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.