2009 in Review - A Year of Change

If you measure the length of a year using measurements of time, it's usually only about as long as a year, give or take a day or two. This year was no exception. January 1st came along and 365 days later we found ourselves at December 31st!

When you take into account the perception of time, it's completely different. What may be 52 weeks, 365 days, or 8,765 hours when it passes you by, when you look back at the year on December 31st you might very well find yourself wondering, "Where did all those weeks, days, and hours go?"

This is the very situation we found ourselves in this New Year's Eve. 2009 came, 2009 went, and as far as a year is concerned, 2009 zipped by faster than any other year I've ever experienced! I am now thinking to myself, "Where did all those weeks, days, and hours go?"

January 2009

For us, this year was one of considerable change. The new year found us looking to purchase a new house in St. George. We were expecting a baby girl in March and we were ready to settle down. The fact that Shayla's parents were returning from a mission in March further motivated us to buy a home, as we had been living in their house the entire time they were away.

A few weeks later, we received an email telling us that we might want to consider not purchasing a house. This email went on to say that I might be under consideration for a new job. This new job would require us to move not only to a new state, but to the opposite side of the country!

I don't know that I really expected anything to develop from this potential new job. I had interviewed with a number of different organizations, some that I thought I had a pretty decent shot at, to no avail. I had sent in applications to even more. And now, I was being told to wait on buying a house because something "might" happen.

Almost one month later I interviewed for this job, to which I was eventually extended a "conditional" job offer. Conditional meaning there was a good chance that I could get the job, but still a good chance that I might not. It was kind of like I made the final cut, if you want to look at it that way.

Now we only had to find a place to live while we waited to see if this job offer panned out or not, we had to be out of Shayla's parents house in March, and we had to get ready for a new baby, all at the same time!

We were blessed to have Sharla and Jeremy offer to let us live in one of their homes, for which we will be forever grateful.


March arrived and nine days later we welcomed Isla Ruth Wells into our little family. Five days after her birth, we moved across town to a beautiful house in Sienna Canyon.


March was quite a busy month for us. We had a baby on the ninth, Max was diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease and was sick from about the 10th to the 24th, we moved to a new house on the 14th, welcomed Shayla's parents home on the 15th, blessed Isla on the 29th, and for a few days, I thought I might be out of a job! To add to the mix, my father was laid off from his job, we were remodeling my parents basement, and we had lots of family visiting for Isla's birth/blessing and Shayla's parents homecoming! I can honestly say I have never had another month with so many different things going on!

When things finally settled down and April knocked on our doorstep, we toned things down a bit and for the most part stayed at home. Max was easily potty trained this month, needing only a big bag of chocolate to motivate him. In about a week, he was diaper free!

April moved right along into May, and not ones to sit still for too long, we took off to Santa Monica, California with Shayla's sister Sharla and a few other friends. We had a great time at the beach and Max loved the rides on the Santa Monica pier!


Toward the middle of the month Max's world came to a crashing stop as Shayla buzzed all of his hair off! I think he cried for two days straight and he never once said that he liked his new 'do. Luckily for him we let it grow back out again and I don't think he'll ever let us near him with the clippers again!

We also took off for a quick trip to southern Utah's Coral Pink Sand Dunes with my family and my Uncle Doug's family. We had a great time running the four-wheelers through the sand and enjoying being together as a family.


Before we knew it June was here and Shayla was celebrating her 27th birthday! Hooray! June also found us skimming in the Virgin River and making a trip to Moccasin, AZ and Kanab, UT. My mom's side of the family was having a family reunion so we spent the night at my great grandfather's house in Moccasin before heading to Kanab for the festivities the next day. Max loved feeding the horses and playing on the swings and slides at the little playground behind the small schoolhouse. Once in Kanab, we hiked to the top of "K Hill" and then lounged the rest of the day away at my grandparents house.


