For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
As we look back on this past year so much has changed in our lives. We have had many good times and some sad times.
As most of you know Christy's mother passed away on December 3, 2007. Last Christmas and the following year has been a rough one to say the least. We are thankful to say that Sherry was a woman of God, one who loved the Lord and lived her life serving Him. We miss her dearly, but know that she is in Heaven sitting at the feet of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This is one of the first sibling pictures that we've had in a VERY long time! I don't know when or if it will ever happen again!! ha ha ha!Back row: Tom Jr & Wife Autumn, Brian, Daniel, Matt & wife Dianna, Leslie, Amanda & husband Jeremy
Front/Middle row: Andy (Heather's ex-boyfriend), Heather, Katie, Me, Isaac (little guy in front), Paul, and John
I (Christy) was and am very thankful that my good friend Priscilla from Missouri came up to Michigan for the funeral. I'm not sure where I would be without the good friends that have helped me through this time. (Here is a picture of Priscilla and I - we went to Bronners & Frankenmuth that weekend - it helped keep my mind off things)
With the passing of Sherry came many changes for Christy's Family. Christy ended up moving to an apartment in Davison Michigan, thankfully she was able to get a 6 month lease! Leslie moved in with relatives so she could finish her Senior year at Imlay City High School, and Daniel, John & Paul went to live with Tom & Kelley Marble in Shelby Twp. Everyone has seemed to adjust to their new surroundings fairly well.JANUARY:
Brian had his tonsils out and was out of work for 2 weeks. When he wasn't sleeping he was catching up on LOST ;) The last Friday he was off he helped Christy take the kids she nannied to the circus. It was alot of fun! Ali & Jackson didn't know what to think of the clowns!
Sophia Loved riding the Elephant!
FEBRUARY:Brian ended up having to go to England for a MONTH! He was able to visit London and see some of the sights! Christy missed him terribly! (ignore the date on the picture! It really was 2008!)
While he was away Christy stayed at the house - and of course we got the most snow in February than we did all year long. Wouldn't you know it - She got the tractor stuck 3-4 times. Each time she was able to push it out - except the last time. She had to hook a rope up to the truck and pull it out, thankfully it didn't snap - it wasn't a towing rope! Hopefully this winter she will not have to plow snow! ha ha ha!Christy helped to host a baby shower for her Brother Matthew & Sister-in-law Dianna. It was a VERY cold day! But many people showed up and showered Matt & Dianna with gifts.
Valentines came and once again Brian and Christy weren't together :( but Brian did send some BEAUTIFUL flowers!!
Christy had a little valentine party for Sophia, Ali & Jackson - they didn't even wait to get out of their jammies before they opened their presents!Jackson was all about the tag on this stuffed animal:
On February 20th Daniel (Christy's brother) Turned 15 - we all met up at Grandma Helen & Grandpa Joe's house to celebrate. I can't believe he's that old already!! 
Top Row: Me, Daniel, Tom Sr, JeremyMiddle row: Paul, John & Amanda
Bottom Row: Grandpa Joe & Grandma Helen
After the the party Christy drove to Jackson Michigan - Her boss had moved to Jackson to be closer to her family. Christy stayed on as her nanny for a few weeks.MARCH:
On March 6th Matt & Dianna had a beautiful baby boy - Matthew Lee Jr.
On March 15th we had another baby shower this one for Tom & Autumn:
St. Patricks day came around and Christy threw a little party for St. Pattys day for the kids They made cake with green sprinkles and green jello, they had green balloons and of course everyone had to wear green :) The girls loved their green and white hair bows! They enjoyed the cake - Jackson actually fell asleep with some hanging out of his mouth - it was pretty cute!
The same week was Christy's last week as a Nanny for the kiddos - She misses them alot, but just couldn't plan a wedding 2 hours away!
For Easter we went to Grandma & Grandpa Hovis's for Lunch and then had dinner with Norene & John. We had a great time :) We love getting together with our relatives! Here is a picture of Great Grandma Smith with Matthew (he is her great great grand baby)
For my 26th Birthday Brian surprised me....He told me to be at his house at 5 p.m. dressed fancy and that someone would pick me up - that is all he told me! Well his mom showed up and drove me to his work where he was waiting in his CLEAN truck(clean is saying alot at this time of year - MUD!!!) I thanked Norene for the ride and got into the truck still not knowing where we were going! We ended up at the Melting Pot - an AMAZING fondue restaurant!! Brian got the private room it was just us and when we got there he had a dozen roses for me awww!! It was a really great birthday! 
