Merry Christmas

I thought I would post this year's Christmas letter and our picture. We wish all of you a Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
This year has brought us so many blessings and has gone by quickly, as I am sure it has for you too. We wanted to share with you all that we’ve done this past year.

Jeff continues to work at Expedia, Inc as a Senior Financial Analyst and enjoys his work. Jeff was a Super-Dad during Spring Break and took the kids to California to visit family while Kristen stayed home to attend school. He kept himself busy through the summer on home projects in preparation for selling our house.

Kristen continues to study hard in nursing school. Each quarter gets harder and harder, but she knows the reward will be great at the end in June 2009. When she is not in school, she enjoys spending time with the kids, cooking (which can be a rare thing during school), and reading. Because of her limited time, blogging has now taken the place of scrapbooking.

Haley (8) – This year Haley graduated from 2nd grade and now loves 3rd grade more than ever. She participated in a cheer clinic and danced and cheered at a high school basketball game. Haley’s biggest event this year was turning eight and being baptized in our church. It was a wonderful day and she was so happy surrounded by supportive family and friends.

Sydney (6) – She graduated from Kindergarten and just loves first grade. She loves being in school all day. Sydney lost a few teeth this year and learned how to ride a bike on her own. She repeatedly told us that when she couldn’t sleep at night, she practiced riding her bike at 2am in the garage. She continues to bring life to our home, and there is never a dull moment.

Both Haley & Sydney took gymnastics class and swimming lessons and loved every minute of it. They are now taking piano lessons. Both truly have a musical gift and are always fighting over who plays the piano. We have enjoyed hearing them play Christmas songs this season, and they are quite good.

Drew (3) – He is growing up so fast. He moved from a crib to a big bed and potty trained in a matter of days (including keeping dry at night – hurray!). He is so bright, smart, and just so much fun to be around. He constantly keeps us laughing.

Here are other activities that happened this year. In January, Jeff and Kristen celebrated their 10 year anniversary. Last December, we took a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise to celebrate 10 wonderful years together. In February, we held our second annual Couples Valentines Party. We had so much fun and each couple got to know each other a little better. In July, we went back home to California to attend 2 family reunions, Jeff’s brother’s wedding and made a pit stop at Disneyland. After our 18 day trip and driving all over the Golden State, we put 3,000 miles on our car. While on vacation we sold our home of 3 years. Kristen was reluctant at first, but we both felt based on the short-term outlook of the housing market it was the right time sell to allow us the liberty to move back to California as soon as Kristen is done with school. In August, all the kids celebrated a combined birthday pool party. With school underway, life is busy as usual. We are grateful for supportive family and friends and we feel very blessed this time of year as we celebrate Christ’s birth. May the blessings of this season last you throughout this year and the year to come.

All our love this season, Jeff, Kristen, Haley, Sydney & Drew