Wedding Highlights

Rewind

Since the last time we blogged a lot has happened! So we will do our best to catch you up on the highlights. Above is a brief slide show movie of our wedding day 2 years ago! We celebrated our second wedding anniversary on the west side of South Dakota state, specifically to visit Mt. Rushmore, the Black Hills, the Bad Lands, Custer Park, and spend a romantic weekend in Hot Springs. This mini "vaca" as we referred to it, was just what we needed after Cort's first year at USD came to a close and we could spend some quality time together.



Just before our anniversary trip, we sold the Toyota Celica. This was an answer to prayer, though we miss this amazing car (still in great shape) and the luxury of having two vehicles. We had made the decision that we needed the money we could get out of it, more than we needed the car. She is now proudly owned by a young women age 16, in Plankinton, it is her very first car:)

We were sad about the news of another prayer request we wrote about in our last blog. We did not get the bigger/nicer home we thought we were getting. Needless to say, the details do not need to be in print - but we have been working hard at trying to make our little home a nicer place to live. We have been busy painting the complete interior of our home. Dave has been a handyman (wow, who new?!) putting in a chandelier with dim switch that I dearly liked and a very nice fan/light in our living room. That is not all though, Dave also made me a 3x4 wooden wagon for my future career involving play therapy! (read below for the scoop on play therapy) In the works are special sand trays as well:) My hubby is a handyman!





During the month of June through the first week of July, Cort took 2 summer school classes. This included some training in Play Therapy and Statistics. Play Therapy proved to be absolutely amazing and fitting for Cortney, and she will begin Advanced Play Therapy tomorrow. Eventually the goal is to become certified in Play Therapy and with it the additional letters of RPT added to her credentials:) To learn more about play therapy visit: http://www.a4pt.org/ps.playtherapy.cfm
This has been amazing! We have already been gathering the toys Cort will need while in practice, Dave built her a mobile toy wagon, and as shared above, sand trays are in the works. I am lucky to be studying underneath Dr. Imelda Lowe, who was trained by Dr. Landreth himself! Dr. Landreth is the founder and director of the largest play therapy center in the world.



As most of you probably know by now, Cort fractured her foot and tore several ligaments (while studying for stats!). Unfortunately just in time for her 6 days a week class time that was mentioned above. The Doctor expects her to be off of crutches in another month (cross our fingers) and in her boot for another month before she can walk by herself again. Tomorrow she sees an orthopedic doctor and next week she is scheduled for physical therapy. The foot itself is still undergoing quite a bit swelling and bruising (as it has for the past 3 weeks) and we pray for a speedy recovery. Dave has been wonderful, it is amazing how limited a person is with only one foot! It has brought an awareness as to just how little society in general accommodates for handicapped folks!



We admit we haven't updated our Google Goodreads in a very long time. However, we have come across an amazing series that we are both hooked on by Vince Flynn. This image is his latest (#10) Extreme Measures, expected to be released in October. Dave finished (#9) Protect and Defend just last night, and Cort just began (#3) The Third Option. We would love to hear what great books you have read recently too.

Hope you all are doing well, we hope to be blogging again very soon with out the lag time.

Another Day Just You and Me Living in Paradise...

Cortney is officially done with this Spring Semester, Yeah! This semester though tough being a part from each other often, ended well, and Cort’s Career Client’s she counseled over the semester ended very successfully! Summer school will begin June 8th, and she will be taking Statistics, Play Therapy, and Advanced Play therapy. During that time she will be staying with her friend Hallie in Sioux Falls:)


Now that it is summer time, Dave will not be confined to Aurora Plains Academy; he plans on taking his kids on outings. His plans include: fishing, disc golfing, golfing, the zoo, and anything else he can get approved.


The month of May has brought flowers and sunshine!! We have lots of dandelions (say what you will about it being a weed, I find it beautiful) and tulips! Everyone is tilling their garden spots, and soon, maybe this weekend, we will have one too! South Dakota this time of year is amazing! Calling all visitors spring/summer is the time to come visit!


