Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas!

Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas to all! We have already gotten an early gift this year, the birth of our first nephew Daymond. He was born on December 5th at 7lbs and 1 ounce and 22 inches long. His dad Casey (Cort's brother) says he looks just like Cortney when she was born. Apparently comparison of Cort and Daymond's baby pictures bare a striking resemblence especially with the inch long dark hair and darker complected skin. Funny how that works. He is pictured to the right and we have been told that he has a very mellow temper and sweet disposition.




We are ALSO thankful for the birth of our new niece Isabelle Grace, our Thanksgiving baby that we have been wanting to blog about. You all might have noticed that we keep pretty updated pics of our nieces and new nephew on the right hand side of our blog along with a count on their age or birth date, and seen her beautiful face already. But we wanted to share a couple of pics of Isabelle snuggling with her Aunt Cortney:)

And our sweet niece Emma is walking all on her own now! She is such a big girl:) We hope you enjoy the newest pics we could take of her! We are excited to soon be adding Hannah, her baby sissy, to the family. We love being Aunt and Uncle!

Don't miss this Sunday!

Birthday Surprise

Happy 27th Birthday Dave!!!
Love, your wife and children

Psst...Cornelius and Penelope put your gifts in your slippers:)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

With the new additions to the family we thought we would make the Halloween Season especially meaningful. We decided to carve pumpkins and then Cornelius and Penelope had to make their first big decisions...what to be for Halloween? Cornelius made an excellent choice and decided he will be a box of Golden Grahams. Penelope will be dressed up as a 12-pack of Friskies wet cat food. Check out the video to see how frightening she will be! It's amazing to think that Cornelius and Penelope are already 3 months old. Here is a picture similar to the one in our first post! They each weigh about 2 1/2 pounds now and their eyes have changed color. They both got fixed about a week and a half ago and Penelope still has a patch of fur that needs to grow back. We've already had snow on one occasion and the lows for the next 2 days will be in the 20's so she had better hurry up! Hope everyone is doing well and Happy Halloween!

Road Hunting: The Greatest Idea EVER

I am a Provider!! Picture this...a group of grown men dressed in glaring orange hats and jackets riding in a truck with fully loaded shotguns. Everyone is on the lookout for movement in the tall grass alongside the gravel roads. When someone spots movement, they all jump out with their loaded shot guns and charge into the grass to make the birds pop up and then they start blasting! Ahhhh.....South Dakota.....only here are you not only allowed to drive around with loaded weapons in your lap, you are encouraged to do so in order to shoot the state bird. This is the most action-packed way to hunt pheasants but perhaps not the most rewarding. The alternative is to take out several guys and a couple of dogs and walk through the tall grass or cornfields to get the pheasants moving. The hope is that the dogs will make the pheasants pop up or at least make them run out into the open and then try to fly away. Once the birds are shot the dogs will find them and finish them off if they need it and then will bring them right back to you. Sometimes however you have to finish the birds off on your own and I now know where the phrase "wringing your neck" comes from. I am also learning all about different chokes on shotguns and the importance of buying the right size shot to do the job without destroying the bird. It is almost an art form! So far I have gone out two days and have killed two birds (I should probably have killed about 7 birds but I have a lot to improve on). Cort has been very supportive and enjoyed the Pheasant Poppers (jalapenos filled with cream cheese, rolled up in pheasant with bacon wrapped around it all) that we made from the first round of hunting. All in all, pheasant hunting has been a fun experience and a great new past-time.

Penelope & Cornelius

We have kittens:) A little girl and a little boy, Penelope (pictured right) and Cornelius (pictured left). They are about 4 weeks old, fit in the palm of our hand, and are very cute and cuddly. We adopted them from Dave's case worker who found them abandoned in her barn along with two other siblings, one of which died (sad). Their eyes opened this last weekend and we took them into our care at that point. We feed them out of a tiny bottle with kitten formulated milk and they think we are their parents:) We have a very sweet, affectionate, and sassy brood of children that look like little dark tigers and have white underbellies and paws. Their personalities are different from each other. Cornelius is laid back, cautious, and quiet for the most part. Penelope loves to be part of the action, the center of attention, is adventurous, fearless, and her belly is a bottomless pit. They both hate baths and haven't taken to food other than the bottle but we are proud to say we taught them to use their kitty litter box in one day:) Anyway, we hope you enjoy the pictures, we love our kids and hope you do too!

Surprise! It's a boy!

We received some very surprising news today, but good news. Casey (Cort's brother) and Holly went to see the nurse again for another ultrasound. They were 99% sure last time it was a girl but couldn't get a clear look behind the umbilical cord. Casey and Holly wanted to know for sure what they were having and went again today...and sure enough the baby is a boy! So we will be having our first nephew in December (or November if he is "early"). Obviously the baby's name will no-longer be Trinity Ann.....bummer, Cort was looking forward to being named after:) We will let you know the boy name they pick out once we receive word!

The stats are now: 2 girls and 1 boy...now if only we knew what Mandy and Kevin were having! Hope you enjoy the new pic...however, it is really unclear to us what is in this picture except of course the arrow pointing out the fact that we are to have a soon to be nephew. The earlier picture taken of him in the early months (in the side bar) giving a thumbs up is really much more clear...maybe he is just crammed in Holly's belly now that he is bigger? Maybe a football player? Maybe he takes after Holly, who Dave calls "stretch" because she is so tall:) Who knows....

