Leona At Last!

Leona is finally home with us...Abigail, Jon & I picked her up at the Indianapolis airport today where she flew in from Nine Mile Falls, Washington! That was quite a trip :) She is settling in beautifully and she and Emma are TOTALLY bonding :) Here are some pictures from her first evening with her "new family":

Leona...11 weeks old

She loves her daddy :)
Kenny working with the pups to learn to share toys
My little fluff butt

Emma says, "What are you doing to me?!"
Mom and Leona...or as dad calls her "little bear"
This is so much fun!

Autumn, Friends, and a 1st Birthday Party!

Well, Fall is in full-swing here in Cincinnati! Kenny and I love this weather...after 6 years of living in Nashville and Alabama, we were READY for cool weather! Now...if only we could get our wood burning stove to work :(

Our Fall days are busy, but gratifying! We've been spending a lot of our spare time taking long walks in the local parks and our neighborhood, just taking in the crisp fall air and the vibrant trees! Here are some pictures of Fall in our yard - see our little red dogwood?




We also LOVE spending time with Jon and his girlfriend, Abigail :) Last night they came over for dinner and we played games and watched a movie. Here they are cuddling with Emma! She better enjoy the one-on-one attention...Leona is coming the day after tomorrow!

Tonight, we're headed to Chloe's 1st birthday party! She's the daughter of one of my oldest (and dearest!) friends, Kim Reizner! First birthdays are so much fun...plus, you get to buy things the mom really appreciates, like adorable clothes, because Chloe won't really know the difference yet ;) hehe.

Here's a shot of Chloe and I watching a Baby Praise DVD...

Well, more on Fall later...I'm sure we'll have lots of pictures of our new puppy to upload later this week!

Leona!

It's true. We're getting another dog :) Huskies are sort of like potato chips...one is never enough! Though, I think we'll stop at two! The breeder we got Emma from is so very kind and is sending us ANOTHER puppy because of Emma's crossed-eyes! (www.galenacreek.com) Of course, she is perfect to us, but one reason we got her from a breeder was because she was "hip and eye certified" ...and you can see clearly (er, more clearly than Em) that she is super cross-eyed. We got a call this weekend sharing the good news: she is 6 weeks now and we can get her in two weeks (end of Oct)! We're going to name her Leona...yes, Leona. Mostly, we wanted to stay within the "old fashioned girls name" category (i.e. Emma) and Leona just made us smile :) Here are some pictures the breeder sent us:

Leona - 6 weeks

Leona and her litter-mates...




Here she comes!! (To Cincinnati, that is!)

We can't wait to cuddle her... and Emma can't wait to have a sister to play with! Tune in next time for more adventures in raising huskies...

Blog Slacker - Part Two

So, here we are, living in Cincinnati. At first it wasn't so glamorous...we lived with my parents for 2 months while we waited to close on our (drumroll....) new HOME! We finally closed July 4th weekend on a cute little home in the Wyoming area/suburb of Cincinnati (think: northwest of downtown). We LOVE this house and feel so comfortable in it already. It sits on almost an acre and backs into woods, so we feel like we're in the country! PERFECT. Here are some photos of our abode...


Our bedroom...modeled by emma, of course.
family room
living room
living room again
kitchen




Then, soon after the move, Kenny and I celebrated our 1-year anniversary! woohoo! :) We had the most delicious dinner at the Cincinnatian Hotel restaurant: The Palace. We spent our wedding night at the Cincinnatian, so it was a special memory.


As for everyday life, Kenny took a job at the premiere hospital in town, Christ Hospital, and is a staff pharmacist there. I'm the Worship Ministries assistant at an EV free church in Mason, Hope Church (www.hope-church.org), and enjoy my job thoroughly. I do some administrative work, some graphic design, worship leading...and a lot of coffee drinking! :) Well, that catches us up pretty well!! Blogging...I'm back :)

Blog Slacker - Part One

Has it really been 7 months since I last updated this blog? I can think of so many things I should have blogged about...this past year has been bursting at the seams with new and exciting experiences, yet I haven't recorded a thing! It seemed rather daunting as each month passed by...so quickly...and as all the events stacked up and I felt I'd have to blog for DAYS to catch up. Well...I'm not going to let the daunting task of a few blogs stop me now...I'm back in the game! Granted, I will use this particular blog to briefly (if not briefly, adequately) catch you up on the more significant "goings-on" of the past year (March-Sept)....so I can move on to future events! Where shall I start?

Kenny and I were living in Mobile, AL last time I wrote, but since then, Kenny has graduated from Auburn with his Pharmacy Doctorate (PharmD...with honors...what a smarty.) and we have moved to Cincinnati, OH!

Here's a shot from Kenny's graduation with his friends, Scott (L) and Robert (R):


It was harder than we anticipated, leaving Mobile...we had formed such special friendships there...particularly, Bethany and Brian Engl, Dararith & Lyda Kuy, and Richard & Joanna Gomes. The Lord lavished his love on us with the gift of these friendships and we know they will last a lifetime!

Bethy & Bri


Lydia & D



The group of us at the Gomes' for Cambodian food :) Yay Curry House!Meanwhile, Emma continues to grow...and grow...and now she's a big girl!


Currently, She's 10 months and 41 lbs, so pretty much full grown...but STILL a puppy...and still as sweet as pie :)
We love living life together and are enjoying Cincinnati...more on that in part-two!