…You know it’s Christmas and it’s our Favorite Time of Year

Merry Christmas and I don’t know about you, but we were thrilled to see it snowing on Christmas Eve, knowing that we would have a white Christmas! As I write this at 3 am on Christmas morning with Ann & I sitting by the tree with the fire burning (on the TV) and the room full of presents, we inevitably begin talking about Christmases past and comparing different elements. I truly cherish these moments…those memories we made so long ago and now have the opportunity to share them – that’s priceless. We got to see family and friends this week. We bought and gave presents to those close to us. We enjoyed big meals and incredibly fast work days. Ya know, it’s funny how much you can cram into one work week when you know you’ll be gone until next year. Luke had a couple basketball games early in the week. Abby had a few finals and then worked much of the week. Matt worked a bunch of hours as well this week. We enjoyed all the holiday traditions our family has at this time of year. The kids had a short school week and began Christmas break. They won’t return until the second week of 2018. Ann & I are off work as well, but we’ll go back sometime during that first week. We look forward to Dad B coming next week and of course thought a lot about Mom. She always loved this whole back quarter of the year -but especially Christmas with all the cooking and baking and decorating and hosting – she really shined during the holidays… Hello again and welcome back to the Scheu Family Blog.

It was grudgingly back to work and school for the kids and I while Ann enjoyed a rare day off. We were all tired from the long day yesterday. It was a cool, drizzly day that flew by and before I knew it; I was out walking 3+ miles around the airport and campus. Matt also had the day off. He was able to come to Luke’s game that night, which was really cool. Abby went to Dixon after a day of finals – first to work then attended class with Kuyhlia, missing Luke’s game. Meanwhile, Ann & I came out to support Luke and the 8th grade A basketball team. They faced the Seymour Owls. Last year, there were a couple controversies surrounding the referees and the score keeper. There was not such drama this year. Although we started a little slow, the boys quickly got in-gear and won big, 58-39. Luke started at center and played a lot of minutes, though it could’ve been more if it weren’t for some early foul trouble. Luke’s stats: 2 points on 1-2 shooting and a pair of assists. Defensively, he had 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, a forced turnover and had 3 fouls in the first half. While the kids all went out to dinner at ElRep, Ann & I came home and watched MNF as I uploaded the video to Hudl for the athletes and coaches.

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Tuesday was a warmer day but still damp and overcast. Ann went back to work. We picked up cakes from Mary, as we do every year…and Ann had her office deliver them to the folks at the hospital. I had a long day of year-end rounds then walked a 5K afterward. Abby went in late for her 2nd day of finals so Ann & I ran Luke to school. After another day of finals, Bu went to work at Wings & Rings until late and missed Luke’s game again. Matt worked at Aspen Place then came to Luke’s basketball game again. I know it means so much to him to have that support. That evening, Luke & 8th grade Pirates A team hosted the neighboring South Decatur Junior High. The boys got off to a fast start, but the Cougars came to play and it was a tight ball game through the 1st half. Luke again started at center and played most of the 1st half. The Pirates had a 1-pt lead at the half but came out fired up in the 3rd quarter and grew the lead by 10 points. We pulled away in the 4th quarter and all the kids saw decent playing time as we again won easily, 53-37. Luke’s stats: no shot attempts but 1 assist on offense. Defensively, he had 8 rebounds, a steal, two blocks and 2 forced turnovers with no fouls.

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It was a fast day at work for Ann & I on Wednesday. It was a much warmer day, getting up in to the 50s. I walked another three-plus miles after another another long day of rounds within the EOC. It was the final day of school for the kids. We got home and the girls went out shopping before going to the dance studio for jazz and tap classes at Dixon. Matt worked at Aspen again. Luke had basketball practice then Memaw brought him home. It was a quiet night that allowed me to get caught up on my DVR’ed shows and take it easy.
Thursday was the first day of Christmas vacation for the kiddos. It was my final day of year-end EOC rounds at work then walked about 4 miles on a gorgeous afternoon. Abby & Megan made a surprise visit to see me at work just as I was headed out to exercise. It was nice to walk in the sunshine for a change! Matt worked 2nd shift again at AP. Luke spent the night at Drew’s house. Abs talked us in to meeting her and her BFFs at ElRep for dinner. It was a nice dinner with Ann & I with Bu, Megan and Britney. Later there was some high school drama that Bu had to deal with…and what a horrible time of year for her to have to be confronted with adolescent behavior… As promised, here are pictures from last weekend’s road trip to Lafayette.

