Blessed by Our Guests

Christmas is going to be lean for the Wright family this year. Our new house was our gift to each other. That said, Katie and I have lamented to each other over the last couple weeks that since our budget is tighter, preparing for the holidays just wasn't as much fun as usual. In the last few weeks we have both also been struck with a much more profound joy than any gift could bring. Since Thanksgiving our family has been blessed with a wealth of visitors and each in their own special way has reminded us that true happiness comes from being surrounded by friends and family.

Our latest guests - Brenda, Irene, and Susan - were three beautiful girls from Uganda, spending the year in the United States as part of the African Childrens Choir. They are in Indianapolis during December as part of the Yuletide Celebration downtown. Although we didn't get to spend a ton of time with them, it was awesome to get to chat with them and hear about their amazing experiences in the US. The leaders of their program had asked that we not ask too many questions about their home life, as most of the children in the choir have lost at least one family member to famine or disease. While driving through the suburbs with them though I couldn't help but wonder what each girl was thinking. "Why are these houses all so big? Do people here really need all that space?" It helped remind me that the world is much, much bigger than the roads we travel each day. It reminded me that our Christmas will be far from "lean" and that I won't ever have an idea of what "lean" truly means.



In addition to our friends from Africa we had all of our family together around Thanksgiving. We hosted a brunch on the Friday after Thanksgiving and it was the first time we have had all five little girls together. Avery, Lucy, Addison, Zoe and Evelyn all in one room. It was truly amazing and caused us all to stop and realize how blessed we are and how special a time this is. Our girls will all grow up together and I'm quite sure the fun is just beginning. We're either going to add another lady to the mix or we'll bring the first boy to a crazy collection of girls.

We got to see our Fort Wayne family too, as Ted, Vicki, WT and Drew came to Zionsville on Turkey Day. It was great to see them and fun for Avery to spend some time with them as well. We also got to spend time with our dear friends Andrew & Lisa who we always have a great time with.

In the weekend that followed we had even more wonderful visitors. Some of our closest friends stopped in on their trips from Chicago to Cincinnati and from Cincinnati to Chicago. I guess that's the beauty of living in the "crossroads of America!" Ben & Michele Helmers were back in the Midwest for a wedding at Miami U and it was so great that they came to see us. Avery even pointed out her "Uncle Benny!" Mike & Gail Cicak visited that same day and were able to spend a few hours over dinner and it was so great to see them. Each time we do we wish we lived in the same city... which is what we find ourselves saying about many of our friends. But, as I've been saying, it's become so evident to us that it's these times together that we learn to cherish. I think at our age you realize that those are the true "gifts" in life.










Avery's favorite guest...




Our little beauty continues to keep us on our toes and make us smile on a daily basis. She's showing off her dancing shoes and checking out our mini Christmas tree.









Merry Christmas to all of you. May it be a wonderful time filled with true blessings,
Adam