Devin & Laura Castleton

White Sand Christmas, Bangkok New Year, Laos, and Our New House

2009-01-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

As always it's taken me a while to update the blog and as a result there's a ton of pics. So, I'll spare myself the time and you readers the lame captions and just post the pics. However, a few of the pictures definitely warrant an explanation, specifically those involving extremely skimpy swimwear. So the explanation is this: most all islands in Thailand are generally populated with huge numbers of Western tourists - European, Australian, etc. - and virtually all the men wear speedos. Spencer and I simply didn't want to feel left out. Besides, it was Spencer's birthday and what better reason to give our wives the sexiest beach experience of their lives...

An additional explanation - in one of the New Year's pics, the two Spencers are posing with what may seem to be a random "girl" - quite the contrary, though. The girl is actually a guy. Don't believe me? Take a closer look and you'll see the 5 o'clock shadow and an unmistakably masculine hand. Not a bad presentation, really. We gave this ladyboy an 8.5 out of 10. Some of them can really fool you. What a surprise that must be for the lucky foreign boyfriend...

As for the mustache, greatness such as this needs no explanation.

Anyway, life in Bangkok is fantastic. We recently moved to suburbia to be closer to the school that Laura now teaches at. The neighborhood is beautiful and even came complete with a couple of stray dogs that of course we took in. The new family members are Nelly (the white one) and Cocoa (the brown one). They should have the house all warmed for Cooper who arrives on the 16th. Seriously, I can hardly sleep at night I'm so excited to have him here with us.

Enjoy the speedos, I mean the pics.

Peace.

Christmas at Koh Samet

New Year's Celebration with the Edwards and the Hummistons

Laos

Fantasitc New Year's Mustache

The New House

The Bridge Over the River Khwai

2008-12-06T04:15:00.000-08:00

December 5th was the king's birthday/Father's Day, so we took advantage of the day off and did a little traveling. We met up with our friends Spencer and Chrissy and hopped on a bus heading for Kaanjanaburi. To those of you who are not familiar with this place, it is where the bridge over the River Khwai is located. Once we got there, we toured some of the old war museums, cemeteries, and an old cave with lots of old Buddhist statues, etc. Then we went to the bridge, took some pictures, and ate some fabulous Thai food and watched the fireworks show commemorating both the king's birthday and the the bridge. Great day. Enjoy the photos.

This taken just outside one of the war museums - a great shot of up-country Thailand.

Devin and Laura riding in the back of the truck, or soong thaew, from the museum to the cave.

Our friends Chrissy and Spencer.

Laura enjoying the breeze and the view.

A shot of the temple grounds where the cave was located.

Bells and gongs at the temple leading the way to the cave entrance.

Devin and Spencer (fabulous pose) at the cave entrance. By the way, if you had any degree of claustrophobia, the cave was more frightening than interesting...

Devin in the cave with a pot-bellied Buddha.

A brief glimpse of daylight before heading deeper into the cave.

Ducking through the cave and trying to stay calm...

Laura, obviously not as bothered with the enclosed surroundings.

Spencer figuring the odds of survival in the event of an earthquake.

Chrissy and Laura working their way down the steep descent into the abyss...

Laura in front of one of temples just outside the cave.

A monk peacefully carrying out clean-up duty around the temple grounds.

This little guy enjoying a coconut snack.

A cemetery full of Dutch, German, British and American soldiers who died while building the bridge over the Khwai River.

Devin and Spencer viewing the entire burial ground. This was a very moving tribute to the soldiers. Rumor was that for every railroad tie placed, there was a soldier who died building the bridge.

A great shot of the landscape of the Thai countryside on the way to the bridge.

Another great shot - this of the river leading to the famous bridge.

A train used by the Japanese during WWII.

And there it is - the bridge over the river Khwai - still in use to this day.

The river at dusk. Great shot by Laura.

Cooper's long lost twin - we almost stole him and took him home. Cooper, we promise we're coming back for you...

Folks waiting for the train.

Devin and Laura at the bridge.

Yeah - We Live Here...

2008-11-13T02:58:00.000-08:00

So, two events here. First of all, we spent a day and visited the Jim Thompson House. For those of you who don't know the significance, Jim Thompson was a CIA agent back in the 50s turned designer and art collector. He came to Thailand and sort of created the silk industry here in Asia. The alluring part of the story is this: he built this incredible house in Bangkok featuring some of the most historically significant art in existence. Then while exploring in Malaysia, he went for a walk in the woods and disappeared. His body was never found but his art collection is world renowned and his house is pretty famous. So we checked it out. By the way, there is an AMAZING Thai restaurant right next door which we'd love to share with anyone who would be willing to come visit us. You know who you are...

