Christmas Letter 2007

2007 was our first full year in St. Louis and aside from the horrible drivers and a nasty, hot summer it has been a great year. The creative juices are nowhere to be found so we hope you enjoy the rundown, despite the typical sound of a Christmas-card letter.

Some of our highlights have been: a couple of summer trips to New Jersey to celebrate the weddings of some wonderful friends and Larissa’s college graduation, Calie’s first trip to the beloved Jersey shore, and a Mother’s Day at Shea Stadium. In September, we welcomed Drew to the Seitzer family as he and Tressa got married on a beautiful weekend in Birchwood, Wisconsin. Not long after in October, we celebrated the birth of our second beautiful niece, Mallory Macy Langer. We look forward to spending our Christmas this year with both Mallary and Megan this year--and the rest of our Seitzer family too!

Over the past year we have also become unofficial tour guides of St. Louis. Whenever we have guests arrive, we enjoy showing them the sites of St. Louis. In January, our good friends Luke and Megan came down for a visit and to help us ring in the New Year. In April, Calie’s parents and sister (Dave, Sue, and Tressa) came to celebrate Easter with us. August came and so did Steve’s Grandma and Uncle Carl. We snuck away to spend a weekend with them in Branson and then came back to the St. Louis area to show them around. Finally, Steve’s parents and sister (Dave, Debbie, and Larissa) came west to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. Calie made her first Thanksgiving dinner and loved entertaining almost as much as the rest of us enjoyed eating the fruits of her labor. As you can guess, all these visits meant a number of trips to the Gateway Arch, Budweiser Brewery, Ted Drewes, and even a winery or two!

Calie continues to work at the LCMS International Center. She is an administrative assistant for the School Ministry office. Though she really misses teaching she is excelling at her job and really making her bosses dread the thought of losing her. Steve continues his studies at Concordia Seminary. Between classes, sport intramurals, working and studying there is little time for much else. There is still so much to learn but he can’t wait for April when we will learn where we will spend the next school year on vicarage (internship). Calie is hoping our future takes us no further south than St. Louis, but a place like Hawaii sure would be nice!

That’s a quick run-through of our 2007. We hope this past year has been just as full of memories and good times for you as it has been for us. We thank God for all of our friends and family that make each year a blessing. May the truth of this Christmas season hold fast in your hearts: “And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, because I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.’”

The First Snow

Both Steve and I were just commenting on how this really doesn't seem like Christmas yet. Then it happened.....the forecast called for wintry weather and snow! Finally! I know many of you have been enjoying, or maybe not enjoying snow already. To me, snow is the first indication that Christmas is close. I mean really, how are you supposed to listen to the songs about Frosty when it is sunny and in the 50's?
Yesterday started with on overcast sky and high anticipation for a storm. (People here get a little more freaked out about winter weather than most others) Then I saw it, the first flakes. Sure they came down sort of like rain, but they were flakes! White was accumulating on the ground, how exciting! All night you could hear the weather outside, but we were comfy and warm inside just like a true winter night
Before I went to bed I took a look outside. Sadly I realized that the snow had turned to sleet. My thoughts raced to 'maybe I won't have to go to work tomorrow?'. Sadly I am here at work, and the snow is gone. We are left with an overcast sky and the forecast that another storm is coming on Sunday....maybe that means no work on Monday???

Check out my Slide Show!

Ahhh Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, a time to give thanks. Thanks for family, food, drinks, and football among other things. This Thanksgiving was no different. Everyone survived my cooking! I actually had a lot of fun entertaining and cooking. Probably a good thing, since we will be celebrating a lot of holidays at our house when Steve becomes a pastor. We have had a busy Thanksgiving holiday entertaining Steve's Mom, Dad and Sister. We have eaten a lot, shopped a little, visited a winery, and we are on our way to the brewery today! So as promised, here are the pictures of our Thanksgiving feast! Enjoy!

Here we are...

