Wednesday, December 26, 2007

The Bradshaw Family Christmas Letter 2007

Another year has flown by and our family has been blessed. After having Collin in 2005 and Amanda in 2006, we determined at the end of last year NOT to have any children in 2007. We did not, how- ever, decide not to have any life changing events. At the beginning of the year things went fine as we adjusted once again to sleepless nights with a new- born. For some time I had occasionally looked for jobs similar to mine in the bay area. I found one and Camelia and I talked about it for a few weeks. The job was in San Francisco and would involve a much longer commute. We finally decided that I should send my resume. Before work one morning I sent it in and they called me that afternoon. I interviewed and then while in Utah with the Poshtyars to pick up Kimia from her mission and for General Conference I was offered the job by cell phone while standing on the viewing deck of the Church Office Building. Their offer was too low and so we negotiated by phone for a couple of days and then came to terms. I actually accepted the job with BlackRock while sitting in Grandma and Grandpa Bradshaw ’ s car in Jane ’ s pasture in Beaver. (We had taken the kids to see grandpa’s moo-cows) I began commuting from Mountain View by train and started looking for ways to shorten that com- mute. Thanks to a down housing market and fixer uppers, we were able to buy a house in Concord, CA and I now ride BART to work. It saves 45 minutes a day and is much more reliable and regular than the train. We are also 22 minutes from the temple. Almost everything in the house needs to be updated, repaired or replaced and it will take a lot of time and effort to do everything. It has also been wonderful to work with my dad and others on the house and we appreciate all the help. Collin has been there through it all and enjoyed it as well. His favorite tool was the hammer and given the danger, we changed that to the battery powered drill (with supervision). He loves to play in the back yard and tags along with me wherever I go talking about something the whole time. He especially loves fixing things, riding his tricycle on the patio and playing with his sister. Amanda is daddy’s little girl. She always has a huge smile and is just an angel. She brings so much joy to our home. She has started walking and her two front teeth are coming in, just in time for Christmas. She gives the best hugs and loves hugging teddy bears. You can also tell she loves her brother and plays with him all the time. They are learning to share and also becoming partners in crime. As a stay at home mom, Camelia is blessed with the opportunity to be with the kids. It is a lot of work but she enjoys it and is quite the super mom. She ’ s adjusting to the new house and making friends in our neighborhood and ward and has started going to park days and other activities here including our family blog. She has also become handy, particularly with the important details and we’ve really enjoyed working on the house along side each other. She stenciled the kid’s rooms and painted all the baseboards and trim for the living room which we finished Saturday, just in time for Christmas. With this letter we are sending before and after pictures of the living room. The other night Camelia and I talked about how we’re able to make these changes to this house to improve it and make it into a wonderful place to be. We compared it to how our Savior, the Carpenter from Nazareth, through the atonement can purify us all, no matter our deteriorated (or fixer-upper) state. May we all remember Him this Christmas.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

We love Collin too

It looks like we take a lot more pictures of Amanda than Collin. Well, it is really hard to have a two year old look at a camera and have him hold still. Even when we try to take candid shots, when he sees the camera, he wants it. We do love him though. He is so much fun to be around and talks no-stop ( I wonder who he got that from...) I am trying to be better at writing down some of the cute things he says. He loves to boss Amanda around and get whatever she is playing with. When we ask him why he took away her toy, he says,"because that was very very dangerous." I guess he hears that from us a lot. His other new phrase is "Oh, my goodness!!!!"

Amanda's One year Pictures

Sunday, December 2, 2007

A Brother Like That

In this beautiful Christmas time, I pray that we all Remember the true meaning of this season. Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it. "Is this your car, Mister?" he asked. Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Christmas." The boy was astounded. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I wish..." He hesitated. Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels. "I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that." Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively he added, "Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?" "Oh yes, I'd love that." After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?" Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again. "Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked. He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car. "There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm gonna give you one just like it...then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about." Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride. That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when he had said: "It is more blessed to give..."