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!

yes, i like to wear capes

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 80% Green Lantern 65% Spider-Man 60% Robin 60% The Flash 50% Supergirl 45% Iron Man 45% Catwoman 40% Batman 35% Wonder Woman 35% Hulk 15%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test


For some reason the spacing on this deal didn't work out quite right. A clear flaw in my superhero abilities. Superman is not known for being technically savvy. Heck, he works at The Daily Planet where they still type on typewriters!

Saturday Night Fever!

Now the picture that you're about to see below really has nothing to do with the John Travolta movie Saturday Night Fever...other than the fact that SNF and this picture were both taken in 1977. And the all too-noticable resemblance between my dad and one of Travolta's disco cronies. Maybe it's mom who looks like a Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney) stand-in. I'm guessing this picture was taken before they got married because dad was not nearly that furry in the wedding pictures. And it was probably taken after their engagement in early 1977 because, well let's face it, they didn't know each other all that long before they were engaged, so odds are that this falls in that pre-nup period. Thanks to Cliff & Debbie Nancarrow sharing this picture via Caleb. Priceless baby! Their grandkids are gonna love it!

niece & nephew...and puppies

Did you know that Carly and I have a neice and a nephew? You may be wondering "how?" since Kyle is the first to be married of the children on the Loyd/Walters' side, and Carly's sister has no kids. And you may be quick to blame their existence on Caleb F Walters, but you would be wrong. Actually, they are of no relation to us other than that of love! And how wonderful they are. To Hud & Han, we are "Aunt Cawly" and "Uncah Kyuh". Really, there is no other reason for this little post than to show how wonderful their little mugs are! Just wanted you to enjoy them with us. These pics were taken at a recent excursion to the Oklahoma City Zoo with their parents, Papaw, and Grandma Doris. Don't you just feel like smiling now! They belong to our wonderful friends Rusty & Lesli. They bring us so much joy!





Oh, and if you didn't know, our son Parker is soon to be a dad (like any day now). While we were on our honeymoon, he had one of his own with the neighbor's German Shepherd "Belle". Oh brother. So I did a Google Image Search for "German Shepherd and Yellow Lab Mix"; some were cute and others were way ugly, but most of the pictures you get for dogs online are the ones that different animal shelters have found. So you can imagine most looked scared, dirty, and malnourished. We'll see what happens! If you want a puppy, call us! We'll share some pictures when they come. Makes me want to read the book MARLY AND ME about the so-called "worst dog (yellow lab) ever." Bad dog!

deutschland

Here's another couple of great pictures from Caleb & Cynthia in Germany. The first is at a stop on their way to Amsterdam, and the second is in front of the Saint Michael and Saint Gudula church in Brussels, Belgium.





I think this next picture might be one of my all-time favorites from the wedding so far because you can see so many faces of people who are all looking in the direction of the camera at the same time. And because Carly looks so darn cute. Our friend Kayle Greiman took this picture.



As I've said before, sometimes the pictures are better than the words.

honeymoon pics

For all of you who may have been wondering, WE knew that this newest Walters-Geiger romance was not incest, but my dear brother Caleb had quite a time joking about whether or not it was. Lots of laughs were had...and surely many more to come. More pics to come, especially of the Wichita Walters.

Here are a couple honeymoon pics to share:

The view from the condo we stayed in on Lake Dillon, CO.



4th of July fireworks show in Frisco, CO. We watched from the deck of the condo. Amazing!



We took a great bike ride from Vail pass down to the ampitheater at Lake Dillon. 18 miles, the last 5 of which were pretty challenging. But that was only because we Kansans were severely oxygen depleted at 9,000+ feet.



The state flower of Colorado, the columbine; which is also the name of the street on which we live.



And a picture of Parker, just because he hasn't been on the blog in a while. For that matter, neither have we! If it looks like he has a guilty look on his face, it's because HE DOES. He just finished munching on part of the top of our wedding cake that was left after we shared it with some friends here after the honeymoon.