June withered away faster than it arrived and July greeted us in the form of a crappy recession. My hours at work were cut ten hours a pay period due to concerns over the slow real estate market. We didn't let this slow us down and we took advantage of the extra time off work to go camping at the "Dirt Farm" near Hatch, Utah, take a day trip up Black Rock Mountain on the Arizona Strip, head out for a long and crazy weekend at Capitol Reef National Park, and then we still made time for a trip to Lake Powell and another camping trip near Hatch! Also in July, my little brother returned home from his mission and met his new little niece (Isla) for the first time!


There's something about keeping busy that makes time seem to pass faster than normal, because before we knew it August was going full steam ahead! This was a pivotal month not only for us, but also for my family. Toward the end of the month, I was finally, officially offered the new job with a start date for the end of October! This meant, of course, that we would be moving away from our beloved southern Utah home. However, as we would come to find out, we wouldn't be the only ones moving!

My dad was offered a job on the exact same day I received my job offer. He was given a start date on the exact same date as mine, and his new job also required him to relocate... to Alaska! It would later turn out, after he, my mom, and younger brother Bryan moved to Alaska and we moved to Virginia, that my sister and her husband Josh would move up to Salt Lake, and Spencer would move in with Steve and Moe, meaning that for the first time in 25 years, the Wells family had officially vacated the town of Ivins! After a quarter century in the same house, it only took a few months to get us all out!

August also gave us another trip to Lake Powell, filled with sunny days, warm water, and jalapeno eating contests! We also made a day trip up to Pine Valley to catch snakes, and Max also got his very first pair of glasses!


September, staying true to form, followed right after August. We drove up for a thrilling weekend in Delta, Utah for the Losee Reunion, and a week or so later Shayla and Isla flew off to Virginia in search of a new home! While the girls were gone Max and I packed our bags for an overnight camping trip at Duck Creek.

We spent the rest of the month getting things ready for our big move, and keeping in touch with family and friends before we moved away.


October came too soon if you ask me. The first weekend of the month I went camping with my dad and brothers on Boulder Mountain, Utah, and the next week I worked my last day at NAI Commercial Real Estate. The next weekend we squeezed in a big "going away" party with family and friends and then hit the road for Virginia just two days later!

We left St. George on October 12th and over the next eight days we made our way through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South and North Carolina, and into Virginia! It was a long (really long) road trip, but we were able to see a lot of the country and we stopped at many of the sights along the way.


We finished up October getting settled into our new home and venturing out to Maryland to pick our own Halloween pumpkins!

Before we knew it Halloween was over and so was October! On November 1st Max turned three and we celebrated the event with Shelli, Lige, Liam, & Remy.

We spent the next week or two enjoying the fall weather by exploring the parks and trails throughout our neighborhood. That gave way to Thanksgiving Day and my first ever trip to New York City! We decided to forgo the traditional Thanksgiving dinner and instead went up to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We went along with Shelli, Lige, Liam and Remy and I think we all had a great time! The parade was amazing and so was the city.


A week after Thanksgiving, December was upon us and I was turning 30! I celebrated the day by ordering in a snowstorm and we played outside sledding and making snowmen.

A week later we were waiting in line to see Santa Clause. After telling him our Christmas wishes, we made our way to Washington DC where we saw the National Christmas Tree. Four days later, Max, Isla and Shayla were on a plane to Utah leaving me behind to work at my new job. I was set to follow them three days later, but I forgot to factor in the biggest snowstorm of the century into my plans!


Two feet of snow and two and a half days of canceled flights later, I was finally on my way to see my family! By this time, they were at Disneyland and I was able to fly right into Los Angeles. I met Shayla and the kids at "The happiest place on earth" that night and we spent the next week moving from Disneyland to St. George to Salt Lake City.


We threw Christmas in between all of that and a couple of days later I was back on a plane to Virginia! Shayla and the kids stayed behind with her family while I worked a new shift at work.

New Years Eve found us ringing in the New Year over 2300 miles apart, Shayla at a party in Utah with friends & family and me in Virginia at work with co-workers!

And just like that it was 2010! The year passed us by and left us spinning on our heels! It was a whirlwind year with many big changes. Each month brought us something new and it's safe to say, 2009 is a year we will never forget!