The last weekend of March we went to Boston to visit our friends Alex & Mary - we enjoyed walking around seeing the town, and riding the subway - that was a TRIP! Brian especially liked visiting the Cheer's store! We also got to walk around Harvard - they have a beautiful church/chapel there - gorgeous! 
This is a picture of our Friends Alex & Mary - they are getting married in June 2009 - Brian is standing up for Alex. (They were both in our wedding party)
APRIL:
In April we had our first Bridal Shower - it was held in Springfield Missouri. It was SO great to see so many of Christy's old friends. Priscislla - Christy's matron of honor- threw the shower for us and did an amazing job!!
Here are a few pictures:
Brian & I with some of our gifts:
Me with 2 of my bridesmaids and some friends from Missouri:
The end of April we had Leslie's Senior Prom - she looked BEAUTIFUL!!
On April 28th Tom and Autumn had a beautiful baby boy West Wyatt Marble:
MAY:
On May 3rd we had our second bridal shower - My sister Amanda threw this shower and did a fantastic job, the cake below was made by her. This was mainly a family shower - it was so good to see so many of Christy's family and Brian got to finally meet some of them :)
On May 10th we had our 3rd and final bridal shower, but not after a little drama for Brian, John and John's trick shoulder. Norene threw this shower and it was amazing - it was good to meet many of Brian & Norene's friends and family!Here is a picture of Christy and 3 of her bridesmaids:
Christy & Brian by the very yummy cake that Christine Foster made for the shower:
May 10th was also Brian's 27th birthday. After the shower Brian & Christy went to dinner and a movie - here are a few pictures of Brian opening his birthday presents: 
One weekend in May we headed to Canada for Engaged Encounter. This was required for us to take as our marriage counseling. We both went into the weekend thinking that it was going to be a useless weekend, but it would be nice to get away....boy were we WRONG!!! We would recommend any engaged couple to go on this weekend. We learned SO much about ourselves, each other and where we both want to be as a married couple. EE is a weekend retreat - Friday Night to Sunday afternoon. They have a bunch of sessions that lasted about an hour and then we had time to write in a notebook to each other and then we got together for about 20 minutes and talked about the session and read what we wrote to each other. I think we came back from the weekend more in love with each other and 100% sure that we still wanted to marry each other! We were able to visit a beach while we were there....of course Christy had to draw this in the sand:
Leslie had her final choir concert at ICHS - I'm sure she'll be glad to not have to wear their costumes anymore!
The end of May we decided that the barn needed to be torn down...so Brian had John and some of his friends come over.....
Thankfully John didn't throw his shoulder out of place again....
JUNE:
On June 3rd Leslie Graduated from ICHS - we are SO proud of her!!
Heather, Leslie & Christy
June 14th we traveled to North Carolina for Christy's friend Stephanie's wedding to Michael - it was a BEAUTIFUL wedding and we really enjoyed a little time to ourselves before our wedding!
On June 26th we had our wedding rehearsal it went very well even though Christy was VERY stressed!
After the rehearsal we went back to our house and had a BBQ dinner, a bounce house for the kiddos and a bonfire - we had SO much fun visiting with our friends and family!!
On June 28th the day was beautiful - the ceremony went off with no problems and we wouldn't have changed a thing. Brian was 100% surprised that Christy wrote and sang a song to him during the ceremony! We were surrounded by our friends, family & loved ones - we had a ridiculously large wedding party, and we were and are so thankful for their friendship, support and love! We have the best friends ever!!
We rode away on a horse and carriage - very romantic!!
Out of all the pictures that were taken on our wedding day this is Christy's favorite picture of the both of us - it was taken on a camera phone!
On Monday June 30th we headed to The Bahamas for a week of RELAXATION!! We stayed at the Atlantis on Paradise Island - we LOVED it!! The view from our room was amazing!
Yes, we both went down this slide! There was a part of the slide that went through a tunnel surrounded by sharks!!
The view from our room: 
If you look at the hotel you will see 2 towers - we were in the left tower - the very top floor - the window to the left of the long balcony - that was our room! 
On the 4th of July they had a huge party with fireworks on the beach - we watched them from our room because Christy had gotten a bad sunburn that day :(This is a picture of us at our favorite restaurant at the Atlantis - DUNE.
JULY:
Brian ended up having to travel alot during the month of July - he spent time in Indiana and in Kentucky. Christy got a call from a man at our church asking if she would fill in as the church's secretary until they hired someone full time - she quickly agreed! We also were pretty busy getting the house all set up, unpacking and putting away all of our wedding gifts, and of course Christy had to paint the master bathroom to match the bedroom!
