Posts under ‘Holidays’

It has become a tradition for the Anaya family to spend the 4th of July in Waldport, and what a fun tradition it is! When we took Ezekiel to the beach he loved to play in the sand! I think it was the highlight of his trip.

He is Risen and Ezekiel is celebrating by getting all dressed up! Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

We received a few presents in the mail a couple of days after Christmas. Some friends of ours in Australia sent the most adorable little Emus. Also, my parents sent a cute “baby’s first Christmas” ornament with some books and blocks. So, of course, I had to post those pictures too.

Bryan’s parents came to visit a few days after Christmas. Ezekiel had fun opening presents again with his grandparents and his aunt.

We had a fun first Christmas with Ezekiel. I’m not sure he really knew what was going on. He didn’t seem to understand why we had hidden a bunch of new toys under paper.

I had him all dressed up in a “my first Christmas” outfit, but unfortunately it didn’t make it to present/picture time.

A few Saturdays ago Bryan, Ezekiel and I set out to find the prefect Christmas tree. We were looking for a tree that was at least 10 feet tall so we could get at least 1000 lights on it. Ezekiel loves lights so I wanted to make sure it lit up the room. After we drove over 40 miles we ended up finding a tree at a lot less than one mile from our house. When we were out in the field we realized, once again, that it’s hard to tell how tall a tree is just by looking at it. So, we picked out a tree that looked pretty good and after Bryan sawed it down we carried it to the car. Luckily we had help bailing the tree and putting it on top of the car.

Once we got the tree home I measured it and it was 11.5 feet. I have been working slowly on hanging the lights on the tree and I finally finished yesterday. We think there are between 1400 and 1600 lights on the tree. We ran out of lights so I took some strands from the “outside” light stash and I think a few of them had 200 lights per strand. Bryan helped me put the ornaments on the tree last night and when Ezekiel woke up from his nap he stared in awe at the bright Christmas tree.

*The ladder next to the tree in the 4th picture is 7 feet 8 inches tall. It’s to give you an idea of how tall the tree is.

We had a fun new year at the Oregon coast with my parents and niece. The weather wasn’t very good, so we had lots of time to play games and relax.

Bryan and I were in Visalia for Christmas this year; and we had such a fun time with family and friends. My mom and I made TONS of cookies with Mariah and Shelby. Our brother-in-law got a new game for christmas that we enjoyed playing. All the women got together for their annual Christmas eve morning breakfast. As usual, Christmas dinner was held at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

It was so much fun spending time with family and having everyone watch my belly grow!

Just like every year, 2009 was filled with lots of fun and adventures for Bryan and I. Much has stayed the same for us; however, there has been one huge change for us.

Bryan is still working in Redmond for Microsoft. He works on the Exchange team as a user experience designer. His work focuses on the Outlook Web App, which is the web version of Outlook. Bryan still has his own company creating web sites and enjoys the creative outlet that it brings him. I have been substitute teaching for the Marysville School District, and have been enjoying my time teaching. I also like the flexible work schedule I have with substituting.

The picture on our Christmas card was taken at Coronado beach near San Diego. In March, we flew down to San Diego for several days to spend time with Bryan’s siblings. We had lots of fun with them hiking, exploring the coastline, and even seeing the inside of an aircraft carrier.

In May, we spent 17 days in Australia. We first went to Cairns where we snorkeled at the Great Barrier Reef, walked through the rainforest, and saw lots of native animals. Then we were off to the beautiful city of Melbourne where we walked around the city to the gorgeous gardens and explored numerous museums. We were able to see the whole city from the top of a 55 story building. After Melbourne we flew to Sydney where we met up with some friends and went to Bowral and Kangaroo Valley, two towns south of Sydney. While there, we were able to take some time to relax, and explore the area. We saw an amazing 266 ft waterfall, got very close to a wallaby and a wombat, and saw some of the most beautiful scenery. Then we were off to Sydney to enjoy the city for the last 4 nights of our trip. While we were in Sydney we were lucky enough to have a very good friend of ours as a tour guide. We walked along Manly beach, explored many of the highlights of the city including some museums, the royal Botanical gardens, Paddy’s Market, had amazing coffee and cannolis in the Italian part of Sydney, saw Double Bay, and had some of the most amazing food! We had so many amazing adventures and we thoroughly enjoyed all of our time in Australia.

Bryan and I spent a lot of time at the Oregon coast this summer with my parents and family. We had so much fun exploring tide pools, fishing for crabs, going to the aquarium, and flying kites. Bryan and I also spent a lot of time hiking in the mountains just east of our house. We really enjoy being outdoors and seeing the beautiful surroundings God has made for us.

In September, we flew to Los Angles where we spent time with some of our good friends in Camarillo. While with them we had lots of good food, went kayaking, hiked in Ojai, and rode bikes in Santa Barbra. Then we were off to the annual Hume Lake Couple’s conference. Bryan and I were able to go to Hume a day early with my sister and brother-in-law, which gave us time to discover the woods and streams around the lake. While there, we competed in a GPS challenge and took a ride in golf carts with family. We also learned about God’s word how to strengthen our relationship.

The one huge thing that has changed for us this year is the expansion of our family. In October we found out that I am pregnant and that our baby is due the beginning of June. Bryan and I are very excited and are looking forward to this new time in our lives.

As Bryan and I look back on 2009 we see how God has worked in our lives and how richly blessed we really are. No matter how big, or how small, we hope that you feel surrounded by the Lord’s blessing this Christmas season.

Lots of Love,
Bryan, Christy, and Baby

When the Anaya family came to visit we took some time to pick out pumpkins from a local pumpkin patch then we got to carving. Everyone created their own pumpkin and had a unique design of their own. Except Bryan’s mom designed her pumpkin and scooped out the seeds and I did the carving.  There are still two pumpkins left that need to be carved so we will see if Bryan and I will get to them before Halloween.