We're Expecting!

We are very excited to announce that we are expecting a baby! Here is a picture of our first ultrasound taken at 10 weeks. We saw and heard the heartbeat, and the doctor said everything looks good. We are so thankful for this great news and will post more updates later. The due date is September 11.

Dressed Up for Valentine's Day

The dogs are showing off their cute bandannas they got for Valentine's Day. Kyle said they don't like pink, but I think they do.

Something tells me the dogs were tired of posing for pictures by this point. Just look at the expression on Abbie's face (on the left).

The Mischievous Duo

Although Acie and Abbie are a year old now, they are definitely still acting like puppies. A couple of months ago, Acie and Abbie began pulling their dog bed out into the garage when our cars were gone, and used the area to tear open the bed and spread the stuffing everywhere. We never caught them in the act, but we know they were both guilty. They expressed such remorse each time they had to watch the clean-up from inside their kennels, but did it again and again. Eventually we had to replace that bed with a new one, but only after making the dogs go a while without one, hoping that when they got a new bed they might appreciate it enough not to tear it up. Unfortunately they aren't that smart.

When we were both gone one day recently, boredom overtook Acie and Abbie. They dragged the new bed out of the garage into the backyard, tore it open, and spread its contents all over the yard. What a mess!

Another Cruise!

We recently returned from our second cruise (yes, we went on two cruises within a month of each other). This time it was with a group of friends. We sailed on the Carnival Ecstasy from Galveston to Cozumel and Progreso on a 5 day trip. There were four couples in all.

Here is our group. Clockwise from Kyle and Melanie are Allison and Bryant, Joshua and Tyler, Kassy and Richard.

COZUMEL

Our first port was Cozumel, where we took a taxi to the nearby Paradise Beach. There were lots of activities to enjoy, like snorkeling, kayaking, floating trampolines, etc.

After spending the day at the beach, we all went to a restaurant for lunch.

PROGRESO
The second port of call was Progreso. Kyle and Melanie took an excursion to Chichen Itza (ancient Mayan ruins), which was recently voted one of the new 7 Wonders of the World.

The beautiful sunset shortly after we set sail from Progreso.
Dinner on the last night.

Highlights of 2007

As we look back at 2007, which was our first calendar year of marriage, we are grateful for all that we experienced together. The year was filled with change and many blessings.

Although the year was full of wonderful memories, we got off to a rough start. Today marks one year since we said goodbye to our dear dog, Brandy, whom we loved so much. Her passing very difficult for us, but we were hoping the year would only get better from there - and it did.

As the end of Kyle's residency quickly approached, we started exploring job opportunities all over Texas. Our prayers were answered, as we felt strongly lead to a great opportunity that was given to Kyle in Georgetown. We then began our real estate search and found a great home to call our own.

In the months before the move, we were very busy. First, we adopted two new puppies to fill the void left when Brandy died. Now over a year old, they have been a fun addition to the family. We also celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary. Then Kyle graduated from residency and Melanie resigned from O'Neill Hill. Lastly, Kyle took his written board exam - and passed with flying colors!

Our lives have changed dramatically over the past year, and we look forward to what 2008 has in store for us.

Just days after we moved, we had friends come stay with us, which was only the beginning of the company we would have before year's end. We really enjoyed hosting all the visitors we have had over the past several months, and appreciate the love and support from friends and family who have come to Georgetown. Unfortunately we were not always good about taking pictures when people came, but wanted to share the pictures we have.

Andrew, Pam, and Ava Penner were the first to come. They brought their new boat so we spent some time at Lake Travis.

Aaron, Stephanie, and Caleb Greene came for a weekend. Here we are at the Inner Space Caverns.

Melanie's aunt Celia and cousin Nick passed passed through to visit and have dinner with us one night.

Melanie's friends from college came to spend the night before heading to Mustang Island for a girls' weekend at the beach.

Jeremy and Ana Good visited for a weekend. Here we are at Iguana Grill.

Melanie's parents and brother have come twice to visit. Here we all are the day after Thanksgiving.

Mark, Kimberly, and Madison spent a weekend with us in December.

Kolby, Lindsay, and Shane stayed with us for a few days in December. We enjoyed getting to meet our nephew for the first time.

Melanie's Birthday

We celebrated Melanie's birthday twice - first with Kyle's family, then with Melanie's family.

Here we are with Kyle's side on the cruise...

On our last night of the cruise, Kyle surprised Melanie with a birthday cake at dinner so we could celebrate a little early with Kyle's side of the family. This would be birthday cake #1.

Here we are with Melanie's side on Dec. 24th...

Being that Melanie's birthday is on Christmas Eve, it has always been easy to celebrate with family. This year we continued the tradition of going to a movie and dinner with Melanie's parents and brother, James. We saw Enchanted, which was fun and light-hearted.

Birthday cake #2 (it was actually a pie).

Birthday cake #3 at the restaurant.

Family Cruise

We just returned from a fun week at sea on a Carnival cruise with Kyle's family. The ship sailed from Galveston to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Besides the fun excursions, we enjoyed time with family and good food and entertainment.

Elaine and David

Lindsay, Kolby, and Shane

Kimberly, Mark, and Madison

OCHO RIOS, JAMAICA
The ship docked in Montego Bay, but we took a bus to Ocho Rios for our excursion. Kimberly, Mark, Kolby and Lindsay went with us, while David and Elaine stayed on the ship with the babies. The bus ride was an adventure in itself - it was almost 2 hrs, and was a wild ride that we weren't confident we would survive. We arrived in Dolphin Cove, where we had lunch and saw dolphins, sharks, parrots, and iguanas. From there we took mini-boats to the bottom of the falls, which opens right onto the beach. We had so much fun climbing the 600-ft of cascading falls.

We could see the falls as we approached the beach with our mini-boat.

GRAND CAYMAN
Our entire group took a private guided excursion in Grand Cayman. We snorkeled at two different spots, and visited Sting Ray City, which was really fun. I'll add photos of our sting ray encounter when I get the water camera photos developed.

One of our snorkeling stops.

Kimberly with beautiful starfish that our guide found while we were there.

Up-close and personal with the sting rays.

The iguanas are everywhere in Grand Cayman.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, MEXICO
Cozumel was the last port of call, but we went with David and Kolby on an excursion in Playa del Carmen. We took a 30-min. boat ride to get there, then our guide drove our group to an eco-adventure park. There, we snorkeled in the crystal clear water inside the caves and enjoyed flying through the jungle on 3 different zip lines.

One of the caves we saw, but did not snorkel in because it is considered to be sacred. There is a light film of calcium deposits floating on the surface of the water, so it is hard to tell how clear the water actually was.

Kyle on the zip line.

Returning to our ship.