We started out 2008 with a bang, with a ski trip to Sunrise on the Apache Indian Reservation in Northern Arizona. Nathan and his brother Ricky taught Joanne to ski and she took to it like a fish to water. In February, Joanne flew to the Association of SAP User’s Group Meeting in Florida. In March, Joanne visited Canada where it was very cold and snowing. Too bad she couldn’t sneak away from work to do some skiing.
On St. Valentine’s Day we found out that we would be expecting a new family member in 9 months. This pretty much affected the events of the rest of the year. The news was broken in March and then the new grandmas came to visit. Nathan’s mother, the self christened GiGi, visited late in March. Nana, Joanne’s mother, visited in early April.
After having left Shell and getting a job with Prudential Properties the previous year, Nathan quit his job to find a greener pasture on the last day of March. This was a tough decision, but finding the right work environment was deemed too important. He took this time off to create a dog house for Jack and Lucy since with a new baby on the way they would be spending a lot more time outside. This doghouse is fully insulated, elevated off the ground and has a radiant roof barrier. It is shingled with a cover mini porch. Of course, Jack and Lucy act like they got in with a subprime loan and were evicted. After many interviews and lots of waiting, Nathan got three offers the week before he and Joanne left for Italy. He and Joanne chose Avanade, a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft and Accenture. It wasn’t the highest paying but it offered the most cutting edge experience and the best culture.
With that behind us, we were able to fully enjoy the vacation in Italy. Early on, it was decided that a caravan (motor home) vacation was the best way to see as much of Italy as possible in the two weeks we were there. We were picked up in Milan and got the motor home in Lago Maggiano Italy. We then drove to Lake Como for Hazel and Herman’s wedding. It was a beautiful wedding with fireworks and bagpipes, not to mention the best food we had in all of Italy. After the wedding we drove down the western coast of Italy and visited Pisa, Anzio, Rome, Naples, Pompeii and Sorrento. In Rome, we went to an audience with the Pope where he blessed us and the unborn baby. We then continued back up the east coast and visited Florence and Venice before returning to Milan. I highly recommend Sorrento and Venice. Venice was extremely laid back and helped relieve a lot of tension we had. The caravan was mostly brilliant, but very scary on some of those narrow cliffs near Sorrento or the narrow streets of Anzio and other small towns. We did get a bit screwed with the motor home because they made us pay for damage that was already there. If you try this, stay away from Avis camper and do a very thorough walk through. Otherwise caravan tourism is awesome! Shopping at the local stores and trying to find parking led to some of the greatest discoveries of the trip. Plus you can stop anywhere and eat or take a nap (this is very important when you are pregnant).
After she returned home, Joanne took business trips to Dubai and to Rio de Janeiro. She was able to visit with her family and show off the basketball under her shirt. Rio was fun too, but Joanne was feeling sick for a day or so. Luckily it was probably some bad fish and nothing serious. She was able to ride in a cable car and see the Jesus statue that looks out onto the harbor.
After returning home, Nathan began his new job with Avanade. His first assignment was MD Anderson Cancer center. This was a great assignment that lasted until the first week in November. In September, he went to his first FlyBack in Florida, but Joanne couldn’t go because she was too pregnant. FlyBack is an Avanade corporate event with food and drinks in a resort. The employees go to seminars during the day while the spouses sit by the pool. Nathan was told that as long as he worked at Avanade, all future children will be scheduled around FlyBack, because Joanne didn’t want to miss another one.
The next few weeks were a flurry of baby showers and packing for the hospital. Hazel threw Joanne a baby shower, and so did the girls from work. Mom even threw a baby shower in Tucson for our friends and family there. Nathan had grown weary of trips to Babies R Us to update the baby registry and buy items that may or may not be needed. Luckily Nathan had purchased an electric screw driver, because he was going to be doing quite a bit of assembling with all of the amazing gifts. Joanne spent many hours reading up on the pending change to prepare herself.
Anyone would agree it was an amazing year up until this point, but the day before Joanne’s birthday it became even more incredible. On October 8th, 2008 at 8:45am, Nathan James Church was born. James was chosen as the middle name for the many influential Jameses on both sides of the family, but especially our grandfathers. Nathan James was a big one at 9lbs 2oz, and Joanne did the whole thing au naturale.
After the birth, GiGi and Nana each came to visit their newest grandson. Nana took a ton of pictures and Nathan James was the star at her aqua aerobics class the week she returned to Dubai. Nathan’s brother Ricky and Joanne’s sister Jessica both agreed to be Nathan James’s godparents at a ceremony to be held sometime in 2009.
The adjustment to parenthood has been a major one, but Joanne and Nathan are taking it in stride. After a few rough weeks, Joanne fell into the motherhood like she was an expert. Nathan is still getting the hang of the whole thing, but he has mastered the art of speed diaper changes to avoid getting sprayed. Nathan James laughs at all of his dad’s silly jokes which only encourages more of them.
Well we hope this little window into our year brings you into the loop for those who may have missed some of it. It was an extremely busy year, and we are thankful for the many blessings and good fortunes we had. We are also thankful to have friends and family like you to share our experiences with, and hope that next year you can be a part of more of it too!
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