T'was Four Nights Before Christmas...

Christmas 2007 was definitely memorable for my family... memorable for the fact that dad wasn't celebrating with us... and memorable for the announcement of a new family member. My nephew, Jeff, is engaged! He and his girlfriend, Alyssa, have been dating about 1 1/2 years, so he thought it was time to make her a Smidt. The proposal story is pretty cool, so I will take a few moments to share. Alyssa is a junior in college, and this past semester she participated in an exchange program... so she was in California for 5 months. She returned on December 21, and Jeff agreed to pick her up at the airport in Omaha... a 5 hour drive one way for Jeff. But hours are insignificant when one is in love! Anyway, her plane was a late flight... forcing them to stay in Omaha. At 1:45 a.m., Jeff pretended to fall out of his bed. Alyssa startled and sat up to find Jeff on one knee beside her bed. Anyway, the picture was taken when they announced their engagement! We are very excited for them! At this point, the wedding is scheduled for early January 2009, but it's a jello date (it's not quite set yet). The Smidt family will be growing.

Happy New Year!