This is Kris and his girlfriend Sonya Gibb. We had a great time visiting with them, eating dinner, and shopping!

This is me and my oldest brother Ron. Before Dan's conference, we drove out to his ranch near El Indo, TX - 3 hours from San Antonio. We had a great time catching up and taking a tour of his ranch. Ron made us Wild Boar/Venison tacos, and Rabbit stew for dinner (all the meat was taken from his land (by taken, I mean killed)! It was yummy!

This is the Alamo at night - way cool!

Dan and I took a trip to San Antonio in March/April. We were able to see Kris and his new girlfriend, Sonya Gibbs. It was lots of fun! Since Dan had a conference to attend, we were able to stay at the Hyatt Regency, with a view of the Alamo from the roof. We were right on the Riverwalk, so we had lots of fun walking up and down that area and eating a few meals there. the weather was perfect!

Camryn, Colin and Nana in front of the Astoria Tower in Astoria, OR, January 2009

Birthday Mom and Birthday Boy!

Colin on his 1st birthday - jammies are the best!

Look mom - no hands! Colin's first trip down the slide, ouch!

Colin and Taryn share the same birthday, January 31st! This year it was Colin's first birthday and Taryn's 30th - big milestones for both! Colin got a sweet potato pie (he loves sweet potatoes), and Taryn got a Key Lime pie, I think (my memory isn't the best anymore). Unfortunately, I was quite sick - I got an ear infection while I was there and a terrible cold, so I was there, but not there - if you know what I mean.

Camryn has been taking gymnastics lessons this winter. Here she is demonstrating the proper way to do a front rollover. It may look easy, but after seeing the other kids do it, it's really, really hard. Camryn's a pro though!

I made a trip up to visit Damien, Taryn, Camryn and Colin in January for Colin's first birthday and Taryn's 30th birthday! They were born on the same day, same hour! Camryn loves to watch me put on my makeup, and usually wants to try some on herself! She's such a big girl - but not so big that she doesn't still let Nana and Papa hug her - grandkids are the best!

Abby likes to cook, so while I was there we made cupcakes for her 4th birthday party. She had five little girlfriends over for the party. They made spring hats, had an easter egg hunt, and they played dress-up - fun!

At only 11 months, Drew is ready to hit the racetrack! He's ready for the big time! I took this video while visiting Cassie and Adam in Bethesda in March 2009.

I went to Abby's dance recital when I was in Bethesda. Lots of cute little 3 and 4 year olds - future ballerinas! Abby turned 4 the day before her recital. She's such a big girl!

Here's a picture of the newest addition to our family "zoo!" This is "Baby" - she's a toy poodle. We adopted her from Dan's Aunt Helen (the same aunt we got Cozy from 10 years ago! Baby is 8 years old, but a bundle of energy and full of kisses and cuddles. She is soooooo cute! We love her already!

It's 2009, a new year, and new birthdays for Dan and I. For Dan's birthday I surprised him with a Sulcara Turtle (tortoise). His name is Rommell (for the WWII tank commander in Africa) because he is such a little tank! Actually, we don't know if he's a boy or a girl, but since Rommell was male, we'll stick with that for the time being. We learned Sulcara Turtles live to be 80 to 100 years old - so look out kids and grandkids -- someday you'll have a 150 lb. turtle grazing in your backyard!

Below is a short video of Rommell exploring the backyard today.