Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

We hope this year has been a healthy and happy one for you all. It's hard to believe we are getting ready to celebrate our 2nd anniversary in Minnesota. Yes, I know many of you are probably saying it's a record given our past history. However, this is our third winter in Minneapolis, so by all standards here, we're veterans! As I'm writing this message, we have a base of about 8 inches of snow and it's snowed all day which is likely to net us a total of 5+ new inches of fluffy white stuff. It's 12 degrees and very windy...but we're assured of a white Christmas!

Well, 2007 was a full year. It started out with Jason going to the Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Day with Dave, our former neighbor in Idaho, to see Boise State win an incredible game. In Feburary, Jason and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary and Jason turned the BIG 40 in March. Our best friends Jimmy and Missy came to surprise Jason for his birthday, but of course, Jason figured it out. We had a great time celebrating...Old Chicago, our favorite bar; St. Paul St. Patrick's Day parade; and great dinners and wonderful company.

I made a career change in April (yes, I know this comes as a suprise to many as well), and went work for the same company as Jason. I had two unsolicited job offers that were too good to refuse and I decided to go back into retail marketing as the manager of health & wellness. In May, we headed to Orlando, Florida with Jimmy, Melissa and their two children, Gavin & Mackenzie. It was the kids' first Disney trip. We had a week of sun, theme parks, pool time and some adult time in the evenings.

My parents came to visit for the first time and we gave them the full Minnesota experience - minus the snow and below zero temps. We of course went to the Mall of America, Lake Minnetonka, a Minnesota Twins baseball game (baseball in a dome is a must-see), and the Chanhassen Dinner Theater. In July, we took a short trip to Lynchburg, VA to celebrate the "Year of the 40th." Several of Jason's friends also turned 40 this year, so Lynchburg was the site of the party for Ken, Jason's high school buddy. We had some fun at the pool and then a great day at Smith Mountain Lake.

In August, Ken brough his daughter Diamond to Minneapolis. It was a trip of firsts for Diamond...plane ride and Mall of America. We aslo hit Valley Fair Amusement Park and the MN State Fair. The State Fair is the ultimate in people watching and we ate "food on a stick" that is the signature cuisine...fried pickles on a stick, fried Oreos on a stick, cheese curds (fried cheese - a MN delicacy) and many more you could never imagine.

We also saw some great concerts...Bowling for Soup, Five for Fighting, Black Crowes, Goo Goo Dolls, Brandi Carlisle and Johnny Lange. For the second year, Jason got Vikings football season's tickets, plus a tailgating pass. As usual, the Vikings have had an inconsistent season, but it hasn't stopped Jason from being there in full dress...jersey and head gear (baseball cap, viking hat with horns, santa hat or vikings horns with golden locks)!

Jason traded in his convertible almost vintage Porsche for a newer model. His 2004 lapis blue "girl" has a better stereo (with an iPod connection), sunroof and interior comforts. I've enjoyed it quite a bit as well and this one actually gets driven in the rain, unlike the former vehicle. In the fall, we went back to Boise to visit our former neighbors, Cheryl and Dave. Jason & Dave went to a Boise State game and this football game went into a spectactular overtime just like the New Year's Bowl Game! Jason & Dave's presence at Boise State games seem to be synonymous with multiple overtimes! We decided to spend Thanksgiving with Jimmy and Missy in Richmond and got to see my brother, Trey and his wife Leanne.

Jason went on a fishing trip with his brothers in New York and we took our annual trip "up North" to Two Harbors to go hiking, but much later in the year than planned. It's amazing how being in nature seems to ground us both.

However, we also had some very sad news this year. Jason's father and Zack, our dog of 14 years, both passed away after dealing with congestive heart failure. We ended up postponing our anniversary trip to England and Scotland due to this, but we're scheduled to go in May this year. Zack's loss has been extremely difficult for us, but our cats, Gabby and Sara, and many great friends have helped us cope.

As this year comes to a close, we hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We wish you the best of the season and hope to reconnect with many of you in 2008. You are all in our thoughts quite often even though you may not hear from us. Please know that you are all welcome in our home should you come to visit Minnesota. We enjoy the emails and letter updates on how you're doing and we hope to do a better job of keeping our blog updated this year.