Merry Christmas!

Every year, we would send out Christmas cards like everyone else does. We did the metamorphosis from just cards to picture cards to letters (with pictures). For Christmas 2006, we just never got them out. We like to blame Joie because she showed up a month early and was born on Dec 22. However, truth be told, we weren’t ready to buy or mail them out anyway. In 2007, we continued the new tradition of NOT sending out cards. In the age of e-mail and Internet, we figured we could still keep in touch without having to be super organized with our time. Somehow, we just cannot get everything done that is on our list. Therefore, please do not be offended if you have not received a card from us (no one has).

This year, we are morphing into another phase. We started a family blog about two weeks ago and are posting our Christmas wishes here. You can keep up with us by subscribing to our blog either via e-mail or via one of the many feeds available.

Now, onto the actual Christmas “card”:

Heather, Olivia, Josephine, and I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic new year!

Livvi continues in Tae Kwon Do (TKD) and should be getting her red belt in mid-January! She really excels at school (2nd grade) to where she is bored most of the time. As the teachers don't have the time for her (as there are some special needs kids in her class), we've made the decision to home-school her for the remainder of the year. She reads at a better than 4th-grade level and will be starting math at the 3rd grade level in this new home-school class. We'll post further updates here in the very near future. She has also taken swimming lessons and passed Level 1. Also, per a previous post, she joined American Heritage Girls a couple of weeks ago.

Joie turned two earlier this week. She is quite the talker, though sometimes we don't have a clue what she is saying. She is getting pretty good with her words and is forming sentences as well. Oh, and she is incredibly opinionated! She loves "Go, Diego, Go" and TV in general (not a good sign). On a more positive note, she really likes books and being read to. Heather tries to take her to the library for toddler story time each Wed morning. She likes to go to Livvi's TKD class and watch. Some friends gave her a white martial arts belt to wear and she is in character! She bows before entering the room (over and over again) and does kicks and punches. We keep asking for a toddler class at TKD, but they are still considering it. Heather took her to a gym class for 30 minutes each week at the YMCA. She seemed to like that as well. She is also a pretty bright kid and, like Livvi, is a joy to be around!

Heather continues to do a great job of raising our kids! She is so kind, compassionate, and patient with our girls (and me). She is excited and nervous about being a home-schooling mom. It could be a challenge with Joie around as well! She tried something new this past year in teaching a college accounting class at Cincinnati Christian University.

I just "celebrated" my 20th anniversary at Cincinnati Insurance a couple of months ago. Sounds impressive until you think about the fact that that is probably not even half way to retirement! I also continue to serve at iMPACT Church as the pastor overseeing our finances and communication efforts. Our church is really doing great! We added a Saturday night service a couple of months ago and are now averaging around 400 each weekend! We really seem to be reaching those that need to hear the message of God's grace through Jesus. It is really exciting to be a part of this congregation!

As a family, we vacationed in Orlando, Florida back in March. In April, we stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason before going to the Cincinnati Insurance Company Associate Appreciation Day at Kings Island. We also spent the night in a hotel on Thanksgiving here in town so the kids could go swimming. I got to travel as well for work to Austin, TX, Bismarck, ND, Tallahassee, FL, New York, NY, and Hartford, CT.

Many times, we’ve been told to ponder the sacrifice Jesus made by leaving Heaven to come here and live among us, ultimately dying for our sins. How many of us would have chosen that path? You say, “Well, he is God, so it was probably easier on him.” He was equally man as well when he was here on earth, so he had many of the problems and temptations we have as well. Consider Joseph and Mary and the sacrifice they made as well. How many of us would have been (or are) as faithful to carry out God’s will? It would have been so easy to quit and/or be angry!

Consider these things this season and share the Light of Christ to others.

Merry Christmas! We love you all!

Luke 2:1-20
Glenn Beck's story of Christmas (audio)

Happy Birthday, Joie (for real this time)!

