Long Strange Trip

In early December, the decision was made to close the cafe we've co-owned for six years. We'd tried finding a buyer to no avail, and we needed to stop the red ink from flowing so freely. So Christmas Eve was the last day for the shop. After Christmas, Dan and I went up there to remove files and liquidate as much as we could. We plan on turning the rest over to the bank to help pay part of the loan we still owe. Please pray for us as we go through the day to day struggles of finalizing payment plans with everyone and trying to cover last paychecks for the staff.

So that's my excuse for not writing in seven weeks. We've obviously had a lot going on.

We traveled to Minnesota on Dec. 20 for Christmas. Got to see the Hovis family while there. Their youngest Isabel is six months old and has some seriously long hair already. They're doing well and are enjoying the church they're at. They've found it to be very supportive! They have a great temporary home on the lake with a fabulous view.

We also got to see newest nephew Ethan who was born just before Thanksgiving. Steve Davis (daddy) is already planning Ethan's presidential campaign and opening the campaign's bank account.

Megan finally has some teeth in her mouth--three to be exact, with a fourth that just broke the gumline. She'll be 1 on Sunday.

Emily went to the bathroom on the toilet once--more of an accident than planned! She'll be two on Jan. 22. She is able to put her own jacket on--albeit upside down.


My brother John got engaged and asked Annika and Lauren to be in the wedding. Apparently, Annika gets to be the "bell girl" who announces "the bride is coming." I have to get the specifics from Cassie, my soon to be sister-in-law.

Dan has one more semester of school which starts in February and then a 10-week chaplaincy internship at a hospital. We begin the "call process" or interviewing next week.

Disney and Other Good Stuff

In the last month, it's been crazy here in Chicago. It's been an incredibly nice fall. On October 14, the four older Wheelers (Dan, Liz, Annika and Lauren) traveled to Orlando to visit Mickey and Minnie--oh, yeah, and the princesses. Aunt Becky was also in Orlando so we got to see her one night!

We had lunch with Cinderella and her girlfriends in the castle. That part was really cool. I'd love to have a tour of the whole castle sometime. We stayed at a Disney vacation club resort which was really nice. Lauren lived in the kiddie pool and I got tan for the first time this summer (better late than never?). The resort does a good job of making itself a haven from reality. It was an incredibly nice cocoon for six days.




It's been busy since then. The whole family traveled up to the UP to check on the cafe the last weekend of October. John and Cassie joined us and ran the shop that Saturday. John had worked at the cafe for a summer way back when and Cassie also had coffeehouse experience. The clientele loved her; too bad she lives in Minneapolis. We went to First Covenant Church in Iron Mountain that Sunday--it was good to see so many friends and get so many hugs! It was the first time we'd been there with Megan--and she's 10 months old already.
Dan also recently had kidney stones which put him in the ER for some realllly good painkillers. He was flat on his back for four days because of the pain. He's up and around now, but we're still waiting for the stones to finish their travels.

Dan has begun the job interviewing process or "the call process" as it's called in the Covenant church. The Covenant church in the United States is divided into conferences (similar to baseball!). Dan will be meeting with the superintendents of those conferences beginning in January at the annual midwinter conference. I guess I will be, too. Please pray for us as we begin this process, make many decisions, and hope to discern the Lord's will. Annika has decided that we'll move into a home that looks like the one in the Terry Redlin print that we have.

Annika is doing well. She seems to be an introvert, but is making new friends. Her first love Dan Larson is now engaged. She seems unaffected. This is good. She is thorough in her homework which sometimes means her teacher needs to encourage her to finish at home. She is starting to sound out words and is in the beginning stages of reading. She likes spelling and making up "Spanish" words to speak.

Lauren's preschool teacher will be taking a new position after Christmas. Lauren is dealing with that well. Lauren makes up her own songs often and loves dancing.

Emily is still getting us in trouble. She has taken to drinking out of the toilet. How? She gets cups and dips. So gross. Dan really hesitates to kiss her at night. Wonder why? She too likes singing and dancing. She understands much of what we say to her and has stopped whining/tantrumming over everything since we're able to figure out her communications much of the time. Her English is getting better, but still in that very cute stage.

Megan, at long last, has her first two teeth--the bottom ones of course. She also has a real laugh now. She sits well by herself and has begun the first stages of crawling. She can hold herself standing for awhile, too.

If you think of it, drop us a line and let us know how you are doing. I may not answer for awhile, and if I do, it'll probably be after midnight, but real email is good.