Year End Letter to Our Loved Ones

Dear Friends and Family,

What happened to the last year?  Chase and I feel like it just sped right by.  We hope this letter finds you all in good health and spirits.  Here are some of the highlights of a wonderful year:

• January:  Katie passed her veterinary boards getting one step closer to becoming a real veterinarian.
• February:  School continues, and Katie starts to look for a job.  As an answer to our prayers, My Zoo offers Katie a job so we can stay together in Columbia.
• March: Katie goes to Branson to celebrate the end of a long academic career and the friendships formed during vet school.  Katie passes her state licensing board exam.
• April:  The first of many... “Hey doc, we got this *insert animal here* and we don’t want it anymore.  Will you take it?”  Chimichanga the chinchilla becomes the newest member of the Darr family. 
• May:  Katie graduates as a veterinarian.  Dreams do come true with a little bit of faith, a whole lot of prayer, years of hard work, and a strong network of beloved friends and family to support you.  We set out on a grand adventure to Yellowstone for a much needed vacation. 
• June:  We bought a house with 3 bedrooms and a fenced in back yard.  Now we just need inhabitants for the other 2 bedrooms... Dr. Katie sees her very first patient.  We acquired 2 more pets (Junior and Chorizo the guinea pigs) from a closing pet store, and a cat named Home Boy came with the house.
• July:  We celebrate our 3rd anniversary! 
• August:  We go visit my grandpa who’s still hanging in there at 95.
• September:  There’s a mouse in our house!!  We catch it and let it go in a state park
• October:  We are rear-ended by a drunk driver.  We thank God for his protection.  The driver’s insurance paid for our new HHR (mostly), all 5 people involved in the accident walked away, and we saw the driver in church a few weeks later.  Blessings come in many forms.
• November:  Happy Thanksgiving! We have a lot to be thankful for this year!
• December:  We turned in our application to foster children through social services.  We have so many blessings to share; we feel God’s call in our lives to care for his sheep (especially the children).  We also acquired a new chinchilla (Bert the Chimney Sweep).

We love you all and we thank you for all the love and support you have given us.  We hope that 2013 is full of love and laughter.  God bless you all!  I hope we’ll get to see all of you this year!

Much Love,

Katie, Chase, Gary, Ruby, Home Boy, Chimichanga, Bert, Chorizo, and Panda-piggy Junior...