Christmas Letter, 2006

We never did get a Christmas letter or card out this year. If we had it might have looked like this:


Holiday Greetings to all of you from the Erwin family!

We give thanks during this special season for all our friends and family, wherever they 
may be this Christmas, and hope that this greeting finds you as happy as it found us.

We have said a lot of goodbyes this year, and found many new beginnings.

In January, we welcomed Keri into our home and family. Keri came from the P.A.W.S. program the County Jail. She was teaching inmates to be responsible. Now she lives with us, and pretty much is still teaching the same thing.

 

In February, Natalie played a significant role in a musical about making and keeping friends, at Sutton Elementary in Owensboro.

In March, Michael resigned his position as Organizing Pastor for New Hope United Church of Christ. They are still going strong: they worship weekly in a local homeless shelter, and feed the homeless residents two times a month.

 

We had a true treat this spring, as Sara, Jay, Betsy, and Grayson visited with us. You can see that it was lots of fun, and very heart-warming to have the whole family together all at one time.

 

 

Of course, Spring is also a wonderful time to take pictures of Kennedy and Natalie in front of forsythia, azaleas, and a dogwood. Wouldn't you agree?

 

In early May, Michael was elected Minister of Parish Life for Bethel United Church of Christ, in Evansville, IN, located about 45 miles from Owensboro. So, we spent time packing up our belongings, readying our Owensboro home for sale and preparing to move. Meanwhile, Natalie got a radical haircut and began what promises to be a distinguished career as a photographer. She actually learned to use the camera timer for that shot. Just wait, there's more from her later....

 

 

In late May, Kathy had the wonderful opportunity to travel to France with Elaine Shurley's Marshall County (KY) High School Chorus. She took almost 200 pictures, though, and not one give evidence that she was actually there. But, we do have a picture of Lynn Shurley, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Paducah.

 

Summertime was a crazy mess! Michael started work with Bethel on June 12th. Three days later, we purchased a new home in Evansville, subsequently named La Doña (and documented elsewhere on this blog). In his first week of work, Bethel held its Vacation Bible School, which meant that Kennedy and Natalie came over to Evansville every day of that week and began to make friends at the new church.

Kennedy attended the Montreat Music Conference in late June, and Natalie enjoyed time with extended family and in clubs that same week.

On July 12th, we officialy moved to Evansville, at 313 LaDonna Blvd, and began our new lives as Hoosiers. "What is a Hoosier? Who made up that name?" We still don't know. There are a few theories out there.

In August, Kennedy and Natalie began school at Highland Elementary School, just around the corner from La Doña. Kennedy is in the fourth grade, in Mrs. Lynn's class. Natalie is in the second grace, in Mrs. Johnson's class.

Also in August, Natalie had her 7th birthday party, a Cheetah Girls/High School Musical Party, complete with pin the tail on the Cheetah, and karaoke. Old friends from Owensboro and new friends from Evansville were able to attend.

September saw a visit from Barry and Cathy, with trips to the Children's Museum of Evansville (CMOE), the Mesker Park Zoo (that page is worth a visit), and, of course, Holiday World.

  

In October, Michael was installed in his position at Bethel. Many friends from New Hope came over, and Nancy, Sara, and John made long trips to be here over that weekend. Kennedy began her piano lessons again with Martha Stork, and continues to show incredible talent. She is now looking forward to her first judged performance in mid-April of 2007.

Thanksgiving was a really full holiday this year. We spent Thanksgiving Day at Sara and John's house on Lake Hartwell. Let's see if I can get all the names in here of people who ate Thanksgiving Dinner: Sara, John, Betsy, Grayson, Nancy, Bobby, Catherine, and (one of her daughters). It was a full house! I'll post some pictures in another article.

Then, on Friday, we made the short trek over to Helen, GA, to attend Barry and Cathy's wedding. There we met Cathy's two sons and their families and enjoyed the celebration with other family and friends.

 

Christmas in Evansville was wonderful. Kennedy and Natalie were in their first Christmas pageant. Kennedy starred as the angel Gabriel, and Natalie starred as the Angel of the Guiding Star.

We enjoyed a Christmas morning around the fireplace with Barry. Later in the week, Nancy visited, and we had one big blowout to end 2006 and begin 2007, along with our friends Kim, Lakota, Litsa, and Julian. Happy New Year!