Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!  Tim, Ollie and I were fortunate enough to spend New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with some great friends.  We went to our good friend's the Taylor's last night to eat some delicious steak and sides, chat by the fire, and watch the New Year ring in at Big Ben and the London Eye on the tube.  Julia is the mother of Archie and Tom, Ollie's twin pals that we see most often at the gym creche.  Jules was kind enough to set Ollie up with a pack n play so that he could get some shut eye, which she and her husband provided excellent company, as always.

This morning, we took the train into King's Cross to visit with some friend's in town from Chicago.  Our normal lunch spot, Pret-a-Manger, wasn't open today so we searched around for a place to eat.  We were able to eat at a Prezzo (yummy Italian food) in Mayfair for a late lunch before checking out the Cabinet War Rooms Museum.  If you get the chance to visit London, its a great place to visit.  During the blitz (and until the end of WWII), they moved the major offices underground beneath steel reinforced concrete.  Most of the rooms are as they were when the lights were turned off after V-J Day.  We followed our museum tour with a walk down Picadilly to Covent Garden and our favorite restaurant Wagamama's. 

We always like to spend New Year's Day as we envision the rest of the year, so it was great to catch up with some friends.  More and more, I realize how blessed we are to have wonderful people in our life.  My wish for you in 2009 is that you are able to spend great time with the friend's and family that you love.  

The coming year holds many blessings, but also a lot of changes for our family.  In a few short days, Tim will go with his squadron to "fight the bad guys" as I tell Ollie.  We are very proud of him and the work that he will do to protect the soldiers and marines on the ground, and we pray that the separation will be a growing experience for our family.  Most of my friend's can confirm that I was a GIANT basket case before Tim's departure last time, but this time hasn't been quite as bad.  Anticipating our newest addition and chasing after our busy toddler will be a great distraction for me!

Alright...enough rambling for one night.  Happy New Year to you all!

Love,

The Spauldings

PS The Christmas card pics arrived YESTERDAY, so we'll get those in the mail soon!