Happy Thanksgiving!

We have many things to be truly thankful for this year. Among them are:

- God

- My wonderful family and friends

- My precious and loving puppies

- My amazing husband who 5 years ago TODAY on a beautiful Hawaiian beach at sunset, got down on one knee and asked me to spend my life with him.

It's been an awesome ride!

- Our little baby who awaits to meet us in April. I am so thankful to God for blessing us with this miracle. I truly can't wait to watch my husband as he becomes a father!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! May your day remind you of all those things that you have been blessed with!

We're Pregnant!

Dave and I are proud to announce that we are expecting our first bundle of joy this April!

We feel so blessed and so thankful! We can't wait to be parents!

Game On!

Dave's newly-retired father and mom spent this past long weekend with us in Colorado. We had a blast enjoying eachothers company and just relaxing. Here were a few of the highlights:

• Scoring Veterans Day lunch at Fazolis for 99 cents a person
• Happening to be in the right place in the mall at the right time to draw $200 in gift cards to Tommy Bahama [Dave won $100 and used it to buy a really nice $98 sweater]
• A yummy meal out at Cheesecake Factory
• Scrapbooking time at Archivers [I actually got a few pages done-- surprised?]
• Tailgating and watching ISU play CU in Boulder [we won't talk about the outcome...]
• Church and family photos at Arrowhead
• A fantastic 4-course dinner at Gabriel's in Sedalia
• Playing "May I?" the card game for hours

I think I must elaborate on why a card game would make the highlight reel. It's a game Dave and I hadn't played before, but enjoyed thoroughly. However, what made it so hilarious was the last & final round. A few glasses of wine into the game, Dave found himself wracking up points (a bad idea in this game). He was several hundred points behind the leader (yours truly) and knew his only chance of winning was one of the lesser known fine-print rules: if you score EXACTLY 500 points at the end of a round, you may completely erase your score and reset it to zero. With each card having a certain value, Dave spent the entire round intentionally collecting cards rather than trying to empty his hand. You could see the wheels turning in his brain trying to add up exactly the right number of points. At one point, he got out a calculator to triple-check his stack. I'm not sure what was funnier-- the way his hands shook as he nervously calculated if he had hit the right mark -or- the fact that he actually WON the game by this sneaky rule! I will gladly lose the game to those types of drunken card heroics!

It was a really fun weekend and we were really glad Bob and Diane could come. We look forward to more visits now that they are retired!

Happy 8th Birthday, Belle!

Belle's 8th birthday was this past weekend. It's hard to believe she's already 8! Since she isn't really into squeak toys, we decided to try something different this year for presents. We went to the Treat Bar at Petco and got her a bag of goodies-- choc chip cookies, sandwich cremes, hamburger biscuits, etc. All of course are dog-friendly ingredients.

She had a blast when Dave decided to let her have at the bag. She put her whole head in, took a big mouthful, and enjoyed it.

Grandma and Grandpa also sent her a package of goodies. Most of the toys Sequoia decided were hers, but she was very excited about the bully sticks! See her cute and excited face?

Oh, and here's the reaction the musical card from Gma/Gpa got courtesy of Sequoia (she doesn't quite get that every present isn't for her...):