Ahhhh, Christmas!!  Yes, it’s that time of year again.  Gifts under the tree, smiling faces, excited children, and Christmas cards from friends and family. 

Christmas cards?  Huh?  Yes, “normal” people send them out by the dozens this time of year.  They are usually filled with pictures of the kids and a nice note depicting life in your world and the season at hand.  We love them!  We just don’t send them. 

I know, I know, we’re terrible.  People send these wonderful little gifts to us every year and we never respond.  This year, let me tell you, things will be different!  We’ll get that family photo done, taken by the tree or fireplace, we’ll get those cards and doggonit they WILL be sent! 

Welcome to the life of the Mcgarity’s, Indiana version.  The scenario above?  Probably not going to happen.  Sorry.  What will happen is this: The Xanga post.  Don’t you just love it?  We save the cost of the cards, photo, AND the postage!  The best part?  If you want a picture of us to hang on your fridge, you’ll have to print it out yourself.  The Internet is genius, thank you Al Gore!

Merry Christmas to all of you!  To all of you that sent us pix and letters, THANK YOU.  We love reading them.  Many of your pix are plastered on our fridge as I write.  We are so happy to hear from you and thank you all for your thoughtfulness. 

We are alive and well in America’s heartland.  We have finally found a church home and are extremely happy there.  Melissa, myself, and the girls are all involved in various ways.  Melissa teaches a Sunday school class and we all contribute musically.  Melissa and the girls all play various piano specials on a regular basis.  I contribute from time to time with my guitar but only when I know the piano will drown me out. 

Cassie, who turns 12 in January, is in 6^th grade.  She loves to read and blows through books so fast it is hard to keep up.  We are regulars at the library.  Unfortunately we are also frequently late returning books and have paid enough fines we feel they need to dedicate a wing to us.  Mentioning this to them has yielded nothing but blank stares.  Cassie plays piano beautifully.  She loves music and the dedication she puts into learning a new song, or perfecting one she has played before, is awesome for a girl her age.  Cassie also loves animals.  We have rescued more animals from our yard than they have in the Chicago zoo.  Birds, chipmunks, possums, you name it…we’ve patched them up and sent them on their way.

Kelsey is also fine musician in her own right.  At the age of 7 she is impressively accomplished at the piano and also enjoys singing.   She is also quite the reader.  She also has a knack for the little details in life most of us miss.  You can count on her to call you out any and every time you fail to follow through, to the letter, what the original plan was.  I know that stating something like paying attention to detail may seem like a small thing to most of you but until you witness her in action, it is hard to understand.   Nothing slips past her.  She has the eye of an eagle and the memory of an elephant.  Kelsey also has a brand new kitty she named Ice Cream.  Ice Cream was a kitten I found in the front yard one day screaming his fool head off.  I was planning on taking him to the pound but realized too late that once your children name an animal, getting rid if it is next to impossible if you have any semblance of a heart.  Funny thing though, if there were ever a better animal/human match I’d like to see one.  Their personalities are identical.  They are both full of love and drive everyone crazy at the same time! 

Melissa is a most amazing woman.  She is everything to us and for us.  She is constantly on the run.  She home schools our kids and takes the job very seriously.  She is also quite possibly the best cook I have ever seen.  She is: spouse, mom, teacher, chef, maid, errand runner, laundry cleaner, craft organizer, game player, household duty hander outer, and all around amazing woman.  Even stating it like this isn’t doing her justice.  When I think of the definition of the perfect wife, I look no further than Melissa.  There is no one that works harder in this house and to have her by my side…well that makes me the luckiest guy on the face of the planet. 

I am still working for the phone company in the IT department.  I am blessed to have a good job that allows me to take care of my family.  You can ask no more out of life and I thank God for the opportunity.

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas.  Thank you again for the cards and photos. All of you mean the world to us.  Take care,

Melissa, Kelsey (7), Cassie (11), Nathan McGarity

Ahhh, Chicago!  The Cubs, Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, and Sox.  Its a sports lovers dream!  Not only sports but all things big!  Big freeways, massive buildings, and a skyline that goes on forever.  2 weeks ago, we decided to go to Chicago during the first round NCAA Basketball tourney.  It was St Patty's day, basketball was in the air, the Chicago River was green, and I was in town to CELEBRATE!  Woo-Hoo! 

Ok, maybe not.  Reality check. I caught a grand total of 13 minutes of basketball that weekend.  I saw the last 35 seconds of the ND game in the lobby of the hotel...35 seconds too much.  They got booted in the 1st round by Winthrop.  Who?  Yea, that is what I thought!  What I did see was a lot of shopping malls, dinner tabs, and dolls.  Lots of dolls. 

Wall of dolls!

It was thrilling for me in a different way.  Not that I love looking at dolls, although if you had read Melissa's blog regarding this trip you'd think differently.  You'd think I have one for myself.  But that is another post altogether.  In fact Melissa is fast approaching her own post.  She should be careful.  I know exactly how many pairs of stretchy pants she owns and am not afraid to tell.  

Anyway, what I do love is watching my two girls do things they love to do…which is looking at dolls.  Part of our trip to Chicago was a trip the American Girl Store.  While I’m not a huge fan of the prices they charge for their products, I am a fan of the message and moral they sell.  While other doll lines teach young girls to "be like the world!”, the AG doll series teach the basic values of hard work, perseverance, tolerance of others, and to never be afraid to make the right decision.  The play we saw taught young girls that sometimes the hardest moral decision to make is the one that will make you less popular, but is still the right thing to do.  Good stuff.

Beyond that we ate at some fabulous places including Buca Di Beppo's, an Italian place right around the corner from the hotel.  WOW!  Go there.  Go there now.  No, really.  You need to go there now. 

So I've been sick this week.  The world isn't as funny to me when I'm sick.  Most of my time this past week was spent blowing my nose.  In fact, I’m still doing that.  How much snot can a head produce?  The sheer volume has been amazing.  I’ve blown through enough Puffs to own the company. 

This past weekend we had two of our nieces here with us.  Alaina and Aletheia are perhaps the two cutest little cousins the world has seen!  Here are the pix to prove it: