Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,
We can’t believe 2013 is coming to a close! We have had a busy and productive year.
The biggest Collet news is that we began the adoption process this year. We started our home study in April and chose our adoption agency soon after that. Our adoption agency is called the Independent Adoption Center which is a non-profit agency that has offices in states from west coast to east coast. The closest office to us is in Los Angeles. In May we went down to the office in Los Angeles to attend the mandatory Adoption Information Seminar. It was really informative and more than a little overwhelming.  With the help from our loved ones and friends we were able to complete all the mountains of paperwork, fingerprinting, home visits and so on.  In October we entered an entirely different stage of the process – waiting.  We are currently waiting for the most important phone call of our lives.
While we wait patiently (or not so patiently) we have decided to put our home on the market. Both of our jobs are about 45min to an hour away and we want to be closer to my family when the baby does arrive so we are able to see them more and spend less time in the car. We have decided that moving closer to family, jobs and most of civilization would be to our benefit. We’ll also take the opportunity to down-size in order to make it easier for Ashley to stay home permanently.  Although we are comfortable in all aspects of our life in Saratoga Springs, and will miss it in many ways, we are excited for a new chapter to begin.
Here are some individual updates!

Adam:

·         Got a promotion to – Control Systems Designer II. It was a big financial step up as well as growth within the company.

·         He and his best friend Sean began working on a storybook android app for kids, which they will hopefully be finishing up soon.

·         He has been working hard and eating healthier and has lost about 40lbs, presumably also improving his cholesterol and triglyceride    levels.

·         He is still slowly working on a degree – he took a Chemistry class this fall semester and hopes to finish his Associates sometime next year.

·         His sometimes maligned but very useful truck broke down and we were forced to replace it. Luckily we have an amazing family who were able to help us take care of things quickly.

Ashley:

·         Celebrated her 3 year mark working at Utah Pain Specialist as a medical assistant.

·         Continued doing photography including two adorable twin photo shoots and a few weddings.

·         Continued taking care of our fur-babies Nala and Jett as well as all the other jobs wives do.

Nala and Jett:

·         Nala turned 4 and Jett turned 2 this year!

·         They form a dynamic duo to keep us busy – Nala is adventurous and clever, Jett is boisterous and sometimes destructive

·         Nala figured out how to scale a 4 ½ foot wire fence without falling once.

·         They continually challenge our ingenuity trying to keep them contained.

·         Jett loves collecting things in the backyard so Mom and Dad have to go on a scavenger hunt! He thinks it’s a fun game.

·            They love to cuddle – even rambunctious Jett if you catch him at the right time of day.

·            They love hide-and-seek – usually Jett taking a toy and hiding it for Nala to find – and keep-away.

·            Jett is the great protector and loves his sister to death!

This has been a great year for our little branch of the Collet clan. We want to thank all those who have supported us though the adoption process and left comments on Ashley’s Facebook page as well as all of you who have shared our link. We are excited for what 2014 will bring, hopefully including welcoming a new little one into our family! We hope your family has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love,

The Collets