One year ago...

Time flies when you're having fun. Here is what we were doing one year ago today:

This weekend Bryan and I went to New York City to celebrate our anniversary. We had a great time. Below is our attempt at a self-portrait in Times Square (as you can see, we didn't manage to capture much of the view).

I've wanted to see the Broadway musical Wicked for a long time. In fact, we had tickets to go when Beth and Jason were here over Thanksgiving, but as luck would have it, the stage hands happened to go on strike that week and Broadway shut down. This weekend we finally got to see it. It was totally entertaining. The music was great. Bryan even enjoyed it.

We also went and saw a play called Boeing-Boeing. We liked it even more than Wicked. Bradley Whitford, who played Josh Lyman in The West Wing, was one of the stars. The all-star cast had great chemistry and we laughed our heads off. It was well worth it.


We also spent some time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

It was a great weekend -- we definitely celebrated in style. And as if that wasn't enough, when we got home, there was a package waiting for me. For an anniversary gift, Bryan got me a signed first edition of my favorite book -- The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye. I have it proudly displayed in our living room already. For my gift to Bryan, I had his law school diploma matted and framed.

I am so lucky to have Bryan. He's wonderful, and this has been such a great year. I'm looking forward to many more to come!

The Musical Genius!

Here is yet another video of George doing what he does best - dancing! Actually, I think he is conducting the music in this particular clip. He likes the can-can demo the best still, except it has to be set on the fastest tempo our keyboard will allow. He is such a fun kid!

We really miss the Rays - it was so much fun to have Lucy, Graham and Maggie here for so long. Love you guys!

Keep on rockin' in the free world...

Last weekend, we drove to Camden, New Jersey to see Pearl Jam. Camden is just a few miles away from Philadelphia. Camden is the ghetto. All around the arena there was nothing but abandoned warehouses, saloons with bars on the windows, and rundown liquor stores. But the venue was nice and we had a good time.

We went with another couple, Ryan and Maren Vogel. We refer to them collectively as The Vogue. Here we are enjoying the show.

Here's a shot of the stage from where we were sitting. We had pretty good seats, and we had a really good time. Camden is a 3-4 hour drive from DC, so we stayed overnight in Philadelphia and drove home in the morning. Bryan was completely hoarse the next day, because he was shout-singing along with every song. One of our very first dates was a concert, so I was somewhat prepared for what Bryan would do at this show, but he really took his performance to a whole new level.

Shear Madness...

For the last few weeks, it has been really hot and humid in DC. This last week was particularly steamy. When the weather gets this way, my mane becomes a little difficult to tame. After blow drying, straightening with a flat iron, and applying a substantial amount of product, my hair usually looks pretty smooth. However, the heat and humidity can undo all of that in about 5 minutes.

So, after much deliberation, I decided it was time to lop off some of the locks. This is how my hair looked before...

As I sat in the chair at the salon, I could actually feel the clumps of hair hitting the chair's base -- that's how substantial they were. About six inches later, this is how I looked...

And from the front...
We'll see how this style holds up to the weather. I have high hopes. I had a little bit of separation anxiety -- that hair and I had been together for a long time. But I'm pleased with the result. And I passed the most important test: Bryan likes it too!

Proud parents and glad grad...

Sorry it took me so long to post this, Nancy! Here's a picture from graduation...

Just learning

I wanted to say more about the trip. This is the first time I have tried to add pictures. As you can see, it didn't work out. Sorry. We saw the Liberty Bell, Indepence Hall and Ben Franklin's grave site. We went to the "Rocky" steps and Dad and Bryan ran all the way up!!!!

On Monday Dad and I went on the Duck tour. I have wanted to go since the first DC trip. I thought that the boat took you to all the monuments and you could view them from the river,..... No such luck!!!! It was fun, but not the trip I had imagined.

I will try and add more pictures. Maybe Chelsey and Dad could add one of Bryan's big day.

It was so great to see Bry's and Chelsey's home. It is good to be able to picture them there.

We had a great time, can't wait to go back!!!!

Know any good lawyer jokes?

It was a great trip to DC in the middle of May. We went to see Bryan receive his Doctor of Juris degree at George Washington University. It was a great day. I was so proud of Bry and his achievement. Not too many people have to work full time while they go to law school. Congrats again Bryan.

We had a great time sight seeing. Bryan and Chelsey took us to Philadelphia. We saw some great sights.

Walkin' in Memphis...

This weekend, Bryan and I went to Memphis, Tennessee for a wedding. We had a great time. We stayed in a hotel on the famous Beale Street, right in the heart of Memphis. We wandered Beale Street, ate ribs at the famous Rendezvous Charcoal Ribs, and had a lot of fun. And of course, what trip to Memphis is complete without a visit to the home of the King -- Graceland!

This is the front door of the house at Graceland.

This is the front room at Graceland. Notice the stained glass peacocks on the way into the piano room...
This is the famous Jungle Room. The brick wall has a waterfall flowing over it, and the carpet is green shag. The best part about the Jungle Room is that there is also green shag carpet covering the ceiling.
Here is his grave. He's buried at Graceland alongside his parents and his grandmother. Graceland receives flowers and memorials and other tributes on a DAILY BASIS. Let me tell you, there are still some very serious Elvis fans out there. And we saw plenty of them at Graceland. You can actually buy season passes. Can you imagine being a Graceland season passholder...?
This is actually not at Graceland -- this is at the wedding dinner. After everyone had eaten, the DJ said that we had a special guest, and out comes the Elvis impersonator. He sang a few numbers, stayed for photos -- it was hilarious. We had a lot of fun, but it's good to be home!

