Merry Christmas!

“There is nothing wrong with change, if it’s in the right direction.”
– Winston Churchill

Indeed, change has been the theme of the year in the Lefler household. For this year’s Christmas Letter, we’d like to share with you some of the changes we’ve experienced in 2007.

As much as we loved gazing out our front window at the beautiful Rocky Mountains and basking in the mild weather in Fort Collins, Colorado, we opted for a change of scenery. In the spring, we both felt it was time to get closer to our families and move to Lincoln, Nebraska. Mike moved to Lincoln in late April while Lisa was able to call the Cornhusker State home on June 15th. Mike’s sister, Marcia, and her husband, Casey, were gracious enough to let us reside in their newly finished basement and even provided an occasional meal for us (which they did not need to do). Without them, the transition would not have been nearly as smooth.

For the first time in his life, Mike dove into a career away from athletics. On May 1st he started as a Community Manager for the American Cancer Society. In this position, he coordinated Lincoln’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, raising nearly $150,000 during a rainy Sunday afternoon in October. Mike’s position changed when he was promoted to the Regional Director of Communications in September. He is now currently responsible for media relations, public relations and marketing efforts for the American Cancer Society in the state of Nebraska.

After a three-year break away from U.S. Bank, Lisa returned to her former employer on July 5th. She is now a Treasury Management Sales Consultant, which involves assisting commercial customers with cash management. She is enjoying traveling within Nebraska and even the occasional trip to a neighboring state. She stays busy in her new position and has yet to figure out what it’s like to work “banker’s hours”.

Much of our free time this year was spent moving and getting settled into our new home. We closed on the house on August 2nd and love to have a bigger yard (more to mow) and finished basement (more to vacuum). If you ever find yourself in the neighborhood, we’d love to have you drop in and we always have our spare bedroom open for guests.

One of the biggest highlights of our year came on November 9th when Marcia and Casey became the proud parents of Evan Stanley Foster! He’s been an exciting addition to the family and we enjoy getting to see him grow up just 10 minutes away from us.

The move has also brought us closer to Lisa’s family in Minnesota. Instead of needing to reserve a plane ticket to visit them, now we just hop in the car and head four-and-a-half hours north for a weekend in the “North Country”. They’ve also made numerous visits to our new home including a surprise visit on Mike’s 30th birthday. We look forward to many more visits with Lisa’s sisters and their families as well.

Along with the joys of many changes, 2007 also included a sad goodbye to Mike’s grandma, Gladys, who was 93 years young. We miss her dearly and think of her often, especially her competitive edge that showed through in the millions of card games she played with her family.

Through all of the changes in 2007, we are thankful that God was with us the entire way and has blessed us with wonderful people in our lives. We look forward to a less eventful 2008 and wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and the best New Year ever.

All the best,

Mike and Lisa Lefler