Gooooaaaaalllll!!! Well almost.

It was a brisk fall morning with a slight breeze in the air. The Martin family approached the soccer fields with excitement and anticipation for the 8:30 soccer game. Parking was quick as not many people had made it to the fields yet or so I had thought. Aspen was in her orange t-shirt in line along with her team for their team/individual photos. Team 5 the Lions consisted of 8 little girls 6 blonds, 1 brunette, and 1 spectacular curly red head. All with hair pulled back, with bright orange shirts on along with chin guards and cleats. The socks showed the personality of each little girl/Lion. It was going to be a great morning for soccer.

After Lions finished with pictures the team, along with coaches and parents with chairs, cameras, and something warm in their free hand headed over the berm that was obstructing the view from the photo area. Once we all made our way to the top of the berm, I stopped and for once was in awh of what I saw on the other side.

Freshly cut green grass still hanging onto the morning dew with recently painted white lines outlining each soccer field with circles in the middle of the rectangular field along with goals on both ends. Field after field after field with more fields to the left and more to the right. It was a sea of team colors with parents and spectators finding their places on the sidelines of their favorite teams pitch. It reminded me of a scene in a movie when the camera slowly breaks over the hill and encounters a battle in the middle of an open field.

After taking my moment we found the Lions field and setup our temporary camp to cheer on that little curly red head we are so fond of and her teammates. Bryant was wrapped in his blanket in the little red chair borrowed from Aspen and his bag of cheerios. Joe with the video camera and I with the camera got ready to watch the game.

It was so much fun to watch the cluster of girls trying to get their cleats on the ball and the opportunity to break free from the pack to try and score a goal. So many times the Lions dribbled the ball to the goal, all the ball needed was a little tap into the goal, but time and time again that final kick to the size 3 soccer ball either went left or right. No goal. The spectators would cheer and cheer each time then sigh and laugh after each failed attempt. Bryant could be heard yelling “Go, Go, Go” then plopping a Cheerio into his mouth. The opposing team however seemed to have a little secret because they would get that little pink ball into the goal time and time again.

The last two quarters would be better, and true enough the Lions found their groove, and the opposing pink team seemed to have lost some of theirs. Then the moment happened, that cluster of girls kicked the ball out of the cluster and that little curly red head broke free also, she dribbled that ball down the field by herself and approached the goal with the other girls in hot pursuit. One last kick would put it in and add another point to the Lions score. She cocked her foot back and let that little pink size 3 ball have it. The ball rolled and rolled and came within inches of hitting the goal post. It missed that post by centimeters and rolled to the side, the left side. Had it been to the right she would have scored.

The game ended soon after, and as is the case with kindergarten soccer, no score was kept. The girls, parents and coaches had a fantastic morning and are all looking forward to another one next weekend. Parking will be a little more difficult.

Aspen's 1st Day of School

First Day of School

~Author Unknown~

She started school this morning,
And she seemed so very small.
As I walked there beside her
In the Kindergarten hall.

And as she took her place beside
the others in the class,
I realized how all too soon
Those first few years can pass.

Remembering, I saw her as
She first learned how to walk.
The words that we alone made out
When she began to talk.

This little girl so much absorbed
In learning how to write.
It seems as though she must have grown
To girlhood overnight.

My eyes were blurred by hastily
I brushed the tears away
Lest by some word or sign of mine
I mar her first big day.

Oh how I longed to stay with her
And keep her by the hand
To lead her through the places
That she couldn't understand.

And something closely kin of fear
Was mingled with my pride.
I knew she would no longer be
A baby by my side.

But she must have her chance to live,
To work her problems out,
The privilege to grow and learn
What life is all about.

And I must share my little girl
With friends and work and play;
She's not a baby anymore --
She's in Kindergarten today.

One Year Ago

A year ago today (6/4/09) our family was able to finally to be completely together. Bryant was released from the hospital in Salt Lake and that afternoon. He was able to see his sister for the first time, and she him. The moment stays burned in my memory as it was truly an amazing moment. When Bryant saw Aspen for the 1st time his eyes lit up as if he was seeing for the first time. Aspen had a permanent smile on her face and was excited to meet her brother. To this day the same event plays over and over each time they see each other, which is why it is burned into my memory. Excitement and love for each other – truly amazing.

