Marine Update

Colin has signed a contract to attend Marine OCS. They have sent his application in for their flight program and Officer Candidate School - we will anxiously be awaiting the results. If all goes as planned, he will be attending OCS starting in October.

Colin, Bella, and the perfect banana

Flight to Brainerd, MN

Colin and I flew up to Brainerd this morning for lunch! It was really windy and turbulent on the way up there (I joked I wanted to rent a car and drive back), but the flight home was relatively smooth. We ate lunch at a local bar close to the airport and the food was really good. We were both stuffed on the way back. I actually beat Colin to sighting two planes nearby to watch out for as well!

New Pictures of Bella

Katherine's First Flight

Today, Colin took me for my first flight. We were trying to make a trip up to Brainerd for lunch, but the weather didn't work out for us to travel up north. Instead, we flew to Glencoe, Mankato, and then back to Flying Cloud. It was a little turbulent, but a good first experience. I'm looking forward to going up again soon.

Private Pilot Basil and Surprise Party!

It has been an exciting week! Colin passed his private pilot's test this week and is now a licensed pilot. It has been a long journey, but very well worth it. To celebrate, I threw him a surprise party and he was extremely surprised! My brother took him out for a drink and when he got back our friends and family were all at our house. Congrats Colin on an amazing accomplishment =)

Ford and Katherine

Cake

Katherine's New Job

Katherine has been promoted at Capella! She accepted a new job this week as an Associate Project Manager in their Enrollment Operations Hub. She is very excited to begin this new challenge and will begin transitioning into her new role soon.

Growing Up Quickly!

Watching TV with dad

Streching out....


Bella is growing up so quickly! She is starting to get better at potty training and is a very fast learner. She has such a sweet personality.

Pink Granite - no more!

My dad came over this weekend to help Colin and I tear out the old pink granite around our fireplace. We will be replacing the pink granite with new black granite. The project was a little bit more difficult than we thought because we basically had to chip the pieces of granite off the floor, and also ended up replacing some sheetrock. By the end, we had a surface that was almost ready to go to get the new granite on!

Chipping off the last few pieces

No more pink granite!

Hiding under the couch

Bella's new game is to dive and hide under the couch - it is hilarious. Then, she'll stick one paw out, then her face to check out what is going on. She won't be able to do it for too much longer because she is getting bigger, but for now - it's fun to watch.

So cute!

More Bella!

Having a "Marley" moment - spilling her bowl of food everywhere!
Dexter loved ducks - Bella loves pigs!

First Bath!

What a sweetie!

Meet Bella!

We have a new addition to our family! In honor of Dexter, we wanted to rescue another dog and we found Bella at the Golden Valley Humane Society. Colin "happened" to be looking at the Humane Society's website and saw this beautiful puppy that had been given up, so we decided to go take a look. Of course, once we saw her - we couldn't resist. Meet Bella - born November 1st, 2008 - she is a german shephard/lab mix - what a beauty!

First night home!

Dexter Basil - October 22nd, 2006 - January 21st, 2009

Our puppy went to doggy heaven last night. It was by far the most difficult thing that either of us has had to do. We know that Dexter is in a much happier place and that we did the most compassionate thing that we could have done for him. That doesn't make it any easier, but in many ways we're relieved to know that he never had to suffer and we didn't let the cancer beat him.

The good thing is that the memories that we have will always stay with us, no matter the fact that his physical presence is gone. We were able to do a lot in the short two years we got to spend together - from the first day you followed Colin right into our house, to trips to Michigan and the King Cabin, swimming in Lemay Lake, snuggling in bed, playing with your ducks, and running through Eagan Central Park, you stole our hearts. To the best dog in the world - we love you and you'll forever remain in our hearts....

More pictures of Dexter

The steroids are helping Dexter act like his normal self, but we know that eventually the power will run out. In the meantime, we are doing the best we can to make him comfortable and love on him.