Happy New Year!

So this is the Christmas letter that we'll be sending out this year. We're probably not going to mail out tons of copies, so this should suffice. Plus, if you check our blog regularly, you probably already know all of this stuff anyway....

Merry Christmas!! Happy New Year!! (and by the time you get this… Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!!)

Wow, what a year! It has been full of ups, downs, and lots of fun crazy times! The majority of the year was spent in McCall, Idaho with beautiful scenery everywhere the eye turned. We were doing the same thing as before managing the hotel. However, with a baby on the way and Jared needing to get back into school we started looking at other options. So in September, with mixed emotions, we left family and friends that we call eternal and headed for Las Vegas, Nevada. We are staying with Jared’s mom and family for the time being and taking one day at a time.

On December 20^th, we welcomed the newest addition to the Autrey family: Hyrum Asael. He is such a happy little man. He loves his big sister, parents and spitting up. We’re so thankful for his good health and sweetness. Yesterday he weighed in at 10 lbs. He’ll most-likely be a complete stud just like his papa.

Selah is now 2 ½ years and still completely overflowing with energy… completely. She has a nice balance of tom-boy and girly-girl. It’s quite easy for her to have fun because of her incredible imagination. She also loves to sing, dance, make up her own languages, and sing. We love our little ninja-princess and are so proud of the good little girl that she is.

Jessica is doing awesome! She’s adjusting to having children instead of a child, and being normal instead of pregnant. She’s doing a great job. Jes enjoyed being the activity days leader (girls 8-11) in McCall and team teaching primary (ages 4-5) in Las Vegas with Jared at church. Her pregnancy was completely natural again and through a midwife rather than the typical OB. We can’t ask for a better woman to keep life wonderful day after day. She has pretty eyes.

Jared loves being a daddy of two. He started working for Zappos.com (the web’s most popular shoe store) in Vegas which he loved. But, due to a couple promptings, quit and got a different job the same day. He now enjoys working at Ensign Federal Credit Union and learning all about money. He plans to get into a finance program at CSN next semester. Jared served as the elders quorum president while in McCall and now teaches primary with Jes. He still looks like Buzz Lightyear.

We have grown and learned so much this past year that we should all be geniuses by now… but we’re probably not. So, our plan is to look to God and live our lives the best that we can. We know He’ll make up for the areas that we fall short in as long as we do our part. We want to thank each of you for all that you are. You make our lives so much richer. We hope to hear from each of you. Our contact info is at the bottom!

Love,

The Autreys: Jared, Jessica, Selah, and Hyrum