Merry Christmas

After Christmas mass, Valerie and Ava took a minute to visit the nativity scene. Notice the cute hat and scarf set, a Christmas gift from Rodger. Ava was more interested in her thumb and petting the plastic animals.

Trees taste good

Ava's favorite game on Christmas eve was taking all of Valerie's famous green tree cookies, licking the cinnamon candy, and biting the top off. Sure tastes gooooood....

Our First Christmas

Valerie and Rodger celebrated their first Christmas together a few days before Christmas. After exchanging gifts, we went to the Greek Islands for a romantic dinner in the city. It was there that Rodger told Valerie that he loved her for the first time. It was also at this dinner, just two weeks after meeting each other, that Rodger and Valerie decided to take a vacation to Italy together. After dinner we met Bob McBride and some others to attend our first "Do It Yourself Messiah", where the entire audience sings along. Rodger sat in the middle of the alto section and sang in his loud, tenor voice. Others were impressed that he sang so well, and Valerie was enjoying the moment. This was a special evening together that really solidified our relationship... and ironically, it was one year to the date of our wedding day.

Christmas Ava

This is my favorite photo of Ava at Christmas time.

Christmas in New York

Valerie visited Jamie and Andrew for one last time in New York City. Some friends threw the couple a "See You Down Under" party, as they were moving to Sydney, Australia after the new year. While at the bar, Jamie and I stumbled into a "Dress up like Santa" bar crawl. While on this weekend trip, Valerie sent Rodger about 143 text messages... it may have been love, or it may have been the alcohol talkin'.

Approval of the Brothers

Days after our first date, the Jaycees had a social event to go to a Bull's Game. Since the date went well, Valerie (who was in charge of the event AND the seating arrangements) strategically placed herself near Rodger to get to know him a little better. David and Ted came in town for the game, and after meeting Valerie gave their approval to Rodger to continue to date her (that may have been after a few beers and a round of Golden Tee though!!).

The First Date

For those that don't know how the couple met:
A few days after Thanksgiving, Valerie decided to join match.com. On the day that she joined, Rodger sent her an email. Valerie was very interested in the email and liked what his profile said.... but she also thought that his photo looked familiar. Valerie replied back, inquiring if Rodger was a member of the Naperville Jaycees. His response back read: "Yes, I just joined the Jaycees, and if your name is Valerie Binkowski, then I will be at a meeting at your house tomorrow night for the Last Fling." So, it was true... Rodger and Valerie had met through the internet, but also met through the Jaycees.

After a few nights of great conversation, Rodger took Valerie on their first date to Catch 35 downtown Naperville. It was a fun evening, but there was no good night kiss as Rodger acquired a cold sore that day.