Update from the Pingels

(click for more pictures)

Hello Everyone!!
I'm so sorry that time has gotten away from me and I haven't updated this in a couple months. I wasn't sure that many people were looking at it, but then I got a number of questions asking about it and decided I needed to act. Thanks so much to all who sent comments...I'm sorry that I was so lame in my response time :( Since my last update the holidays have been in full swing. Mike and I took a road trip up to South Bend with John and Eileen Timler for Thanksgiving week. Having the two of them along certainly helped break up a long (16 hours!) car ride.
When we were in South Bend we had the opportunity to see LOTS of people. Which was really great, but as you can imagine, also really exhausting. We were able to see all the Pingels who live in South Bend as well as all the Finkes. Matt and Carrie Urbanski graciously hosted us there which is always fun. We managed to squeeze in seeing the Barretts, the Sgrois, the Kollers (Steve and Elizabeth), the Barteks, the Kottkamps, the Zwernemans, the Stowes and many more... It was great to be there and catch up with everyone. Mike and I found it really comforting that the city had continued to grow, but also remained basically the same. Life had not changed too much in 6 months or so!
When we got back to New Orleans, we began preparing for Christmas in a new city. Mike and I decided before we even moved here that we were going to continue our annual Christmas party (which I must give a disclaimer for myself as not being part of the original group to start it...but you can't let a good thing go to waste!) So I made invitations and we sent them out. We were lucky enough to have some people stay in town just for the party (thanks Bill and Care!) and have other people get there just in time (yeah Coney family!). We even got to have Joan, Gretchen and David drive 5 hours from Shreveport to come stay with us for the party....see the picture above! That was such a special treat. The party seemed to be a success and the drinks abounded. I had fun playing Bartender, making new and interesting drinks particularly for the women. As always, the party is alot of work, but we enjoyed being able to open up our house for our first big party. We enjoyed discovering what works and what can be improved on for good party flow.
Mike and I decided to stay in New Orleans for our first Christmas. We enjoyed being low key, but it was a bit harder than I thought it would be. Lucky for us the Coney family has adopted us and invited us to all their celebrations. We were able to spend Christmas eve with them (thanks to all the cooks!) and even had a shrimp boil. I hear rumors that there are even some pictures of me out there peeling shrimp. I did eat one, but I absolutely drew the line with the crab! Peeling the shrimp was excitement enough thank you.
Just as the South Bend contingent of the Coney family returned home, my parents came into town to visit. We took them to the French quarter and market, magazine street, the zoo, down St Charles Ave, and Whole Foods. On Friday night we took them to the French Quarter and got to listen to some great jazz at Preservation Hall and have Hurricanes and Bloody Marys at Pat O'Briens. That was definitely a highlight. People here were really generous and we had meals at the Slatterys, the Coneys, the Evans and with the Reinhardts. Thanks everyone!
Life is getting back to normal just for a couple weeks. We're excited to have James and Jenni Busk coming in February probably to be followed by Mike's parents. Mike and I are trying to think of more fun things to do with all of them. Any suggestions??
Happily, with all the entertaining, I think that we are getting better at getting around the city. Things are starting to make a bit more sense and I'm starting to know the major street names....of course that only comes after getting lost a couple of times. Oh well, that's the best way to learn!
Mike is continuing to work on his company and just last night we were both working on our resumes. So pray that we can continue to follow God's path for us. Sometimes it's a little hard to find :)
We miss you and hope you miss us!
Love, Mike and Ang