Victory Trophies

AYSO sure knew what they were doing when they gave each child an end-of-the-year trophy. These kids were on cloud nine. So much so that they asked their dad to take a picture of them. The part that I thought was awesome was that it didn't matter that almost every other kid on the block had one...they still thought it was great!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

We had a nice day Yesterday. Lucy Called and Sang Happy Birthday to Grandma and Bryan and Chelsey sent Mom some flowers. It was a perfect opportunity to try the new Frontrunner train so we rode down to the Gateway in Salt Lake City, had dinner, watched a movie, and came home. We even did the silly staff at the restaurant thing. The new train is nice. I hope a lot of people ride it and they stay off my highway. The kids came over last night and brought a cake. It was all a lot of fun. (If only the Jazz had won.) Nancy's foot seems to be getting better. Maybe in a month or so she can get rid of her brace.

Happy Late Easter!

I finally got a picture of George in his cute Easter outfit given to him by Bobby! He was not very happy as you can see, and had just thrown a bit of a tantrum previous to this picture. He doesn't like to get his picture taken, he only wants to look at the pictures on the digital camera screen.

Abby and Ollie Annual Easter day photo

Finally Abby doesn't Squeeze Ollie to death while getting a photo!

Happy Birthday Bryan!!

Well it's been a rough thirty years but we've made it through. I was worried about him and the teddy bear. He finally quit sleeping with it last summer. May you have a joyous and blessed year. Your Mother and I love you so much! (Check out the featured celebrity on the slide show)

Mom's Doing Better

Mom had Surgery on Thursday. The Doctor was quite hopeful that this would help her. He said the surgery went very well. She is getting around now and looks forward to life after the next 3 weeks when she will be on crutches. Thank you all for your calls and flowers. We so much appreciate your support

Wanted: VISITORS!

This morning the kids and I drove a family to the airport in Fresno. Lucy couldn't get over the fact that we weren't picking up Abby and Oliver and we weren't going to Grandma and Grandpa's house. The family was going to visit their grandparents and Lucy said, "THAT'S NOT FAIR! I DON'T GET TO SEE MINE!" It was quite depressing for the two of us. Who is going to come and visit us??

Wow, we really work here

If you have been watching the news lately, you might have heard my boss, Kay Granger, mentioned as a potential running mate for McCain. Last night on Fox News, they talked about her. If you missed it, you can see the clip here.

Now, I don't think Kay will really be McCain's choice for VP, but stuff like this reminds me how neat it is for Bryan and me to be right in the middle of all the pomp and circumstance of Washington politics. It can be a grueling, thankless job sometimes, but once in a while, when I walk into the Capitol, I think, "Wow, I really work here."

And if that isn't enough to entice you to come and visit, I don't what is. So come, visit early, visit often.

Why you should make sure the batteries work in your smoke detector

Well, we were saved by the "bell" (smoke detector) tonight. At about 8:30 the smoke detector downstairs went off, So Heidi and I ran down to find the furnace had been on fire. I opened the front cover to find the wires still smoking. I called my neighbor who is an HVAC guy and he came and assesed that we definatley need a new furnace. SO, with that said you can send your contributions to the "keep Ryan and Heidi family warm this winter" fund, or donate at your local HVAC Dealer, make sure you mention "Heidi" so that we also get the matching payment from the goverenment program that has been set up to help those in just this type of situation, (thanks Hillary!). God bless you all ahead of time for your generous donations! :) And go MAC!

Snowbasin with the Thompson

Well, as you can see it was a good thing Olly wore his vintage WWII Russian Padded helmet on his soujourn down this 50' Rock hard snowpile. Yes he survived and only complained that he got snow down his back... He also won the big air contest. And last but not least my two (maybe 3 if we find out Heidi is having a girl) favorite girls in the world. It was nice to just be a kid again.

A Boy and His Blanket

Graham is getting more and more attached to his blanket. When he gets out of his crib in the morning, he has to bring it with him to breakfast. If he sees it, after being away from it for an hour or more, he starts fussing and running to it like he has found an old lost friend.

Extreme Home Makeover

For the last week, my parents have been here visiting. They just left this morning. Because they're so great, they helped us decorate our apartment while they were here. They really did a lot of manual labor, and everything looks great. Beth and Jason can attest to how boring and bland our apartment was before. I had to share some of the pictures. And, of course, a big THANK YOU to Matt and Nancy, who gave me some Home Depot money for my birthday. We put it to good use. Also a big thank you to Bryan, who put together a lot of new furniture.

This is the kitchen. Bryan put together the sideboard. We don't have a lot of counter space, so these additions were great.


This, of course, is the boudoir. It's amazing what curtains and a few throw pillows can do.

This is the dining room. Ignore all the stuff on the table. That mirror is gigantic -- I love it.
This is the living room. Try to imagine it before -- basically nothing on the walls (which were white), no curtains... It turned out really great.
We had this weird corner where there was in indent in the wall. My mom had a great idea -- build shelves there. This is the result.