Hello friends, family and Facebook connections – welcome to the 2009 edition of the Greco Gazette. We hope this greeting finds you healthy and happy during this holiday season. While this year was certainly a difficult one on many fronts, we are very thankful to report that we had a pretty good 2009 – and we hope you managed to do the same!

Of the three of us, Dylan probably had the most exciting year … his biggest news is that he started preschool at German School Chicago, Chicago's first-ever German-language immersion school. He attends class five days a week, and his best friends seem to be Nora, Jessica, Eva and George (3 female, 1 male ... hhmmmm). It is truly inspiring to see him learn another language. He answers questions that we ask him in German (sometimes he even answers in German), and his teachers say he is doing very well in class. (Interesting sidenote: for Kirsten and Jim, their first parent-teacher conference was a bit surreal.) Dylan loves doing the hot dog dance from Mickey Mouse Playhouse and singing every song he knows at the top of his lungs during his "nap" time. He’s definitely got his mother’s musicality. He also rocks at completing puzzles. (We've got the 2000-piece Monet ready for his 4th birthday.)

OK, a bit on Kirsten and Jim … Kirsten, enjoying her newly found time, took up sewing as a new hobby and created window valences for our house, gift baskets with napkins for the holidays and a throw pillow for our bedroom. She’s gotten quite good at it and frequents JoAnn Fabrics. And to keep the graphic design skills sharp, she designed the logo, letterhead, and several signs for Dylan’s school. Jim took on a new role at Nielsen in 2009 and is lucky enough to work from home one to three days per week. He loves having breakfast with his family more often and sometimes can be seen taking conference calls on his iPhone while walking around the neighborhood. He's also proud to say he viewed his first Space Shuttle launch in May (~8 miles away) while finishing a round of golf. That was a good day!

We managed to get away a few times this year; of course Disney World had to be on the docket (to see Aunt Missy and Uncle Bill, and some Mouse that lives nearby), and there was also a relaxing beach week in Saugatuck, Michigan with another family (and one of Dylan's best friends). As usual, Kirsten has done a terrific job capturing much of our year in pictures, so if you're the visual type we invite you to peruse the Gazette photo galleries in Dylan's Corner.

In closing, our thoughts and prayers go out to all of our family and friends for a restful and relaxing holiday season. We always enjoy getting cards and family photos, and it motivates us (i.e. Kirsten) to keep our website up-to-date as well. Drop us a line in 2010 if you can ... whether it's e-mail, Facebook poke, a good 'ol fashioned phone call, or even a visit to our neck of the woods (sorry, no Twittering). We'd love to hear from you. And to our friends in Hamburg: we'll see you next spring! We're coming over!