Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We want to wish all of our family and friends a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with happy times. Our Christmas season began Thanksgiving Day with a couple hours of snow. Nothing stuck but it was very exciting for all of us (except, maybe, Cheryl who was in town from Madison, Wisconsin looking for some warmer weather). I am excited to have a house that can accommodate my love of Christmas and all the decorations that come with it. I was able to put three trees in the living room, one in the kitchen and there is even one in the guest bathroom! Thomas isn't usually real thrilled about decorations but once they were all up and lit, he said it really looks like Christmas in the house. We look forward to the holidays and time spent with our family and friends.

Now for the annual holiday update that usually goes in the Christmas card...

This year has been quite an exciting year for us, filled with new opportunities: new job, new house and city, and big news. The most exciting news is that we are expecting our first baby in May 2008. Thomas and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little baby boy. All the grandparents, aunts, uncles and great aunts and uncles are very excited as well. The pregnancy is going well, the baby looks good and is already growing like a weed. Thomas has been a great husband from day one helping me through all of the nausea and happy times. We will keep everyone updated on the coming of Baby Winkler.

I've heard all modesty goes out the door when you have a baby so I decided to go ahead and start that early and post my funny looking belly pictures. The picture on the left is the morning of the home pregnancy test (my belly has always had the bulge above my belly button) The picture on the right is at 15 weeks 4 days. More to come.

Thomas is coaching basketball and track for Weatherford High School. He is the JV head coach and Varsity assistant for basketball. This fall we had a nice break from football and were able to enjoy football from the stands. I think Thomas has decided that not coaching football is his prefernce. I second that! Coach Ferguson, the head basketball coach, and everyone here in Weatherford have been so welcoming, making us feel at home. I will let Thomas update you on how basketball is going:

This season has been pretty good so far. The JV is 8-3 right now and 3-1 in district play. We lost our first two and then won the next 8 in-a-row. The kids are playing hard and we are having a lot of fun. The varsity kinda struggled a little bit but we think they are on the right track now. They are 7-7 and 2-2 in district. I don't know if you could ask for a better group of kids to work with. They do everything we ask them to do and they are a lot of fun to be around.

If you want to stay current on how our season is progressing you can check out our basketball team's website: http://www.weatherfordkangaroobasketball.com/

Thomas on the bench before a game

The Varsity team at a tournament in Joshua

I am still enjoying my job as a special care nursery/admissions nursery nurse. I will become a newborn nursery nurse at the beginning of the year when we restructure the nurseries. I will continue to do admit the new babies and help those that need a little extra TLC during the first few hours of life as well as take care of the new babies while mom and baby are in the hospital. I continue to be amazed every day I work of the miracle of life and how there are so many healthy babies born. And I sometimes pinch myself because I get paid to "play" with babies.

The new house is still good and it is really feeling like home now. We still only have one neighbor on our street but are enjoying the quiet. I'm sure they will start to build soon and we will miss the quiet. The guest bedroom has been broken in and is open for guests anytime, especially this summer, babysitters welcome.

Best wishes to all during this holiday season!