Christmas Letter 2007

A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." Isaiah 40:3-5 What better time to begin blogging again than with our Christmas Letter? We decided this year to not only put our Christmas letter online (for more flexibility - better color pictures, etc...) but to begin blogging again. Once upon a time we were avid bloggers (Steve more than Callie) - but once Callie moved to NM we fell out of the habit. 2007 may not have been as eventful as 2006, but nonetheless full of change once again. Our highlights included visits by both Callie's mom and brother. We subjected the Oregonians to beautiful N.M. scenery at Three Rivers Petroglyph state park, Lincoln, and White Sands; we loved the scenery and showing them some of the beauty of the state. We also spent a relaxing weekend over Cinco de Mayo in the Santa Fe area with friends Todd and Brandy Gofourth. In July we drove up to sorthern Colorado (Taylor River) with Steve’s family for a long weekend getaway/fishing trip. Callie turned out to be quite the fisherwoman and was the only one who wanted to "keep" the fish she caught - a rainbow trout and a brown trout still sit in our freezer awaiting the perfect moment to grill them. Mmmm. No one seemed to want to taste them on the trip. Shortly after our 1 year anniversary we traveled to Costa Rica on a dive trip with the local scuba club. The diving was poor due to a plankton bloom that obscured visibility, but we still saw some HUGE schools of fish (angel / butterfly), dolphins/turtles, a large manta ray, a nurse shark, octopus, lobster, and tons of eels... and Callie got some more experience and felt a lot more comfortable down under. We also had a blast on several tropical excursions -- zip lining over the jungle canopy, witnessing volcanic activity (Arenal Volcano), and viewing exotic jungle critters (howler monkeys). Such an awesome display of God’s handiwork! In August we flew to Oregon for a relaxing week of vacation and had fun at the coast ATV-ing and camping at the Oregon Dunes with Callie’s family. We can’t wait to go back!! In September, Steve retired from Thermo Fisher Scientific to begin a new career with Dodson Wholesale Lumber.Overnight his focus shifted from database tuning to processing payroll - quite the change! Despite the learning curve, he has thoroughly enjoyed working with his father and brother in the family business. Callie is still working for Rio Pecos full time as a midwife and loves the relationships she’s building and the impact she makes on her clients (albeit sometimes small).She loves delivering babies, and is a part of an awesome Christian group.This summer a 2nd hospital opened its doors and Rio Pecos is now servicing over 80% of their patients there- Callie’s now able to do waterbirths at the new hospital!!PADI certified... haha. Moose continues to grow and is well over 100 pounds.We just finished "raising the roof" on his dog house to account for his nearly three foot shoulder height (44"+ floor to head!).He has re-landscaped the back yardmultiple times and is currently midway through an ambitious dig to China.No word on the completion date, but we’ll keep everyone posted. Mowgli is still the same, but not as exciting to write about- he has caught a mouse in the back yard... (yeah!!) and spends his time sleeping and evading our still playful dane. Our final - and easily best - news is that we're expecting!! Come June 2008 we will be welcoming our firstborn. By the end of the year Callie will be four months pregnant. Thus far, the pregnancy has been relatively easy for Callie - despite her knowing WAY too much. Junior is easily one of the better photographed peanuts in Roswell! We are as excited as we are nervous...ready or not! We hope to post here often, and welcome your comments and participation. This, along with our Kodak Gallery will be our primary way of journaling, posting, and keeping everyone up to date, especially once little peanut makes a more public appearance. FYI: The password to our Kodak Gallery is our last name. With love at Christmas,