Christmas Letter 2012

Christmas 2012 is our fifth together, and before every one of those holidays Sundy and I have debated the sending of Christmas letters to our friends and family. (Any guesses on who advocated which position?) This year we finally reached a compromise: blog a Christmas letter and leave everyone the opportunity to either seek out or ignore the accounting of our yearly accomplishments.

Somehow the task of writing the letter fell to me. And here it is:

Our year started in Durham, Oregon, with us living in Paul and Bev Roberts' beautiful home while they served a mission in Finland. We knew that our days in Oregon were numbered, because I had accepted a scholarship to the University of Colorado School of Medicine, but we were in denial about the move. Oregon was the place we had come to call home and experienced the joys and sorrows of our first four years of marriage.

The two of us at the Roberts' house

During the early part of the year, I finished up my master's thesis, evaluating a buprenorphine-assisted opioid dependence treatment protocol. I continued managing the medical department of a drug and alcohol treatment center. Sundy, meanwhile, was in high demand as a child and family therapist at Western Psychological. In our free time we would go jogging through Cook Park and began visiting all our favorite Portland locales for the final time.

My (Tyler's) completed thesis. Technically I graduated with my MHA in August, though I didn't attend graduation as I had already begun med school.

In July, Grandpa Maestas, my mom, and my brother Sage drove to Portland to help us move. With their help we packed what belongings we had left into a truck and drove to Utah.

With us in between jobs and homes, we spent an obligation-free July with family in Utah. While there, we watched Katherine Jenkins perform, ran our first 10K, watched multiple softball games, and, most importantly, got Sundy on a horse for the first time:

She looks like a natural, doesn't she?

We left Utah for Aurora, Colorado just a week after the mass shooting made the city famous, this time with the help of Bob and Nancy Peterson, Sundy's parents. I started school in August, and our new life in the Denver Colorado area began.

The adjustment from Oregonians to Coloradans was not easy. It took Sundy several months to find a job, before she finally ended up managing a before-and-after-school program at Ponderosa Elementary School. We also finally ended up in a house we love, attending a church congregation (the Peoria Ward) where we have made great new friends.

The most exciting news of the year: we are again expecting a baby, a little girl due in early March. This pregnancy has progressed further than any previous, and as Sundy enters her third pregnant trimester we are grateful and excited for the new addition to our family.

Though we don't want to jinx ourselves, we are grateful that this year has been one of dream fulfillment. For our entire marriage we have been trying to get into medical school and expand our family beyond the marital dyad. One of those finally came to pass this year and the other looks to be happening early next year. Rest assured that once our little one arrives there will be plenty of pictures up on this blog...

Merry Christmas, everyone! We wish you a happy and blessed holiday season, and hope that your coming year is filled with joy and growth.