Dallas was able to finish school in May though he didn't graduate right away. He had to retake his exiting exam in October. That was a hard time for us (both at the end of the spring semester and in October). We are grateful that it is over with and that things ended well. Dallas re-took the exam and passed it and he is now officially graduated :) He now has his Master's degree in Statistics and we are so proud of him! Way to go Dallas!
Dallas applied to several jobs and had quite a few interviews early in the year. In the middle of all that he was offered a temporary job in case he didn't find anything else. A backup was so nice to have, but we kept looking for work elsewhere. At the end of the spring semester... to go along with all the craziness with school... Dallas found that none of the jobs he interviewed for needed him. We were so blessed to have the backup job with Endocyte. In May Endocyte offered Dallas a full time position and he is still working there now and he loves it! We are so happy to still be here in Indiana.
In July we moved from our apartment into a duplex. We miss our old neighborhood and friends, but we are lucky to still be close. We love our new place and our new ward. Dallas is teaching in the Elder's Quorum and I (Jessica :)) am teaching the 14-15 year old's Sunday school class. Evan and Kiah love Nursery and Evan is getting excited to move up to the sunbeams class next year.
Evan turned 3 in January and now he is almost 4. This year he enjoyed doing so many things... drawing, writing, playing with trucks and trains, pretending, riding bikes, playing outside, swimming lessons, taking pictures, playing the piano, going to joy school, visiting grandma and grandpa's, riding in airplanes, playing with friends, cooking, watching Dora and Diego, cutting his sister's hair, and helping mom and dad.
Makiah turned 2 in July.... she has changed a lot over the year! It is hard to believe that I don't have a baby anymore. Some of the things Makiah has enjoyed this year... dressing up, playing princess, dancing, changing clothes, playing with her daddy, giggling, playing with animals, pretending (things like the big bad wolf... or that she is an animal of some sort... etc), visiting grandma's and grandpa's, flying in airplanes, swimming, playing with friends, watching Dora, and riding bikes.
I have enjoyed many things this year as well... I was able to play on a co-ed volleyball team this past fall. Dallas joined me and we had a blast! I hope to begin playing again in a few weeks. Photography has been a favorite of mine this year. I have done several photo shoots for friends and referrals. I enjoy photo editing as well and of course blogging :) I have so many great friends that I enjoy spending time with. I am so lucky to be living around such wonderful people who help me so much.
We were able to have lots of visitors this year and we are so grateful for that! My little sis, Bethany, came in March and the kids absolutely loved having her here! We had fun taking pictures, exploring down town, and hanging out at the Indy zoo. In May my parents and two sisters, Cami and Jillian, came to visit. We went to Nauvoo with them and it was such a neat experience to be there with them :) I am so glad they were able to come and see where we live and to spend some time with them. In Nauvoo we were able to meet up with Dallas' parents, grandma, brother and family (Jason, Shalee, and Elsie). Dallas's family followed us back to Indiana to spend some time with us there. We had so much fun with our families (thank you so much for coming!!!) In June Dallas' sister, Sheri, her husband Harold and their cute boys visited right before Father's day. It was so nice to have them here.... it was fun visiting, showing them around, and playing video games with Tyson. Evan LOVED that :) James is just adorable and I wanted to keep him here to myself. Sheri was expecting her third son at the time and now he is here.... I can't wait to meet little Harold!
In August we got to go visit family in Utah. I love visiting Utah! It was so nice to go back "home" and to be with everyone. Dallas' brother Ross got married on July 31st to Melanie (welcome to the family!) We were so happy to be there with them in the Logan Temple.
We have been enjoying the holidays so much this year, though we miss family so much! We hope you all have had a great year. We are so grateful to know you and to have your friendship in our lives. Thank you all for everything. Merry Christmas!
Love,
The Batemans
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