Final Preparations

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday season. We celebrated in Knoxville with the Howards from December 12-18. This was the 32nd year in a row that Chris' parents Jim and Carol hosted and everyone attended including: Willis and Carleen Howard (Chris' grandparents), Lynn and Tina Howard (Chris' Uncle & Aunt), Michael and Jennifer Howard (Chris' brother & sister-in-law) and Alex and Lauren (Chris' nephew & neice). Next year, we will be celebrating the Howard Christmas in Atlanta at Michael's house.

From there, we celebrated Meaghan's 30th birthday on December 20. Chris through a surprise birthday party for her (actual birthday is on the 16th). We had a great time with family and friends. Meaghan was totally surprised and uplifted by the evening.

From there, we celebrated Christmas with the Kelly family. First, Christmas Eve night with Paul and Jody Rost, Uncle John and Aunt Sandy Haley, Aunt Jane Haley, Kevin and Bev Kelly (Meaghan's parents), Kevin Kelly (Meg's brother0, and the Rost kids (Rachel, Haley, Payden, and Poppey Joy. Christmas morning we had brunch at Aunt Janes with the same crowd, but including, Scott and Jill Trout, Joe and Mary Ann Haberberger, and the Trout kids (Graham, Hannah, Brogen, Cullen, and Hutton). The day after Christmas, we celebrated with the Kelly-side of the family. We had dinner at George and Collen Duello's with Uncle Bill and Geri Kelly, Sean Kelly, Erin and Rian Kelly, Jimmy, Sarah, and Christine.

The time with the family was wonderful and here is what we are currently up to:

Chris has gone ahead to prepare the way. He left on January 9 to go to Colorado for the final two weeks of training. From Denver, he leaves on January 23 to go to Munich, Germany. A fellow Young Life staff member will pick him up from the airport and take him to the Winter Conference for all European staff on the German/Swiss border. After five days at the conference, he will be driven to Hohenfels and meet the base Commander and Chaplain. From there, he will be taken to Heidelberg, Germany (only if we have all of our support by the end of January). In Heidelberg, he will be processed with a military ID and complete the necessary paperwork for us to live in Germany. From there, he will return to Hohenfels and make preparations for Meaghan and Hunter to arrive shortly thereafter.

Meaghan has continued her miraculous recovery. She sees the doctor one last time on January 19 and should be released after this appointment. She has been driving now for over six weeks with no problems emotionally. She has been diligently sorting and packing the items we will be shipping, mostly clothes, but some general household items as well. She is spearheading the project of shipping these bins and our car in Chris’ absence. She just finished the core coursework on her masters degree in Health Education from the University of Alabama last month. She lacks only two elective courses to complete her degree. She looks forward to reuniting with Chris as soon as possible.

Hunter has continued to grow into a ball full of energy called a toddler. He is all boy and sometimes tests the patience of his Mommy. He has begun to talk a lot, mostly in his language, but increasingly in English. He has begun to use his own fork and spoon, although this makes for a much messier feed time. He enjoys music and banging on instruments and has recently learned how to build with blocks versus knock over blocks. He too can’t wait to be reunited with Da-Da.