2015 Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas!!

I'm writing to you from the rare quiet that has fallen over our house (thank you, nap time) and I (Kelly) want you to know that I have just spent the first hour of my precious time organizing the desk drawer to make sure I had the exact right number of envelopes for the exact number of cards in there. In the land of three kids under age five, I'm learning that the key is controlling what I can and letting the rest go. So today there are piles of clean laundry all over the house waiting patiently to be put away, but at least my desk drawer is organized. And that makes me feel a little bit better.

Besides organizing office supplies, here are a few other things we've been up to this year:

In January, we kicked things off with a Banjo Billy tour of Denver with friends visiting from DC. Then, Kelly went to Georgia on a writer's retreat for 252 Basics where she got to know some of her fellow curriculum writers. A couple weeks later, we saw Eric Church at the Pepsi Center to celebrate our friend Ashley's birthday.

February found us at the Vinsons' again for their annual Super Bowl party and then we headed up to a condo in Frisco later in the month to celebrate Valentine's Day. While we were there, we enjoyed shopping, hiking, and dinner in Breckenridge at the Blue River Bistro-- one of our favorite spots.

March is Mike's birthday month, so we joined forces with two other birthday men for a brew tour around Boulder. Kelly went to see Garth Brooks with Sharon and Lynn and, the following weekend, enjoyed a beautiful baby shower for Addison.

We spent Easter with the family in April and then hosted Olivia's fourth birthday party. She had a Hello Kitty theme and lots of friends running all around the house hopped up on ice cream cake and fueled by a balloon frenzy. Olivia also had a ballet recital later in the month where she enjoyed dancing with her friends and getting a special trophy for all her hard work.

May was by far the best month of the year! We welcomed our third baby girl-- Addison Akemi Nishi on May 7th at 11:43a. She was 6 lbs 4 oz. and born at Good Samaritan Hospital in Lafayette, CO. Since then, we have been just over the moon about her. She is such a sweet little baby-- so smiley and happy. Her older sisters adore her too (now that Sophia has gotten past some of her initial jealousy and being moved to the "middle child" spot in the family).

The first weekend in June, we saw Luke Bryan at Sports Authority Field and the next weekend was another huge event in our lives: Beth's wedding!! Beth and Matt Drase were married at the Tapestry House in LaPorte on June 14th. Kelly was matron of honor and Olivia and Sophia were flower girls. We had so much fun with all the wedding festivities, including the bachelorette party at Agave and the rehearsal dinner at Beau Jo's in Fort Collins. It was so great seeing everyone who had come to town for the big day and, of course, we had a great time on the dance floor celebrating these two, whom we love so much! The week after the wedding, we celebrated Sophia's 3rd birthday with a Frozen-themed party in the park near our house. She loved playing and splashing with her friends! For the next two weeks, Mike and Kelly took separate business trips to Georgia and Indianapolis, respectively.

We spent the Fourth of July at parties at the Franklins' and the Wolfs' and then Kelly continued her work travel with a trip back to Indianapolis and one to San Diego. A highlight of the month was definitely our extended visit from the Johnson family. It was great to get our growing families all under the same roof for a few crazy days! We also saw Train and the Fray (with Matt Nathanson) at Fiddler's Green to round out the month.

August is Kelly's birthday month, which started out with a MOPs retreat and then Kenny Chesney and Jason Aldean at Mile High Stadium. We celebrated the big 3-3 with a small group of friends at Punch Bowl Social in Denver where Kelly tried to convince people to let her win at games in sympathy for her old age. Later in the month, we took a day trip to Keystone where we boated on the lake and enjoyed a scenic lunch. The following week, we went up to Wyoming for what would be Addison's first trip to Nana and Papa's house.

Travel continued in September with a weekend away in Estes Park with the Zuikers at the YMCA of the Rockies where we did a hay ride and roasted marshmallows for s'mores. Kelly took another work trip--this time to Arizona--and then went on a girls' weekend to Silverthorne.

In October, we continued our 50 states in 50 years tradition with our 7th state-- Connecticut! While we were there, we stayed in an historic inn, took a boat tour, rode a train, went wine tasting, and saw a plethora of beautiful fall leaves. It was definitely a gorgeous state to see! The following weekend found us back in Silverthorne, this time as a family, where we enjoyed a fall festival in Breckenridge, as well as a nice hike through the fall foliage. For Halloween, the girls dressed as kitties and attended a few different parties, as well as scampered up and down the streets giddy at the realization that they could gather candy from every house in the neighborhood. Kelly went as a sugar skull, but joked that she should have dressed as a cat herder, since her job as a mom sometimes seems about as easy as herding cats!