Happy Birthday to our precious daughter, Josephine! Today, she is officially two years old! She, like her sister, is such a joy to be around. She is fun, funny, silly, chatty, loving, sweet, adorable, and absolutely gorgeous! She has been such a blessing to Heather and I (and all those that meet her). Both girls make us proud daily! We love you, Joie!

I tried to get some video after her bath this morning (note slicked back hair), but she was whispering beyond comprehension. Enjoy the cuteness, nonetheless.

Happy Anniversary...

...to my parents, Frank & Betty Shaut, who, as of today, have been married 44 years! They are two very special people who have touched so many lives, especially those in their family. Thanks Mom & Dad (Ammaw & Ampaw) for being such wonderful parents, grandparents, and friends! We love you very much!

American Heritage Girls

Livvi officially became an American Heritage Girl last night. This was her second meeting, and she really likes being in this group. I was involved in cub scouts, webelos, and (for a very short time) a boy scout. I liked it and what it stood for, etc. Getting Livvi involved in a scouting group that has Christian values and is "building women of integrity through service to God, family, community and country" is a blessing. I think she will really love being a part of this group.

New York & Connecticut Business Trip

My boss, a fellow colleague, and I made travel plans to visit New York City and Hartford, Connecticut. We were to fly out of Louisville (it is cheaper...thank you Delta and CVG for ruining flights out of Cincinnati). Here is how the day unfolded on Monday:

• We left work around 9:30 a.m.
• We drove to CVG to get a rental car and park our car (you'll understand later)
• We drop to the airport in Louisville (SDF)
• Around 1:30 p.m., we flew from SDF to, yep you guessed it, CVG (someone please explain to me why it is cheaper for an airline to fly two planes than it is to fly just one)
• We started our flight from CVG to LGA (LaGuardia in New York) around 3:00 p.m.
• After about 20-30 minutes in the air and our heads nearly imploding (slight exaggeration), we were told we didn't have any cabin pressure and had to return to CVG (another 20-30 minutes back)
• Upon landing, we were told we had to get on another plane. Someone at Delta erased all the passenger names, rather than changing them to a new flights. Therefore, one-by-one, each passenger was re-entered.
• We finally took off again around 5:30 p.m. or so (we were already supposed to be in NY).
• We landed in LGA safely around 7:30 p.m.
• We did a little sight-seeing, ate some dinner, and got back to the room near 11:30 p.m.

The next day, we had our meeting at 10:30 a.m. and did a little sight-seeing before and after, before driving up to Connecticut. We had our meeting in Hartford at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday and headed to the airport after that to head back home.

• We left BDL (Hartford, CT airport) around 1:30 p.m.
• We landed in CVG around 3:45 p.m.
• We were supposed to board another plane for SDF around 5:00 p.m., but did not. We left after our flight from CT landed and headed to the car we left there on Monday. If we hadn't done that, we would have had to fly back to SDF, land around 5:30 p.m., and drive back to Cincinnati. Lovely! Thanks again, Delta and CVG!

Some pictures from our sight-seeing in New York are here.

Happy Birthday, Joie!

Today, the girls went up to the middle school to have breakfast with Santa. This weekend, we (mostly Heather and Livvi) have also been involved with our church's Christmas Store. If that wasn't enough, we also celebrated Josephine's 2nd birthday! She won't actually be two until Dec 22, but things get kinda (more) hectic later this month.

We had a small party with family and friends and had pizza, cupcakes, and ice cream. Joie had a pretty good time (as did Livvi). Both girls seem kinda tired now as they are lying down on the floor. Perhaps they will fall asleep (who am I kidding?).

The Shaut Family Blog

For the last several months, I've done a pretty poor job of updating the website (shaut.com). I've not kept up with updates or pictures. I thought it might be easier to just do a blog to keep everyone up-to-date with what is going on with us here in Cleves (Cincinnati). Hope you find it interesting and informative. Love you all!