Here we are just a few days away from Thanksgiving. This year, I am in charge of Thanksgiving. Steve's parents and sister are flying in today for their first visit to St. Louis. Not only is it my first Thanksgiving doing all the cooking, it is my first Thanksgiving with my in-laws! Kind of hard to believe! Of course I will miss being on the farm with the full Seitzer household, but there's always next year!
If any of you know me really well, I tend to be overly organized and prepared for most everything. Thanksgiving is no exception. It has occupied my mind for about a month now, making sure I have everything I need from napkin rings to the turkey. I am really worried that I am not going to know what to do with myself after this is all over. Thank goodness for Christmas and the hussel and bussel of the season.
Anyway, Steve and I are excited to visit the St. Louis sites once again....it never hurts to visit a brewery! We should start a tally for the number of visits that we do, then again maybe that's lame!

All in all, I can't wait to share my first Thanksgiving with you all! You can bet there will be pictures! I want evidence of all of this planning, as I'm sure it will pay off!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I am thankful that we have people that actually read this!

Body Worlds

Now that classes are over, Calie and I were finally able to celebrate 2-years of wedded bliss. Saturday we went to Body Worlds 3 at the St. Louis Science Museum. It was a really cool experience. Check out their site: http://www.bodyworlds.com/. It features over 200 authentic human specimens--from entire bodies in dramatic poses to side-by-side comparisons of healthy and diseased organs. It was like staring at a person, stripped of their skin. It was amazing to see actual body parts and systems and all that jazz. They even had a newborn/embryo exhibit. I highly recommend checking it out when it comes to a city near you. You just look at it and think, "Man, God did some pretty impressive creating when He made the human body." It brought me to a new level of awe for the Creator. Of course, when He made me He was just showing off!

Our New Addition to the Family!

So we now have a "family" site. I should apologize to anyone that received our email and thought our "big news" was something else! There is no bun in the oven, but glad we could fool a bunch of you in the meantime! One thing at a time, so this is the new addition for now. I was just telling Calie last night that I am not much of a blogger. I'm not sure what I should write about or share with people. I have some friends that are posting and blogging every night, sometimes a couple of times per day. Lot's of it is very humorous or insightful. Guess that's just not me, but this should help keep you all afloat on the never-dull lives of Calie and I.

Today was my last day of classes at the seminary until after Turkey Day. Mmmmm, turkey! Anyways, our fall quarter is over and I can't believe how quickly it finished. My last few days consisted of some final exams and preaching my first official sermon. Aside from a minor brain-fart amidst my sermon all appears to have gone really well. Actually, grade wise I've never done better. It's amazing how well things go when you put in effort and actually learn material and do the work/readings. Makes me regret all the fun I had in high school and college. OK, maybe not, but it's always a bummer when I think, "I know I learned this stuff in college. I should know this stuff."

Our time at the seminary here in St. Louis is flying bye. As Calie mentioned earlier, we'll find out in April where we will spend our year of vicarage (internship). Selfishly I'm hoping to wind up back in Jersey or the Twin Cities area. I can't wait to get back into the parish and actually doing the Lord's work. Seminary is a wonderful place to be, and I have a lot left to learn. But there is nothing better than actually being able to touch people's lives with the love and grace of Christ. The Bible uses a Greek phrase called: kalou ergou. It is basically translated as a "noble task." That's what gets me through the tests, homework, and finals weeks. Knowing that God has a noble task out there waiting for me. Whether it's simply preaching the Good News, leading a study of His Word, or ministering to someone in a real hard spot. This is what it's all about and I can't wait! That's all for now; not bad for a first post, I guess. Blessings...

Our 2nd Anniversary

You would think that there would still be a bit of romance on our second anniversary, but not so much. It was a typical Monday night...run errands on the way home from work, quick rush to make supper, eat, and send Steve off to school. His day didn't go much differently, except that he took me out for lunch! That was such a nice surprise! We did squeeze in a few moments to enjoy our wedding cake....that we still have leftovers from and enchange cards.

Monday, November 5th, 2007

Today is our anniversary. Two short but long years ago we were all gathered together on an overcast Saturday as Steve and I got hitched! It seems like longer ago than just two years! We have had a lot of change in these two years. We got married and lived in Hudson, WI for 9 months. Then we moved to St. Louis, where we currently live and have lived for 1 year and 4 months. We will find out April 22nd where God will send us for the next 12 months of our lives.