More links we love

Astute readers of our blog will notice that we've added two new links. You might remember Mike and Kellie Ryan from this picture.



Now not only do they have a blog but their first baby, Jack is expected to make his appearance in March. Kellie also has the distinction of being Mali's first official baby-sitter and we'll always be grateful to helping us ease the transition of Kaethe going back to work part-time.

Eric and Marian Larsonare friends from back in our Milwaukee days. Marian and Kaethe worked together and I think it was Marian who said how easy it was to make long-lasting friends in Milwaukee. Maybe it had something to do with the craziness of the work environment at times? They left us to join the Peace Corps and later change the world in many other ways. They now now have a beautiful daughter, Stella, and another baby on the way. What is it with blogs and babies?

By the way, Marian can also throw one wild bachelorette party. Her speciality dance move is "The Worm" while Eric is known for his "Roger Rabbit". Unfortunately (?) we don't have any pictures to post from those experiences.

Seven Months Old

Seven months, two teeth, and one dearly loved johnny-jump-up.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood...

These past few weeks have made me really proud to be a part of our neighborhood.

Unfortunately, our dear next-door neighbor, Chuck was diagnosed with lung cancer shortly after Christmas. It was especially disturbing as his sister died from the disease only a year ago. But, it was heart-warming to watch our neighborhood come together.

As Chuck's family came in to move him to North Carolina for treatment, neighbors stopped by to help in so many ways. Even former residents of the street sent cards. When the final moving day came, neighbors, some of whom had never even met the couple before, packed the U-Haul and sent them on their way. One neighbor couldn't be there himself, so he sent two employees from his shop to do the lifting and loading. As many challenges as Chuck and his wonderful wife Evelyn are facing right now, I hope it helped them to feel cared for at this time.

It's always in the back of our mind that we plan to move back to the Midwest someday, to be closer to our family. And our neighborhood is not without its challenges--it's still a street with many different people living very close together. That alone is difficult at times. But we so value the community here and are grateful for the comfort it provides. Thanks, neighbors!

Merry Christmas!

That's right, it's Christmas here. We decided to start the tradition of celebrating the "Twelve Days of Christmas", with today being the culmination. This worked out especially well since we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our families in Michigan. It's nice to have a small celebration time in our home, just the three of us.

Amalia's special present from us was a Cabbage Patch doll that actually came with the name "Amalie Valeria". (Amalie is the the original German form of Amalia). We found it at Walgreens, of all places, and thought it was meant for her. She was pretty impressed with it, especially the doll's pacifier.



Our favorite new decorations this year are our beautiful personalized stockings. Jonathan's mom, Deni, made these to match our tree skirt--all of which were made from the fabric that our bridesmaids wore in our wedding.

Happy New Year!

After fun with traveling and celebrating lately, we are now enjoying Jonathan's favorite holiday, New Year's Day. Football, food, and relaxing in the basement are the order of the day. We did manage to go on a walk and take Mali to the park.

Here are pictures from December '06. A blessed 2007 to all!