Merry Christmas!

Dear friends & family,

To say that 2011 has been a busy year for our family seems a bit of an understatement.  Every turn has been full of new experiences and opportunities for us.

Most excitingly, our family grew as we welcomed our first baby, Liam Jackson Mott, on June 28^th.  He arrived two weeks early and delighted us with Luke’s red hair and Mary’s blue eyes.  We have had great fun watching him learn to smile, laugh, roll, and chew on his hands (and anything else within his reach).  He has bright eyes and busy hands, produces enough drool to water a small farm, and (much to Mary’s relief) seems to be taking well to our attempts to help him be a better sleeper.

Mary worked in the Human Resources department at Extraco Banks until Liam was born and has since been able to stay home with him full-time.  This is the first time Mary has not worked since she was 16, so it has been a big transition with a lot for her to adjust to.  Now she cleans more than she has in years, feeds Luke better than she has since the first six months of their marriage, and plays with Liam all day.  She has also been able to devote more time to reading, writing, and crafting.

After three years of demanding coursework, Luke graduated cum laude from Baylor Law School on April 30^th.  His parents came down to celebrate the occasion, and after the party ended Luke got right to work preparing for the Texas Bar Exam.  He took the bar at the end of July (one month after Liam was born) and we moved to our new home in Carrollton, Texas (a suburb of Dallas) the following weekend.  Ten days later he started work at the Dallas office of Ernst & Young in their Human Capital, Performance & Reward practice area.  We are adjusting well to big city life.  Luke enjoys working at EY, and spends a good deal of his time on tax law.  Bar exam results were released in November.  Luke was sworn in, and after paying exorbitant dues, has become a fully licensed attorney.  We were also able to visit Washington in November to see all of Luke’s family for the first time since we were married two years ago.

On July 5^th, two years after her diagnosis with cancer and one week after Liam was born, Mary’s mother passed away.  We are thankful to have lived close enough to see her often over the past few years and to be near as her health declined.  We miss her, and hold on tight to the knowledge that our family can be together forever, that this separation from her is only temporary, and that we will get to be with her again someday.

As you can see, 2011 has been a year of great change and growth for our family.  Even the eagerly anticipated changes have not always been easy, and the growth has certainly come with growing pains, but through it all we acknowledge the hand of the Lord guiding and sustaining our family and pouring blessings out upon us.

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ this Christmas season, it is our testimony that He lives and is the Savior of the world.  Our sincerest hope is that you and your families feel the love, joy, and peace that are made available through Him now and always.

Merry Christmas!

Luke, Mary, and Liam Mott