In other news we will have to post more soon along with pics to give you all an update of South Dakota eh? Talk to you later!

Three Times the Charm!

Yeah! Cortney's Brother and "better half," Holly, are having a girl!!! That makes three nieces for us! We are so excited for the entrance of Trinity Ann Dueming on December 9, 2008. We will post the newest ultrasound of her as soon as we get it. We can't wait to find out what Mandy is having...will we keep up this streak of nieces or be surprised by a nephew?? Stay tuned!!

Officially a Coyote at USD

Well, if you haven't already heard the news, Cortney got accepted into University of South Dakota! With the good news we can finally make some decisions like looking for a place in Sioux Falls and scheduling for classes and so forth. For other good news we will find out tomorrow if Holly and Casey are having a boy or a girl! It seems like it has taken forever to know the good news:) Also, we have mentioned that our friends and family should get a Wii so that we can play together on our game systems via the internet. We have to say our Wii is THE most fun! Not only have we had a blast with all the games it comes with, but also with Mario Galaxy and the Wii Fit (which totally rocks!). Other amazing perks with the Wii other than being able to play with friends and family across the world, you can play Game Cube games...a plus since our old games we can still play, AND you can use Wii points to get old games from all older Nintendo systems. For example, we are going to get the old school Mario Brothers and Super Mario Brothers 64 etc. the list goes on and on. So all you REAL Nintendo fans out there you don't know what your missing, you have got to get the Wii!
Well, just so you know we are doing well. It still sucks that we can't see our friends and family in Springfield anytime we want to, but so far we have been able to Skype Kevin, Mandy, Emma, and Mae. So lets keep it up! We sure love and miss you guys and are glad we have the internet to keep in touch so many different ways and of course the phone. Talk to you soon!

Strawberry Wine & The Hot July Moon

This summer is rather unforgettable. The very best part is the large amounts of time we spend together since our summer responsibilities are lighter and attention can be fully focused on each other...only wish it could be this way forever:)

It has been simple living, with Dave working, Cort unpacking, hours of watching 24, and some Wii action. Our interactions with the outside world include cookouts on the weekends with neighbors, fourth of July fireworks party with the Stanfields (T.J., Mari, Jacob, Becka, Emma, and Zach), church shopping, target shooting, disc golf, and exercise. Oh, and tonight a tornado came out of the clouds and then went right back up in front of where we live! We thought those were long gone in Missouri but they seem to have followed us.

On the forefront are baby showers, though there will be more posting on those in the future. Cort gets to travel to California in August for a baby shower for her brother's wife Holly and then to Kansas for Dave's sister Mae. This week is a trip to Vermillion, SD for the USD interview for the Counseling program. Praying for you all and hope everything is well, we look forward to hearing back from you soon on our new blog!

P.S. The above pic is of our yard (that is an old building not our house)...more pics of S.D. coming soon!

Next Destination: Second Year of Marriage in Plankinton, SD

Here we are, probably the last of the Costello siblings to become "bloggers," but have found that living in Plankinton, South Dakota it is necessary to stay connected to our family and friends...and quite frankly the outside world. We have also become Skype users and purchased the Wii for long distance gaming via the internet...we invite any takers.
Our tiny home is actually much more spacious than we first thought and it is becoming to look more like "home" the more we unpack. Dave is settling into his new job and many responsibilities there...but thinks it will be an enjoyable experience. We have already cooked out once this week with other employees in the "community" or commune what ever you want to call it:) This weekend we are going to two different farms for fireworks and Dave gets Friday off for Independence Day. We don't really know many other people yet, though we did go to a church we were invited to on Sunday and went for dinner again tonight. We are going to keep our options open for a "home church," but the people there seem pleasant. Cortney passed the preliminary selection process into the Masters in Counseling program at University of South Dakota, aka Coyotes, and has an interview with them on July 11th. If all goes well school starts September 2nd. Cort also was accepted as a substitute teacher for the school in Plankinton. She was told it was "divine intervention" and can begin in September if she wants. They really need a substitute teacher and she has the credentials...rare in these parts.
In reflection, our first year of marriage was a bit of luxury: marriage, honeymoon, great year together, fun loft to live in downtown, awesome church, memories with family and friends, college life, work, Dave's graduation, The Potter's House, and a place of comfort. Our second year of marriage marks a time in our lives of much change and a life slowed down in pace. We anticipate much growth and integration into a community in which we are outsiders at the moment, interlopers as some would call us (children of the corn). Assimilation may even be key to help survive (hence the eh? added to our blog name). It is possible we will need to change our speech...though mastering the "o" sounds will be tough. In short, though we know we should be here, it will take courage, faith, prayer, and financial blessing to pay for the gas for Cort to drive from school and back:) Our prayer warrior sisters and brothers would be very helpful. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Therefore we know we will be alright:) We are excited to hear from you all and to keeping in better touch...and of course to when we will see you all again soon.
Love, Dave and Cort