Okay guys...just a reminder...whoever measures the largest will be Santa next year. I wonder who it will be...

The saga of the koi pond...
It all began when Walmart marked down their prefab ponds and I bought two for David. I wanted to surprise him, so I had them loaded in the convertible because I didn't want to ask him if I could use his Expedition because he would get suspicious. Yes, I drove them home just like that; and yes, I realize this was not one of the smartest things that I have ever done (Allison gets it honest; see "One Tough Mom" at http://www.saskl.blogspot.com/) ...especially when the ocean breeze hit around Sadler...

This is Kallie and Seth going with David to Pet Smart to pick out the fish for the pond...

This is the egret that terrorized and ate our koi from the koi pond. Brian, Mary and Hannah were here the weekend the egret discovered our fish and Brian had his Gator sweatshirt and a Gatoraid bottle in the front seat of his car parked in our driveway. This egret sat on the hood of Brian's car for an hour or so; all we can figure out is that the egret thought he had hit the jackpot and that Brian's sweatshirt and Gatoraid cap were h-u-g-e koi. Poor egret...actually, poor fish!

David has thoroughly enjoyed working on the pond (and has done a wonderful job!) I love hearing the water and love watching the fish (well, actually the egret ate all but one koi) from the upstairs balcony. We have been praying about our future, and it looks as though a "koi farm" is a possible retirement option ... more about this at a later date!