Christmas Recap

Christmas 2007 brought the opportunity to spend time with many wonderful people in our lives.

Tanya, Kelli's cousin, along with Kelli at the Borchelt family Christmas. There must be something in the Indiana water.

It was such a blessing to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with both sides of our immediate family. (Right) Our niece, Hannah, is showing Uncle Matthew where Santa Clause came down the chimney at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

We were excited to spend time with Tiffany, Kelli's best friend from high school. She was in town from Germany where she and her husband now live.

2007 Year In Review

What a joyful time of year! And what a year it was.

Let’s recap
2002 – married; 2003 – purchased first home; 2004 – Matthew switched jobs; 2005 – Matthew switched jobs back; 2006 – moved to Fort Wayne. With events like these, it was interesting to see what 2007 would bring.

Work abounds
Most of our time has been focused on work. Kelli is in her second year teaching second grade. This year she has 14 girls and 3 boys which have brought new experiences and fresh challenges. Matthew is enjoying his work as an advancement officer. He has been blessed to know many wonderful people throughout the country that share in the mission of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Travel, vacations, and trips, oh my!
The year began with an exciting event on a beautiful March day. Kelli’s brother Scott joined hands in marriage with Holly, a delightful addition to our family.

In April, we got away during Kelli’s spring break and went to Fairfield Bay, Arkansas. The highlight of the trip was getting to spend a day with Kelli’s good friend Heidi, who lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The summer brought more trips, but this time with the rest of our family. In July, we took to the mountains of North Carolina with Kelli’s parents and siblings, Mark and Lauren. Later in July, we ventured to Omaha, Nebraska, for another great wedding. Kelli’s cousin Joel got married to a cornhusker. While in Omaha, we parted ways with Kelli's family and hitched our way north to South Dakota. We spent a couple days tooling around Sioux Falls and then met up with Matthew’s parents, sister, and niece. It was a fun time together getting to see relatives in South Dakota and Iowa.

As fall moved in, we saw another opportunity to get away. This time we ventured to St. Joe, Michigan. We spent three days getting acquainted with the community off Lake Michigan along with friends from Chicago and their two year old son.

2008 – A new baby, a new home
So what’s on our agenda for next year? If you haven’t heard, Kelli is expecting and due with our first baby on February 22nd. We imagine that will take a large part of our focus in the coming year.

It’s a …
Ultrasound picture of little Leighty at 27 weeks.

We also look forward to progress on the building of our new house.

Leighty Lane
Actually, it’s the driveway that leads to our future house.

As we look back at the past year, we are thankful for your support, love, and prayers. This Christmas it is our prayer that the Lord, who gave us the ultimate gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, will fill your home with peace and your heart with joy.

Welcome to Fort Leighty!

Greetings family and friends and welcome to what we call Fort Leighty. It's a way for loved ones across the country and around the world to learn and see what's going on in our lives. Keep in mind, through our blog we are unable to offer warm cookies with a nice glass of milk. You'll have to visit us in Fort Wayne for that (3 hour minimum for the cookies and milk). But here, unlike our home, you are able to visit often, at any time of day, and stay as long as you like.