We didn't manage to get Christmas cards out in time this year, maybe we'll make it for New Year's! Our family has been so blessed this year in so many ways and while I haven't been able to keep with our blog like I've wanted to, I did want to share some of our highlights. Goal for 2009: Clean the pictures off my camera more often and do more posts with pictures of our cute kids!- Top of the list was Ben's graduation from law school in May. He finished his 4 year program with a law and MBA degree and we are so proud of his accomplishments!
- Sadly, we had little time to enjoy him being done with school because he jumped right into studying for the bar exam. He studied 6 days a week, as well as being the course administrator for the evening class.
- On the bright side, the kids and I took a 3 week trip to MT to let him study. It was our first trip driving to MT alone and the kids were outstanding. We spent a week with each set of grandparents and had a great time. We were all ready to get home and while Ben got a lot of good study time in, we agreed that it was way too long to be apart as a family.
- August saw us leaving our wonderful friends in the married student housing complex that we called home for 4 years and our kids entire lifetimes. We miss the people and community there, although many of our friends also found themselves in new homes this year.
- Ben started working full time at the law firm where he was hired and loves it. He says law school is like a pie eating contest where the winner gets......more pie! There are days he can't believe that he worked that hard in school in order to now work even harder. His firm is small, but growing rapidly and has had their best year ever. But we won't argue with the regular pay check!
- September and October were busy with Kassie's 2nd and Timothy's 4th birthdays. Kassie had a Mickey Mouse birthday, while Timothy stretched Mom's cake making abilities by requesting Lightening McQueen (look for pictures in upcoming "catch up" posts). The day after Kassie's birthday, we received the fabulous news that Ben passed the bar!
- In November we headed to MT to see my brother and his family for Thanksgiving. My mom joined us there and we had a great time with all of them. Kassie was completely enthralled with her new cousin, Kenna, and treated her like a baby doll.
- And now here we are in December. Ben's sister, Kate, returned home from her mission in Hawaii just in time for Christmas. Poor girl! Snow and ice were a real shock after 18 months in paradise! More posts will be coming on Christmas soon.
All our love,
Ben, Kat and kids