All things considered, we have had a pretty darn good 2004. We escaped the winter doldrums to La-la land - Los Angeles - in February where we cruized the palm tree lined boulevards in our rented Mustang convertible (whose top, sadly, remained in place due to some unseasonable cold So. Cal. weather). Still, it beat the freezing Utah weather. We spent the summer beautifying our year and planting a garden. We also spent five wonderful day in beautiful Nauvoo in June. We loved it!

As summer turned to fall we wiled away the mild evenings in our backyard - which was newly enclosed by an alabaster vinyl fence installed by our own hands (and our neighbors'). We watched many a sunset from our patio preceded by countless hours of reading novels (in Korrin's case) and listening to albums ( in mine).

Fall signaled a return to school for both of us. Korrin excelled in her Web design studies at SLCC and I inched closer to my master's degree in communications at Westminster. I will graduate next spring. We've juggled our schedules (and our one car) to get to night classes and to fulfill our ward missionary responsibilities. Now, as fall expires, we have the best news of all: we're going to be parents!

We want to be the first to wish you and yours a happy, safe, and memorable holiday season.