Christmas '07

We do not have a lot of pictures from this Christmas, so not everyone is represented here even. We spent the 22nd and 23rd in Beaver Falls with my parents and extended family (25 people and 2 dogs). Doug worked 11-11 all week, so we had a few hours Christmas morning at our house with the Graham Fam. Doug missed Christmas Eve church and dinner and Christmas dinner, so his mom and sisters delivered some food to him in the ER. We are going to his parents' this weekend to see Dawn and Nate a little more since DOug only saw them for 2 hours of their week on the East coast.

Daru prefers staples

After a traumatic encounter with something in the woods (an inanimate object), Daru made her first trip to her new vet this morning. She probably should have gone yesterday when it happened, but I couldn't tell how bad the laceration on her metacarpal pad was until Doug came home from work at 11 to help. It was pretty bad. It took the vet 6 staples to close it. She hobbles around pretty pathetically and is still groggy from the drugs they gave her. Here she is looking outside and thinking about how good life was before her injury.

The Big 3-0!

In the midst of our move and not having the internet for awhile, I failed to make a big deal on the blog about Doug's birthday! I couldn't find our camera the day after we moved, which was the big day, so I don't even have any pictures of Doug on that day so you could see all his gray hair =)! I think some family members got some pictures, so maybe in the future, I will have a picture of the actual day. This is from our old house....

Oh Deer!

Outside our new house, we frequently see several of these critters- up to 6 at a time. They are cute, but I think they can be a nuisance; we just haven't dealt with that aspect yet. They walk in the middle of the road, down the sidewalks, and run up and down the ravines around the house. Daru loves them even more than squirrels I think. Today when we all went walking in the woods she got to chase one...not even close to catching it but she had fun.

Tree Cutting

Doug had the privilege of cutting the tree down- I helped a little. Of course we found the right tree a zillion feet away from any path and across a creek, so we got to carry it long distance. They did have carts at Wilbert's, but we abandoned ours too early to go off the beaten path and decided it wasn't worth going to go get another one.

Our first Christmas tree

After 6 years of marriage, we finally are going to be in the same state where we live for Christmas so we got our own Charistmas tree! I was very excited to go and cut it; Doug kept telling me it was too big, but it was not. I was amazed by how many ornaments we had- we almost filled the tree even though it is a 9 foot tree!

New House

Tomorrow, we anticipate signing the papers for our new house where we hope to stay for a LONG time, unlike the last one. This is the front (obviously). All the other pictures we have have the previous owners' stuff in them, so we'll have to wait to post pictures of what it looks like when we live in it- empty most likely! We have very little to put in the basement where 2 of the bedrooms are.

Cookie Surgery

If burning cookies is genetic, I got the gene. If burning cookies is environmental, well, talk to my mom. Here Steve performs surgery to try to save the burnt cookes from the garbage disposal. He was moderately successful, and people were polite and said they didn't taste burnt.

Nothing to blog

We need to download some more pictures. This is Daru in the kitchen.

Woodpecker

I have seen a few of these guys lately- I am not sure if it is a hairy or downy woodpecker.....any ornithologists want to guess?

Go Sox!

Doug's cousin was the ring bearer for the wedding and I was a bit worried since Nicholas is one of the shyest kids I have ever met. In the rehearsal, his mom had to walk him all the way down the aisle, but on the wedding day he was brave! Or at least the bribe worked and he made it down by himself, and then he didn't even want to go sit with his family during the service =).

Blast from the past

Doug was in his cousin Jon's wedding (I have no good pictures of the bride and groom- sorry Jon and Caroline), and as he was getting ready, this guy walked by and I was like,"Is that Jared?" Yes it was Jared Becker, class of 2000 Houghton College. He did the sound for the wedding- I guess Western NY is a small world....

Seven Swans a-swimming

Okay, I think there was only one swan a-swimming....but it looked like a swan in the ocean which was a little weird. It is actually just a swan in Lake Ontario.

Alexis Bledel Look-Alike Contest

Doug and I saw some pictures of Dawn recently and thought she looked like Alexis Bledel. When I told Dawn this, she said she thought that our cousin Cindy looked like her more. Obviously my pictures are not ideal, but feel free to vote....

Aunt Dee Visits

Deanna flew in from Russia for a few days last week and enjoyed time in American stores and seeing Matthew. They shared some tickle times- Aunt Dee loves to tickle!- just like Deanna used to with Doug. As an older sister, she once tickled Doug until he got hives, so she is an expert!

The Skywalk

Houghton recently added a 3rd story to their library for the religion and philosophy department and then built a skywalk between it and NAB (aka the Chamberlain Center). Some of us felt this was a bit over the top since we had to walk through the elements when we were in college- uphill both ways of course and it was always snowing....Science people still have to walk outside to get anywhere.

President Mullen

Doug and I attended the inauguration of Dr. Shirley Mullen as president of Houghton College way back at the beginning of October. It was a fun day seeing professors and a few Houghtonites our age....Of course the chocolate fountain made everything better! Andrew, a photo of the infamous/famous skywalk will follow.

Finally...

Doug had his first day of work last week after 2 years of school! Here he takes some notes for something before he leaves. He has 5 12 hr. shifts this week so it will be a long week, but then it will be 4 one week and 3 the next.

Rough night

Male mallards, as we previously mentioned, lose their pretty head feathers to look like girls after the mating season, but then regain their colors in the fall. This poor guy is in transition and looks a little rough.

More fun for the whole family

Sibling love

Kina got a harness for her birthday so she is now allowed to go outside as well. She tried to hide in our plant to get away from Daru, but Daru still got her with kisses.

feliz cumpleanos

My dad turned the palindromic age of 55 on Sunday and we got to be there to celebrate. Later, he celebrated the victory of the Arizona Cardinals over the undefeated Steelers in his new easy chair.

Abby Repeat

I like this picture of Abby too.

Wedding fun

Matthew changed clothes for the reception to enjoy the beach at the house. I am not sure he played on the beach that much but he had a great time dancing and even took a nap there too!

The Bride and Groom

Renee and Bryan had a beautiful day for their wedding, although it was colder than I had expected. They had an indoor wedding and an outdoor reception at Renee's parents' house by the lake. Apparently Renee used to swim back and forth to see Bryan.