Holiday Greetings!

Dear Friends and Family,

Another Christmas season has come upon us, and we find ourselves looking back over the year. 2009 has been a very different year than what any of us could have ever expected. For those that don’t know, we moved to St. Louis, MO late last year so that BJ could finish school. It was so hard to leave behind all of our Utah families, but we were excited to move closer to all of our Missouri families!

This year has been an especially exciting one for Ray-Ray. He turned 1 this past March, and has since started walking, talking and CLIMBING! It shocked us all one day to walk into Ray’s playroom and find him on top of his changing table! He is really good about getting up, though the coming down part is always the hardest. As such, Ray had his first trip to an emergency room in October, as well as his first X-ray, and first cast!! Even with all that, he is still a little boy, and loves finding ways to get into everything. Recently he has started to talk more and more, he even tries to repeat back the words that we say, it is amazing how much he is learning and growing each day. We are so grateful to have Raymond be a part of our lives, and are proud to call him our son.

Amanda has had a fun year too, after leaving Utah disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to graduate from BYU, she has since discovered that the requirements for her getting a Bachelors degree have changed, and that with just a few more classes taken at a local community college, she will have her degree by the end of the summer! We are now looking at some area Universities for her to continue her education and to earn a Master’s degree! Outside of school though, Amanda has been running crazy with Ray, they are always going around to fun local activities with BJ’s sisters and Ray’s cousins. Trips to the Zoo, Science Center, History Museum, have filled our cameras with lots of fun photos, and all the memories that go with them.

BJ started going back to school at the beginning of the year. The economy made it hard to find a job to go with school, but this past June, BJ started working for a company called National Cart, he is one of 3 CAD Designers for the company, and really enjoys his work. BJ is always excited to show everyone the products that his company makes whenever we are out and about (hint, they make pretty much all the cart corrals across the U.S., and all the big metal carts you push at Lowes and Home Depot).

Well, that’s it for us; we hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

Love,
BJ, Amanda, and Raymond