others, help maintain the believetyler.org website. But one thing should be very clear - these two initiatives are separate entities.

While we are on the topic of generosity, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of you who sent notes and tokens of condolence to Haven and I after we lost our trusty Tugboat. We returned home from
Europe to a dining room table full of over 1,000 letters and packages that included everything from cards to poems to books, to mementos, to paintings. All were accompanied by kind words and shared stories regarding losses of special pets. We were touched by every single note.

Thanks too for all of the generous donations to humane societies, animal rescues, pet hospitals, animal companion programs and the Tyler Hamilton Foundation made in memory of Tugboat. Tugboat was an incredible dog in life, and he would have been so proud to know his memory had such an impact on so many good causes. Thank you to all of you, from the very bottom of our hearts, who?ve done so much to pay tribute to our treasured friend.

Feeling the void in our lives, Haven and I recently started the process of looking for a puppy. I?ve always been partial to the big boxy-headed Golden Retrievers. On kind of short notice we stumbled upon two puppies needing homes around mid-November. We had to make the decision within a day on whether we could handle them. Haven ultimately convinced me that we needed a distraction from all the insanity in our lives. So last Saturday we picked up two little puppies at the cargo depot at the
Denver airport. Having made a flight across country, they officially passed the
Hamilton family initiation test.

They are roughly the same age, about 12 weeks old but are from different litters. One is huge for his age, at 25 pounds. The other is the runt and is less than half the size. So side by side they are quite a funny looking pair. Keeping with my family tradition of nautical names, we decided to call them ?Tanker? and ?Anchor?. We like to call Anchor ?Alfa Dog? because he thinks he can do anything his much bigger, adopted brother can do. Including having mastered the running side tackle. He?s pretty much the living embodiment of my favorite saying ? it?s not the size of the dog in the fight, it?s the size of the fight in the dog.

One final note, I don?t want to sign off without extending my very best wishes to Inaki Arratibel. Inaki was one of team physicians on Phonak in 2004 and is a very kind and caring man. Unfortunately the cases against Santi and I were causing him and his family too much pain. He has voiced his concerns about this test and its implementation and has in my opinion, resigned out of protest.

Sadly, I?m finding out first hand that this test and my personal battle are having a deep impact on everyone who surrounds me. Including the team, its sponsors,