Hello Friends and Family,

This will be a particularly long entry as we have four weeks to catch up on due to our holiday travels…so sit back and relax…

We just got back to Orlando last Wednesday night and it wasn’t until last night that both Sarah and I finally emptied our suitcases…it feels good to have everything put away. We are now settling in for a few weeks here in Florida planning and prepping for our next two trips this spring.

70 YEARS AND STILL A KID

So, what have we done this past month or so? Well, in early December my parents came down to celebrate my mother’s 70^th birthday. Apparently my mother wanted to go to Disney to celebrate 70 years of life…always a kid inside, huh? For an entire day we visited both Epcot and Disney World (Mom really wanted to see the Castle). I had never been to Disney during the Christmas season so it was interesting to see how it was decorated. A highlight was taking in the mosaic mural that is in the tunnel that goes through Cinderella’s Castle. If you have never seen it when visiting Disney World it is worth a close look…the quality of the whole piece is tremendous.

For a few other days my parents assisted us in taking care of some small home renovation projects. Sarah has been working on the condo for several years and had completed most of the big projects. But, there are still a few minor projects needing completion like, door knobs, painting, and hanging small cabinets, etc. It was great to have my parent’s assistance in this for a short time.

STRIPED STOCKINGS AND THOMAS THE TRAIN

On our way up to Maryland for the Holidays we stopped by Waynesville, NC to visit my friend Luke and his family. I had met Luke back in my early days in New York City right after he completed his Masters in painting from the New York Academy. He is a talented painter and he and Renee his wife have established a great home in NC complete with log fires in the fire place and 4 wonderful kids. Check out his work at http://www.lukeallsbrook.com. He has a show going on right now through February in Georgia: Mary Pauline Gallery, 982 Broad Street, Augusta GA 30901, www.marypaulinegallery.com

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

The whole family was in Maryland including my sister, Stacey and her husband John. We had several opportunities to see friends and supporters including a “Campus Crusade for Christ at Towson University” reunion and a reception my parents held for both Stacey and myself for those unable to attend our weddings. It was wonderful to be able to connect with friends and allow them to meet my beautiful wife.

“BEAN TOWN” AND THE COLD-er NORTHEAST

On January 1^st we traveled up to Boston for the annual Campus Ministry Winter Conference held in the downtown area. About 300 students from schools all over New York and New England gathered. I assisted as much as I could with the content for the Main Sessions as well as teach a seminar on the arts and Christianity. This year at the conference we were able to hang some of the art that was produced from last summer’s art project in conjunction with the conference “Prayer Journey”. Sarah helped a bit with this and we both helped with the breakdown of the exhibit.

TAR-HEELS AND PALMETTOS

Finally, on the 6^th of January we began the long trip down the East Coast back to Orlando. We traveled down to visit some friends in High Point (Lilly and Audie), North Carolina, and from there we visited one of the Tribeca Arts Track 2006 students we befriended (Stephen Crotts) and his family in South Carolina.

And finally we arrived back in Orlando last Wednesday night – tired, but grateful to be safely home. I wish I could go into more detail about our trip but I fear the length of this entry would bypass sanity in order to accomplish that. But please know that now that the holidays are over our blog entries will be more frequent.

We both hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Peace,

Kirk and Sarah