Here are some video's of our house:
On July 3rd Heather married Howie Davis in Indigo California (I stole these pictures from Heather since we weren't there)
John Marble turned 13 on July 20th - again.... we can't believe he is that old! We were able to get together with everyone and celebrate!!
Great Grandma Helen with Matthew (L) and West (R):
Grandpa Marble with Matthew (L) and West (R):
Uncle Paul & Aunt Leslie with West:
AUGUST:On August 8th Brian's best man got married and Brian stood up for him in his wedding. It was pretty wedding:
Steve & April Mooi
We also got to see our friends Dean & Liesbeth and their son Owen while they were here for the wedding!
Brian was still traveling alot in August so during our weekends we tried to spend time together! We went to Frankenmuth with Norene and John - we had fun! They had flowers EVERYWHERE it was beautiful!
SEPTEMBER:The first weekend of September we headed to Ann Arbor MI for yet another wedding! Some of Brian's college friends were getting married - it was beautiful!
Dave & Sara Rusek:
(I stole a few of these from Sara - My camera was on the fritz during the wedding so I didn't get that many great shots!) 
We got to hang out with Brian's college friends - they are so much fun! here is a picture of all of us (I thought I had a picture of all of us with Dave & Sara but I can't find it :( )
September also holds Norene's Birthday. Christy & 2 of Norene's friends went to Buca di Beppo and had the "Kitchen" table - it was alot of fun - there is a story behind this picture - but you'll have to ask Norene about it!
OCTOBER:In October we hosted a surprise birthday party for Leslie's 18th birthday. It was fun!
here is a picture of Matthew Jr - he's getting BIG!!
Leslie with her cake:
In October Christy went over to Matt & Dianna's house while Brian was on another work trip and took a few pictures of Matthew Jr, he really likes bathtime - and he's putting EVERYTHING in his mouth:
Christy found out towards the end of October that she officially got the job at our church - she is now the Office Administrator - she really enjoys the job - you can see some of her work at www.imlaycitycrc.org - please excuse the "dust" as we continue to work on building the website!
NOVEMBER:
The first weekend of November we headed to North Carolina for Christy's Cousin's Wedding, we had a great time relaxing and exploring the city of Charlotte! It was great to see cousins and family that we hadn't seen in quite sometime (some Brian was meeting for the first time!)
Casey & Heather Down:
Heather danced with her Grandpa (he's Christy's Uncle Kenny) 
Uncle Kenny, Heather & Aunt Loretta:
Chris & Jody Vitarelli (they were the amazing singers at our wedding if you were wondering!)
On November 3rd We were able to go to one of John's football games - the last one of the season. He only got to play a little bit in the end but he did a good job! His team won the game 30-8!
Leslie with Paul: 
Leslie with Daniel
We both have been involved with our church's Christmas Program. Brian is running the sound and computer and Christy is co-directing the program with 2 other ladies in our church. The program is December 14th at 6 p.m. if anyone is interested in coming! It has been alot of fun working with the kids, helping them learn their lines & memorize songs! The songs are pretty catchy an both of us have had them running through our head several times!
We hosted 2 Thanksgivings at our house - the first one for Christy's side of the family - Matthew and West were at the center of our attention! They got to enjoy Aunt Christy's toys...Matthew seemed to enjoy the basket even more ;)
Matt & Brian hanging out:
Matthew & West played together very well! You can Tell Matthew is a little older - he's crawling around and pulling up on the furnature while West is sitting up and playing with toys! They are so cute together!
Leslie & Christy:
On Thanksgiving Day we had Norene & John over along with Amanda and Jeremy - we forgot to take pictures of everyone...but this is what our table looked like:
We continue to try and grow our business - if you would like more information you can go HERE along with our Shaklee business Christy is trying to get back into the "picture taking" business. She has finally come up with a name - "Studio Msal." If you would ever like pictures taken of you and your family let us know!
So we have caught you up on our busy lives, and yes they just keep getting busier!!
As we go into this Christmas season, we hope you stop and pause to remember what this holiday is really about - The birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. He came to earth to save each of us from our sins so that we one day can go to heaven and live with Him. We hope that each of you are truly seeking to have a personal relationship with Him. He loves and cares for YOU!
Please feel free to leave us a comment and let us know how you're doing!
We wish you and your family a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Love & Hugs!!
Brian & Christy Msal
PS - To keep up with us during the year you can always check out Christy's Blog at: http://camarble.blogspot.com/