Fish Lake Country Club. We are members! Cort bought Dave a (really nice) set of golf clubs (in celebration of what a great husband he is) and we became members of our local Country Club! Dave has been going out with his buddies this past month and took Cort out for the first time yesterday. We had so much fun together! We golfed 9 holes, driving a golf cart as we played, and received our official membership cards:) If you come to visit, bring your clubs! (Or use Dave’s like I do)


Cort has made friends with a ground squirrel (gopher…we aren’t quite sure), and named him Toby. Yesterday she fed him watermelon…mmm, yummy. Next she’s going to try peanuts. He lives out in our yard and is starting to warm up we think:) He looks like this little guy pictured above...only our ground is covered with lush green grass:)


Over Memorial Day Weekend we are celebrating our 2nd Wedding Anniversary!! Wow, two years already we have been married:) We would celebrate on the actual date (June 3rd) but it is likely we will be at a conference in Yankton during that time. We will be headed west of South Dakota, to visit Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse (they are having a laser light show too), and staying at Red River Rock Resort and Spa in Hot Springs, South Dakota. Yep, a spa weekend…yeah!!!


We only have 12 more stars to win on Super Mario Galaxy and then we think it will open up a whole new world!!! We have been working on this for almost a year…we are pretty psyched:)


Prayer Requests:
1. We really hope we can move into the house that recently came available that is more spacious: 3 bedroom/2 bathrooms, beautiful yard…oh and so much more!
2. A dear friend of ours battling depression/anxiety.
3. We really hope this is the summer we find a church home here in South Dakota. We will probably always continue to receive sermons from our old church in Springfield (that we miss so much!) but it is time we find a place here too.
4. Cortney received word that her uncle Jerry (her mom's brother) had a heart attack yesterday and is in the hospital in New Mexico...please pray for safe recovery and for our family. (Some of you may have met him at our wedding, he is a wonderful person:)
5. We just put the Toyota Celica GTS on the market, we pray it sells quickly!!!


Lastly, Happy Mother’s Day!!! To our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, sister-in-laws, and every woman who has been a mother-figure to us over the years! You are wonderful, loved, and deserve to be celebrated not just on mother’s day, but every day:) We hope you enjoy the pictures of our little ones below…Cornelius and Penelope Costello:) (past & present).



My how they have grown! 9 months old now...and we don’t know what we ever did without them!!!

Love you all!

April Showers

Happy April Showers! For most that means rain - for us that means continued blizzards. Blizzards in April? Apparently pretty common over this last decade..hmm. To celebrate our "snow day" stuck in doors, we made yummy homemade Italian, vino and lemon pie:) Oh, and snuck in some Mario Galaxy.

Here are some of our latest pictures of Penelope (curled up in our towel rack) ha, ha, she scared her dad to death when he went to use the restroom and found her staring him in the face:) And Cornelius...the sleepy head, just woke up from a nap in the bedroom:) They are 8 months old now!! Our babies are such a blessing:)

Specifics on Cortney:

• Teaching "Diversity Days" in Sioux Falls and surrounding area to middle and high schools
• Group Counseling on the weekends
• Career Counseling USD Students
• Making a Group Counseling Manuel for sexually reactive adolescent boys
• Making an "Activities Packet" for individuals and groups
• Being initiated into Chi Sigma Iota (The Counseling Honors Society) on Tuesday
• Lots of homework and school activities
• Upcoming Events:
• South Dakota Counseling Association's Annual Conference
• Looking forward to Summer! The semester is officially done on May 8th:)
• 2nd Wedding Anniversary on June 3rd and all the other celebrations such as birthdays!
• Summer school begins June 8th and ends July 30th (Stats and Play Therapy)
• Fall semester begins August 31st (Practicum and Ethics)
• October-Comps and NCE Exams
• January-Internship!
• May- hopefully graduation!!!

