just hanging out, watching football, enjoying each other’s company, and doting on Carolyn’s new son—Mason. The day after, when most people do their Christmas shopping, we took Zora to the vet for a checkup, which both of us had feared for awhile. As most of you know, Zora is not the friendliest cat, and we didn’t know how she would react to a stranger poking and prodding her. However, to our pleasant surprise, she was very well behaved and only hissed once despite having to get two shots! The vet also told us that her weight is no longer a major issue and she could only stand to lose another pound or so…great news!
The following week, Kelly was fortunate enough to get jury duty. Despite faithfully fulfilling her civic duty by driving all the way up to Greeley in the snow, she was promptly turned away and sent back home. That same week, we started reading a book called Sacred Marriage with our good friends Heather and Daniel and they came over to discuss the first chapter. That Friday, we drove to downtown Denver to have dinner with friends and watch the Parade of Lights. We finished our dinner a little late, but still got to see several floats, a few balloons, and of course, Santa Claus. Kelly also ran into her friend Rachel, who was in the parade with her show dog. The next evening we made an appearance at a Christmas cocktail party put on by our friends Chad and Kelli.
On December 10th, we drove to south Denver to help celebrate the birthday of our friend Alex, who decided to partake of the all-you-can-eat crab feast at Landry’s Seafood House. He managed to get through an eye-popping 13 plates of crab legs before declaring that he was about to explode. (And that his hands were too raw to crack open any more shells) The following Saturday night we drove back down to Denver for Kelly’s company Christmas party held at the Hyatt Regency downtown. The highlight of the evening was when they started giving away door prizes. Kelly managed to win another bright blue MWH fleece-lined jacket; a duplicated of the one hanging, unused, in our closet at home.
The next day, we got to see our good friend, Carter, get baptized by Alex! It has been such a blessing and an answer to prayer to see Carter growing in his faith. To watch him make an open and outward declaration of his faith in Christ was indescribable and stirred up such overwhelming joy that it brought tears to my eyes. Kelly had been praying for Carter for years and was so excited that she couldn’t wait for him to dry off before giving him a big, wet hug. Afterward, Carter, Beth, Alex, his wife Katey, Kelly and I had brunch at Racine’s and toasted Carter with a celebratory mimosa. That evening, Kelly met up with some girls for happy hour at Hotel Teatro and went to see the play Spring Awakening at the Denver Performing Arts Center. Friday, my office had their Christmas party at Dave & Buster’s, and that evening I hosted a poker night at my house. I managed to win and take away a $35 pot…not something to sniff at if you ask me! On Saturday we went to Heather and Daniel’s for the 11th annual Christmas Movie Marathon. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been doing that for 11 years! Things have changed a bit (we no longer stay up all night), but it’s still a great time and despite Kelly’s inability to sit in front of the TV for extended periods of time, she managed to go four whole hours without a distraction before pulling out her computer and her cross-stitching!
Christmas started on the 22nd for us when Kelly’s dad and step mom drove down from Wyoming to close on their house in Louisville (Kelly would like it noted how sad she is that her childhood home is now officially sold). We went to a local restaurant for dinner and came back to our house afterward to open gifts. Kelly’s dad recently bought a Playstation 3, so we bought them Guitar Hero 5. We showed them how to play on our Wii; and think, with practice, they’ll be shredding the frets in no time. We spent the next day preparing the house for our Third Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. Unfortunately for us, it snowed several inches that night and we only had about half the people that we expected, but it was still a blast and we had some really ugly sweaters! Beth managed to win the title this year with her bright red, half-mohair cardigan. Second place went to Ben Vinson, who was dressed as a Christmas superhero in Grinch footie pajamas and red dinosaur cape. Justin Zuiker came in third wearing a fuzzy red and green tree-skirt, complete with a huge silver poinsettia pinned on the front.
On Christmas Eve, we met up with my family and the Murphys for brunch at the Huckleberry in Louisville. Sadly, on the way there we witnessed a car accident and had to wait for the police to show up to give them our account. Afterwards, we went to see A Christmas Carol, which was actually quite frightening. A mom and her two kids actually left during the movie! That evening, we were supposed to have dinner with Kelly’s mom, but she came down with a sudden illness, so we spent a quiet evening alone at home. We attended our church’s Christmas eve candlelight service at 11pm and managed to make it home and into bed by 1am.
Christmas day started at 9am with breakfast at my parent’s house. We ate; opened stockings and gifts; played with our niece and nephew; and were at Sharon’s house by 3:00. There, we snacked on leftovers from our party, opened gifts, and by then I was thoroughly spent. I had to take a quick nap before we set out in the new car to view the neighborhood Christmas lights. We drove around ooo-ing and ahh-ing at some of the light displays; scoffing at the ugly inflatable Santas and snowmen. After awhile we came home, had a light dinner, and spent the rest of the night enjoying our new gifts.
Last Saturday, we met up with a few friends in Denver for dinner at the Wazee Supper Club. After enjoying some of the best pizza in town, we went and saw Up In The Air at the Pavilions. After church on Sunday, I watched my fantasy football team lose terribly in the championship game, and the Broncos’ chances of making the playoffs slip even further away.
Well, that about wraps it up for 2009. We’ll see you again in 2010. God bless and Happy New Year!!
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