It is said that Paris is best in the spring, but Kelly was given an opportunity to visit in November and would say that Paris is best any time of year! She tagged along for a long weekend with Ashley (who was there to visit Jason, who travels there for work) and got to see all the best sights, including the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysee, Notre Dame, Versailles, the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, and, of course, the inside of most every macaroon shop in the city. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Mike's family at Bryan and Amanda's house in Aurora and plan to stay close to home for Christmas.

Olivia and Sophia are in preschool now (Olivia MWF and Sophia T/Th), which means we have dropoff and pickup every day, which has been a little crazy at times! The two older girls also just finished up a session of ballet, which they loved, and were so cute in their holiday performance. Olivia is nearly obsessed with kitties and Sophia loves Frozen, so I think it will be fairly easy for Santa to find something they like this year. Addison has just learned to sit up and is eating solid foods. She's growing like a weed and has already hit the 18-lb mark! Mike is still with the Inspector General's office at the Department of Defense and has been doing more woodworking lately-- he's currently working on a dresser for Addison. Kelly is doing contract marketing work mainly for MWH Constructors and 252 Basics curriculum, as well as helping out with MOPs as the special events coordinator.

Overall, it has been a whirlwind of a year--filled with many blessings as well as its share of valleys. We appreciate you keeping us in your prayers, as you are always in ours. We hope you have a Merry Christmas filled with family and fun memories. Please let us know how you are doing and what you have been up to this year!

Now, it's time to get back to organizing those stamps....

And Then There Were Three

From Mike:

A family of five is certainly not the same as a family of four.  Over the past almost five months, we’ve been quickly forced to accept this  obvious fact as we attempt to navigate daily life with three small children.  No longer can we fit our kids comfortably into a sedan (or midsize SUV for that matter!), a booth at Chili’s, or a shopping cart.  Getting all three of them dressed, fed, groomed, and in the car before school/church/anything starts takes a small miracle.  Finding time to write a blog takes an even bigger act of God.  So here you have it…the miracle blog.  Behold its magnificence.

In case you couldn’t tell already, Kelly had the baby!  Addison Akemi Nishi was born at 11:43am on May 7^th weighing 6lbs. 4oz. and measuring 19.5” long.  Our little Addie has been growing like a weed over the summer and now weighs almost 16 pounds!!  After she was born, we spent most of our time at home being spoiled by the generosity and culinary talents of friends and family.  Thanks again to everyone who brought us meals!  Despite the overwhelming exhaustion, we managed to sneak out of the house for a couple of quick baby/family photo shoots.  We also made a brief appearance at the Erie Town Fair, and Erie’s first summer concert in the park.

Before I had to return to work in early June, we went with the Wolfs to the Luke Bryan concert at Mile High.  Afterward, we learned that Uber’s “surge pricing” is evil and will cost you about $300 to get a ride back to Erie if the demand for cabs is high.  Needless to say, we found alternate means of transportation (Thanks, Fred!). 

The following week was full of wedding activities for our very dear friends Beth and Matt, which meant Kelly was busy fulfilling her matron of honor duties.  The bachelorette party was held at a Mexican restaurant in downtown Fort Collins. The much-anticipated Drase wedding took place on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon at the Tapestry House just outside of Fort Collins.  We danced the night away, enjoyed the company of out-of-town friends, snapped silly photos, bid adieu to the newlyweds, then returned to our hotel room for a well-deserved sleep.

We celebrated Sophia’s 3^rd birthday the following weekend with a Frozen-themed party at our neighborhood park, and wrapped up Father’s Day weekend with dinner at my parents’ house.  Kelly and I spent the next two weeks travelling for work – Kelly to Indianapolis and me to Augusta, Georgia – but we were all together again to celebrate the 4^th of July attending parties at the Franklin’s and the Wolf’s.

Kelly spent the majority of July working, travelling for work, working some more, oh, and raising three small kids.  She travelled back to Indy and once to San Diego while working on two proposals for MWH, with a brief respite in between when Alex and Katey Johnson came to visit.  We got to see Train, The Fray, and Matt Nathanson at Fiddler’s Green, and rounded out a very busy and stressful July with a trip to the Broomfield Bay water park.

August began with a barbecue at the Vinson’s, which Kelly attended alone while I stayed home with a sick Olivia.  Kelly went on a MOPs retreat the following weekend and we completed our “summer of concerts” by returning to Mile High to see Kenny Chesney.  After learning our lesson from the Luke Bryan concert, we got a hotel room in downtown Denver and enjoyed our fun little overnight getaway.

