Happy Thanksgiving

Kirsten and I have so much to be thankful this year. We will miss sitting around on Grandmother Wheeler's floor and sharing our list with everyone, but this will have to do.

We are thankful for each other... because let's be honest, were awesome!

We are thankful for our families. we miss you guys terribly and we can't wait to see you all!

We are thankful for the way that our God has provided for us this year. Honestly how can we even begin to recount the ways. He has guided us through a long and sometimes difficult and confusing process of job-searching and moving. He has provided exactly what we've needed every step of the way. We will always look back on this year and remember God's amazing provision.

We are thankful for our new church and all the new friends that have come along with it. It couldn't be a better fit. We love it. Another way God has provided even more than we could have imagined.

We are thankful for Intel. It's really nice to have some family so close by.

And finally we are thankful to you...the faithful Monroe Doctrine reader! 

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Happy Birthday Drew Barrett!

Today is Drew Barrett's very first birthday!!! I personally can't believe it. I asked Kirsten how old he was, expecting to hear 3, maybe 4 only to be reminded that last Christmas he was a tiny newborn. But no longer. Now he's all grown up! An entire year old. So what is there to say about your one year old second cousin? Simple. He's a family man. Clearly he's got his priorities in order and spends most of his time with family.

Here he is with Grandpa, Granddaddy, Gramps, Pops, The Old Man (I can't remember what they call him, sorry uncle Steve)

Here he is with mom and big sis Grace (you all remember the now famous gymnast post)
Here he is with his grandmother, who I'm sure will be the best commenter on his blog one day!

...and dear old dad. I had a hard time telling which is which the first time I saw this picture. The kid's getting big! and Drew is too!

Happy Birthday Drew! We're sad we can't make it to the big party this weekend, but Christmas Eve is right around the corner!

a sweet visit and more

two weekends ago lb and lizzie came down for the weekend to help celebrate my birthday! it was super fun (can't you tell...)

no it really was. we got to just hang out and talk, take a walk, eat some really, really yummy food and just play.
seriously i had no idea it would be so good. this place certainly isn't unfamiliar to me still, but for whatever reason these two girls are so familiar to me that it's just comfortable being able to be with them. i'm not explaining that well, but it was so nice. and so fun. and our first overnight guests, which was neat.
plus, we took this picture and i have no idea how it happened. crazy. in other news we're a little swamped here at the monroe household. we're going out of town for essentially all of next week — with a staff retreat and then thanksgiving. and then tomorrow and saturday 8 middle and high school girls are sleeping here and we're going to a conference in town. so there's wrapping up work before all that for me, cleaning to prepare for the girls, presents, which we exchange at thanksgiving and which i'm making all of (which i really like, don't let me make you think it's a burden...it's just time consuming), plus packing and planning and all.

and of course getting ready for the c-word. if you know daniel well (or possibly at all) you probably know that he's obsessed with christmas. it's a big time for us. but we're not allowed to mention it before thanksgiving, so we're waiting in excitement and anticipation...

oh! and guess what just happened?!?! so we have a credit card that earns us points for flying, right? super smart because as it turns out you fly a lot when you live on the other side of the country from your family. well, our card has been pretty lame. there aren't blackout dates or anything, but it's been way slower than we had expected. and then we have friends here who have the same card but talk about having enough points for several flights and we've been pretty confused. but then yesterday daniel probed and found out that if we just have the card with an annual fee we get like 12 billion more benefits. it's a $75 fee, and the benefits will allow us easily double the number of flights we get, plus all sorts of other stuff we haven't been getting! it's crazy! including the fact that if you buy one ticket within the U.S. over $299 and pay for it with the card, you get one ticket for the same flight free! WHAT?! yeah. that's huge for us. um, we're flying twice in the next four weeks and both of those flights would have qualified for this. grrr.... but at least we have it now. so, if you're in the market email us and we'll let you know about it !

Catch Up

Ok, So we're really far behind here. It's been a while since Bobbie's birthday and quite a bit has happened. So we're going to try to catch you all up with some multiple event posts in the next few days.

So first things first, Happy Birthday to US!

Kirsten and I bought each other kayaks for our big birthday gift this year. We had been wanting some for a while, and since we just moved to the great northwest we thought what better time? It actually worked out well because since our birthdays are in the fall (the end of the kayak season) we got a really great deal!

But we weren't content to wait until next spring to test out our new toys...so last weekend it was off to the mighty Sandy river for us! It was probably about 50 degrees and drizzling. Oh, and the water was cold. Really. It was cold. Trust me. Don't ask me how I know that. Just know that the water was cold. 

But other than that it was INCREDIBLE. I wish we had some pictures, but it's kinda hard to pack a camera for a day out on the water. But I really love kayaking. It's like hiking, only there is no trail, just a river. So it really feels like you are right there in the middle of nature. No signs that any other person has ever been there. I felt a little bit like I was in the middle of a Planet Earth episode. Plus we saw two bald eagles! Yea, I know! Bald eagles. Who knew they actually existed in the wild, but sure enough. 

