Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Dear Friends and Family,

Seasons Greetings! We hope this message finds you well. As you can see from the picture, we adopted a 'wild' cat in 2009. His name is Liam and he is a Maine Coon. Liam is Kate's first pet besides Freddy the goldfish back in '92. Josh grew up with more pets and is teaching Kate all the basics, from picking Liam up the right way to trimming his claws! Although his picture is deceiving, Liam is a very playful and loving cat (unless you forget to feed him).

It has been another busy year. Josh is still enjoying work in Key Bank's Portfolio Administration group and Kate is still an HR Representative at Bard Access Systems. This year's highlights for us were our trips. Some of the most memorable were a trip to Northern California in May with the Musgrove family and a trip to Holland in October with the van Rij family. From the enormity of the Redwoods to the reverence of Anne Frank's house, we experienced extraordinary places we will never forget and are grateful to have seen together. We love to travel and are ready for somewhere sunny and warm in 2010!

One of the least favorite parts of 2009 was when Kate had her tonsils removed. After many sore throats she is hopping the 'king daddy of all sore throats' will be the last for a long long time.

Josh has already been enjoying another season of shredd'n at various mountain resorts especially Solitude. He looks forward to snow all year.

Our wish to you and your families is a safe and Merry Christmas along with a wonderful New Year. To our out-of-state friends; you are always invited to crash at our house and we won't hesitate to do the same! To those close to home, we hope to see you more this year.

Lots of love,

Josh and Kate van Rij and Liam Lionheart

Portrait by Mike Kunde michaelkunkephoto.wordpress.com (Thanks again Sr. Mundy).