Christmas Updates

Merry Christmas!

The holidays are without a doubt the best part of the year. We are so thankful for them, because they mean everyone spends time with friends and family. With that in mind, we post this letter with our love for all of you!

We have had a great year, and we thought we'd pass along a few updates. Ryan finished up his MBA at BYU this past April. YIPPEE! It feels wonderful to have a paycheck again. We feel really blessed that he was able to find a job in this tough economy. When school let out and we still had no promise of employment, we were feeling pretty nervous. But, we knew that God heard our prayers and knew our needs. We know many of you face similar difficulties with employment and finances – keep praying and believing and things will work out!

Ryan's new job is with Microsoft. He works doing sales and marketing for a product called Visio (if you're interested in details you'll have to ask him….). With our new employment came a BIG move – all the way to Pennsylvania! For a couple of west coast kids, this has been a mighty big change. We said good bye to the mountains and desert of Utah and hello to rain, humidity, and lovely greenery. I can honestly say, though, that we feel so blessed to have ended up here. We live in Exton which is a smaller town about 45 minutes (if there is minimal traffic) outside of Philadelphia. Exton is the perfect type of community for us. I come from a small town with lots and lots of open space, and Exton still has a small town feel with beautiful country side. Ryan enjoys the rain and the green because it reminds him of Oregon.

Another blessing we've enjoyed here in Pennsylvania is our exceptional ward! Every time we told neighbors, coworkers, other stay-at-home-moms, etc. that we moved away from family and friends out west they would say, "How can you do that?" Our first response was that we have a very supportive Church; when you move in you are family. And it really has felt like we have a big family out here. Our ward put us to work pretty quickly. Ryan is serving as the membership clerk and I get to work with the 10 year old girls' primary class and achievement day activities.

As for the little princess of the Pace house, she is doing great. Mia talks non-stop all day long and she expects us to listen up. Whenever Ryan and I start a conversation that she's not interested in, she'll start yelling, "MOM TALK-A ME! NO TALKING TO DADDY!" Another one of her current antics that we enjoy is her waking up ritual. We know she's awake because we start to hear things like "moo moo, baa, gobble gobble, naaaayyyy." That's our cue to go see what sort of circus has appeared in her room.

As for the New Year, we are excited for all the promise it holds. We are especially interested in the month of April, because we're expecting little Pace #2. We just found out that we're having a boy!

We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Lots of Love,

The Paces