Merry Christmas! We hope this letter finds you doing well. This year has been a busy, but a great year for the Mitchell family.

We started the year on the “move” as we packed up the biggest truck Penske rents and moved to Demotte, Indiana in January. A few cheap floor lamps that were literally thrown in at the last minute were the only casualties on the trip. Jonathon was hired as Pastor of Education (fancy name for Youth Minister) at Grace Fellowship Christian Church. God has confirmed that this was the right move, as we have been blessed abundantly with an amazing church family that loved us before we even got here. We were able to stay with a wonderful and generous couple in their basement apartment for a couple of months as we looked for a house and waited for ours to sell in St. Joseph. We did sell and buy and moved into our new home toward the end of March.

We got most of our stuff moved in right in time to go with a group from our church to Mexico to serve on a short-term mission trip. This trip was just one week long, but we had a great experience. If you’ve never been on a mission trip, it’s hard to explain the impact and closeness that it brings. It was great working alongside the group of adults and teens as well as having fun, which we did quite often. There were relationships that began between us and the people of the village and church we helped, and plans have been made to go back next March over Spring Break, again.

Jonathon was ordained the end of June. It was very special to share this event with our church family, as well as both sets of our parents. Jessica’s sister Joy and her husband, Sheldon, also made the trip out for the occasion. July we were able to take a week to visit family and friends in Missouri/Kansas, as one of Jessica’s college friends was getting married.

Before we knew it summer was gone and we were kicking off new fall plans for the youth group. It was a little rocky at first, just trying to find the balance of making learning and growing fun…we’re getting there. We also have begun small groups on Sunday mornings which has been a great avenue to get to know the kids on a deeper level. Jonathon is co-leading the Jr. high boys, and Jessica is co-leading the Jr. High girls.

On November 2, our first nephew was born. Joy and Sheldon McGuire are the proud parents of Tucker James. He was 8 lbs. 14 oz. He is such a joy to our entire family! He is also the first grandbaby on both sides of his family! Jessica was able to spend an extended weekend at home a week after Tucker was born. Jonathon got to see him at Christmas and is convinced that he’ll be a Chicago Bears fan with his “favorite” uncle.

Shortly after Tucker was born, we found out that we were pregnant again! Because of the earlier miscarriage, the doctors monitored Jessica for a week or so, and then did an ultrasound to find that everything is as it should be and the baby is doing well. We are due sometime toward the end of July.

We were able to go home for Christmas a little early and got to see a lot of our family. Right after opening gifts at Jessica’s parents’ house, her brother sent out their dog with a t-shirt on that said “I’m a Big Sister, 07-07-07.” Yep, another baby on the way – in July! We also were glad to hear that Jessica’s other sister, Janese and her husband, Mike Temm, will be moving to Indianapolis to work at a church there.

We look forward to what God has in store for our family in 2007. We also miss being closer to family and friends and would love to hear from you. Check out our blog @ www.mitchellsinindy.blogspot.com. God Bless, and Merry Christmas.

Jonathon, Jessica and the “bun in the oven” Mitchell

Christmas

We have returned from celebrating Christmas with our families. We had a very good time and were thankful even for the few short days with each family. It is always great to be in the comfort and love of family. We had one big surprise that we'd like to share. Jessica's brother Jay and his wife Sheila announced that they were going to have a baby....in July!!! They are actually three weeks ahead of us, so they'll be due the beginning of July. Look at how they announced it, with their dog, Peanut! Here's a picture. It was the perfect wrap-up to the weekend!

Another New Bears Fan

Since I've been here, it has been pretty much impossible to not become a Bears fan. So I write this post with a sad heart in some ways, but with joy all the same. A couple of Mondays ago I found the Bears playing my long time favorite, the St. Louis Rams. And what I found was that I truly am a Bears fan now. I've pretty much just given in to it, and realize that it's just inevitable to be one.


Add to that the fact that when we were home this last week my new nephew, Tucker loved to sit and watch the Bears with me, solidifying my fan-ship (don't know if that's a word).

Here We Go Again

Well, for those of you who haven't heard yet, there's another bun in the oven (see outlined red box). A few weeks ago Jessica went in for some routine blood work and they called us back to let us know that they thought we (I say that like I do much in this process) are pregnant. The reason that they say that they "think" is that at the time the blood was drawn she was probably only 3-4 days along. So with the help of a couple more blood draws, we were well on our way to them telling us for sure that we are pregnant.

At this point, Jessica is about 7 weeks along. She isn't having morning sickness, it's actually day sickness that she has...all day. They did a sonogram just to find out how far along she was, becuase we had no way of knowing exactly, and thus we have our baby's first picture. We didn't get to hear the heartbeat, but we were able to see it beat. It was a pretty amazing thing to see that little blob just vibrating at 143 beat-a-minute. We'll keep you updated throughout this whole process.

Handsome Nephew

I had a great weekend visiting my parents' home a few weeks ago. I got to see my nephew who was 1 week old then. Here are a couple of pictures. Enjoy!