Then there's Loy Krathong. The literal translation means to float a boat but it's actually a huge festival where everybody floats a symbolic little boat down the river representing all the bad things in life of which you'd like to rid yourself. Additionally, it's somewhat of a prayer to the spirits of Mother River. Regardless of what it means, everybody heads to the river and floats their boats on down stream. There is a big parade of boats and a huge fireworks show. As it turns out, we live right on the river so we went down, got on the boat and floated our boats away. We then enjoyed an amazing dinner and then headed back upstairs to our apartment to watch the show. It was really a pretty cool night. We sat on the floor of our windowed bathroom, transfixed by the boats, fireworks, and people. Suffice it to say, we love it here. Enjoy the pics.

Laura at the Jim Thompson House.

Some of the historic art on the wall.

Me standing in front of the main living area at the Jim Thompson House.

Here's Laura in front of MBK - one of the biggest shopping centers in town. This taken about 5 minutes before a pretty violent thunder storm.

Here I am at the skytrain station just after the storm started. You can't really tell, but the rain is pouring down so bad that the train shut down for about a half hour.

Here's one of the big boats that passed our place on the river before the fireworks started.

Here I am on the boat getting read to set my boat free.

Laura posing with her lovely boat.

Lighting the candles.

Not as easy as it looks - the wind was blowing.

Devin and Laura - Loy Krathong 2008.

So we didn't actually set our boats free - this guy did it for us.

And they're off...

This taken from our bathroom - all the boats lining up to watch the fireworks.

Pretty cool sight, ready for the fireworks to start.

And now, lighting...

...the sky...

...with fireworks. Got to love Bangkok.

President Barack Obama

2008-11-04T21:21:00.000-08:00

No need to say anything more than...

YES WE CAN!!!

Touring the Kingdom

2008-10-23T20:50:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a national holiday so we decided to put on our tourist hats and do some sightseeing. Although we've been here for nearly two months now, we haven't had a chance to go visit the royal palace. This has been mostly because all of the protests and violence are taking place near that area. However, the conflict seemed to take a rest yesterday out of respect for the national holiday which is in remembrance of one of the past kings. So, we decided to head over there and check it out.

When we got there, we saw the pro-government protesters (as opposed to the anti-government protesters who have occupied the prime minister's quarters for two months now) sitting rather peacefully in the park next to the royal palace. They were all just sitting, eating fruit, relaxing, talking and smoking cigarettes so the tension that we anticipated wasn't really there at all. We proceeded to the entrance where we had to rent "proper attire" to enter the palace (I was wearing shorts and Laura's dress didn't cover all of her shoulders). So, do look forward to my stylish pants and Laura's slightly over-sized shirt in some of the coming pictures.

After the grand palace, we walked to the river and took a boat tour around "Old" Bangkok, much of which I spent teaching in when I was a missionary. Some of the pictures are pretty cool and even though I've taken these boat tours numerous times, they never get old. They really show the part of Bangkok that I love the most.

Despite all of the problems going on in the world, and Thailand being no exception with the intense political unrest, we are loving our lives here in Bangkok.

This is the reclining Buddha which is located next to the royal palace. This picture taken from its feet. Pretty amazing.

Laura and I totally and completely looking like tourists.

Me in front of the reclining Buddha.

And Laura...

This is Wat Arun which means Temple of Dawn - a pretty famous temple located just across the river from the royal palace and just up the river from our apartment.

This picture taken of our apartment (the building just left of center) taken from Wat Arun.

Laura and I completely enjoying our afternoon on the boat.

Here is a monk meditating just in front of one of the temples along the river.

Some locals fishing along the river.

Me feeding the hoards of fish. Seriously, look at all of those fish literally climbing over each other to get the bread.

Here is an old lady selling soft drinks and souvenirs from her boat. A little too touristy for us, but charming all the same. We bought a Fanta and a fan.

A Buddhist statue in front of another temple along the river.

Laura in the boat with an impressive temple in the background.

Here I am in the royal palace sporting some stylish pants that I had to wear over my shorts.

Another shot in the palace.

Here's Laura in front of the part of the palace that holds the Emerald Buddha. Note the shirt they made her wear while inside the palace walls - nice.

The Emerald Buddha.

