New Year's & New Addition

We have a new addition to our Family (as probably the 2-3 people that actually read our blog knows already!) our dog Durango! Jay and I have been wanting for a while to get a dog. We are both such dog people but wanted to wait until we got back here and got a house. We have done a lot of research and went back & forth between getting a dog from a breeder or rescuing one from a local shelter which is what we ended up doing. We went the week after Christmas and looked and read a couple books about how to choose the best one for our family. There were so many wonderful dogs there we really had trouble not coming home with all of them but Durango really stood out to both of us. He was really calm (for the most part) and could tell from the time we spent with him that he was really smart and trainable. So we were able to go through the application process and were approved to adopt him! We brought him home on New Year's Eve and he has been wonderful. We have had our issues we have had to work through (we still need to replace those blinds in the kitchen) but he really is such a sweet dog. He is getting MUCH better about being left alone, we are leaving him in his crate but he is so calm when we get home & not bending the bars in the crate anymore! He is also getting a lot better about playing with is toys and fetching the ball. He loves his walks that we take daily and also really enjoys going for car rides.

So here are some pictures that we have taken basically during the 1st week.

We actually took him over to the Campbell's on New Year's eve and he had a great time playing with Samson (their Golden Retriever) as well as did really well the kids. He was tired by the end of the night though! It was a big day for him.

Taking one of our many walks around the lake near our house.

We spent New Year's Eve with some good friends of ours here in Wichita Falls the Campbell's & the Segal's. We have been very blessed to be set up with these great people. We were actually in England with the Segal's although in different squadrons & the Campbell's are fellow F-15 C people so we have clicked with them and really enjoy being around them (although us girls are together a lot more than the boys) Anyway we had a great time with a fondue dinner and rang in the New Year at around 8:15! It has officially happened that the past 2 years we didn't make it to Midnight! but we still had a fabulous time and enjoyed celebrating all the wonderful things & changes that happened to us in 2009 as well as looking forward to everything God has in store for us in 2010!

Me, Kim, & Heather
Jay and the 2 Scotts

Happy New Year everyone! We have some great things coming up that I will be sure to post about soon.

Christmas

So we had a great Christmas. We hosted Jay's family here which was wonderful. It was a little different for me not being with my side but it was really great to be able to share this time with the Talbert side and see some traditions from their side. I always love getting together with his parents and really get to know them better each time. I had not had the opportunity yet to spend much time his sister and her family yet. They did come to England for a couple days when Leann had a conference in London and obviously at the wedding. Leann & Jim are both in the Air Force as well so our schedules never really matched up. Anyway, we found out they were all able to come we were really excited.

Wichita Falls ended up getting quite the snow storm (& I know snow storm is relative for Texas) but still we got about 1-2 feet but it definitely piled up with the snow drift. Because the city really doesn't have the capability to handle something like this we were housebound from Christmas Eve (Thursday) until Sunday. We had plenty to keep us busy but by Sunday I think we were all really ready to get out. Anyway, I did snap a few pictures but didn't get one of the whole family which I'm still kicking myself for. Next time definitely!

But I did get one with Jay's parents:

Janice & Leann
The aftermath & playing a little Beatles Rock Band. Jay loved the fact that his dad (& Janice too) got in there and played. It was a true family event.
Opening presents Christmas morning...
Jay & Erin making cookies (because we definitely needed more!)
Checking out the snow... it had piled up quite a bit by the front door.
The front of our house probably about mid way during the storm
Jay was getting some practice in with Daisy & Jen (Jim & Leann's dogs)

So that is it from Christmas. We had a truly blessed one and are all extremely Thankful for the time we had together.