raking leaves

Baylie and Kristin raked leaves (actually, Kristin raked and Baylie played in the piles).

halloween 2009

Kristin never cared too much for Halloween, but David is crazy about it. Now that we have Baylie, Halloween is a lot more fun for all of us. Baylie wore an Indian costume that Kristin wore when she was little. Kristin and David went as Indians. Here are some pictures of our Halloween fun.

Fall Fun

Reading with Grandad

Visiting the Dinosaur Museum

Riding the Chair Lift

Hiking

Getting Ready for Winter

summer fun

We have had a very busy summer. Here are some of our favorite things we did this summer.

Minor league baseball game

County Fair

Botanical Gardens

Trip to the Italian Riviera

Swimming in the Mediterranean Sea

Playgroup

Children's Museum

Water Park

Hiking

david's take on kristin

Salzburg, Austria

Kristin is truly the greatest woman I know. She is thoughtful and considerate, kind and sweet, friendly and courteous, beautiful in mind, body and spirit. She sacrifices so much for the good of others. When she is given a baby to hold or watch over, I am impressed with how she lights up with joy. She understands people and goes out of her way to make them happy.

What I find most pleasing is her company and friendship. When she's around, I'm always as close to her as I can be, and have been accused of accidentally following her through the house.

Botanical Gardens

kristin's take on david

sledding and snowball fight

David is the kind of person that lights up the world around him. He's always smiling and cheerful and never says anything bad about anyone. He has a great laugh and uses it often. He makes me laugh all the time because he's so goofy. He has tons of energy.

David is very intelligent and doesn’t forget things once he has learned them. He's a real Renaissance man and can draw, sculpt and make ceramics. He seems to learn these things very easily. He loves languages and catches on quickly. He speaks Italian and Spanish.

People love being around David, especially children. He's like the pied piper. Whenever I can't find him, I look around for a group of children and he's always there in the middle of some game, story telling or other activity.

decorating cookies with the nephews

our family

Christmas 2009

Our family has been greatly blessed by adoption. We would not have children if not for the decision of Baylie's birthmother to place her little girl for adoption. We think of her often and are always grateful for her choice. We hope to adopt another child in the near future.

We met at church in Houston. We dated for two months, were engaged for six months and have been married for just over seven years. Being married has been a blast and far more enjoyable than we even imagined it would be. We laugh a lot and enjoy being together. We enjoy playing board games and reading books together. We like to go to sporting events, movies, musicals, the opera, ballet and other cultural events. We love to travel and have been able to visit many beautiful places thanks to Kristin's job. We especially love London, Paris, Israel and Italy.

Religion plays an important part in our lives. We pray every morning and evening together. We also try to read our scriptures together every day. We attend church every Sunday and strive to live as God would have us live. We set family goals each year and then review and track our progress every month.

We have several family traditions that we think help us be a stronger couple. Here are a few of them:

• Kiss before one of use leaves or when one of us comes back home
• Hold hands when we pray
• Don’t raise voices in anger or frustration
• Eat family dinners together
• Take the day off on our anniversary
• Be completely honest with one another
• Date twice a month

Baylie has added a new dimension to our lives. She has made our family more complete and we can't imagine life without her.

Dallas aquarium