want another dog story from the walters?

Sadly, we're not too good at uploading the blog regularly.

And, surprise, surprise, we have another dog drama about which to report. The day after Thanksgiving our sweet little puppy Aspen got into a neighbor's yard. This was a neighbor behind us we had yet to meet. Needless to say, his bird dogs had quite a time treating her like a little chew toy. Since we were in Tulsa with Carly's family for the holiday, some good friends of ours (the Stirtzs) took Aspen to the vet ER where they got her brain to stop swelling, stopped the bleeding jugular vein, and helped the monstrous swelling in her head, face, and neck to go down. Almost four weeks later, she is doing great!

The first three pictures are just before the little episode. #3 courtesy of Caleb Walters.







The next couple of pictures are a few days after we brought her home from the vet. She spent two days there.









What a ride!

happy sadness

It's funny how so often sad things produce joy in our lives. We experienced this on a very small scale this past weekend. Carly and I intended to keep one of Parker's illegitimate little puppies; the last female in the bunch. What a cutie she was! Shortly before we headed out to visit my parents in Colorado Springs this last weekend, Cynthia Geiger and I went next door to check on the puppies. They didn't look so good. Not sure what was up. The next day I made an appointment with our vet to make sure we got her checked out before things took a turn for the worse. Well, they did just that. She died while we were in Colorado, and before we could get her into the vet. One bit of good news is that our neighbor was able to find good homes for all of the other 6 puppies.

Since Carly and I had been trying hard to figure out if we wanted and could afford another dog, it was sad to have come to an excited "YES" and then to be disappointed. So on a whim we did a little internet research for puppies in our area (through the Wichita Eagle classifieds), and we found a family in Cunningham, KS selling their purebred golden retriever puppies for a GREAT price. So on Monday we went and checked them out. When I say "checked them out" I mean we had our checkbook and pen in pocket, and a blanket for her in the car! We drove the 65 miles in the blowing cold and came home a little warmer with a cute little 8-week old furball!

Meet Aspen, a female Golden Retriever, and newest member of the Walters' family. I wish I had better pictures than this, but you'll have to bear with us. Most of these are Parker and Aspen "getting to know each other." They do great together! Parker is so gentle with her, and surprisingly protective of her (but that's another story).

Ode to Marmie!

Happy Birthday Martha...or Marmie, or Marmalooby, or Margarita, or Marmalade, or Martita...we could go on like this for hours.

We hope that you, a wonderful and special woman, had a wonderful day on your 33rd birthday today! I know, it's awkward she's so close in age to her kids, but come on, look at her, how could she be any older?

You have been such a special person to me (Carly). You spur me on to great heights. You are such a good example to me and to the world of LOVE--always hoping, always persevering, always forgiving. What a gift we all have in you.

Thank you for loving me (kyle) so generously. You have made me feel so welcome in your family since the day we met in Salina, KS in May 2004. I look forward to many more years as your son-in-law!

Here's to you Margarita...go have one on us!

Now for everyone else, you get to enjoy these pictures of our mom / mother-in-law with some of her favorite people.

at a shower for Carly just before our wedding


at Nathan & Marci's shower in Montana


Marmie & Jessie baby in culinary collaboration


the sibs & mama


The Fam

full-blooded German Labradors - FREE!

Seriously, if you want a puppy, we can hook you up. I mean, come on...look how cute these babies are! They're about five weeks old and need seven good homes. Or fewer homes if you want more than one!









Here's "mom" (as she's known to Parker) and Parker checking them out.


And here's Park wanting to play. Don't think he quite grasps the new responsibility of fatherhood.


We'll leave you with these last two. How can you say no?! Parker sure didn't!

wedding pictures preview

Finally, this past weekend, Carly and I ordered our wedding pictures from our friend Nate Sapp (www.snsstudios.com) who took them for us, and did a phenomenal job if I might say so. We won't get them for a little while, so until then, here's a little preview of some low resolution shots. If you want to get some good resolution photos, please go to Nate's SNS Studios site and purchase some. His prices are VERY reasonable.

If you want to see the rest of the pictures after we receive them, you'll have to come visit us!

The largest wedding party ever


The Geiger - Anderson - etc. clan


The Walters - Loyd - etc. clan


It was so special to share that day with everyone that came.

Much love to you all...

Zhu Ni Sheng Re Kuai Le, Daddy!

This little Chinese birthday greeting is especially for you, Hung Chow! I'm so proud of you and so glad to be your daughter. It was a fun time walking down the aisle with you not too long ago. Thank you for all the hard work you did to make that day happen. You were amazing! I love you, Daddy, and just know you have another adventure-packed year ahead of you.

