A New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008 EVERYONE!!!

I hope the holidays treated you well. We had a GREAT time being able to spend Christmas in Ohio with family. Of course we left snow to come to rain, but oh well. Can't have it all!
Andy's mom was kind enough to let us stay with her for the week. The trip proved to be very busy as our schedule filled up quickly with things to do and people to see.

It was wonderful getting to see family and friends, I only regret not being able to visit everyone, but we spent a lot of time with family...that's where we needed to be.
For all of you that know Andy's dad suffered a stroke before we moved, he is now at home. Improving slowly, but improving. Please keep him (and the family) in your prayers.
Dominic loved playing with all of his cousins who he talks about and misses daily.

The biggest experience was flying with two children...yea, fun. Not as bad as I thought it'd be actually. When we got to the Denver Airport on Dec. 23 mid-morning it wasn't nearly as busy as I thought it would be. We flew (no pun intended) through check-in and security in half an hour. Dominic's favorite parts were riding the moving steps and moving sidewalks. The airport is HUGE, we also got to ride an underground train/tram. He loved it! The flight to OH was a little bumpy, mostly when we got closer to Akron, as they were under a high wind advisory. But we survived. Gino wailing and flailing around for the last 20 minutes was another story! He was exhausted and not a happy camper. Luckily he fell asleep.......as we were landing. He livened up again once we got back to Andy's mom's house though. Dominic just got restless and didn't want Gino touching him....ok, small plane, hard to avoid not touching anyone. I think the lady in front of him was a little peeved too because he bumped her seat a few times. I felt the need to apologize to everyone around us when we landed...most people were understanding.

Luckily the flight home was much better (longer, but better). Same airline, but the plain was much roomier and much more comfortable seats. We did however have to be up by 3am to make our 6:20am take-off. Not a problem! Gino was up, Dominic woke up bouncy as ever ready to go (he missed his cat, Savannah). My dad took us to the airport, we checked in, bought some breakfast and walked on board. It was nice. The boys did great! There happened to be a 13 month old little boy in front of us, who wasn't so happy flying, but thanks to Dominic & Gino they all had a pretty happy flight. They were headed on to LA and I think they wanted to take Dominic along to entertain! It was nice. We were back home by 8 am.
Of course flying in that early on New Year's Eve, I didn't make it past 9pm that night...no celebrating for me!....though I did celebrate that all our luggage arrived with us safely.

Now we are back to figuring out what life & God has in store for us in the new year ahead. We are making plans to move back to Ohio...lots to consider and do though. Andy is still looking for a job when he can and we are looking at how to get out of our lease without it costing us. Please keep us in your prayers as we feel strongly that we need to be back in OH close to family. We plan on moving back into our old house, but will continue trying to sell it and begin preparation to build on some land behind my parent's. I hope to be settled somewhere soon. This has been a very difficult time for everyone involved. We are struggling to keep it together for our kids, but it has proven to be very difficult at times.