Merry Christmas! It’s amazing that it’s already time for sending out cards and newsletters. This last year has sped by and I can hardly believe that a year ago this month we were taking the big leap of moving from Oregon to Utah! Wow, a lot’s happened in a year. Here are the highlights:
January: Kris started his new and wonderful job with SitePen. He gets to do work he loves and can work from home or anywhere with internet access. We bought a house in Sandy, Utah. Two weeks later we experienced a huge snowstorm (or a couple), the biggest the valley had seen in at least 10 years. As a new resident I remember wondering what we’d gotten ourselves into!
February-May: Mostly involved getting settled in to our new house, finding a home church, a doctor for Jennika, making friends and starting to feel at home.
June-July: We made a quick trip up to Casper, WY to visit Nikki’s family and then a three week long trip to Oregon to visit friends and family. We also got to join our church in an outreach, organized by Kris, to the homeless community in downtown Salt Lake. We provided meals, conversation, love, and prayer to everybody who came by.
August: We road tripped down to Lake Powell, Durango, Denver, and then back up to Casper where we celebrated Jennika’s first birthday! Then we traveled with Nikki’s family to the Unita Mountains and spent four days backpacking in the beautiful wilderness.
September: Nikki started teaching conversational English to international students from the university. We were back out in Oregon for a friend’s wedding and to celebrate Jennika’s birthday with the Zyp family. Then we joined Kris’s parents up at Snowbird, Utah for a week of luxurious vacationing in the mountains. We also found out that the next little Zyp will be arriving sometime around the end of May 2009! What a memorable month!
October-November: We spent, for the most part, at home. Kris had several speaking engagements which required he travel. Jennika kept us entertained with her growing vocabulary, both verbally and in sign language. She loves being outside in her playhouse and going on hikes. In October we were also delighted to welcome our old roommates and dear friends, Rebecca and Michael. They moved from Oregon to live with us and we are so happy to have them. Michael (2) and Jennika are good playmates and fight just like siblings!
December: Another month of busy traveling; Kris flew out to Florida to speak at a conference (yes, he’s becoming quite the lecturer) and then directly to Chicago for another engagement. Nikki and Jennika made one last trip up to Casper to squeeze in a holiday visit with her family. For Christmas we’ll be flying out to Oregon to be with Kris’s family and our friends.

Whew, what a year! We’ve seen the incredible abundance of God’s blessings in so many ways this year, especially through family, friends, and Kris’s very flexible job. We are so thankful to call you our friends and family and pray that you are also able to revel in God’s goodness.
May you holiday be filled with peace that passes understanding, love that knows no bounds, and joy in the One who deserves our praise.

Merry Christmas,
Kris, Nikki, & Jennika