Your little China Doll

Carly and I just watched a rough cut of a documentary called INVISIBLE CHILDREN. It was very moving, and we wanted to share it with you. Three college-aged guys from San Diego set out to shoot a documentary covering the war in Southern Sudan (2003). They didn't have any luck so they traveled to Northern Uganda where many of the Sudanese refugees had fled. What they found was a tragic subculture of thousands of children that fled their villages each evening to sleep in a nearby larger city, avoiding kidnapping by a rebel group, the LRA (Lord's Revolutionary Army). The LRA (named a terrorist organization by the USA Patriot Act) recruits new conscripts through kidnapping and violent initiation. The children are threatened with death if they ever attempt to leave. These three young filmmakers went looking for a story in Sudan, but found one in Uganda. And now they've started a movement of people wanting to put hands and feet to what they felt and realized after learning about these invisible children. Pretty cool if you ask us. So after we watched the documentary, Carly and I asked each other, what in the world are we supposed to do with that? Sadly, this is only one of a thousand tragic stories like it around the world. But should that keep us from asking God if he wants to connect us, in some way, to His children there? All that to say, we wanted to share the title of this documentary with you, and to give you the link to their website for more information. If you want to borrow the DVD, feel free to ask us. You can also purchase them on their website: www.invisiblechildren.com

with love,
Kyle & Carly

p.s. I've heard about this from Caleb and then from Cynthia...we're just a little slow to watch the DVD ourselves.

Happy Birthday Doc!

A friend of ours has used her blog to wish a "happy birthday" to some of her family members by posting pictures of them to celebrate. I wanted to do that today for my father-in-law, Doc. His birthday isn't until next week, but I wanted to go ahead and share some of these pictures. So here's to Doc, still a young man!

One thing I've learned about Doc is that he REALLY loves his family [Doc, Cynthia & Carly at a cousin's wedding in Montana].


Jeremy's birthday


In the backyard where Carly and I were married! [The whole family, pre-son-in-law #2]


If you know Doc, you know he loves to hunt! Here the hunter has bagged a big pig.


He also loves to fish...a tradition passed down from his dad. These are some stripers that Jeff, Doc & I caught in the Arkansas river.


The filet master at work.


Here is the AWESOME birthday gift that Doc got from Jeff & Emily. A much purer breed than Parker's little offspring! Say hi to Miss Peaches!






Happy Birthday Doc! I love you and am proud to be your son-in-law.

dad, here are your grandkids

It's taken us a little while to get a picture of Parker & Belle's puppies, but Carly was able to take the camera over there on a recent visit. They are already so much bigger than this, but still without their eyes opened. I must say that I'm a little confused as to their coloring. Parker, being totally blonde, and Belle having typical German Shepherd colors...I guess Parker's dad Rowdy was a black lab. He must have passed along that genetic code to all 8...or 7 (we lost the runt) of the puppies. They all have a tiny white star on their chests. Four boys and three girls now. Tell your friends that we have full blooded German Labradors that we're giving away (or more technically, half Labrador - half German Shepherd).

they're here!!!

They have arrived. The puppies. We went to visit our neighbor Tyrel to check on his German Shepherd Belle, and he said that all 6 puppies came between 11pm and 3am this morning. So I peeked my head into the kennel where they were staying, and counted 8! Two of them had slipped by without him noticing. But if he's anything like me, a lot of things can slip by me at 3am without my noticing. All 8 of the little ones are jet black, except for a tiny white star that they have on their chests. The umbilical cord is still dangling from each of them, and they have yet to open their eyes. I was surprised at how loud and un-puppy-like their shrill little yelps were. It's been fun to get to know our neighbor through this...more news to come, and pictures too...we promise!

father of the bride?

Many of you have heard the all-too-true rumor that Parker Renich Walters did indeed impregnate one Miss Belle-the-neighbor-dog. As proof, I wanted to share some top-secret surveilance photos taken stealthily out of our dining room window. The pictures can only confirm the sad truth. We'll let them speak for themselves.





You may be thinking, "This is simply preposterous! Could cute little Parker...



...do this?"



You bet your kibbles 'n bits he did. And speaking of kibbles 'n bits, if you want to contribute to the Parker-Child-Support-Fund we can help one more guy from becoming a dead beat dad.

that's my girl!

Your results:
You are Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman 85% Supergirl 70% Robin 65% Superman 60% Spider-Man 55% The Flash 50% Green Lantern 50% Hulk 35% Catwoman 20% Batman 15% Iron Man 15%

You are a beautiful princess with great strength of character.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

this old house

Our parents have been very patient, waiting for a "virtual update" from our home. After a few months of elbow grease and buying stock in Ibuprofin, it's all coming together! Here's a little virtual tour of the house.

Living Room








Back Patio


Breakfast Nook




Washer/Dryer


Kitchen


Hallway


Entryway


Office










Bathroom




Guest Bedroom: the only one we didn't have to paint! Come stay with us!


Master Bedroom








Garage: we can finally park one car in there!


Come visit us!