The next weekend, Addison got her first “modeling” gig with Lillebaby, a company that makes ergonomic baby carriers.  She was a perfect angel as a complete stranger toted her around posing with the company’s newest line of carriers.  We drove up to Keystone the next weekend and went paddle boating, took a gondola ride, went for a brief hike, and tried slack-lining (unsuccessfully) while Granny took the girls to Heritage Square for a birthday party.  We drove to Saratoga the last weekend of August to visit Gary and Crystal, who took us fishing on Saratoga Lake and kept us well fed.  After a relaxing couple of days, we drove home in time for me to go to a Broncos preseason game with Zack Wulbecker, pushing my excitement for football season to its limit.

Over Labor Day weekend, the Zuikers graciously invited us to share their cabin for a night at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park.  We fought the crowds and the traffic and eventually made it up there for lunch and a quick walk around town.  That evening, we all went for a gorgeous sunset hay ride that concluded around a campfire where we roasted marshmallows.

We attended Anna Lever’s baby shower one Saturday in mid-September, watched the Rams lose another Rocky Mountain Showdown (Go Buffs!), and ended the day feeling sophisticated at the Wolf’s wine and cheese party.  Kelly traveled to Arizona the following week for a 252 Basics writers’ conference, came home for an hour, then left again for the mountains to spend the last September weekend with her girlfriends at a condo in Silverthorne.

Aaaand, I’m exhausted.  We ask for your prayers during this insanely busy season!  Until next time!

A Tale of Two Toddlers

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…”  It’s amusing how this Dickensian portrayal of oppression during the French Revolution can often be likened to parenting two toddlers.  Some days, our household is pleasant and joyful.  Other times, however, it feels like living in an insane asylum: Random screaming for no reason, pee on the floor, uncontrollable sobbing, people running around with no pants on, fights breaking out…aka absolute mayhem.  With that in mind, here’s what’s been going on around our house the past few months…other than two whirling, pint-sized tornadoes of destruction.

For Kelly, January was marked by a ton of work-related activities.  She wrapped up two proposals for MWH, and traveled to Georgia for a writers retreat hosted by 252 Basics--the Sunday school curriculum publisher she writes for.  While 5-months-pregnant Kelly diligently brought home the bacon, cared for two kids, and grew a third, I played the part of the responsible husband and father by mourning the Broncos’ devastating playoff loss to the Colts and the end of another football season.  However, our toils were rewarded at the end of the month with dinner at Osteria Marco and concert tickets given to us by friends to see Eric Church for Ashley Wolf’s birthday.

Over Valentine’s Day weekend, we dropped the girls off at Nana and Grandpa’s house and headed up to Frisco with the Wolfs to spend a few kid-free days enjoying the mountains.  On Saturday, Jason and I headed to Copper to snowboard while the ladies went shopping at the Silverthorne Outlets.  Afterwards, we all got gussied up and drove to Breckenridge for a lovely Valentine’s Day dinner at the Blue River Bistro.  In late February, we gathered with friends at the Franklin’s house for our monthly family dinner night.  As expected, the men dominated yet another round of party games…

Kelly and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on March 1st, and officially entered “boring adulthood” when we decided to buy each other furniture. We took a mini road trip to the Ashley Furniture Gallery in Cheyenne because there’s no sales tax…SOLD!  The next weekend, we celebrated my birthday, along with Chad Harding’s and Ryan Mast’s, by visiting a few breweries in Boulder, namely, Wildwoods, Fate, and Sanitas Brewing.  After taking a couple of days off of work for my actual birthday, I took a quick 1-night trip to Alexandria, VA to accept an award for my audit team, who won the 2014 Acquisition Audit Report of the Year.  Kelly also got to go see Garth Brooks in concert with Sharon and Lynn.

Olivia turned 4 years old on April 4th, which is just unbelievable.  At the birthday girl’s request, we threw her a Hello Kitty party, which I’m sure she’s already forgotten about.  That same weekend, we spent Easter Sunday with family.  After church, we went to a brunch buffet at the Colorado National Golf Course, which managed to disappoint everyone except the kids, who left sticky and sugared up after a few visits to the chocolate fountain.  The following weekend, for Jason’s birthday, we took a tour of Stranahan’s Whiskey Distillery, and then gorged on Sushi at the Izakaya Den in Denver.  In late April, Olivia had her spring dance recital, which forced me into a coma from cuteness overload (the lollipop theme didn’t help).  Olivia proudly performed ballet and tap dances for a packed house in the Erie High School auditorium and we all went out to dinner afterwards to celebrate a job well done.

Unless Kelly goes into labor beforehand, she is scheduled to be induced on May 7th. Which means next time you hear from us we'll have a new addition to the Nishi brood.  So long for now!