Merry Christmas family and friends!
If you have already received our 2015 Christmas card in the mail, know that our family has been praying blessings over you this season. As we address and send each card, we pray blessings over your family and we hope that these blessings are flowing abundantly as you enjoy a season full of joy and peace celebrating the birthday of our Savior, Jesus Christ!
Our family has had a year full of blessings and we would like to share them with you in our Snapshot of 2015!
January
The Shackelfords really got a taste of Winter in the Midwest this year, starting in January with the first significant snowfall and dropping temperatures.
February
We celebrated Elizabeth's 8th birthday on February 1st with a special day at American Girl Place Chicago, and in doing so, braved the blizzard that Elizabeth decided God sent "just for her". :)
March
March madness was better than ever this year as Keith attached a basketball hoop to the TV so we could all get a piece of the action!
St Patrick's Day was celebrated as always with creative touches of green throughout the day. Elizabeth's face when she received green oatmeal on the 17th was priceless...
April
We were blessed to spend this Easter with the Smith family at Zion United Methodist Church in Greensburg, IN
May
Elizabeth had the exciting privilege of participating in Harrison Street Elementary School's first Science Fair! Elizabeth chose an experiment involving Peeps, which was a great use for leftover Easter candy!
June
June was filled with family and fun, which is exactly why we wanted to be back in the Midwest. We were blessed to participate in a whirlwind of family celebrations all month long! Our neice Anna graduated from high school AND celebrated her 18th birthday in June! We also had the privilege to celebrate with Betsy's cousin Melina as we welcomed her fiancé Paul to the family at a fabulous and fun wedding and reception held in the Chicago area. With family still in town following the wedding, we experienced Geneva at one of their biggest and most popular events Swedish Days.
July
July was a very exciting month for the Shacks!! On July 1st, we closed on our new home in Geneva, IL! We feel blessed beyond measure and are falling more and more in love with our new community everyday.
Fourth of July was quiet and fun as we played outside in the pool, barbecued ribs, and watched local fireworks from the convenience of our backyard.
Two weeks after closing on our new home, we traveled to Greensburg to celebrate Maddie turning two with a backyard BBQ! That weekend was the Decatur County Fair and we took in all the familiar sights, sounds, and smells (yum, fair food!) with family and friends.
We have always wanted to take the girls to Purdue University to show them around our old stomping grounds. When our friends, the McIntires decided to make a stop in West Lafayette on their Summer vacation from Florida, there was no better time! We spent the day sightseeing, taking pictures (despite the rainy weather) and enjoyed an amazing dinner at the Kerkofs home reminiscing with a huge group of college friends!
August
Our sweet neice Katelynn turned 3 in August and we celebrated at the Smith Family Farm with a Bubble Guppies birthday party! On the way back to Geneva, we decided to give Elizabeth and Madison the fun experience of eating dinner in an Oasis. They both had a blast watching the cars go by on the highway as we ate dinner.
The remainder of time before Lizzie started school was a mad dash to get the new house settled and ready to begin the school year, which of course included a few projects here and there.
August 19th was Elizabeth's first day of 3rd grade! Along with the start of school is the start of extra-curricular activities. This year Elizabeth has chosen to restart piano lessons after taking last year off during our moving transition and she is playing beautifully! She has also chosen to continue her membership in Brownies and is making many new friends and learning valuable life tools through this experience. We allowed her to choose 3 activities this year and for her third activity she has chosen a program at our church called AWANA. She learns scripture, has time to worship and play, and is also enjoying time with new friends on her team. This has also become a new commitment for Betsy and Madison on Wednesday night, as Betsy is volunteering as a team leader for 3-5 grade girls and Madison is in a childcare program for volunteers called KidZone.
September
To kick off Labor Day weekend, we all took the train into downtown Chicago to visit the Sears (Willis) Tower and see Keith's office. Keith began his position as Senior Engineer with United Airlines in August of 2014. His office is located on the 26th floor of the Sears tower! We were all brave enough to step out on the Skydeck 103 floors above the streets of Chicago and look straight through to the ground!
Betsy's birthday weekend was celebrated with a trip to Kuiper's Pumpkin Farm! It was a beautiful day spent climbing, sliding, navigating the corn maze, sipping apple cider slushies, and topped off with a hayride to the pumpkin patch!
October
It was another cold Halloween in the Midwest and this year our girls braved the trick-or-treating adventure in the RAIN!
Elizabeth still had a blast as a beautiful witch and our little Dalmatian still didn't care much for trick-or-treating. She was much happier staying at home by the fireplace handing out candy to the neighborhood kids.
November
November has been very busy with projects, more unpacking, and settling into our new home. Elizabeth loves being outside raking leaves and on a warmer November weekend, she actually got the chance to jump into the huge pile!
We hope that you have enjoyed our snapshot of 2015! We have many fun events planned and look forward to celebrating this Christmas season with family and friends! May you be blessed this Christmas season and throughout the year ahead!
Love and God bless,
Keith, Betsy, Elizabeth, and Madison
