Sunday, December 15, 2013

2013 Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas one and all! 

Can you believe it is almost 2014!? 2013 has flown by and given us a big surprise.  Our big news of the year is that WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!!  Baby Marriage is on the way and due to change our lives forever on March 17, 2014.  We eagerly await the arrival of this little blessing but are also enjoying the months before the family grows.

As we reflect on our past year, we are grateful for all the ways that God has provided and cared for us. We are constantly grateful for the faith to trust in Christ’s work of reconciling us to God. Because God has saved us from our sins, we know that he will not fail us.

The first couple years of our marriage have been anything but normal or mundane. We have been through moving Caitlin from one coast to the other, the final year of Kris’ graduate school, and a move from Southern California to the Northwest. This past year has brought trials but also a degree of normalcy that we haven’t had. One trial has been Kris' job not being as steady as we would have liked.  We are blessed that each day God has provided just what we need though.  Kris works for Mega Pacific (a construction company in Portland, OR) as a carpenter assistant.  He enjoys seeing buildings happen and go up from work that he contributed to, as well as renovations come about through the work of his hands.  Caitlin continues to work as a nurse for the schools but got the assignment she asked for this year.  She now is the school nurse at a high school 3 miles from home and at an elementary school one day a week.  She is now quite busy at work all the time (a big change from last year). She loves that her job once again gives her feelings of accomplishment, and is able to use her mind more. 

We are growing in our marriage as we are getting to know each other better and better each day.  We celebrated our 2nd anniversary in August with a wonderful trip to Seattle. We have gotten to do all sorts of adventures here in the NW this year.  We camped (both on the streets of Portland and in Washington's Olympic Peninsula), hiked, visited Mt Hood, went to see beautiful Multnomah Falls, visited the Oregon and Washington coast (with the Franzkes, Matuokas, then Joyces), gone to Portland Winterhawks hockey games, and spent a weekend at Depoe Bay for Caitlin’s birthday.  We also have been incredibly blessed by so many people who love us enough to travel so many miles to visit us. Our home is small (and getting smaller in March) but would be happy to host any of our family or friends, we love having company!

As you can tell, 2013 has been full of fun and adventure.  We can't wait to see what 2014 brings as our family becomes 3 instead of 2 and the adventures continue.  We pray that each person reading this has had a blessed year. Most importantly we hope you have been blessed by knowing the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Much love to all our friends and family!

Love, 

The Marriages