Merry Christmas 2010!
It is always difficult to sum up the happenings of an entire year. We have been extremely blessed and feel so grateful when looking back over the past 12 months together. We started off our year with new callings in our church. Dallas got called as the Ward Mission Leader and I was asked to be the first councilor in the Primary presidency. We have both enjoyed serving and finding a deeper love for the other ward members.
Dallas finished another year of accounting with PWC and works harder than anyone I know. He loves the people he works with and has been given some incredible opportunities. I continued private tutoring throughout the year and was offered a teaching position at my previous school mid-October. It has been such a blessing to return to a familiar environment with my own classroom again! I teach small group reading intervention for k-2 grades and have loved getting to know all the children.
Since I spent the greater portion of 2010 unemployed, I became very creative with my time. Dallas was so patient as I went in and out of hobbies from knitting newborn hats for the Oakland hospital, to creating folder games for our future family, to picking up photography classes, and we can’t forget our continual flow of friends staying at “Hotel Perkins.” I have become quite the tour guide and have loved being able to see all the beauties of the bay area. Some of my favorite activities included visiting the King Tut exhibit, Japanese Tea Gardens, Point Lobos Sate Park, Alcatraz, Point Reyes, Alamere falls, Wicked, Baker beach, whale watching in Monterey, and sailing in the bay. Dallas would meet up with us whenever he could, even if that meant shopping with a big group of giggly girls. He’s a saint!
Our summer was just as eventful. Our youngest brother left for his mission in Brazil, our other brother got back from his mission in Australia. We traveled back east to help another brother and his family move home and were able to visit the historical church sites along the way. It was such an incredible experience to walk hand in hand with my husband in the Sacred Grove. We had a fun time at all three of our family reunions: white water rafting in Sun River, OR with the Adams; Bear Lake, target shooting, crazy family games, and the Pickle Ville Playhouse with the Whitts; boating, four wheeling, card games, and incredible food with the Perkins.
We continued the fun in the fall by seeing the Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast, spending a weekend at a beach house in Monterey with all of our cousins, taking a trip to the state parks in Utah and the Grand canyon, and spending a week in southern California. Dallas even let me drag him to Disneyland in my sparkle pants for two whole days.
With all the joy, of course, comes heartache, but we continue to rely on our faith and each other. It is humbling to reflect on the blessings we’ve been given by our Savior. We love you all and pray that you are happy and well this holiday season.
Love,
Dallas and Kirsten
