Merry Christmas! yet another year has flown by! Never have we been so grateful that the year is coming to an end. The start of the year was pretty good for Clayton and I. Clayton graduated from University of Phoenix in February with a Bachelors of Science in Communications. To celebrate we went on a 3 day weekend to Las Vegas. Had an amazing time got to see all the sites of Vegas and we also went on a day tour to the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon was breathtaking! It was great to see a couple of different US states other than Washington.

A couple of days after we got back I had some devastating news, my Nan who was 83 passed away in her sleep. She was already in hospital due to a broken leg. The news was hard on all my family, as it was such a sudden shock. I traveled back to Wales on my own for the Funeral, which was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

Life settled down for a while after that. Clayton was still working at Home Depot full time while he was looking for another job. I was working with a few freelance Graphic Design jobs. June came with a gift from a friend she offered Clayton and I a stay at a Timeshare resort in Whistler Canada for the weekend. The timing was perfect as it was my Birthday weekend, so off we went on a little mini weekend getaway and had a blast. A couple of days after we got back brought some more bad news Clayton was laid off from his Home Depot job. Thankfully Clayton received unemployment so we’ve been ok. It’s taking both of us longer than we hoped to find work.

Days and months have gone by since then and many interviews and rejection letters for the both of us. I’m carrying on with freelance work which is good, but never steady. Then November came with a vengence with my dad being sick. My dad was in and out of hospital for pretty much the entire month of November. Negative tests upon negative tests and then the Doctors came to the conclusion that it’s stress and grief related due to the death of his mother, my Nan. My dad is doing a lot better but is still out of work until he feels emotionally and physically ready to go back.

So here we are in the month of December and we so eager for 2009 to come to an end, maybe 2010 will be a much better year for the family all around. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Best wishes,
Clayton & Natalie.