Happy Holidays!

I'm afraid that despite all the fortunes that this year has brought, we do have some very sad news. Our beloved Mer was struck and killed by a car. Tyler and I took Mer's passing very hard since he was the first real pet we shared together. Aisha also took the loss very hard. For several months she was convinced I had something to do with it and refused to come in the house when I called. Thankfully, Aisha seems to be slowly coming around and is back to sleeping on the bed next to us at night. She's even become more protective of the house. While cleaning out the barn one day, I heard her barking away at her best buddy Denny because he was walking up to our house. So, it's nice to know she's turning out to be a good watch dog.

The horses have done well this year. Casper and I even got to enjoy a few rides. While I haven't been able to do much with my horses in 2007, I'm hoping that 2008 will be a different story. The biggest part of the plan is to send Evan off to the trainer's for 6 months. While Evan is in training, I'm hoping that Casper and I can hit the trails. With arthritis starting to show up in Casper's hind leg, I'm afraid our showing days might be over. As for Buster, he still has a full-time job as the entertainer for all the little kids who stop out. He's played with Leah and Bob's kids, Mitchell and Isabel, a couple of times this year. He even gave another little girl her first pony ride - Dad was in trouble for not bringing a camera and capturing the moment for Mom.

Work on the house is coming along well too. Tyler and I started off the year excited about finally getting some insulation in the roof and second floor walls. For those of you who didn’t hear about our run-in with a Suburban, Tyler and I were laid up with injuries till late October of 2006. Right before being laid up, we had just managed to finish removing all of the old insulation out of the second floor. This made for a cold – and expensive – start to the Winter. But, the end of the year is finding us finally living on the second floor! After cutting open the floor to make our 2-story foyer, the house is really starting to feel like a whole new house. We were hoping to put in some new windows and insulation in the first floor over Winter. But unlike last year, this Winter is actually shaping up to be a true Midwest winter with lots of ice, snow and cold winds. So, Tyler and I are thinking that the windows will have to wait till Spring. Instead we'll work on finishing the rough work (framing, electrical, plumbing) on the first floor. That should keep us busy till things start thawing out.

Well, thanks for catching up on all of our accomplishments over the last year. We’ll keep working away so there will hopefully be more for you to read about next year!