Ohio Chronicles 2024

Merry Christmas
and
Happy Holidays!

Best wishes for
a wonderful
2025!

Love,
The Elia Family

After many months of planning, Zack and Sarrah got married in April! There is a dedicated section below for all the wedding details.

They ended up taking two trips for their honeymoon in September: a week in Hawaii and a cruise to the Bahamas. For Hawaii, they flew into Maui and went stargazing at the top of Haleakalā, hiked the coastal trails, attended a lū'au, visited friends on Oahu, and went to the beaches many times. For the cruise, they admired the brand new Utopia of the Seas, attended all the shows they possibly could, took a tour of many crew only areas, ate a ton of food, and enjoyed Coco Cay. To top off all their travel, they visited Ohio shortly after to celebrate with family friends.

Zack has been thoroughly enjoying his new role as a mobile software engineer and Sarrah has just started in her new position as a project manager.

I cannot believe how time flies. Jackie turned 21 and is in her final year at Miami University. After being awarded her third departmental scholarship and completing her third summer internship, Jackie started the school year with her signed job offer in hand for after graduation. She even took the leap and negotiated her salary! With the cold realization dawning on her that she now is going to have to work full-time for a while, she decided to delay her work start date for a month in order to get some traveling (and resting!) in beforehand.

Due to the quirky nature of her combined BS/MS program, she graduated this December with her bachelor's degree (summa cum laude!), and then will graduate again in May with her master's degree. After much consideration, Jackie has decided to also pursue a CPA license. She has begun studying over winter break and plans to take the first section in January. Send good vibes her way!

Jackie continues to entertain us with her sarcastic sense of humor. She often has “genius ideas,” which, unfortunately, we must discourage since they are often illegal. She has strong convictions and we frequently end up pausing the nightly news for discussions. We appreciate that she helps us understand things from the Gen Z perspective.

Peter has had a few medical issues this year, but he prefers to focus on all the wonderful things that have happened for his family. He could not be happier with the addition of his new daughter-in-law, Sarrah, and all the new family this now includes... We're talking about you Eirrynn & Tyler! He's also so proud of Jackie and all her hard work and accomplishments. As Jackie says, “someone in this house has to go to work!”

After living with us for close to two years, Peter's mother, Carol, moved to an independent senior living facility a few minutes away. He tells her how the entire neighborhood loved the huge parade we had the day she moved. He also delights in telling friends, especially Nick next door, how his mother “is no longer with us” and that “she's in a better place now.” At least Peter's humor is still right on brand, as is his mom's! Carol is enjoying herself, and we joke that she's slowly becoming the mayor there - she knows everyone by name, is serving on the Welcome Committee for new residents, and participates in many activities.

Peter is really looking forward to a special upcoming family cruise this spring, and of course being able to get back to his drums and back on the ride-on mower when possible.

Some pre-op fun with Charley

Enjoying time with his favorite people... and Craig

I chose “reconnect” as my word for 2024. Although I didn't get to everyone, I made a great effort to spend time with as many people as I could. I also vowed to get pictures of it along the way. In addition to the wonderful celebration with family and friends at Zack and Sarrah's wedding, I spent a glorious weekend with some dear friends from high school - the first time we had all been together in 35 years! It was amazing how once we were together that it seemed like no time had passed at all.

My finance obsession continues and I was able to expand the number of people who are willing to ramble on endlessly about money topics together. It's been wonderful and my family appreciates that I have other outlets for this passion instead of just them. Determined to learn more about taxes, I've spent a good deal of time in some self-study on the topic. Recently I joined the AARP Tax-Aide program where they train you to become certified as a tax preparer and you then volunteer by preparing tax returns for seniors for free during tax season. I'm excited!

Just in case you think I'm completely boring (OK, I am), I decided to add some fiction books back into my life. Having never read Harry Potter, I decided to start with that and I quickly devoured the entire series. I'm now reading them a second time while also listening to a chapter-by-chapter book club podcast. If you are not screaming "NERD!" in your head by now, I would be surprised. Peter even agreed to watch all the movies with me. While I fancied myself a Ravenclaw, I've had to begrudgingly accept that I am a Hufflepuff (IYKYK). Here's to trying to embrace my inner 'Puff!

ABOVE: Rocking it in the '80s.

BELOW: 35 years later and we haven't aged a bit!

Misty is still a sweetie and Ollie is still insane. He loves to knock down our possessions and then steal them. He hasn't slowed down a bit and can be heard zooming throughout the house at all hours. Misty usually looks at him in disgust, but does join in at times. They are often together which is very sweet to see.

Mochi and Matcha are now 4 and 3. Mochi is most often playing with her mouse toys and Matcha is always looking for pets and snuggles. They also love looking at birds in the bird feeder and are very jealous when the outdoor strays get wet food.

Zack and Sarrah had a video call with Charlotte nearly every weekend leading up to the wedding to plan for every last possible detail. They had their ceremony and reception at a historic venue in Maryland in their garden area. Despite being in the rainy month of April, the day of the wedding had perfect weather and all details were executed flawlessly. They hosted both a rehearsal dinner and a breakfast the next morning in the area before saying goodbye to everyone.

Earlier in the year, they also planned a joint bachelor/bachelorette party in Gatlinburg, Tennessee with their entire friend group.