As 2007 comes to an end and I reflect on the year's events, I'm amazed at how much has happened! This truly has been a busy year for both Lisa and myself - filled with happy times and life changing events. Once again my Christmas letter is quite late in coming, but this time I have just decided that instead of rushing to finish in the hopes that I can get it mailed in time, I will take my time and just post it on our web site. Most of our family and friends are checking the site on a regular basis anyway, to keep up with our current life events. So let me back up a bit and go over some of the highlights from the past year…
Lisa and I were married in April. We had a beautiful wedding at my parents' church in Rochester followed by a lovely reception at their home in Clarkston. The weather was spectacular and everything came together so well that you would never guess these events were planned in just three short weeks! We had our honeymoon in Fennville, Michigan in a nice bed and breakfast lodge. We are grateful that with the help of family and friends, this experience was so much more special that what we were up for planning on our own. Once again, thanks to all for helping to give us such a great day!
With the wedding and honeymoon over, it was back to the usual routines for us, well not exactly. With the immediate concerns of getting married taken care of we could start thinking about what was to come later in the year: becoming parents and moving into a more suitable home to accommodate our baby. Lisa's pregnancy was difficult and she suffered many of the unfortunate side effects such as morning sickness (all day sickness) back pains, swelling, etc. We made it through all this as best we could and pressed ahead with plans to move to a bigger home. We have again put off trying to buy a house until such time as we are better able, instead we have moved into a two-bedroom apartment in the same community.
It seems we barely had time to settle into our new home and then it was off to the hospital to have a baby! On her doctor's recommendation Lisa's labor was induced and she got to experience the unpleasantness of Pitocin contractions. Despite the rather harsh nature of induced labor, Lisa handled it quite well. It was also a relatively short experience, which was a blessing. So just 21 hours after checking in, our baby was born! Shirley-Mae Nancy Clifford was born on Sunday December 9th at 5:19 PM. She weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces and was 20 and one half inches long.
Back at home we have been adjusting to our new lifestyle, as have our cats. Smokey and Coal are now 15 years old and still doing well. Coal's new pastime is drinking the water that drips from the faucet in the bathtub - so much so that the water dripping on the top of her head has caused a small bald spot! Hopefully I can come up with a solution that won't involve depriving her of her pleasure. Smokey seems happier than ever in our new apartment and you would never know that she has had diabetes for the last four years. She can now climb into the bedroom windowsill, which makes her and us very happy. Coffee is also quite well adjusted after the move. She likes to curl up in one of our small living room chairs and "escape" from the apartment when someone opens the door. Jackie seems the most troubled by the new addition to our family. She has never liked it when one of the other cats has been upset and will come to see what is the matter. Now she gets upset when the baby cries - she has been getting better but it has been a bit hard on her.
As the year comes to a close we hope everyone can look back on what was good this year and think positively for more good things in the year to come. We will try to get around with the baby to see people, but as this is difficult right now we are also happy to have people come to our home to visit as well. We wish you all a safe holiday season, a Happy New Year and most of all, a very,