Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

*This is our yearly Christmas letter. The hard copies that we sent were folded like a book to fit the theme. We couldn't send one to everyone, but I hope anyone who is interested will get to see it here. 

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family!

A Tale of Two Cities

2010 year-in-review -- Adapted from Dickens’ classic novel

I

t was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of apartment-dwelling, it was the age of home ownership, it was the epoch of Ph.D. research, it was the epoch of Postdoctoral fellowships, it was the season for patience, it was the season for joy, it was the summer of humidity, it was the winter of inversions, it was the city of skyscrapers, it was the city of mountaintops—in short this past year was a dichotomy of experiences that lends itself nicely to superlative comparisons...

Chapter 1: New York City

W

e started the year in New York City making the final push to finish Jonathon’s Ph.D. from Columbia University. Finishing his experiments and dissertation was a huge task that took nearly 4 months to complete. During that stressful time, Sarah and the boys tried to make the best of it by spending lots of time at the park and having fun with playgroup friends. Christian (4) learned to read short words and increased his expansive dinosaur trivia. Meanwhile, Andrew (23 mo.) scared us half to death with his daredevil antics and got many a bruise to show from them.   

At the end of March we got to take a break and go on a much-needed vacation. We traveled from NYC to Boston via Plymouth, MA. On our trip, we toured a replica of the Mayflower, took a guided tour of Fenway Park (home of the Red Sox), followed the Red Line Tour through Boston, and explored the battlefield from Lexington to Concord-- including the Old North Bridge. It was a wonderful trip, and it was so fun to have Sarah’s mom join us for the adventure.

The summer was quite stressful because we were trying to plan a cross-country move, buy a house, and finish a dissertation. It was all worth the effort though. We found a wonderful home in Utah and were able to close the deal at the end of July. Sarah had never seen the house when we closed (scary, I know!), but she trusted Jonathon’s judgment.

At the beginning of August, the big day finally arrived. After 5 years, Jonathon defended his dissertation before a committee of professors. They were so impressed by his research and conclusions that they passed him with DISTINCTION (a title only awarded to the top 10% of Columbia students). The support from our families was overwhelming as 18 people from 4 states came to see the momentous occasion. Four days later, we packed up a 22’ moving truck, and Jonathon began the long drive with all of our belongings to Utah. While it is nice to be done with the Ph.D. work, there are so many people in New York that we miss dearly. Our time there was truly a humbling, stretching, wonderful experience that we would never change.

Chapter 2: Utah

J

onathon and his family traveled together from NYC to Utah and were able to stop at many church history sites along the way. After 5 days and 2,500 miles, they arrived at our new home. Sarah and the boys met up with them and she got her first look at the house. It was love at first sight. We got a really great deal because the market was so poor and because it needed a lot of work. We spent the first 3 weeks camped out in the unfinished basement so that we could do several of the projects before we actually moved in. In those few weeks we: painted the whole house, had new carpet laid down, installed new laminate floors, re-caulked the bathroom and sinks, and tried to revive our dead lawn. We could not have done it without the help of Jonathon’s family who spent many, many hours working with us. We love the way it turned out.

Jonathon started his work as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Utah on September 1st and is slowly adjusting to his new field. He now works on congenital heart defects using zebrafish as his model organism. We have loved all of the perks of suburban life (i.e. car, house, backyard! and cheap grocery stores). We are getting settled into our new life and have really appreciated the increased time we get to spend with both of our families.

This year has been full of ups and downs, trials and blessings, but we truly feel grateful for all that we have been through and all that we have. Our “tale of two cities” has been a great adventure that has strengthened our family and our faith. We hope this season of celebration and remembrance finds all of you happy and healthy.

All of our love,

Jonathon, Sarah, Christian, and Andrew

 The End