2008 Year-End Wrap Up

Hello all my dear friends and family.  A friend of mine gave me the terrific idea of not sending a printed Christmas letter this year.  Instead I've decided to post one on my blog to save paper and ink and this way, you all can read in a lot more detail, if you choose, about what happened this year.  Our year started out pretty uneventful.  But in March, Max's mother, Connie, was diagnosed with the most aggressive, least responsive to treatment breast cancer there is.  She immediately had an operation to remove the tumors and started Chemo-Therapy in April.  She's done many different kinds of chemo and just finished up 6 weeks of radiation last Tuesday and is doing great!  She's a trooper.  This summer we traveled up to Cd'a, Idaho for my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary.  They had a vow-renewal ceremony that was very sweet.  Then it was off the to cabin for a week of just us and it was wonderful.  This fall we both went back to school for yet another semester.  I officially graduated with a General Education Associates of Science degree. (say that 10 times fast!)  So now, hopefully when I apply for nursing, yet again, in January, this Degree will give the leg-up I need to be accepted to WSU's fall program.  (And that's Weber for all you Washington Cougar fans) So keep your fingers crossed.  Max went back and began taking the classes he needs to become a high school History teacher.  He should be done sometime in 2011.  We both passed all our classes and are relived to have a small break before spring semester.  I also discovered my love for and skill of photography this year.  I accidentally got a job with Lifetouch Portrait Studios in April and I left them in August to pursue my own freelance photography.  I call myself Candids By Callie and there is a link to my website on my blog if you'd like to check out my work.  I have just fallen in love with it and it has kept my very busy even up until last weekend.  I've got some weddings booked for next year and I'm looking forward to them.  Just in October, Max and I moved back into our cute condo in Bountiful and it's wonderful to be home.  We also adopted two kitties.  Icabod and Binx and they are great.  We did have a recent misfortune of having to put to sleep our sweet puppy, Roxy, just this week.  She would have been two on Christmas Eve and we will miss her dearly.  We'll think of her often and know that she's in a better place now and we're so grateful for the time we did have with her.  

So there it is; our 2008 wrap-up.  Please let us know if you've got a blog we can follow to see what's happening with you.  We love you all and We wish you all Peace, Joy and Love this Holiday Season and in the New Year!