Laura modeling her new shirt.

Me just inside the palace walls.

Laura walking through the streets just across from the pro-government protesters. All was calm on this holiday so we took advantage.

Here's Laura and I with some of our friends from church - Wendy and Biah. This was taken after eating a fabulous meal at the Marriott (Wendy works there and got us hooked up).

Getting Comfortable

2008-09-23T06:07:00.000-07:00

I suppose it's time for some kind of an update. First of all, I am posting this from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) as Laura and I are here to visit my boss who works in our office here, and to do some work on our Thailand visa. This place is like Hawaii, only cleaner and more exotic. It's really pretty incredible. We saw the Petronas Towers (pictured further down) and managed to snap a few shots from the Taxi. We're headed back to Bangkok on Friday where life will get back to normal, whatever that is.

As an update from our last post, we did not end up moving into the apartment we posted pictures of. It was too small and after looking around at more places, we found something much bigger and better, right on the river and about 15 minutes from work. Here are the pics:

Our new apartment just on the other side of the river from my office. We're on the 26th floor which as you'll see, makes for an amazing view.

This picture taken from the bottom of the condo complex.

This is our front room. We haven't had a chance to decorate, but the view out the window will do until then.

Apparently we need a new camera because this is the best I could do from the living room window. My office is just behind the tall, gold-domed building. The building my office is in is actually taller than that building, but the view is blocked.

This is the kitchen which opens up into the dining room and the living room. Yes, Laura has cooked but we'll admit that we go out for Thai food almost every meal.

The dining room. Behind the table you'll see the shutters that actually open up into our bedroom which is, like the living room, walled with a window overlooking the river.

This is pretty much the same picture with both shutters open.

And this one taken during the day so that you can see the view out the window.

It's a little hard to see in this pic, but just outside the bedroom window we saw the literal end of the rainbow which landed right on a small house on the ChaoPhraya river.

A better shot of the view during the day.

Yes - that's the bathroom and you get that view in the tub, in the shower or on the toilet. It's a bit of a distraction from my usual reading...

The pool, which is located on the 6th floor.

Me standing in front of my new office view. The new office alone makes the move worth it. The building just behind me is the gold-domed building that blocks the view to our apartment on the other side of the river.

One more office view shot.

This shot taken from the roof of our guest house here in KL. Malaysia is incredibly beautiful and we'll never complain when work brings us here now and then.

The Petronas Towers - not a bad shot taken by Laura from a moving Taxi. The trees are just in the way of the bridge that connects the two towers.

One more shot from the guesthouse.

Stay tuned for more pics...

We're Here...

2008-09-01T19:48:00.003-07:00

After 7 checked bags, 4 carry-ons, three flights, two layovers, and over 26 hours of total travel time, we finally made it to Bangkok. To put it all simply, it has all been worth it - we absolutely love it here. Laura is adjusting well and seems to love it so far. We've been here now just over four days and it seems like I never left. Bangkok is still the same huge, fascinating, diverse, tasty, smelly melting pot of a metropolis it's always been. We found an apartment (despite New York City-type prices), a work-out gym, and all the best food joints right near the office so everything has come together well so far. We even got our first Thai massages last night which helps with the jet lag. We'll be leaving for Malaysia in about three weeks to visit my boss in the Kuala Lumpor office so we're looking forward to that. Below are pictures of our part of town as well as a couple of our last night at dinner with Laura's family. Stay tuned for more updates...

This picture taken from the top of our hotel.

Laura standing over the traffic near the World Trade Center.

Devin on top of the hotel at the swimming pool.

Devin standing in the small street leading to our new apartment.

The front room of our apartment that connects to the bedroom.

The entryway to our apartment. Very NYC we thought.

The apartment lobby with breakfast cafe, zen room and waterfall.

Just outside the apartment.

This is us at our last dinner in San Antonio.

At dinner with Grandma, Laura, Marietta, Devin, Jenny and Carmen.

Another Month, Another Blog...

2008-07-29T14:31:00.001-07:00

So it seems like our blog rate is about once every month or so, however I'm assuming that will get better once we're in Thailand. Our move is less than a month away now. Our house is officially empty, Wes has started taking over my job and his wife and son will be moving down on August 15 so it's all falling into place.

Earlier this month we made a trip to Boise to say goodbye to Dad, Mom, Bruce, and Trevor. Chris and Angie drove up from Logan to see us so we got to say goodbye to them as well. We had a great time and love Boise a lot. It's definitely on the short list of places we'd like to live once we get back from Bangkok.