Specifics on Dave:

• Waiting to find out when he will take his licensure exam
• Developing staff to fill the positions that he needs
• Cortney gave his office a makeover:)
• Training staff on suicide prevention
• On "clear" days able to play disc golf with the guys
• Aurora Plains Academy got certified as a health provider shortage area - Yeah! Hopefully we can get tuition reimbursement on his school loans:)
• Signed up for the family plan at the Plankinton Wellness Center
• Hoping (cross your fingers and send prayers!) we hope to move into a bigger house this spring. The former CEO's house may be ours if we are lucky: a three bedroom, two bath home:)
• Planting our first garden together (soon)

Life is great together - we love our family:)

Recent Noteworthy Events

February Love:

Valentines Day and chilly, yet a slightly warmer day in Plankinton, South Dakota.

March Maddness:

Cort died her hair dark with purple highlights!

Recent Travel:
Dave took a trip out west where our state gets its slogan "Great Faces and Great Places." And Dave did in fact see some great faces and great places. Not only the infamous Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln carved into Mt. Rushmore, but also the partial face and arm of Crazy Horse (since it is still in the process of being carved, the pic below is what it will look like when finished). Brief history lesson: Crazy Horse was a Native American Chief who refused to live on a reservation. When asked where his lands were if not on the reservation, he replied, "My land is where my people lie buried." Mt. Rushmore does not even come close to covering the head of Crazy Horse...a gigantic sculpture over 600 ft. tall also in the side of a mountain. This tid bit is only the tip of the ice berg behind the history of Crazy Horse, we invite you to look into it, or talk to Dave because it is really pretty amazing. Anyone coming out to visit us this summer should maybe take up the opportunity to go out west with us! Here are a few pics from the trip - Cortney is awaiting her chance to visit....but Dave did come back bearing gifts:)

Springfield

We were blessed with the chance to get away from South Dakota for Cort's spring break to Springfield, Missouri, Yeah! Our first opportunity since we moved here! We spent our time with Kevin, Mandy, Emma and Hannah, visited with Samson, Steve, and Berna, and were lucky that Mom was able to come see us too:) We also enjoyed some favorite hot spots, including James River Assembly, The Potter's House, Zen (for massage therapy), the park with Emma, Nona's, Mudhouse, Hinode, Schultz and Dooley's, Cheddar's, Izumi Hitake, Bambino's, Hong Kong Inn, Papa Johns, Kevin's homemade cooking, and yummy all green St. Patty's day cake made by Mandy. And Shopping! Cort and Mandy went to the outlet malls in Branson (so much fun, we wish we could have gone back!) and Dave and Cort did a little local Springfield shopping. It was the most fun to spend time with Kevin and Mandy who we have missed so much (can't emphasize that enough), and continue bonding with Emma (who gave us so many kisses, hugs, and laughs while we stayed with them), and meet our new sweet baby niece Hannah (she is so precious and beautiful...really looks so much like Emma). We were able to prompt her to say Cort's name once and she consistently tried to say Dave's name...she is growing up so fast! It is so cute to see Emma tell all the sounds animals make...oh the list of all the joy that little one gave us goes on and on:) Here are a few pics from our trip:

Those shoes Emma is wearing are Cort's:) They are almost identical to her Pumas - she likes them!

Below are pics from our fabulous "date night" with Kev and Mandy!!

Shooting Extravaganza down at Dad's farm:

We went and visited Cort's dad, his girlfriend Jenny, and Jenny's mom Peg down at the farm. Dad made a target practice course and we shot guns with him for about 4 hours or so before eating BBQ steaks and homemade fresh lemon pie - yum:) It was so much fun, we shot 7 different kinds of guns and had lots of quality time. Next time it 's going to be an even more advanced course and we will stay longer than a day!

Mom's early Birthday presents:

Mom turned 59 yesterday, but while we were in Springfield with her we went ahead and celebrated her birthday with presents - our favorite. Mandy and I can never wait to "the day" to open presents anyways...so this was perfect:)

Well that is "all" for now...We know that was a lot! We have other news that we will write about in the next blog. Also Dave was going to post his "T" list...but gave up. Sorry! Love you all and hope you enjoy the rest of March! Love, Dave and Cort