Merry Christmas and we wish you the best in 2015. We hope the holiday season allows you chance to connect with the ones you love.
We had an eventful 2014 – it’s been so busy, it’s hard to tell where all the time went. We took a family trip to the big island of Hawaii in February, so that was a big hit with everyone. We almost didn’t come back. Another highlight of the year was hosting both sides of the family and lots of friends at our lake cabin this summer.
Katie turned 10 in January and started 5th grade this fall. She’s a very busy girl – she is in basketball, volleyball, dance and piano during the school year and she’s very passionate about all of them. She spent the summer going to camps and participating in track – one highlight of the year was that her team finished first in state in the 4×100 for her age group.
Amelia turned 8 in February and started 3rd grade this fall. She keeps up pretty well with her sister – she’s been playing basketball, T-ball and also does piano and dance. She’s so excited about dance that she often twirls around as we eat supper. She has done a great at school and she was named Student of the Month at the end of her 2nd grade year.
Becky and I had a busy year juggling the kids and the business. We got some time to get away at Madden’s this fall to celebrate our 16th anniversary. Becky surprised me with a 40th birthday party in October (oddly, 10 years before my actual 40th birthday) which was a lot of fun. We took a “foodie tour” to Minneapolis a few weeks later. Becky enjoyed her trip to New Orleans with her book club friends in May. She even got to hold a baby alligator.
At work, we celebrated our two year anniversary and grew the business to 38 people. We had a big honor this summer when we were named the 2nd best place to work in Minnesota and got to attend a big banquet in St. Paul.
We wish you a wonderful holiday season and a great 2015.
Eric, Becky, Katie and Amelia Newell
Eric's space 