Just like old times (but without the injuries)

Looking back on it now from New Year's Eve, I have to say that 2007 has been a decent year. I would have said "a good year," but as my dad's original draft of the family Christmas letter pointed out, there were lots of lowlights—from the burglary at my home church to my Grandpa Don's near-fatal experience. Although it should be noted that there were also silver linings to such clouds and that my parents later revised the Christmas letter to make it less of a bummer, the bottom line is that 2007 was probably not the best year of our lives. That said, it sure has ended well.

First, I survived my final exams at Luther Seminary and even managed to have some fun on my birthday, which came two days before the deadline for three of my final papers. Then, I found out that my cousin, Erin, and her husband, Aaron (yes, Erin and Aaron), welcomed a baby boy, Samuel Harland. His middle name was given in homage to my Grandpa Dick (his real name was not Dick but Harland—funny thing about names in my family), and my Grandma Alice, now a great-grandma, is thrilled. Then came Christmas in Wisconsin, which was absolutely terrific. We got to celebrate with both sides of Tracy's family and then headed up to Green Bay on Christmas Day, which was particularly special because we had my Grandpa Don there with us, and we all had a good time despite the change in his condition.

In the days since, we rounded out the year by revisiting some memorable experiences from years prior. On the day after Christmas, Tracy and I went sledding with my longtime friends, Scott and Sonya, and their 2-year-old daughter, Clarissa, on the hill behind our old grade school. This was significant because it was the first time I had gone sledding with Scott since a certain snow day nearly 15 years ago. It was on that occasion that, after Scott and I took his "Batman: The Animated Series" sleds to the outskirts of our still-developing subdivision and climbed a barbed wire fence to reach a suitable hill, I crashed into a snow bank and got myself a spectacular black eye.

Amazingly, 15 years later, Scott brought along the same Batman sleds for us to use. Even so, there were thankfully no black eyes this time. There was one comical moment in which I crashed my Batman sled into Scott, who had fallen over in front of me after foolishly attempting to surf down the hill (Tracy captured this comedy gold in the series of photos above). Scott actually fell over a lot, and Clarissa in the days since has apparently been quoting me by calling her daddy a "drama queen" for his antics.

The next day was bittersweet but unforgettable. Tracy and I attended a funeral at my home church for a 95-year-old woman named Margaruite who was a faithful inspiration to others right down to her dying breath. Then, our week in Wisconsin culminated with a visit to Appleton with my folks. It was the first time in many years that I visited Appleton with my parents, who would take me to the nearby Fox River Mall almost every weekend when we lived in Neenah and still brought me there regularly after we moved to Green Bay.

It was a particularly memorable trip for the four of us. Revisiting the mall brought back memories not only of my visits there with my folks as I grew up but also of the several times that Tracy and I went there—it was at the mall's Kirkland's store, which is now going out of business, that I first hinted at the possibility of Tracy and I getting married ("Maybe we could get something like this for our house someday").

We also had dinner at Good Company, a fantastic two-story restaurant in Appleton. It was there that, as a young child, I once infamously hurt myself while playing "blind man" by walking into a large piece of furniture at the top of the stairs. The four of us were seated at a table just past that spot. I kept my eyes open this time, and again, thankfully, I suffered no injuries.

Now, Tracy and I are back in Minnesota. We have continued to have a great time while enjoying the remainder of our days off from work and classes. If all's well that ends well, then 2007 turned out pretty well.

Here's praying for a black-eye- and bruise-free 2008 for all of us.