Merry Christmas (early!)

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. This year has been very special, as Silas has started to enjoy opening gifts and understands more. I was able to do the toddler party at church this past Sunday. We had a wonderful time. We had a Happy Birthday Jesus Party with cupcakes and played Pin the Star on the Manger and did some stories and activities with the nativity scene. Although they may not fully understand, it is a delight to be able to see some "lights" turn on when you talk about baby Jesus.

Anyways, we hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday season. I will let you know how our holiday went after the first of the year!

Merry Christmas,

Love,

the Aichele's

First "semi-official" day at work

Kurt's last day at the YMCA was Thursday. On Friday, we spent some time as a family and then we went over to watch a fencing competition that is being held here in Colorado Springs. Wow, it is much different then what we are both use to. I think the most unique aspect is that all ages can compete in fencing. We watched some veterans compete and some had to be in there 60-70's. I love seeing people still actively competing in sports at that age. Then, Friday night we were able to get a babysitter for Silas so Kurt and I could have a date night. We took Nathan since he is pretty easy on a date still. We went out to eat and did a little shopping, but were home by 9:00 pm.

Today, after seeing the fencing competition yesterday and realizing maybe Kurt should wear a suit, we had to purchase a suit. Yes, with all of the interviews Kurt has had these past two years, he doesn't own a suit. He has always gotten away with a nice blazer, but we realized yesterday he is going to need a suit (maybe even 2???). So we took advantage of some Christmas sales and purchased a suit for a very reasonable price. (Thank goodness!).

So with that being said, Kurt has now left to go to the competition to be announced as the new Executive Director of USA Fencing. After that, he will go out to eat with the Executive Board of Fencing. He "officially" starts this position on Monday. I will attach a few pictures of him getting ready.

Notice the toddler at his feet "helping" him get ready!

All but the jacket on so far, as it was 50 degrees here today, not bad! Doesn't he look handsome!

Big bear hugs before leaving.

Big, Healthy Boy

I continue to be amazed by how Nathan is growing so quickly. We had his 2 month appt yesteday and realized just how big he is. He now weighs in at a hefty 14 lb 14 oz which is the 99th percentile. His height is 24 in which is the 86th percentile. I got out Silas's information from when he was 2 months just to compare. At 2 months, Silas weighed 11 lb 3 oz which is 25 percentile and his height was 23 in which is 35% percentile. I looked at Silas's 4 month appt and he still wasn't even 14 lbs. Amazing how children from the same genetics can be so opposite on the scale. Oh well, I'm just so thankful they are both healthy and might be sharing the same size clothes soon!

Proud Owners......

We are "proud" owners of a ...........................mini van! Yeah! I can't believe I'm excited about driving a minivan, but oh so functional! Anyways, now we have two vehicles. See, we have been down to one vehicle for just over a month, so I have been somewhat housebound. With having two young children, I must admit going out too much doesn't even interest me, but there have been days where I wanted to go somewhere or do something and I couldn't.

However, I knew it would be worth it in the end and it was. We were able to pay cash and immediately own the vehicle and we do not have any car payments! For those of you that have known how difficult these past few years have been financially, I finally feel like we are getting back on track. Kurt and I are now a team, trying to be wise with our finances, consulting with others before making big purchases and tracking every little penny that we spend!

I am so proud of Kurt! He was leaning towards another direction which would mean car payments and I was biting my lip trying to decide how to submit to my husband, yet kindly tell him, NO. So, I asked him to consult with a friend from church and see what they said while I prayed hard for wisdom. Sure enough, Kurt called back to say our friend along with Kurt didn't feel like that was the wise decision. Praise God for answer to prayer and much wisdom. I'm very thankful for Godly friends that are willing to speak truth into our lives even when it isn't easy!

So with that being said, we are going to continue with what we budgeted for in car payments every month (which we don't have to use now) and save that for car repairs. Our minivan is a 2002 Dodge Caravan with 109,000 miles on it, so we know there will be repairs, but we're hoping it will get us a long time and then we can have saved up enough money to purchase another car with cash. Our next step is probably purchasing another 2nd car since Kurt's car (1990 Grand Am) will probably die soon.

Kurt and I were so excited about our purchase that we even went out Sat night with the kids to cruise around. Haven't done that in awhile. We were like teenagers again! God has taught us so many lessons this year and I wouldn't trade it for anything! I'm just glad it was with Kurt. We had to laugh that although it has been hard, we're glad we were in it together! Oh the stories we will share w/ our children!