No Excuses...

Wow!?! July was my last post? Looks like I should have waited a little longer and I could have made it a whole year! I am horrible! I wasn't getting too bent out of shape about not posting anything to our blog, then I had a day of rememberence...and was looking back, seeing pictures of Victoria, watching her video and reading stories and realized that I needed to do this more often. It's a great way for me to track whats happened in our life. A public journal, I suppose...

So since July.... A whole lot has happened! It might just be easier to post our Christmas letter...

A Year in Transition…

2009 certainly gave us a lot to be thankful for! There was renovating and there was relocation. There were birthdays to celebrate and unfortunately deaths to mourn. We had visitors and we did some visiting. There were many many things going on that we found ourselves in transition.

Erica has celebrated four great years with Wells Fargo. She, in my opinion, has helped reshape and compose a lot in her position tackling “Employee Life Safety”. She makes the amount of time I put in the office looks like a quick round on the golf course! For those of you, who know Erica well; know she always has tasks and planning “that needs to get done…”

I am gratefully still employed with Thomson Reuters as a Senior Inside Sales Consultant. In celebrating another great year in sales, I earned us a trip to Barcelona Spain as part of our “Presidents Club”. Erica wasn’t 8 months pregnant this time, so we were able to experience this trip together (Big Rand… Aruba will always remain close to my heart). 2009 gave us an abundance of change and transition within the walls of West and I look forward to another great and prosperous year in Corporate.

Victoria is growing like a spud! She absolutely baffles us with her drive to learn and ability retain, children are simply remarkable. She continues to make her Mom and Dad incredibly proud and happy! We spend a lot of time with our noses dug into literature. Now when I mention “literature”, I don’t mean Exodus or War and Peace… but she loves books with animals! She loves to chat, a trait inherited not just from her father. She loves trains, fish, cars, singing, dancing and the idea of having a little sister. I have the luxury of picking her up from daycare every day; even the darkest of days are immediately brightened for me when I walk through the door (I imagine many of you share that same wonderful emotion picking up your own kids).

If work, running like mad and life as a whole weren’t crazy enough, we packed up and moved to Carver, MN! We found an absolute gem that we now call home. Erica got her storage, Ted got his peace and QUIET, and Victoria got some serious room to roam! We also have enough bedrooms to add our second child… Yes, we are expecting a sister for Victoria this coming March (so stay tuned for an introduction). Erica and I are ecstatic to meet what will be the newest addition to the Wirtz and Johnson Families.

So in transition eventually arrives familiarity. And with familiarity comes comfort. 2009 has given the 3.5 of us so much to be thankful for… and transition, in a positive way, tops our list!

We look forward to seeing you when we do. And from our family to yours have a safe and wonderful Holiday Season!

Peace and Love

Ted, Erica, Victoria, Baby, Jersey and Bruce