Needless to say May has been a busy month for us. We began with Bryant’s 1st birthday and it was a wonderful event. The Martin girls along with some Cristando women walked in the Women’s run. The men of the family took pictures of the event and probably walked/ran twice as much as the girls. It was a great event. That evening we all went to watch Aspen in her last dance performance of the year. She did a wonderful job and is looking forward to trying out soccer here soon. It was a great family weekend.

The following Friday Aspen graduation from the Little Seeds Pre-K program and is anticipating kindergarten in the fall. We have nothing but high hopes for her, she is already reading, spelling, and doing math. I along with several other moms put on the event for the kids and their families. It was fun but I was more excited to be finished and have one less thing on my plate. I am looking forward to handing the torch off to the next mom that decided to open her mouth first asking about graduation. I know better for next go around. I hope they don’t hand me the binder since I have experience. The next day we left for Salt Lake.

We spent a week in Salt Lake attending doctor appointments for Bryant and visiting family. Doctor Black, Bryant’s EA/TEF surgeon visited with us for about 10 minutes and told us that there was no reason to come back. Dr. Muntz did about the same but told us that Bryant had an ear infection and prescribed some drops along with keeping him on the prevacid (reflux meds). Dr. Muntz wanted to see us back in August, but the 600+ miles to visit about an ear infection seemed a little out of the way. So we cancelled that appointment and will see our ENT here in Billings whom we have an appointment with anyway for a follow-up on Bryant’s tubes. So we have no medical needs to return to Salt Lake. But we plan on visits to see family as we both have a lot in the Salt Lake area.

During our week Papa Lonnie took us to the Live Aquarium and we also went to a dinosaur park. Aspen got to pet a sting ray and Bryant was able to growl at the life sized dinosaurs. We left Salt Lake and visited with my folks for the remainder of the weekend. We anticipated helping plant their garden, but the weather held us off and we had to resort to bowling on the Wii since the real bowling alley was closed.

After our return we got our garden planted and the team that was working on laying 48 tons of rock has finished and we are happy to report that after 5 years in our home, our landscaping is FINISHED, well except for a few plants here and there. We have never been so happy to see rock. Yes rock, now we can have more summer fun in our backyard without looking into weeds and dirt.

In the weeks to come Bryant will have his 1 year appointment 1 month late, but designed so the pediatrician could get the info we received in Salt Lake. Bryant is also scheduled for a circumcision, again after our visit to Salt Lake to make sure nothing could cause complications as far as putting Bryant under to do the surgery. Aspen will be attending cheer camp while Bryant and Joe are walking in the Heart and Soul run. Aspen will have soccer camp the week after. We plan on being outside and looking into our yard that had no more weeks

Birthday x3

Birthday #1 is our little girl turning 5. She had been planning this big day the minute she turned 4 last year. Which for those of you that are wondering….a person doesn’t really turn a year older until they have cake. So we prolonged the cake eating until the afternoon. She loved her big day. The only thing she asked for her birthday was a Polly Pocket Princess set so we had to come up with a few other things to surprise her. Her Twinkle toes are now a big hit at the day-care. Since then she has gotten her kindergarten shots and is registered to begin school in the fall. We are all so excited for her and look forward to another great even in her life. Aspen is truly a wonderful little girl and we cherish her quick wit and deep wisdom.

Birthday #2 came exactly two weeks after Aspen’s and it was Jen’s. I had a wonderful day with bagels for breakfast, some shopping at Home Depot, and dinner at a new Italian restaurant. I also decided that I wanted to get a tattoo for her birthday. It is in perfect view, however not noticeable by anyone unless pointed out. It is perfect and I plan on adding to it in the future.

Birthday #3 was Bryant’s which was to the day three weeks past Jen’s. Bryant’s big day was not only a great day for him, but also for us as a family. It is hard not to talk about the year in review with all of the ups and down, test and test results, waiting and this and that. In short it is LIFE and we are happy to be living it. It was hard not to think about events occurring a year ago on his birthday and the 5 weeks he was in the hospital. In fact as I am writing this I was in the process of being discharged from the hospital in Billings. Some of the events are hard to think about and others are overwhelming. Friends wondered how I kept it so together being apart from Joe and Bryant. I still don’t know. But remembering everything brings tears to my eyes every time.