Also posted on the blog are pictures from Grandma Adams' funeral which was back in March. We made the quick trip to Utah to be there and got a great picture of the entire family so we decided to post a few pics from that even though it was a few months ago. There was a huge snow storm the morning we flew back which made the drive from Provo to the airport in Salt Lake a pain and once again assured us that we never want to live in a cold climate.

Laura, Devin, and Mom in Boise.

Trevor and Devin at Mom and Dad's house.

Angie, Mallory, Chris, Devin, and Laura in Boise.

Dad, Mom, Laura, and Devin out to lunch in Boise.

Laura and Devin visiting in Boise.

Some of the brothers at Grandma's burial.

Pallbearers at the burial.

The whole family (minus Tag's daughter Khloee, and Becca and the kids) at lunch after the funeral.

Devin and Laura at the viewing.

Farewell Bryant & Becca - We're Next...

2008-06-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was the end of an era - we met up with Bryant, Becca, Grace, and Lilly for our last dinner at the Thai restaurant. They moved to Illinois for Bryant's new job this week and we will miss them dearly. We started choking up before we even got to the restaurant. I can't believe that the San Antonio chapter is coming to a close. It was Bryant's idea back in August of 2004 that I come down to San Antonio. At the time I needed to get as far away from Logan as I could and within 5 days I was here. We've been through a lot together over the past 4 years - so many great times including the adoptions of Grace and Lilly. It's so hard knowing that we can't just drive over Bry's to see the kids anymore, but we wish them the best in Illinois.

As for us, we are getting closer to our departure date for Thailand which is August 27. We started selling our stuff last week so that all will be in order by the time we leave. Over the past week we have sold my car, all of our couches, our bed, dining room table and chairs, my PS3 (ouch), our entertainment center, my keyboard and guitar (really ouch), and one of our TVs. We decided to sell everything and buy new stuff when we get back rather than put things in storage. Our house is getting empty really fast. The one piece of great news - we are not selling the house. Instead, we'll be leasing it out while we're gone. Wes and Mani will be staying there as Wes comes out to San Antonio to get started with Frost & Sullivan. It is all somehow falling into place and we feel blessed and are getting incredibly excited for August.

In memory of the 4 wonderful years that have passed since I got here, here are some pics taken during that time. So many great things happened while I was here, most of all meeting and marrying the most beautiful, wonderful woman in the world.

Bryant, Becca, Grace and Lilly at their sealing after Lilly's adoption was final.

Two of the most beautiful kids in the world. We will miss them dearly.

Our home - SOOOO glad we are leasing it rather than selling. We love it.

Laura and I at the Riverwalk on New Year's 2007.

Laura and I out on the town.

At the Spurs/Jazz game - GO JAZZ!!!

One of my favorite pictures of Laura, but I can't seem to get it any bigger.

Playing with Iris for the first time. Will totally miss the guys but look forward to one more farewell show before I leave.

Of course, the wedding.

Lowell's shorts and Marsha's shades before some Texas summer swimming.

Taggy and me at the Riverwalk on one of his visits with Trevor.

Hunter and I playing some catch in Boise.

Braden and I on the wave runner in McCall. Good times...

My new office is on the 39th floor of this building - oddly enough it's located just across the river from where I served 6 months of my mission.

Baptism & Bangkok

2008-05-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

So, it's been quite a while since we posted last and it's probably time to bring things up to date. We're still working on getting some actual pictures from our camera up here, but I can't find the attachment so stand by...

First of all, Laura got baptized on Saturday, May, 3. I baptized and confirmed her and it was truly one of the happiest moments of my life. Laura has been such an incredible example to me as I have watched her grow and progress. To date, we've probably had close to 30 missionaries come through our home in the past year but it all paid off. Mom came out for the event which was fantastic because we always love having her around. We missed Dad at home who is recovering from his recent round of cancer treatment.

Our other item of news - we are moving to Thailand! That is not a typo - we are really moving to Bangkok in September. While the company I work for has a number of offices in the Asia region, the board announced about two months ago that we will be opening an office in Bangkok and I have been offered a position to go out there and help head up that endeavor. We'll be gone for 2-3 years and while we will dearly miss San Antonio and all of our family and friends, we're so excited to go we can hardly hold a thought in our heads. We'll move at the beginning of September - enough time for me to finish up this year's MBA classes and for us to sell our house, cars, and any possessions we can pawn off. For anyone who doesn't know, I served my mission in Thailand from '97-99 and have gone back numerous times since for work and vacations. We are so incredibly excited for this new adventure. Our only two reservations - we can't take our boys (dogs) so Laura's mom will be taking Monty and Trevor will be taking Cooper, or rather "babysitting" them for a couple of years. The other one is that if we have a baby in Thailand, he/she will not be eligible to run for President of the United States... I'm still trying to overcome that one, but I think it's a fair trade. Anyway, we'll keep this posted on the developments...

