Christmas in Merrillville
![](https://avoision.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/xmasMerrillville2024_07.jpg)
For a late Christmas get-together, Liz and I headed over to Merrillville, for a lovely evening/dinner at Katie and Tim’s house.
For a late Christmas get-together, Liz and I headed over to Merrillville, for a lovely evening/dinner at Katie and Tim’s house.
While we’ve visited some in the past, we’ve never actually been out on the water. We didn’t end up bringing swimsuits, so we just got the chance to drive around for a bit.
to Merrilville… to hang out with Julie and Bob, and Katie and Tim’s family. We had a big dinner planned, with folks arriving in the afternoon for drinks and gift exchanges.
We learned the Ford kids were moving on a little earlier than expected. Our plans were to try to squeeze in another visit over the weekend, but instead… we realized we needed to hop over tonight, after work, to see them once more before they left.
Tim’s father, Ray, was the officiant who did the marriage all those years ago. He was also the one who officiated last year (when they officially tied the knot). And he was the officiant today, when Tim and Katie were married in front of all their family and friends.
Ray is in the unique position to have married Katie and Tim not once, not twice, but thrice. Which seems like a very special and lucky thing, if you ask me.
Today and tomorrow are a bit weird, in that I’m staying out in Valparaiso, IN but commuting in to Chicago. I rode in with Bob early in the AM (he came in to work on our place while I was at work), but took the South Shore line back out to Valpo at the end of the day.
Post-dinner, we played a few rounds of Secret Hitler, which Katie had brought over. Last year, we played Ticket to Ride, and this year we brought over Azul.
We were in the midst of preparing veggies and things when everyone arrived. So much of the time, we all just hung out in the kitchen – cooking, drinking wine, and visiting a bit.
Liz and I left the city on Wednesday, and headed out to Valparaiso to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with Julie and Bob. Today, we mostly just bummed around the house before the festivities (and Katie/Tim’s family came over).