Bryant has been growing – on the small side according to charts, but he is growing and eating. With every new strand of red hair he gets more and more independent. He wants to eat what we are eating, which is fine but we are in the process of teaching him to drink more while eating. If he doesn’t then he gets food somewhat stuck in his esophagus. His favorite thing to eat is bread. He has learned that KIX cereal pieces are perfect cannon balls to be shot out of one’s mouth. Fun, but messy. He Loves Loves the water including the dogs’ water dish, however hates bubble baths. His favorite word to say is ball and tries really hard to say balloon. Other words he likes are tadah, oh, mama, and dada. If he could say Aspen he would they play so well together and love each other more than fish love the water (A Martin analogy). Bryant is still a bad sleeper, however I don’t mind all that much because I love to snuggle with him and one day I won’t get to do that anymore. He really is a great little boy and we cannot wait to see what he will become.

On the medical front, Bryant had ear tubes put in to drain the fluid buildup in his ears since birth. He has since passed his first hearing test in March. Eleven months past birth and he passes his first hearing test. It was a great day for celebration. We said goodbye to his STEP (developmental) specialist who worked with Bryant on learning new things. One of the struggles was rolling over; he wouldn’t do this until he started crawling. I guess he didn’t need to do it, but now it is important. So he does things on his own time and sometimes in the wrong order, but he is developing well.

In a few weeks we head down to Salt Lake to check out his surgery and reflux. Due to the lack of expertise in Billings for AE/TEF we hope that things turn out well enough that the doctors in Billings will be able to pickup Bryant’s medical treatment. Upon our return we have another surgery, then who knows what life will hand us.

We also had the tooth fairy visit. Aspen lost her first tooth and was none too happy that the tooth fairy actually left with her tooth. She wanted to keep it. While Aspen was subtracting teeth Bryant was busy adding teeth. Not just one tooth but four. So if you're keeping track that would be 12 teeth total.

We look forward to baseball games, a few trips to see friends, and enjoying our family. As M, M &M say – “Life is always better when we are together”

Out and About

Since the beginning of the year we have started venturing out into the world again. It is nice to live in seclusion especially when the weather outside almost demands for you to stay inside, however getting out has been great and much needed.

We have made it to Billings almost new water park “The Reef” a few times and enjoyed watching both kids in the water. Aspen has started to shed her timidness a little. She has jumped in and all around enjoyed each trip we take. Bryant loves the water and wears out after half an hour but makes sure he stays awake and plays the entire time. This would be a great bedtime ritual if it wasn’t so costly. He will sleep and sleep after we leave.

In January Joe and I went snow machining with five other couples. It was a blast meeting new friends and catching up with old ones. Aspen and Bryant got to hang out with her aunt Jazz and her fiancé Kevin. It was the 1^st time we left Bryant over night with someone and we all did great. It was a wonderful family reunion when we got back together only a day later.

We have enrolled the kids in swimming lessons again and Aspen is starting to branch out and learn how to swim. We are very proud of her and I cannot wait for the day that everything clicks and she starts swimming like a fish. Bryant it also in lessons and I am afraid that he will never learn how to fear the water. Two extremes!

Joe and I have recently finished six weeks of a Love and Logic class. We loved every minute of the class and learned so much. This class has provided exceptional insight and ideas on how to raise children to become responsible, respectable, and contributing adults to society. The very things we want to instill in our children. Both of us have always been excited about what our children might become, and now we have some great new tools to help us achieve our goals for them.

The Kids are up to so much these days. Bryant has yet to want or find the benefit of rolling over. He has however discovered that crawling is a means of transportation to any door so it can be opened and closed. I like to think of him as our little bug. He is fine when all fours, but if he ends up on his back then there is no telling when the misery will end. Aspen will turn five at the end of March and believe me when I say that she is counting down every day. She has started to get a quick wit about her. It is really funny when it happens, but when the moment has passed you have to sit back and wonder how a 4 year old beat you at your own game. She has been referring to things in their commercial context. For example, a piece of trident gum is named “New Trident Layers” and Subway is “Subway, Eat Fresh”. So the commercials really are geared towards the minds that are waiting to be filled with knowledge. Mine, well it is too full to be bothered with all of that.

As many of you know, Bryant had never passed a hearing test since birth. We have had several tests done and the theory is that he has fluid fluctuating between ears and causing inconclusive test results. Since our jaunt to Salt Lake in December he started taking higher doses of reflux medication and this really started to clear up his ears, however not enough. With an ear infection discovered he was scheduled for ear tubes. A few weeks ago he had his first surgery of the year. They took him from my arms at 8:25 and came out to the waiting room at 8:45. We have always thought that he could hear but since the tubes we think that the sharpness of the sound was lost. It has been wonderful to listen to his chatter. We will have another hearing test in April.