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I was up and in early to do a 3rd shift fire drill and Code Blue drill on Friday morning. After a fast day, Justin & I went to the Garage Pub for lunch & a few cocktails (Dennis, Danny, Lenny & Ann all bailed on us). The kids enjoyed another day off school. Abby & Matt both worked today. Luke came home with Drew and he ended up spending the night with us. After a long lunch with Justin, I walked a couple miles in the fog & drizzle before calling it a week and coming home for vacation. Ann made pork chops and veggies for dinner and we napped on the couch, keeping warm and watching Xmas movies with the dogs. After I went to bed, the girls baked cookies until late.
The boys and I were up early and out the door on Saturday morning for our annual Christmas Eve tradition of community service. Normally we do it on Christmas Eve, but because it falls on Sunday; it would interfere with church, so they facilitated it a day early. We started with breakfast with the wrestling team. In years gone past, that was at Trackside but now that it’s closed, we’ve tried to go to Waffle House. We’ve been unable to get them to open on time – 6 am in two of the last three years. We should’ve called ahead the night before to give them a head’s up. We could see they were in there and we waited about 10 minutes, but they never opened their doors so we went to Stacks again this year. There were about a dozen of us that enjoyed a very good meal. They worked fast and had us out by 7 am. So off we rushed to the K of C’s where we volunteered our time for the Cheer Fund. We had about 20 or so of us there this year. Overall, there were about 50 people working when the event started and by the end, it was the wrestling team and a handful of other regulars. We took a group picture and said our good-byes then came home and took naps. Drew went home a little later in the morning. He was followed by Abby, who went to work a double at BWR. Matt was next, who went in around noon or so to AP to work 2nd shift. Bu went to a friend’s house afterward and Matt went to the ElRep bar with a buddy after work. Ann did more baking and ran a few errands. Luke slept most of the day. Ann & I spent much of the day under blankets, watching TV and taking naps. We woke up in time to watch the Colts, who lost another tough game. We saw snow flurries today but not accumulation, unfortunately. The weather started to turn as we hoped for a white Christmas! Here are several random pictures from our recent adventures, including more pix from Lafayette.

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Christmas Eve was on Sunday. I couldn’t sleep so I got up early to watch a Mr. Robot marathon (I had about 10 recorded on the DVR) as I got an early jump on our weekly household chores. Ann ended up getting up as well. She ran a couple errands and made chili for dinner that night. Abby & Matt both went in to work while Luke slept in then played Xbox most of the day, as we stayed inside to keep warm. It was a cold, wet, dreary day. We finally got our wish as we woke up from napping during RedZone to find it snowing pretty hard. The temps continued to drop all day and night. By the time it got dark, we had about a half inch and it was all starting to freeze. Later, our traditional routines began! First came dinner at Mom & Sandy’s house. We kept it pretty simple this year, since Mom’s leg is still healing. Memaw baked a delicious spiral ham. Gigi prepared cold cuts and cheese for sandwiches. Dee made a big chopped salad. Ann brought over her chili and we had a nice sit-down dinner. We watched the big Cowboys / Seahawks game. It was an elimination game and Dallas had Zeke back after his 6-game suspension. It didn’t help as we had three turnovers and Dak was off…sophomore slump? Matt finally got over there after getting off work a little late and we opened presents. I got lots of new Hot Wheels and some nice Tommy undies. Everybody got a bunch of really nice things and then we did our White Elephant exchange. This year’s theme was temperature. I got more HWs and a box of Pop Tarts (that I traded to Luke for more HWs). We said thank you and said good-byes as we made our way home in the cold, snow and ice. It had really dropped and made opening the doors tough. The low hit the teen’s overnight. Ann gave the kids their annual Christmas PJs…though this year (as last), they had t-shirts only. We read Twas the Night Before Christmas with the kids then the kids set out food / drinks for Santa. As has become tradition, we had milk & cookies as well as a glass Santa Coke and cheese too! The kids then headed to bed and Ann & I helped Santa wrap presents until late (well I got the gifts out of hiding, Ann wrapped them and I put them under the tree). We’ll have pictures and video from tonight next time, as I ran out of time to get them in this installment. We have lots of social media pictures to share this week.

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Next up is our Waybac segment which continues to feature our next three photo albums of our young family at the turn of the century. We lead off this week with a few pix from Matt’s camera for Ann’s birthday in January 2001; then we have Matt & Bu in a photo shoot uptown in May 2001; next we have several pictures of Matt & Abby at the 4th of July parade uptown in July 2001; Matt’s soccer picture in September 2001; Christmas Eve at Memaw & Gigi’s in December 2001; Matt’s Christmas program at Washington Elementary in December 2001; Matt & Abby decorating the tree in December 2001; then several odd pix from about 2001 – Pace, Brayton & Kenzie, Kenzie alone and one of Ann’s friends’ kids; next we head up to LaPorte for Megan’s baptism in May 2002; and we wrap up with us in our backyard pool in July 2002 – my how that background has changed!

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Next up is our video section which features six new family movies as well as several from around the internet.

And that does it for this week’s episode of the Scheu Family Blog. Thanks for keeping up with us this time out and we’ll catch up with you again next time. Until then, have a good one. We miss ya dearly miss you at this time of year, Mom. Merry Christmas…
Later, Scheu

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