F is for..................Friends.

I took this of Doug one day at our house last year. Not sure why he has the nasty mustache but couldn't resist the picture!

Of course I have lots of friends but I'm going to specifically talk about my friend, Doug Gunselman. Doug & I grew up next door to each other in Alva, OK from 6th grade to graduation. We were in the same grade and in youth group together. We became best friends and hung out a lot. He was friends with my brother as well but after Michael left for college it was only us. We turned an old shack in his backyard into our "clubhouse" and actually caught it on fire once. We went to church camp, Singing School, youth rallies, etc together. He basically became a brother to me as my parents let him come over anytime of the day. I know you are thinking, "Wow, you guys must of dated too" but NO, we never became more than friends so my parents never worried about us. I introduced him to Gavan and now they talk pretty much every single day. He introduced me to Dixie (who he met while in college and her in high school in York, NE) and we hit it off great. We are great friends and even share the same birthday! He attended York College and I went to OC where we both married and now each have a child of our own. They live in Little Rock, AR where he teaches and is the head baseball coach of the Central Arkansas Christian (CAC) Mustangs. They have a 14 month old boy, Ethan, who we adore and are expecting their next one in September. We are excited to see them next weekend as we're going out to LR.

Doug & I's friendship has been such a blessing to me and I am so thankful to have him and now Dixie in our life. The Byrds love the Gunselmans and we're trying not to arrange our children's wedding! They are great spiritual influences for us and we cherish our friendship.

I tried to dig out some pictures of us from the past years. Let me preface these by saying Doug is one of the funniest people you'll ever meet. He's always got some weird costume in the trunk of his car that he'll pull out and wear for the fun out it. We've laughed so much at him over the years it makes our stomach hurt to remember! I'll try to briefly explain the pics so ENJOY!

You know all teacher have to take pictures and this is from a year or 2 ago. He always sends us his school picture

Mel & Doug at Singing School in June 2000. We grew up going to Singing School and then after we graduated we started organizing the sports and activities, actually Doug did most of the work.

Gavan & Doug at New Year's 2000. Notice the Theta shirt he is wearing. Not sure about the thing with the index fingers!

Dixie, Doug, Gavan, Mel, & Michael at the Cottonbowl in January 2002.

Wee, Michael, Gavan & Doug at New Year's 2003 in Wichita. Yes, we had a western themed party but Doug looks more like an Amish cowboy.

If there's a party at my parents house you can bet there will be karaoke. Here's Doug again as the Amish cowboy singing "Lady Marmilade"! I guess he was trying to do a little strip show during the song by the looks of his belt. Again, not sure.

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The beautiful Gunselman wedding in Tulsa in July 2004. We were honored to stand up for them in the wedding party. If you want any details about Doug's bachelor party the night before, you'll have to ask the boys.

This is the 80's banquet at Lariat Creek in July 2005. Obviously Gavan is an aerobics instructor and Michael is wearing "MC Hammer pants" and Wee is like an rocker or something. Then there's Doug.........wearing a mullet wig, neck brace, Santa Claus sweatshirt and athletic shorts. You tell me what he's supposed to be.