Safari Mural

Many of you have asked to see pictures of the safari mural that Melanie painted for Kimberly and Mark's nursery. Here are some pictures of the mural itself (click the images to enlarge). To see pictures of the room all finished just click on the link to their blog, under the "other blogs" section.

In Loving Memory

It brings us much sadness to report the loss of our dear dog, Brandy. On the morning of December 31st, we discovered that she was very sick and rushed her to the emergency animal hospital, where they kept her for 36hrs. She received excellent care, but unfortunately she had ingested something toxic that caused intestinal bleeding and fatal damage to her liver. We had to put her to sleep on New Years Day - a very depressing, bumpy start to 2007. It is a mystery to us what could have happened to her, and our hearts are broken.

Anyone who knows us well knows how much we adored Brandy. Her personality was darling - unlike any other dog we know. Everyone loved Brandy because she was such a joy to be around. She was loving and affectionate. She was energetic and loved to play with her toys. She was always happy and would almost come out of her skin with excitement to see us in the morning, and when we would come home. She loved to go running with us, riding in the car with us, and getting to go wherever we were going. She was smart, obedient, and aimed to please. She was everything we could have possibly wanted in a pet, and was more than that - she was a precious member of our family who we miss terribly.

Please pray for us as we cope with her loss and grieve for her.

Melanie's Birthday

Melanie's 26th birthday was a fun day. We went to Melanie's parents' house to celebrate, and continued the family Christmas Eve tradition of going to dinner and a movie. That evening, we exchanged Christmas gifts since Kyle had to work on Christmas day.

Ski Trip

We had a great time on our ski trip with Kyle's parents in Crested Butte, Colorado. We spent 5 nights in a ski-in, ski-out condo and had 4 full days of skiing. It was Melanie's first time to ski and first chance to see real snow. The weather and ski conditions were nice, and the town of Crested Butte was fun to visit.

Our First Christmas

This is our first Christmas as a married couple, so we are getting started with our own family traditions.

Last weekend we got our Christmas tree. The man shown here tied his side correctly, but the man on the other side tied the driver's side door shut. Kyle had all the workers laughing as he climbed through the car window to get in.

Decorating didn't take long since we don't have many ornaments, but we had fun with it.

We also went to the Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens with a group of friends.

Brandy is excited about Christmas too!