The Decade That Was.

With a new decade starting I started to think back to all the events of my life the past decade. I am proud to say that I've experienced a lot of great things in the past decade. So let's get it started....

Starting in 2000 I was in a relationship (marriage) that was miserable. I was way too young to be in any kind of relationship, but I got divorced in May and moved back to Montana. I had spent the previous three years in Boise, Idaho. I loved my time there. But I was back in Montana with no job and no money. But I was happy. Happy to be around my friends and family. I got a job at a software company in Fromberg, MT. It was my first techie job. I started off eager.

Then in September, I went out with a co worker and she introduced me to this beautiful blonde. Her name was Jennifer Cristando. Spoiler Alert! My future wife. That night we drank, talked, danced, and talked some more. I asked her for her phone number and what does she do. Yep. She gives me a fake. Now she'll swear up and down she didn't mean to. She'll give you some story about just moving and not really knowing her number. Whatever reason I ended up getting her real number and the rest is history.

In the mean time, in 2000 I take her to my cousins wedding where she knows more people than I do. Heck she knew the bride. She tells me she loves me. I teller her it's mutual. We spend the night laughing harder than I've ever laughed before or since.

For Thanksgiving, I went home with her to meet her family and experience the most hostile game of Monopoly that anyone has ever experienced. We spend Christmas with my family and on to New Years. We had the night planned out with 80's movies and pizza. The only problem is, Jen falls asleep at 8pm. This should have been a hint to me how the next ten New Years will play out.

In March of 2001 we decide to move into together. We got our first apartment at Olympic Village. A month later I lose my job at Gateway Software. I was laid off. I wasn't disappointed about losing the job, I wasn't very good at it. But I was certain that Jen would leave me. But I was wrong. She was more than supportive.

I applied for every tech job I could. Finally I get a call from First Interstate Bank. I didn't remember applying there, but who am I to question it. I guess I applied for the help desk. I interviewed for the job with Alice Lahren. She asked me a bunch of questions and she had a terrific poker face, because I swear she hated me and I bombed the interview. About three weeks later i_Tech offered me a job working in desktop support. i_Tech was a sister company for First Interstate Bank.

Shortly after getting the job Jen and I decided to buy a pickup. A 1999 Fort F150 for $16,000. Things are getting serious. We're buying cars and living together.

That August I won a trip to Seattle for a baseball game. My first professional baseball game. We watched the Mariners get beat by the New York Yankees. We had great seats and had so much fun. We ate a bunch of good seafood and brought back some crazy good crab legs.

Then like every American I remember exactly where I was on September 11th. Jen and I had just finished getting ready for work and we always had the news on while getting ready. And the Today Show came on and a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers. I didn't think it was a big deal. I thought something like a Cesna had hit the tower. But then there was another explosion. They showed the footage of the other plane hitting the second tower. We were just stunned. That was a surreal day. Watching two towers collapse, our nations capital under attack, and the thousands of lives lost. There were TV's every where you turned with the news on. It was hard to focus on anything but the disaster.

Two weeks later Jen and I traveled to Texas for her best friends wedding. We spent 18 hours flying or in airports. All but one flight was cancelled. That was both to and from. But it was well worth it. The wedding was beautiful and fun. Jo-Dee and LeRoy will be married for nine years this year.

The rest of 2001 was quiet for us.

2002 was a special year. Shortly after Valentines day Jen and I traveled to Thermopolis, WY to go swimming and check out their dinosaur museum. I got a cool CD holder for the truck and Jen got a proposal. I asked her to marry me. And naturally she said yes.

The rest of year was devoted to planning our wedding. Later that year we decided we needed to build a house. So we were planning a wedding and planning our home.

2003 was the year everything came together. Toward the end of June we moved into our new home. And a home wouldn't be complete without a dog. So we went down to Help for Homeless Pets and adopted Pablo. We renamed him to Duncan. He was a feisty puppy. Full of love. We also received a "free cat". She was an all black mystic cat name Katrina. She had what I liked to joke "a leaky butt." She had no control over her poop and it was watery. She let loose on my sister at one time. Jen and I were less than excited about this cat in our brand new house. So we would let her out with hopes of it not coming back. But she kept coming back. So we thought we should take her to the vet. It turns out it wasn't her fault at all. She had a tape worm. Poor girl. So after some medicine her poop was under control. She has been a lovely cat.