Oh, and here's that top of the wedding cake (which was delish!) strategically posed so you can't see the Parker chomp marks.

is it incest?

Please accept our humblest apologies to those of you who check this very unregular blog update of the Walters of Wichita. We have been consumed with gettin' ourselves hitched. And we did it! 6 weeks today! Darn sure that girl agreed to marry me :). Not enough time now to update you on the last 2+ months of our life, but we do want to share one very DELICIOUS little piece of news. Let it be summarized in the very first statement we heard from one Ms. Kelsey Walters when we saw her after our honeymoon in Dillon, CO. "Okay, first things first. Your brother (speaking to Kyle) and your sister (speaking to Carly) have a crush on each other!" What? Could you repeat that please? Yes, she was serious. There were sparks that flew at Geiger homestead that weekend in June/July, and it wasn't just the stinkin' sweet fireworks show that Kayle and Uncle Jim put on. Mr. Caleb Festus Walters and Ms. Cynthia Elyce Geiger have got the hots for one another. In fact, Caleb surprised her on her birthday (Aug. 10), with a surprise visit to Dusseldorf, Germany where she is working as a nanny until October of this year. Crazy. I know. Straight up Twilight Zone crazy. So, to prove it, here's a picture of the two outside an Italian restaurant in Dusseldorf, the night Caleb arrived. Bon Apetit.

of fish and men

If you haven't met the in-laws yet, you have to! You always know that you'll marry someone no matter what their family is like, but you always hope for the best. And let me tell you, I got better than that! Carly and I spent the weekend in Tulsa to be with her family, and attend a wedding shower. I got the privilege of fishing with her dad and brother-in-law Jeff on Sunday morning in the Arkansas River (runs just west of downtown Tulsa). Man, there are all kinds of fish in that river! So many that half of what we caught was foul-hooked. You can see the two keepers here below. Doc, Jeff and I got to pull these Stripers in. And if you're interested in Doc's TV show, check out the link to Doc Geiger's Outdoor Adventures just to the right of the postings. The guy has got skills! He was a great guide, and was very patient with a novice such as myself, especially when I kept breaking off lures on rocks...blast! More to come on the Geiger family. For now, enjoy the pics and observe the FILET MASTER at work.

a coffee quiz

You are a Black Coffee

At your best, you are: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty You drink coffee when: you can get your hands on it Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

The boy who put the horse head in that guys bed in the Godfather: my brother.

Have you ever just wanted to rip somebody's head off? Well, my brother did. He didn't really rip it off, but I think he wanted to. He used to do it for a living. Okay, he didn't get paid for it, but I bet he would have liked it that way. Actually I think he was happy to do it for free. In fact, he paid Wheaton a whole lot of money to do it. Or, mom and dad paid Wheaton a whole lot of money. "Was he a hitman for a Chicago-Russian crime family?" you ask. Not quite. A strong man for the imposing Chicago area Concrete Layers Union? Close. This is conservative, evangelical, Christian university education at its finest; where boys become men, and then boys again...mostly just boys...with a lot of testosterone...and not enough classwork to keep them busy...okay, lots of classwork but they just ignored it. Behold --> the cornerback.

In pictures

I have found that it is easy to start a blog, hard to keep posting. Life has been overrun with busy work days, and busy evenings as we prepare for our wedding (now just over 8 weeks away) and try to finish painting and prepping the house we'll live in. One of my favorite things about blogs is the ability you have to tell stories with pictures. I don't have stories today, but I do have pictures that I hope carry stories within them. These pictures represent in many ways where my attention has been focused these past months. Meet some of the people and places the exchange students (whom I serve through my company) will get to meet.

These girls in Southeast Asia...


A city surrounded by this desert in North Africa...


This city lit up at night by traffic and the lights from scores of mosques...


An innumerable assortment of new and sometimes strange foods!...


A university near this East Asian farming village...


And culture. All sorts of new, complicated, fascinating culture.


Pictures are always better than the captions.