Our 2009 Christmas Letter (As Read By A Dead Fish)

Season’s Greetings!
I am the ghost of Fish, Aiden’s first pet.  I unfortunately passed on in January of this year, but I have returned (in spirit, anyway) to bring you tidings of great cheer from the Wilson family.  This has been a great year, so let me tell you all about it!
I remember Aiden being a fantastic little boy from the day that he brought me home.  He has grown much this year.  Michael and Chrissy took Aiden and Aunt Cassie to Disney World in February (Gavin stayed home with the grandparents).  It was Aiden’s first plane ride, and he loved the airport.  Aiden had his picture taken with every Disney character in each theme park.  They also stopped by Sea World Orlando and met my idol, Shamu.  In May, he started potty training to prepare for pre-school, and got the hang of it in a couple of weeks.  Mom and Dad took Aiden to see Thomas the Tank Engine Live on May 9th.  Aiden started with a new speech therapist at St. Margaret’s in May and has made huge leaps in articulation in the last six months.
Aiden also started pre-school in the fall, and is attending two pre-schools this year.  He goes to TLC, a local private pre-school, on Monday and Friday. He also attends pre-school at Wadsworth Elementary School on Tuesday and Thursday (to fulfill the requirements of his Speech IEP).  September marked his first trip to the dentist.  Happily, his teeth are in fine shape because he brushes them every day!  Aiden’s favorite TV show, aside from Mickey Mouse Club House, is the Imagination Movers.  Michael and Chrissy took him to see them perform the “Live from the Idea Warehouse” tour on Sept 25th at the Radisson Star Plaza Theatre.  He had a great time.  He loves playing the drums and singing along with the Imagination Movers.
Gavin, what a wild little kid!  Growing like a weed this year, too!  He started crawling in March, and then graduated to walking in September.  He got his first tooth in late March, and is already up to sixteen teeth.  It will be nice when the teething ends, since he gets grouchy!  In June, the family took Gavin to his first “Taste of Chicago” in Grant Park.  It’s an annual tradition and he enjoyed his first time in Chicago.  He and Aiden celebrated their birthdays together with a huge party on August 15th.  Friends and extended family were all here to help celebrate on the huge deck (more on that later!).
This was a big year for family outings, sans fish.  The entire family went to the Lincoln Park Zoo on May 17th.  The kids enjoyed the zoo so much that they went to the Fort Wayne Zoo with Julia on August 5th and then the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago on August 18th.  The family plans to see the “Zoo Lights” at Brookfield Zoo in December.  That was followed up by a visit to the Shedd Aquarium on August 21st.  Aiden loved the aquarium (who doesn’t love fish?).  Closer to home, they visited the County Line Apple Orchard in late September, just in time to pick apples.  Grandma made four huge apple pies with all of the apples.
Michael and Chrissy had a good year.  They both got iPhones in January, and they love the functionality.  How did they live without these?  They went to see Dirty Dancing on stage in Chicago in January.  In May, they went to the National Apraxia Conference in St. Charles, IL.  It was very educational and they learned a lot from some of the country’s leading experts in Apraxia and speech therapy.  In December, they celebrated Chrissy’s birthday with a trip to Michigan to take a wine tasting tour along the Michigan Wine Trail.  It was chauffeured, so the entire day was relaxing and enjoyable.  They bought a lot of wine.
Chrissy returned to work full-time in August.   She is an amazing teacher, and just completed work on her Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership (meaning that she can be a Principal).  She still enjoys scrapbooking although this past year had very little time for it.  Michael still works at the University of Chicago as a data manager, but he has been teaching again as well.  He wrapped up the summer session of Introduction to Business Information Systems and E-Commerce in July.  He was also voted in as Vice President on the Board of Directors at LakeNet, a not-for-profit organization that helps entities in Northwest Indiana gain a web presence.  Aiden and Gavin spend time with Grandma, Grandpa and their Aunties while Michael and Chrissy are at work.
The house is about as remodeled as it’s going to get.  The old siding finally came down in May, and Grandpa and Uncle Glenn tore off the giant “A” in the front of the house.  They also replaced the double doors in the front before the siding was completed in June.  Almost immediately afterward, Uncle Glenn started on the new deck in the back.  The old deck had to come down with the siding.  The new deck looks amazing, and they built a huge swing set in the backyard to compliment it.
Happy Holidays and have a great New Year!  I’m no longer around (ghost fish, remember?), but please keep in touch with the Wilsons at 219-934-0906 or e-mail them at “michael.wilson@alumni.indiana.edu” and “chrissy@alumni.indiana.edu”.  Michael can also be found on Twitter as “PecanCtMichael”. Michael and Chrissy are both on Facebook now as well.  And as always, you can read the family blog and see the updated family photo galleries at www.michaelandchrissy.com.
Michael, Chrissy, Aiden and Gavin
Xiao-Ai, Te-Amo and Sukiyo (and the late, great, Fish)