Happy 2009!

So this is officially my Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, here's what has been going on post!

Things around the Church house have been good, busy, but good. Since my last post in November I have decked our halls, spent a fun-filled weekend with Riley, celebrated my birthday, undergone major surgery, enjoyed Christmas at home with the family, and watched my puppies grow into miniature horses!

We had a great time this year putting up Christmas lights outside and discovering the homes for our Christmas decor inside our new house. It's always fun to figure out where the Christmas decorations will go. I think next year will be even better...but this year the house turned out pretty nice. We only got to enjoy our outdoor lights for a week or so due to the discovery of an electrical problem, but hey, at least we got to see the pretty lights for a little bit!

Brian and Erika went out of town the first weekend of December to celebrate Erika's birthday and that meant an amazing four days with Riley for me! It was tons of fun spending that much quality time with her...she really is amazing and cute and just a joy to be with. She's a talking machine these days and fires off question after question...she's a curious little thing and way too smart for her own good! The picture here is one of our many play times with all of her stuffed animal friends. I wish you could hear the giggle that came with this picture...

The addition of two more furry friends at our house has things pretty bouncy. Avry and Eli are just over four months old right now and they weigh in at about 35 pounds! I learned last week that they have about 6 months more to grow as far as height goes and another 18 months of filling out growth. Looks like we will be investing in a stable before things are all done with these monsters! They are still so sweet and puppy-ish though, so despite their bouncing and biting we love the little guys and really enjoy having the 16 paws pitter patting through the house. As you can see by the pictures, they are rotten and enjoy all the comforts of our king sized bed!

In other puppy news, Amos graduated from school last week and we are proud parents of a matriculated pup! He passed his Beginner class with flying colors and will be moving on to Click-a-Trick as soon as I can walk! He learned basic commands and the process of training him really trained us a bit more! All of the pups have benefited from the training, but Amos enjoyed the one-on-one time and the spotlight at Petsmart when he completed his course!

Last but not least, I had a Right Achilles Tendon Exostectomy on December 19th and so, here I go down the long road of recovery once more. I have some really gnarly pictures of the surgery that I will post on here as soon as I figure out how to make it optional to view the pictures so those of you with queasy tummies won't be subjected to the medical wonder that was my surgery! I'm doing remarkably better this year than last year and am hoping that means the recovery will be a lot faster. Ironically I was at physical therapy for the left foot just two days before having the right foot operated on! I guess they aren't kidding when they tell me that the recovery time per foot is one year!!! At least I get to have some cool art during recovery...check out this cast!!!

Well, we have some good goals in place for 2009 and are looking forward to all that a fresh new year has in store for us.

I hope that the new year finds you all refreshed and looking forward to all the good things and reflecting back on fond memories of 2008.

Cheers,

Church Lady