Our 2009 Christmas Letter

For our Christmas letter this year we wanted to do something a little different and creative. We decided to make our letter look like a brochure.  In the end, I don't think I liked it.  It seemed like a cute idea in my head, but when it was all finished, it didn't seem very. . . . Christmassy.  Oh, well, better luck next year!  Here is the information that was included in our Christmas letter this year:

Front page:

Merry Christmas

 

Henry B. Eyring said, “We can with confidence set a goal to make this Christmas brighter than the last and each year that follows brighter still. The trials of mortality may increase in intensity, yet for us, darkness need not increase if we focus our eyes more singly on the light that streams down on us as we follow the Master. He will lead us and help us along the path that leads upward to the home for which we yearn.” 

We add our testimony that Jesus is the Light of the World; that he can heal any sorrow, lift any burden, and bring light to the deepest darkness. 

We hope your Christmas is one filled with light, love and joy!

Love,

Gerald, Jennifer & Katelee Reynolds  

Inside the brochure:

2009 in Review

2009 has been a year of changes for our family!  In the past year we have:  sold our home, moved to a new state, quit old jobs and started new ones, returned to ‘student life,’ held a combined total of six church callings (only one at a time!), and much more!  Read on to hear more details about each of our individual lives.

 Gerald

Gerald started out the year with a great job at Garbett Homes in SLC, but also with a great desire to pursue his dream of becoming an architect.  We learned in the spring that he was accepted to the Master’s of Architecture program at the University of Colorado!  Gerald began classes as a full-time student in August.  He has worked hard and earned wonderful grades this first semester!  Although his family sorely misses the days when he ‘only worked 60 hour work-weeks,’ Gerald has still found a way to balance his intense school demands with family life.  He is a wonderful husband and support to Jennifer, and is, as usual, the center of Katelee’s happiness!  Gerald loves our new ward (we all do!) and is currently serving in the Sunday School presidency.  Gerald has also enjoyed his many opportunities for woodworking and drawing since he started school.

Jennifer

This has been a very busy year for me.  First and foremost, I love my family and find a lot of joy in being Gerald’s wife and Katelee’s mom.  I don’t always balance all my household duties perfectly, but I do my best and I love serving my family.  Leaving Lehi was very sad for me, as it was for all of us, but I have continued to keep in touch with my Utah friends and have made some amazing new friends here in Colorado.  I love our new ward and am really enjoying my calling as second counselor in the Relief Society. With Gerald going back to school, I have had to become the ‘bread winner’ for the family.  So far we have been blessed to be able to make ends meet while I work from home.  I am still teaching piano lessons, something that I am really passionate about.  I had to start over again when we moved, but I currently have 21 students (still hoping for more!) and am really enjoying each of them.  I also have a small side business making and decorating cakes, which I think is such a fun hobby.  And, as always, I love to read, sew, blog, cook, learn new things and visit with family and friends.

 Katelee

Katelee has also had a year full of changes!  She has grown so tall; most people think she is at least 5 years old.  She has also grown a lot in other ways.  She is such a social, friendly girl, always introducing herself to new children and wanting to play with anyone who’s interested.  She also likes to have grown-up conversations with anyone who will listen!  She has an amazing imagination and loves to pretend with her princess dolls.  Katelee turned three in 2009, and had a superhero party filled with friends, cousins, superhero capes, and cake.  Katelee loves to spin in circles, learn new things, be with friends, read books, run around, play board games, be a princess, go to church, play pretend, swim, eat frosting, talk on the phone, swing, dance, and be tickled.  She has such a huge, loving heart, and can make anyone her ‘best friend’ in seconds.  She misses her friends from Lehi, but has been so good at making new friends here in Denver.  She has had some huge life changes this year, but has proven that she is strong, cheerful and resilient despite those changes.  We love our little Katiebug with all our hearts, and cannot imagine life without the joy she brings us!

On the inside flap cover:

Katelee wants a brother or sister! 

Our little family of three has been desperately hoping to become a family of four.  We’ve decided that it’s high time to make that happen. 

Which is why we are starting the adoption process!

We are so excited about this decision!  Please keep us in your prayers and spread the word to anyone you know.

Our adoption blog:

Praying4Adoption.blogspot.com