A Day To Remember

2008-02-20T10:08:00.000-08:00

Obama Comes To San Antonio

Yesterday was by far one of the most exciting days of my life. Barack Obama came to San Antonio on a campaign stop prior to the Texas primary on March 4th. Bryant and I met at 7:30 a.m. and headed downtown to wait in line for what would be an enormously popular event. We stood in line all morning and were joined by Laura a little before the doors finally opened. Here is a little of our day:

The venue was the Guadalupe Plaza on the west side of downtown. They somehow managed to cram 4,500 people inside. The place was literally surrounded with the police, secret service agents who were perched on the tops of the surrounding buildings, helicopters buzzing overhead, and A LOT of excited people.

This picture taken just after Barack arrived. It was hard to tell sometimes which section was for the voters and which section was for the press. EVERYONE was taking pictures.

This picture was taken during Obama's speech. You may notice a few familiar faces around Barack's head. That'd be Laura, myself, and Bryant. The long wait certainly paid off.

This picture was on the front page of the MySanAntonio.com website. Unfortunately, Bryant and Laura got cut off.

Here was the front page picture from KSAT.com's website. That's Laura just above Obama's finger.

I thought this one was pretty cool - Barack surrounded by two long-time Castleton Democrats.

This one I took with my phone just before I met him and shook his hand. This was just as he arrived inside the gates - after a long wait. I have NEVER felt so much energy and such anticipation in my entire life. I have been to big rock concerts, pro football, basketball, baseball games, but nothing compared to the energy in that place yesterday. We truly felt like we were witnessing and taking a small part in history. We were completely moved by this man. What a great experience, and we were so lucky to have gotten so close and to have been randomly captured in all of these pictures.

Just a brief post script: Bryant and I have been avid Obama followers ever since he spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. I have had two pictures of him up at my office for nearly three years so yesterday was a very special day.

Updated Photos

2008-01-22T20:15:00.000-08:00

Ok - here are our updated photos of Christmas, New Year's, and our recent trip to Utah and Idaho. Enjoy...

Laura at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building - 1/17/08

Thai food with Wes before we flew home - 1/17/08

Visiting Tyler at his downtown office - 1/17/08

Joe and Devin in Logan - 1/16/08

Devin and Laura at the Jazz vs. Suns game - 1/10/08.

Devin and Laura at the conference center - 1/10/08.

Devin with Dave Christmas night - 12/25/07.

Devin and Luke (Dave's baby). Maybe he'll get his own someday - 12/25/07.

Devin and Ricardo planning their big tennis match - 12/24/07.

Devin's best friend on Christmas Eve - 12/24/07.

Devin and Laura on the Riverwalk for their annual New Year's dinner - 12/31/07.

Christmas Eve with Laura's family - 12/24/07.

Utah/Idaho Trip

2008-01-18T11:06:00.000-08:00

We just got back from our annual trip to Utah and Idaho and already we miss it. We got to see so many of our friends and family and the trip really couldn't have been better. While we love so much about Texas, including being close to Laura's family, Bryant, Becca and the kids, and the wonderful weather, we can't help but feel drawn to the snow-capped mountains of Cache Valley. We honestly had such a great trip there. Our itinerary included the following:

Thursday, Jan. 10th
-Lunch with Dee
-Toured Temple Square
-Shopped
-Dinner with Wes, Mauni, and Ethan at Thaifoon
-Jazz vs. Suns game (sans Shaun Marion, Steve Nash, and Grant Hill - sigh)

Friday 11th
-Drove to Provo
-Shopped
-Visited Scott Creer and family
-Indian dinner with Tyler, Emily, Bryn, Sam, and Addison
-Drove to Midway and stayed at the Zermatt

Saturday 12th
-Drove to Blackfoot
-Dinner and movies with Trevor and Taggart

Sunday 13th
-Relaxed a lot
-Read a lot (Laura finished the Eclipse vampire or whatever entire series in three days)
-Ate a lot

Monday 14th
-Skiing at Pebble Creek with Trevor
-Crab dinner and candle lit guitar session at Trevor's

Tuesday 15th
-Drove to Rexburg for temple open house
-Drove to Logan for Joe's birthday dinner with Joe, Michelle, Eliza, Chris, Angie & Mallory
-Shopped
-Headed back to Joe's to watch Michigan primary results (a non-factor state for Dems; go Obama!)