A week after moving in my future father in law wanted to give us a sprinkler system for a wedding gift. And we were going to install it ourselves because he has experience. That week we spent most of our time fighting with each other and taking 20 trips to Home Depot a day. It was a stressful week. It turned out that John had never installed a sprinkler system but everything worked. Well kind of. But he did a great job, and we loved it.

On September 20th, Jen and I got married. We were surrounded by our friends and family. The Justice of Peace, Judge Hernandez, told me to keep by knees bent. That way I wouldn't collapse. Good idea. Jen was so beautiful. To this day I'm the luckiest man.

We didn't go on a honeymoon. We went to Red Lodge and had fun.

2004 was a year of adjustment. I switched jobs at work. I went from desktop support to ITI support. I thought it would be a good move, but it turned out to be one of the most stressful times of my life.

Jen also had a career change. Not necessarly by choice. While in a meeting she called her boss a prick while he was out of the office. Someone ratted on her and she was fired. She was having a rough time there and was miserable, besides she was just calling a spade a spade. He was a complete jackass and Jen was better off.

Jen started teaching swim lessons at the YMCA. She was a lot happier. We lost some income but we were happy.

In August Jen got a job as a contract worker for the BLM. She works on the help desk.

A week after Jen started working we found out we were pregnant. Very scared. And very excited.

2005 is the year we have to be responsible.

In February as we're getting ready to have a baby I decide to get another dog. She's a crazy dog named Skittles. Of course we renamed her to Casey. As if a new baby isn't enough responsiblity we add a puppy to that. Crazy.

With a baby just around the corner and a new puppy we decide to build another house. Less than a week before the baby comes we decided this. You may question why Jen stayed married to this guy. And my answer is. I have no clue. Couldn't tell you.

Aspen Jo Martin arrived March 28th. Jen was in labor for 17 hours. Both of us were so happy.

A week after Aspen joined us we put our house on the market and signed the papers to start building our new house.

Three weeks after putting the house on the market it sold. For full asking price. So we needed to find a rental. We thought we would go cheap so we could save money. We should have known we were asking for problems.

We picked this duplex and it was a living hell. A five month living hell. We lived downstairs. We experienced flooding which forced us to live in a motel for a week. It was a nice reprieve. It had air conditioning and Food Network. The sewage backed up into our shower. This still makes me sick to my stomach when I think of it. And a landlord switch a month before we move out. The new landlord was an old man who pushed every button I can have. He called me a low class jerk. All because we wanted proof that he actually owned the property before we gave him our rent. It took a lot for me not to knock this old fart on his ass. After we moved out he called me to say a tenant never cleaned the house as nicely as we did. I just hung up on him and moved on.

In 2006 I decided I needed to change jobs. I didn't like how my professional life was taking affect on my family. I was always on call. We're talking 24/7. Spending time on a conference calls while my sick daughter is screaming in my lap. She deserved better than what she was getting from her dad. I didn't like myself. I felt like I was making my family suffer.

So I applied for a job in the First Interstate Bank server department. There was a huge reorganization and FIB wanted their own technical staff. So Mitch Svihovec was kind enough to give me a chance. Mitch and I are friends but I didn't want to let him down thinking I could skate on our friendship. He assigned me to a technology the bank was looking at. They were looking at a product called VMware. It's server virtualization. I was hooked.

That September I got the chance to go to San Francisco for VMworld. While I was there, I got to take in my very first NFL game. And it happened to be my beloved 49ers on Monday night footbal. I loved it. I loved San Fran.

In the meantime, Jen really excelled at her job. She became an office favorite and beloved by her co workers. Compared to her previous job where they were clickish, her new co workers accepted her with open arms. She continued to teach swim lesson at the YMCA where Aspen and I joined in.

2007 and 2008 kind of blended together for us. In 2008 we finally put in a yard. It was so nice. That September Aspen joined a dance class. She attended Rainbow Dance Studio where she is taught by Nancy and her daughter Mercedes. She absolutely loved it. Her dream of becoming a ballerina was one step closer.

In this time frame we experienced heartache. With the joys of pregnancy it can be devestating when it ends unexpectantly. And it ended three times with such heartache. As a man I felt like it was my fault. Like somehow I let my most beloved down and I couldn't make it better. But we pushed on.

And towards the end of 2008 we found ourselves pregnant again.

And Christmas time was coming. It was a couple days before Christmas and my sister in law Jazz was driving home from college. Just outside of Columbus she had hit black ice and roled her Pathfinder. She called Jen and we were on our way.

