Merry Christmas!

Dear Friends and Family,

As you may know, this has been quite a busy year for us. We started 2007 with Melody pregnant and Maya turning two. Jeff began his final semester at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. We also began to pack up everything in hopes to move to Ohio in the summer.

Melody went with her friend, Fauna, to Arizona in the Spring to see their friends, Petra, Tessa, and Kathy. She then went to Chicago to meet up with friends from Birmingham, Cortney, Jane, Katie, and Angie.

Jeff graduated with honors in May with a Bachelor of Science in Materials Engineering. Melody (finally) received her degree with honors with a Bachelor of Science in Health Science.

We sold our house in Vestavia Hills and began our hunt for one near Dayton, OH. We decided to stay with Mom Kingsley in Lexington, KY while we searched. Because of all the heavy moving, Melody began labor a tad too early and had to go to the hospital and be put on temporary bed rest. She recovered after a couple of weeks of rest and the baby stayed put!

Jeff was able to join the Boy Scouts, from our home church in Birmingham, to attend a High Adventure Camp in the Florida Keys! He was able to travel out to sea (during a tropical storm) and use his scouting skills as well. He loved being with the scouts and miss them terribly.

Melody also did some traveling to Florida to see her friend, Laura, marry Lance King. Because of the bedrest, she missed her dear friend Debra's wedding in Alabama to (her former high school sweetheart) Bill Whittaker. When Melody was feeling better, she also went to Vermont with her best friend, friend Tami, to see their college friend Rachel, get married to her longtime boyfriend (10 years!!) Jonathan Taylor. Lots of traveling and lots of weddings!!

After all the traveling was over, we all moved to Medway, Ohio (near Dayton) to be close to Jeff's new position as an engineer with the US Government. He loves his job and couldn't have dreamed of anything more. We had to give away our dogs, Missy and Koda, but they are both in great hands. We miss them so much.

Maya has blossomed this year. She knows so much and we are so proud of her. (See previous posts for wonderful stories!) She was most excited when she received her baby, Reili. Reili was born by c-section on August 14th at 11:24am. She was 7 pounds 10 ounces and 19 inches long.

Right after Reili's birth, Jeff injured his knee by tearing his ACL and Meniscus! He underwent knee surgery a few weeks later. He is recovering well. (We feel like we are getting old because we are mentioning our ailments in this letter.)

Melody began working for two health and wellness companies as a per diem wellness consultant. She usually works a couple of days a week and loves working in the healthcare field.

Jeff and Melody are both going to begin working on their Master's degrees in the Spring. Jeff will pursue a Master of Materials Engineering and Melody will pursue a Master of Public Health. Maya will pursue a pre-school education (hopefully) and Reili will pursue bigger things such as learning to crawl and sit up.

We hope you are enjoying this glorious holiday season. We love our Savior, Jesus Christ, and hope you enjoy celebrating his birth this Christmas Day. God bless!

Jeff, Melody, Maya, and Reili Kingsley