Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

We didn't get a pictures or a newsletter out at Christmas time, but January's not too late right? Last year was  a great and crazy year! In January Ray started school at ECPI where he was training to become a medical assistant on the road to eventually become a physician's assistant.
February is always a big month because along with Valentines Day we have Ray's birthday and my birthday. Ray went all out for Valentines and sent me on a scavenger hunt that involved going to the mall and getting Godiva chocolate and earrings, going to Ruth's to get a teddy bear and coming home to Canilones for supper, that he had made from scratch, sweet guy.
Then in April Raegan had her first birthday, the poor girl had a fever and cried when we tried to get her to eat some cake. She felt better after a couple bites, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down! Raegan and I had a great time out at Liz's wedding with everyone else, and we were so happy to see that Tanner and Ray were taken care of by friends.

The Summer brought a move to a new apartment and a new ward, which we're pretty much used too. It was fun having Liz and Jess live here for a couple months. Even though it was rough for them we were glad to get to spend time with them. We went on lots of adventures over the Summer, the biggest of which was a camping trip to Hanging Rock National Park for the Fourth of July. The best parts: hiking to see waterfalls and the view of a beautiful valley, eating s'mores, helping daddy put up the tent, and watching the kids get super dirty! The not so fun parts: sleeping in a hot tent with a toddler, taking an hour to make breakfast, and having to pack up after a morning of hiking.

In August Ray decided being a physician's assistant was not what he wanted, so he finished at ECPI and we applied to BYU and BYU-I. At the end of September was Tanner's third birthday and we had a big fire truck party complete with a tour of a fire station and a really cool (if I may say so myself) fire truck cake. We enjoyed the rest of the Fall with things like Ethan's Baptism, going on walks, Halloween and visits from Dave and his roommate Mike.

Thanksgiving was pretty good until Ray got sick halfway through the day and we ended our night in the emergency room because of his extreme pain and vomiting. We've known since March 2010 that he has Crohn's disease and our working on getting him in to see a specialist. He has being doing okay since then. 

We ended the year with a going home for Christmas to Mom and Dad's in Pennsylvania. With Liz's help and their hard work the house looks great, and they have more changes planned for the future. It was fun to be home and have a small, quiet Christmas; just what the doctor ordered.
We still are waiting to hear if Ray got into BYU, and should know by the end of February. We are making plans to move to Provo in April. We love you all very much and miss you. We will be sad to leave Ruth and Adam, but grateful as well to live closer to everyone out west. We hope you all have a wonderful 2012 and we'll see you soon!