Merry Christmas!

We hope this holiday season finds you all well! We feel so thankful for all of our friends and family and the many blessings this year has brought, and how especially this time of year we are thankful that Jesus came and was born to save us.

While this year has brought about many changes, some easier than others. We have had a lot of fun, challenges and adventures this year. Starting in January planning our April wedding, and in February, flying out to the Midwest, then in March deciding to make the move out west, in April driving across the country with a car load of only the most important possessions and getting married! Then taking a plane across the world to Ireland where in spite of being sick, we enjoyed the lush green and almost Washington-like scenery of green rolling hills, sheep, waterfalls, and very little roads while driving on the wrong side of the road.

In May, we returned to start our new home here in Missouri, and while we still don't feel fully at home and still miss all those we left in Washington, we have found a great church, some new friends and are really enjoying our jobs and our time together. The fall here was amazing, check out the orange leaves.


Ross is still very much enjoying his work at Counsilman-Hunsaker designing water parks, some in Washington state, and he just recently took a trip out to Buffalo, NY for a project. Here he is (above) at Niagara Falls.


I recently started working at Faithful Friends - St. Louis and feel it's just such a great fit, finding something that combines my passion and my work. Faithful Friends is a faith based mentoring program that provides paid one on one mentors for kids starting in kindergarten and commits to stay with that same child until they graduate from high school. The kids are great and it is very impressive how much of an impact I've seen just in the short time I've been there.

I also started a photography business this summer with my older sister and Ross' help; he in fact shot a few weddings with me which was a lot of fun. I've had a lot of fun taking photos of our 32 kids at Faithful Friends most recently. You can check out some of our photography work on http://www.cleardesignphotography.com/.

I think one of the biggest things we've both learned this year is just how hard and great marriage is. While marriage can definitely be challenging at times especially after leaving all that is familiar and starting over in a new state with new careers, it is inspiring to find that you love someone more and more everyday. We have both learned to rely on each other and on Christ in our lives and how it is crucial in marriage knowing that we are both never going to be perfect but going forward in grace with one another and finding greater love than we both expected.

We hope that the miracle of Jesus, the blessings of the season and the gift of grace find you this December. We wish you a very Merry Christmas as you mean so much to us.

Blessings,

Melissa & Ross