Just the day before there was bank wide email sent out that a gal from our credit card department was killed in a car wreck on the Montana/Idaho border. So with this in mind we went to get Jazz.

The roads were clear as day. We had just passed Park City and just up a head we saw the lights of an emergency vehicle. The semi-truck in front of us dropped snow off of it's trailer and I couldn't see anything so I let off the gas and our Explorer started to fishtail. We fishtailed for 100 feet or so with me saying oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. And when it finally seemed like we were coming under control our rear end slides around and we're heading towards the median. And as we're sliding everything goes into slow motion. But with the slow motion came a certain calm. It felt like we were going to be ok. Jen and I talked about this afterward. We both felt the same.

Once the tires hit the dirt we rolled on Jen's side first. Then the roof, then we stopped with the driver side down. I called out to see if Jen and Aspen were ok. And they were. Then in what seemed like seconds there were men there asking if everyone was ok. I just shouted that there was a baby in the vehicle and to get her out first. They rolled us back onto our wheels. Aspen didn't start crying til these strangers pulled her out of the car. I barely had a chance to express my thanks before they were off on their trip. (This is what is so great about Montana. Strangers helping strangers.)

My cellphone launched out of the Explorer during the roll but I was able to find it. I dialed my father in law to let him know that we were also in an accident. But I was on the phone for a few seconds before a sheriff showed up to see if we were alright. So I told him we rolled our car and had to go. I'm sure that left a comforting feeling.

The ambulance showed up to check us out. Jen's wrist was banged up but we were unscathed. The sheriff's brought Jazz to us. At least we were all together now. An insurance companies nightmare family.

A sheriff was going to give us a lift back to Park City. We ended up going to Columbus then back to Park City. A long the way we saw that we weren't the only people with bad luck.

It's maybe 20 miles between Park City and Columbus, and there were 10 to 15 other cars in the median.

So we're in the Sheriffs car riding back. We look over his shoulder and he's going 90 miles per hour. On ice! Maybe I should have reminded him we were just in an accident and a little skittish, and we're crammed in the back seat with a two year old with no car seat. This is when Jen leans over to me and says, "he's going way too fast." Yep, I know.

In what seems like minutes was actually two hours. Two hours with a two year old potty training. A two year old potty training with no diaper on. Jen and I were scared to even mention the word potty out of fear we'd spring a leak in the back of the police car. So while we cursing him for going so fast, we wish he would get us there faster.

We did get to Park City, and Aspen pee'd like a race horse. We were so proud of her for holding it like a big girl.

Our Explorer was totalled. A couple weeks later we purchased our Ford Expedition. We were months away from paying our Explorer off. A month removed from replacing the transmission. But everyone was safe, and the baby was ok. What a way to end the year. 2009 had to be better.

2009 was one of the most trying and rewarding years we've ever been through. We were excited to find out we were having a boy. Our thought of 3 girls ended but with delight.

On May 2nd, Bryant Mason Martin joined us. But not without drama. He was born with a EA TEF. A detached esophagus. We spent the next 5 weeks in Salt Lake City at Primary Childrens Medical Center. He had a surgery to fix his esophagus. We met some special new friends that helped us with our journey more than anyone would know.

In that time Aspen spent a lot of quality time with Papa Lonnie, but anxious to meet her new brother. Then on June 2nd it happened. They met and haven't stopped laughing.

We've pretty much become hermits this year. But we've enjoyed our family and friends that much more. Duncan is starting to show his age. He turned six this year and has arthritis in his hips. He even got stung by a bee or bit by a spider and his entire side of his head was swollen. Nothing medicine couldn't fix. Casey is still full of love. She still snags abandoned socks. And Katrina stil looks over everyone. Making sure everything is just so.

We wanted to say thanks to all of our friends and family. We love you guys.

That brings us to the end of the decade. And the start of a new one. Today Bryant turns 8 months. Aspen continues to grow up no matter how much we insist she slow down. And Jen and I are still very much in love. Best Friends for life.

But with looking back it's hard not to look forward. Here are somethings that are certain to happen in the next decade.

Jen and I will turn 40 at some point in this decade.

We'll celebrate our 10 year anniversary.

Aspen will be a teenager and two year shy of getting her drivers license at the end of the decade.

Bryant will beat his dad in basketball if he chooses to play.

Those are things I'm pretty sure will happen this decade. Jen may refuse to turn 40. I'll have to let you know.