'06 @ a glance -- looking to '07

What a year!

Pluto unbecame a planet. Brangelina brought us Shiloh by way of Africa. George's acceptance rating hit an all time low. Myspace and Youtube became household names. Taylor should not have won. North Korea misbehaved. Rocky returned to the ring...again. Hornish took a third IndyCar title. Wii happened and a lot of things got broken because of it. Ethanol is changing the way we move and exist. We got some seriously good new music (The Fray, Audioslave, John Mayer, Snow Patrol, Phil Wickham, Eliot Morris, etc.) Erik lost the best. Perhaps the world is finally learning that as long as life exists, there will be turmoil around Israel. Yet, one question remains...is this the year of the Colts?

A little closer to home...

We started off the year in an airport headed back to Indianapolis from a splendid New Year's Eve in Miami with the Millers. We learned something. When Crystal is pregnant, don't keep her up past 10pm. If you do, sickness will ensue. And, sickness is an unwelcome guest during a full day of air travel. Between the excitement that our lives would forever change and the knowledge that...our lives would forever change, we found ourselves beginning a new year with more than just us. God opted to deliver us a surprise just before the new year that would leave a lasting impression in our ’06 calendar and eternity.

Early in the year, Amos received a promotion after 3 years at the Indy Racing League where he continues to manage the creative end of the IndyCar brand and reach fans with all things INDY.

In other career oriented news, Crystal resigned her associate position at Saks Fifth Avenue to step into a more amazing career -- motherhood and entrepreneurship. Beauty by Crystal, a freelance make-up artistry company, was formed in May along with a manager role in Arbonne International.

With a baby coming into the world, we also needed to make accommodations at home. The office became the nursery. And, the extra room had to finally become the Costa Room (sun room dedicated to our honeymoon location - Costa Rica) it was intended to be. Which will also be the office.

Crystal’s brother Frankie moved to our lovely city early in the year. It wasn’t too long before he got a great job offer at a local hospital, which is all of a 6 minute drive from his place. It’s been awesome to have him here with us.

Finally! After 10 months of anticipation, a little boy (for those who’ve forgotten, we opted not to find out gender) came into our land. Outside of accepting Grace and our wedding day, Friday, August 11th 2006 was the best most amazing awe-inspiring humbling awkwardly beautiful day of lives. We have such outstanding memories of that weekend spent at St V Women’s. And, the moments keep piling on every day. Being parents is…well, it’s really difficult to explain. But, it really makes us think much more of Christmas this year and of what He meant here.

As if August wasn’t a big enough month, we had quite the dramatic September weekend. Out and about for their first walk in the stroller on the Monon, Crystal and LA arrived back to the Xterra to find that it had been broken into. Crystal’s wallet was stolen and the passenger side front window was busted in. While we have faced some financial loss, and legal proceedings still in progress, we are so joyous that it was nothing more severe and that wife and baby were safe and healthy. But, the real joy of September was our finding out that our beloved friends, Ty and Rachel, were expecting their first. They actually found out themselves the day Crystal went into labor with our LA! How cool is that?! Baby Miller is expected 4/17/07…give or take.

Another highlight of the month was the opportunity for Amos and Crystal to whimsically renew their vows with hundreds of others during a weekend service at Northview Christian Life Church. And, LA got to be right in the middle of them while they committed vows all over again.

The autumn month of October brought us much travel as LA was old enough that we finally felt comfortable getting him out and about. His first pumpkin was purchased by Papa during a beautiful Saturday down in Brown County. Amos also greatly enjoyed the opportunity to share with his son one of his favorite family traditions…the Turner bonfire/hayride on a farm in central Indiana.

November brought Crystal and LA a unique opportunity to tag along with Amos to New York City for a business trip. It was a fantastic time that could have been an otherwise very lonely 5 days for Amos. LA was awesome on the plane and we got to see a lot. Did you know New York City is pretty big?

The Thanksgiving holiday was especially precious this year as we spent time with family that we haven’t seen for ages and got to show off our son even more!

In addition to the anticipation of sharing our first Christmas with our baby boy, and all the joys that come along with loving/giving to your own child, December brought us the opportunity to dedicate LA at our church and enjoy a wonderful weekend with family that weekend. We are so blessed with so much this Christmas season! Indeed, a pivotal and wonderful year.

Looking ahead...

While we won’t pretend to try and predict what our path holds for 2007, we do have some things to very much look forward to.

A bittersweet junction in the direction Amos and Crystal’s ministry has come to pass. We reflect on the amazing moments and everlasting impact Northview Christian Life Church has had on us and through us, while looking forward to all the amazing things that The Well will mean in our lives. The Well is a church plant that we are heavily involved in. With the support of Northview Christian Life, many others in the Church and God, we aim to minister to the Fishers area as a missional community of Christ-followers.

In other fine news, we will be Uncle Amos, Aunt Crystal and Cousin LA twice over as Frankie will become a father next summer! In other family news, it is highly likely that Papa and Nana (Crystal’s parents) will be departing their home in Valparaiso for one closer to us kids/grandkid(s).

Schedules have finally all aligned and we’ll be taking our first family vacation with Amie (Crystal's sister), Todd (the husband) and Christian (the cute little man -- LA's only cousin as of now) when we go house boating with Crystal’s side of the family in late July.

And, Crystal starts nannying two 3 1/2 year old twin boys for a close friend of hers a few times a week in January. I’m sure there will be plenty of stories told in this space regarding their interaction with LA in the coming months.

Heck, maybe Crystal will even have another baby inside of her before we close the new year! 2007, friends, is upon us. Have a Blessed and wonderful Christmas season!