Farewell 2010

Our year in a nutshell...

We brought in the new year with four Grissoms.

The first day of Ryan's very last Truett Seminary class- a bitter-sweet idea.

Thanks to Joanne (Hye) and Uncle Cam, Ryan attended classes, I continued teaching, and Jack was able to stay home with loved ones.

Jack's first experience with snow! (And a rare occurrence for Waco, TX. This snow followed a 70-degree Sunday.)

Ryan officiated his first wedding and it was beautiful! We love Scot and Kelsey and could not be happier for them!

We know this couple from the church at Adamsville. Our fist church with the loveliest and most hospitable people! This is the only church I have ever been in where they still ring a bell to start the church service. I came to love the sound of that bell. As the tradition goes at Adamsville, a child rings the bell. As you can see no one is too young to participate. This church will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Jack's first camping trip- we were so proud! He slept on a thermorest and everything!

I finished my 2nd year teaching. My prayers stay with this school and I love and miss my teaching friends.

One of our big milestones this year was moving out of state. We have all three been Texans our whole lives (Ryan and I a little longer than Jack). We packed up and headed for the mountains!

We had A LOT of help in this moving process. We are so grateful to our cleaners, moving truck packers, box unloaders, trip companions, and encouragers. We could not have done this without you.

Ryan and I were brought on staff at Los Altos Christian Church in Albuquerque, NM. We had no idea at the time just how influential this church would be in our path to our church. We are eternally grateful to the mentorship and support of Steve and Debbie Chisolm.

Ryan served as the associate minister and I served as the youth minister. All

youth ministers wish they had a youth group as fabulous as I did!

The Mosley's came to visit.

We were invited to visit one of our favorite couples at their cabin in Ruidoso, NM. This couple is adorable and we hope to be like them "when we grow up". Yet again, another influential event that we had no idea of the significance at the time.

Jack's first plane ride! We flew back to Texas for Tepi and Joey's beautiful wedding. Congratulations again you two!

While Jack and I toured Texas, Ryan went backpacking with John and his dad in Colorado.

Ryan received his diploma! Being an August graduate, he would not have a graduation ceremony until December; I've never seen Ryan so giddy to open a USPS-delivered package.

The Meachams came to visit.

Cam and Michelle got hitched! And we caught up with good friends. We love all these people!

Our baby boy celebrated his first birthday and all his grandparents
were able to be there to celebrate!

Jack spent some quality time with cousins.

We have been praying for "our future church" since we were engaged. We have known all along that Ryan wanted to serve as a pastor in a church. We were willing to go anywhere, but our dream has always been to live in the mountains. The whole story of our journey to First Christian Church, Ruidoso unfolds as a miracle of God's timing. We feel so completely blessed to now be at a beautiful church full of beautiful people and of all places, in the mountains. We love our church already!

Remember the couple we visited in Ruidoso earlier this summer? Not only are they adorable, they are generous beyond mind-boggling reason. We found a house, but due to government stipulations, we could not purchase the home until Ryan had 30-day proof of employment. Catch 22: How can he start working if we have no where to live? The Coats graciously offered their gorgeous cabin as a temporary home for us until we could purchase our house. It gets better. The Coats told us over a year ago about Ruidoso and "this cute church that you would be perfect for". They have been hugely significant in our final destination path to ministry and permanence.

Ryan's graduation ceremony was a proud moment for all of us!

And our final family milestone for 2010: we are home owners!

We would not have survived this last year without a lot of help. We are grateful, appreciative and humbled of every gift (support, babysitting, financial, moving, listening, etc.) we received as a family in 2010. Thank you for caring about us. We feel so loved!

As we move into 2011, we are so excited about our new church family and our expanding personal family as we look forward to welcoming two nieces and a nephew!