Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Greetings to Family & Friends!! We hope this letter finds you all well and in good health. 2008 was another eventful year for us. In March, we went to Minneapolis to our friend Rusty and Tina’s wedding reception at a Minnesota Wild game. In April, Aaron went to Kansas for a work trip. While there, he was able to see his Uncle Skipper, cousin-in-law Brad, and his parents, who happened to be in Kansas that weekend for some meetings.

In June, Aaron graduated with his Master’s degree in Computer Science from DePaul University. We are very happy that he has completed this great task. Aaron’s parents and nephew Jake were able to make it to the graduation. We had a backyard party to celebrate. That weekend we also took Jake to his first minor league baseball game in Schaumburg to see the Flyers. He even got a baseball bat as part of a giveaway promotion!

We went to Aaron’s cousin Nick’s wedding in Minnesota at the end of June. We spent time with Aaron’s family at the wedding and reception and we also went to a Minnesota Twins baseball game where they played the Brewers. Sheila wore her Cubs jersey and hat during the game! She is a loyal Cubs fan! We also were able to go to a Cubs - White Sox game at Wrigley Field this summer with our friends Ryan & Katie and Sheila’s brother Bob. We were excited to see the Cubs make the playoffs, and thought this was “the year”, but they are the Cubs, and were swept out in the first round of the playoffs. As the Cubs’ fan motto goes, “wait ‘til next year!”

In July, Rusty & Tina came to visit for Aaron’s birthday and we went downtown to shop and sight see. Aaron got to meet Mike Ditka at his restaurant! Also, in July, we spent six days in New York City. This was Aaron’s first trip to NYC. We stayed in Times Square. We saw many of the video signs that Aaron’s brother Brent’s company (Daktronics) put up in Times Square. We went to two Twins vs. Yankees baseball games at Yankee Stadium. Twins lost them both. L We went to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the World Trade Center Memorial, United Nations, Grand Central Station, Central Park, Empire State Building, and a tour of the Conan O’Brien show and Saturday Night Live studio! We got a lot of walking in those days. We saw the play Young Frankenstein and laughed all the way through it. We even took a trip to Connecticut to see some of Sheila’s friends. Sheila loved seeing them again and Aaron got to see some places where Sheila lived and worked.

Over Labor Day weekend, we went to South Dakota to see Aaron’s family and to take some family pictures. Bailey insisted on being in the photo!! While we were there, we went to the South Dakota State Fair and enjoyed the carnival rides and a couple of concerts! George Jones was old and .38 Special rocked!!

In September, Sheila’s Mom Dorothy passed away after a long bout with Alzheimer’s. She was 83 years old. Dorothy’s 10 children and many of her grandchildren and great grandchildren were at the wake and funeral. Sheila is very blessed that her Mom was able to make it to our wedding and to have lived as long as she did. Sheila loved her dearly and she will be greatly missed. The photos we have with Dot bring smiles to our faces.

We spent time with Sheila’s college girlfriend Cathy and her family from North Carolina in March & late September. Sheila also traveled to Nashville, TN to spend time with her friend Jeannine and her new daughter Alexandra Morgan.

In November, we went to Indiana to spend time with Sheila’s brother Bob and his family. It was first time Aaron had been to Bob’s house. Aaron loves the movie room at the house! Also that month, Aaron & Bailey made a surprise visit home for an awards ceremony for his Dad. We also spent Thanksgiving in South Dakota. It was Sheila’s first time there for Thanksgiving, and it had been several years since Aaron had been back for that holiday. We went to Aaron’s high school’s benefit auction and had fun seeing old friends again.

As for our daily lives, Aaron is still employed at Motorola as a software engineer working on Canopy Wireless Broadband products. Sheila was laid off from her job in late August but within two weeks she got a job as a Customer Service Representative at Mid American Group (insurance brokerage firm), She has be racking up the frequent flyer miles with her business travels this fall/winter. And Bailey is still our guard dog. She is great at picking up every food item that drops on the floor. She still loves her belly to be rubbed no matter who does it! We’re looking forward to the adventures in 2009! Have a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year! God Bless you all!