In other news, We now have sweet tea at both Wendy's and McDonald's now! I'm telling you, we are making an impact on this place. Soon there will be queso and sweet tea flowing in the streets.

More tomorrow! 

Happy Birthday Bobbie!!

Today is our/my grandmother's birthday! (Kirsten's dad's mom...)

I call my grandmother by her first name, and I don't really know why; but again, I'm sure it has to do with my cousin, who's older.

Bobbie has the unique privilege of having her birthday so closely follow mine and so she really never gets her card on time (including this year...). But, since we get to see this part of the family only once a year, at Thanksgiving, she also has the unique privilege of seeing me (and a few other important people) just after her birthday!!
My grandmother is absolutely wonderful. There are barely words. She's classy and timeless and yet still very "country" and comforting. She's beautiful in every way. Plus, she makes an incredible Thanksgiving meal that I start craving around July.

Bobbie's a true socialite — she makes friends with everyone, including Daniel's entire family during our wedding — and a true servant. I'm not sure anyone anywhere has put in more hours cooking for her church.

Some famous stories include me being two and my parents going to Europe for like a month while my grandparents came and took care of me. And when we went to go greet my parents at the airport when they came back, the first thing I said (or something) was that I wanted french fries — a food group my grandparents had introduced me to. Also, when my cousin Aaron and I were a lot younger, I used to spend summers with them and Bobbie would tell us to go play in "yonder" when we would start getting in the way. If you're not from Texas you might not know that "yonder" is actually Texan for "over there," but Aaron and I were convinced that it was the name of the room (like go play in the "kitchen") and started calling that room the yonder room...
And I love this picture. I think it's gorgeous. Bobbie doesn't so much — something about "old hands," but think I will cherish it forever :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOBBIE!
We love you and will see you soon!

Happy Birthday Grace!!!

Today is our cousin's daughter's birthday (Daniel's cousin on his dad's side...ahhh whatever...).

Sweet Grace is four today and has had a huge year this past year. She started off her year by becoming a big sister, she's lived in California for a baseball season, and she met Shaun Johnson!

The olympics spurred on a huge love of gymnastics for her, and with the way athleticism runs in her parents, we're probably looking at two gold medalists above...Gracie and her brother Drew with grandmother (the famous commenter...) on HalloweenAnd all of our cousins children on that side: Grace and Malia and Drew and Jaxon.

Grace is so wonderful and to me embodies what children should be: passionate, imaginative and carefree. When she was younger (and attending several showers between my sister-in-law and myself), she was consistently caught dancing, singing to herself, and twirling around in her dresses, which, we were assured, she did often.
doing a gymnastics routine on the beach...which, Stephanie says, went on for an hour and Grace would continue holding the pose until people clapped for her...how amazing!!!

I know she's an amazing big sister, she's a great cousin, she beats her daddy in croquet and I hear she used to be able to tell you every Cubs player just by their number, and then would proceed to tell you about their wives and kids, too.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACE!!!! and way to cheer for the right team, even in the face of a devastating loss!!

all of these pictures are Stephanie's, stolen from the pictures she regularly and so wonderfully sends us...

The Main Event!

One quarter of a century old! And she still looks this good!

Well what can we really say about Kirsten Monroe. She loves me, which is awesome. She also loves fall, which is perfect since her birthday is during the fall. She is obsessed with fall things, like leaves, and pumpkins and such.

Lately her other love has been text twist, and while she is still only the second best Monroe at this up and coming sport we (mostly her) did hit a milestone the other night. 100,000 points! huge. Look out 1,000,000 here we come!
So Kirsten is perfect! We all know that. So make sure you call her at some point today and tell her that yourself. And feel free to comment it to her on here as well. Honestly...if my Grandmother can do it, you can too!

Happy Birthday Love!

Happy Birthday...Allen?

I'm sure you were all expecting to open your web-browser this afternoon, getting your daily fix of the Monroe Doctrine, to see one of our world famous birthday posts, but you probably weren't expecting Allen Dixon.

Well Allen has the distinct privilege of sharing his birthday with another special someone, but we'll get to all that later!

Allen is our great friend from Suwanee and he is turning the big 26 today!

What can you say about Allen. He is distinctly Allen, which is refreshing. If there has ever been someone who was uniquely gifted to do something, it's Allen and Young Life. He has a huge heart for students and makes everyone around him better at ministry.

Allen is also one of the truly special friendships in this world because he is a person that you can sit and play video games for hours on end with (trust me... I've seen Baylor and Georgetown teams you wouldn't even believe) and a person that you can have a real, genuine conversation with about life. He is a perfect balance of serious and fun and is one of my greatest friends.

So all you young-lifers out there in Gwinnett, here's your chance to comment and let Allen Dixon know what you really think of him!

Happy Birthday buddy. You're my second favorite person having a birthday today and that says a lot!