2024 - Nolan Alone

In 2024 we realized that despite being 8 years old, Nolan had never been featured as the star of the family Christmas card. It was also the year we accepted the reality that he's a little hellion with similarities to many of your favorite troublemakers from pop culture history. Dennis the Menace, Bart Simpson, and of course, Kevin McAllister from Home Alone. Recognizing how quickly he's growing and suspecting by next year he'll probably have a mustache; we wanted to take advantage of this time of life.

Nolan was a superstar throughout the photo shoot. It was actually a bit disconcerting how well he knew how to pump gas. "Dad, I usually prefer filling up with high-octane ga- I mean never mind I'm 8 I don't know how to drive haha. Anyways..."

We're really pleased with how the card turned out. And of course, we need to clarify that if we ever discover we'd accidentally left one of our kids home on a trip, we would NEVER wait three days before flying home. Two days tops.

2023 - European Vacation

We were fortunate in 2023 to have the opportunity for our entire family to travel with Julie's parents, Steve and Josie, back to their respective home countries of Hungary and Ireland. It was a dream-come-true for Julie to take her parents back to their hometowns and show our kids where their grandparents grew up. It was also a dream-come-true for Kevin who'd always wished for the experience of renting a station wagon and driving seven people across Europe for three weeks. Magnificent.

The trip was absolutely amazing for all the reasons we hoped it would be. Sure, there were the requisite challenges (e.g. losing our luggage in Budapest for three days, Steve getting bitten by a bat in Austria, etc.). You know, the typical things. 

Nonetheless we survived and are so grateful we were able to complete this once-in-a-lifetime trip. And we're happy to say that (so far) Steve hasn't shown any signs of rabies.