Wednesday 16th
-Shopped
-Drove to Corin to visit Taggart and tour his company's production plant
-Drove around Logan, house shopping and fourplex shopping (who knows - it could happen...)
-Dinner with Chris, Angie, Mallory, Taggart, and Khloe

Thursday 17th
-Headed back to Salt Lake
-Visited Tyler
-Lunch with Wes
-Back on the plane, heading home

Since we haven't yet taken the time to upload all the new pictures, I'm including some from this year's trip, some from last year's, and also some extras to fill up space. Enjoy.

Laura and I on last year's trip - near Jackson Hole, WY with the Tetons in the background.

Trevor and I last year near Jackson Hole.

This year's trip - skiing at Pebble Creek.

Laura and I at Trevor's during last year's trip.

Guitar session at Trevor's after the huge crab feast - this year's trip.

Random picture taken of Devin at work.

Devin singing with Iris last month. Next show is tonight!!

For My Wedding

2008-01-03T12:03:00.000-08:00

Even though our wedding was in November (or actually in June when we eloped), I wanted to reflect a bit and post the lyrics to this song. They are amazing and clear.

For my wedding, I will dress in black
And never again will I look back
Ah, my dark angels we must part
For I've made a sanctuary of my heart

To want what I have
To take what I'm given with grace
For this I pray
On my wedding day

For my wedding, I don't want violins
Or sentimental songs about thick and thin
I want a moment of silence and a moment of prayer
For the love we'll need to make it in the world out there

To want what I have
To take what I'm given with grace
For this I pray
On my wedding day

On my wedding day I dream, and my dreams are all glory and light
That's what I've wanted for my life
And if it hasn't always been that way
Well, I can dream and I can pray
On my wedding day

So what makes us any different from all the others
Who have tried and failed before us
Maybe nothing, maybe nothing at all
But I pray we're the lucky ones;
I pray we never fall

To want what we have
To take what we're given with grace
For these things I pray
On my wedding day

Welcom to the Blogosphere

2007-12-20T14:00:00.001-08:00

It seems like doing your own blog is the thing to do, so in an effort to stay more connected to the family and friends away from us, here is our blog.

Our little family consists of Devin, Laura, Cooper, and Monty. Devin moved to San Antonio in August of 2004 after graduating from Utah State and now works at the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan where he is an energy analyst. He spends his free time working on the house (building fences, digging up unwanted shrubs, and tirelessly mowing, trimming, and primping the yard), playing tennis, golfing, and playing with his band, Iris. He jogs regularly with Laura (almost every day) and spends a lot of time with his brother Bryant and his family - Becca, Gracie, and Lilly.

Laura is from San Antonio originally and recently graduated from University of Texas at San Antonio in August with a degree in Finance. She works as an account executive for Xerox and spends most of her work days around the town visiting clients, doing demos, and closing deals. In her free time she decorates the house, takes care of the kids (the dogs Cooper and Monty), jogs with Devin, and recently has taken up sharpening her virtual guitar skills on Guitar Hero.

Devin and Laura met in July 2006. Despite the fact that Devin was fairly convinced after about a month of showing interest that Laura was generally unimpressed with him, he remained consistent and she eventually caved. They dated seriously for a year and then eloped on June 15, 2007. This was followed by their "formal" wedding which took place on November 24, 2007.

Cooper is Devin & Laura's "first born" and definitely his dad's son. He was adopted from the Humane Society in January of 2007 and lived in Devin's apartment until they bought a house and moved in May. He is a rat terrior with the biggest, perkiest ears you've ever seen. He loves his dad and follows him everywhere. You can frequently find him chasing Devin around the house and wrestling with him in the blankets.

Monty is newest addition to the family. He was adopted in July of 2007 and is the biggest Mama's boy ever. If ever you can't find him, all you have to do is find Laura and Monty will be at her feet. Monty was rescued from the pound by Laura literally one day before he was to be euthanized and he truly acts every hour of ever day like he is grateful to her for that. He is a smart dog with a heart of gold and loves following Cooper around and playing with him.